Podcast appearances and mentions of marcus whitney

In our Season One finale, Dr. Hildreth welcomes back entrepreneur and health equity advocate Marcus Whitney to reflect on the importance of building and maintaining trust in healthcare. Together they'll explore Meharry Medical College's critical role in addressing historical health disparities, particularly for marginalized communities, and the groundbreaking Together for Change initiative that will sequence the genomes of 500,000 individuals of African descent, enabling breakthroughs in personalized medicine that can benefit underrepresented populations for generations to come.

Waiting tables gave Healthcare Revolutionary Marcus Whitney the experience he needed to be a good leader. In his interview with 4sight Health's David Burda on the 4sight Health Roundup podcast, Whitney talks about the invaluable lessons learned back then that he still uses in business today.

In this dynamic episode, Lesley Logan sits down with Nick Hiter, a multi-talented entrepreneur and host of the Hitstreak podcast, to discuss the transformative power of personal branding. Dive into how Nick strategically expands his business ventures, the significance of clear communication, and the importance of personal branding in today's digital age. Whether you're looking to start your journey or refine your existing strategies, this episode offers actionable insights to help you 'be it till you see it.'If you have any questions about this episode or want to get some of the resources we mentioned, head over to LesleyLogan.co/podcast. If you have any comments or questions about the Be It pod shoot us a message at beit@lesleylogan.co. And as always, if you're enjoying the show please share it with someone who you think would enjoy it as well. It is your continued support that will help us continue to help others. Thank you so much! Never miss another show by subscribing at LesleyLogan.co/subscribe.In this episode you will learn about:How to organically grow your business by addressing its needs.The significance of fundamentals in scaling your ventures.The role of personal branding in achieving long-term success.Effective strategies for digital marketing and audience engagement.How to reframe challenges as growth opportunities.The impact of gratitude on personal and professional life.Techniques for visualizing success and setting measurable goals.Episode References/Links:Nick Hiter's InstagramNick Hiter's YouTubeNick Hiter's WebsiteWork with NickNick Hiter's LinkedInHitstreak PodcastLesley Logan's Episode on HitstreakMonday.com Project Management ToolDaniella Mastek Young EpisodeWayne GretzkyDerek JeterGuest Bio:Nick Hiter is the founder of Team Hiter, a business enterprise focused on helping entrepreneurs drive growth. In his role as the Executive Vice President at RAC Financial, he oversees strategic partnerships for a leading 8-figure payment processing company. His work supports a network of 100+ strategic partners supporting major brands such as Planet Hollywood, Brio, and Buca di Beppo to name a few. As a thought leader on entrepreneurship himself, Nick's insights have been featured in major media such as CBS, NBC, FOX, The New York Times, and Yahoo to name a few. In addition, as the host of The Hitstreak podcast, he talks weekly with top performers to break down their playbook to success so his audience of over 200 thousand can get to that next level too. Nick is also the voice of SiriusXM's “Y'allternative” radio station! In his prior company, Nick launched over 150 insurance agencies that generated 100 million dollars in just over 5 years. His latest venture, dubbed “The Hitlab”, is focused on creating a physical space for thought leaders to come together, share, and distribute breakthrough ideas at scale. Beyond business, Nick is a husband to Rhiannon, and father to Ethan and Ansleigh. Nick is a former pro athlete and gives back regularly to local philanthropic organizations in the Nashville area.  If you enjoyed this episode, make sure and give us a five star rating and leave us a review on iTunes, Podcast Addict, Podchaser or Castbox. DEALS! Check out all our Preferred Vendors & Special Deals from Clair Sparrow, Sensate, Lyfefuel BeeKeeper's Naturals, Sauna Space, HigherDose, AG1 and ToeSox Be in the know with all the workshops at OPCBe It Till You See It Podcast SurveyBe a part of Lesley's Pilates MentorshipFREE Ditching Busy Webinar  Resources:Watch the Be It Till You See It podcast on YouTube!Lesley Logan websiteBe It Till You See It PodcastOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley LoganOnline Pilates Classes by Lesley Logan on YouTubeProfitable Pilates Follow Us on Social Media:InstagramFacebookLinkedIn  Episode Transcript:Nick Hiter 0:00  When I build a business, I build a business with the exit in mind. All right. So I'm not going to die doing that business. Hopefully, I retire or I sell that business or I hand it to a next generation or something like that. So when I start a business, how am I going to exit it? Just like when I programmed the GPS. I got a program, the final destination in for it to work backwards and give me a route and so on and so forth. Starting with the end of the business in mind, my personal brand is something that I keep until the day that I die. I might not keep the business. That's why it's called a personal brand, not a business brand.Lesley Logan 0:31  Welcome to the Be It Till You See It podcast where we talk about taking messy action, knowing that perfect is boring. I'm Lesley Logan, Pilates instructor and fitness business coach. I've trained thousands of people around the world and the number one thing I see stopping people from achieving anything is self-doubt. My friends, action brings clarity and it's the antidote to fear. Each week, my guest will bring bold, executable, intrinsic and targeted steps that you can use to put yourself first and Be It Till You See It. It's a practice, not a perfect. Let's get started. Lesley Logan 1:12  All right, Be It babe. Get ready for an unstoppable interview. I promise you you're going to want to hit rewind, you're going to want to write some of these things down. Your mood is going to shift, and your opinion about how able you are and control of what happens around you in your day, and then what you're building is about to shift. Nick Hiter is our guest today and he is just a force and energetic human who has a lot of amazingness going on, and it's because he's very intentional. And you're gonna hear that theme throughout this interview. I got to meet him in person when I was on the Hitstreak podcast, so make sure you listen to our interview. It was one of my favorite interviews to ever do. I had, he asked me the best questions. So definitely was one of those fun experiences. You're like, this is something I want to remember, and I will, because if you watch his show on YouTube, you'll also see like it is to the end, everything he does is with intentionality and like really amazing quality. So you are going to be impressed with the production effort that goes into his podcast and his intentionality in the guests that he has. He said, some amazing guests on that podcast. So make sure you check out Hitstreak and then also enjoy this interview. I want to hear what your takeaways are. Truly send them in, tag the Be It Pod, tag Nick Hiter and let us know. And then, as always, share with a friend so we change people's lives, right? How we do that? So without further ado, here is Nick. Lesley Logan 2:30  All right, be it babe. Get ready. This is going to be an energetic conversation. I can already tell you right now I have been in the presence of our guest today in real life, and I'm telling you like I always thought I had a positivity of above a 10 and energy that's pretty close to it most the time. And this person showed me that you can go even higher than that. So Nick Hiter is our guest today. Can you tell everyone who you are and what you rock at, Nick?Nick Hiter 2:51  Man, I am a man of faith. I'm a husband, I'm a father, I'm a businessman with a podcast. You know what I'm saying. So we're very blessed. Long story short, my wife and I own an insurance agency that owns equity and a few other insurance agencies today. We own a merchant processing company. I'm the voice of a SiriusXM radio station. We own a set of studios and creative agency here in Nashville, Tennessee, and a whole bunch of affiliate partnerships and programs and whatnot. And I'm the host of the Hitstreak podcast, which you've been a guest on.Lesley Logan 3:24  Yes, I have. You guys can go listen to that episode right now. Actually, after you're done listening to this one, you'll go listen to that one, of course. Nick Hiter 3:24  That's right. Lesley Logan 3:24  It was an amazing conversation. So I really hope you all enjoy it. So Nick, okay, first thing everyone's going to want to know is, how on earth do you have the time to do all those things? Or have you had nine lives like that is impressive and also requires a lot of time. And you have a family, you have a partner like there's a lot that you're also invested in that's a priority. So how did you get there?Nick Hiter 3:51  Everything that we do, the insurance agency was the first thing that we kind of had, and then everything else that we've gotten into was a necessity of the original agency. So it was like we were going to hire somebody to do that or we just started our own thing to serve the previous entity, right? So all the things that we're involved in serve everything else that we do. So whenever we start something new, it's usually because something else we already have needs it. You know what I'm saying? Lesley Logan 4:17  That's really amazing. Thank you for sharing that, because I think a lot of people will see what you're doing or what I'm doing, and they'll go, I'll use myself as an example. I have an on demand Pilates membership. I have a podcast. We do retreats. So then someone looks at that and goes, I need all those things. And what they don't realize is, first I had a studio, then I started traveling, so I needed to have an on demand thing. And then because people wanted to spend time with who lived in other places, we did the retreat. So like, each thing we created was because of a need, like you said, What is your advice for the person who sees the finished project or where we're at and thinks they need to start all those things at one time, versus, like, how we've done it?Nick Hiter 4:55  The same way that you were educated as a child, like you got kindergarten curriculum in kindergarten, not eighth grade. You know what I'm saying? So a buddy of mine named Marcus Whitney told me, he said, "Don't mistake my chapter 20 for your chapter one. Lesley Logan 5:08  Yeah. Yeah. We, like, people like to do that. They really do.Nick Hiter 5:12  Absolutely. When I watch Michael Jordan play basketball, I wanted to play like he did, but I hadn't done the work that he had done and learned what he had learned to be able to make the decisions that he makes on the fly, knowing how to work out, how to practice, how to grow, and then how to execute in a game, right? So there's a lot of experience required to get good at anything.Lesley Logan 5:29  Yeah, I know. And that's also like you're an athlete, like those fundamentals are the things that people think are boring. They want to skip over. They want to do the thing that's fancy. And especially because of social media, most people put the fancy stuff out because that's the stuff that looks good. That's the stuff that like, gets the likes, or gets the comments. I recently posted myself just doing footwork on a Reformer, which, you might remember from when you did Pilates. It's pretty boring. It's just lying down, doing squats, basically. But it is such a fundamental exercise that leads you to anything you want to do, and also gives so much information. And a lot of people like to skip that fundamental stuff. What are some of the fundamentals that you like really found have helped you grow your businesses the way that they have? Nick Hiter 6:08  First of all, to scale or grow anything, it's going to hurt. It's why they call them growing pains. All right. It's never easy. It's usually uncharted territory, even if you have knowledge and things from somebody else. But you always got to have something that you can measure the growth by or the lack of. Okay. So you got to have things that you can measure just like losing weight. Do you think you would have finished school if you had to go for 13 years but you didn't know where you were at? Like, you didn't know, it wasn't broken up into 13 grades. I wouldn't have, after, like, a couple years, I'd have been like, Mom, Dad, like, when does this end? Where are we at? Like, when you're a kid on a road trip, are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there? Yeah, you got to have something to measure your success or lack thereof. Again, everything that we got into served the need of something else. Okay? So whenever you're building things, and then you're going to need more people, when you're adding new things, right? Because you just grew. So obviously, if I was at capacity and we launched another product, launched another company, or whatever it may be, even a new department, it's going to require people, and that leads you to communication, right? So the best in the world, in anything, can clearly communicate, all right? And communication has to go two directions. Derek Jeter said that loyalty, trust and communication going one way is stupid. All right, so it's got to go both directions and then through that communication, you have to be able to clearly delegate, and you have to be able to clearly automate. In the world that we live in today with technology, if you're not using automation and you're not good at it, you're probably getting beat by somebody that is.Lesley Logan 7:30  Yeah, oh my gosh, the delegation automation is so hard for especially if you're not used to it. I know when I hired my first assistant, I kept asking her, do you think you could? Would it be? Would you be able to? And she's like, it's my job to just do what you're asking, and if I can't do it, I'll tell you. And I was like, oh, she trained me how to delegate real quick. Because I was like, oh, okay, so she'll just, she'll tell me if she can't do it. And that's how I've always operated. So now, anybody who works for me, I'm like, if I give you something that you don't, I don't give you enough time for you need to tell me. Otherwise, that's when I want, this is how we're gonna go, because it's communication, but with automation, there's so many tools now and free tools like it used to be so expensive to automate things, and now, like my husband's Monday boards scare a lot of people, but they are amazing for our business, because I love, at each year, going back to measuring, Monday tells us this is how many things you automated this year. This is how many minutes or hours or, like, months you've saved because of automations. Like, it's so amazing. Going back to communication, you are really amazing at personal branding and digital marketing, and that is forms of communication. Nick Hiter 6:45  Absolutely. Lesley Logan 7:31  Can you tell me how you got into that? What's your favorite part about doing that? Nick Hiter 7:40  In a previous life, when my wife and I were in a management group with three other friends of mine and we owned restaurants and nightclubs, in Nashville back then, if you weren't the best promoter, you lost. It wasn't just open the doors and people flood in. Back then, you actually had to be good. You had to market and attract people. All right? So we learned a lot about marketing. That was the timing of that was right when Facebook, Myspace had already come and gone, Facebook and Instagram and those other platforms were on the rise and becoming more and more prevalent. So like, we learned the value of those really quick. And then when we got into the world of insurance, they did not value that at all. They did not value social media. There was a lot due to compliance issues and a whole bunch of other great reasons. That just wasn't a space where insurance agents were leveraging those platforms to grow. So when we got in there, we had a head start on everybody, and we just used that. We dove right in with it, went all in with it, and created something that we were very proud of. And all we did was market one message over and over again, which was another win for the client, who's next. So when it comes to personal branding, digital marketing, first of all, when I build a business, I build a business with the exit in mind, all right, so I'm not going to die doing that business. Hopefully I retire, or I sell that business, or I hand it to a next generation, or something like that. So when I start a business, how am I going to exit it just like when I program the GPS, I got to program the final destination in, bring it to work backwards and give me a route, and so on and so forth. Starting with the end of the business in mind, my personal brand is something that I keep until the day that I die. I might not keep the business. That's why it's called a personal brand, not a business brand. I'm a big believer in build a personal brand first, and you can launch businesses with that personal brand, and that's what my wife and I have been very blessed to do. Lesley Logan 10:19  Okay. I do love that, because there's been a lot of amazing businesses where a personal brand has come out of it, like Spanx, for example, it was known and then Sarah Blakely, but that is difficult nowadays to get a business launched into a huge space. Like there's so much noise, there's it really is, like, who has the most ad money can really dive through? So to go back to the personal brand, just in case anyone listening isn't really understanding the difference between a personal brand and business brand, can you just go like, a little more layman's terms, just for them, and then can you tell me more about, like, developing your personal brand, what that was like.Nick Hiter 10:53  So, your personal brand is your reputation online. Okay, online. We all know a lot of people, but how many people do we actually interact with on a daily basis, versus my Instagram account reaches millions every 30 days. Okay, so, like, I can't touch that many people in person. So online, it's a much greater net if you're fishing, it's a way bigger cobweb when you're casting out. Again, the personal brand is your reputation online or what you've accomplished to date, and how many people know about it? And again, you can cast a way bigger net online than you can in