Podcasts about through covid

The Suite Spot attended the 2026 Hotel Data Conference and had the opportunity to interview some of the best and brightest hospitality leaders in the industry to gain their insights and perspectives on prevailing data trends, AI & technology, how to optimize the guest experience and much more.  Be sure to watch the full episode if you missed any of the action from the 2026 Hotel Data Conference.  Special thanks to: Amanda Hite, Jan Freitag, Erica Lipscomb, Max Spangler, & Sam Trotter. Ryan Embree: Welcome to Suite Spot, where hoteliers check in and we check out what’s trending in hotel marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embree. Hello, everyone. Ryan Embree here at the 2026 Hotel Data Conference here with STR President Amanda Hite. Amanda, great to see you again. Congratulations here. This is our first time at the Hotel Data Conference. Amanda Hite: Oh, wonderful. Thank you. Ryan Embree: Record attendance was just announced. Welcome to The Suite Spot. We’re excited to be here. It was a ton of excitement that we just saw. Tell us a little bit about this event, and we were talking off camera about, do you ever expect it to be what it is right now? Amanda Hite: Yes, we started it 18 years ago with a couple hundred people, maybe. The very first year we’ve always had it in Nashville. This is our home base for the STR part of our business. Most of our employees are here that are in the US. So we started it with a way to connect with customers and more importantly, like, we all have this curiosity about the data. You know, we’re constantly in analyzing, looking at trends in the industry, and we wanted to get people together to hear what are you seeing and let’s talk about it. And that’s really how this started. So it’s, I think it’s for me, my most proud part of this conference is the feeling that everyone has when they come in of being really open and curious and wanting to learn from each other. So you get some really good dynamic conversations happening in the networking breaks and in the hallway. Ryan Embree: Well, it’s such an important time right now too, right? ‘Cause people are already starting, if you can believe it. Well, actually, probably you can look in 2027. Amanda Hite: That’s why we do hotel data conference when we do it. Exactly. It’s budget season. Ryan Embree: Brilliant. Brilliant. Right? And, you know, you just got off stage, like I said. One of the fascinating pieces, like I said, we weren’t here last year, but this is our first time. You said when you first stepped on stage, there were, and you showed some of those original numbers. There was a little bit of a gap in the audience last year. Amanda Hite: Yes. Ryan Embree: But this year, a little bit different story. Amanda Hite: Yes. We had a much better forecast to reveal this year. Last year at this time was when we took the forecast down to reflect what was happening in the industry. And this year, we raised the forecast, not just for the rest of this year, but also for 2027. Ryan Embree: So great to see. And a really cool inflection point, I made a note here, revenue for the first time outpacing expenses, right? What does that mean for hoteliers? Amanda Hite: Yeah. So we finally see the pace of growth on the revenue side outpacing the expense growth. I mean, we’re in a high inflationary environment. Expense growth is something that will continue and hoteliers are having to deal with. But to see that we’re actually going to get some GOP gains, it’s, it’s super helpful. I mean, the point I made this morning though is our margins are not growing. Yeah. So we’ve got some room to grow efficiencies and productivity within the hotels to try to get margins to grow at the same rate of GOP growth. Ryan Embree: Yeah, yeah. It’s challenging right now. And one of the things we’re doing to combat, or CoStar’s doing combat that, bottom line data being added to the product. What’s that mean for the hotel industry? Ryan Embree: Yeah, so within STR Benchmark and the CoStar platform, we introduced at the end of the first quarter our profitability benchmarking. P&L is something that STR has done for 30 years. We did it on an annual basis. And we introduced our monthly benchmarking back in 2020, literally as the world shut down. So maybe not the best timing. But of course, now we’re prepared in an environment like we are today, a very complex operating environment for our hoteliers. It’s, yes, we need to grow revenues, but we must make sure that that is flowing through to the bottom line and that our operators and owners are actually making money. And that’s not been the case in many types of hotels and many markets around the country. So we’re trying to make sure that we bring that visibility of not just the top line growth that we want to see for the industry, but the flow through all the way to the bottom line. Ryan Embree: Yeah, I’d love to see that. And, you know, another thing that we’re gonna hear constantly about at, and at this conference is AI, right? So I guess the overarching question would be more of like, how are you incorporating AI into your products right now? Amanda Hite: This is when I’m so thankful that we are a part of the CoStar Group entity. If you follow our other brands, homes and apartments launched AI in their products earlier this year. So we’re continuing to build off of that. We will have AI search in the CoStar product in the same way that you see in apartments and homes. But for STR benchmarks specifically, what we’re thinking about is making sure that we’re integrating AI into the product, not just sitting on top of the product, but like we interact with the clients all the time on the analysis in the industry. So we want to bring that through AI into the product for our customers to use. So we love when they pick up the phone and call us and wanna talk about data. Right. But we also wanna make it easier for them to surface it within their portfolios in product. And so that’s the path that we’re going down to bring that intelligence in the product and analyzing and spotting the trends, knowing what to look at or sometimes not look at, right? Sometimes it’s a great point. It’s just as important to say like, “Hey, I only have a limited amount of time. Where do I not need to spend time right now?” And that can be tricky, especially when you’re looking at a larger portfolio of trying to discern where, what makes the most sense to drive profitability for my business, for me to spend time on right now. Ryan Embree: 100%. Those complexities and driving efficiency so important right now. And turning those data, that data into actual insights. That what one of the promises of AI. So reason we’re here at the Hotel Data Conference, thank you for taking the time. We’ll, we’ll let you get back. I know you’re hosting almost 900 hoteliers here. So we’ll let, let you get back to Amanda. Thanks for stopping by. Amanda Hite: Thank you, Ryan. Appreciate it. Ryan Embree: Hello, everyone. Ryan Embree here with The Suite Spot live on location Nashville at the 2026 Hotel Data Conference here with Jan Freitag, National Director at CoStar. Jan, thank you so much for taking some time and very busy. You’re hosting almost a thousand hoteliers here. Jan Freitag: Yes, 18th year. Sold out again. So heads up, next year we’ll sell out again. But thanks for being here and sort of taking the pulse on the industry. We appreciate it. Ryan Embree: 100%. Congratulations. Amanda Hite opened us this morning saying last year when she unveiled the forecast, there were audible gaps in the crowd. I feel like behind us, people have been skipping, jumping down, up and down this escalators. Share with us, we got a revised forecast. Jan Freitag: So we’re proposing that RevPar this year is up 4.4%. So that is the second upward revision we had to make, quote unquote. And the data’s just so strong. But then that means that next year, we’re gonna see growth, but it’s much slower global. So next year we’re thinking that RevPargrowth is gonna be like, you know, 2-2.1% or so. So the negative way to say this is, “Oh, our growth rate is cut in half.” The positive way to say this is like, “Oh, we have growth on growth, right? 4% this year, ne – 2% next year.” Ryan Embree: 100%. I mean, a lot of people are going into, you know, we’ve talked to hoteliers here on the Suite Spot, going into their budgets. These are very, very important numbers for them as they go into their budgets because they wanna forecast. When we met last, we were at NYU. There had been zero soccer games played in the US. Now, 104 games later, we got a crown champion. Obviously had a big impact. We’re gonna talk about that in a minute. But that strong performance, one of your big takeaways from this morning was strong performance is gonna equal some tougher comps in 2027, right? Jan Freitag: Yeah, absolutely. So we had arguably easy comps this year, right? The Q2, three, and four RevPAR performance last year was negative. So yeah, we would outperform it this year. That was not a question. But because, RevPAR in the second quarter was up 5.7%, that is a, a very stout result, obviously driven in June, partially by the World Cup remember we’re gonna talk about. You know what that means for next year is, oh wow, we’re not gonna see that performance again. And so my conversation this morning with hoteliers is all about, okay, so how do you massage your owner? How do you have this conversation with your owner, with your team to say, look, there’s still gonna be growth, but we really have to think about this. And I heard this this morning from an asset manager at next year as a year of 10 months and two months, you know? So really take June and July out of your annual number and say, okay, so what’s the growth for that? And then, yeah, June, July is just gonna be tough cost. Ryan Embree: Yeah. Probably something that a lot of markets who hosted Taylor Swift a couple years ago had to deal with. And then maybe what LA’s gonna have to deal with in 2029 after the Olympics in 28. Jan Freitag: Yeah, exactly. So we’re already talking now about the Olympics. We’re gonna talk about, obviously the World Cup in four years over in Europe and what is the performance there. So these sporting events are just the gifts that keep on giving. Ryan Embree: Yeah. Yeah. And, and travelers continue what we heard this morning. Consumers continue to prioritize travel, which is really, really great for obviously our industry. But not without its cautionary tales, you also had a watch your margins kind of take away from that. Maybe expand on that a little bit. Jan Freitag: Yeah. So we’ve had for the last year and for the last couple of years, really this interplay between room rate growth and the rate of inflation being higher than room rate growth. And we’re taking the rate of inflation sort of as a proxy for how much more things are expensive. And the costs for hotels are obviously going up. Higher labor costs, higher insurance costs, higher food costs, higher costs, inner energy, everything. So if your costs are going up in order for your margins to expand, you need to drive room rate or revenue faster than the cost increase. And that just is not happening. So my colleague Isaac Collazo spent 55 slides and an hour explaining how margins are decelerating, unfortunately. Now, the total dollar amount, we’re everything gets more expensive, but it also means we’re having more money available as profit. But the margins are coming down. And that’s really the, maybe to me, the main takeaway from HCC this year for the budget conversation for 2027 is watch your margin. Ryan Embree: Efficiency is always looking for that, especially in these tight margin areas. And then lastly, you know, your whole presentation this morning was themed around the World Cup. And, and I do wanna bring it up because, obviously there was the quote was 104 Super Bowls. Yeah. Right? And you kind of explored that case a little bit. Found out maybe that might not be the case. Jan Freitag: Yeah, exactly. So the FIFA president had said at the time, just to explain to American audiences, “Hey, we have 104 soccer games and they look like 104 Super Bowls.” That is of course not the case. And that was never meant to be the case. Super Bowl is the largest cultural sport event in America. It happens once a year, right? And to sort of translate that was, I thought always a little silly. So it turns out that the 104 Super Bowls did not come to pass, and it was more like 30 Super Bowls, maybe if that. So yeah, it was still a very healthy impact. If you look at the markets that Hosta gave Kansas City, New York, Philadelphia, Boston, very, very strong room rate growth. Interestingly, in some markets, actually, occupancy declines. We saw that specifically in Vancouver, but we saw it in Atlanta, we saw it in Boston. Why is that? Well, because corporate America, meeting travelers, meeting planners said, “You know what? I don’t need to compete with the Tartan Army in Boston for our meeting. You know, let me just stay away. Let me have that meeting in August, or let me move that meeting to Chicago,” for example. Sure. Chicago had a very, very strong June, July meeting calendar. So it’s, um, the, the room rate increase was absolutely expected and is exactly what came to pass. It just wasn’t Autumn for a Super Bowl. Ryan Embree: Yeah. I mean, that just proves we are, uh, a collective of markets. Things are gonna be obviously different in each one. Yeah. Uh, with different factors there. You know, a- and there’s also an interesting stat, fascinating stat, I wanna bring it up, about booking windows, um, that, that you brought up there. Yeah. If you wanna expand on that. Jan Freitag: So I got this totally wrong in the run up to the World Cup because I thought, look, if somebody books that FIFA ticket a year out, and the airplane ticket’s six months out, surely they would book their hotel three months out. Yeah. That did not happen. Right. And so we saw specifically the chart that I had this morning for, uh, arrival dates, June 11, 12, 13, 20 basis points of, uh, 20 points of occupancy was booked after June 8th. Wow. So that’s a booking windows of, like, three or four days. Wow. For an event that you knew what happened, I mean, six years ago. Yeah. You know? And you had a ticket from one year ago. So I just completely though that the, uh, the, the leisure traveler, the, the soccer traveler would also book their room way ahead. That did not come with us. Ryan Embree: Very interesting. I wonder if that’s a macro trend happening right now, those booking windows starting to shorten a little bit. Jan Freitag: Yeah, and maybe that’s a takeaway for our friends, you know, in LA who are hosting the Olympics. Hey, you know, be very mindful how you match that booking window. Ryan Embree: Lessons from history learned there. Yes. Um, final as we wrap up, I always li- like, like to get any, you know, you look at a lot of data. So any interesting, uh, like, data points that really stood out or surprising? Jan Freitag: I mean, the July data came out yesterday and the luxury class RevPar growth was 16%. Ryan Embree: Wow. Jan Freitag: Talk about A, amazing, but B, A, tough comps. Yeah. In July of next year. But it was an amazing, amazing performance. July was very, very strong. Um, and June as well. So we clearly saw, you know, July was helped a little bit by 4th of July, World Cup, uh, 4th of July calendar year, but also the World Cup, obviously the final and the bronze medal games. They all, they all helped. So July was strong, June was strong. So now I think things are getting a little bit more normal – Yeah. Early on end. Ryan Embree: Awesome. Well, we’ll continue to look ahead as you will, but thank you again for taking time out of your busy schedule, Jan. Jan Freitag: Thanks for being here. Thank you. Ryan Embree: Hello everyone, Ryan Embree here with The Suite Spot. We are live on location of the 2026 Hotel Data Conference. I am here with Erica Lipscomb, EVP of Commercial Strategy at PM Hotel Group. Erica, thank you so much for joining me on The Suite Spot. Erica Lipscomb: Well, thank you for having me. Very excited to be here. Ryan Embree: Yeah, first time here on the Suite Spot. Yes. But not your first time here at Hotel Data Conference. Erica Lipscomb: Not my first time at Hotel Data Conference. This is conference number eight. Ryan Embree: Okay. Yes. All right. Hotel data conference. You obviously are no stranger, you’re a pro. What do you call a hotel data conference a success kind of reflecting back? What do you come here to accomplish and to learn? Erica Lipscomb: You know, I, again, this is our start of budget season. Sure. Right? Yeah. So I actually, uh, had dinner with Amanda last night and said, “You do realize what you’ve done here, right? We cannot even start our budget calendars until there’s an HTC.” Yeah. So really what I look forward to is not coming here just to hear that the amazing news of an increase year over year, or that we’re gonna increase in the year for the year. Sure. But what are those things that I can take away that can make it tactical for our teams? Mm-hmm. So learning from industry leaders that are here. We have amazingly smart people that are here at this conference. And we’re really drafting and shaping what the industry will look like. So what are those learnings? And then how do I make sure that we trickle that down within the organization and get them to our teams? Ryan Embree: Which can change so rapidly, right? As we know – Absolutely. It’s gone from, uh, a yearly change to almost, it feels like a weekly, especially with the AI and technology conversation. Yes. You were on a panel last year here at this same conference. I’m curious, what were some of the conversations then versus now? Erica Lipscomb: Yeah. And very different. I think it’s been extreme polar opposites. Okay. I feel like last year, there was a lot of conversation about AI. Mm-hmm. But more on the what is AI. Mm. And how are we gonna use AI? Yep. And it’s already started in conversations this morning. You know, we started networking last night, and most people are now really talking about what is AI doing for us to make sure that we’re efficient, making sure that our teams are effective, um, ensuring there’s profitability back to our owners. So it’s gone from a concept – Yeah. To now actually, how are we utilizing AI to be better in the industry, but keeping the forefront our customers? Ryan Embree: It feels like we’re in the sandbox now, right? And there’s a lot of companies out there trying different things. It’s the exploration process and, you know, maybe some success, but even, uh, lessons in the failure. Uh, I, I’ve been hearing a lot about that as well. So hotel data, obviously data is the name of the game. Yes. Still one of the most important tools I feel like right now on our quest of guest personalization. And so much it can do to kind of like what you said, prepare us for the rest of 2026 and even into 2027. Right. How is PM Hotel Group kind of leveraging data for growth and, uh, experiences? Erica Lipscomb: So actually you started with, with growth and experiences. Yeah. So really starting with growth. Yeah. We really are starting with AI in our business development side of our, our, of our home. Sure. And really how are we looking for the right clients that fit PM? Yeah. How, again, when you look at, uh, BD, it’s a relationship. Mm. So who are those owners? Who are the asset managers? What do their teams look like? Is that a right fit? And how can we help them grow? So that’s really the act – acquisition of the client and the customer. And then when we get to the property level – Right. Then as an enterprise, as a support center, what we’re looking to do is how do we use data, which is the, the heart – Yeah. Of revenue optimization. Sure. How are you using that data to make sure that we’re pulling through every step of the guest journey? So from the time again, acquisition of a customer. Right. So now not an owner, but that actual guest that’s gonna be staying at our properties, what does that customer journey look like? How do we find the right customer? We have a very diversified portfolio – Oh, yeah. For each one of our assets in the portfolio, ensuring that they convert. And then once they’re there in their stay, are we pulling through on all the experiences they expect? Whether it’s an independent hotel and the experiences that come along or for the brands and the brand standards. And then once our guests leave, how do we make sure that we are still speaking to them – uh-huh. And making sure that they return? Ryan Embree: I love how you walk through the entire guest experience. I think sometimes we get caught up just thinking about one or two elements of it. Right. But it really does start. I mean, the hot topic right now is that AI visibility, right? Absolutely. And being bound, uh, because our travelers are changing the way that they’re searching for hotels and doing their research. So, uh, it’s super, super important there. We’re in Nashville, Erica, uh, no stranger for PM Hotel Group. Yes. Uh, you guys just, uh – Very excited. Assumed management, 12 properties. Yes. Uh, what do you lo – like, um, from a Nashville market standpoint? I mean, this has just been such a hot market right now in hospitality. Uh, but also, you know, a big threshold of, uh, exciting 80 plus hotels for PM Hotel Group? Erica Lipscomb: Yes. We’re very excited to have the 12 hotels that, from Pinnacle that joined our portfolio. And that’s really our sweet spot, right? Finding those type of assets that fit our growth in our platform, and that we can make sure that we’re optimizing on their revenue, as well as excellent customer experience and guest operations experience. So what I really like about Nashville, and it’s not a new growth. Right. You know, Nashville never stopped growing, right? Where the, where the rest of the world really has struggled even, you know, six years ago. Through COVID. Nashville didn’t, right? Ryan Embree: It was red hot. Erica Lipscomb: But what most people think about when you hear Nashville, they’re really just thinking it’s an entertainment city. That’s not just all Nashville is. So when we peel it back and take a look at the segmentation and what’s driving Nashville, you do still have that customer that is true corporate business. And you still have conventions and groups. I was just in a group maximization winning group seminar just not too long ago. And in that breakout session, we really talk about group continues to still grow. Oh, yeah. And when you take a look at the first half of this year, that growth is really happening not only just in convention centers, but those hotels that have group meetings. Even when you take a look at those assets, what’s interesting is the growth is not just in the hotel that has most of the group, but if you are affiliated. You’re feeling that demand. Leveraging the demand and continuing to drive occupancy and ADR. Yeah, absolutely. So that’s why we’re still excited about Nashville. It’s one of those markets that continues to do well, not just in entertainment, but on the corporate business transient side, as well as group side. Ryan Embree: It’s a perfect destination. That’s why we got almost a thousand hoteliers here at the hotel data conference. Erica Lipscomb: That’s sold out again this year. Ryan Embree: Absolutely. Well, any. I mean, I can tell just by the conversation we’re having, very passionate about your work. Any projects you’re particularly fired up about right now? Erica Lipscomb: The project I’m probably most interested in is what I was hired for is to really continue to evolve commercial strategy. So commercial strategy is not just looking at every discipline in a silo. They’re all very important to revenue optimization. But how do we now continue to go from just having the commercial conversations, but also leverage the experience in each discipline? So our customers, when they look at our hotels, And they look at that curse customer journey that we just walked through – Right. They’re not looking at sales, revenue, marketing, distribution, operations. They’re looking at their holistic experience. Yeah. And so why not make sure that we internally stop looking at how well each d- division does and, and, and our, each siloed discipline, but let’s look through the lens of a gu – of a customer. Yeah. What’s that experience look like? And then how do we all play a part of it? Yeah. Exactly. So that’s what I’m excited about. And using, continuing to use AI. Yeah. How do we make sure that we’re leveraging commercial? Yeah. And then making sure that our use of AI is making our teams much more efficient – Mm. And effective in h – in how we run our businesses. Ryan Embree: That’s what I was gonna say. It’s, it’s such an inflection point, and I’m sure very exciting for, for your job with the technology in hand. Now you’ve got the power to, uh, break down those silos, right? Absolutely. Create efficiencies there. Yes. Uh, well, as we wrap up, you know, we always. One of the things here that we love to do at the Hotel Data Conference is try to predict the future, right? Forecasting, everybody. It’s a, it’s an impossible job, but we do it every single year. Right. Uh, you know, so from a commercial strategy standpoint, I know you, you, you just mentioned the projects you’re working on, but what’s your vision for PM Hotel Group as we kind of go into the latter part of the 2020s? Erica Lipscomb: So latter part of the 2020s, I think that the company’s vision is to really leverage the portfolio and the diversity of the portfolio. We saw that growth that we had just here in Nashville. I’m sure you saw the news that Reset our first brand to enter Marriott’s or outdoor collection. Yeah. We’ve noticed that when