Podcasts about yankee candle company

This week we are back to regularly scheduled programing. Its August "White Dragon" Smith taking on George Franscisco. Adam is representing team Peacemaker and Jeremy is representing team Alien Nation.  The guys talk Ninja Turtles Cowabunga Collection, Praxis, Rebel Meets Rebel, Yankee Candle Company and a pitch to make The Crow Cop movie.Start a podcast with Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1349671Check out Jeremy's Music:https://soundcloud.com/user-673035821-538929112Check out Starfleet Academy Dropout on Stitcher:https://www.stitcher.com/show/starfleet-academy-dropout

Your Heard Tell for Wednesday, April 27th, 2022, is turning down the noise and getting to the information we need on new polling that shows plenty of voters are open to supporting a "moderate, independent presidential candidate" but we contrast that with how folks actually voted in 2020, and are likely to vote again in 2024. The curious case of folks at the height of a COVID-19 outbreak also increasing their complaints to the Yankee Candle Company that their products "didn't have a smell", we'll talk about it as part of our continuing coverage of Long COVID. Guest Agustin Forzani of Young Voices joins us to talk about the politics and current situation in Argentina, and how this resource rich country could be stepping up to help the global food crisis created by the war in Ukraine...if the Argentine government would get out of the way and change their restrictive agricultural policies. Agustin explains the current politics of Argentina, the famous history of Peronism that lingers today even though in a different form, and universal lessons in government policy when it comes to subsidies, trade, and accountability. Also, President Biden has issues his first batch of pardons and clemencies, but two years into his presidency this move brings criticisms of what took so long, why so few, and whether or not the president will live up to his campaign promises of using his power to give non-violent offenders a clean slate and fresh start. We round out the show by talking about the greatest show on dirt, if you will, and a baseball team that is emphasizing the fun in a time where we could all use it. All that and more on this Wednesday edition of Heard Tell.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/heard-tell/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

The Review Queens be tattlin'!  This week Chelsey brings in a 1 Star Review for Design Works on Houzz (a show first!) and Trey shares a 1 Star Review from Trustpilot for Yankee Candle Company.  The Queens unearth childhood trauma, discuss the universally understood Honking Language, toot-toot, and try to fit 30 inches inside a 27 inch hole.  We respect the asking, not the ALL CAPS! https://reviewthatreview.us1.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=f8634011bef332e917e868253&id=a65c8f7884 (Click Here) to Join the Queendom Mailing List for your chance to win a Newsletter Exclusive Raffle! (03:27) Lodge a Complaint! (10:47) Design Works Review (26:29) OFFER: https://my.captivate.fm/SuperChewer.com/Queen (SuperChewer.com/Queen) (28:04) Meryl-Go-Round (32:21) Yankee Candle Company Review (48:08) My Royal Highness! (55:44) Royal Court   ***** Leave us a voicemail at 1-850-REVIEW-0 WATCH CLIPS onhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfhCAcirZKQb9E2NxI5BiJg ( YouTube)! Visit our website for more:http://www.reviewthatreview.com/ ( www.ReviewThatReview.com) @TheReviewQueens | @ChelseyBD | @TreyGerrald   --- Review That Review is an independent podcast.  Executive Produced by Trey Gerrald and Chelsey Donn with editing and sound design by Trey Gerrald.  Cover art designed by LogoVora, voiceover talents by Eva Kaminsky, and our theme song was written by Joe Kinosian and sung by Natalie Weiss. Support this podcast

Why are you in the workplace or in your business? Is it not because you are called by God? Contrary to popular belief, you can't separate the secular and the sacred. Our personal relationship with God shapes how we transact our business or relate to our colleagues. Our guest in this episode is a Christian author and storyteller who was a Fortune 500 CFO. Today, he is both a doctor of ministry and a business expert. After 35 years in the corporate world, including many years as CFO of Footlocker and the Yankee Candle Company, Dr Bruce Hartman followed the path that God had laid out for him and returned to school to complete his Divinity degree. His focus in life now is to help people walk into a better future, no matter what stage of life they are in.