person. So with the personal brand, that's why it's so important. And I want to kind of preface that question with this your personal brand. Treat it like its own entity. That's the biggest mistake people make, is they want to build a personal brand. They might even hire our agency, and then, like life happens, they run into problems in their business. They run into problems at home, and the personal brand is the first thing to take a back seat. And it's a commitment. You wouldn't do that to your business. You wouldn't do that to your family, I hope. You wouldn't do that to your kids. Put your personal brand on a level of importance that's the same as those other things, because again, the personal brand is yours, man, and it took me years to build our first seven or eight figure company, and then once we had an established personal brand of a certain size, we can launch them almost at will to the right market, or as long as the company or brand that we're the one to launch from our personal brand is in alliance with that. So your personal brand, you have an audience. Are you growing that audience? Is your audience shrinking? Are you feeding that audience? What are you providing for that audience to keep them coming back for more?Lesley Logan 12:20  Yeah, I think it's really amazing. I want to highlight, like, doesn't get put on the waste on the wayside. And also, like, you can take people with you on those obstacles with a personal brand that you cannot with a business brand. Like, your business (inaudible), you're not gonna go, oh, another failed launch today. That's not so great. But you can take people on the journey of, like, what it's like to try out new things and learn from them. And with my personal brand, I've always been very open with my health struggles. Because one, I had no one to help me, and I was like, seeking out this information myself. And I was like, if I'm going through 10 years of stomach issues, there's probably other people going through stomach issues as well. So how can I help them in a way that's like, I'm not going outside of my scope, but I can be like, at least a cheerleader, like, just keep going. And now, as I'm 41 what I found is most of the women who listen to the show, most of them who follow me, most of them who want to take class with me, they're over 40 as well, and so being able to share the journeys I'm on, like, hey, here are the things I'm doing to keep the energy up that I have when I was 30, now, because it's harder now. So I think that's what's so fun about a personal brand and correct like you don't have to have tons of followers, you guys to reach a lot of people. It's kind of amazing. If you're putting stuff out there that people want to share, and it's your rep, it's like that. It's quoted to you, and it's really amazing. And whenever we put together a new product, it does better than a business doing a similar thing, because we have so much trust built in with what we're doing. When I was in Nashville last when we saw you, I spoke at the Soho House, and there was two other businesses there, one who works with over $100 million a year in ads on social medias as an agency, and then this other person, who was the fifth hire for Rent the Runway, and he's done a million other things that are amazing, right? So here I am, the small business owner, and I blew their minds, because we actually sell things where you have to wait four months for it. Happens all the time. When we have a new product, we allow people on that journey, and it's because so they asked me, like, how are you doing that? Because we have to like. how do you get people to wait? And I said, because they're on the journey with me. They trust me. They know what I'm building. They know how many hours I spent on it. They know what they're going to get, and they know it's going to be four months and they're getting this thing. And the guy looked at me, he's like, that would never work for my clients. And I'm like, that's because your clients don't want to build a reputation with their customers. They don't want a relationship with them. I want a relationship. That's what a personal brand really does well. So what did you do in building yours? Was that something you started out with years ago, or something that you when you started your nightclubs, or is that something a bit more recent?Nick Hiter 14:43  Well, again, it's what you've accomplished, and how many people know about it. So we've all accomplished certain things in life, and so for me, I played professional sports, so that was something that separated me from a lot of people, which that was leverage that I could use that to get in other doors, to get conversations happening with people, whatever it may be. And because of that success, and a lot of people knew about it, in a game that is, at least up until recently, it's been known as America's pastime, it was just a very important thing. But again, the personal brand, like it's its own product. Every company had a founder, and that founder created that company which had a story. So what we're seeing today is people are selling stuff on freaking TikTok, a shop that, like, you can't even like, how secure is that thing? Like, anybody can buy and be a brand and sell anything these days. And what you're finding is that gives a lot of power to the small business owner. So the small business owner can reach as many people as the large ones can. The gates are down. The fences are down. So the founder story, I think, is incredibly important. I think that people, as a matter of fact, we learned at brand (inaudible), I think 58% of people are buying from, are at least shopping first from an entity that has a personal brand tied to the product or the story. So again, all the things that we use as consumers, we have favorite restaurants, favorite stores, favorite products. Why are they our favorites? All right? And then why can't we use that same knowledge to turn right around and be that for somebody else? Okay? So as consumers, I don't think we're very smart a lot of the times. I think we've been programmed to a certain degree, and I think that we're just running those programs and we're not actually like thinking why and how to make them better? Does that make sense? Lesley Logan 16:17  Yeah, no, it really does. It shocks me when people don't really understand cookies on their phone and on their devices. I use them to help me. Brad makes fun of me. My husband makes money because I, like, will intentionally click on an ad that I want to get served later on. Because I'm like, I'm not ready to buy that thing right now, but I don't want to forget this thing. And instead of, like, writing down what I want, I'm like, nope, I'll just let that hit me up later. And I intentionally, I use the algorithm to serve me what I want. I'm always looking for positive stuff, and then I'm always telling it what I want to buy, so it serves me those things. But a lot of people are like, just taking things as they come, not really having that discernment.Nick Hiter 16:51  You're taking responsibility. How many people don't do social media? They just blame the algorithm. What is the algorithm exactly that you're blaming? And first of all, how do you take ownership of it. That's the only way you can fix it. If you place blame, you give somebody else ownership, which means you've removed yourself from being a part of the solution. Last time I checked, the people that solve the most problems make the most money. So you're either a victim or a survivor and they look and smell a lot like a quitter versus a finisher. Okay. God hides the gifts and the things finished. And the end of something is the beginning of something else. And if you quit, you don't get the end. You don't get the gift. Okay. And no matter what storm you're in, dude, it runs out of rain. Lesley Logan 17:31  Yeah. Oh my gosh. You guys, everyone could just hit rewind on that. That was really brilliant. That was really amazing. Nick Hiter 17:35  Thank you. Lesley Logan 17:36  Yeah, I think a lot of people see an obstacle as a sign that they're not supposed to do something. Oh, my posts aren't they're not landing. So I'm not good at this. I'm not supposed to be doing this. And this is a sign I'm not supposed to do it. It's just the obstacle that you have to get over because you need the muscle, you need the feedback, you need to learn this lesson so that where you're going you are prepared for the next thing. Nick Hiter 17:55  Yeah, everybody that's considered successful, or they get paid well to do whatever it is they do. They're good at it. Okay, so think about it. There's companies that spend six or seven figures a month on their digital marketing, and you spend $400 and you don't know a lot, and the company that you hired, you really don't know why you hired them, other than boy, I sure hope they nail this for me. But again, as consumers, we shop places based on information that we've gathered about that entity or that business or that product. But then, when it comes to this type of stuff, we hire stuff. We hire companies or agencies. We just cross our fingers and go like, I hope they get it right. Like, how do you know if you hired the right person? How do you know if you hired the right agency? What are you measuring and how long does it take for them to get you those results? Did you ask those questions? Are expectations being managed? I have clients myself that'll spend 9, 10, 12 grand over a couple months, which ain't a lot, and they feel like, man, I should be making millions by now. I'm like, well, if that's all it took, then why would anybody spend a million dollars on a Super Bowl ad? If that's all it took to make millions. Just, hey, man, throw six grand at this little company on Instagram, and they're going to make you millions. Nobody would do anything else. So it's just, it's those expectations.Lesley Logan 19:06  Yeah, you know, I love those questions. You gave out. We hired someone. Oh, from an agency, and it was for our YouTube channel. And I definitely thought I did the research. I asked the questions, because we've hired companies before, when we first started our business, and definitely didn't ask those questions. We didn't really know what to ask. So I felt like I asked it. They set the expectations of like, this is what our goal is for your channel, and this is what we've done for other channels and da, da, da. And within five months, everything was awesome. And within five months, I'm like, this is I'm looking at, even if we compound what growth we've had, we're not going to get to the goal you set. We're certainly not going to get to the realistic goal I set. What are we doing here? We have a year-long contract. We have time to rectify the ship. Let's go. And two months later, things hadn't changed. So I continued to raise like, here are my concerns. Here is this thing. And so I laughed, because when we got to the point where we could renew the contract, I was like, are you even asking me? I have been telling you specifically what I'm looking for based on what you told me, based on what you sold me, and now I love that you raised your rates. I love that everyone should raise the rates every year. It's great, but you're raising rates, and you didn't even get me, there was, you didn't even give me 10% of the results we talked about. So you have some work to do, but it's not going to be on me, and it's my fault for allowing us to do a year-long contract. Next time, I'll probably want to do something different so we can have a way out if it's not working the way we expected. And so you also can ask all the questions, and it cannot, it still not go the way you want, and you don't have to get met. I'm not going to blame her. I have to take responsibility. What did I miss? What did I not, what did I not ask? Where was I not super clear on what I expected? And so the next time I know better. And the truth is, like we did learn a lot, our channel grew tremendously, just not to the point that it even paid for what we were paying for them. So it's not all bad. Nothing is all bad. I think we get to learn from it. You talk about the personal brand is so important. So, reputation online. With digital marketing, a lot of people, you said it already, like people like, pay an agency and then they hope and pray. I think a lot of people don't understand what digital marketing is. And like, how a lot of people that we coach, they'll post like, come take my class. And I'm not gonna lie, guys, on the day that we're recording this, I did a post which I have to do for this tour. We launched a tour, and it's basically like tour's happening. Here's what it is. The only people gonna get excited about that, people who know what the tour is. So I'll have other digital marketing I have to do later that actually explains things and educates and inspires and does all this stuff. But what is the difference between a digital marketing strategy where people just post, buy my stuff, come take my class, and one that actually grows a business?Nick Hiter 21:40  First of all, like I heard one time, the riches are in the niches. Okay, so that what that means to me is specificity, like, it's specific, okay, so let's use, like a neurosurgeon. Would you go to that person for sports rehab? That's not their specialty, right? So digital marketing is massive. Let's just talk about how you compare it to, like money, because we were having a big accounting meeting this morning. So on a business, there's revenue and there's expenses. You take revenue, you subtract expenses, whatever is left, and you want to grow that number, week over week, day over day, shift over shift, month over month, year over year, well, over here. Well, then you've got access to lines of credit. So what's that mean? There's accessible lines of credit, and then are you paying principal or interest when you take out money on those lines of credit. Same thing with credit cards, except credit cards, now you have rewards that you can manage. So like even with your growing, your money on your revenue, on your business. But how are you using cash in cash out lines of credit and then credit cards, which are another form of lines of credit, but again, they have rewards versus bank lines of credit or homeowners lines of credits and stuff. They're different. So it's understanding how you win in each space. It's like, you don't hire a company that's great at YouTube, and it's a bit like, man, why aren't you going to my Instagram? Okay? So again, what are you hiring for? And you have to market to a lot of people–vegetarian, see the steakhouse commercial on TV. It happens, you know what I mean? But like, even if you're going to advertise on a network, you're going to pick like the right network based on the right audience, based on the right demographic of who's watching it at that time, there's all this information that is used to make these decisions, but we don't always use those. A lot of times we're just scratching the surface, and again, that's where you're crossing your fingers. How do you know you hired the right company? How do you know you hired the right company? And you got to have things that you can measure. And before I hire anybody, I like to have those on the front end. All right, it's a year-long contract. After 90 days, how do I know if we're on track? After 150 days how do I know if we're on track? You know what I mean? 3-6-9-12 months down the road, 30 days later, how do I know if we're on track? And what can I do differently? And the moment you say, the moment you place blame on somebody else, subconsciously, you're telling yourself they're the only ones that can fix that problem. Everything's Nick's fault, I promise. Because it's the only way I can fix it. It has to be my fault, because that's the only way I can take ownership to fix it. So even when I hire people, if they're not hitting the measurements that I want, it's my fault, because then I'm going to go to them and say, what can we do to fix this, versus just, what can you do? What are you going to do to fix this? You have to ask that question too. When you say we, there's their part and there's my part, and if I did my part and they didn't do their part, now, we part ways.Lesley Logan 24:16  Yeah, yeah. And I think also it's even possible to do your part for them to do their part, and it still not be the right parts. And you have to, and those are the hardest times to part ways, because it's like, it's, you know, we're either missing another part or we're not the right parts for this project. And we have to.Nick Hiter 24:33  And that's based on the relationship. If I met my wife, who is the lady who is my wife today, and we got married tomorrow, like there's not a lot of research or knowledge that we've gained about each other, so we're going to find out a lot later. There's a certain amount of due diligence that's required on all parties to make sure they're a good fit for both. And as a vendor that people hire, it's important to me that I am the right vendor, so I'm always encouraging them to do the right research, and then I'm again, Everything's my fault. The company chose me and I wasn't the right person. It's my fault. I didn't do enough due diligence on the front end, you know what I'm saying? So again, communication, everything goes two directions. Lesley Logan 25:07  Yeah, we interviewed Daniella Mestyanek Young, who survived a cult, and we were talking about, because I have communities, and I was like, yeah, I'm always trying to make sure I don't have a cult. Like, I'm always, always trying to make sure I'm not creating a cult, because I don't want to, I don't want to be a cult leader. That's a lot of pressure and the answer, like anyone could leave at anytime time, is not the same, because that's true of most cults. But I said to her, I said, no, we're pretty clear. If we're not the right fit for you, because there are some people who want coaching from me, and they're like, well, I want you like, I'm not going to do the work for you. You have to actually come to me before you create the problem. Ideally be great before you. I've had people like, I signed this contract, and now I'm like, oh, I can't help you now, you've got to get a lawyer. This is beyond my coaching business, so I'm trying, we try really hard to be as the vendor. Like, here's what we're really good at. What do you need? Okay, we can't do that, but we can do this. And if that's what you want help on, we'll do that. And if that's not, it's totally okay. And I think that's really important, because for everyone listening, because it is hard to say no to money, it's hard to say no just and also you could be