you continue to diversify and not really just say, okay, we are just this type of company, making sure that we’re leveraging the expertise of our team. Mm-hmm. We can be many things – Yeah. To many customers. Yeah. And so lev – continue that leverage, that growth, but we do see that growth continue to be in experiences. Yeah. Right? So every brand is rolling out how they’re working with experiences. But what we do see, that lifestyle, outdoor – Oh, yeah. Experiences. We’ve had our first entree into it, and we’re gonna continue to grow. Ryan Embree: Awesome. We’re excited to watch that growth, and yeah, that experiential travel continues to be something, conversations we’re having here, prioritizing, that’s what the guests are prioritizing travelers are. Congratulations on all this. We continue to watch it with PM Hotel Group. Thanks, Erica. Erica Lipscomb: Thank you. Ryan Embree: Hello, everyone. Ryan Embree here with The Suite Spot. We are live on location at the 2026 Hotel Data Conference. I am here with Max Spangler, VP of Technology at Charlestown Hotel. Max, we know you’re on a panel tomorrow. We’ll talk about that in a second, but thanks for taking the time to join us. Max Spangler: Absolutely. thanks for hosting me, Ryan. Ryan Embree: Yeah, Gotel Data Conference. Name of the game, data. We’re gonna talk about, obviously, your role and, and where data plays into that. But first, you come to a conference like this, what’s the expectation? What do you hope to get out of it? And maybe when you’re a couple weeks down the line, looking back on the conference, that was a success. Max Spangler: Yeah, you know, for me, I spend a lot of time at conferences that are very narrow in scope, right? Sure. Whether it’s high tech or the hospitality show, or even technology conferences that are outside of hospitality. Sure. So coming to HDC is always great. It’s always refreshing. The keynote panel in the beginning always gives me, hopefully, optimism. And this morning, it was very optimistic – Yes. About the way things are going. So I’m thankful for that. But it’s great to hear from commercial peers how they’re using data, how they’re surfacing insights, what tools they’re using, and how they’re turning it actionable. I mean, I think for me, as someone who spends a lot of time staring at screens, developing tools, looking at dashboards, hearing from people that actually depend on this information – Yeah. So crucially is really refreshing. So I get to, like, cut through the noise a little bit and hear what’s working, and hopefully hear what’s not. Ryan Embree: Yeah, and that’s what leads to your panel tomorrow, connecting AI to commercial strategy. Yeah. Uh, maybe give our sweet spot listeners a little bit of sneak peek and maybe your thoughts on the subject. Max Spangler: We’ve got a great panel tomorrow. Super stoked for it. You know, so we, we had a pre-cause you tend to do with those panels. Right. And as a result of that, we decided to zoom out a little bit, which I though was important. So commercial still is the through line, as you would expect at HTC, but given the man – the, the members that are on the panel, we’ve got some people that, you know, are on the, the, the revenue management side. We’ve got some people from HFTP. Um, you’ve got me as an independent operator. It w- we felt, we felt it really important to say, “Let’s, let’s zoom out. Let’s take a pause and, like, let’s look at where the industry is holistically.” Sure. And so the questions are really driving off that. So you’ll find that, um, there’s insights about a year from now, what would we like to be doing differently, right? How are we driving ac- actionable insights? What KPIs are important? What KPIs are important? Yeah. Things like what’s the difference between automation versus th- this new agentic era? Mm. So I think it, um, I’m actually really excited for it. The panel’s great, and I think you’re gonna get some, some really interesting insights from a variety of different opinions. Ryan Embree: Yeah. And what we talked about is so much can change. Yeah. And you could talk about what could happen in a year. I mean, that could be a couple cycles with technology right now. And that’s why I, I was really looking forward this conversation, Max. Yeah. Because, you know, I get industry leaders, sometimes brand leaders, but you’re, you’re in it every single day, right? Yeah. Uh, VP of technology. Yep. Where do you think we are in the AI adoption – Yeah. Uh, uh, cycle? And then maybe zoom in a little bit on Charlestown Hotels. Max Spangler: Yeah. So if we, if we look at sort of where things are globally for the state of AI, I think obviously in the technology space, it’s an existential crisis, right? Right. I mean, I think you see that in, in jobs reports. I think you obviously see it in the way that they’re measuring AI as an accelerant. Yeah. You know, so, uh, friends of mine that work for tech companies, they’re seeing their time to release production code going from five weeks, four weeks down to one week. Wow. It’s easy for them to measure. It’s easy for them to see the outcomes for us. Yeah. I think it, it is ultimately a little bit more difficult. For Charlestown, you know, we think it’s really important to keep hospitality at the center of what we’re doing, right? And so we’re not parading around trying to be an AI company or a SaaS company. We firmly believe people and hospitality at the center of, is gonna be at the center of what we do.m. How do we use AI to power that? Whether it’s through efficiencies, you know, through maybe more sophisticated RMS, through, you know, generative guest insights. How do we make sure that we’re being discovered when people are asking what’s the best hotel in downtown Charleston, South Carolina? Those are really hard questions to answer. No one’s got it figured out. But the conversations that are happening here are super encouraging because I think there is a lot of people admitting that and coming together to try to find, um, the best path forward. Ryan Embree: And you were, this is not your first per – podcast that you’ve been on recently. I saw you, uh, on CoStar News Hotel podcast where you talked about escaping hospitality’s AI hype echo chamber. Yeah, yeah. What’s your thoughts on that? And maybe how do we avoid doing that here in, in spaces like this? Max Spangler: I mean, it’s, if you go on LinkedIn, you can feel like, you know, FOMO is like a- absolutely crushing you, right? Right. Everyone is, like, piloting something new. Right. Everyone is, is advancing seemingly at the speed of light. It’s really important to come to a conference like HTC, uh, to get a real life temperature check with what people are doing and how they’re doing it. There is a tremendous amount of hype. There’s a tremendous amount of potential, but I think for a lot of us, and especially from someone sitting in the seat of an operator, you have to be very disciplined. Yes. You know, you have to have a step-by-step sequence of how you’re actually gonna accomplish this. It’s okay to introduce a little bit of chaos. We’ve done that in the early days. I mean, if you go back, you know, to 2023, 2024, we’re experimenting with all the frontier models. But eventually, we wanted to collapse that into a unified choice, pick one model so that we can move forward and start measuring, you know, are our team members crawling? Who’s walking? Who’s running? How do we devise resources to help kind of get everyone on the same page, march in the same direction, and get better at this? Yeah. And so that, that’s, that’s been our strategy. And fortunately, like, that’s what I’m hearing here at the conference. Ryan Embree: And the motivation for implementing AI can’t come out of fear of we’re not doing enough. Yeah. Or, you know, we’re just, that FOMO feeling that you’re talking about, it has to have, what you said, discipline and direction. Yeah. And Max Spangler: Ryan, like, fear is a huge part. I mean, that’s one of the things that we’re constantly up against. There’s. I, I think the, the negative attitude and apprehension towards AI is only gonna continue to grow over time, right? Just like the excitement over it is gonna continue to grow. Yeah. Same thing’s true for the negative. I mean, you have people that absolutely have their head in the sand, which is okay. Right. Um, for, for certain reasons, you have people that obviously have negative feelings about it because of the socio – uh, economic impact. Sure. Companies potentially might be laying off job just Placement or replacement as a result of LLMs and the technologies that they introduce. There’s the environmental factors. So, like, all those things are absolutely true. We don’t think it’s, as Charlestown, our responsibility to sort of correct that. Right. But we do wanna make sure our associates, team members, and corporate, and corporate leadership team know this isn’t going anywhere. Yeah. It’s fundamental core to the business, and we’re gonna make an investment into our teams to make sure that they’re prepared for this new wave, whatever it looks like. Ryan Embree: It’s exciting times. And it’s okay to experiment fail sometimes, because that, that’ll show you some lessons too. Sure. Max Spangler: Yeah, we. Yeah, we’ve run so many pilots. We’ve had so many things fail. We’ve incinerated millions of tokens and subsequently thousands of dollars as a result of – Yeah. Um, so many pilots, but we’ve learned a lot. Yeah. Uh, and we’re in a much better spot as a result of it. You have to be willing to take risks, especially now. I do believe, like, no one’s gonna be left behind yet, but there is absolutely an advantage to being a first mover. And I think the companies that are at least experimenting and building AI fluency for their teams are gonna be much better, uh, much farther along than everybody else. Ryan Embree: 100%. And, you know, one of those spaces is, is the data, right? That’s, I mean, that’s the name of the game of this conference here. Yeah. How are some ways are you leveraging data to kind of – Yeah. Grow Charlestown hotels or even just create efficiencies? Max Spangler: Yeah. So for us, it, it, it is a challenge to think about the kind of company that we are. We focus mostly on the independent space. Mm-hmm. So we don’t have sort of the technology through line like the brands have where – Sure. You know, they can force a certain PMS, POS, CRS, like, it’s very clean and organized and scalable that way. Yeah. For us, you know, when we come into a new hotel operating environment, in most cases, technology hasn’t been a major form of investment, right? I mean, most people don’t come to Charlestown hotels with a great performing asset. They’re like, “We’re in trouble. We need your help.” Right. So then I come in, you know, from the technology perspective and it’s like, okay, this is difficult. How are we gonna extract information, put it into a centralized place, be able to sort of layer a, a, a, a BI tool or reporting package on top of it to actually surface the insights so these one-off owner operators can get the insights that, like, a company like Charlestown Hotels can deliver at scale with all the independent properties and things we’ve learned across the secondary and tertiary markets that we work in. Max Spangler: So, I mean, to put it simply for us, it is about having, like, a central data repository or warehouse. Sure. I mean, there’s plenty out there. Databricks, Snowflake. We’re a BigQuery customer. We do a lot with Google. Um, but it is, you know, if, if you think about where things are going to bring it back to AI, so much of the conversation surrounds having a good data foundation, because AI is an accelerant. If you have bad data, it’s gonna accelerate you to bad outcomes more quickly. Yeah, that’s a great point. If you have a bad business strategy, it’s gonna optimize for the wrong KPIs. So for us, it is very much about having solid fundamentals. Yeah. That’s not a reason for you to stop, right? It’s just more a reason for you to proceed cautiously. Ryan Embree: Absolutely. And, you know, you do it right. All of a sudden, you get that personalization, which, you know, hospitality’s been really the last decade – Yeah. Has been striving so much for to get that personalization within the guest experience. So as we wrap up, you know, we always like to. I know this is gonna be difficult because, like we said, things change so quickly in the tech space. Yeah. But what’s your vision for Charleston Hotels from a technology perspective? Max Spangler: Yeah, great question. I thought you were gonna ask me a hard one, like, what’s my favorite color? But, uh, no, for, for. Vision for technology, you know, for us, as long as we keep, like, hospitality at the center – Yeah. As our north star, that really does simplify things for us. It is gonna be difficult. There’s, you know, obviously a whole host of different frontier models you have to choose from. Tokenomics is gonna continue to be a big part. People talk about ROI with LLMs, but no one’s really talking about the expense – Yeah. And expenses continue to grow. Great point. Right? So we’re, we’re focused really on, you know, not only the, the ROI from some of the LLM tools, but, but obviously the tremendous cost that’s associated with running them at scale. But as long as we keep people and human beings at the center, reducing mundane work, admin tasks, friction so that our people can spend less time in front of screens and just be more hospitable, I think that really is the vision. Technology’s gonna support that. It’s gonna hopefully be more invisible to the people that come to hospitality. They didn’t come to, like, move information around – Right. Push paper or spend time in front of a computer. They spent it to, like, be empathetic, to be excited – Yeah. To surprise and delight. And so our goal, that’s our north star, and technology’s gonna be there to support it. Ryan Embree: Yeah, I mean, some industries, you’re, you’re right, are gonna be completely flipped upside down – Yeah. With this technology. But hospitality, we have that advantage of being a people first industry, so. Max Spangler: I, I think it’s, like, the, the key differentiator, and it honestly, it’s like, hospitality has an opportunity to have a really strong opinion. As so many industries are completely rolled over by this AI wave – Yeah. Hospitality can actually say, “No, you know what? People are…” And people in hospitality are at the center, and so as there is potentially more AI backlash and people are seeking more authentic experiences – Right. With people and connections – Yeah. I think it’s, it’s gonna be a great benefit to our industry. Max Spangler: Yeah, and we’ve seen from the data, experiences still seem t be – Yeah. I think that’s gonna grow. Yeah. Ryan Embree: Yeah. Agreed. Uh, Max, appreciate the time. Thank you. Uh, we’ll keep an eye on Charleston Hotels and everything you’re doing over there. Great. Congratulations. Max Spangler: Thank you. Ryan Embree: Hello, Everyone. Ryan Embree here with The Suite Spot. We’re live on location at the Hotel Data Conference 2026 here with Sam Trotter, Head of Digital Marketing for Indigo Road Hospitality Group. Sam, thanks for taking some time. Sam Trotter: Thanks for having me here. Yeah. I’m excited to be here at the Hotel Data Conference. Ryan Embree: It’s our first time here, but you said you’re, you’re a pro. You’ve been here for many years. Yeah. What does a successful hotel data conference look like for you and some of the takeaways that you look for? Sam Trotter: I really love having a good sense of what’s gonna happen next year. So you get some really great data here where you actually can take to your business planning sessions and use and say, “Hey, you know, I have this from the data conference, and they’re forecasting this growth in this market.” And you have something tangible. Yeah. So you’re about to head into budget season. Yeah. So having that in hand is really, really nice. Ryan Embree: That’s a big part of it. I mean, budget season, you gotta make those operation efficiency. We talked about the margins, how tight those are right now, especially in hospitality. One of the ways that hospitality’s changing right now is through AI search. You were on a panel here. For those that weren’t able to join us here in Nashville, maybe unpack that topic a little bit, because it’d certainly be top of mind for a lot of hoteliers right now. Sam Trotter: Well, it was really fun. It was a packed house, so a lot of interest in it. There’s a lot to talk about. I think we did a little bit of an intro to the topic, just so that everybody was sort of on the same page. But this is a new thing that we’re all having to adapt to. And we’re gonna have to focus on this. And in the panel, I said, “This feels a lot like 2006 when SEO was becoming a big thing.” And I remember I hired this French couple to do our SEO for this hotel that we were opening. It was like $10,000. In 2006. And it felt kinda like magic. Yeah. You know, like, what are they, what are they actually gonna do, right? And so it’s really tough. Who do you listen to? What actually works? And it was a great panel. And there’s no main takeaway other than we’re doing a lot of AB tests. We’re trying to figure out what works. I’m looking at the dashboards from our different properties. Who’s doing well? Who’s not? Yeah. And trying to pivot. And so we’re at this really interesting phase where it’s not really clear, right? Everybody’s telling us different things. Who do you listen to? So I honestly think it’s really exciting. Ryan Embree: The good news is it’s a challenge that a lot of people are attacking at once, right? And that’s where you’re gonna kind of find maybe lessons learned, even in those failures. So I think it is interesting because ultimately what happened with SEO is, like, there became a little bit of of a game plan that you could attack it with, right? That people are still trying to kind of balance. And then there were switches, right? That’s the other thing, is you could attack it one way and then all of a sudden, next week, algorithms change and it’s back to square one. So it was very, very interesting. But I think it’s events like this and panels that you’re on, Sam, that help kind of. Where everyone’s going through this right now. And to try to get through the weeds on it and try to figure out what is a good course of action here. And it changes so quickly. I think AI gets a spotlight, obviously, for good reason because it’s just this up and coming technology. But digital marketing also feels like it’s fast changing and evolving. And it’s been doing that for the past decade. You think about social media updates and everything like that. Yeah. I guess, how do you view digital marketing right now from a strategic standpoint and, and how hoteliers should be embracing and, you know, maybe investing in It? Sam Trotter: So that was a big question, right? Ryan Embree: Yes, sorry. Sam Trotter: When I have new marketers join, junior marketers, I always tell them there’s really no such thing as an expert anymore. Because it’s gonna change next year. Right? Ryan Embree: Great point. Sam Trotter: There are certain fundamentals that will help you no matter what, from 10 years from now, they’ll always be in play. I think what’s really interesting now with AI is I feel like there’s more emphasis on brand and category ownership. So if the AI is the most educated person in the entire world about hotels in Nashville. I mean, that’s what it is. Sure. It’s the most educated person in Nashville. What do you wanna teach it? And so if you’re teaching it, I have a pool and a fitness center, that doesn’t really help, right? ‘Cause now you’re just the same. And so what category can you own? Can you be the wellness hotel of Nashville? And if you’re the wellness hotel of Nashville, what that looks like is everything we say and we do reflects that. So I have spa packages, we have spa activations, we have a spa month. We have an amazing spa. We have spa content. We have spa creators that come in. And so when you’re doing that, all of a sudden the AI’s like, “Okay, no, this is the spa hotel of Nashville.” Because it’s, there’s evidence. Yeah. Right? And so I think there’s gonna be more emphasis on this category ownership, right? More than ever. And that boils back down to your brand. Ryan Embree: No, I love that. I think that’s a great explanation to someone who might feel overwhelmed in this right now. But those searches also could get very specific, right? I’m looking for a place that’s pet friendly, that is dedicated to wellness, where I’ve got my family coming to. So that’s where it gets a little bit tricky of the categories could turn into subcategories and then very, very niche. But it’s also the beauty of it, I think on the other side, is that your travelers are gonna be able to hopefully find the right hotel for them and what they’re looking for. Sam Trotter: So going back to your question, you asked me about social media. Because things are changing so fast, the, what we don’t really realize, and we don’t talk about, is the number one AI that we talk to is Google’s AI overview. That’s the one that when you have a long search, it defaults to, right? And it is weighing YouTube more than any other social platform – Great point. Because they’re not giving access. Right? So TikTok’s not giving them access. So now all of a sudden, YouTube is like this big player. And so we’ve got 76 locations. How do you scale YouTube? Yeah. And so, you know, we’re trying to figure this out in real time, and it’s a lot. There’s a lot of change happening. Ryan Embree: No, that’s a great point, what you said about Google, because a lot of people might be listening to this being like, “Well, I’m not, I’m not really looking, or I’m not using AI in my everyday life.” Well, Google’s really, you know, that AI overview, you are using, right? And it’s just, it’s gonna become more and more, whether we know it or not, a part of our life, you know? So that’s a different conversation. You know, Sam, Indigo Road Hospitality Group, you just mentioned tons of locations. What are some of the projects you’re most excited about that you’re working on right now? Sam Trotter: So, we have amazing locations, and there’s so many that are really interesting that we have coming up. We’re dabbling in more and more to membership clubs. Which is something that, we have one right now in Bentonville, and then by the end of the year, we’ll have two more. So we’re going from zero to three in a pretty short amount of time. It’ll be like a year and two months, we’ll go from zero to three. So it’s something that has been really fun to learn about, and there’s new platforms to learn about. So that’s really exciting. And then, I’m working on some fun data projects too, fun to me. I’m trying to set us up to have our own loyalty program. And so I’ve got some cool things in the works. So I’m really excited about that because we have a diverse portfolio. We have coffee shops and restaurants and hotels. And venues and how do you get them all to talk? Right? How do we put them all in one place, but have them separate? How can we share notes? How can we improve the guest experience? So there’s a lot of really cool things that are happening now. And one of the benefits of AI is partners are, are improving their platforms faster than ever. Oh, yeah. Which is fun if you have the right partners. And they are doing it. Ryan Embree: Yeah. I mean, and loyalty programs, you also learn more about your guests and hopefully create personalization, which is, you know, a topic that has been in hospitality. But we’re getting closer and closer, I feel like, to what we may have talked about five years ago at a conference like this. Be like, “There might be a time where we could do this, and now with the power of AI, it, it’s possible.” Yeah. Well, as we wrap up, kind of what’s your. I know we just talked about the future, but, and it’s hard to predict, but what would be kind of your vision for the future, in your role at Indigo Hospitality Group? Sam Trotter: I would say that, I guess thinking more optimistically, ultimately, it’s gonna be about the guest experience. It’s gonna be about the surprise and delight. It’s gonna be about having great employees who are happy to be where they’re at and that wanna be there. And the best marketing is a great experience, right? So what’s my role in that? You know, how can I help operations do their thing? And that’s the foundation of everything. At the end of the day, I think that’s it. Ryan Embree: There is a, there is a comfort, Sam, to being in an industry that we knew can only be disrupted so much by AI, but at the end of the day, it is gonna still come down to people serving people and creating those memorable experiences, and hopefully AI gives the opportunity to do. Sam Trotter: I have a anti-trend for you, right? Okay. So we’re here at, at the Grand Hyatt. There’s no kiosks, right? Check in. There’s still front desk people. 10 years ago at the hotel data conference, I think we would’ve though it was all kiosks. So hospitality has reigned supreme, and I think that’s the future. Ryan Embree: Yeah for, they say hospitality is the first ever industry and it’ll be here for a long time. So Sam, we appreciate it. We’re gonna watch you and, and everything you’re doing over there. We appreciate you taking some time with us. Sam Trotter: Thank you you so much. This was a lot of fun. All right. Ryan Embree: To join our loyalty program, be sure to subscribe and give us a five-star rating on iTunes. Suite Spot is produced by Travel Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with cover art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host, Ryan Embree, and we hope you enjoyed your stay.

