In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the Founders of Dynamic Fit Pros, Chris and Eric Martinez.Chris and Eric are experienced fitness professionals, authors, and hosts of the "Dynamic Lifestyle Podcast" who have helped numerous clients achieve their health and fitness goals. Chris and Eric take a personalized approach to fitness coaching. They understand that each individual has a unique body and specific needs, and thus they tailor their programs to fit their client's particular needs and goals. By working closely with clients to develop customized workout and nutrition plans, Chris and Eric ensure their clients achieve optimal results.They understand that the journey to health and fitness can be challenging, and thus they provide their clients with the motivation and support they need to stay on track and achieve their goals. They are always available to answer questions and provide guidance to their clients. They utilize science-backed methods and practical strategies to help clients see real fitness and overall health results. With their personalized approach, results-driven methods, accessibility and support, holistic approach, and valuable resources through their podcast, Chris and Eric can help you achieve your health and fitness goals and become the best version of yourself.&nbsp;About Chris and Eric Martinez: Chris and Eric are Business coaches and owners of "The Dynamic Fit Pros" where they help health and fitness coaches create more income, impact, influence, and independence in their coaching businesses. Along with being Multiple #1 International Best-Selling Authors, Podcasters, and Speakers. Chris and Eric have worked with over 700 health &amp; fitness coaches to help them build their online businesses and scale them. After investing in high level business mastermind’s groups, elite coaching days with business and marketing coaches, losing $250k in mistakes, and having an online business for the last 12 years, Chris and Eric's mission now is to pass on their gifts and expertise to other fitness coaches.Chris and Eric have also built a six -figure online fitness coaching business by the name of Dynamic Duo Training and have worked with thousands of people via online and in person to help them look better, feel better, perform better, and live a dynamic lifestyle through training, nutrition, mindset, personal development, and lifestyle practices. As successful entrepreneurs themselves, Chris and Eric believe that everyone has the right to an abundant lifestyle, and the responsibility to help others have the same. They practice what they preach on a daily basis and that’s to live a dynamic lifestyle, which in their eyes means to keep evolving in life, health, wealth, love, happiness, and to never live a static and complacent lifestyle.&nbsp;About Dynamic Fit Pros: Dynamic Fit Pros is a company that helps online health and fitness professionals reach their goal of earning $10,000 per month. They do this by eliminating the complicated technology and eliminating the need for paid advertisements and fancy websites. Instead, they focus on simple, effective strategies that allow their clients to reach their financial goals while maintaining their focus on providing top-notch health and fitness services.&nbsp;Links Mentioned in this Episode:Want to learn more? Check out Dynamic Fit Pros website at https://donnagriffit.com/Check out Chris and Eric Martinez on LinkedIn at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-eric-martinez-74956124/" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the Corporate Storyteller, Donna Griffit.Donna believes that people are more likely to connect with one another through personal stories rather than through technology. In business, customers don't form relationships with brands, but with the people behind the brand. By improving their storytelling abilities, business owners can establish stronger connections with their customers and build lasting relationships. She stresses that a key factor in capturing customers' attention and engagement is to create an emotional connection and address a specific need they have.&nbsp;Key points from the Episode:&nbsp;Overview on what a Corporate storyteller &amp; Pitch Alchemist doesHow to switch off that ‘judgment bird’ to tell better stories?Is storytelling a critical skill to reach business goals?Elements of being a good storyteller in business&nbsp;About Donna Griffit: A Corporate Storyteller, has worked globally for over 18 years with Fortune 500 companies, Start-Ups and investors in a wide variety of industries. She has consulted and trained clients in over 30 countries, helping them create, edit and deliver verbal and written presentations, pitches and messages. Donna has the ability to magically spin raw data into compelling stories that captivate audiences and drive to results. Through her guidance clients have raised over a billion dollars.Everyone has a story to tell. There are no boring stories; only layers of information that obscure the beauty of the story. She's only here to help you peel away the layers and polish your tale to a beautiful hue. She feels privileged and humbled to be working with organizations that are changing the world, and she is thrilled to be a part of their path.&nbsp;Links Mentioned in this Episode:Want to learn more? Check out Donna Griffit on her website at https://donnagriffit.com/Check out Donna Griffit on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/donnaabraham/Check out Donna Griffit on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Donna.Griffit.Corporate.Storyteller/?fref=tsCheck out Donna Griffit on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Donna_GrifDon’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!&nbsp;More from UpMyInfluence:We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE.Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here.What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here.Want to learn more about all the podcasts managed by UpMyInfluence? Opt in here.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the Founder and CEO of PK Recruiting, Kelly Robinson.PK Recruiting is a unique recruitment agency that provides end-to-end services to clients looking to fill positions in their companies. According to Kelly, they differentiate themselves from other recruiters by their continuous efforts to retain talent and find the right fit for their clients. This sets PK Recruiting apart and makes them a reliable partner for companies seeking the best talent for their organization. She shared valuable tips on how to differentiate oneself as an employer of choice and become attractive in today's business world. The importance of differentiation was emphasized as crucial in attracting top talent.