like, well, I can talk about that. Like, I could help them. Yeah, but it's not the thing that you want to be helping them with, and it's not the thing that you're the best to help them with. And like you said, it the riches are in the niches. You'll have more energy, you'll have more growth if you're helping people, the thing that you're most able to do. And so I think that's a really important message that you gave us. It's like, make sure that you, the person who was doing the thing is also the right fit for the person buying or hiring the thing. Nick Hiter 26:31  I love using plays on words too, to change people's paradigm or their perspective, meaning like using the word cult. You know, well, cult is the root word of culture. I think we would all agree. We'd want a great culture, which is the form of some form of a cult. Even Bruce Lee said, "The words that you say to yourself are so powerful because letters, when you do something to them form a word, you spell them. So when you use words, you're casting a spell on your own mind, right? Just based on the roots of those words. Communication, well, isn't that a form of community? You know what I mean? The words that we use all the time. Brad taught me a really valuable lesson one time, because I was always told, be humble, be kind. The Bible says, be humble to the Lord, but nobody else. Because if you look up the definition of humble, it's actually low thought or opinion of oneself. I was always told, be humble, dude. Do I really want to have low opinion of myself. No, I'll be humble to the Lord, but that's the only person. That's the only thing. You know what I mean. So we use all these words all the time, and actually don't know what they mean.Lesley Logan 27:30  Yeah, I know. And the thing is, you guys can ask, you can ask your phone really easily. So just yesterday, my husband and I were talking, I used the word titrate and he goes, titrate. I'm like, well, it means people can titrate, they can actually add or take out based on what they need. And he looked up the actual definition. It was mostly like, for medication. I was like, it works at this particular instance as well. But yeah, it's important look them up.Nick Hiter 27:55  When you use the word humble, if me and you have different definitions of that word, we're not actually saying talking about the same thing, you know? So I was given a keynote one time. We were talking about mindset, right? When mindset became a word everybody used it all the time. So I'm talking about mindset. And I just happened to look out over the crowd, and I was like, I just got this vibe, like there was like, 15 different looks coming back at me, which means there's 15 different opinions out there. So I was like, guys, what's the definition of mindset? I asked eight people and got eight different definitions. So we were actually talking about eight different things and didn't even know it. Even though we were communicating, the communication wasn't happening. Lesley Logan 28:32  The impact was not of the intention. There's this amazing show on Netflix I love to watch. It's called Physique 100, Physique, yeah, Physical: 100 and it's a Korean show, and they take 100 people in Korea, and they do this physical competition, and it's a see who is the best physique, right? And there's these guys who can lift cars, and there's also, like, a rock climber, and there's someone who does, like mountain climbing, like fire stuff, and then they put it through challenges, and obviously different physiques do better at different challenges. But it was so funny because the translation, since it's Korean, they're translating and people are saying, you have the best physique. I like your physique. And it was so weird because in English translation, it's a little superficial, and especially at the time it was coming out with body positivity, I was like, this is not going to land well, I think they should have translated this just a little bit differently, because this exact translation is not how we use the word, and so it still did okay, but I think you're correct, like, we have to know what the thing be on the same page of a definition. And that's also like, when you go back to the marketing and your personal branding, like you're talking about communications, like making sure that you are using that where the words that your audience, that you're trying to serve is that's how they use those words. It's the words that they use. So that way they really feel like you're communicating with them. Nick Hiter 29:47  In the world of sports, some of the greatest coaches, when they're talking about these things, like you can watch coach prime Deion Sanders in their classroom, they show a lot of footage of that, and literally, like on the screen behind him will be a word with the definition that they're talking about. So he's making sure that his entire team is talking about the exact same thing. They wear a uniform. Well, what's the definition of uniform? It's the same, right? So that's what teams do. Going back to the world of baseball, which may or may not resonate with your audience, but like Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, were two of the best to ever do it, all right? One guy hit almost just shy of 700 home runs and one guy hit a few 100, okay, but one guy won six championships and one guy won one so who's the better of the two? Derek Jeter would say, well, I am. They'd say, well, he hit almost 700 home runs and you hit 250 or whatever it is. He'd say, you didn't ask who was the best home run hitter. You said who was the best player and the best players win the most games, win the most championships, right? That's how you gage. Is that a track star? Well, they won the most gold records, so they're the best that ever was. So again, when you're even asking, who's the best player, what are you making those decisions off of? What are you measuring? Lesley Logan 30:52  Yeah. Feel like that's the theme here. Like, what are we measuring? And I think something that I try really hard with this podcast, with each person who's listening, be it till you see it is acting as if the thing, person, goal you want to have is happening right now, because that changes how you show up. But then you also need to know how to measure that. Is it happening? Otherwise it is going to school for 13 years. I'm wondering when you graduate now, I completely understand why we have random graduations. You graduate from kindergarten, then a few years later, sixth grade, then eighth grade, they keep helping you out. This has been amazing. I want to know what you're excited about right now, like, what's coming up for you? Because you know you're someone who doesn't sit still. You are constantly challenging yourself. It's proof, I'm based on just like, how you've talked about what it is that you've grown and what you do here. So what are you excited about that's coming up?Nick Hiter 31:38  As a man of faith, it's crazy how just things are put in front of you. We've been very aggressive for the past few years in growth, in business revenue, helping people hope all those things and like, all of a sudden, my news feed, just out of the blue, got flooded with, like, I have a daughter at home, she just turned three. It wasn't that long ago I was holding her and like, gratefulness is what I'm most excited about in the fact that, like, what's been put on my news feed is parents with their infants that just got heart transplants, or literally, like five days before my son left me, you know. And one of my clients I just found out didn't even know this, that as a parent, he had lost a child before, so all of a sudden, I looked around and realized how great I have it. And that took a lot of, that removed a lot of the frustration that I've been feeling, because I want to grow faster and realize that, like all right, all this is happening for reasons, it comes with a great responsibility, and it all starts with gratefulness. You can't have a bad day if you're grateful. A bad day and a good day is a choice. Okay, stuff's always going to happen, but how you react to it, or how you respond to it, that's what makes the good or the bad day. Okay, are you grateful for the problem or not? And if you're grateful for the problem, you're grateful for the solution. And man, it was a great day. So for me, I'm most excited about the gratitude that I'm going to be allowed to have and share with other people. Lesley Logan 33:09  Yeah, I actually think that's really, especially as someone who likes to move fast, and it can also be harder when you have a team. Yes, you can move fast, but also it's it you go farther with a team, that's what they say. You move fast, go alone, go far, have people with you. And so there has to be a different measurement, and that's something that I've been really I had a coach recently say he's like in the last six years, I missed every goal I've ever set for this business, and I'm the most successful I've ever been. And he said, if you're hitting every goal, you're not setting, your goals high enough, and really should be asking yourself, like, am I acting like the person who could have hit that goal as the team acting like that? And if so, then it was a success, and we can measure that based on these things that improved. And it's so easy, you know, I have had listeners and people we coach who go, I'm not hitting these numbers that I wanted to hit. I'm just like, I'm not good at this. And it's like, you're not good at this. We set a goal that was going to challenge you. You got really close. That doesn't, it's not failure, like there's improvement there. And if we had it hit, it like we didn't, we probably could have set the goal a little higher. I love the way you said that, because we do have a choice of whether we see it as good or bad. We have a channel in our coaching group. It's called, I need a moment. And you're allowed to, like, have a moment and just blurt it out. But there is a rule, and what I love is that our members uphold this rule. If I'm not in there, if you don't immediately go to the wins channel and share a win, people are like, this is terrible, but you got to post a win. It has to be right now. Can't be later today. Has to be right now, because if you have time to bitch, you have time to win. So they're very on top of it, and it's so fun, because now what people do is they just go to the win channel and they go, all right, I was going to have a moment, but I'm actually seeing that losing this client is the greatest thing ever, because I didn't want to work at 9am and so, you know, it's really, it really is a choice, and so thank you for reminding us. We're gonna take a brief break and then we're gonna find out where people can find you, follow you or work with you. Lesley Logan 35:06  All right. Nick, where do you like to hang out? What's your favorite socials? How can people connect with you more?Nick Hiter 35:10  YouTube and Instagram are the two that we're focused on the most, just because I feel like that's where we're having the most impact right now. And honestly, my son is kicking my tail on YouTube. Like, holy cow, he found his little niche, and he is freaking crushing. I'm talking like he's grown 14,000 subscribers in 90 days. Lesley Logan 35:28  Wow. That is impressive. I love YouTube. I love my viewers on YouTube. I love even the ones that say where it thanks me. They're my favorite.Nick Hiter 35:36  Man. YouTube hasn't always been the biggest Nick Hiter fan, so we're working on changing that, taking responsibility and fixing that, and we've brought on some new team members that are going to focus on that, which we're really excited about. But Instagram is great. Everything's @NickHiter. My website's at nickhiter.com you can get to everything from nickhiter.com even if you're interested in booking for a Keynote or booking me on a podcast appearance like this, or anything else. nickhiter.com, all my socials are @NickHiter.Lesley Logan 36:01  Perfect. Love that. And you guys, his podcast is called Hitstreak, so you can listen to it wherever you listen to this one, unless you're on the OPC app to listen to this one. You'll have to go to your podcast. Listen to a different one. Okay, you have actually given us a lot of nuggets, some great gems. I'm really excited for this, but just in case people need some not too long, didn't listen, but just an action they can take from today, what is something bold, executable, intrinsic or targeted that they can do to be it till they see it?Nick Hiter 36:30  To be it till you see it, Wayne Gretzky said, you win the game before you ever step out on the ice. Okay? So, like, life's an offensive sport, you don't win the championship by accident. You chose, okay? You chose that that was the goal you wanted, and then you did the required work, and then a lot of things had to happen. And if everything went right, you became the champion, right? But if you didn't win the championship this year, assuming it's sports and you're not aging out, then you know what you need to work on to improve to win next year. Okay? That's life, man. Life's an offensive sport. And what you're saying to yourself, again, going back to that Bruce Lee thing, you're casting spells on yourself with the words that you say. In my town, the most common greeting we need is, how are you doing? Right? So they say, Nick, how you doing? I'm unstoppable. I said it to you when I got here today.Nick Hiter 36:34  Totally I was like, I love that. Nick Hiter 36:38  Everytime I do that for two reasons. One, I've said it enough times that I actually believe it. Okay. So again, everything takes repetition, and two, people remember it, because most common response is, I'm good. Well, guess what? That's all you're going to be. That's all you're going to be. You know what I mean? So to be it till you see it, like Brad told me about the power of visualization. Some people call it manifestation. First of all, if you're going to visualize, visualize with a partner, find somebody that's going the same place you're going, because you get there twice as fast, all right. But Brad said, Nick, what kind of house you want to move into next? A big one? Well, he's like, what does that even mean? Big is a reference. It's different to everybody else. How about you say this big house. And this is the wall that my TV is going to go on, and this is the chair I'm going to sit in when I watch that TV. He's like, do you want to own a jet? Well, what's the logo that's going to be on the seats of the jet? He's like, that is being it till you see it. That's visualization, right? So, like, everything you do has got to be on purpose. And the difference between a major league pitcher and a little league pitcher is the size target they can hit. Okay? So the more specific you are with your targets or your goals, the better chances you have to hit them. Lesley Logan 38:18  Oh, I love this. You guys, it is so accurate, my brick-and-mortar studio in LA that I have only for two years. And that is absolutely wonderful, I visualized. I said, that is where my, I looked at the window of the building, I said, that's my studio right there, and it wasn't available when I walked by. Month later, I kept going, that's my studio. Just every time I walked by, I just picture my studio being there. One day, I opened up searching like for rental space, commercial rental space and it was available. And I was like, that's my spot. And when Covid happened, we visualized this house. Brad and I sat down together, and it wasn't like, we're gonna get a house. It was like, how many bedrooms? What are in those but what is each bedroom being used for? Where in Vegas is it at? And so exactly when the real estate agent sent us this house, I was like, that's the house. We like, we didn't even have a car when we moved to Vegas. We, like, rented a car, drove here. We're like, we're buying, this is the house we're buying. And we celebrate that four years ago this week. So the more sense of you are things really do happen. Nick, you're amazing. This is a wonderful conversation. I'm so jazzed up because of you. And like I said in your podcast, like you took my energy levels and positive another level, you just did it again. So thank you so much. Y'all. How are you going to use these tips in your life? Please let Nick and I know. Tag us both. Share this with a friend who needs to hear it. Maybe you've got a friend who, like needs to remind themselves that they're unstoppable, or maybe they're trying to figure out their personal brand. You can just send this to them. You don't have to even remember the things. You can just go here listen to this, because that is how we change people's lives, and also, when you change people's lives around you, your life changes too. We'll all get to work together. So thank you all so much, and until next time, be it till you see it. Lesley Logan 39:49  That's all I got for this episode of the Be It Till You See It Podcast. One thing that would help both myself and future listeners is for you to rate the show and leave a review and follow or subscribe for free wherever you listen to your podcast. Also, make sure to introduce yourself over at the Be It Pod on Instagram. I would love to know more about you. Share this episode with whoever you think needs to hear it. Help us and others Be It Till You See It. Have an awesome day. Be It Till You See It is a production of The Bloom Podcast Network. If you want to leave us a message or a question that we might read on another episode, you can text us at +1-310-905-5534 or send a DM on Instagram @BeItPod. Brad Crowell 40:32  It's written, filmed, and recorded by your host, Lesley Logan, and me, Brad Crowell. Lesley Logan 40:37  It is transcribed, produced and edited by the epic team at Disenyo.co. Brad Crowell 40:41  Our theme music is by Ali at Apex Production Music and our branding by designer and artist, Gianfranco Cioffi. Lesley Logan 40:48  Special thanks to Melissa Solomon for creating our visuals. Brad Crowell 40:52  Also to Angelina Herico for adding all of our content to our website. And finally to Meridith Root for keeping us all on point and on time.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/be-it-till-you-see-it/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Guest host Marcus Whitney, founder of Jumpstart Nova, the first venture fund in America focused on Black-led startups, interviews Dr. James E.K. Hildreth, PhD, MD, to hear his personal journey of struggle and triumph as a young Black man in health care, how his childhood impacted his path through elite higher education and why he continues to encourage others to take chances on their goals.