This week singer-songwriter Patrice Peris joins Dave to flip the script on building a music career. That question musicians always get – what’s your backup plan? – is a terrible one, because Plan A was never required to land where you first mapped it. Through COVID, a cancer diagnosis, and a bone-marrow transplant she now calls a rebirth, Patrice kept asking what each detour was teaching her and never stopped writing, landing sync placements on Netflix, HBO Max, and The Voice along the way. Want to break into sync licensing yourself? Get resourceful and bullheaded: take a class, build multiple streams of revenue, and gamify the grind: how many gigs can you find, how many music supervisors can you email? Every musician is an entrepreneur, and the numbers game rewards whoever keeps opening doors. Then Patrice gets practical, because gigging musicians are athletes. You get her playbook for protecting your voice across three-set nights: a real warmup, scale work, stretching, smart placement that pulls the sound out of your throat and into the mask, and the vocal rest you keep skipping. From there comes the band conversation nobody wants to have: in-ear monitors and the whole mix exist to serve the lead vocalist, so drop the ego and decide together what you actually want your band to sound like. Build a backup bench while you’re at it, because life happens and roles need filling. Patrice stepped back from the stage but never stopped creating, and that’s the whole point: keep writing, keep adapting, and Always Be Performing. 00:00:00 Gig Gab 540 – Monday, June 29th, 2026 June 29th: National Waffle Iron Day Guest co-hosts: Patrice Peris 00:02:36 Live has given me things in waves that weren't what I wanted Welcoming the unexpected 00:05:20 “What's your Plan B?” Is a terrible question And Plan A doesn't have to go where you planned 00:07:55 COVID and Cancer…all a journey 00:09:10 Perspective… always be asking: what is this teaching me? 00:10:43 Always writing 00:11:40 How do you get started writing for sync? A nod to bullheaded persistence 00:15:10 Starting a Sync Business Always have multiple streams of revenue Take a class (or two) 00:19:44 Being resourceful is the key to bullheaded persistence Gamify it all! How many gigs can I find? How many people can I email? 00:22:57 Learn to be strategic and mindful Anytime you're climbing the ladder, failure is inevitable Invest energy into the creative realm and also into the business realm 00:25:54 “No Plan” isn't a plan Listen to your inner 16 year old…sometimes! 00:29:47 Coaching people to let go of the hat The 80% Rule 00:35:20 Growing your music business 00:35:38 Vocal blowout Learn to Sing Like the Pro’s with Patrice Peris Voice Studios Gigging musicians are athletes Good warmup Scale work Physically stretching Take some vocal rest 00:41:00 Listening for Placement Where is the voice going? 00:42:31 In Ear Monitors can make a big difference Bands need to understand the sound has to serve the lead vocalist 00:44:42 What do we want our band to sound like to people listening? Bands need to come together as a group Communicate and decide upon the goal for what the BAND is going to sound like 00:49:38 Get two of everything 00:50:56 Gig Gab 540 Outtro Follow Patrice Peris Patrice Peris Voice Studios Contact Gig Gab! @GigGabPodcast on Instagram feedback@giggabpodcast.com Sign Up for the Gig Gab Mailing List The post Patrice Peris on Sync, Survival, and Why You Don’t Need a Backup Plan – Gig Gab 540 appeared first on Gig Gab.

Wayne Hughes has been our business coach for 22 years — and in all that time, we've never seen him angry. Ever.Through COVID, career pivots, and even near team mutinies, Wayne has been our anchor — listening, guiding, never missing a Thursday session, and always asking: “What's your 2-year plan?”His wisdom isn't just about business — it's about life. About mindset. About staying grounded when everything feels off balance.Wayne doesn't just coach. He uplifts.We're lucky to have him — and we think every business deserves a "Wayne."

An eLABorate Topics x 2024 Lab Manager Leadership Summit Collaboration! Welcome back to another exciting episode of eLABorate! Today's episode is an epic collaboration with the 2024 Lab Manager Leadership Summit featuring two of the Summit's most influential leaders, Scott Hanton, and Michelle Hoad, joining as our special guests.In today's episode, we will explore:- The transformation in leadership and managerial roles within the laboratory space, as discussed by Scott Hanton and Michelle Hoad.- The significant increase in lab visibility post-COVID and its impact on healthcare, as well as the strategies that led to the Medical Laboratory Professionals Association of Ontario's membership surge.- The importance of cultivating emotional intelligence, empathy, and the role of continuous learning in effective lab management.- Understanding and addressing the challenges of staff exhaustion, disengagement, and burnout in the laboratory setting.- Personal experiences and tips from our guests, aimed at reducing decision fatigue and promoting a supportive network among lab professionals.This episode is packed with powerful insights and personal stories aimed at elevating lab leadership to new heights. The Lab Manager Leadership Summit is an opportunity to share knowledge, stimulate discussions, and offer guidance to budding lab leaders, thereby molding the future of lab management. So, mark your calendars! Learn more about the Lab Manager Leadership Summit HERE!Also, for more information about the Lab Manager Academy, CLICK HERE.Also, be sure to revisit eLABorate Topics | Episode 38: Preparing for Success: A Guide to Maximizing Your Next Conference for great tips as you prepare for this Summit and your next conference! Special Guest Bio:Michelle Hoad is the CEO of the Medical Laboratory Professionals Association Of Ontario. The MLPAO is the largest lab association in Canada. Michelle joined the MLPAO in October 2016 and over the past 7 years has seen a 73% growth in membership. The MLPAO has positioned itself as the voice of med lab professionals in Ontario and the go-to place for government, media, and stakeholders for lab human health resource information. Before joining the MLPAO, Michelle consulted with several provinces to help them raise the profile of med lab professionals with the government and media. She also spent 25 years in the for-profit sector working with Fortune 500 companies. She is a Certified Association Executive, has been invited to speak at many lab industry events across the country, and has made tremendous progress with the Ontario government influencing policy and obtaining much-needed funding for lab professionals.  Through COVID she had over 250+ media appearances in Ontario and across Canada, reinforcing the message that med lab professionals are at the center of healthcare and that healthcare is more than just doctors and nurses.Connect with Michelle Hoad:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellehoad/Website: mlpao.org Scott Hanton is the Editorial Director of Lab Manager. He spent 30 years as a research chemist, lab manager, and business leader at Air Products and Intertek. He earned a BS in chemistry from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Scott is an active member of ACS, ASMS, and ALMA. Scott married his high school sweetheart, and they have one son. Scott is motivated by excellence, happiness, and kindness. He most enjoys helping people and solving problems. Away from work, Scott enjoys working outside, playing strategy games, and coaching youth sports. Connect with Scott Hanton:Email: shanton@labmanager.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-hanton/Join Team #eLABorate and connect with us!Connect with us on LinkedIn: eLABorate Topics Group and give us your feedback!Podcast Call to ActionWe would love to feature YOU!!!Share your favorite takeaway from today's episode: Video ReviewBe an eLABorate Supporter!1.     Listen on directimpactbroadcasting.com, Spotify, Apple Podcast, or your favorite podcast platform2.     Don't forget to subscribe to the show on your phone, tablet, or notebook so you never miss an episode!3.     Be sure to leave a comment, and share it with fellow medical laboratory professionals!4.     Join our eLABorate Topics Group on LinkedIn5.     Leave us a Video Review and we will feature you on our Social Media: Video ReviewBe a Guest on our show!If you have a leadership or laboratory message to share and would like to be a guest on the show, please reach out to us by completing the guest interest form or sending us an e-mail at elaboratetopics@directimpactbroadcasting.com.

When Adrian Leeds first visited France on a European trip with her not-yet-husband in 1979, she knew right then that Paris was a place that fed her soul.Since that time over the last 28 years she has built a business that is devoted to assisting Anglophones from all over the world to turn their dreams of moving to France into a reality. The Adrian Leeds Group is now the go-to company for finding out all the details and pitfalls of navigating the complexities when wanting to purchase property and live in France. Adrian seems to have a special skill though which I think is essential, she sees the property in terms of its potential and what it can be rather than just what it is on first viewing. Adrian reminds her clients that they are buying what they can't change. The view, the light, the bones of the building structure is fairly set, but the rest is smoke and mirrors! No need to despair if you don't like the pink walls of a property you find! Adrian also has a team who will work to renovate for the client as well if that's what they want or need. She will work with the client to ascertain what their plans are, whether they want to purchase or rent, assist to find an appropriate property and find the way forward. Some people start with "I've been dreaming of moving to France..." whereas others have very specific ideas already set. Adrian's also great at giving a reality check for people who wear rose coloured glasses! I have often heard from guests and listeners who have bought a place in France off the internet sight unseen! Adrian assists with this sort of situation regularly. Through COVID, Adrian had dozens of clients for whom she found properties, made a plan with the client, completed all the due diligence, then completed the renovation or restoration with her amazing teams in both Paris and Nice. I'm sure having her team working on the ground in France would have been great comfort to the client that what they saw on the internet was what they would actually get!Adrian does caution against purchasing in France without a buyer's agent. Buyer beware! The seller's agent is only concerned about selling the property, not necessarily about the issues that could be associated with the property. I think if making a huge life decision such as buying property and moving to a foreign country, it only makes sense to get expert advice. There are a number of considerations for how to set up a purchase that will impact the manner in which the property can be passed on to future generations so this expert advice is in my opinion a fabulous investment.Tune in to hear all the details as well as Adrian's take on life in Paris and France. Come and escape to France with us xx**Louise Prichard is the host of the Loulabelle's FrancoFiles podcast.**Other Loulabelle's links:FrancoFile Fix on YouTubeLoulabelle's FrancoFiles Spotify Playlist Loulabelle's FrancoFiles InstagramLoulabelle's FrancoFiles website

Madam Who?, GenZ's cool aunt, defies expectation. Despite a harrowing past that includes brain cancer, a brutal divorce, and nearly drowning, this unusual pop/rock music artist keeps a positive outlook and sense of humor, while sharing her life advice through her lyrics. In her quirky and catchy melodies, you may hear notes of The Beatles, The B-52's, and The Beastie Boys. This year she caught the attention of Good Morning America who aired a segment on her musical persona to their 1.7 million viewers. Through COVID she performed online and on TV. Currently she is opening for national acts and working with a London based record company. Madam Who?, born Audra Coldiron, moved to Nashville to attend Belmont University and pursue rock stardom. While earning her music business degree, she formed her first band, Merry Madness. The pop/rock four-piece toured the Southeast and managed to get on Star Search before televised talent shows served as short cuts to the big time. Next she formed Audra & the Antidote, known for their wild outfits and theatrical stage show that included minute-long handstand to a classical piano piece. With their hit, Jenny's Got a Boyfriend, Interscope Records' Jimmy Iovine flew them to LA to perform on his new USA network TV show, FarmClub. There they shared a stage with national acts, Creed and Godsmack. A year and a half later, the same song landed them in the top 10 for the very first American Music Awards New Music Awards. They were to play the first day of the most prestigious music conference at NYC's Bowery Ballroom to an industry-and-invitation only crowd with Dick Clark presenting. The flight was scheduled for September 12, 2001 – the day all planes were grounded due to the events of the day before. The event was rescheduled for a month later and because of conflicts, the show had to be the day before, Dick Clark couldn't present and only firemen were in the audience. The band had to cancel a headlining show in their hometown's music conference, which ended up getting them black balled. Despite Music Row Magazine naming them one of the top 5 unsigned bands in the city, they broke up.www.madamwho.comIG - madamwhomFB - madamwhotwit- therealmadamwhowww.amazon.com/s?k=audra+coldironHost - Trey MitchellIG - treymitchellphotography IG - feeding_the_senses_unsensored FB - facebook.com/profile.php?id=100074368084848Sponsorship Information  -  ftsunashville@gmail.comTheme Song - Damien HorneTake It From Me @damienhorne

Welcome to another episode of Keeping It Simple! Luis interviews Scott about his simple church/ micro church experience in this episode. The conversation ranges from how Scott got into micro church stuff, his experience in starting new simple churches, and the practical reality of co-vocational living. Scott is a current resident of the Simple Church Collective and actively practicing starting new simple churches. Scott attended Reach Training Institute through Salem Alliance Church, bringing him to Washington. Through Covid, Scott explored decentralized expressions of the church and is now living out his calling from Jesus through starting new simple churches and working co-vocationally. Thank you for listening! Please like, share, subscribe to Keeping It Simple, and check out our Patreon. To contact us, please email media@simplechurchcollective.com or visit simplechurchcollective.com Music produced by Jesse Calentine, find him on Instagram: @Jessecalentine

What's going on with hotels in this economy? Which markets are they thriving now? What are the benefits of investing and operating hotels? What are some types of hotels that may be great investments today? Julie Surago, Vice President at Olive Tree Holdings shares her insights. You can read this entire interview here: bit.ly/3G2PLVO What is going on with hotels today? Through COVID, you would expect that hotels got hit the most because of the stoppage and most travel both business leisure and international group, and yet hotels were able to weather the storm based because of the PPP loans that were given out by the government. And each hotel employs a fairly large number of people anywhere from Best Western which has 20 employees up to 1000, and Marriott which might have 200 employees and they took advantage of that. So, there wasn't a lot of distress in the market that we really expected to see. In fact, my firm was going to try to find some opportunities in the hospitality and real estate investment market, but it never really transpired. What are some of the benefits of investing and operating hotels? It's very hands-on and you have people moving in and out on a daily basis, but are the returns better? The biggest challenge with hotels today is staffing. Every industry is having trouble with staffing, especially the hospitality industry, hotels, and restaurants because there are a lot of turnovers and there are not as many international H-1B1 visas. However, the biggest benefit of a hotel versus any other type of real estate class is in times of inflation, when the value of the dollar is going up, hotels can react quickly. They set their rates every single day so you'll notice when you look at, not just hotels, but airlines, the prices are going up pretty significantly along with everything else. Whereas, if you have a multifamily lease or an office lease, retail, or industrial, some of those either get reset once a year or get reset every five years which is a lot harder to react to inflation. If you were to purchase a hotel today, what are some of the major things you would be looking for? I look for upside. If you're looking at a hotel, maybe it has a brand that is strong, but there should be an opportunity to "upmarket" something. What has been attractive for hotel investors is the ability to assume a loan at a fixed interest rate. There are a lot of hotels, particularly midscale hotels with limited service, that are on long-term CMBS loans and maybe they have a fixed interest rate of 4.5% which is extremely attractive right now. Another thing that has been attractive for people and also for some sellers is the big firms that have the ability to do so are offering seller financing at terms lower than what you can find in the market. I'm seeing hotels that were not attractive buys five years ago, but sellers are able to sell them now because they can offer that financing at cheaper returns, which really improves the upside, at least in comparison to what you can find. What kind of hotel size would you look for? I'm really into limited-service hotels. The resorts and full service are very attractive and fun to own but limited service usually is easier to operate. Fewer employees and a lot cheaper to buy. Another thing that is always been attractive to me is to buy nicer economy hotels. I think those weather the storm really well as far as any kind of economic disruption, whether that be building like Qantas or Wyndham micro hotels, Julie Surago julie.surago@gmail.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/best-commercial-retail-real-estate-investing-advice-ever/support

Through COVID, facility damage from a harsh winter storm, and other various challenges, Collin Creek Church has kept its focus on its community, working to reach a very diverse, fast-growing population. Pastor Michael Morrison shares how. #NAFWB #BetterTogether

The instinct to respond immediately to incorrect, negative, or hurtful comments online almost seems to be hardwired. How we respond can lead to unintended detrimental consequences and lead us down a dark path.  Today's guest is Dr. Robin Kowalski. Dr. Kowalski is a professor of Psychology at Clemson University. She obtained her PhD in Social Psychology from the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Her research interests focus primarily on adverse interpersonal behaviors, most notably complaining, teasing, and bullying with a particular focus on cyberbullying.  Show Notes: [0:57] - Welcome to the show, Dr. Kowalski! She shares her focus on cyberbullying and how she found herself interested in this research. [2:27] - Traditional bullying is intended and repeated aggressive behavior. Cyberbullying is similar but there are some differences. [4:24] - Perceived anonymity in the online world gives bullies a great deal of power. [5:42] - People who are involved in traditional bullying tend to also participate in cyberbullying. [7:05] - There are many different reasons why someone bullies another either traditionally or virtually. [9:18] - In the virtual world, anyone can be a victim and anyone can be a perpetrator. [10:31] - Cyberbullying can take several different forms. [11:56] - If it happens once, simply walk away and don't respond. But what happens if it keeps happening? [13:10] - Young people may not want to be honest with their parents out of fear that their technology might be taken away from them. [15:29] - The feelings involved with cyberbullying range from anxiety to suicidal ideation. [17:22] - Academic issues become a problem as well, even though cyberbullying takes place off of school grounds. [18:58] - Robin describes “mattering” and how this can impact youth in school. [20:38] - Social isolation is a warning sign for a lot of things. Parents need to be on the lookout and open up lines of communication. [22:40] - Anonymous reporting needs to be present, effective, and people need to be educated. [23:51] - Cyberbullying is not limited to youth. It happens in the workplace as well. [26:47] - Through Covid-19, prevalence rates did not change as much as Robin expected. [29:15] - If we receive something negative, Robin advises to pause before responding emotionally. [30:55] - There's such a familiarity with technology that it has become normalized to cyberbullying. [32:57] - Suicide is a possible and horrible result of cyberbullying. [35:05] - There's a more permanent feeling to cyberbullying. [36:32] - Employers can also search for evidence of behavior patterns in potential employees. [38:57] - Education is key and victims speaking out about their experience helps people understand the impact. [41:42] - Robin shares about a time she experienced some level of cyberbullying. Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.  Links and Resources: Podcast Web Page Facebook Page whatismyipaddress.com Easy Prey on Instagram Easy Prey on Twitter Easy Prey on LinkedIn Easy Prey on YouTube Easy Prey on Pinterest Clemson University - Dr. Robin Kowalski Cyberbullying: Bullying in the Digital Age by Dr. Robin Kowalski

Through Covid and as business owners, we have all been faced with countless difficult decisions. Sometimes, those decisions may not align with our personal beliefs but as business owners, we are faced with making the best decision for the company, our clients and our employees. How do we navigate the decisions we must make work in opposition to what we stand for and believe in? That's what today's podcast will unpack. Podcast Audio is also available on:+ Spotify+ Apple Podcasts+ Google Podcasts For more information about the Small Business Boot Camp, go to www.MetzgerBootCamp.com