Jesus is Everything Dr. Bruce Hartman pt 2Many people today are always striving to move up the next rung on the career ladder. Always trying to get more, do more or be more. But, what happens when you achieve it? What's next? How many would put on their resume that, they would leave it the corporate world behind and enter into their true life's calling – of serving the Lord? My guest today has done just that. Dr. Bruce L. Hartman, a former CFO for Fortune 500 firms, such as Yankee Candle Company and Foot Locker, he left the corporate world to follow Jesus and received his Doctorate in ministry. In a storytelling fashion, he gives practical insights on how to have a strong faith life and the power of Jesus. His first four books, https://amzn.to/3kijYa5 (“Jesus & Company”,) https://amzn.to/3hGk3Td (“Your Faith Has Made You Well”) , and about a year ago, Dr. Hartman was on our program discussing his book, https://amzn.to/3hGuB4R (“Spend A Year With Jesus”,) But today, we will be concluding our discussion of his recent book, titled, https://amzn.to/3xKkeCq (“Jesus Is Everything: Discovering It All When There Is Nothing Left But Jesus.”) To live our Faith, to openly serve and proclaim Jesus as Lord, as you say, to “live the Gospel,” – that requires courage in this current politically correct climate today. Does your book share how someone who may be struggling with sharing their Faith, how they can find the courage to take a Faith stand in the face of this kind of opposition? You share that following Jesus is simple to understand – but hard to be completely faithful 100% of the time. What should we do when we come up short and are now feeling a sense of “letting the Lord down?” In the first chapter of your book, you discuss “The man in the bed.” Can you explain this concept? You teach that Jesus is able to give us total freedom, if we are obedient. Doesn't that seem like a conflicting statement? Freedom versus Obedience? Dr. Bruce, you share in your book that Jesus is the ONLY permanent force in our life. How can someone use that type of relationship to move forward in this world which we find ourselves in? What with the COVID lockdowns, the protests, the political instability, etc. How can someone come to the place of just leaning on the Lord and trusting in Him? Before we finish today, I want to talk about your podcast for a little bit. Tell us about your podcast, https://brucelhartman.com/podcast/ (“A Closer Walk with Jesus.”) How long have you been doing this podcast? Dr. Bruce, this has been a fascinating interview. I do want people to know how to get in touch with you. If someone wanted to reach out, ask a question, etc., how can they do that? How can someone get in touch with or get more information? And your book, https://amzn.to/3xKkeCq (“Jesus Is Everything: Discovering It All When There Is Nothing Left But Jesus.”) How can they get a copy of your book? Is it on Amazon? Folks, Dr. Bruce Hartman's book, https://amzn.to/3xKkeCq (“Jesus Is Everything: Discovering It All When There Is Nothing Left But Jesus.”) Is a must read. In this book, Dr. Bruce Hartman uncovers the REAL JESUS – the man behind the religious legend. And, Dr. Hartman shares what Jesus wants us to accomplish with our lives as well. This book is written for real people, just like you and me, who are seeking answers to real life issues. And for those answers, Dr. Hartman is pointing everyone to Jesus. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is for you to get a copy of this great book. Actually, you need to order two or three copies! Amen! I know that you know one or two others that would benefit greatly from Dr. Hartman's book, https://amzn.to/3xKkeCq (“Jesus Is Everything: Discovering It All When There Is Nothing Left But Jesus.”) CONTACT INFORMATION:https://amzn.to/3xKkeCq ()Email: bhartman12345@gmail.com Website: http://www.brucelhartman.com/ (http://www.brucelhartman.com/)... Support this podcast

Jesus is Everything Dr. Bruce Hartman pt 1Many people today are always striving to move up the next rung on the career ladder. Always trying to get more, do more or be more. But, what happens when you achieve it? What's next? How many would put on their resume that, they would leave it the corporate world behind and enter into their true life's calling – of serving the Lord? My guest today has done just that. Dr. Bruce L. Hartman, a former CFO for Fortune 500 firms, such as Yankee Candle Company and Foot Locker, he left the corporate world to follow Jesus and received his Doctorate in ministry. In a storytelling fashion, he gives practical insights on how to have a strong faith life and the power of Jesus. His first four books, https://amzn.to/3kijYa5 (“Jesus & Company”,) https://amzn.to/3hGk3Td (“Your Faith Has Made You Well”) , and about a year ago, Dr. Hartman was on our program discussing his book, https://amzn.to/3hGuB4R (“Spend A Year With Jesus”,) But today, we will be discussing his recent book is titled, https://amzn.to/3xKkeCq (“Jesus Is Everything: Discovering It All When There Is Nothing Left But Jesus.”) Let me ask you, when you were contemplating making the move from your corporate career and returning to school to earn Masters in Divinity degree and then continuing on to earn your Doctorate – what was the driving motivation that prompted you to make that kind of move? I know that, in your heart, you believe you were making the right move. What about your peers in the corporate world? What were their thoughts on what you were about to do and how did that weigh on your mind? You emphasize you are not a traditional minister. But you sensed the Lord was calling you into a form of media ministry. Can you explain that for us? What made you believe this book, https://amzn.to/3xKkeCq (“Jesus is Everything,”) was needful for this time in which we live today? To live our Faith, to openly serve and proclaim Jesus as Lord, as you say, to “live the Gospel,” – that requires courage in this current politically correct climate today. Does your book share how someone who may be struggling with sharing their Faith, how they can find the courage to take a Faith stand in the face of this kind of opposition? You share that following Jesus is simple to understand – but hard to be completely faithful 100% of the time. What should we do when we come up short and are now feeling a sense of “letting the Lord down?” In the first chapter of your book, you discuss “The man in the bed.” Can you explain this concept? Folks, Dr. Bruce Hartman's book, https://amzn.to/3xKkeCq (“Jesus Is Everything: Discovering It All When There Is Nothing Left But Jesus.”) Is a must read. In this book, Dr. Bruce Hartman uncovers the REAL JESUS – the man behind the religious legend. And, Dr. Hartman shares what Jesus wants us to accomplish with our lives as well. This book is written for real people, just like you and me, who are seeking answers to real life issues. And for those answers, Dr. Hartman is pointing everyone to Jesus. CONTACT INFORMATION:https://amzn.to/3xKkeCq ()Email: bhartman12345@gmail.com Website: http://www.brucelhartman.com/ (http://www.brucelhartman.com/) Podcast:  https://brucelhartman.com/podcast/ (https://brucelhartman.com/podcast/) Book: https://amzn.to/3xKkeCq (“Jesus Is Everything: Discovering It All When There Is Nothing Left But Jesus.”) – on Amazon Other Books By Dr. Bruce Hartman:Book: https://amzn.to/3kijYa5 (“Jesus & Company”,) - on Amazon Book: https://amzn.to/3hGk3Td (“Your Faith Has Made You Well”) – on Amazon Book: https://amzn.to/3hGuB4R (“Spend A Year With Jesus”,) - on Amazon Kindle Support this podcast