Join Kyle for a chat with Marcus Whitney. Marcus is (among many other things) a healthcare VC, board member, keynote speaker, World Master Jiu Jitsu Champion, and bestselling author of the book Create and Orchestrate.In this episode:Venture capital, particularly early stage fundingThe business and investing landscape in Nashville, and why it's a hot marketPortfolio construction, and a lot of baseball analogiesThe four burner theory of work-life balanceTime as a more valuable resource than money (manage it accordingly!)Cookies.. So many cookiesAnd a whole lot more!Marcus's story is awesome, and so are his insights… A must listen for anyone interested in venture capital or in thinking differently about their professional journey. 

There is constant pressure to move forward and improve in our lives and careers and today we are joined by an incredible keynote speaker, athlete, author, and guru of tapping into creative power, Marcus Whitney to discuss how he plans on getting to his ‘next level.' Tuning in, you'll hear all about Marcus' relationship with exercise and how a mindset shift from working out to exhausting his body made him become a true athlete before we delve into why he has felt that 2023 has been his least creative year. We discuss what the next step of his life means to him, how he plans to get there, the idea of seeing scaling as the creative act, and the importance of adopting a beginner's mindset. Finally, Marcus shares his wonderful experience of therapy. To hear all this and more and even be reminded that we are all simply human, press play now!Key Points From This Episode:Introducing today's guest, Marcus Whitney. How exercise helps calm down Marcus' busy life and exhausting your body versus a workout. Why Marcus has seen this year as his least creative year. What the ‘next level' of his life and career mean to Marcus and how he plans to get there. The importance of allowing yourself to be a beginner in order to achieve success eventually. Adopting the mindset of scaling as a creative act.Marcus tells us about his cathartic experience in therapy. Links Mentioned in Today's Episode:Marcus WhitneyMarcus Whitney on LinkedInMarcus Whitney on XMarcus Whitney on InstagramMarcus Whitney on YouTubeCreate and OrchestrateJeremy UtleyJeremy Utley EmailJeremy Utley on XJeremy Utley on LinkedIn

Jeremy Utley is one of the world's leading experts in innovation. Formerly the Director of Executive Education at Stanford's renowned Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (aka "the d.school"), and now as an Adjunct Professor at Stanford University, his courses have been experienced by nearly a million students of innovation worldwide. He advises corporate leaders on how to imbed the methods and mindsets of design thinking into their organizations and works with professionals to cultivate a robust personal creative practice.As co-founder and host of "Stanford's Masters of Creativity," Jeremy shone the spotlight on exemplars of creative practice across disciplinary boundaries, from entrepreneurs like Randy Hetrick (TRX) to authors like Kim Scott (Radical Candor) and Daniel Pink (Drive, To Sell Is Human).He now hosts the "Paint & Pipette Podcast," which celebrates female founders (season 1), black creators (season 2). Season three -- currently in production -- features corporate innovation leaders like Astro Teller (Google X), Kevin Kelly (WIRED), and Ed Catmull (Pixar), authors like Seth Godin (Purple Cow, Linchpin), Liz Wiseman (Multipliers) and Rita McGrath (Seeing Around Corners), and entrepreneurs like Liz Tran, Marcus Whitney, and Jason Mayden.A self-proclaimed “recovering MBA, spreadsheet junkie, and management consultant,” he now studies innovation in large enterprises and startups. He advises CEOs and senior leadership teams in the United States, Europe, and Asia on growth and innovation strategy, and has led scores of capacity-building initiatives worldwide. His current research explores the intersection of generative AI, enterprise innovation, collaboration, and creativity. He's a prolific blogger and co-author (alongside Perry Klebahn) of “Ideaflow: The Only Business Metric That Matters,” published by Penguin Portfolio Oct 25th, 2022. Link to claim CME credit: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3DXCFW3CME credit is available for up to 3 years after the stated release dateContact CEOD@bmhcc.org if you have any questions about claiming credit.

e.041 is another live audience recording! Taped in partnership with Marcus Whitney and his awesome podcast Health: Further, this one takes a unique form. Jump into a wide conversation from the macroeconomic environment entrepreneurs are facing currently to broadening the health equity conversation. The conversation explores the perspectives of Kedar Mate (Institute for Healthcare Improvement), Kameron Matthews (CityBlock Health), Anna Haghgooie (Valtruis) and Michael Gray (Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg).

In this episode we share how a college dropout went from waiting tables to becoming the owner of a Major League Soccer Team and the most powerful VC in the healthcare industry. We uncover the incredible strategy that can be used to break into ANY industry and become a dominant player sharing the stage with top CEOs, even without any connections or relationships. We share why you don't have to be an expert to leverage the credibility of others, the power of public speaking, what it means to orchestrate a deal and much more with our guest Marcus Whitney. Marcus Whitney is an entrepreneur, an author, and a founder or co-founding partner in many businesses include Health:Further, Jumpstart, and the Nashville FC professional soccer team. Marcus is the author of Create and Orchestrate, a book for entrepreneurs about living a creative, purposeful life. He also runs the podcast Marcus Whitney's Audio Universe. Marcus has been recognized by several business publications including Techcrunch, Fast Company, The Atlantic and many more. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

One of the subjects we keep coming back to here on the Health Technology Podcast is healthcare inequities. COVID-19 revealed a lot of very stark racial inequities in our systems. And a lot of our podcast guests are out there doing the incredibly difficult work of addressing these disparities. Our podcast guest Marcus Whitney is one of them. Marcus created Jumpstart Nova in 2020 to fund historically underfunded Black startups. He was also a founding partner of Jumpstart Health Investors, CEO of Health Further conference, and co-founder of Trilliant Health. All that, and the best-selling author of “Create and Orchestrate”. In this episode, we discuss how to navigate the industry, and what lessons you can take from his amazing career. Do you have any thoughts? Please email us at hello@rosenmaninstitute.org. We post new episodes every Monday. “The Health Technology Podcast” is produced by Herminio Neto, hosted by Christine Winoto, and engineered by Andrew John Rojek

At this year's ASAE Annual Meeting, keynote speaker Marcus Whitney encouraged association professionals to reexamine their perception of innovation and offered practical lessons on how organizations could be creative and goal-oriented. But what else did we learn from #ASAE22? Elisa and Andrew are joined by association community specialist, blogger, and fellow podcaster, Kiki L'Italien to discuss the lessons learned from Nashville.You can listen to Kiki's podcast at https://associationchat.com. 

Over the past two years, disparities in healthcare and race in the American system have amplified. Not only are people of color not receiving adequate healthcare services, but founders of color who operate in the healthcare sector struggle to receive necessary funds for their ventures. In today's episode, Kathryne Cooper, Partner at Jumpstart Nova, and Marcus Whitney, Founder and Managing Partner of Jumpstart Nova joins Brynn Plummer to discuss why they started a fund that invests exclusively in black healthcare founders. They'll also share how their company Jumpstart Nova emerged and why they're passionate about investing in healthcare solutions for today and for the future. 

Episode 38 of The Hitstreak, a podcast where we talk about anything and everything!    This week we're joined by Marcus Whitney, Serial Entrepreneur and Minority Owner of the Nashville Soccer Club. We're talking Innovation in Healthcare, starting the Nashville Soccer Club, serial entrepreneurship, and more!  Let us know in the comments what YOU want to hear about next!    About our Guest: From college-dropout, waiter to self-taught, successful entrepreneur.   Marcus Whitney is a Founding Partner of Jumpstart Health Investors (JHI), the most active early-stage healthcare venture capital firm in America. Of JHI's funds, Marcus leads Jumpstart Nova, the first healthcare venture fund in America investing exclusively in Black founded and led startups.   Marcus is also co-founder and minority owner of Major League Soccer team, Nashville Soccer Club.   Marcus is the author of the Amazon #1 best-selling book "Create and Orchestrate", about claiming your Creative Power through entrepreneurship. His work has been featured by Entrepreneur, CNBC, Inc., NPR, Fast Company, and The Atlantic.    Marcus is a member of the board of Celtic Bank, the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation, Instruction Partners, OZ Arts, and Launch Tennessee.   Marcus actively competes in Jiu-Jitsu, and trains on the competition team at Renzo Gracie Nashville. He is married and has two adult sons.  Follow and contact:  Social: @themarcuswhitney marcuswhitney.com