Hello everyone and welcome back to Mindset Monday with Andree Martin on the Success InSight PodcastAndrée Martin, Mindset Monday - Your Finishing Strong Mindset to Close-out 2021.MINDSET MONDAY - Your Finishing Strong Mindset to Close-out 2021.Andrée Martin is Your Leadership Mindset & Golf Performance Coach.Andrée is an LPGA Class A Life Member, a Nationally Recognized Top 50 Golf Teacher and Expert, a member of the Maine Golf Hall of Fame, and she is a Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) Master Certified Coach.Recognizing Golf's value as a business tool in today's competitive marketplace, Andrée works with individuals, groups, corporate or organizational clients to create educational and team-building programs that enhance the professional success of aspiring executives.Andrée returns to the Success InSight Podcast for another episode of Mindset Monday, to chat about, “Your Finishing Strong Mindset to Close-out 2021”.Key points include:What a year! Through COVID and through all the Pivot(s). All while hoping to make America kind again, productive and prosperous again!The best golfer's deal with the Hazards and Traps in their way. Mindset is all in how we react to the situation, the moments, what we have done to ourselves, and with the unexpected. Is your Vision (destination) Complete?Two weeks left… how can you finish as strong as possible? Still on purpose?Did you keep your commitments? or cave? or pivot?How can you finish stronger yet?Did you hold yourself and your team(s) accountable?How can you shift, pivot complete and finish stronger yet?It is all perspective and numbersGolf… dispersion in each category tighter or wider? Putts lowered or not?Goals (path taken): Did your game plan work? Results?Did you meet your goals?More birdies eagles and pars than ever?What else is possible down this final stretch as we look ahead to an even better 2022?What did you accomplish?List them out with gratitudeWhere can the warrior's mindset strengthen the final stretch?What needs to change going into 2022?When it comes to Leadership depth, Where can we increase?Add more artful creativity?More practical? More simplistic or expansive?Last week's list + gratitude. The year-end is pulling it all together. Acknowledge the good. List what you accomplished to fulfill the vision and goals, then you are ready to head into 2022 Stronger than ever!Go for the Gold, don't settle for Silver, and Finish Strong!Thank you for your participation and feedback this year. We would gratefully love to hear more from you and your success as we all focus forward to the best 2022!Many birdies pars and eagles!To learn more about Andrée and her work, you can visit her website at https://andreegolf.com.You can also follow Andree on the following social sites: YouTubeInstagramFacebookLinkedInClick here to learn more about how EverythingDiSC personality instruments can assist you and your organization to improve communication, build stronger relationships, a

Erana Severne-Takataka has a calling on her life for leadership like no-one I've ever met. She believes that leaders create more leaders, and this episode dives into the mindsets, attitudes and beliefs for living a purpose driven life she loves making a massive impact on the world around her. What I loved most about this episode was Erana's acceptance of the duality in life and how she navigates emotions and uncertainty with radical self-belief and determination to make a positive contribution to the world.  Erana is currently Operations Manager and Project Lead at the Wise Group, where she brings her visionary perspective to three transformational community projects. She was recently featured in ‘Womankind': a book profiling 50 women making a difference in Aotearoa. Through Covid-19, Erana was a key player in the strategy to distribute over 457,000 meals to families in need over nine weeks. At the same time, Erana also co-led the development of a local initiative called ‘Here to help u', which has revolutionised how people access social and wellbeing support. In just over a year and through the combined efforts of partners, providers and volunteers; almost 9,000 people have received the full support they needed, and ‘Here to help u' is now growing into other areas and regions. Previously Erana worked at the DHB, developing successful projects to support Māori workforce development and healthy homes. The healthy homes project Erana led, significantly reduced avoidable child hospital admissions.The whakatauki she lives by?Koi te mata punenga, maiangi the mata pūihoihoImagine the invisible | Realise the potential | Defy the impossibleWe dive into: The healing journey from miscarriage  How to handle difficult things head on How service creates moments of authentic living How to reframe life experiences to empower yourself   Mental freedom through embracing your strengths  Finding the light in yourself The new paradigm of leadership The three keys to great self-leadership Finding confidence and self-belief in uncertainty  Beliefs and narratives that create greatness The importance of zooming out from stressful situations  The importance of creating space for others to fall How to reframe mistakes Balancing over balance Honouring your own needs and the needs of those close to you How to reframe mistakes The importance of acting with good intention and being tika If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave me a review on Apple Podcast :)I love hearing from you, so if something you heard really resonated, drop me a message on Instagram via @the_gemma_rose And if you have a topic you'd like to hear more about, let me know!This is the final episode of the first season of this podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in, and I can't wait to bring more audible juice through in 2022 to support you to brighten up your life from the inside out.

Mitch Robinson is one of the best characters in the AFL. On the field he is a wild man and off the field he has carved out a niche for himself in the media space. Through Covid his podcast Rip Through It was a massive hit and Mitch also dived deep into the gaming world. Before his AFL career Robbo was a moto kid through and through and it was epic to get him on the podcast after taking him riding for the first time in years!SPONSORS:TRAINAIDE: http://www.trainaide.com Promo Code: GYPSY15BOOST MOBILE: https://boost.com.au/pages/win CLICK TO ENTER TO WIN A BOOST PRIZE PACKMANSCAPED: http://www.manscaped.comGet 20% Off + Free Shipping, with the code GYPSYGANGKRUSHOZ: http://www.krushoz.comDriTimes: http://www.dritimes.comRIVAL INK: http://www.rivalinkdesignco.com - CODE: GYPSYGANG 15%MXSTORE: http://www.mxstore.com.auCRICKS TWEED: http://www.crickstweed.com.auFIST HANDWEAR: http://www.fisthandwear.com - CODE: GYPSYGANG 15%DIXXON: http://www.dixxonquality.com.au - CODE: GYPSYGANG 15%Wear Gypsy Tales Merch ► https://gypsy-tales.com/​SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST ►https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsBGR5UR7UCyLvNbHSxisFQADD GYPSY TALES ON INSTAGRAM ►https://www.instagram.com/gypsytalespodcast/?hl=enLISTEN ON:ITUNES:https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/chapter-136-ft-luke-kidgell/id1335551721?i=1000508051454SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3WaBKQaxua1BBiy3TDVdLm?si=GgZ3KFlcRk6e60AgSpELXAADD ME ON:INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/jasemacalpine/?hl=enTWITTER: https://twitter.com/jasemacalpine?lang=enSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tutoring is a critical function that supports student success at Ivy Tech. Tutoring has historically been campus-based and face to face. Through COVID, campus tutoring centers have expanded services and added ways that they serve our campuses. Get in Touch You can connect with Kara Monroe on Twitter @KNMTweets Reach out with show ideas, comments, or questions via Twitter or at our email address - ourcollegeyourvoices@ivytech.edu. Leave us a voice mail at 317-572-5049. Respond to the Call for Action, ask a question, give a shout-out to a colleague, or an episode suggestion. Check out show notes, listen to past episodes, and get instructions on how to access the podcast on our website at http://www.ivytech.edu/podcast.  

On this episode Sonya is joined by Steph Ferries. Prior to covid Steph concentrated hard core on the number on the scale. Through COVID she lost many freedoms but an important one was the ability to go to the gym due to high risk conditions in their home. After a visit to her doctor and a rib tube echocardiogram, she realized how much strength she had lost throughout her entire body. The scale read only 5-8 pounds higher through COVID, but she could see her body shape changing. She thought it was fine since the scale didn't read much different, however it wasn't until being back to the gym, and her doctors visit, that she realized that muscle truly does weigh more than fat and just how much muscle she had lost. Sonya is the Franchise Partner of Multiple Burn Boot Camps in the Midwest. Eau Claire: www.burnbootcamp.com/eau-claire-wi Eden Prairie: www.burnbootcamp.com/eden-prairie-mn Holmen: www.burnbootcamp.com/holmen La Crosse North: www.burnbootcamp.com/la-crosse-north-wi La Crosse South: www.burnbootcamp.com/la-crosse-south-wi Rochester North: www.burnbootcamp.com/rochester-north-mn Rochester South: www.burnbootcamp.com/rochester-south-mn Wausau: www.burnbootcamp.com/wausau-wi

Description: Join us as on the MYOB Podcast as we discuss the importance of an investor mindset, what it means to be a rainmaker, and how to create your real life dream roles with CEO and author, Shelene Atanacio. We discuss motherhood, priming, taking personal leadership, and intentionality. We lead you through numerous exercises; the Life Wheel, key questions to ask yourself, a formula for creating your day, and the 3-step process for creating your dream roles. We discuss how starting your day from a place of gratitude can reset your energy and why valuing your peace of mind can help you to deal with things that are out of our control. Shelene looks at her life as a masterpiece of her own creation and so can you. Enjoy this episode! There are lots of golden nuggets sprinkled throughout.   Highlights:  Valuing our peace of mind and dealing with things that are out of our control The power of manifestation and having an investor mindset The Life Wheel exercise  Motherhood, the caretaker role, and intentionality Why starting the day from a place of gratitude and resetting your energy matters The importance of priming and key questions to ask yourself  Taking personal leadership in your life How to take ownership and give yourself permission to invest in yourself  Overworking yourself and why it's important to take the time off A formula for creating your day Bonus: A 10-min exercise to create your real life dream roles, from her book, Act From the Inside Out Show notes:  00:00 - Intro  5:05 - During this pandemic people have been investing in themselves because you can't control what is going on outside of yourself, we can't control the virus or all the things that are happening but we can control how we are being about it, how it affects us, how the emotions are that go through us. I think a lot of people including myself have been investing in ourselves. 5:42 - Pattern interruption as a phenomenon. Realizing the value of our peace of mind. Being able to process these things that are out of our control because ultimately life is out of our control (we like to think it's in our control, but it is not).  7:00 - What does it mean to have an investor mindset? 8:50 - Every character in TV and film (and in your life) should have a motivation. This is what's going to get you up everyday and wanting to keep working on yourself.  12:36 - Things we've learned as Mothers.  12:50 - The importance of taking care of yourself. 13:00 - Working with the life wheel. Success is not money, success is not one thing. At the core is yourself and feeling connected to yourself. Within that wheel there is your spiritual life, social life, family life, career and whatever else is in your wheel. If you number that 1-10, if you find it is unbalanced you can probably feel that energetically. 24:20 - Motherhood. The business that comes from being a mother. 29:20 -  Life is a constant calibration. The importance of being intentional. How do you wake up in the morning? Do you wake up dreading the day, do you wake up excited about the day? Are you involving yourself with people that excite you or people that drain your energy? As a Mother you are having to be much more intentional.  31:00 - Who is taking care of the caretakers?  31:46 - Creating a schedule that works for you - having accountability around it. Honoring your commitments. A formula for creating your day. 34:10 - Overworking yourself and why it's important to take the time off. 36:34 - When COVID hit I realized there were alot of things to do on my to-do list that weren't important 37:12 - What is essential? Through COVID we've been reminded to ask ourselves “What is essential?” What brings me joy? What is it that lights me up? What is it that drives and motivates me to create things in the world? Connecting with your why? What is behind what it is that you are doing? The fulfillment and success will follow because you are in action creating from that place. 37:32 - What is the most important component of success for you? You need a growth mindset, a success mindset, NOT a “no” mindset, be open to growing and learning. When you want to thrive, grow and hit certain goals, you have to learn from other people.  38:32 - Creativity is a component of success. Due to the pandemic we are having to tap into our creativity to find new ways of doing things, connecting. Explore life in a way that's fun.  39:35 - The power of being present. 39:45 -  I don't think anyone on their deathbed said I wish I had worked more. 42:56 - Why it's important to check in. 48:13 - What is the cost of blame and fault avoiding? Hint: Happiness! 48:38 - We have this idea we are going to get somewhere. 49:12 - The importance of priming yourself.  52:13 - Schedule the time to start the day from a place of gratitude. 10 minutes of meditation. 10 minutes of gratitude. 10 minutes of affirmations. Affirmations help to lead into acting exercise. How it resets your energy.  57:28  - Exercise. Get a piece of paper, take a minute for yourself and write down these questions. Take the time to answer them and think about it. Bring that into the things you are doing throughout the day.  59:40 - Step 1) Write down your affirmations: Things you see yourself being.  Ie. anything in terms of body, mind, and soul that you are creating for this character. The affirmations help you to build and create a life for you to be the star. Start with 10 things you are grateful for and 10 affirmations.  Step 2) Write down a Character breakdown using active, energetic descriptions.  Example: Jamie - life of a party, always gets things done, she is the charismatic one...etc This is the perfect time for someone to just have fun and write down all of the different kinds of characters that you would love to play. Step 3) Write down the kind of characters that you want surrounding you. Who do you see yourself creating this masterpiece with? In business this is a powerful exercise: you can ask yourself “What kind of CEO do I want to be?” “Who are the clients I am serving?” “How will I dress?” “What Conversations am I having?” “What networking events are you going to?” “What are you researching?” Get very specific about what you want to create. Create a vision board.  Ask yourself: What are my real life dream roles?  1:06:39 - When Shelene was growing up and started acting.   Resources: Act from the Inside Out: Powerful Acting Tools to Transform Your Real Life - Shelene Atanacio Rich Dad, Poor Dad - Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechtern The Artist's Way - Julia Cameron Good Morning, I Love You - Shauna Shapiro    Quotes:  “We are always a work in progress.” -Elizabeth Upton “I realized my to-do list is never ending.” -Shelene Atanacio “We need to slow down often.” -Elizabeth Upton “Start the day from a place of gratitude.”  -Shelene Atanacio  “They say gratitude is the energy of creation.” -Shelene Atanacio “What you focus on expands.” -Elizabeth Upton “The voice in your head is akin to a grumpy cartoon character.” -Elizabeth Upton referencing Sauna Shapiro's work “Explore your life as if it were a script.” -Shelene Atanacio “I don't think anyone on their deathbed said I wish I had worked more.” - Elizabeth Upton   Contact Info/Resources: Guest: Shelene Atanacio (on Instagram) www.theshelenegroup.com @theshelenegroup, @sheleneiam info@theshelenegroup.com Find her book on Amazon: Act from the Inside Out: Powerful Acting Tools to Transform Your Real Life   Host: Elizabeth Upton (on Instagram, Facebook, & LinkedIn)  www.elizabethupton.com @myobpodcast, @elizabethuptoncoaching https://linktr.ee/MYOBsocial Email us to be a guest on the show: myobpodcast.show@gmail.com  Discuss your business strategy with Elizabeth: https://calendly.com/elizabethupton/strategy-call   PA/Admin Support: Yasmin Senouci (on Instagram) @yasminsenouci   Original music by Adrian Vaca (on Instagram & Facebook)  adrianvacamusic@gmail.com @adrianvaca   MYOB S1,E8: Duration: 01:13:47  

If you've ever felt the pressure to buy something because the website said there were just two left at that price or that the sale was ending soon, you've experienced just two of the many techniques using neuroscience to advertise online.  Today's guest is Roger Dooley. Roger is an author and international speaker. His books include Friction, one of the Best Business Books of 2019, and Brainfluence now in 11 languages. He writes the popular Neuromarketing Blog and Brainy Marketing at Forbes.com. He co-founded College Confidential, the leading college-bound website. Show Notes: [1:02] - Roger's background began in engineering but he found his way into marketing. [2:32] - Neuromarketing is using the understanding of how our brains work to market better. Roger describes it in more detail as well. [3:47] - One of the major techniques using psychology in marketing is scarcity. [5:27] - Another technique is to use social proof. Roger uses travel sites as an example. [6:16] - Many large companies, specifically travel sites and hotels, hire psychologists for the purpose of marketing. [7:50] - There's nothing wrong with using scarcity in marketing, but Roger and Chris discuss those who do not use this technique ethically. [10:03] - Chris shares a personal story of a sales job where his ethical selling and integrity created return customers. [14:04] - The first step in recognizing the legitimacy of scarcity techniques is to be aware that they exist.  [14:27] - Roger discusses another technique called reciprocity. [15:47] - Always evaluate the legitimacy of product reviews. [16:33] - Authority is another technique used. Roger explains how the psychology behind this works. [17:50] - Through Covid, the authority technique was seen often. [19:30] - One area that Roger has been recently focused on is the area of friction. How does this work in the sales field? Amazon has been using it for a long time. [21:33] - Roger shares a story about how LinkedIn used the friction technique. [23:40] - Even news sites use the startup friction technique to gather subscribers. [25:18] - How do vendors use more friction to retain subscribers or customers? [28:10] - The return process can also be sketchy, but in the case of Amazon, making this process easy has created reciprocal trust. [33:07] - There are many rebate offers that can be abused that were very popularly used in the past. Roger explains how that worked and that it isn't used as often anymore. [36:20] - When you express the same deal to someone as a loss or a gain, the loss looms bigger than the gain. Deals like this prey on loss aversion. [37:54] - There was some research done about random higher prices put onto specific items. [39:14] - Decoy marketing is very popular recently because of the surge in subscription services. [42:03] - Another form of decoy marketing is when there's a better product offered at the same price of the lesser product. [42:52] - Always look for things that might be manipulative. [44:02] - Everyone is impacted by these techniques differently. Price sensitivity, urgency, and fear of missing out are traits that are affected differently. [45:12] - AI is used to better control personalized/customized offers. Roger explains the pros and cons. [47:28] - Generally speaking, engagement on video content is great. When AI suggested videos are accurate, things are great, but engagement can actually be weaponized. [49:18] - What happens when there's too much engagement? [51:51] - Adding friction in the right places can be a good thing for businesses. Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.  Links and Resources: Podcast Web Page Facebook Page whatismyipaddress.com Easy Prey on Instagram Easy Prey on Twitter Easy Prey on LinkedIn Easy Prey on YouTube Easy Prey on Pinterest Roger Dooley Web Page Roger Dooley on Twitter Roger Dooley on LinkedIn Roger Dooley on Facebook Roger Dooley on Instagram Friction by Roger Dooley Brainfluence by Roger Dooley The Persuasion Slide by Roger Dooley