Sweet sassy molassy folks!  Today the Nonsensical Pair found another gem in the old treasure chest.  What gives with all the soaps, washes, detergents, and deodorants out there having wildly exotic scent descriptions?  Does the Yankee Candle Company know no limits to the vast array of garbage smells they continue pumping out?  Were you ever curious to uncover the true names of either Count Chocula or Captain Crunch?  One could only discover those answers by rifling off their top 10 favorite cereal characters, which is exactly what Earl and Francis do for you in this week's first episode!  Also, somewhere along the way hobby horses are mentioned, yet they're irrelevant to the conversation as a whole.  So grab your partner, do si do, and let's square-dance into another delightful session of the Burger!  We adore you Fine Folks and if you adore the show then don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe.  Or hunt us down on social media using the hashtag #thenonsenseburger for Twitter, Instagram and anywhere else.  Listen on iTunes, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, and any of your other favorite podcast apps.

Gaby Juergens - CEO and founder of Homefront Girl, a lovely person and such a powerful story. Founder and CEO of “Homefront Girl”, an organization that has donated over $100,000 to military charities, Gaby Juergens sat down with Big League Politics to discuss her involvement with military families. Juergens has created close to 2,000 designs with inspirational quotes on merchandise like coffee mugs, pillows, candles, and the newly announced clothing line that are meant to encourage and show support for family members of the military. She seeks to inspire those who have relatives in the military that, “we are the other Half of the Brave.” Homefront Girl has been licensed with partnerships like Hallmark, Walmart, and Yankee Candle. Perhaps the most popular item available on the website is their Signature Teddy Bears which were donated to military children at the 2017 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and Juergens has hopes that the same will be accomplished this year. Homefront Girl donates to charities like “Operation Homefront” and “United Through Reading” which seek to encourage military families as they deal with the emotional rollercoaster of having a family member deployed. Her uplifting merchandise has not only significantly helped other charities, it also has proved to be a memorial for family members of fallen heroes. Gaby Juergens has worked tirelessly to ensure that deployed and fallen men and women of the military are given the acknowledgement and respect that they deserve. Learn more about Homefront Girl at homefrontgirl.com WARNING — AI Transcriptions Below May Cause Grammatically Correct People Serious Stress and Lack of Sleep! Tackling Homelessness with CEO of Helping America Now Raji Rykert – Episode 42 Greater Change: Tackling Homelessness with Tech Founder Alex McCallion – Episode 33 Nathaniel Schooler  0:23 Gaby Juergens is the creator and founder of Homefront girl, an international inspirational brand, shining the spotlight in fashion and retail on the families that stand behind the men and women who serve their nation in uniform. A daughter of a veteran raised in military life and a former military spouse of 28 years, she created a brand inspired by her front row seat to bravery, sacrifice, and service. And she's a very inspirational lady. So let's dig into this interesting interview. Well, hey, Gaby, it's lovely to speak to you again. Gaby Juergens  1:03 Oh, it's lovely to be here. Thank you for having me, Nathaniel! Nathaniel Schooler  1:05 My pleasure. I'm really quite excited to hear your story, actually, because you've got a really inspiring story from from what I gather, and you've kind of fought really hard to launch your brand. Launch your clothing brand. And, how did that happen? What sort of drove you to where you have ended up? Gaby Juergens  1:29 Well, when I started Homefront girl, real quick, I have a military family background. And I was married into military raise my son in the military life. So for me, they always say is to writers. Write, which, you know, this was what I knew. And I had attended a licensing show. And I didn't see this mega demographic that I had grown up and represented in retail. And so I just decided to look more into it. And then I fast forward - started to build up the collection of artwork, and soon got an agent, a licensing agent. And licensing in a nutshell is where an artist creates art. And then it licenses that to a manufacturer who then places that on their products. And so that's who my my agents represent me on on that and getting me contracts and getting my products. So I've done things with the Yankee Candle Company, which I was very gratified. Actually, when the collection came out, we had a lot of, I had a lot of emails and followers from the UK, who loved the collection. Unfortunately, it was not carried in the UK or Canada, it was only carried here in the US. But now it's available on eBay,