This week, we're exploring why it behooves businesses and business leaders to look at their users, consumers, customers, etc., as humans first. Slightly shifting perspective to consider the humanity behind purchasing decisions can lead to greater loyalty, more frequent use, and genuinely happier users, all of which add up to more business success and better outcomes for the world. Together with my guests, we discuss how human-centric decisions apply to various industries and how you can build better relationships that lead to success for all of humanity. Guests this week include Charlie Cole, Neil Redding, Dr. Rumman Chowdhury, Ana Milicevic, Cathy Hackl, Marcus Whitney, and David Ryan Polgar. The Tech Humanist Show is a multi-media-format program exploring how data and technology shape the human experience. Hosted by Kate O'Neill. Produced and edited by Chloe Skye, with research by Ashley Robinson and Erin Daugherty at Interrobang and input from Elizabeth Marshall. To watch full interviews with past and future guests, or for updates on what Kate O'Neill is doing next, subscribe to The Tech Humanist Show hosted by Kate O'Neill channel on YouTube, or head to KOInsights.com. Full Transcript Kate O'Neill: When you buy something, you're a customer. But — to paraphrase a line from the movie Notting Hill — you're also just a person, standing in front of a business, asking it to treat you like a human being. Over the last two decades plus working in technology, I've often held job titles that were centered on the experience of the user, the consumer, or the customer. In fact, the term ‘customer experience' has been in use since at least the 1960s, and has become so common that a recent survey of nearly 2,000 business professionals showed that customer experience was the top priority over the next five years. And while generally speaking this emphasis is a good thing, my own focus over the past decade or so has shifted. I've realized that the more macro consideration of human experience was a subtle but vital piece missing from the discussion at large. Because when we talk about experience design and strategy, no matter what word we use to qualify it—customer, user, patient, guest, student, or otherwise—we are always talking about humans, and the roles humans are in relative to that experience. In order to refocus on human experience instead of customer, you have to change the way you think about your buyers. You owe it to yourself to think not just about how people can have a better experience purchasing from your company, but also what it means to be fully human within the journey that brings them to that moment, and the uniquely human factors that drive us to make decisions leading to purchase or loyalty. A recent piece by Deloitte shared in the Wall Street Journal echoes this idea and offers five ways to be more human-centric in business: 1) be obsessed by all things human, 2) proactively identify & understand human needs before they are expressed, 3) execute with humanity, 4) be authentic, and 5) change the world. That's what today's episode is about: using empathy and strategic business-savvy to understand what it means to be human, and how that intersects with the worlds of technology and business. Neil Redding: “When you look at everything that has to do with buying and selling of things, it's so closely tied with what we care about, what we value most, value enough as humans to spend our hard-earned money on. And so, the realm of retail reflects something really deeply human, and profoundly human.” Kate: That was Neil Redding, brand strategist and self-described “Near Futurist” focused on the retail space. He's right—buying and selling things has become deeply entwined with humanity. But when we purchase something, it's not because we think of ourselves as “customers” or “end users.” We buy because we have a need or desire to fulfill, and sometimes that need is purely emotional. A ‘customer' buys your product—a human buys your product for a reason. 84% of consumers say that being treated like a person instead of a number is an important element to winning their business. It does seem like business professionals are catching on, as 79% say it's impossible to provide great service without full context of the client and their needs. But understanding something isn't the same as putting it into practice—only 34% of people say they feel like companies actually treat them as individuals. One major difference is the question of framing. Customer experience frames the motivator as, ‘how effectively the business operates the events related to a purchase decision.' It drives companies to focus on improving their own metrics, like bringing down call center wait times. These may yield worthwhile outcomes, but they're inherently skewed to the business perspective and aligned to the purchase transaction. Focusing instead on human experience shifts the perspective to the person outside the business, and what they want or need. It allows consideration of the emotional state they may be bringing to the interaction, which leaves greater room for empathy and context. A human experience mindset suggests that each individual's unique circumstances are more important than aggregate business metrics, because the reason why that person is interacting with your company probably can't be captured by measuring, say, how long they might have to wait on the phone. You could bring that wait time to zero and it still may not have any impact on whether the person feels heard, respected, or satisfied with the outcome — or whether they want to engage with you again. But as fuzzy as it is to talk about human experience, we know that measurement is fundamental to business success, so we have to find a way to define useful metrics somehow. For each business, that number is likely a bit different. So how do you know whether your customers feel like they're being treated as humans instead of just numbers? Charlie Cole, CEO of the flower delivery website ftd.com, believes one answer is obsessing over customer satisfaction metrics. Charlie Cole: “The best way to win this industry is just kick ass with the customer. We obsess over NPS scores, uh, as kind of leading indicators of LTV scores.” Kate: If you're not familiar with the acronyms, allow me to decipher: NPS stands for Net Promoter Score, which measures how likely the customer is to recommend the business, and LTV in this context means ‘lifetime value,' or the amount a customer may spend at your business over the course of their lifetime. Charlie Cole: “But remember, it's not the receiver's lifetime, it's the sender's lifetime. I mean, think about it. My stepmom is—just had a birthday April 9th, and I sent her a plant. If I went on a website and picked out a Roselia, and she received an Azelia, she's gonna be like, ‘thank you so much, that was so thoughtful of you,' and I'm gonna be pissed, right? And so like, we have to make sure we optimize that sender NPS score. It was shocking to us when we looked into the NPS, when we first got to FTD, our NPS, Kate, was in like the teens! My CTO looked at it and he goes, ‘how is this possible? We send gifts, who doesn't like receiving gifts?' And so we were looking at this stuff and we realized like, this is how you win. And I think when people look at the world of online delivery, there's very few companies that are extremely customer-centric… and in our world it matters. It's births, it's deaths, it's birthdays, it's Mother's Days… it's the most emotional moments of your life that you're relying on us for, so I think that gravitas just goes up to the next level.” Kate: Net Promoter Score offers directional insight about the customer experience, but it still isn't quite measurement of the broader human experience. The typical NPS question is phrased, “How likely is it that you would recommend [company X] to a friend or colleague?”, which forces customers to predict future actions and place themselves into hypothetical or idealistic scenarios. It is also measured on a 1-10 scale, which is pretty arbitrary and subjective — one person's 9 would not be another person's 9. A clearer way to ask this and gain more useful human-centric data would be with simple yes/no questions, asking people about actual past behaviors. For instance, “in the past 6 weeks, have you recommended [company X] to a friend or colleague?” Other alternative measures include PES, or Product Engagement Score, which measures growth, adoption, and stickiness of a given product or service, and doesn't require directly asking customers questions about their past or future habits. Instead, data comes in in real-time and allows for a clear measurement of success relative to a product's usage. While these metrics are useful in various ways, one thing missing from them is emotion. As humans, we are animals deeply driven by our emotions: research from MIT Sloan finds that before humans decide to take an action—any action, including buying something—the decision must first go through a filtering process that incorporates both reason and feelings. Reason leads to conclusions, but emotion leads to action. And if a customer feels frustrated by the customer service they're experiencing—perhaps they feel like they are being treated like a number, and not a person—they'll file a complaint, share on social media, and tell their friends and family to avoid the business. These actions can be quite time-consuming, but people will give up their time to right a wrong they feel they've experienced. All this is to say that if you want to retain human loyalty or attract new people to your business, you have to create a positive emotional response in your customers, which means understanding more about who they are than simply what product they might want. Many businesses have discovered that one of the best ways to create an emotional connection with people is through branding. A great brand image can forge a permanent bond with someone who feels strongly that the company shares their values and practices what they preach. Once someone has connected a brand to their own identity, it becomes much more difficult to convince them to switch to another company—even if that company provides the same product at lower cost—because switching companies feels like losing a part of them. Dr. Rumman Chowdhury, Director of the Machine Learning Ethics, Transparency, and Accountability team at Twitter, explored the concept of branding with me when she came on my show last year. Rumman Chowdhury: “Human flourishing is not at odds with good business. Some of what you build, especially if you're a B2C company, it's about brand. It's about how people feel when they interact with your technology or your product. You are trying to spark an emotion. Why do you buy Coke vs Pepsi? Why do you go to McDonald's vs Burger King? Some of this is an emotional decision. It's also this notion of value. People can get overly narrowly focused on value as revenue generation—value comes from many, many different things. People often choose less ‘efficient' outcomes or less economically sound outcomes because of how it makes them feel. A frivolous example but an extreme example of it would be luxury brands. Apple spends so much money on design. Opening every Apple product is designed to feel like you're opening a present. That was intentional. They fully understand the experience of an individual, in interacting with technology like a phone or a computer, is also an emotional experience.” Kate: If you're able to understand what people connect to about your brand, you can invest into magnifying that image. If your customer loves that you invest into clean energies, it becomes less important how much time they spend on the phone waiting for a service rep. Operational metrics can't show you this emotional resonance, so instead you have to think about what makes you stand out, and why people are attracted to you. Sometimes, however, human emotion has nothing to do with the product or brand in question, and more to do with the circumstances surrounding it. There's perhaps no better example of this than flowers, which can be given for myriad reasons, and usually at the extreme ends of the emotional spectrum. I'll let Charlie Cole explain. Charlie Cole: “For us, it's buyer journey by occasion. So, you are sending flowers for the birth of a newborn. You are sending flowers for the tragic death of a teenager. You are sending flowers for the death of your 96 year old great grandfather. You are sending flowers for your wife's birthday. I would argue that even though the end of all those buyer journeys is ‘flowers,' they are fundamentally different. And you have to understand the idiosyncrasies within those buyer journeys from an emotional component. You have to start with the emotions in mind. You're buying running shoes. The buying journey for like a runner, for like a marathoner, a guy who runs all the time, is emotionally different than someone who just got told they need to lose weight at the doctor. Someone who travels for business all the time versus someone who's taking their first ever international…travel. Like, my wife retold a story the other day to my aunt about how her first European trip was when she won a raffle to go to Austria when she was 17. And her, like, single mom was taking her to Europe, and neither of them had ever been to Europe. That's a different luggage journey than me, who used to fly 300,000 miles a year. And I think that if you take the time to really appreciate the emotional nuance of those journeys, yes there's data challenges, and yes there's customer recognition challenges, so you can personalize it. But I would urge every brand to start with like the emotional amino-acid level of why that journey starts, and then reverse-engineer it from there. Because I think you'll be able to answer the data challenges and the attribution challenges, but I think that's a place where we sometimes get too tech-y and too tactical, as opposed to human.” Kate: Another challenge unique to flowers and other products usually given as gifts is that there are two completely different humans involved in the transaction, each with different expectations and emotions riding on it. Charlie Cole: “There's two people involved in every one of our journeys, or about 92% of them: the buyer, and the receiver. So how do I message to you, I don't want to ruin the surprise! But I need to educate you, and oh yeah, I'm a really really nervous boyfriend, right? I wanna make sure everybody's doing it right, and it's gonna be there on time, and I need to make sure it's going to the right place… So the messaging pathways to the sender and receiver are fundamentally different. If you kind of forget about your buying journey, and imagine everything as a gifting buyer journey, it just changes the messaging component. Not in a nuanced way, but darn near in a reciprocal way.” And while some businesses struggle to connect emotionally with the humans that make up their customer base, the tech industry—and specifically social media companies—seem to fundamentally understand what it is that humans crave, in a way that allows them to use it against us. They thrive because they take something that is quintessentially human—connecting with people and sharing our lives—and turn it into a means for data collection that can then be used to sell us products that feel specifically designed for us. Like most of us, Neil Redding has experienced this phenomenon firsthand. Neil Redding: “We spend more and more of our time in contexts that we are apparently willing to have commercialized, right? Instagram is kind of my go-to example, where almost all of us have experienced this uncanny presentation to us of something that we can buy that's like so closely tied to… I mean, it's like how did you know that this is what I wanted? So myself and people close to me have just said, ‘wow, I just keep buying this stuff that gets presented to me on Instagram that I never heard of before but gets pushed to me as like, yeah it's so easy, and it's so aligned with what I already want. So there's this suffusion of commercial transaction—or at least discovery—of goods that can be bought and sold, y'know, in these moments of our daily lives, y'know, so that increasingly deep integration of commerce and buying and selling of things into our self-expression, into our communication, works because what we care about and what we are willing to buy or what we are interested in buying are so intertwined, right? They're kind of the same thing at some deep level.” Kate: Part of the reason this works is that humans crave convenience. Lack of convenience adds friction to any process, and friction can quickly lead to frustration, which isn't a mind state that leads to more business. The internet and social media has made keeping up with friends and gathering information incredibly convenient, so an advertisement here or there—especially one that looks and feels the same as everything else on our feed—doesn't bother us like it might in other contexts. And when those advertisements have been tailored specifically to our interests, they're even less likely to spark a negative emotion, and may in fact encourage us to buy something that we feel is very “us.” The big question for business leaders and marketers then is how do you digitize your business so that it emphasizes the richness of the human experience? How do you know which technologies to bring into your business, and which to leave aside? There are plenty of established and emerging technologies to choose from: Interactive email helps marketers drive engagement and also provides an avenue for additional data collection. Loyalty marketing strategies help brands identify their best customers and customize experiences for them. Salesforce introduced new features to help humanize the customer service experience with AI-powered conversational chatbots that feel pretty darn close to speaking with an actual human. Virtual and Augmented Reality website options allow customers to interact with products and see them in their hands or living rooms before they buy. With all the choice out there, it can be overwhelming. And t oo often, businesses and governments lean into the “just buy as much tech as possible!” approach without thinking integratively about the applications of said technology. Many companies are using that technology to leverage more data than ever before, hoping to customize and personalize experiences. David Ryan Polgar, a tech ethicist and founder of All Tech Is Human, explains why this method may not yield the results you think—because humans aren't just a collection of data points. David Ryan Polgar: “Are we an algorithm, or are we unique? I always joke, like, my mom always said I'm a, a snowflake! I'm unique! Because, when you think about Amazon and recommendations, it's thinking that your past is predicting your future. And that, with enough data, we can accurately determine where your next step is. Or even with auto-suggestion, and things like that. What's getting tricky is, is that true? Or is it subtly going to be off? With a lot of these auto-suggestions, let's say like text. Well the question I always like to think about is, how often am I influenced by what they said I should say? So if I wanna write, like, ‘have a…' and then it says ‘great day,' well, maybe I was gonna say great day, but maybe I was gonna say good day. And it's subtly different, but it's also influencing kinda, my volition. Now we're being influenced by the very technology that's pushing us is a certain direction. And we like to think of it, ‘well, it's already based on you,' but then that has a sort of cyclical nature to actually extending—” Kate: “Quantum human consciousness or something.” David: “Exactly! Exactly.” Kate: “Like, the moment you observe it, it's changed.” Kate: It's so easy, especially when you work with data, to view humans as output generators. But we're living in an age where people are growing increasingly wary of data collection, which means you may not know as much about the people whose data you've collected as you think you do. Becoming dependent on an entirely data-driven model for customer acquisition may lead to faulty decisions — and may even be seen as a huge mistake five years from now. Instead, I always talk about “human-centric digital transformation,” which means the data and tech-driven changes you make should start from a human frame. Even if you're already adopting intelligent automation to accelerate your operations, in some cases, very simple technologies may belong at the heart of your model. Here's Neil Redding again. Neil Redding: “Using Zoom or FaceTime or Skype is the only technology needed to do what a lot of stores have done during COVID, where their customers expect the store associate interaction when they come to the stores, they just create a one-on-one video call, and the shopper just has this interaction over videochat, or video call, and kind of does that associate-assisted shopping, right? And so you have that human connection, and again, it's nowhere near as great as sitting across a table and having coffee, but it's better than, y'know, a 2-dimensional e-commerce style shopping experience.” Kate: As a parallel to video conferencing, Virtual Reality has opened up avenues for new human experiences of business as well. Cathy Hackl, a metaverse strategist and tech futurist, explained a new human experience she was able to have during COVID that wouldn't have been possible without VR. Cathy Hackl: “I'll give you an example, like with the Wall Street Journal, they had the WSJ Tech Live, which is their big tech conference, and certain parts of it were in VR, and that was a lot of fun! I mean, I was in Spatial, which is one of the platforms, hanging out with Joanna Stern, and with Jason Mims, and like, in this kind of experience, where like I actually got to spend some 1-on-1 time with them, and I don't know if I would have gotten that if I was in a Zoom call, and I don't know if I would have gotten that in person, either.” Kate: Virtual Reality and video technologies have also opened up new avenues for healthcare, allowing patients to conference with doctors from home and only travel to a hospital if absolutely necessary. Marcus Whitney is a healthcare investor and founder of the first venture fund in America to invest exclusively in Black founded and led healthcare innovation companies; he explains that these virtual experiences allow for better happiness, healing, and comfort. Marcus Whitney: “Going forward, telehealth will be a thing. We were already on the path to doing more and more healthcare in the home. It was something that they were trying to stop because, is the home an appropriate place for healthcare to take place? Lo and behold, it's just fine. Patients feel more secure in the home, and it's a better environment for healing, so you're gonna see a lot more of that. I think we're finally gonna start seeing some real breakthroughs and innovation in healthcare. Most of the lack of innovation has not been because we didn't have great thinkers, it has largely been regulatory barriers. Remote patient monitoring was a huge one that came up in the last year, so now we have doctors caring about it. What moves in healthcare is what's reimbursable. They were always trying to regulate to protect people, but then they realized, well, we removed the regulatory barriers and people were fine, so that regulation makes actually no sense, and people should have more choice, and they should be able to do telehealth if they want to.” Kate: And that's just it: humans want choice. We want to feel seen, and heard, and like our opinions are being considered. There's another technology on the horizon that could give people more power over their technology, and therefore freedom and choice, that will likely cause massive change in the marketplace when it is more widely available: Brain-computer interface. Cathy Hackl explains. Cathy Hackl: “So I'm very keen right now on brain-computer interface. The way I'm gonna explain it is, if you've been following Elon Musk, you've probably heard of neuro-link—he's working on BCI that's more internal, the ones I've been trying are all external devices. So I'm able to put a device on that reads my brainwaves, it reads my intent, and it knows that I wanna scroll an iPad, or I've been able to turn on lights using just my thoughts, or play a video game, or input a code… I've been able to do all these things. And I'm very keen on it, very interested to see what's going on… I think the biggest thing that's stuck with me from studying all these technologies and trying them out from an external perspective, is that my brain actually really likes it. Loves the workout. Like, I'm thinking about it, and I'm like, the receptors here, pleasure receptors are like lighting up, I'm like ‘ohmygosh!' So I'm still sitting with that. Is that a good thing? Or a bad thing? I don't know, but I think these technologies can allow us to do a lot of things, especially people with disabilities. If they don't have a hand, being able to use a virtual hand to do things in a virtual space. I think that's powerful.” Kate: That story also illuminates the fact that there are many different types of people, each with different needs. Digital transformation has given people with disabilities a new way to claim more agency over their lives, which creates a brand new potential customer-base, filled with humans who desire freedom and choice as much as the next person. Now, let's talk about some companies who are doing at least a few q things right when it comes to the digital transformation of human experience. Starbucks, for instance. One of the worst parts of shopping in-store was waiting in line, and then the social pressure from the people behind you wishing you would order faster. If you weren't a regular customer, the experience could be overwhelming. When they launched their mobile order app, it tapped into a number of things that made the experience of buying coffee faster and easier, with all sorts of fun customization options that I never knew existed when I only ordered in-store. Now, even brand new customers could order complex coffee drinks — meaning in that one move the company may have brought in new customers and allowed the cost per coffee to increase — all without people feeling pressure from other shoppers, and without the inconvenience of waiting in line. Then there's Wal-Mart, who during the pandemic instituted ‘Wal-Mart pickup,' a service where people can shop online and pick up their goods without ever having to step into the store. The service is technically operating at a financial loss, but Wal-Mart understands that solid branding and convenience are worth more to their company's bottom-line in the long run than the amount of money they're losing by investing into this particular service. Of course, some businesses are better suited for the online-only world than others. As more companies attempt to digitize their businesses, it's incredibly important to tap into the human reasons that people wanted to engage with your business in the first place. In some cases, businesses have failed to make this connection, assuming that “if people liked us as a physical product, then they'll continue using us when we're digital,” or worse, “if we simply make people aware of us, they will become customers!” This assumption ignores human nature, as Ana Milicevic, a longtime digital media executive who is principal and co-founder of Sparrow Digital Holdings, explains. Ana Milicevic: “To be relevant in this direct to consumer world, you also have to approach awareness and customer acquisition differently. And this is the #1 mistake we see a lot of traditional companies make, and not really understand how to pitch to a digital-first, mobile-first consumer or a direct subscriber. They're just not wired to do it that way, and often times the technology stacks that they have in place just aren't the types of tools that can facilitate this type of direct interaction as well. So they're stuck in this very strange limbo where they are committed to continuing to acquire customers in traditional ways, but that's just not how you would go about acquiring a direct customer.” Kate: Acquiring those direct customers requires an understanding of what humans want—a large part of which is meaning. And how people create meaning in their lives is changing as well. Long before the pandemic, trends were already pointing toward a future where we live more of our lives online, but those trends have also been accelerated. So beyond digitizing your business, it may also be useful to invest time, money, and energy into discovering how the humans of the future will create meaning in their lives. Cathy Hackl discussed some of the trends she's seen in her own kids that show how today's children will consume and make purchasing decisions in a very different way than most modern businesses are used to. Cathy Hackl: “Something else that I'm noticing… y'know we're going to brick and mortar, but we're going to brick and mortar less. So you start to see this need for that virtual try-on to buy your makeup, or to buy clothes, and it's also transitioning not only from the virtual try-on into what I'm calling the direct-to-avatar economy. Everything from virtual dresses that you're buying, or custom avatars, y'know you're starting to create this virtualized economy. And this is the reason I always talk about this now, is my son recently did his first communion, and when we said, ‘hey, what do you want as a gift?' he said, ‘I don't want money, I want a Roblox gift card that I can turn into Robucks,'—which is the currency they use inside Roblox—'so that I can buy—whichever gamer's skin.' And, y'know, when I was growing up, my brother was saving up to buy AirJordans. My son doesn't want that, y'know, he wants Robucks, to buy something new for his avatar. This is direct-to-avatar; is direct-to-avatar the next direct-to-consumer?” Kate: Our online avatars represent us. We can customize them to directly express who we feel we are. Part of the reason this idea is so attractive is that many people—increasingly so in the context of online interaction—seek out meaningful experiences as our ‘aspirational' selves. We gravitate to the communities that align with facets of who we wish we were. And perhaps less productively, we may also choose to present the idealized version of ourselves to the world, omitting anything we're embarrassed by or that we feel may paint us in a negative light. But honestly, all of this makes sense in the context of making meaning, because humans are generally the most emotionally fulfilled when we feel empowered to control which ‘self' we present in any given interaction. With this much freedom of choice and expression, and with the complications of the modern supply chain—which I will talk about more in depth in our next episode—it's important to acknowledge that creating convenience and improving human satisfaction aren't going to be easy tasks. Behind the scenes, there is a tremendous amount of work that goes into providing a satisfying customer experience. Let's go back to the example of flowers and see what Charlie Cole has to say. Charlie Cole: “If it's too cold they freeze, if it's too hot they wilt, if UPS is a day late they die. And then, the real interesting aspect—and this isn't unique to flowers—the source is remarkably centralized. So the New York Times estimated that 90-92% of roses that are bought in America for Valentine's Day come from Columbia and Ecuador. And so, if anything goes wrong there, then you really don't have a chance. Imagine the quintessential Valentine's Day order: A dozen long-stem roses, New York City. Easy, right? I used to live on 28th and 6th, so let's say Chelsea. Okay, I've got 7 florists who could do it. Who has delivery capacity? Roses capacity? The freshest roses? The closest to proximity? The closest to the picture in the order? Who has the vase that's in the order? Did they buy roses from us? Because I like to be able to incentivize people based on margins they already have. And so without exaggeration, Kate, we have about 11-12 ranking factors that educate a quality score for a florist, and that's how it starts the process. But then there's all the other things, like how do we know somebody didn't walk into that florist that morning and buy all the roses, right? And so there's this real-time ebb-and-flow of demand because our demand is not ours! They have their own store, they have their own B2B business, they might take orders from some of our competitors. They might have their own website. We have no idea what any given florist happens in real time because they are not captive to us. What we've learned is the place we have to get really really really really good is technology on the forecasting side, on the florist communication side, and the customer communication side. Because I can't control the seeds on the ground in Columbia, but I can really control the communication across the entire network as far as we go, as well as the amounts the we need in various places.” Kate: Creating that small-scale, emotional human moment where someone receives flowers requires immense computing power and collaboration between multiple businesses and workers. Which is part of why Charlie Cole also believes that in some cases, the best way to help your business succeed is to invest in helping other businesses that yours interacts with. Charlie Cole: “Small businesses… I think it's our secret sauce. And I think COVID has shined a light on this: small businesses are the core of our communities. Right? They are the absolute core, and I think it was always nice to say that, but now we know it. And so here's what I think we do better than anybody else: we've invested more in helping our florists run their own small business independently of us than we have about optimizing our marketplace. We launched new POS software. We launched a new local website product where we're like the first person ever to become a reseller for Shopify because we made a custom platform for florists. We're just their website provider. They're actually competing with FTD.com in a lot of ways—but I think that's where we're gonna differentiate ourselves from all the other people that are perceived as, by small businesses, (their words not mine) leeches. Right? I think to actually effectively run a marketplace which is fulfilled by small businesses, you need to invest as much in helping them win their local market independent of you.” Kate: You could make the case that there is no more evolved human experience than choosing to help others. So if your business is engaged in activities that allow other businesses—and therefore humans—to thrive, you may also be building your brand in a direction that creates more customer loyalty than any exit survey or great service interaction ever could. Beyond understanding human emotions and needs, you can help your business by leaning into understanding how we create meaning. At our core, we are compelled to make meaning. Whether we realize it or not, meaningful experiences and interactions are the driving force behind many of our decisions, financial or otherwise. Meaning is different for everyone, but having it is vital to our happiness. If you are able to engage with potential customers in a way that helps them create meaning, or allows them to use your product to make meaning on their own, you are aligning your success with your customers' success, and that bodes well for the long term. At the end of the day, making any of these changes starts at the very top of your business. Leadership needs to set the tone, creating a culture that allows room for workers at every level to engage more meaningfully with customers, and with each other. (By the way, for more discussion on creating or changing work culture, you can check out our last episode, “Does the Future of Work Mean More Agency For Workers?”) Your effort will benefit not only your business, but society as a whole. Remember the Deloitte piece in the Wall Street Journal I mentioned at the start of the episode, with ways to be more human-centric in business? Number 5 on that list was “change the world,” and research from Frontiers suggests that the well-being of any society is directly linked to how the people living within it feel about their lives and purpose. How we do that may be as simple — and as complicated — as helping people to experience meaning at any level. While the technologies around us keep changing, the opportunity becomes increasingly clear for people who work around creating customer experiences and user experiences to open up the aperture to see humanity through a fuller lens. This way, as you set your business up for longterm success, you also advocate for making human experiences as meaningful as possible — and you just might be changing the world for the better. Thanks for joining me as I explored what it means to think of customers as human. Next time, I'll be exploring the supply chain and how, despite the vast technology involved, the closer you look the more you realize: the economy is people.