It seems like selling a product that is designed to make you feel good should be a cake walk. But as we all know, business is never easy, especially when you’re breaking into the supplement and nutritional bar space, which is overcrowded with industry giants such as Clif bars and KIND. So what’s an upstart company with a solid product and good intentions to do?On this episode of Up Next in Commerce, we found out when we talked to Chris Bernard, the co-founder, CEO and Chief Mood Officer for Mindright, the good mood superfood. As it turns out, there are a few ways that a small new company can make a splash, especially in the digital space. Chris explains how organic reach outs and authentic connections formed through his partnership with Rob Dyrdek has helped Mindright create an influencer and ambassador community that wins against influencer fatigue. Plus Chris, he digs into why a content strategy that blends humor and education is what gets the attention of the digital audience. Enjoy this episode.Main Takeaways:Be Serious… But Have A Laugh: Fun and funny content is a great way to build a relationship with consumers and to sell the lifestyle that you want your brand to be about. But you also have to balance real education and sales tactics into your content along with the comedic elements so that customers can get the full picture of what a brand is, why they should buy it, and to convince them to complete the purchase.Can I Get A Sample?: Free samples used to be a staple at grocery stores and markets everywhere, and those samples were a key way that new companies created buy-in with potential customers. Now that the industry has shifted away from that model, finding a new way to hyper-target customers with influencers, deals, and content is the best way to bring customers into the fold.Influencer Fatigue: Consumers are wise to the influencer strategy these days, and their fatigue is real when it comes to consuming influencer content. In order for brands to fight that fatigue and win engagement, building buzz around future products rather than current offerings is one of the best ways to do it.For an in-depth look at this episode, check out the full transcript below. Quotes have been edited for clarity and length.---Up Next in Commerce is brought to you by Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Respond quickly to changing customer needs with flexible Ecommerce connected to marketing, sales, and service. Deliver intelligent commerce experiences your customers can trust, across every channel. Together, we’re ready for what’s next in commerce. Learn more at salesforce.com/commerce---Transcript:Stephanie:Hey, everyone and welcome back to Up Next In Commerce. This is your host, Stephanie Postles, CEO at mission.org. Today on the show we have Chris Bernard, the co-founder and CEO and Chief Mood Officer at Mindright. Chris, welcome to the show.Chris:Thank you for having me. Appreciate it.Stephanie:It's good to have you. Would you rather have me call you Bernie? Which one do you want?Chris:My friends and my coworkers call me Bernie, but whatever you're comfortable with.Stephanie:I'm your friend.Chris:Okay, call me Bernie.Stephanie:All right. I like it. So in the beginning, I like to always hear about your background, your journey and how you got to Mindright. So maybe if we could start there. What did you do before Mindright, we'd like to hear.Chris:What I did before Mindright was I was in action sports for a little over 15 years. I represented brands like Burton Snowboards in their sales and marketing channels as an independent contractor. I left that business in 2015 and I invested in a company called, Buff Bake which was protein snacks and protein cookies, nut butters and I came on board with them as part of that investment as the CEO and I helped them run that company for a few years until I was ready to try something new and had an idea and ended up launching this Mindright.Stephanie:So did you have the idea for Mindright right after Buff Bake or was there something in between there?Chris:It was something in between and it just evolved very quickly into what it is today.Stephanie:Okay. What was your original idea? And then what is it today?Chris:Vegan cookie dough.Stephanie:Well that sounds good. I dig that.Chris:It was okay. It wasn't great and that's why I kept it out of the vine and I think we'll probably get into it. But one of the things that dismissed the idea was it really for me, I was looking for something condition specific. Functional foods are really driving the category right now and it's all about condition specific. Foods that drive beauty from within, through collagen, immune support, sleep support.Chris:It's really how we came to Mindright. We started to see this trend in supplements and when you're looking for trends that are going to be shifting to food and beverage, you always start with supplements and you see this rise of adaptogens and nootropics and brain supplements and anti-aging and it's just skyrocketing growth in supplements. It was this idea of how do we support our lifestyle through our mindset, our long hours, our drive, our energy levels through ingredients that support cognitive function. And that's where we started was this idea of cognitive food support and I came to my partner with this idea, he absolutely loved it. At the time the working name was Feed Your Brain.Stephanie:Cool. I like that name.Chris:And it was just really focused on brain health.Stephanie:Do you have a background in this world? How would you even know? When I'm thinking about brain health, I'm like, "Feels like there's so many things. I should be doing facial or I should be doing this. I should be doing so many things." Did you have a background in this where you already knew this makes me feel good? Or did you have to learn all about it?Chris:No, I just knew I wasn't feeling good. I always feel this brain fog and slow and besides this fact that you just hit 40, things start to slow down a little bit and you're looking for ways to support your lifestyle and just keep your edge and just keep moving forward and you start researching and there's a lot of great information around brain health, mental wellbeing, nutrition and other things that support those functions.Stephanie:Okay. And so what were some of the ingredients that you started finding that you're like, "We need to have this in some kind of bar."Chris:It was like lion's mane, Gingko biloba, both of which didn't make the cut at the end.Stephanie:Oh, how come?Chris:Well this is where I was going was, as we started with Brain Health, my partner who is a very big advocate of testing and research pushed to really go out and survey a group around 350 people. And while cognitive function was important to them, what indexed the highest was, "Do you have foods and ingredients that help me feel good? Happy, good mood. I want to be focused and feeling good." And this theme of feel good, just kept popping up and popping up and we took a step back and it was indexed so high. Like, "Why don't we just lean into good mood?" We've got a set of ingredients. We've got some data behind some of the ingredients we're using to really support enhancing your mood, decreasing your stress and giving you energy. All the things you need to feel good. So we need to do it. And that's how Good Mood Superfood was born.Stephanie:Cool. And did you always know that it would turn into a bar or did you have other thoughts early on?Chris:We had many thoughts and we still have many thoughts. This was our way of really standing up the brand, getting a feel for our branding, our message, bars is just the starting point. We have a really dynamic innovation pipeline of other snacks, drink blends, hydration drink. Things that will help support other areas of brain health.Stephanie:Very cool. So let's talk a bit about your partner and how that working relationship is and how you even landed him as your partner.Chris:So I was introduced to Rob Dyrdek, legendary TV personality, former skateboard, a professional athlete. Rob has a show on MTV right now called Ridiculousness. I grew up watching his other shows, Rob & Big and Fantasy Factory, as many of us did.Stephanie:Rob & Big, that's a good show.Chris:It was amazing. So then we just look forward to every week watching. He's just such a character and dynamic human being. But what people don't know is he runs a really diverse, exciting venture creation studio. He refers to himself and the people around him as do or diers, people that are interested in investing in themselves, growing businesses from the idea stage to the exit. And he's invested in several brands, primarily at the startup stage. And when I came to him, I was in the transition period in my life. I didn't know why I was meeting him.Chris:I was going to go in and just introduce myself. And I brought Buff Bake with me just in case he was interested in investing because always looking for investors and he made me tell him my life story from the day I was born until the day I ended up sitting in the chair in front of him.Stephanie:Wow. I should have done that.Chris:It's not that interesting. But he really liked it. And I spent 55 of my 60 minutes talking about myself and then he's like, "Okay. So what's up with these cookies? What's up with this Buff Bake? He's like, "Okay. Those are really good. I like them but I really like you. If you have some ideas or you want to do something, come back and let's talk about it."Chris:I left and I got a call two weeks later from him, wanted me to come back again. Again, didn't really know why I was going there. He wanted to pitch me on some ideas. And it just flew over my head. I went home, I called his COO and I was like, "What's he looking for?" He wanted an idea from me. He wanted to work on something. So I had been in the background working on these cognitive ingredients, paired with superfoods and brought it back to him as a whole package. I came in with fully developed samples around bars and coffee creamers and bites to really articulate what this could look like. And he was so excited about the presentation. He just sealed the deal with me on the spot and we were off to the races.Stephanie:That's amazing. What does the partnership look like with him? How's he involved?Chris:He is very, very involved. He wants to be very involved in the creative process, but also through all the funding, the financial rounds, building the infrastructure of the company. He has built a really strong team around him. Managing the finance arm, managing the marketing project teams. So it's an extension of my team. We are true co-founders, he's very, very involved in the business and he and I are either working together on the daily basis or he and his team are fully integrated in.Stephanie:That's really cool. And it seems like once you get access to him and then you had his network, it brings in other investors as well.Chris:Yeah. So that's the next thing that happened. So we stand this thing up and we start to go out to bring in some strategic capital to help push things along. We started with some traditional resources and private equity and some strategics within the space. And then we started talking to his network a little bit and all of a sudden we saw how excited they were and one conversation led to the next, led to the next, the next thing you know it's Marcus Lemonus from the profits. Jonas was extremely excited about the project. He now sits on the board with myself and Rob. Joe brought his brothers on as well. Jordan McGraw, Travis Barker, Ken Roxanne. It's just this star-studded list of really great mindset celebrities and athletes. Very, very exciting.Stephanie:It seems like you have your own portfolio of influencers. You can get the word out there. While most people you're trying to even think about, "How do I even tap into one of those?" You've got this whole little Rolodex just working for you.Chris:Right. So it's exciting. I think that being able to have that leverage and that advantage really puts us in a unique position to tell the story.Stephanie:Awesome. So tell me a bit about, you said that you were getting samples when you were going to go and show him what you could do. What did that process look like? Because to me thinking about even making any kind of food and then getting the packaging and then getting ingredients that maybe some people aren't the most comfortable with. If you hear some of the words you'd be like, "Well, what is that like? Is that even safe?" Tell me what that process looked like to even find someone who could make the bar that you wanted to taste good and have all that ready for the sample day.Chris:It's funny. You start with the manufacturers. Every manufacturer has a food scientist, R&D, most of them do. Food scientists and R&D department. And most of the time, if they're excited about your project, they will help your R&D. It comes with strings attached and not always do you end up owning your IP, which is important if you're interested in exiting your company at some point, but you learn the process of what goes into R&D products.Chris:And I came in, you come in with a brief and your core tenants for, "These are the ingredients that I would like to use as superfoods. These are the outputs that we'd like to achieve, enhance mood, stress, energy. These are the functional ingredients we're thinking about." And then you work with the ingredient suppliers to understand efficacy and transparency around their ingredients. And you let these guys do their job and you like what you like and you don't when you don't. And I think we did about 13 rounds of this bar until we landed in a place that we felt really good about.Stephanie:That wasn't just you testing it or were there other people trying it?Chris:It was Rob and the entire team. His close team is a team of five.Stephanie:That is awesome. What kind of lessons did you learn when going through that process? Anything that you would maybe do different?Chris:Well, I'll tell you one thing. We tried to be everything but the kitchen sink. We wanted to be keto, we wanted to be paleo, we wanted to be zero sugar. We wanted to be everything. Vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free and have functional ingredients that support incredible, feel, good vibes and decrease your stress. And we were realistic that not all of that was going to work and our guiding light really became taste. If it doesn't taste good, I don't care if it has all those things, it's just not going to work for us. So we planted a flag and it was about taste. And we want this thing that tastes good. And if it has five or six or seven grams of sugar, we use a coconut Palm sugar, which we felt really good about. It was therapeutic. It was like, "Okay, great. We don't have to use sugar, alcohol, or stevia or erythritol or anything. We're going to use coconut Palm sugar. It's a low-glycemic sugar. It tastes great. The bar still has 50% less sugar than an RXBAR or competitor. And we felt really great about that.Stephanie:That's awesome. How do you view the landscape right now? Because I know when I go into certain grocery stores, I'm like, "Wow, there's so many bars." There's the original type RXBARS but now it feels like there's so many offshoots. Everyone's trying to do lower sugar. Maybe not what you're doing, but how do you make sure that you're staying ahead of them and also differentiating yourself where people are like, "Oh, obviously we can see why they're different than all these other bars."Chris:I think again, it came down to taste, great amount of protein, our base values of, it is plant-based vegan, it is dairy free, it is protein packed and low sugar were really important to us. But I think we'll continue to stand out with what our functional message around supporting mood through these super foods and ingredients. And we are just sticking with that.Stephanie:How do you get in front of new people though? I'm thinking about back in the day, samples where you're like, "Oh, I would never have thought to buy that, but now I can see it's healthy for me and good." How do you approach that now trying to get in front of new people and have them try it for the first time?Chris:It's difficult, especially through a global pandemic of people at home and not having opportunities sample in the markets or elsewhere. And for us, it's just leaning into our influencers, our investment community, paid ads, really important. Finding unique ways to drive trial, pinpointing and targeting specific communities. It'd be really great to be everything to everyone but if we could just focus on this core group that's committed to their mindset. They're coaches, they're hustlers, they're the boss, they're the mom and they're focused on what it takes for them to be successful every day. We call them the happy hustlers. That's where we're starting. Our initial reaction was the right one. They're really resonating with the product. They're speaking about the product for us organically. And we're just going to continue to focus on that community right now. And then it'll just hopefully grow from there.Stephanie:It also seems like you have a really good idea around your social presence and how you want to present yourself. It's like a fun whimsical looking, at least your Instagram feed and it's not overly product driven, but it's more selling the lifestyle behind it which I really liked.Chris:Exactly. That's exactly right. And that's what's resonated the most is people are realizing that Mindright is a lifestyle. It's not just about the products. We want to support you beyond that. And as you'll see over the next couple months, we're really going to lean into what it takes to have a better mood, to put the work into your mental wellbeing and really drive home this good mood movement. And being approachable and fun, makes it just easier to pay attention and watch and fun and funny is part of feeling good. And that's the message that we want out there.Stephanie:It sounds like your content strategy you're about to ramp up around those areas. How are you going to keep it balanced between educational, which I feel like a lot of people need education around the ingredients and why they're added and how they need to be mixed together and then the other side around even outside of the product. Like you said, just good mood and how to feel happy and mindfulness and it's like a whole different business over there. How are you thinking about balancing that and connecting with the right audience?Chris:It's just that. It's balancing, trying different things. It's balancing being funny with incorporating lifestyle and people enjoying the product. You're going to just start to see more direct response and testimonials. We are looking to partner with therapy based apps and other entities that help make mental health and wellness really accessible. We're going to have our investment team and our influencers talking about the work that it takes to get Mindright. It's not just, this bar is not going to solve your problems, it's not. But if you focus on your nutrition and you incorporate things like the importance of sleep and getting exercise and some type of a meditation routine, all of these things combined bring you to that next place.Stephanie:Yep. Yeah. It's not just try one thing and all of a sudden everything will be solved, like many things and there's no magic potion.Chris:I think that that's where other companies that are trying, mood or all of these other cognitive functional ingredients, they could fall short because they're making it just about that. And I think that we'll go along for the ride and we'll be there to support our customers along the way.Stephanie:That's great. So you just mentioned influencers. I'm going to go and I want to hear how you view working with influencers because we've had quite a few brands on the show and they talked about it. Some people, amazing experiences if you find the right person who is all in, it's not just sharing a quick message of like, "Here's my teeth whitener and it works great for me go buy it." Versus maybe the ones that are really in they're even part the product development. How do you view a good working relationship with influencers? And more than one, since you have many that you have to balance.Chris:I think for us, it's about being authentic. If it's not something you enjoy and you truly believe in it comes through. You see it and you feel it. And I think having our influencers part of our ambassador program, which we're just at the early stages of building out, is a really important part around building the authenticity of their message. Our influencer program is very small right now, we're still identifying how they're speaking about the brand and what are the best ways to do that. But what we've gotten so far comes from a really organic place. We haven't paid for any influencers yet. All organic because people are enjoying the product and sharing the message with their community.Stephanie:Are you sending them free samples or is it more your investors giving it to their friends who are other influencers probably. And then it's organically happening through that way?Chris:A little bit of both. We identified people that live within our community that we would like to target and say, "Hey, we'd love your feedback. No expectations. You don't need to post. We just ask you tell us how you enjoyed the product. How'd you feel? What do you think about the packaging?" And then it just happens organically.Stephanie:How do you view the longterm strategy around influencers? Because sometimes it feels like they'll have this excitement and a big blip where their network sees it. And then there's maybe diminishing returns and people are either hit over the head with it too much. Or like, "I bought it. It's good." Or the person's not as excited anymore as they were maybe in month one. How do you keep them engaged or be like, "Okay. We're kind of good for now."Chris:We see that fatigue all the time. And I think for us, it's the excitement around what's coming. It's creating community around the lifestyle and the future launch of our new products. The bar is here today. It might not be here in three years from now. It's about continuing to evolve and supporting our needs today.Stephanie:Makes sense. So tell me a bit more about this ambassador program that you're building.Chris:We're at the early stages where we're leaning into this mindset community from happy hustlers. We have three investors on the team that live and breathe in that space. And that's Chris and Lori Harder, their lifestyle coaches and then Lewis Howes who also has a podcast, The School of Greatness. And just really leaning into what they do and how they do it and their communities coming to us and we're setting them up and they're incentivized by product. One of the angles that we're working on right now is charity. When they post, we will support a soon to be identified a mental health charity with an investment.Stephanie:When they're posting about the bar or the company, something like that, then it's like, "Okay, that's a point towards this charity or effect."Chris:Exactly. Those are the early stages. We're still in development. It's still being worked out. We're less than two months old in the market, so we're close.Stephanie:Are there other ambassador programs that you look at where you're maybe taking some key learnings from where you're like, "I know this one works well and I want to implement some of those strategies into Mindright as well."Chris:Yes. A lot of them are custom built though. There's a lot of really great app solutions that work really well and incentivize through product or discount or payment. We want to try to be more organic. I've seen some great custom ones that are gamified, that built community around this excitement around this app itself and the message. So work in progress.Stephanie:That'd be cool to circle back and hear what you ended up building and how it's working and the results. So tell me about your distribution strategy and where you're thinking about selling. Are you on Amazon? Is it just your website and how do you think about where you actually want your bars to be sold right now?Chris:It's everything digitally native. So we are alive on our website getmindright.com. We're on Amazon. We're looking at a various array of subscription box companies. But the really big one right now is all of the delivery convenience guys. So this new evolution of convenience, prime is not good enough. It can't be there the next day. It needs to be there in 20 minutes. So we're looking at partnerships with goPuff, FastAF, Dot. We're in the process of vetting those guys out right now and seeing which one makes the most sense. And I think that can meet format. It's just growing and exploding right now. Through COVID people were forced to adapt to Amazon and delivery service and it's here to stay. It's here to stay. Those conveniences will never change.Stephanie:Are you worried about maybe your brand and the story not being told correctly when you're starting to have many outlets for your products going out and you can't fully control the messaging or?Chris:Yeah. I think that's why picking the right partner for these delivery services is key because we want to make sure that we have the ability to tell a story, whether it's this big or in a banner. It's really partnering with the right team to help make that happen. And then we have a lot of work to do on our end. And I think that our community will help push people to these services. Amazon, getmindright, goPuff, that's where we go and they'll really rely on on that. It's challenging.Stephanie:Yeah, no. Especially when you have so many different people you're vetting right now and thinking about all of the control that you could be losing but also all the access that you're going to be gaining. It's tricky. Because this is a commerce show, I want to hear about your ecommerce strategy around what's working. What do you think that you're doing on your website that maybe is unique and others haven't tried out yet or that you're like, "This is a good tip that more people need to know about."Chris:I think it being less templated and more just an experience where it just feels fun. It makes you dive a little bit deeper to find out what's going on. What works for some people doesn't always work for others and I think this format is working well for us right now.Stephanie:Do you find yourself being able to look back at maybe your experiences at Burton and other places and pulling some lessons from there? Or is it such a different market that you're like, "That probably wouldn't work for this product."Chris:I think it's very similar. I think at the end of the day, you're selling an item that you're passionate and excited about and what is the best way to share that with your friends or your customers? It's very similar in that sense.Stephanie:Yeah. That's cool. So where do you guys want to be in one to three years? What are you hoping to achieve?Chris:We're looking to achieve this just amazing platform of good mood foods that span across really great retailers, Whole Foods, all the natural channels. It would be really great to see it everywhere obviously, but this really accessible approach to foods that help support your mood.Stephanie:Have you started talking to Whole Foods and other retailers like that?Chris:We've had some early conversations, but we really want to stay firm on this digitally native approach. I think that one thing that I'll add is testing is worth spending money on. Just test landing pages, AB testing, digital testing, customer testing. It has opened my eyes to this completely different world. And it is a true science. And when you understand that word that works, that picture that works, that landing page that just converted, it's a science. And then you can continue to really invest towards those things that are working because you know there's turn on that.Stephanie:Yeah. I agree. What is a finding that maybe came out of some of those tests where you were like, "We would have never changed this, changed the product, change the website, but now that so many people are saying this, we're definitely moving forward with that.Chris:I would go back to the beginning where Rob and I, Mindright. There was two different names before Mindright. And now I look back, I'm like, "Neither of those would have worked. Mindright should have always been number one." We tested Mindright. Mindright worked really well but We wanted to brand the ingredients themselves. And we were like the unstoppable blend. We're unstoppable. This mentality of you cannot be stopped, masculine. And we were so sure of it and it failed miserably.Stephanie:They were like, "I don't like that."Chris:No, no. So now at the happy brain blend.Stephanie:That makes me feel happy. That's more on brand.Chris:Yeah. And then from that moment on we're like, "That's our guiding light." It makes me feel happy. Does it? Yes Or no. Okay. It's in.Stephanie:And how are you doing these tests? How are you going about trying to get this feedback? Are they surveys or what are you all doing behind the scenes?Chris:Yeah. Surveys. Right now, we've moved to more surveys. We're surveying around our current database of growing email subscriptions and then we're going to start doing some stuff through Instagram, social media. But the original testing went through a market research firm.Stephanie:All right. Well, let's shift over to the lightning round. The lightning round is brought to you by Salesforce Commerce Cloud. This is where I ask a question and you have a minute or less to answer. Are you ready?Chris:No.Stephanie:Nope. Be right back. Need to go get some more tea. Get In the right mood here. All right. Well, we will move on anyways. If you had a podcast, what would it be about and who would your first guest be?Chris:Oh my gosh. My podcast would be about thinking big. My whole life I never thought big. I thought pretty small and I put roadblocks up in front of myself and I think that now as I sit on a board with Rob Dyrdek and Joe Jonas, literally anything is possible and it would be about stories and ways to help open up your mind to anything is really possible. And I think as cheesy as that sounds, it really is. And I feel like here in my home with my kids and now that we're talking about getting Mindright and this positive growth mindset and to hear them talking about it, it's a real thing. I don't have a title yet. I'll let you name the podcast.Stephanie:There you go. I'll help you name it. Who would you bring on for your first guest?Chris:I bring in Rob. He is an amazing person to talk to about all of this stuff. His mindset is just next level with what he does to keep his energy and his success where it is. It's remarkable.Stephanie:Awesome. What does your mindfulness practice look like?Chris:I'm sorry.Stephanie:What does your mindfulness practice look like? How do you stay centered and balanced and not getting pulled everywhere when doing a startup?Chris:I think for me, I committed to getting up early every morning. I have to be up by 5:00,5:15 or else I can't do the things that I want to do for myself, which is exercise or just have a moment of meditation. Whether it's a minute or five minutes or 20 minutes. I try to do that every morning. I have four kids so life is really hard sometimes. Here they are.Stephanie:I feel that.Chris:So it's get up early, it's a few minutes of meditating and just understanding where I'm at and being really grateful for that. Exercise, 30 minutes. That is my non-negotiable. I have to get 30 minutes in, if I don't my day is just off and once in a blue moon we have a sauna that was gifted to us by-Stephanie:Wow.Chris:It was miracle. That's another podcast.Stephanie:Yeah. Okay. I want that friend. Gift me a sauna.Chris:It was some local guy just giving it away. He was moving.Stephanie:What area of California do you live in because I don't know about many local areas being like, "Here's a sauna. Do you want ice staff as well?"Chris:I'm on the hunt for one of those. So, if you know one. I started fasting, so I intermittent fast. I don't eat my first meal until 12:00 or 1:00. And I found it's really helped with inflammation and energy and I feel great. I also stop thinking through COVID I just-Stephanie:So impressive.Chris:30 days and then you felt great and 60 days, I'm like, "Wow, I feel awesome." And it just stuck.Stephanie:All right. Last question. Two more questions. What's one thing that you don't understand today that you wish you did?Chris:What don't I understand. I don't understand a lot of things let's be honest.Stephanie:Good answer. Just everything. Lots of things.Chris:No. I think for me, part of the reason why we're starting digitally native is almost a personal challenge to myself. I know retail really well, I know relationships, building brands, building distribution, working with brokers. I don't understand digital that well. And it can be frustrating at times because the learning curve is pretty steep and it's always changing every day because you're learning something new and I think digital marketing I don't know very well.Stephanie:Well, you'll be learning it with this company. So that's great.Chris:It'd be great to hire the right people to help you.Stephanie:Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yeah. 1,000% to that one. All right. And then the last one, what one thing will have the biggest impact on ecommerce in the next year?Chris:I think it's these convenience delivery guys. I think they're going to change the game for a lot of people. FastAF is a really good example of what's happening with commerce outside of food and beverage, because they're delivering unique gifts. You need a gift and you're going to a party in an hour, they'll be there in 20 minutes with this beautiful candle or gift item which is just changing the way that we do everything.Stephanie:Yeah. Oh, I completely agree. All right. Well, this has been such a blast. I feel like my mind is really in the right place now after this interview. Where can people find out more about you and Mindright?Chris:Check us out at getmindright.com or on Amazon.Stephanie:All right. Cool. Well, thanks so much for coming on the show.Chris:I really appreciate it. Thanks so much.