Broadcast in Politics Call in to speak with the hosts: Cisco Acosta, Luther Mays, and our guest (646) 915-8117 Join us on Thursday 28th, at 9 pm eastern time, with Author Bruce L. Hartman: Topics for Discussions: Do you believe the Chief threat to Religion today are: 1) the media, 2) government officials, and 3) “the hollowing out of our religious institutions.” (4)What is behind the attacks on Christians by the far-left media, and progressive politicians, (5)Is it possible to have positive religious  values in a secular world. Bruce Hartman was the Executive VP and CFO at Yankee Candle Company, Cushman and Wakefield, and Foot Locker, Inc., where he established global banking and capital market structures and contributed to significant increases in enterprise value. Do I have your attention now? Maybe we should listen to what Bruce has to say!  Dr. Bruce L. Hartman is the Author of Jesus & Co. and founder of Gideon Partners, an advisory firm committed to “Walking with people into a brighter future” as they navigate life and career transitions and advance Christian values in the marketplace. A seasoned executive with over 30 years of success creating shareholder value for Fortune 500 firms.  Show sponsor: Studentsforabetterfuture.com

Fix-it man and candle enthusiast Mortimer Gleason defends himself for stealing $400 worth of candles from Yankee Candle Company and planning to burn down the Fox Valley Mall with them on this week's episode of AOKOKAOKOKAA. Featuring: Lev Cantoral

In this episode Kristie interviews Nikki about her tenure as a sales associate at the esteemed Yankee Candle Company. Learn why spending a few extra dollars on a quality candle goes a long way! Follow us on Instagram @shoppersdelightpodcast!

Bruce Hartman (Bruce on Instagram) is the founder and creator of Gideon Partners, an advisory firm committed to “walking with people into a brighter future” as they navigate life and career transitions. Hartman was the Executive VP and CFO at Yankee Candle Company, Cushman & Wakefield, and Foot Locker, Inc. He is now the author of a new book called "Jesus & Co.: Connecting the Lessons of the Gospel with Today’s Business World."We talk about how creating a company based on values and integrity form the beginning can help the business grow while maintaining a certain culture. Bruce shares his 5 things that are important when developing a company that develops & grows long term.We also talk about Jesus.Co and how the gospel links to business.Enjoy! :)Check out what Bruce is up to on Facebook and check out Jesus.Co on amazon.co.uk and amazon.com

The headline of this show announcement is going to captivate you or upset you. Bruce L. Hartman author of Jesus & Co........Connecting the Lessons of The Gospel with Today's Business World. This interview comes to you via the Business Builders Show with Marty Wolff on www.c-suiteradio.comBruce Hartman was the Executive VP and CFO at Yankee Candle Company, Cushman and Wakefield, and Foot Locker, Inc., where he established global banking and capital market structures and contributed to significant increases in enterprise value. Do I have your attention now? Maybe we should listen to what Bruce has to say!You can learn more about Bruce L. Hartman at www.brucelhartman.com. You can get all our shows and many other fine shows at www.c-suiteradio.comNext time your in a room with business owners and one of these folks is talking about talking off 3 months of the year...............and you don't have a clue how they can do that...........it's time to contact me so I can show you how to build a self managed company. Call or text me at 570 815 1626 for a free initial conversation. You can reach me at the same number to give me your comments or questions about my chat with Bruce Hartman.Thanks for listening. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Topic: Take the long road, its shorter! Joining me today is Bruce Hartman. Bruce is the founder and creator of Gideon Partners, a Christian advisory firm committed to “walking with people into a brighter future” as they navigate life and career transitions. Hartman was the Executive VP and CFO at Yankee Candle Company, Cushman and [...] The post [Ep #64] Take the long road, its shorter! appeared first on The Ambitious Entrepreneur Podcast Network.