In this episode the guys chat with Marcus Whitney, the founding partner of Jumpstart Health Investors. Marcus breaks down his journey from college dropout, waiter to self-taught, successful entrepreneur. Tune in! More about Marcus: Marcus Whitney is Founding Partner of Jumpstart Health Investors, the most active venture capital firm in America focused on innovative, healthcare companies with a portfolio of over 100 companies. He recently launched Jumpstart Nova, the first Black healthcare venture fund in America. Marcus is also co-founder and minority owner of Major League Soccer team, Nashville Soccer Club. Marcus has been listed in the Power 100 by Nashville Business Journal, and has been featured by Inc., CNBC, Entrpereneur, Fast Company, and The Atlantic. Marcus is the author of the best selling book Create and Orchestrate, about claiming your Creative Power through entrepreneurship. Marcus is also the producer and host of The Creative Power Podcast, a podcast on all major platforms. Marcus is a member of the board of the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation, Instruction Partners and Launch Tennessee. Connect with Marcus: Website: https://www.marcuswhitney.com Book: https://createandorchestrate.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/30tolifepod/support

AHA Board Chair Wright L. Lassiter III is joined by Marcus Whitney, founder and partner of Jumpstart Health Investors, to discuss innovation and equity in health care. Whitney emphasizes the importance of hospitals and health systems developing an innovation practice that is integrated with the organization's operational model. Lassiter and Whitney also talk about the impact that investing in and providing venture capital to minority-owned businesses will have on the future of health care.

Best Of Segment with Marcus Whitney who is a healthcare venture capitalist and part-owner of the Nashville MLS Club...

This Episode is packed with so much inspiration. I talk with Extraordinary Entrepreneur Marcus Whitney. He chronicles his journey from being a College Drop Out to now being a part owner of the Nashville Soccer Club, Jumpstart Foundry, and the all New Jumpstart Nova. He recently just raised 55 million dollars in Venture Funds to invest exclusively w/ Black Led/Founded Healthcare Companies.

This is the last THCB Gang of what has been a long, grueling, but enthralling year. And every week (well almost every week) we have had a group from across the health care luminescence to discuss it. Joining Matthew Holt (@boltyboy) on #THCBGang at 1pm PT 4pm ET Thursday for an hour of topical and sometime combative conversation on what's happening in health care and beyond will be THCB regular writer Kim Bellard (@kimbbellard); delivery & tech expert Vince Kuraitis (@VinceKuraitis); privacy expert and entrepreneur Deven McGraw (@HealthPrivacy); WTF Health host & Health IT girl Jessica DaMassa (@jessdamassa); and three occasional gang members making very welcome appearances–venture investor & soccer mogul Marcus Whitney (@marcuswhitney); surgeon & startup guy Raj Aggarwal (@docaggarwal); and health economist Jane Sarasohn-Kahn (@healthythinker).

In this episode Marcus shares the story of his highly programmed upbringing in Brooklyn, New York, with significant sporting achievements somewhat hiding his challenges in conventional learning environment because he is and was a “learner by doing”. We hear how he was challenged by freedom of the world of university education: dropped out, dived into the world of hip hop and failed to make a go of this as a business. His onward journey demonstrates hard work, a series of steps forward and back, major moments of change as he moved from the world of blue collar waitering to being a junior developer, and developed self-awareness through years of therapy. We hear insights into why soccer could be the sport of the future, its important role in integration and civic pride, and his reasoning for forming a fund that only invested in health care startups in Nashville. His conclusion that you should explore that entrepreneurial itch if you have it so as not to die with regrets is one that will resonate with many. In his book Create and Orchestrate: The Path to Claiming Your Creative Power from an Unlikely Entrepreneur, as well as sharing the learnings from his entrepreneurial journey he sets out a framework of eight core concepts he argues that every entrepreneur needs when building their business. Four internal: Leadership, Finance, Operations, and Growth and four external, Product, Service, Sales and Marketing. They make sense for both a seasoned entrepreneur and are very useful for someone who hasn't yet started out on their journey. About our guest MARCUS WHITNEY is CEO and founder of Health: Further, a strategic advisory firm working with leading healthcare organizations, as well as founding partner of Jumpstart Health Investors, the most active venture capital firm in America focused on innovative healthcare companies. Marcus is also a co-founder and minority owner of Nashville Soccer Club, Nashville's Major League Soccer team. He is an in-demand speaker who hosts a podcast called Marcus Whitney's Audio Universe and sends out a weekly newsletter called Two Worlds. Marcus has been listed in the Upstart 100 by Upstart Business Journal, Power 100 by Nashville Business Journal, and has been featured in Inc., Fast Company, and The Atlantic. The NBN Entrepreneurship and Leadership podcast aims to educate and entertain, sharing insights based on the personal story of our carefully selected guests aiming for the atmosphere of an informal conversation in a bar or over a cup of coffee. About Kimon Fountoukidis Twitter Linkedin Kimon is the founder of both Argos Multilingual and PMR. Both companies were founded in the mid 90s with zero capital and both have gone on to become market leaders in their respective sectors. Kimon was born in New York and moved to Krakow, Poland in 1993. Listen to his story here, About Richard Lucas Twitter Linkedin Richard is a business and social entrepreneur who founded or invested in more than 30 businesses, including investments in Argos Multilingual, PMR and, in 2020, the New Books Network. Richard has been a TEDx event organiser, supports the pro-entrepreneurship ecosystem, and leads entrepreneurship workshops at all levels: from pre- to business schools. Richard was born in Oxford and moved to Poland in 1991. Read more here. Listen to his story in an autobiographical TEDx talk here, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/entrepreneurship-and-leadership