Lauren got a promotion and as she climbed the corporate ladder she realized she kept getting more and more in her head.   She punished her body and her personal relationships were suffering.   Lauren was done controlling, done worrying, done with guilt... and she was ready to learn how to change so she could love and trust herself.   Lauren came into Purpose because she was done stressing.   She was done filling her plate and getting nowhere.   Lauren was done feeling like "I have to do this" and she was ready to wake up feeling happy again.   Today Lauren's energy and body are thriving!   She feels so confident and excited and she's not fear driven anymore YEW!   Lauren does shit from love now.   Of course this has positively affected everything!   Her marriage is thriving and they keep upleving together.   Through Covid they've flipped a house, they're paying 2 mortgages, creating their dream home and creating a family together... and at the end of the day they have each other's backs.   They love each other so much.   We taught her how to trade perfectionism for the joy of the present moment and she feels sexier, stronger, more in love, and this Queen is powerfully leading her team.

Max: Hello and welcome back to the Recruitment Hackers podcast. I'm your host Max Armbruster and today on the show, I'm pleased to welcome Diana Trasolini from Paladin Security, Vice President of People and culture at Paladin Security, which is a company that hires, well as the name suggests, hires in the security sector, and has over 16,000 people working mostly in Canada, is that right, Diana.Diana:  Canada and the US.Max:  Canada and US. So, welcome to the show.Diana:  Thank you very much for having me, Max.Max:  Pleasure. I'm excited to find out about how to hire security, and what are the specific challenges around that. But first, perhaps, tell us a little bit about Paladin Security, what do you do, and what kind of people do you hire.Diana: Yeah Paladin Security has been around for a while since 1976. I've been with the company for just over 10 years, so for a pretty long time and I would say that the company has been growing extensively since its inception, but also extensively over the last 10 years. So really fast growth for both organic growth and through acquisition. So since I've been with the company, it's been about eight times growth. And it's been fun to be a part of that. We do obviously specialize in physical security so security officers or security guards. We also have several other companies that fall under the Paladin name, so Paladin risk solutions which does investigations, emergency management and risk solutions, we have a parking company palette of parking. And then we also have a US company, PalAmerican security. So, again, all these services on the US side of things. So, yeah, kind of sums us up on what we do,Max:  What is the bulk of your hiring? What kind of positions?Diana:  The majority of our hiring is at the security officer level for sure.Max:  And that service, I guess the private sector mainly. You were telling me before the interview about the work you're doing in the healthcare sector and hospitals. Is that a big, big industry for you, and what are the other industries you serve?Diana:  Yeah we serve a variety of different industries, so healthcare is a big one. A lot of the hospitals, care facilities across Canada, we provide security services for. We also are in commercial, retail, business centers. We do mobile security so security officers in cars do mobile patrols. Yeah, pretty much anywhere that means security, we provide the services.Max:  So, last year was good for business, business kept growing, as you said, eight times growth in the 10 plus years you've been there so from a few thousands to 16,000 people today. Congratulations on driving that enormous growth. Do you miss the old days, you know, just 2000 people? I mean 2000 is still too big where you can't really remember, you can't really remember everybody's name, but now 16,000 like, you probably don't even know everybody on your own floor.Diana: Yeah that's a great question. I mean it's been so exciting to be part of the team that's helped with the growth. Do I miss the old days, I would say in some ways, yes, in some ways, no. You're right it is, you do miss knowing almost all of the employees by name, but to be part of this big organization that still managed to keep a very like small company feel. It's been fun to be a part of that and to build the culture around how to be a big company that still maintains personal touch to everything that we do.Max:  Yeah. I noticed the word 'culture' was in your job title. It's obviously something that after being in a company for 10 years, people will come to you to answer culture questions. But culture is a living thing, has you has your culture evolved recently or have been challenged with the events from last year?Diana: Yeah COVID definitely, it shifts things, but I think when you have a strong corporate culture, it helps that that foundation helps the company persevere through difficult times like COVID. So, yes, of course it's been tested and tried with having to shift people working from home and having security officers who are working in certain healthcare facilities during a time when there's a worldwide pandemic. I mean, it's tricky, and we have to be fluid and flexible and be able to shift within our culture to make sure that we continue to meet our employee needs and I think that's kind of been the key is to foundationally, you stick true to your culture, but you're also fluid and flexible enough to move with the times.Max:  Yeah the shifts to accommodate the concerns you said some of the security guards did not want to work in the health care sector in your hospitals. I've heard that from other people that it was really difficult to hire in the healthcare sector during this time, due to all that's going on and the coverage, the crisis. But let's talk in a more general sense about those security guards, like, I think a lot of us have have watched, unfortunately, the mall cops movie where we imagine sort of a comfortable job where there's not that much happening, but you do get to wear either a gun or a taser. Is that the bulk of security is mostly just maintenance and kind of like making sure everything is okay and surveillance, or are there other similar like squat teams that are a little bit more action oriented?Diana: You know what this is a good topic to discuss you need to know. You talked on what really is the crux of what causes our recruitment challenges in security is the stereotypes. Max:  Yes, I am great at those.Diana:  Yeah, and you knw what everyone is, it's not just you, but the security industry has the worst stereotypes and that makes it so challenging in so many ways, but I can tell you, lots of like lots of companies I would say yeah sure like maybe stereotypes come around for a reason, and lots of companies maybe have those minimal standards. But I mean for Paladin, that's something that we as an organization are pushing so hard to set the bar higher and to do things differently, so that we can rip those stereotypes so that we can show the true value of security. And it's really does start at like the onboarding and hiring level but all the way through our organization, I mean, we pretty much have no sites for our work. Well first of all in Canada we don't carry a weapon, so no guns and tasers unfortunately. But also, our security officers are often embedded in our clients programs, so we're not just maintaining status quo, and walking, we're often embedded in their health and safety, embedded in their concierge and customer service. We provide such a tailored approach to the services that we offer. And then on the security officer side we provide such extensive training for everyone coming in and then ongoing training to ensure that we don't just have bodies, the mall cop stereotype. That's just not not really how it is for us. Max:  But I guess, I apologize for the stereotype, somewhat, didn't want to say there was anything wrong with kind of having a surveillance, more passive approach to security. Because, obviously, it's one of those things where you're there, you have security for when things get bad, but 99% of the time, things don't get bad, right. And so, I would imagine that it is a career where it's not going to be filled with day to day excitement, and that you also need to hire for a personality type that can adjust to an environment where 99% of the time, you have to stay alert, but also you know, it's not an action movie. Diana:  Yeah.Max:  So, do you look for people who are not too action oriented, I guess. And would that be a hiring risk if somebody who would apply for a security guard position. And I know you said there's no weapons but I was gonna say everything especially trigger happy. Diana:  Yeah, I mean, to be honest, as a company we tend to steer away from contracts that are 99% nothing jobs. Of course, we have some of those in across the country, we're going to have some of those contracts, but like I said if our security officers are more embedded in the actual work that our client does, it's very infrequent that they're static and have nothing to do. When it comes to hiring, are we looking for someone specific who could do that static work, because we have such a vast contract base at a variety of different sites. Really, if we say post a job for security officer and one person is, really action oriented, Go Go Go, and one person is a little more passive and, has a different skill set, we could easily hire both of them and stick them, it's a matter of at that point, figuring out where is that person, and we do this through, we have a very extensive hiring process. Where is that person going to be best suited for success, because if you put this what you call the trigger happy person or just someone who is more action oriented at a very quiet site, they're going to be miserable. And alternatively if you put a more passive person at a very high action site, they're also going to be unhappy and that's just going to cause turnover. So I think it's more about hiring the right person at, not necessarily a skill level, we can hire that or we can train that, but hiring a person who has the values, and is a cultural addition to our team and then figuring out where they fit. Max:  Okay great. Well can you tell us a little bit more about exactly how you would interview somebody for for one of these positions?, some some interview tips. If I have never interviewed, I've never hired anybody for my own firm and security, so I'm really coming from a place of ignorance. I would imagine it'd be, you have a few questions around different scenarios how you would respond to that and understanding how they would maybe create some protocols around certain situations, to see how they think around that, and maybe you mentioned a little bit about values. So identifying what the kind of world they want to be part of. Am I on the right track?Diana: Yeah, we have a little bit of of all of it. So we obviously, well there's a fine balance between, especially in an entry level position in having a short enough interview that keeps the person engaged, but a long enough, interview that you're getting all the information you need and also allowing that candidate to get to know the company a bit. So, for interview question specifically we have a few questions to get to know the candidate. So a big part of it is going to be experience they don't necessarily need security experience to work for us. But what experience do they have, do they have gaps in their employment?, have they been terminated from previous positions? So all of their employment history questions, any red flags, kind of digging in a little bit there. And then you're going to want to go into like behavioral questions, so you know tell me about a time when, how did you react in this situation. And then, of course, we'll do a couple of scenario questions, so give them a specific situation that really might come up in the everyday work that they do, and then see how they react or how they would react in a situation like that.Max:  Can you give us an example. I mean, I know you're interviewing 1000s of people every month, I don't want to give up your secrets to trade secrets, but.Diana:  Let me see if I can think of a quick scenario on the spot that we might ask. Okay, I'll think of something really simple and basic. So, say you're a security officer and you're on patrol at one of your sites so you're doing an exterior perimeter patrol of the site, and you find a wallet on the ground, and you're, you open it up then there's an ID in there and there's a whole bunch of money in there. What do you do? so something simple like that where you can kind of dig in and figure out does this. First of all, is this person like well, I don't know it's going to the 'lost and found'? Well, in most situations in our sites security handles lost and found, or is it like, take the money and run. You know what exactly would they do. Can they problem solve, or are they going to call the manager and ask them what to do. There's so many different ways that a person can go in so many different ways that you can kind of probe and find out this person's ability to problem solve a little bit about their morals. So it can be as simple as that, where you can dive into things a little bit. Max:  I love that question because it puts me in a great mood. Like, when's the last time I found a wallet full of money. It just kind of like puts you in a good mood and I want to continue the interview, kind of, what else you got for me. Incidentally, I have left my wallet in a food court. And I came back for it and an hour later, it was still there, but that was when I lived in Singapore, which is the safest place in the world. But I think like half half of the country is undercover cops, so it helps. That's great. You talked about hiring for more junior roles and younger staff. That's typically the space where more automation happens, as people become more senior, they expect to have a more personal approach, high touch approach, but in for young and college or high school graduates, they would expect. First of all they are a little bit more technology friendly and they go through a few more hoops to before the interview, typically. What kind of automation were you able to do on the recruitment front to help you with either sourcing or pre screening?Diana:  Yeah that's a great question. I think a big part of cutting down on time comes around recruitment metrics, It's a big one. So making sure we're optimizing the time and the money that we use by tracking metrics on everything that we do with regards to recruitment. So track the source of hire, to optimize the spend, to track conversion rates so we can eliminate unnecessary steps in the process, create multipliers, so maybe it's a referral bonus or something where one candidate becomes three or four candidates. But yeah, those metrics are key figuring that out so that we can optimize that approach. So any sort of software, whether it's a recruitment software or in HCM, that's tracking every step of the candidate process, metrics is going to be a key one. Through COVID obviously switching to video interviews. That's obviously going to be big and I think we're gonna see that more and more, even pre recorded videos, we're going to see that more in the interview process where candidates are pre recording answers to questions and submitting those.Max:  You said background checks are, I mean they're obviously very important in your industry. Is that something that is typically outsourced to a third party?Diana:  Yes, so well, yes and no. All of our like criminal record checks and those kind of checks have to be done. We have to do those internally, but reference checks, and those types of things it's done a little bit differently depending on the province that we're in. Some of them are done third party and some of them are done by our HR teams directly, so a little bit of both, but we definitely see obviously more efficiencies with outsourcing that.Max:  Yeah. I was thinking about the fact that you're doing those video interviews and asynchronous video screening. I believe some companies have moved to the place where they can authenticate someone through video, and their documentation as well. An automated and semi automated manner. So, gradually I guess this is where it's going. Though unfortunately, there hasn't been sort of a crypto passport that would tell all employers, this person has been verified, and that could be used throughout. There's only the LinkedIn profile, but I don't think there's any security equivalent to a LinkedIn profile, right? Diana:  No. Max:  No. I'm sure people are trying to build that over the years, you must have heard of few pictures.Diana:  Yeah. I don't think so. Max:  So it' not something that we like to think about in our own time but usually but there's terrible hiring mistakes we've made in the past. It is an opportunity for the audience to learn from each other's mistakes. Can you take us back to a hiring mistake that you've made in the past. And what lesson there is to learn about that hiring mistake?Diana:  Yeah that's a great question. I would say that that any hiring mistakes that have happened, obviously there's been a few. In my time in HR, it usually comes down to the battle between being under a tight timeline and rushing the process. So you know you hire someone on and you skip a step or you rush a step or you don't follow the standard process and you end up with someone who is a bit of a bad egg. And then you go back and you look at your process and you're like, okay, I can see exactly why this happened. And you get the organizational time crunch where this position needs to be filled now and that's the priority and you budge on your HR best practice or in your standards that you've put in place to make sure that you're hiring the best people. So yeah I think that's kind of what I learned is, at the end of the day if it means the position is open longer than I want it to be or then someone else wants it to be, the most important thing is kind of sticking to the process to make sure that all of our ducks in a row when it comes to hiring person because a turnover is more costly than leaving a position open a little bit longer.Max:  And there's a conflict, inherent to your position, because you went into HR because you trust people, you love people, you love psychology, but you have to be that process person who is going to drag things out sometimes.Diana:  Yeah totally. It's a constant battle between as HR being a part of the business so needing to understand the strategic objectives and day to day operational needs, but also meeting to understand how the people approached things and sometimes they don't go hand in hand, that the processes don't necessarily match the organizational needs so it's figuring out how do we work with the organization to make sure that we're safe and sound and everything that we do, but the needs are also being met. It's a challenge.Max:  Yeah. And then the particular challenge you also alluded to when you talked about making sure people have good morals good values that they align with Paladin security. That must be difficult to extract in the interview process. Is that a standard thing? Is that just part of the interview guideline? Or how do you validate for values?Diana: Yeah, I mean, there's several ways, like I mentioned, you can kind of embed questions that will give insight into a person's values, you can embed those questions into the interview so like I said, asking someone about a wallet. I mean, not very many people even if their values say I'm going to steal the money, not very many people are going to see that in an interview so that's a little bit tricky.Max:  It's not stealing if it's on the floor. I guess you can tell what I was gonna say if you asked me the interview question. Diana:  Yeah, you are definitely not hired. You can ask a person directly, what are your values, what do you stand for. But also I think in a lot of the questions that are embedded in like, you asked them, if you're going to be late for work, what you do or what is your process?, and you can kind of see, are they someone who kind of takes accountability. Are they someone who's like, well, I've never been late for work in my entire life or are they someone who's like, well, I feel terrible I'd call my manager right away.Max:  Panicking.Diana:  Yeah you can kind of sense a person's values based on the way they respond and the way they react. But also I guess if you ask them directly. What are your values, what do you stand for, you can get a sense of get a sense of who they are.Max:  I can tell you in HR, the tendency for people who have attendance issues is to really over communicate on their medical condition. Diana:  Oh boy!Max:  TMI.I've been a recipient of many medical reports, but.And probably have some good stories to go with that. I don't know, I try to forget. But you've given me and our listeners a lot of great tips on the use of situational questions to get to the psychology and the morals of someone, obviously critical for the security industry but I think applicable across many other industries. And so thank you very much, Diana, for sharing. And what's a good way for people to get in touch with you, or find out more about Paladin?DIANA: Yeah I mean to get in touch with me, I would say LinkedIn is probably the best way you can find me on there. Paladins obviously on LinkedIn as well or the website paladinsecurity.com. You can find out everything there.Max:  Fantastic. Thanks Diana. Diana: Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.Max: That was Diana Trasolini from Paladin insecurity group.  Two good lessons for me from today's discussion one, the important role in HR and talent acquisition to force everyone to follow the steps, every step of the recruitment journey to avoid making hiring mistakes. Because when you skip steps that you start making mistakes and the second one, if you want to get to the values of your candidates, instead of asking them what are your values?Ask them. How would you react to a certain situation, but then in a situation and ask them how they would handle it and you'll get a lot more value out of it. Hope you enjoyed it. If you'd like more of the same, please subscribe and please share with your friends. 