Topic: Take the long road, its shorter! Joining me today is Bruce Hartman. Bruce is the founder and creator of Gideon Partners, a Christian advisory firm committed to “walking with people into a brighter future” as they navigate life and career transitions. Hartman was the Executive VP and CFO at Yankee Candle Company, Cushman and [...] The post [Ep #64] Take the long road, its shorter! appeared first on The Ambitious Entrepreneur Podcast Network.

Bruce Hartman, former CFO of Foot Locker and the Yankee Candle Company, shares teachings from his new book, Jesus & Co: Connecting the Lessons of the Gospel with Today’s Business World. Bruce is the founder of Gideon Advisors, a Christian advisory firm committed to “walking with people into a brighter future” as they help clients navigate life and career transitions and advance Christian values in the marketplace. A seasoned executive with 30 years of success creating shareholder value for Fortune 500 firms, including Yankee Candle and Foot Locker, he graduated in 2013 with a Master of Divinity from Drew University Theological School, earning the Daniel P. Kidder Award for the highest GPA in Pastoral Care. www.BruceLHartman.com Christianity in Business is the show that helps Christian business leaders to integrate biblical values into business. | Entrepreneurship | Marketing | Nonprofit | Church | Author | Startups | Marketplace | Ministry | Business as Mission | Faith and Work | Faith | Success | Leadership | www.ChristianityInBusiness.com