In this episode Marcus shares the story of his highly programmed upbringing in Brooklyn, New York, with significant sporting achievements somewhat hiding his challenges in conventional learning environment because he is and was a “learner by doing”. We hear how he was challenged by freedom of the world of university education: dropped out, dived into the world of hip hop and failed to make a go of this as a business. His onward journey demonstrates hard work, a series of steps forward and back, major moments of change as he moved from the world of blue collar waitering to being a junior developer, and developed self-awareness through years of therapy. We hear insights into why soccer could be the sport of the future, its important role in integration and civic pride, and his reasoning for forming a fund that only invested in health care startups in Nashville. His conclusion that you should explore that entrepreneurial itch if you have it so as not to die with regrets is one that will resonate with many. In his book Create and Orchestrate: The Path to Claiming Your Creative Power from an Unlikely Entrepreneur, as well as sharing the learnings from his entrepreneurial journey he sets out a framework of eight core concepts he argues that every entrepreneur needs when building their business. Four internal: Leadership, Finance, Operations, and Growth and four external, Product, Service, Sales and Marketing. They make sense for both a seasoned entrepreneur and are very useful for someone who hasn't yet started out on their journey. About our guest MARCUS WHITNEY is CEO and founder of Health: Further, a strategic advisory firm working with leading healthcare organizations, as well as founding partner of Jumpstart Health Investors, the most active venture capital firm in America focused on innovative healthcare companies. Marcus is also a co-founder and minority owner of Nashville Soccer Club, Nashville's Major League Soccer team. He is an in-demand speaker who hosts a podcast called Marcus Whitney's Audio Universe and sends out a weekly newsletter called Two Worlds. Marcus has been listed in the Upstart 100 by Upstart Business Journal, Power 100 by Nashville Business Journal, and has been featured in Inc., Fast Company, and The Atlantic. The NBN Entrepreneurship and Leadership podcast aims to educate and entertain, sharing insights based on the personal story of our carefully selected guests aiming for the atmosphere of an informal conversation in a bar or over a cup of coffee. About Kimon Fountoukidis Twitter Linkedin Kimon is the founder of both Argos Multilingual and PMR. Both companies were founded in the mid 90s with zero capital and both have gone on to become market leaders in their respective sectors. Kimon was born in New York and moved to Krakow, Poland in 1993. Listen to his story here, About Richard Lucas Twitter Linkedin Richard is a business and social entrepreneur who founded or invested in more than 30 businesses, including investments in Argos Multilingual, PMR and, in 2020, the New Books Network. Richard has been a TEDx event organiser, supports the pro-entrepreneurship ecosystem, and leads entrepreneurship workshops at all levels: from pre- to business schools. Richard was born in Oxford and moved to Poland in 1991. Read more here. Listen to his story in an autobiographical TEDx talk here, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode Marcus shares the story of his highly programmed upbringing in Brooklyn, New York, with significant sporting achievements somewhat hiding his challenges in conventional learning environment because he is and was a “learner by doing”. We hear how he was challenged by freedom of the world of university education: dropped out, dived into the world of hip hop and failed to make a go of this as a business. His onward journey demonstrates hard work, a series of steps forward and back, major moments of change as he moved from the world of blue collar waitering to being a junior developer, and developed self-awareness through years of therapy. We hear insights into why soccer could be the sport of the future, its important role in integration and civic pride, and his reasoning for forming a fund that only invested in health care startups in Nashville. His conclusion that you should explore that entrepreneurial itch if you have it so as not to die with regrets is one that will resonate with many. In his book Create and Orchestrate: The Path to Claiming Your Creative Power from an Unlikely Entrepreneur, as well as sharing the learnings from his entrepreneurial journey he sets out a framework of eight core concepts he argues that every entrepreneur needs when building their business. Four internal: Leadership, Finance, Operations, and Growth and four external, Product, Service, Sales and Marketing. They make sense for both a seasoned entrepreneur and are very useful for someone who hasn't yet started out on their journey. About our guest MARCUS WHITNEY is CEO and founder of Health: Further, a strategic advisory firm working with leading healthcare organizations, as well as founding partner of Jumpstart Health Investors, the most active venture capital firm in America focused on innovative healthcare companies. Marcus is also a co-founder and minority owner of Nashville Soccer Club, Nashville's Major League Soccer team. He is an in-demand speaker who hosts a podcast called Marcus Whitney's Audio Universe and sends out a weekly newsletter called Two Worlds. Marcus has been listed in the Upstart 100 by Upstart Business Journal, Power 100 by Nashville Business Journal, and has been featured in Inc., Fast Company, and The Atlantic. The NBN Entrepreneurship and Leadership podcast aims to educate and entertain, sharing insights based on the personal story of our carefully selected guests aiming for the atmosphere of an informal conversation in a bar or over a cup of coffee. About Kimon Fountoukidis Twitter Linkedin Kimon is the founder of both Argos Multilingual and PMR. Both companies were founded in the mid 90s with zero capital and both have gone on to become market leaders in their respective sectors. Kimon was born in New York and moved to Krakow, Poland in 1993. Listen to his story here, About Richard Lucas Twitter Linkedin Richard is a business and social entrepreneur who founded or invested in more than 30 businesses, including investments in Argos Multilingual, PMR and, in 2020, the New Books Network. Richard has been a TEDx event organiser, supports the pro-entrepreneurship ecosystem, and leads entrepreneurship workshops at all levels: from pre- to business schools. Richard was born in Oxford and moved to Poland in 1991. Read more here. Listen to his story in an autobiographical TEDx talk here, Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Roger talks with Marcus Whitney about how to execute a strategy to recognize and perpetuate CREATIVITY within yourself and the organization and have a much more confidence level in regard to your personal & professional growth!Marcus is a self-taught software developer, entrepreneur, and venture capitalist with a track record of success in all areas.Prior to co-founding Jumpstart Health Investors, he was the Director of Technology and Partner at Emma Email Marketing, acquired by Campaign Monitor, and Co-Founder at Clariture Health, a HIPAA compliant digital ad management platform, acquired by Trilliant Health.Marcus is the founder and General Partner of Jumpstart Nova, the first Black healthcare venture fund in America, launched in 2020 to make seed and Series A investments in promising Black-led healthcare companies. Marcus was the founder and CEO of the Health:Further conference, which operated from 2015-2018, adding thousands of leaders in health innovation from around the country to Jumpstart Health Investors' network. As Founding Partner of Jumpstart Health Investors, Marcus was the initial architect of the algorithm used to score over one thousand early-stage healthcare companies for consideration by Jumpstart Foundry, the firm's pre-seed index fund.Marcus has made his mark on the city of Nashville through a variety of avenues. Marcus brought professional soccer to the city as co-founder and minority owner of Major League Soccer team, Nashville Soccer Club. Marcus is also a member of the board of the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation, and Launch Tennessee. Marcus is the author of the Amazon #1 best-selling book "Create and Orchestrate", about claiming your Creative Power through entrepreneurship. Marcus has been featured by Entrepreneur, CNBC, Inc., NPR, Fast Company, and The Atlantic.

Investor, entrepreneur, author, speaker, and content creator – Marcus Whitney joins us as he talks about claiming your creative power through entrepreneurship. He discusses the ups and downs of this past year and the importance of taking time to focus on the long term. We talk about his historic career that serves as an inspiration to other entrepreneurs and creatives.From college-dropout, waiter to self-taught, successful entrepreneur. Marcus Whitney is Founding Partner of Jumpstart Health Investors, the most active venture capital firm in America focused on innovative, healthcare companies with a portfolio of over 100 companies. He recently launched Jumpstart Nova, the first Black healthcare venture fund in America. Marcus is also co-founder and minority owner of Major League Soccer team, Nashville Soccer Club. Marcus has been listed in the Power 100 by Nashville Business Journal, and has been featured by Inc., CNBC, Entrepreneur, Fast Company, and The Atlantic. Marcus is the author of the best selling book Create and Orchestrate, about claiming your Creative Power through entrepreneurship. Marcus is also the producer and host of The Creative Power Podcast, a podcast on all major platforms. Marcus is a member of the board of the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation, Instruction Partners and Launch Tennessee.Marcus Whitneyhttps://www.marcuswhitney.com/Brought to you by Great Convo Media https://greatconvo.com/Subscribe: http://www.creativesovercocktails.com/Follow: https://www.instagram.com/coc_podcastLike: https://www.facebook.com/cocpodcastHostsEboné Merrimon https://www.instagram.com/deepsouleb/Brian Sexton https://www.instagram.com/iamspreadluv/Lonnell Matthews https://www.instagram.com/inspirewithlonnell/Liv https://www.instagram.com/livi_pourz_itup/Music Producer: A.B. Eastwoood https://www.instagram.com/a.b.eastwood/Creative Producer: Kamilah Sanders https://www.instagram.com/kivanoir/

Monologue by Lance on Coach Mike Tomlin and how underrated he is and a #throwback interview with Marcus Whitney owner of Jumpstart Nova a venture capital healthcare firm in Nashville, TN. Marcus also is a founding partner of Nashville FC.

Welcome to The Kurty D Show, a podcast presenting unique perspectives shaping the world. Each week will showcase conversations and stories of personal fulfillment and overcoming what life throws your way. In this episode, Kurt welcomes to the show healthcare venture capitalist, entrepreneur and bestselling author, Marcus Whitney. Marcus is a partner of Jumpstart Health Investors, the most active venture capital firm in America that's focused on innovative healthcare companies with a portfolio of over 130 companies. He also recently launched Jumpstart Nova, the first Black healthcare venture fund in America. Marcus is the bestselling author of the book, Create and Orchestrate, about claiming your creative power through entrepreneurship.In this episode, Kurt and Marcus engage in an illuminating discussion about the history of the American healthcare system and why it's broken. Marcus shares his origin story, from dropping out of college, to becoming a full-time coder, to eventually pursuing a career as a venture capitalist. Marcus gets specific and opens up about three incredibly difficult challenges he's had to overcome throughout his career and how the experience has made him stronger, wiser, and more grateful. What we covered: 01:40 – Kurt welcomes to the show, Marcus Whitney, who speaks to his background as a venture capitalist at Jumpstart Health Investors, and what inspired him to start Jumpstart Nova10:57 – From Brooklyn and dropping out of school to Atlanta and getting into coding16:43 – Marcus' framework for screening founders23:21 – Measure twice, cut once: Our broken healthcare system27:56 – Comparing healthcare and higher education business models29:19 – Marcus reveals which city is the hub for healthcare corporations in the United States37:57 – Marcus gets vulnerable and opens up about three major challenges he's had to overcome throughout his life44:04 – How Marcus stays grounded and balanced45:05 – The one band Marcus would go see play live if he could46:13 – Kurt thanks Marcus for joining the show and lets listeners know where they can connect with him and how they can be of service to Marcus Episode Sponsor: Hunt Club Tweetable Quotes: “The healthcare system that we have today is really a result of Lyndon Johnson – which we all know was a transitional presidency – enhancing the Social Security Act with Medicare and adding onto the New Deal and setting up a business model that was cost-plus, meaning whatever the service cost, the government's going to pay that cost plus twenty percent. That's still the system we have today.”“I'm not trying to have twenty companies where all the founders are carbon copies of each other. I'm looking for authenticity and people who certainly will have the grit, tenacity, and resilience, but also will listen. I want people who are uniquely qualified to solve the problem they're going after.”“There's a reason why healthcare and higher education are the two fastest rising costs from a service perspective in the country. Those are the two things where the inflation has been out of control.”“I set the expectation with [founders] regularly that I'm going to bring it to you and I'm gonna lean into conflict with you regularly because that's where the progress is.”“I started a new fund around this time last year called Jumpstart Nova. And it is a Series A Fund investing in innovative healthcare companies led by Black founders.”“I can tell you, having been through those heavy things, I've never been better in my entire life than right now. I've never been better in those three areas. I've never been better in business, I've never been better in relationships and being sober is awesome.”  Links Mentioned: Kurt's TwitterKurt's Instagram Kurt's LinkedIn Marcus's TwitterMarcus' InstagramMarcus' WebsiteMarcus' LinkedIn Link to Marcus' Book: Create and OrchestrateJumpstart Health Website

Marcus Whitney, Founding Partner of Jumpstart Health Investors, synthesizes his life experiences from raising his two children, practicing martial arts, being Black in America and establishing himself as an innovator in healthcare venture capital. Marcus shares the many transitions that have led him to more long-term thinking, recognizing that big visions take time.  He naturally weaves the principles of martial arts into his work and offers insight into how our society can rewrite the narratives around inequality, politics, and business. In this episode, Marcus talks about:  This transitional moment in his life towards longer-term thinking [3:40] The experience of raising his sons and reflecting on the feeling of time [5:05] His perspectives as a Black American [11:30] His attraction to work with solutions-oriented people [18:56] The intersection of technology and healthcare [28:04] Crafting our societal narrative around technology [34:00] His vision of the not-so-distant future and how to get there [44:50] Resource Links Marcuswhitney.com Learn more about Marcus's past and present endeavors in investing, writing, speaking, and creating  Create and Orchestrate Marcus's latest book on demystifying what keeps people from pursuing entrepreneurship  NEXUS uniting next gen philanthropists, impact investors, and social entrepreneurs to bring about the most promising global solutions of our generation

Part II of Lance's interview with Marcus Whitney from Jumpstart Nova Venture Capital. Marcus also is a part owner of the Nashville MLS Soccer Team

Episode 60 of “The THCB Gang” was live-streamed on Thursday, July 1st. Matthew Holt (@boltyboy) was joined by policy consultant/author Rosemarie Day (@Rosemarie_Day1); THCB Editor and soon-to-be medical student at Yale, and first time #THCBGang participant Christina Liu (@ChristinayLiu) and–making a rare but welcome appearance –venture investor and soccer mogul Marcus Whitney @marcuswhitney We had a great wide ranging chat about Medicaid, venture capital and the unnecessarily excessive rigors of applying to medical school, and what that means for health equity.

On this episode of the Master Your Healthcare Podcast, Marcus Whitney, self-taught software developer, entrepreneur, amazon #1 bestselling book author, and venture capitalist, joins Dr. Anthony Stanowski, CAHME President and CEO. Marcus is a Founding Partner of Jumpstart Health Investors, the most active venture capital firm in America,focused on innovative healthcare, and founder and General Partner at Jumpstart Nova, the first black healthcare venture fund in America. By investing exclusively in black-led healthcare businesses, Marcus is empowering black entrepreneurs to create opportunities to address disparities and work toward achieving equity in healthcare.Marcus shares how he created his foundation for success, the challenges he overcame, and what keeps him motivated. 

Marcus Whitney has experienced a lot of failure in his life. He dropped out of college, waited on tables and, as a born entrepreneur, spent considerable periods working for other people.  Yet it was the lessons learned from all these setbacks that allowed Marcus to pass on invaluable, practical advice in his best-selling new book Create and Orchestrate: The Path to Claiming Your Creative Power From an Unlikely Entrepreneur.  His current resume indicates an unqualified success. He's a founding partner of venture capital firm Jumpstart Health Investors. He hosts a livestream interview show and a podcast. He's a part owner of the Major League Soccer team Nashville Soccer Club and a board member of several Nashville institutions including the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.  A Unique Perspective on Entrepreneurship  Marcus's winding, diverse path to entrepreneurial success and his real-world MBA gives him a unique perspective not found in most business books.  “These books cover things like taking something from a hypothesis to a real business, but none of them cover how you run a business. Like what are the day-to-day blocking, tackling, fist-fighting aspects of really running a business,” he says. “I especially didn't see that book in the growing canon of startup venture capital books. So I thought I wanted to start writing that book.”  What he didn't know is it would take five years to write the book. Things started well with a Kickstarter campaign that raised $30,000 from 400 backers.  “But I had no idea how to write a book or how difficult it is to write a book,” he says. It also took him two-and-a-half years to overcome his unwillingness to write about his failures.  The Failures are What Make His Book Great  “The failures are the thing that are gonna make the book great,” he realized. “Many of the chapters start with a failure story. And the big lesson that comes from them is me talking about my philosophy or imparting information. Here's some real information that can help you avoid making the mistakes I did.”  During this period, Marcus also suffered from a serious bout of imposter syndrome, causing him to stop working on the book for about 11 months.” He finally rented a remote cabin and locked himself in for a week to get the writing juices flowing again.   Now, his book is generating five-star reviews on Amazon from readers thankful for having entrepreneurship explained and demystified. “The business world puts up a lot of smoke signals and screens. But it's actually not that complicated,” he says. “It's great to have this (book) that can sort of take the place of mentoring sessions. It's better than most mentoring sessions I could offer to somebody in a 30-minute window.”  LINKS Twitter.com Instagram.com LinkedIn.com MarcusWhtiney.com SUBSCRIBE TO THE PUBLISHED AUTHOR PODCAST  If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or anywhere else you listen to podcasts. You can also watch episodes of the podcast on YouTube.  And if you want to spread the word, please give us a five-star review (we read every single one!) and share this page with your friends.   We also share valuable snippets from podcast episodes on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.  ABOUT THE HOST  The Published Author Podcast is hosted by Josh Steimle, founder of Published Author. Josh is a book author himself and his article writing has been featured in over two dozen publications including Time, Forbes, Fortune, Mashable, and TechCrunch. He's a TEDx speaker, the founder of the global marketing agency MWI, a skater, father, and husband, and lives on a horse farm in Boston. Learn more at JoshSteimle.com.