In this episode, Beth Nydick joins Nancy to talk about all things public relations. From her earlier career in media to her role as a publicity strategist now, Beth talks about all the tools and techniques she uses to build relationships. Not only does she use the media to build her credibility and the credibility of her clients, but she also partners with others to build credibility with their audiences. In addition to her lifelong passion for working with the media, Beth also has a passion for nutrition and cocktails. Listen to learn Beth's tips and tricks. 2:21 – Beth describes how her career started as a young girl when she appeared in some commercials. 3:09 – From an internship at The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to publicity strategist, Beth describes her career path. 5:26 – Beth explains her framework for working with the media. 7:26 – Beth talks about how the similarities between media relations and dating. 8:40 – Beth shares some tools she uses for media outreach. 13:13 – Beth offers her secret for being confident on TV. 15:06 – Beth talks about her passion for healthy cocktails. 19:03 – Beth explains how she uses the worksheets and workbooks she has created as a form of lead generation. 20:20 – Beth describes her target audience. 23:03 – Through COVID-19, Beth explains how her business has benefited. 25:34 – Beth shares some resources that have helped her.   Quote “We have to be people. The big miss that people have with media is that it's really about people and not about business. That's how you build that solid relationship so that you have that 30-year relationship.” - Beth Nydick, publicity strategist at Beth Nydick Media   Links: bethnydick.com Clubhouse: https://www.joinclubhouse.com/ Clean Cocktails: Righteous Recipes for the Modern Mixologist by Beth Nydick: https://www.amazon.com/Clean-Cocktails-Righteous-Modernist-Mixologist/dp/1682681408 HoneyBook: https://www.honeybook.com/   Listen to Sabina Hitchen's episode.   Activate the PR Maven® Flash Briefing on your Alexa Device.  Join the PR Maven® Facebook group page.    About the guest:     Beth Nydick is a speaker, author, and magnetic business mentor. As a big believer in the power of potential to catapult your business forward, she shows her clients how to strategically prepare their business to use collaboration and media to establish instant credibility to get their life-changing messages in front of massive audiences. Thru her mantra of “Making Potential Possible,” she co-authored the top-selling Clean Cocktails: Righteous Recipes for the Modern Mixologist, and has been featured in OPRAH, Parade, Forbes, Inc., Nylon Magazine, Tori Burch, and Better Homes and Gardens plus appearances on The Dr. Oz Show, The Chew, and The Tonight Show. Beth has a 6th sense for business and strategy. It all comes down to building powerful and long-lasting relationships in a thoughtful, authentic way. Beth's podcast is called Behind the Spotlight. A new kind of podcast, where we are taking your favorite entrepreneurs off a pedestal and onto a barstool right next to you.   Looking to connect:           Email: katie@liveandworkinmaine.com LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/bethnydick Twitter: @bethnydick Instagram: @bethnydick Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bethRitternydick Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/behind-the-spotlight/id1529000192

We are an affiliated group of medical students, PhDs, and physicians keeping up with the latest research on SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19. We find the newest articles, read them, grade their level of evidence, and bring you the bottom line. Our goal is to empower you to take the best care of yourself and those in your care. Our Story: What did University of Washington third-year medical student Jasmine Rah do when her training program was suspended due to COVID-19? She teamed up with her mentor, Dr. Will Smith, an ER Doctor on the front lines of fighting COVID-19 who is also a UW clinical professor and Col. with the US Army Reserves, to launch the daily COVID-19 Literature Surveillance Team. In just the first five months of 2020, more than ten thousand papers have been published regarding COVID-19. This is more than twice the number of publications on influenza or malaria for the entire year of 2019. Many of these articles were just researchers desperate to share the findings in the hopes of helping others. However, many articles covered the same topic and many were of poor quality, highlighting the need for assistance in parsing through data, especially during the time of crisis in order to develop situational awareness. The 50+ strong group of physicians, medical students, and other experts review every COVID-19 related study that is published each day, grades its level of evidence (aka scientific integrity) based on the Center for Oxford scheme, and summarizes delivering the BLUF- Bottom Line Up Front (it's a reporters dream come true!). Their concept is to enable providers to "Stay Informed. Read Less. Do More." This effort is 100% volunteer, free, and open access. With the need to share information quickly to combat COVID-19 many leading medical journals have suspended peer review, which means more people have access to more information more quickly- but it also means there is a lot of noise. The COVID-19 LST cuts through this noise to get doctors and health care workers on the front lines the scientifically-sound information they need, quickly, to save lives. Though it was initially created to guide clinical decision making, it grew to also guide policymakers, various agencies of Government, researchers, students and laypersons. Through COVID-19 LST, we now understand the very important role of screening/summarizing evidence in an unbiased manner and the critical role of a literature surveillance team. Critical members of COVID-19 LST were then invited to join in founding the non-profit, the Literature Surveillance Team or theLST.org. The next step is now to continue our process for other topics with clinical significance in the future. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/covid19lst/support

Great local businesses employing generations of families in the Iowa Great Lakes. If you know anything about Pure Fishing in Spirit Lake you know of it's beginnings with Berkley Bedell and it's dedication to maintaining that feeling of a family atmosphere in their working environment. Site Director for Pure Fishing Todd Backhaus has much to tell on the history and perhaps your future with one of the largest employers in our area. Through Covid, Pure Fishing has maintained a safe environment for employees and business is booming. Opportunities abound right now at Pure Fishing and it could be the key to a rewarding career for you. On YouTube at https://youtu.be/q7iKMH9rv0I

Jeff Heggie Daily Success Strategies Episode 149: Goal Clarity www.JeffHeggie.com Through my coaching clients and my strategy calls, I have the opportunity to meet some incredible entrepreneurs and hear some amazing stories. I recently had an amazing strategy call with a lady entrepreneur that had created a very cool company from an amazing idea. Through COVID they have had some struggles and things are currently on hold. But I believe that this pandemic has actually created more opportunity for her. Overall, right now she just needs to gain some clarity around where she's going and what she wants. With that I have two great opportunities. The first is my FREE Momentum Series training which can be found at https://jeffheggie.com/2020/03/21/free-momentum-video-series/. The second module in that course is focused on clarity. But a more in depth training on this topic is in my High Achievers Mindset Secrets course. This course is designed to give you complete clarity at another level and take you further than you could have ever imagined. For more information, or to apply for this course you can email jeff@jeffheggie.com with the subject line "Mindset Secrets Inquiry". I'm currently reading another book for Benjamin Hardy to review it and write anther article. The book is Who Not How In it, he says, "- Being able to articulate and express your goals is one of the most important and fundamental skills necessary for success. Only when your goal is clearly defined and persuasively expressed can you start getting the support you need to achieve your goals."

Kyle Hegarty is the founder and CEO of Leadership Nomad, he's coach, speaker and a marketing expert also the author of The Accidental Business Nomad. In this episode we can learn about: How to lead in a shrinking world Invisible culture can trip us all up Local geographical cultural awareness is so key global success Global communication styles differ, adapt or else. Follow us and explore our social media tribe from our Website: https://leadership-hacker.com Music: " Upbeat Party " by Scott Holmes courtesy of the Free Music Archive FMA Transcript: Thanks to Jermaine Pinto at JRP Transcribing for being our Partner. Contact Jermaine via LinkedIn or via his site JRP Transcribing Services Find out more about Kyle: Leadership Nomad Website Kyle on LinkedIn Book: The Accidental Business Nomad   Full Transcript Below ----more----   Introduction   Steve Rush: Some call me Steve, dad, husband or friend. Others might call me boss, coach or mentor. Today you can call me The Leadership Hacker. Thanks for listening in. I really appreciate it. My job as the leadership hacker is to hack into the minds, experiences, habits and learning of great leaders, C-Suite executives, authors and development experts so that I can assist you developing your understanding and awareness of leadership. I am Steve Rush and I am your host today. I am the author of Leadership Cake. I am a transformation consultant and leadership coach. I cannot wait to start sharing all things leadership with you. Kyle Hegarty is a special guest on today's show. He's a CEO of Leadership Nomad. He's a coach, speaker and a marketing expert and author of The Accidental Business Nomad. But before we get a chance to speak with Kyle, it's The Leadership News. The Leadership Hacker News Steve Rush: When we're all feeling a little down, a good bounce of laughter could be just a tonic to lift our spirits and improve our wellbeing. And it can also help you close business deals too. But ask the question. Do you really need humour to get your message across? Once the pressure's off, you may find that jokes grow organically just from the conversation. We hacked happiness with Nick Marks on episode 18. And now just want to think about how can humour play out in a virtual world? Particularly if we are working across cultures. We often make the mistake of thinking that humour is performative, but we need to think it was something much more clever, more provocative, and something that actually makes sense. In the way that we communicate. Most people are just predisposed to finding things funny and given the chance we all want to have a laugh. This means that the thought required to make a situation funny is a lot less intensive than you might think, but we do need to be thoughtful of how that plays out across cultures, given the diverse range of cultural differences in humour, it's difficult to imagine that there is a universal formula that makes sense of the world. Over at the Humor Research Lab at the University of Boulder in Colorado, they've managed to take a convincing crack at putting this right, Peter McGraw was behind the research and he has a great Ted talk by the way, that illustrates that anything funny has two components in it. It must be unthreatening and it must subvert your expectations. If you take away jokes, benign nature, or this element of surprise, you end up with something that's unfunny at best, and sometimes downright creepy. If you are looking to introduce Humor into your work, McGraw formula is a great place to start.   What surprises people from place to place and from culture to culture can be very different. So, let's jump into explore how some of the different cultures impact in the way jokesters can get things right or wrong. We asked a handful of 10 people from different countries and cultures, how they would describe humor at their home. So, their answers provide a really interesting insight, how humor lands in different cultures, but more than this helps us to understand how a universal communication can be impacted. Humor here in Britain tends to be focused ourselves. We love to have a good laugh at ourselves and it's delivered usually at the expense of the teller. We also tend to lean towards deep levels of irony and jokes that push the boundaries of what's socially acceptable. Asking my kids if I'm a great dad joke teller. Hey, did you hear about the guy who had his entire left side cut off? Well, he's all right now! Yeah, that's exactly why I'm not on the stage. In France, Spain and Austria, regional satire is extremely popular. Fuelled usually by competitive relationships. Germany, political satire and social taboos are often at the crux of comedy. Polish people love bitter and sarcastic jokes, and the subtleties are often lost on other nationalities. All of these different approaches to humor are interesting, but one thing that binds us is satire. If you go to Russia, Russian humor is tightly bound to subtleties of the language can often be extremely difficult to translate. In Asia comedies often deeply rooted in language, has such a vast linguistic difference that pervades across the Asian continent could be different in any one of the two countries, even next door. An example, in China, jokes are often deeply embedded into the multi-level of meanings in the words, in the writing systems. And then we get to USA and Canada and both a hugely influential in the field of entertainment and have a diverse range of different comedic styles. In general, though, you can expect the humor from the US to be fast-paced with a lot derived from stereotypes and ethnic differences. And American humor loves to play on the absurdity of seemingly normal events. Whereas Canada often focuses on the light satire, the irony and the parody. South America, Brazilians might describe the humorous, sarcastic, dry, or in touch with the dark side, whilst in Mexico, mockery is used as a way to break down differences and tensions and Argentina humor, by contrast, is littered with references to their history and their national identity. So, in summary, humor is an intensely human habit. It's our way of showing affection, breaking down boundaries and sharing common belief systems while satire having some fun. So, if you are going to introduce humor to your conversation, through communication, just be thoughtful of how that lands in the nation you're sharing it with. That's been The Leadership Hacker News. If you have any news, funny stories or insights, please get in touch. Start of Podcast Steve Rush: Kyle Hegarty is our special guest on the show today. He's the Managing Director of Leadership Nomad. He's an entrepreneur, a business coach and author of The Accidental Business Nomad. Kyle, welcome to The Leadership Hacker Podcast. Kyle Hegarty: Good morning, good evening, wherever you are, wherever we are. Steve Rush: We're speaking to you in Singapore today? Kyle Hegarty: I'm in Sunny Singapore. Not a bad way to start the week. Steve Rush: Yeah, awesome. So, Kyle, you've been referred to as the Indiana Jones of international business. How did you get to where you are now? Kyle Hegarty: First of all, I've been quietly accepting credit for that, but the actual quote was this book is the Indiana Jones of international business. It was in reference to the book that I wrote, not necessarily about me, but I guess I can take credit. I, don't know, you know, you take the compliments when you get it. You know, I've been doing international focused work for nearly 20 years. I packed up and moved from the United States to Southeast Asia here in Singapore, back in 2006. And for many people who do work in Singapore, they know that it's really kind of a stopping ground to do work elsewhere. We're a tiny little dot of a city state here of about 5-6 million people. While this is a nice little place, most of the action is outside of Singapore. So, it becomes a bit of a hub to hop around and I've been hopping around some somewhat interesting places ever since. And I think some of the stories that we can get into later might aluminate that. Steve Rush: So, what was the key focus of the work that you do with Leadership Nomad? Kyle Hegarty: I'm focused on, I guess it goes back to what I've learned in the last 20 years, because what got me over here 15 plus years ago, I came over and set up my own business, which was a marketing agency. And our job was to build sales pipelines for other companies. And I was also of course building my own sales pipeline. So, I was my own client in this case. Most of what happened was I was working for western companies who were rushing into Southeast Asia over the last 15 years. And they were using us as one of the first starting points to be able to get a foothold into the region. What we did was got exposed to what started out as dozens, and then turned into hundreds of companies who were trying to figure out how do you break into a new market? How do you expand? Not just from a sales and marketing standpoint, but then from a delivery standpoint. And so, what that turned out to be from me, was not only to get more experience in terms of pipeline building and how to do that in different, extremely different and diverse markets. But what I found on kind of accidentally was the fact that this invisible culture piece was tripping all of us up in various ways. It didn't necessarily mean you; you got your marketing wrong. Maybe you did, maybe your product wasn't a good fit, but more often than not, it came down to this other people problem, this communication challenge. And so, as my business evolved, I ended up pivoting a little bit, still do some of the marketing and pipe building. But what I started focusing more on was how do you enhance communication within teams? How do you put that client facing? So, what I'm spending my time doing now is working with companies who are trying to figure out, okay, how do we deal with a distributed global team set up? How do we tighten our communication strategy internally? How do we figure out how to communicate outward to our customers, to keep them and to wow them into expand upon them? And so, a lot of my work has expanded towards more consulting and coaching that focuses on global remote teams. That's a very long-winded explanation for a very simple question you asked. Steve Rush: That's great, great response. And naturally, it's the unintended consequences of not being really thoughtful when you move to different jurisdictions and different cultures, right? Kyle Hegarty: So, the problem used to be the word move. You would get to the ex-pats learning curve that everybody goes through. And I was joking with some friends here is that, you kind of see the people who've just got here. You can just tell; you can tell the companies that are just starting to put in a marketing campaign or a sales strategy. That was one of the things that triggered my work and triggered the reason that I wanted to write this book, because the patterns kept happening over and over again. I'll give you one specific example. A friend of mine runs a pretty well-known or pretty large fast-food chain. And he manages the fast-food chain for the entire region. And one of the things he said was, and he deals with some venture capital people who come in and they invest, or they look to figure out where they going to expand their fast-food chains and what countries. When the person who gets hired, who's responsible for that expansion, you could tell within a first five minutes of a conversation, whether or not that expansion was going to work based on his or her leadership.  And I agree a hundred percent with that because what he was getting at was the fact that you can have a conversation with somebody. And if they think that their approach expanding into a new market, if they think their way is the right way, if they think their way is the only way, if they think that they've got it all figured out, there's going to be problems. And in the fast-food example to get into even more detail, it often comes down to local tastes and preferences, and you can almost line up fast-food chains that made it versus ones that didn't make it. And you can see those that pivoted, that adjusted, that were flexible, that adjusted their menus slightly, that adjusted their ingredients slightly, how they went to market versus those that kept to their original script from their home country. And to me, I think that industry is one fascinating case study of exactly what I'm getting at, which is, you know, you've got to have a leadership style that has that level of flexibility. And to be humble enough to acknowledge the fact that you just don't know everything right off the bat.   Steve Rush: I remember the first time I ever went out to work in Southeast Asia, and it was a trade mission, and I was going out there to drum up new business and I made the fatal mistake of not paying enough attention to somebody's business card. For me, you know, it was just a little bit of paper I used to keep my wallet, but for these people, it was their badge of honour. And it's those subtle nuances, isn't it? That when you move to a new jurisdiction or indeed not even from a physical perspective, you just integrate with those jurisdictions is having that awareness, right? Kyle Hegarty: Yes, here's to take that to the next level, which is even when you start developing the awareness and the business card example is a perfect one. I remember this story that came from my professor years and years ago because he was focused on Japan and he had this story and he was in the banking industry, very large client. They went out to dinner, I think it was an American, might've been a Brit. Expat would come out, and they said, look, you've got to respect the business card, right. You've got to, you know. They kind of explained, they coach the guy before this dinner, put it on the table, be very focused on it. Show respect for the business card. Fine, all good. He does the two-hand, he bows. Okay, so far so good. Halfway through the meal, someone spills something over the table. It was like a tray of duck sauce or something. And instinctively, we'll call them American for the example. Instinctively, he just, oh, don't worry. He picks up the business cards and he start scraping the duck sauce into a napkin with the business cards. Steve Rush: Oh no. Kyle Hegarty: And the client and his face goes just completely pale and in Japan there was nothing said or done externally, but they lost a quarter's worth of business, which was about a $20 million dollar hit because of this, you know, perceived insult to what had happened. And I liked that story because he was told and he knew, but then when you get into the moment, something hits, we flip to that, I don't know, you call it the croc brain or your instinct. Because our instinct is where we come from, it's what we're used to. His instinct was to help solve the problem quickly and to use what was in front of him to do it. And it overrode what he had just been coached on. And I think that's a really important piece because, you know, I can come in and tell people all these little pointers and things, but when the moment happens, whether it's a conversation or a physical interaction, that's where you've got to dig a little bit deeper. That's where the practice comes in. That's where you've got to spend more time kind of internalizing this stuff and it takes time and it takes effort. Steve Rush: Right. Kyle Hegarty: But I think that the business card things, a good example of that.   Steve Rush: Exactly right. So, with the world that has been shrinking emotionally through communication and culture and mediums of ways that we can communicate. That's probably just been expedited so much, isn't it? Through COVID-19?   Kyle Hegarty: I mean, yeah. Steve Rush: What do you see has been some of the real challenges or opportunities even, that real shrinking is now providing us? Kyle Hegarty: Yeah, it is absolutely, I think challenges and opportunities at the same time. So, the book that we'll talk about in a little bit, but I wrote this book and it was finished really at the end of 2019. I think we did some touch up stuff in January. I think I got, you know, we put in a footnote about this quirky little illness called COVID that might be causing some issues. You know, writing in January of 2020. What's happened is that everything just rapidly went, virtual teams got distributed, everybody's working remotely and we're using the technology to make it happen. The technology is the least of our problems. In fact, as technology expands, communication skills flatline. If anything, they might even be decreasing. So, one mistake that I think a lot of times gets made is that people mistakenly think that clear technology equals clear communication and it does not.   So, all of a sudden now that we're all distributed, whether it's in a domestic or overseas, there's a lot more conversations happening. And there's, you know, you've got this kind of geopolitical cloud over everybody where there's protectionism, there are trade disagreements, traditional trade is statistically, but, you know, the data says that it's slowing down, but at the exact same time, the digital trade is expanding. The digital driven conversations are increasing. This conversation that you and I are having is, I don't know if we're paying anything to have this conversation from what 6-7000 miles away, crystal clear. The ability to have these conversations is much easier now than ever before. So, you've got this kind of dual thing going on, where there is this growing protectionism, insert any country first. UK first, America first, India first, China first, Singapore first. And any of these countries has that momentum going, but at the exact same time what's happening is that we're all on Skype and Zoom, eight plus hours a day, trying to figure out how to work together better. So, I think that the people that can embrace that paradigm and that contrast to the ones that are going to be able to sleep better at night and at least have a little bit fun during this crazy ride. Steve Rush: Yeah, and also communication of course, is not just verbal. It's through that nonverbal communication and in my experience of having coached some execs through this; has actually lost the capacity for that nonverbal communication. So, they've having to be much more thoughtful in that little square, that is the Zoom window now.   Kyle Hegarty: Yeah, it's body language is massively lost. I don't care how good your computer screen is because you miss that informal interactions, you know, it's the elevator ride up to the meeting. It's the moments right after that conference call ends, where you hang up the call and you kind of look at the guy sitting next to you and you go, you know, the little eye roll where you go, oh, here we go again. It's these little small interactions that actually build additional rapport, it enhances communication. It drives the purpose of what is trying to be communicated, or what's going to actually happen. All of those things are temporarily out the window and it will remain to be seen how much of the face-to-face stuff comes back. The clients, the companies I'm talking to, none of them are planning to go back to the way things were at least in that a hundred percent going back, it's this whole mix of hybrid. And right now, quite frankly, it's a mess. I mean, nobody knows exactly what it's going to look like. So, I think that at least a quasi-remote world is what we are all up against. And that lack of small interaction, that lack of body language, the lack of even just that harder to define personal, you know, being in the same place with somebody physically. I think we're going to have to get used to adjusting around all of those factors that actually help build relationships. And that's going to be easier for some than others, but I do believe that there's tools that can help everybody try and march forward in a way that helps out how teams get together and how people end up becoming stronger leaders. Steve Rush: Right, your book, The Accidental Business Nomad published the beginning of this year. What was the real pivotal moment for you when you thought, right? That's, how I'm going to put pen to paper and I'm going to share some of these lessons. Kyle Hegarty: So, the original book, the title was different. And I'll tell you what it was in a minute. I had a client many, many years ago, this American guy out of Texas. And he was exactly what I had mentioned earlier in this talk. He was one of those guys who just was convinced that he was right. He knew what he was doing. His way was the right way. He had this software that was doing very well in the United States and North America. Think they'd had some success in in Western Europe. And they took on one client through a referral in Southeast Asia. And so, he reached out to me and said, okay, I want you to be our marketing person across the region, blast out our message because we're going into Asia. Because I've read a time magazine article that said, Asia is hot, right. This is, you know, 2007 kind of stuff. And he sends over his marketing material that he wants me sending out across the region and its material that got baseball imagery. So, you know, North American, certainly American spelling and baseball imagery and phrases, idioms like, oh, knock it out of the park. And all of these kinds of very specific targeted localized phrases. And I was just disassembling it one by one, right? I was just kind of saying, taking it apart. You do not want to be marketing in other parts of the world like this, because you are sending a crystal-clear message that you do not know these local regions. You don't know the markets. You will be perceived as a foreign company that is just trying to sneak in here. And he got really, really frustrated. And he goes, well, it's all Asian, so why don't you just slap a dragon on it and make it Asian. And that was the moment for me, that I go, you know, there's this concept that I started labelling as slapped dragon behaviour. And I still laugh at it many years later, the original title of the book was going to be called slap dragons, which was exactly about that mindset. You can do that with a physical product, slap a dragon on it, or even in a mindset and thinking about coaching or leading teams, that your way is the right way. And that there's some superficial changes that you can make, and it'll all just work out. And so that client, I think was the caricature that drove me to put this book project together because there were so many variations of him out there. And there still are to this day. And over the years I was keeping an eye on stories of foreign companies. This does not have to be a western companies coming over to Asia and making mistakes. It's happening the other way as well, so you get a lot of Chinese, Indian companies from around. Ozion who started expanding elsewhere. And it's a disaster because they bring their ways, their norms, and they think that's going to work. And so, the book was really born from this belief that companies have rapidly gone global, but people have not. And I wanted to tell those stories and start looking at ways to be able to help get over that mindset and what we can do to overcome it. Steve Rush: And it goes back to your kind of first five minutes impression thing. The same happens in exactly the same way when we're trying to communicate in a new environment. If that internal gut feel says it doesn't feel right, you're going to lose credibility straight away, right? Kyle Hegarty: I started out in one of the early chapters, just highlighting just the typical learning process. I mean the journey that anybody takes when they're learning a new skill, which is the first step is, you know, you don't know what you don't know. And then the next step is that magical moment where you realize that you don't know what you don't know. And it's one of those really important steps to be able to overcome in so many situations in the last 15, 20 years, there's been so much cash sloshing around. There's been so many, especially tech companies rushing into Southeast Asia because they've got high flying stocks back in their home stock market, and they just start slapping dragons onto other regions and, you know, throwing money at problems. And in many cases, they kind of got away with it for a number of years, because there was just so much money, right? You could just kind of buy your way into these, especially the big companies. That's what they were doing, and I believe here in 2020 and beyond, I think that that party's over. The moving forward, I think we're really going to have to buckle down and get a lot more thoughtful about not only how we think about markets, but probably most importantly, how we think about people. Steve Rush: Right. Kyle Hegarty: There were just so many countless examples of foreign managers coming in. High-Paid execs, who, you know, you pay somebody huge salary and you send them to the other side of the world. And man, they might start getting these illusions of grandeur. And so, because of that, you know, they bring their management style. They bring their communication style, their working style, their expectations and things don't work out. And what ends up happening is they end up getting moved around and they ended up going home. And in many cases, they don't ever go from that stage where they don't know what they don't know to, they realize that they don't know what they don't know. So, I found a lot of tech companies were actually really guilty of this over the last 15, 20 years.   Then the third stage where you're trying to get to is okay, now that I realize that stuff's different here, what can I do about it? And that's where I think a lot of the longer-term ex-pats are in, I put myself in that category right now. We're still trying to figure this stuff out. We test different ideas, different frameworks, different styles, different approaches. Let's see what works, let's adapt. That fourth and final piece would be mastery, which I write about one character, I think had achieved that to varying degrees. But, you know, that is the journey that I see and the fact that nobody's really traveling. And there's probably a lot fewer ex-pat assignments being handed out these days. Means that people are doing this stuff virtually. And so, all of this stuff that we've been talking about, you know, now has become distributed. And a lot of those learnings, those moments where you make your business card mistake at the table with the duck sauce, where, you know, you don't get the body language, it's much harder to realize that you're making these mistakes virtually. So, I think that we're in for quite a ride when it comes to global teams and some of the people who are going to be leading those teams, especially for the first time. Steve Rush: Yeah. Kyle Hegarty: And that's what I'm spending a lot of time working on, which is, you know, if you've just inherited or you've just been nominated or are promoted into your first global role and you can't travel, that's a tough gig. But the good news is, there's answers out there, but it takes work. Steve Rush: And investment and practice, I think, was the other thing that you said earlier, because this isn't something you can just reframe right away. Kyle Hegarty: Yeah, I had, it took me, you know, we'll talk about tools later. You have to change sometimes how you phrase things. I talk about, you know, communication styles and I'm used to a direct communication style, but a majority of the planet is not. A direct communication style is asking a straightforward yes or no question. This is going to get done in time. Do you understand? Can I help you? Right. I mean, just basic close ended questions. I'm used to that, and especially under pressure, under stress, that's what I fall back on. And what I had to do was to figure out how to rewrite that or re scripted or rephrase it all, to be able to be more effective in different conversations. And what I had to do, I physically had to print out stuff that I had on my wall, in front of me and my desk at home which had different phrases. So, it helped me avoid, in this example, close ended questions. So, stop using the words, you know, can, can you do this? Does that make sense? Is this clear? Try to get rid of those words out of my vocabulary for a lot of these conversations and then change them to what could be called softer or just variations of phrases. I wonder if we should take a minute just to backtrack and just walk me through what your next step is. And so that's a very important difference. The difference between those two ways of communicating can make or break a relationship and a team success. And if you're a small business, can make or break your entire global strategy, which sounds a little bit extreme, but definitely seen many, many companies closing up shop after spending a couple million dollars, finding that they just weren't making any traction. Steve Rush: And it says tiny little things. That means such a lot too. Kyle Hegarty: That's what I've seen and you know, and it's not easy. Maybe I'm more of an extreme case. I mean, I needed to really, really work on this stuff. And that's why I had these printouts. I know it's a weird kind of example, but that's how I was able to stop myself from making the same or from using my communication style that I was used to, and to be able to adjust. Steve Rush: The book is a bit of a survival guide for a shrinking world and it's full of survival tips. And by the way, I love the way that you presented the book and it is quirky, and some really great stories in there. The one that was really funny, and I really wanted you to kind of share with our guests is, and you titled this, when Confucius just Skype Socrates. Kyle Hegarty: Yeah, and the 2020 version, I probably could have updated it to Zooms Socrates. Some of us are still using Skype, but, you know, there was a little bit of prescient there and the fact that this is really what we've all turned into, right? Which is this Skyping, WebEx, Zooming teams all the time. What I was trying to get at with that chapter, there's a lot of research that's happened. I've been talking this whole conversation about different communication styles, different working styles. I'm not the first person to ever go through this. You're not, this has been going on for ages, these challenges. And there is an entire industry of research and researchers that have, and continue to look into exactly these challenges that we're talking about here. What these researchers are doing is they're looking at cultural, communication style, working style differences in different parts of the world.   And they're trying to measure what those differences look like. I've talked about how my communication style was more direct. Well, you can go out and see data that shows you country by country, where other countries fall on a communication spectrum. Now this is all macro data. So, you know, you got to be careful with this because obviously it does not reflect every individual, it's kind of, you know on a bell curve, but it's a really good starting place to be able to measure this stuff. They are measuring how people like to handle conflict. Do they like to be direct and confrontational to solve problems, to kind of talk through issues and be kind of just going for it, or do they solve problems in very different ways by saving face, by using back channels, to be able to get to conclusions?  And there's not a right or wrong answer here, but if you can understand what those differences are in these different working styles, if you can understand it, if you can start to measure it, then you can start coming up with ideas as to what you're going to do to overcome it. So, the example of the Confucius versus a Socrates was looking at some of the background of this stuff. It's like, where did these differences come from? And I was referencing heavily from a few research books that have come out and what I did, having read it, you'll understand this. I basically took a lot of this heavy academic research and I tried to synthesize it and see; how the author explains this to me after one too many drinks at a bar? And you'll notice in many of the chapters, there's a lot of bar scenes and what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to have some fun with this, but how do you take this somewhat dry topic of cross-cultural data and all this research, if you read the primary material with which I've slogged through. Oh, my God, the acronyms and the way they phrase things. I mean, they're not oftentimes writing for a general audience. They're writing for their peers. And it's really hard to get through if you're not used to that writing style, but what they're writing about is so important and it's more important now for people than ever before, since so many of us are now just working globally, whether we deliberately did or now it's, you know, in many of us it's accidental. What I'm trying to do then is say, okay, here's all the stuff that I've read. Here's also what I've seen. Let's push this through a couple of bar room conversations to be able to give you the survival guide, just to get you started. And I think that that comes into a pretty big way in that chapter of a Confucius Skyping, Socrates as told through a half drunken Taiwanese guy, as he's explaining some of the different research, the different stuff that's out there and especially the East versus West differences. Steve Rush: Yeah, and it's those contradictions, isn't it? I think it was really quite neat. Kyle Hegarty: One of the things that's frustrating, certainly as a coach, as a trainer of this stuff, is that, you know, people would just say, well, just tell me, give me the answers, what do I do? And it's oftentimes it's complicated, and sometimes it's more tricky. You can't just bottle this stuff up, and some of the contradictions, I feel like that's a very western approach. Which is, what is the survival guide? Even my approach to this was a very western approach to trying to articulate what these challenges are all about. Whereas other parts there's more of an embracing of the contradiction. The contradiction itself is the answer, and that gets kind of very flighty and metaphysical and theoretical. But it's kind of a fun conversation if you're willing to go there from time to time. But I think it also helps explain some of the mindset differences and some of the ways business is so different in some parts of the world. And in China, one example when they did a recent crackdown in air quotes of some of the lavish spending from government and CCP Officials, and they were going after these guys who were spending all this money. So, one of the things that they prevented was, you weren't allowed to use five-star hotels, and this could decimate a hotel, especially if you're in Beijing and you're running a five-star hotel, what do you do? Well in China it's very simple. You knock a star off of your hotel and business continues as per normal and problem solved. And it's that kind of lateral thinking, which is one of those things that I think many westerners myself included kind of chuckle at because you wouldn't think that as necessarily the immediate answer, but in a place like China, that would be the immediate way to think about it because there's more of this kind of a swirling contradiction of the way to solve problems. All you have to do is knock a star off and everybody's happy. Steve Rush: So, I'm going to turn the leadership lens on you now. And I'm going to tap into your leadership mind and ask you to share with our audience, Kyle. Your top three leadership hacks? Kyle Hegarty: I'm going to give you a 2020 version of this just because it's, you know, we're in such a weird fluid time, but one tool that I'm using a ton with companies and with my coaching, it's a variation of, it's what I'm calling a communications contract. You can look these things up. There is variations of them all over. I've kind of built my own. That takes into more of a global team perspective. A communications contract is a way to take a step back, take a breather with your team. And just to acknowledge almost to use it as an example is an excuse to rewrite the rules of engagement. Some of us were just thrust into a remote team environment. Some went to A-B team splits, some are inching back to the office. Some don't want to go, some do. It's a mess, and there's not going to be a one size fits all answer. A communications contract is a way to get a team coming together and to walk them through a series of questions, just asking everybody to come to a general agreement as to what are we going to allow and not allow from a communication standpoint, what technologies are we going to use? What are the rules of engagement or off hours conversations? What's the expectation if something pops in over the weekend? How are we going to check in with each other? How are we going to deal with the softer relationship building stuff? When some of us like these Zoom wine tastings, but others go crazy with this stuff. What are the rules here? And it's kind of a helpful way just to have a team go through this exercise to be able to write their own, come up with your own plan of attack here.  I have my own template. I think it's available on my website, leadershipnomad.com, but you know, look that up. So, I find that that's a really helpful one. The second one, if you are dealing with any type of overseas international global team situation, there's data out there. Steve Rush: Right. Kyle Hegarty: There is decades of research that looks into some of these working style differences. I try to lightly and in a fun light-hearted way, introduce that concept. There are other books, I've listed some of them in my end notes and footnotes as well. It's worth reading up, if you find that you were working more and more in a international environment. And then the third one, and I'm sure I'm not the first to say this, but you know, this is a time for introspection. You can't adapt. You can't change your behaviour unless you understand what your behaviour is in the first place. So one of the things I think that happens for thoughtful ex-pats people who go through that culture, clash, that learning curve is that you end up learning a lot about yourself, because the stuff that you do on a daily basis, most of the time, we don't really think about it. But then when all of a sudden, when you're put into a foreign environment, your behaviour actually starts sticking out. And it's these moments where you can actually reflect and say, well, oh, that is kind of the way we do things, but I'm noticing it's not the way this person is doing it. Again, without putting a right or wrong lens onto it. Let's be able to define what makes us tick. So, understand, take the time to understand our communication style, our working style. Steve Rush: Yeah, great advice. Thank you so much. So, the next bit of the show we call Hack to Attack. So, this is where we explore with you, something that hasn't worked out so well, but you've used that as a lesson in your life and is now a force of good. What would be your Hack to Attack? Kyle Hegarty: Oh man. In many ways, the book was exactly that, which is like, you know, I've kind of put myself into these stories to say, here's the goofy mistakes that I made. And you know, there were many of them. I guess my bit of advice would be, you've got to be able to treat people the way they want to be treated, rather than assume you want to treat people the way you want to be treated. And that was one of the big lessons that I've learned along the way, in terms of making mistakes, in terms of hiring people who I think were the right fit and managing people and incentivizing people who I would incentivize the way I want it to be incentivized. And so, all of this goes back to that self-awareness and the ability to realize that your way isn't necessarily the right way.   Steve Rush: Wise words, Indeed. So, the last bit that we get to do together, Kyle is, you now have the chance to do some time travel. You can pump into your 21-year-old self and give yourself some advice. What would your advice be to Kyle at 21? Kyle Hegarty: Slow down, and that would be my advice, slow down. These things, you know, I think I've always had that not aggressive, but certainly forward-thinking ambition to just constantly trying something else, something new, getting frustrated quickly if things don't work out. And I think that one thing that I've learned over the years is develop your core thesis, your core purpose, your ideas that you want to try and let them kind of evolve at their own pace at their own time. You can't always force things to go faster because oftentimes the faster you push the slower things end up working, and I've seen this time and time again, especially in global teams, if you want to speed up results, you've got to actually slow down. And that's one of those contradictions that we talked about here today, which, you know, scrambles the brain a little bit, but that's also what keeps things fun and interesting. So that would be my advice to myself. Steve Rush: Awesome advice. So as folks have been listening to this, we want to make sure that we can connect our listeners with a bit more of an understanding about what you do. Where's the best place we can send them? Kyle Hegarty: My websites, leadershipnomad.com, and there's bunch of links there to resources, to the book, et cetera. So that's probably the best place. The only real social media I'm on is LinkedIn. I play around on Twitter a little bit, but so LinkedIn, you can find me through my name, my Twitter handles is @LeadershipNomad as well. That's it, That's the space I play in. Steve Rush: Awesome, and we'll put those links in the show notes as well. Kyle Hegarty: Thank you so much. Steve Rush: So, Kyle, it just leaves me to say, thank you ever so much for taking time out of your busy schedule today. It's been really, really super meeting with you, speaking with you and learning more about the survival guide. That is The Accidental Business Nomad and wish you every success of what you do next. And thank you for being on The Leadership Hacker Podcast. Kyle Hegarty: Yeah, thanks for the invite.   Closing   Steve Rush: I genuinely want to say heartfelt thanks for taking time out of your day to listen in too. We do this in the service of helping others, and spreading the word of leadership. Without you listening in, there would be no show. So please subscribe now if you have not done so already. Share this podcast with your communities, network, and help us develop a community and a tribe of leadership hackers.   Finally, if you would like me to work with your senior team, your leadership community, keynote an event, or you would like to sponsor an episode. Please connect with us, by our social media. And you can do that by following and liking our pages on Twitter and Facebook our handler their @leadershiphacker. Instagram you can find us there @the_leadership_hacker and at YouTube, we are just Leadership Hacker, so that is me signing off. I am Steve Rush and I have been the leadership hacker.      