Alexander Genov but will be affectionately refer to him as Alex for the purpose of this interview. Alex is an experienced Customer Research Professional who applies his Experimental Social Psychology background and his passion for research, design and innovation to solving important customer and business problems. His professional goal is to help teams create remarkable products and services which make people's lives easier and more enjoyable. Currently, Alex is Leading Customer Research for the Zappos Family of Companies. In previous positions, he was responsible for research and usability of the products and services for companies like Turbo Tax also known as Intuit, State Farm Insurance and the Active Network, he has over 15 years of relevant experience, 5 years of academic research and over 10 years of customer research in the software industry. Alex received his Ph.D. in Experimental Social Psychology from Clark University and his areas of research include defining and measuring emotions, individual differences, usability and consumer segmentation.    Questions   Tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey What is does Social Psychology mean and how does that connect to customer experience? Talk a little about your research that you have found, what works, what doesn’t as you pointed out individual differences and that customers are the same. Why do you think it’s important to invest in research to help you grow your business and become more customer centric? What is one online resource, website, tool or app that you absolutely cannot live without in your business? What are some of the books that have had the biggest impact on you? What is the one thing in your life right now that you are really excited about – something that you are working on to develop yourself or people? Where can our listeners find you online? What is one quote or saying that you live by or that inspires you in times of adversity?   Highlights   Alex Genov pointed as it says in his bio that his background is in psychology, that his passion is understanding people. And more specifically his specialization is understanding emotions and how we define emotions, how we measure emotions, how people experience emotions, the area of emotions is not as simple as it sounds. On the face of it we all experience emotions, we all talk about it but what I found through many years of deep research and study of emotions is that it differs not only how we talk about emotions but how we experience them and measuring them is a tricky thing. That's his specialty and also another area of expertise he brought from said psychology was individual differences and that's something he believe deeply in which is that not everybody not all people are different. And by the same token not all customers are different. In his career, he has been trying to help companies understand customers as people and understand the individual differences that are important for each specific industry and in each specific product. He was initially headed to be a Professor but soon gave up the idea because he didn't want to be poor for many many years. He kind of sold out to the software industry but he has no regrets. It's been an interesting challenge and a lot of fun experiences trying to bring rigor to research in the industry but also to make it practical. So, that's been the biggest challenge for him all along is to make it to kind of walk that fine line, keeping that balance and keeping the organization honest in terms of research but also being practical and not being too academic and kind of obstructionist in that way.   Alex Genov stated that there are many areas of psychology when you start specializing in it. So, one area for example is, Social Psychology and other area is Personality Psychology which is a bit more focused on the individual and other area is Clinical Psychology so these are people who help people with mental problems and so on. He picked Social Psychology because it was the most interesting to him and when he was studying it all the really fun experiments from the 50’s and 60’s that really kind of make jaws drop nowadays but they were all designed to understand people in the sense that how is our behavior determined and motivated by the real or imagined presence of others. That's the definition of social psychology. The methods that he brought with him to the industry or essentially the methods of scientific psychology which are based on the empirical method of research. And the most kind of defining feature of that is the question “How do you know?” When we talk about something and we say, “I believe this and that to be true” some people may be fine by saying, “I feel it in my gut and that's what I believe” or they say. “I know from experience and I know it to be true” but an empiricist will say, “Well how do you know?” “Do you have the data to look at and to measure?” An empiricism is basically this belief that we all have to have some kind of shared experience to be able to determine that something is the case. So, for example, if he asked you what the temperature is and you tell him 72 degrees then you can both look at the thermometer and agree that that's the case. When it comes to emotions you can see how becomes tricky to say ok how do you feel and then you feel happy but many times we don't have direct access to our emotions or we cannot articulate them or we don't want to share them. So that's where it gets tricky how do you measure, how you define emotions. For example, you can define them by the facial expressions which is a behavioral indicator, you can define it by overt behavior, are people jumping with joy literally right or are they running away? Also, you can always ask them how do you feel but again one of the principles of research that brought that led him to the industry was to measure the same thing using different methods and to triangulate the results so that we have a higher degree of confidence that what we're saying when measuring is exactly what we intended to measure. He doesn’t want to get too technical but that's basically the background.   Yanique mentioned that we talk about Zappos all the time in workshops and people think about Zappos as the Customer Experience guru in the Retail Market especially in the online space. They basically came in and they transformed how retail business is done online. The fact that they have a 365 day return policy, if you call them somebody is going to answer the phone even when you go on their website, unlike other websites, every single page on their website has their telephone number at the top. So, at the end of the day when somebody has an issue or when a customer has an issue whether it is to make a request or it is to query a product or service that they have already engaged you for a lot of times they want to speak with a live human being and sometimes it's so hard navigating on these organizations websites some of them don’t have a phone number, they have this contact us page where you have to type out your entire request or issue and then wait for somebody from their company to respond to you. So, the fact that Zappos actually makes themselves available by providing a telephone number on all their pages really sets them apart.   Alex Genov agreed and stated that he joined Zappos about 4 years ago and he can take absolutely no credit in it's incredible success over the years. He has contributed something in the past 4 years but indeed the company was formed early on based on the belief that it will be successful only if they make their customers happy, employees happy and the vendors happy. That was the focus. When Tony Tsheish started investing in the company, basically he was intensely focused on the customer experience and on making this very new behaviour which is buying shoes online as easy as possible. We're talking about 15 - 16 years ago. They realized that in that kind of business things usually will sometimes go wrong and you cannot prevent that but what you can do is to do everything to make it right by the customer. So, one of the initial defining moments was one day something went wrong with an order and a customer was not happy but then they went out of their way to make it right and then that person wrote an e-mail and in the subject matter, she started by using the word, “WOW.” Bear in mind, this is 15 - 16 years ago. Now everybody's talking about wowing customers. But that was so long ago and then at that point they realized this is going to be our defining characteristic, is going to be customer service and at a time when everybody is considering service a cost to be cut. Zappos said, “That's who we are and we're going to invest in that.” That's really counter-intuitive in a way thinking has let it success because the whole belief is that we're selling shoes that are also available in other stores or in other places. And if we do all the same things that other retailers do and if we compete on price and we can be done on cutting costs then we're just going to be another retailer. And you know what's happening with retail nowadays, this was decided so many years ago. Sometimes it's really because he’s a proponent of the online experience. Sometimes there's intense focus on customer service is going to be a point of frustration because he’s thinking can we focus a bit more on the website. But then you'll realize what the roots are and also, we have a saying at Zappos that “Zappos is a customer service company that just happens to sell shoes right now.”   Yanique mentioned that if businesses looked at their companies like that, “I'm just an airline” or “I'm a customer service company that just happens to be in the airline business transporting people from one location to the next for all different reasons, weddings, business, vacation.” And they realize that their focus is on service because without these customers we have no business. I think it would really change the mindset and propel, it would be like a paradigm shift in how we as customers experience business.   Alex agreed and stated that it will help to have some competition, some industries are more much more like monopolies right. And they have less choice than there is much less pressure to not be customer centric in general. One question in the outline about what business owners can think of and what's going to make them successful - it's very simple, it's just focus on the customer and of course you have to have your business plan and you have to have your operations to be excellent. You cannot be focusing on the customer and giving away free product and you know you're going to be in business for maybe 3 days, you will have very happy customers but very short-lived success. You need to have your financials work but beyond, he loves Zappos because it's a company that's focused on purpose before profit. And it’s a very subtle but very important difference, if you say that you’re in there for the profit then you’ll be making all those decisions that ultimately end up hurting customers. If you are saying that you’re here for that purpose then but also make sure that you are making profit. Ultimately, if you're making customers happy they will be loyal customers and they will be telling others about your business. Alex stated that another thing that sets them apart is that they don't do a traditional advertising. They don't pour billions into TV ads for example, but people know about Zappos from word of mouth, from things that they do that benefit the community. And they have a very strong Social Media Presence. So that's another lesson for entrepreneurs and for business folks. Focus on the customer, focus on the community, do good things for the community and for the customer and then you're going to have those customers that are not only customers but they're going to be your ambassadors they are going to spread the word about you. So, it's going to be saving a lot of money on advertising essentially and marketing.   