Marcus Whitney wants people to understand that Nashville’s healthcare system is rooted in systemic racism. He’s an entrepreneur, author and member of LaunchTN’s Board of Directors, and in the summer of 2020, he wrote an essay entitled “Calling Up to Nashville’s Health Care Leaders” which addressed those problems and called upon leaders to make a change. In this episode, Marcus explains why he decided to write the piece and how he’s working to address the current disparities by investing in Black founders.

Thank you for taking our quick and painless listener survey at friend.nicemaker.co.  Marcus Whitney is a healthcare VC, entrepreneur, content creator, and best-selling author of Create and Orchestrate: The Path to Claiming Your Creative Power from an Unlikely Entrepreneur Paperback. Learn more and contact Marcus at marcuswhitney.com. Marcus recommends you read Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear.  Theme song is “Little Jane May” and the end song is “Funny Feeling” by AlistairChristl.ca Get your free copy of Improve with Improv by subscribing to the Nice Maker Newsletter at nicemaker.co     ❤️  Friends of the Nice Podcast visit friend.nicepodcast.co  

In this episode of Y.E.L 2.0, your host Peter Voogd interviews Marcus Whitney about the best avenues to pursue content creation. The game is changing as we speak. Adapt and survive!   Episode Highlights: There is microevolution around paid newsletters because experienced journalists are starting their own companies People who are trained in the best brands in the world are able to spin up high-quality publications on day 1 Marcus feels that the era of the personal brand is ending, bringing back actual audience-focused brands E-commerce advanced 5 years in the past year from the brick and mortar commerce days Shopify has exploded to over $160B in market share, making it larger than most retailers Seth Godin is basically one of the inventors of e-commerce and email marketing, benefiting from being around since the dawn of the internet There’s no barrier to entry in the podcast industry, thus creating a lot of noise and making it harder to stand out Many people that are making the most noise haven’t actually done anything to qualify as an authority Rising above the noise is so much more than just building a fanbase these days You’ve got be able to capture your audience’s attention and deliver quality value So many people have their backs up against the wall, making today’s content market that much more competitive 8 core concepts that are present in every single: business, leadership, finance, operations, growth, product, service, sales, and marketing   3 Key Points Newsletters are experiencing microevolution as experienced and expert writers leave large corporations to start their own companies. While personal brands are on their way out, the audience-focused brands that are coming back will be centered around one person. Those that understand how to connect with their audience at the highest level need to have an edge to make themselves heard amongst all the crowd noise.   Tweetable Quotes: “We are about to have a different class of people enter this space.” - Marcus Whitney “I have a bit of a sense that the era of the personal brand is ending.” - Marcus Whitney “What are the things you’re doing that nobody sees you doing? That’s where the leverage is.” - Marcus Whitney “That’s the question. Is your product good enough? Does it deliver?” - Marcus Whitney   You can download Peter’s exclusive networking blueprint at https://gamechangersmovement.com/networking - This blueprint will give you the exact scripts Peter uses to get ahold of anybody.     Resources Mentioned: Peter Voogd’s Website Peter Voogd’s Instagram Peter Voogd’s LinkedIn Peter Voogd’s YouTube Game Changers Academy @web 

Becoming a successful entrepreneur is difficult, but it's even more difficult if you're a college dropout. This week's guest defines “self-made.” From waiting tables to writing (and re-writing) code to becoming an entrepreneur, he's also self-taught. In this week's episode, you'll hear about Marcus Whitney's personal roller coaster—and how the ride we call life has made him the person he is today.   Marcus faced a low point after (involuntarily) dropping out of college. How was he going to pick up what was left of his confidence and rebuild the future he knew he wanted? Over the course of a few years, he worked to get his life back together—and moved to Nashville. He started waiting tables to pay his bills, and then one day, he heard about “coding.” Fascinated by the idea of a skill that could be learned and didn't require a college degree to earn a decent income, he moved into the tech world—and that's where his ride takes off. In this episode, we talk about Marcus's highest of highs and lowest of lows—and how now, when he looks back, he realizes that immersing himself into technology around the same time as the dotcom boom was the right move for him. If you are in need of a little inspiration, or just a great listen, this interview with Marcus will do the trick.

Last week, word came out that Haven, the disruptive healthcare collaboration between Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan Chase was not going to disrupt anything. Three years after its inception, the project was shutting down. Despite everything else going on in healthcare, the announcement made pretty big headlines just as it had when it was launched. Why was it big news? And is there some larger lesson for healthcare to take from the failed project? Maybe the first question is, is Haven actually a failed project? What insights should we take from the whole three-year cycle? Over the course of a couple of days, we talked with several of our friends who work in different areas of healthcare to get their take: Lisa Bielamowicz, MD, president and co-founder of Gist Healthcare and a highly experienced radiologist; Marcus Whitney, partner at Jumpstart Health Investors with a particular interest in the role of technology and innovation in healthcare; Bryan Vartabedian, Director of Community Medicine, Texas Childrens Hospital The Woodlands and author of the 33 charts newsletter that explores medicine and technology (33charts.com); David Pate, MD, JD, the former CEO of St. Luke's Health System in Boise and of-counsel at Jarrard.

Becoming a successful entrepreneur is difficult, but it's even more difficult if you're a college dropout. This week's guest defines “self-made.” From waiting tables to writing (and re-writing) code to becoming an entrepreneur, he's also self-taught. In this week's episode, you'll hear about Marcus Whitney's personal roller coaster—and how the ride we call life has made him the person he is today.   Marcus faced a low point after (involuntarily) dropping out of college. How was he going to pick up what was left of his confidence and rebuild the future he knew he wanted? Over the course of a few years, he worked to get his life back together—and moved to Nashville. He started waiting tables to pay his bills, and then one day, he heard about “coding.” Fascinated by the idea of a skill that could be learned and didn't require a college degree to earn a decent income, he moved into the tech world—and that's where his ride takes off. In this episode, we talk about Marcus's highest of highs and lowest of lows—and how now, when he looks back, he realizes that immersing himself into technology around the same time as the dotcom boom was the right move for him. If you are in need of a little inspiration, or just a great listen, this interview with Marcus will do the trick.

The journey from being an employee into a leadership role and entrepreneurship can be draining. Founders often lose focus on the importance of oxygen, hydration, sleep and hobbies outside of business. Scott and creative entrepreneur Marcus Whitney talk about well being and performance as well as the next level of maturity of the Internet and businesses we haven't seen before. Marcus Whitney is a creative entrepreneur who dropped out of college and taught himself software development, digital marketing, venture capital, deal-making, public speaking, convening, and leadership. Marcus is founder of Creative Power, author of "Create and Orchestrate," and founder of Jumpstart Foundry.Dive deeper into the episode here: http://bit.ly/2K3HAiTHave feedback? Connect with Scott Case on LinkedInVisit foundersfocus.com to join the live video sessions, watch past sessions, and see what topics are up next.

Raul talks with Marcus Whitney, who is an Entrepreneur, Investor, and Author.   He is the Founding Partner of Jumpstart Health Investors, the most active venture capital firm in America focused on innovative healthcare companies with a portfolio of over 100 companies.   Marcus is also co-founder and minority owner of a Major League Soccer team, Nashville Soccer Club.   He has been listed in the Upstart 100 by Upstart Business Journal, Power 100 by Nashville Business Journal, and has been featured in Inc., Techcrunch, Fast Company, and The Atlantic. Highlights Understanding Marcus’ story - 2:49 Needing to do something fast - 4:25 Figuring out a path to have a stable income - 5:13 A more mature view of life - 13:11 How he views creativity - 16:55 You have to understand your purpose - 18:01 His unique personality - 20:21 What about predictability - 24:06 You can’t predict everything - 28:00 How do you approach growth - 30:42 Sleep is a fantastic way to process stress - 35:42   Episode Resources Connect with Raul Hernandez Ochoa https://www.linkedin.com/in/dogoodwork  https://dogoodwork.io/work-with-raul  https://dogoodwork.io/podcast  Connect with Marcus Whitney https://twitter.com/marcuswhitney  https://marcuswhitney.com/  https://www.facebook.com/marcuswhitney https://www.instagram.com/marcuswhitney/

Today's #THCBGang was an End of Year special. It'll was a full “Hollywood Squares/Brady Bunch” with nine of us. Michael Millenson @MLMillenson, Deven McGraw @HealthPrivacy, Jessica DaMassa @jessdamassa, Maggi Cary @margaretcaryMD, Robin Farmanfarmaian @Robinff3, Mike Magee @drmikemagee, Rosemarie Day @Rosemarie_Day1, and Marcus Whitney @marcuswhitney all got on to talk about the vaccines, the future of investing in health tech, a little bit about HIPAA, the future of vaccine passports, and more. Yup we rounded off the year talking about the good, the bad and the very ugly of 2020. And giving our forecasts for 2021. And then a bunch more of the Gang came on at the 50 minute mark to give their hopes for 2021

Marcus Whitney is a self-proclaimed unlikely entrepreneur. Two decades ago, he arrived in Nashville as a college dropout with a one-year old and another baby on the way. Waiting tables and living paycheck to paycheck in a hotel, becoming an entrepreneur seemed unlikely indeed. But Marcus knew there was something more for him...and two decades later, he's living his entrepreneurial dream. Today, he shares his amazing story and how to unleash your creative power to solve problems in the world, which is exactly what being an entrepreneur is all about. LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Marcus' book, Create and Orchestrate: mattmcwilliams.com/marcusbook Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals Page: mattmcwilliams.com/deals

In this episode of The Win-Win Effect™ Podcast, Chris Ross and Wes Baiz chop it up with a former college dropout, waiter to self-taught, successful serial entrepreneur, Marcus Whitney.He is the CEO of Health:Further, a strategic advisory firm working with leading healthcare organizations to navigate disruptive change; as well as a Founding Partner of Jumpstart Health Investors, the most active venture capital firm in America focused on innovative, healthcare companies with a portfolio of over 100 companies.Marcus is also co-founder and minority owner of the Major League Soccer team, Nashville Soccer Club.Marcus has been listed in the Upstart 100 by Upstart Business Journal, Power 100 by Nashville Business Journal, and has been featured in Inc., Techcrunch, Fast Company, and The Atlantic.Marcus is the author of the upcoming book Create and Orchestrate, about claiming your Creative Power through entrepreneurship. Marcus is also the producer and host of Marcus Whitney LIVE, an interview show live-streamed M-F 12 Central on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and Twitch, and Marcus Whitney's Audio Universe, a podcast on all major platforms.Marcus is a member of the board of the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation, Instruction Partners, and an Arts Commissioner for the city of Nashville. Connect with and JOIN FREE COMMUNITY  Community Content About CHRIS ROSS® Booking The WIN-WIN Effect WINJECT TV Already have an account? Log In First Name * Last Name * Password * Confirm Password *

At just 20 years old, Marcus Whitney was a young father with another child on the way. He had dropped out of college, was working as a waiter and living in an efficiency hotel. But as Marcus, a now successful Entrepreneur and Venture Capitalist explains, what you do when your back is against the wall makes all the difference. Listen as we discuss: Overcoming poverty, depression and past trauma to become a thriving individual and successful entrepreneur. How success can camouflage unaddressed trauma, showing up as Marcus teaches, in the form of some dysfunctional behavior that you probably don’t love about yourself. Marcus' book, Create and Orchestrate, an elegant and fresh business framework applicable across industries.  Honestly evaluating the "ROI" of your educational dollars.  Marcus Whitney is a self-taught software developer, was the head of technology at Emma Email Marketing, is the co-founder and co-owner of Jumpstart Foundry, one of the most active healthcare venture capital firms in the United States; is the CEO of Health: Further, a healthcare strategic advisory firm; and is co-founder and a part-owner of the Nashville Soccer Club, Nashville, Tennessee’s Major League Soccer Team. 

I was interviewed by business tycoon Marcus Whitney on his podcast Create and Orchestrate. We discuss my story, entrepreneurship, life. and all things Joshua Mundy.

About this episode's guest: Marcus Whitney is Founding Partner of Jumpstart Health Investors, the most active venture capital firm in America focused on innovative, healthcare companies with a portfolio of over 100 companies. He is also co-founder and minority owner of Major League Soccer team, Nashville Soccer Club. Marcus is the author of the best-selling […]

Joining Matthew Holt were some of our regulars: patient safety expert Michael Millenson, MD & hospital system exec Rajesh Aggarwal, health care consultant Daniel O'Neill, and our guest Marcus Whitney, CEO of Health Further & author of the new book Create and Orchestrate (You can email Matthew for a free signed copy, or get it on Kindle for 99 cents) We talked about the current rise in cases, how we get changes around race (and a lot more) moving in health care and what the future of care will potentially look like if we do.

Marcus Whitney, co-founder of JumpStart Foundry and co-founder and CEO of Health:Further, is raising his voice against what he sees as systemic racism in today's healthcare system. A self-taught entrepreneur and a consultant who helps healthcare companies navigate disruptive change, Marcus shares his perspective on what healthcare leaders should do to address inequities.

Professor Jackie Oldham is a physiology researcher, and academic by background. During the course of her work trying to bring her own innovations out of the lab and into the market, she “vowed that it would never be as difficult for anybody else.” That led her to join Health Innovation Manchester and the Oxford Road Corridor, where she is now the Director of Strategic Innovation. This week she was in Nashville as part of a UK trade delegation. During the course of their time here, Professor Oldham, along with Health:Further parent company Briovation, announced a partnership to facilitate transatlantic investment and acceleration of promising health and healthcare companies. Professor Oldham spoke with Health:Further CEO Marcus Whitney to discuss why Manchester is such an interesting, unique and exciting place to be involved in healthcare innovation.

Is it too late to do a 2017 recap for healthcare innovation and a look-ahead to 2018? Everyone does it, we're just doing it a week later. To think about what happened in 2017 - and what it could mean - and what might happen in 2018, I spoke with Health:Further CEO Marcus Whitney. The main themes were change in the health landscape and the healthcare industry, uncertainty due to healthcare policy, and great opportunity for health innovators and entrepreneurs.

Empathy is a term that's batted around in healthcare a lot these days. It's part of the push to get back to a patient-centric view of health and healthcare. The idea is to understand where patients are coming from to help create experiences within the healthcare system that will meet their needs more effectively and improve patient engagement. So Marquise Stillwell of Openbox, Marcus Whitney of Health:Further, and John Farkas of Golden Spiral Marketing sat down for a live podcast at Health:Further 2017 to talk about empathy, design, and the patient experience. Except, that's not exactly how it went. Instead, the three of them challenged the idea of empathy and took the conversation in a direction that no one really expected. There's something in there for everyone - patients, physicians, entrepreneurs, designers and more.