Through Covid, riots, protests and politics, nothing is more contagious or spreads faster than Stupidity. One Card Short has fun (for the most part) with illustrating how contagious stupidity really is through our discussion or recent events. If you can't hear "stupid" in these current events, well, then maybe...

Listen Bitches!Do you ever substitute drama for fun?Girls wanna have fun? Katherine sure wants to have fun…finally! Krista says Katherine is done with the drama mama…Coming from Krista, that's pretty bold! Throw in a period and who's laughing now?Kat had a little drama and so HFing over it now. Bring out the wine and tequila! Bonus? Adult children can make drinks now! Thank you Covid.Emeshed much? How much do your kids really know you? Just throw a pandemic in and then it's no holds barred. Have you gotten caught having “fun?” Wanna guess which one of the Two Gals did?2.53- Having fun in the boudoir… hours of fun. Collapsing in exhaustion and ecstasy and the door creeks open. In one of those slow motion movements, Mr. Right Here Right Now and I turn to see… want to guess?Thank you, Universe. That is was the Basking in the After Glow, best moment to be caught having sex, by your kids. I wonder what my son is thinking…4.34- The Two Gals preparing for podcast. Covid19 alert on phones. Shifted energy into a celebration that we are not going to invest in the drama of the Great Outside. Pay no attention to the voices behind the curtain! Pushed through the reactivity to stop the fun and lean into the drama and leaned into the FUN instead!Adrenaline kicks in and can sometimes feel “fun.” Nothing really “good” happening. Not going to bury our heads but just not going to freak out. Take a beat and breathe.Where's the fun been? Hard to give permission to have fun- serious issues in culture, health system. Who are we to be having fun?Adrenaline is not the same as fun. American culture walks around depleted from life because we're surrounded by adrenaline and the high it creates. Survival/Ego based. Temporary state.Sustained fun, joy-filled THAT'S FUN!With all that's going on societally, it's common to be shamed for having fun right now. How do we get that hit, that fix, if we can't express our fun? Buy into the drama.10.34- Is it okay to be living the good life now? Krista turns to her spirituality. In our resonance with God, we are here to be happy in honor of God. Be joyful, be happy, be creative, be loving. That's God!We can feel all that is going on AND be in our joy. We don't have to step out of it.Universal Beingness, that is God, is who we are.11.59 Think about watching kids play. They're just carefree, fully involved in the fun itself. We get to do the same thing, despite the pressure on us.12.30 Want to know what Katherine postulates?Highest spiritual attainment is joy. Joy exists in most intensely painful moments, at times.Beauty in the release of pain but still joyful for the expression of God found in that moment.Fun is slightly different but full of joy.Have to have joy before fun. Have to embody it.13.35- Krista realized a couple years ago that she'd never had fun unless it was from an activity. Crafted moments of happiness. Not generated from inside.Common denominator is connection. Being connected to who we are with, ourselves, and the divinity that we are. Start with connection to divinity? Gals might not agree on this. Ah the mysteries of life.Enneagram 7- Katherine?Dali Lama- so funny, jokes around, pokes people in the belly, bows then bursts out laughing. He can't contain how big the Spirit is in his body. He's not blind to the suffering but brings the joy, humor, and fun despite it all.16.30- Leader of his country, sp leader of his people, Chinese came in and took everything. He was asked why he wasn't angry that everything was taken. His response, “You're absolutely right. So then, why would I give him my mind?” POWERFUL.Why give up your joy? It's so easy for us to give it up for the drama but the reverse isn't true?Might as well face it we're addicted to… drama.18.32 Wanna hear about the real life training kids are getting these days? Who's the better parent? The world is changing and kids need to take on new roles. Shift happens!19.11 Expressing the Repression of our Joy!So ready to have joy!Perfect time to be stepping away and releasing the reins on their lives. Krista's been raising them on her own for 5 years. As one by one they leave, things release more.22.00 Pulling back the veil on what real life is! This is what change looks like! The Episode that was almost not aired!.Through Covid- no more 6:30a wake ups, no effing lunches to make, no pulling them out of bed,20 years of doing something out of programming, Life Sucking, to do it and now the fun of Covid is the freedom of schedule. I'm not a 6:30a wake up cheerful kinda gal.Fun Robbers-So hard to not follow what's societally appropriate, what matters,Today, are you willing to give yourself a day off from seriousness?Are you willing to give your life the fullness of JOY, no matter what's going on?24.07 Mr. RHRN bucks the system. His brain doesn't think that way. He questions our cultural norm. Lives his life from Fun! That's all he wants and anything else makes him angry. Or is he just saying out loud what we all think?26.41- having an opinion and being able to debate can be fun. Katherine wants her freedom! Freedom to talk about what she wants to talk about. You can disagree without hating each other. But that's not how it is any more! Or is it drama?Our brains are drawn to go to the heaviness. We have a hard time sitting in the Fun.30.15 Fun can't be had if we shut down the Field of Loving:openness, loving, kindness, compassion, creativity, and curiosity.The Against-ness that comes out from someone needing to make themselves right or wrong. (Krista)When the judgment comes in, is when the ego identity takes over.Can still have Fun in the Friction if we just treat each other as humans.Can we still be Light beings and embrace the Fun and still go out and do the work?If we can't have fun, what the fuck is the point? There's always going to be something in the world that needs healing, that needs dealing with.We have to maintain our energy, light, loving, joy, and fun in order to be solid Light Beings and go out and impact change.Existential Exhaustion. Months and months of worrying about things we can't get clear answers on. Finally, just give it up.You have self-leadership. The Two Gals advocate that you love each, enjoy each other. Argue but don't destroy each other.You've officially got permission to go and have some FUN! It gives the next person and the next person to have fun. So that you can inspire others to see the way through. Joy is infectious. Joy is absolutely possible!Spread the LOVE!Subscribe to our podcast at www.twogalssoulschool.comFollow us on IG at @twogalssoulschoolSpread the love.