Alex stated that if you're a small company you cannot really afford PHD’s and specialist to do this for you but you can do it yourself to a large degree and then why is it important? If you want to make some customers happy, now we talk a lot about personalization, a lot about meeting the customer needs or the jobs supposed to be done then you don't know your customers. You're probably going to be basing decisions on your own experience and if you are lucky to have a lot of customers just like yourself, so be it then you have to do any research. If you want to differentiate yourself you need to understand a little bit of the competition but mostly the customer. There are different types of businesses, for example, we are a corner coffee shop, then you're going to be providing the staples, you may walk around the neighborhood see what the other coffee shops charge and you're going to price your offering accordingly and then there's not much to research about, what people need is coffee, pastries. Alex stated that one of the books he read recently that influence him is one from Harvard professor called Clayton Christiansen and he's been talking about jobs to be done for a long time, customer jobs to be done and it's a variation of user needs or wants but it's much more specific in the sense that he's saying customers are hiring you and your product to do specific jobs and if you do the jobs, they'll continue hiring you, if not they are going to fire you and your product. So, the example he gives is a big breakfast chain here that they wanted to grow their milkshake business. They were getting a hard time selling more milkshakes so they hired this company to really observe people and how they buy milkshakes and then they talk to people and all they found was that the same person stopping by in the morning and stopping by in the afternoon had different needs when it comes to milkshakes. So, in the morning they were on their way to work, pretty long commute and they needed a little bit of nourishment like breakfast but also, they needed something to keep them occupied in the car sitting there bored. And so, they designed these milkshakes with something to do with nutritional value but also with some chunks of stuff in the milkshake so that you know people would just drink the milkshake and have something like some more sensation in their mouth. In the afternoon, when the people stopped by after picking up their kids from daycare and so we had kids in the backseat making noise and shouting, angry and so So, they are buying milkshakes for them and the job to be done was to give them some nutrition but also to keep them quiet back there. They were designed not only the milkshakes but also the straws so that they're thinner so the milkshake last longer. And you understand the whole point of this is that if you didn't observe people in action and didn't talk to them about why are you buying this and what are you trying to achieve with that milkshake, then you will be in the dark. Some things are pretty straightforward like opening a coffee shop with the staples but even then, if you're really customer focused then you'll know your customers and when they come in you know that this person, they have their usual and you offer them that. Or maybe they're upset, talk to them about what’s bothering them, bartenders are great at that. They solve these emotional jobs to be done like a friend for somebody who is a little bit down maybe or doesn't get anybody to talk to at the moment. The point is all of this is based on knowing people understanding people and if you're just focused on your business and your numbers and you don't see your customers as people but just as walking wallets then ultimately, they'll find another place that treats them better. So, you have those basic needs and wants. When he was talking about individual differences is when it gets to be bigger businesses that now start serving millions of people or different types of customers for example, if you are a B2B business and you're selling something to a company, you have different interactions, for example the CEO who is going to be signing the cheque ultimately. And interacting with some procurement person who is responsible for implementing the system. And then you may or may not interact with the end user but they're all different user groups and they all have different mindsets and they're going to have different interactions with the system. So that's a very simple form of segmentation based on role in a company. For Zappos for example, to some extent gender plays a role of course because all men's shoes are different from women's shoes, clothing. They dress somewhat differently. When he was working for Turbo Tax for example and it's a financial, Do-It-Yourself financial product. Gender made no difference in terms of how finances are kept, if anything women are much better at keeping finances than men but when it came to how we understand the product you think about finances there was no different so for each business it's going to be a bit different. Just to finish the coffee shop example and maybe some of the audience have some customers that are vegan now so you have the vegan customers and you have the ones that are not. So that will be kind of a surprise and delight for your customers to say, “Do you want regular milk? or you want soy milk?” But that's another example of maybe your segment based on taste and health preferences and so on.   Alex shared that in his tools of the trade like analytics programme. He uses SPSS too because everybody at Zappos does hands on work. And there's no more managers there now and it's a different self-organization kind of environment. A lot of his work is hands on work. They have a really powerful survey tool, they do a lot of surveys with our customers and with prospects - general population, US shoppers. They collect information that way and then he uses an analytics tool called SPSS to do the analysis. They also collect a lot of text data and it's very challenging to analyze sentiment and he’s talking about large volume. Like 600,000 reviews on the website or even they do a survey when they get to 2,000/3,000 verbatim comments from customers in text form. It's very difficult to analyze, now they’re starting to explore a tool that is a very powerful text analytics tool developed on technology from the MIT media lab and so you have the best scientists there working to develop this kind of artificial intelligence to extract meaning for example from text. And it's not as simple as just counting the number of times a word appears. That’s extracting meaning what the word is connected to water. He mentioned that Google is amazing, Google is like this really powerful software company if you have to find anything you Google it and find it right away.   Alex shared that one of the key influences for me is this Italian designer called Roberto Verganti. He wrote several books but one of his key books is called Design Driven Innovation: Changing the Rules of Competition by Radically Innovating What Things Mean and his main idea is that you need to understand customers as people and that's been his kind of mission in the past couple of years as don’t really just study customers as shoppers in the process of shopping or in the process of calling but understand them holistically as people. He has been advocating for this sort of radical innovation which is that a dual meaning of what things mean for people and that's very hard to do but it's going to guarantee the biggest success. One of his examples is this company that was the leader in candles, a few centuries ago. A couple of centuries ago they were there for a hundred years, they were the best, made candles and then electricity came along. And instead of them changing the meaning of what they were doing they continued to focus on the light, how long does the candle was lasting, how safe it is. And then of course they disappeared, they went out of business. Alex asked – “Can you guess one Candle company that is thriving right now?” Yanique replied – “I cannot…” A candle company that is thriving now is called the Yankee Candle Company, it's very big in the United States but the reason why they're so successful is that because they change the meaning of what a candle means, it's not used for light but it's used for mood and they made it smell good but you see how they changed the meaning because the other company was focused on safety and they didn't want the candle to smell right and then it lost its purpose. That’s all he talks about, understanding what things mean for people. Another example is this kettle for boiling water and they made this kettle that looks pretty cool but also was emitting the sound when it was ready, it kind of whistle and the meaning there was not only was it a tool for boiling water but it’s a signal for the family to gather around the table. You would think it’s a simple object and then people pay US $500.00 for this. It’s the shape, the meaning. A good question for all the listeners is the business they’re in, are they innovating on that level versus just making things better the way they are, keeping the same meaning but making it better. “Are you innovating or are you making things better the way they are?” [Question to ask yourself as a business owner]   Alex stated that at work he is excited about a couple of big programs they are doing which is the Voice of the Customer, they are enabling their customers that go on their website and don’t call on the phones to give them feedback and for the organization to be able to consume that feedback, so they are working hard on that. Again, exploring text analytics, it’s going to open their eyes, it’s just a ton of data that has been left unexplored. In his personal life, he went back to a passion of his which is Martial Arts after many years of not doing much and in Las Vegas there are Shaolin Monks teaching and that’s super exciting for him. There is one authentic Shaolin Monk visiting to hold a seminar and he’ll be taking some time off work to do that.   Alex shared listeners can find him at – LinkedIn - @alexgenov   Alex shared that what inspires him in times of adversity in his professional life is thinking about the customer and Zappos is a part of Amazon and Jeff Bezos is talking about customer obsession and then in his personal life, is this idea of no hacks, it’s just perseverance and hard work. Links Design Driven Innovation: Changing the Rules of Competition by Radically Innovating What Things Mean by Roberto Verganti

It can't rain all the time, cuz this week the dweebs are talking about the gothic independent comic book touchstone, The Crow, written by James O'Barr. In addition, they talk about their current obsession with Yankee Candle Company, and debate whether the 1989 Punisher movie is the greatest Marvel Comics movie of all time.

This week's special guest is lesbian comedienne Suzanne Westenhoefer. This hilarious lady has been on the scene for over 20 years and was the very first openly lesbian comic to appear on television. She's most sought-after as a performer for both straight and gay audiences nationwide and she works the Pride circuit, too. Find out who makes Suzanne laugh, whether she'll pop up on television soon, and why she thinks the guys should think twice before attending a gals' event. You might be surprised by her answer. Then, what's better than three hosts? How about six? This week, we welcome to the studio Kevin Platte, Chad Townsend and Barbara Kurzeja of the world-famous DC Cowboys. They are a part of the all-male performing arts organization for gay men in the Washington area. The group garnered international fame through appearances on NBC's America's Got Talent during season three, the closing ceremonies of the Gay Games VII at Wrigley Field in Chicago, at the Sziget Festival's Magic Mirror venue in Budapest, plus shows in Dublin Ireland and on an RSVP Caribbean cruise. And now, the boys are gearing up for their final performance. After 18 years, the Cowboys will be saying goodbye. Why, you ask? Well, listen and you'll find out. Geez. Kevin, Chad and Barbara stick around for the whole show, where the boys discuss Whitney Houston's family's new reality show; Ryan buys Ellen's house; Joey Lawrence joins the Chippendales; Yankee Candle Company releases a line of Man Candles; Anderson Cooper wins big for the Trevor Project; the Atlantis Cruise screwing-in-public couple just need to go away; and, One Direction looks super gay in a new video. We also have a brand new song to play for ya -- Billy Winn is a new singer/songwriter on the scene and his Future X Boyfriend follows our chat with Suzanne. Catch Billy performing at both the Washington, DC and New York City Pride events next month! And finally, we reveal the winner of our C-IN2 Prize Pack underwear prize pack!