&nbsp;Key points from the Episode:What does PK Recruiting do?Who are ideal clients for PK Recruiting?Backstory on how Kelly got into the businessWhy do businesses help with recruiting?Services offered by PK RecruitingWhat makes PK Recruiting from other traditional recruiting agencies?Benefits of working with PK RecruitingTips to be an attractive employer today&nbsp;About Kelly Robinson: Kelly Robsinson has been building and implementing professional recruitment services since 1998 in a broad range of settings and industries. Before starting PKR (Panna Knows) in 2019, Kelly served as the Managing Partner for a five million-dollar firm for 13 years, growing it 1000%. As formerly quoted by the CEO, “We would not be where we are without Kelly, not only in her current role, but in her contributions throughout the years. She has been the most impactful hire”.With Kelly’s leadership, along with a best in class, collaborative and highly impactful team, PKR has already well exceeded over 1000% growth in just 3 years. Over 20 plus years of exploring every aspect of recruiting and hiring, she’s packaged her process into her Next Level Recruiting™ system and approach to recruitment. “I feel strongly that recruitment needs to be intentional. Our focus needs to be making the best possible match to help our partner achieve their objectives with the right time that they are able to retain.”The NLR framework details Kelly’s 9 Stages of the Talent Acquisition Life Cycle. Kelly has developed her PKR Reach program that offers NLR™ training to recruiters at all levels and her myPACT program which is a coaching program for select recruitment professionals. Kelly’s hope is to share her experiences with recruiters globally in a simplified step-by-step framework. She’s made mistakes, so you don't have to.Kelly is often heard saying, “Everyone has something to teach, and everyone has something to learn.” She believes that best recruiters do two things: 1) Listen and 2) Ask the hard questions. This is something that has been incorporated into her UnCulture™ philosophy. Kelly resides in Philadelphia and is a single mother to the love of her life, her 12-year-old son and her Cavapoo puppy. She loves working out, eating healthy, and making memories with those she loves.&nbsp;About PKR: PKR is a leading talent attraction program focused on recruiting with intention through structure, strategy, and support to connect employers with top talent. Robinson is an award-winning talent operations specialist for her expertise in hiring operations, talent acquisition and retention, and organizational leadership. She coaches leaders throughout the recruiting space globally on strategies for success in the digital era of work.&nbsp;Links Mentioned in this Episode:Want to learn more?...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the Author, Speaker, Serial Entrepreneur of Coach to the Best, Rich Russakoff.Rich recognizes that entrepreneurs can sometimes get caught up in the day-to-day operations of their businesses and lose sight of their role as leaders. He helps these individuals step back, reevaluate their priorities, and focus on what they do best: building relationships and creating a vision for their company. By shifting their focus from operational management to relationship building, entrepreneurs can become more effective leaders and drive their businesses forward. Rich provides the support and guidance needed to make this transition, helping entrepreneurs rediscover their passion and purpose as leaders.Rich emphasizes the importance of attracting and developing talented individuals in the success of a business. He points out that having a team of skilled and dedicated individuals is a critical factor in determining the success or failure of a company. The ability to attract and cultivate great people who have the skills and expertise to help the business succeed is a key differentiator for successful businesses. Rich works with entrepreneurs to help them build strong and effective teams, recognizing that the quality of the people they bring on board will have a major impact on the success of their ventures.&nbsp;Key points from the Episode:What is Coach To The Best about?3 stages of business growthDiscovering how Rich Russakoff helps companies with high growthWhat lifetime learners know that startups don’t?Understanding the role of CEO in the businessWhat are the things to look for when attracting leaders and managers?&nbsp;About Rich Russakoff: Rich Russakoff is an internationally acclaimed business coach, speaker, author, and serial entrepreneur. As President and CEO of ‘Coach to The Best’, Rich guides CEOs and entrepreneurs throughout the world. Rich is always in demand as a speaker, and has spoken at INC Magazine Conferences, the Fortune Growth Summit, The International Franchise Association, and at over 100 other entrepreneurial conferences and workshops throughout the world. He has also been a member of the faculty on the Entrepreneurial Masters Program at MIT for the past 20 years.He writes a daily email called "Food For Thought", which is the basis of his books, People, Time &amp; Money: Volume One, published last June, and People, Time &amp; Money: Volume Two which was published in July. He is also the author of How to Make Banks Compete to Lend You Money and the chapter on bank financing in Verne Harnish’s NYT’s bestselling book Rockefeller Habits. Rich’s articles have appeared in CBS Moneywatch, CNN’s Ask the Expert, and the Austin Business Journal.&nbsp;About Coach To The Best: Rich works with entrepreneurs to help them become better leaders. He helps them identify their strengths and weaknesses and provides guidance on how to improve their leadership skills. Through a combination of coaching, mentoring, and training, Rich equips entrepreneurs with the tools they need to be confident, effective, and successful leaders. Whether it's through improving communication skills, building more effective teams, or developing a clear and inspiring vision, Rich is dedicated to helping entrepreneurs become the best version of themselves as leaders.&nbsp;Links Mentioned in this Episode:Want to learn more? Check out the Coach To The Best website at <a href="https://coachtothebest.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the Founder and CEO of Petite2Queen, Lynn Whitbeck.Lynn is a sales strategist who helps clients achieve success by focusing on worthy intent. This approach prioritizes making a positive impact and serving others over just closing sales. Lynn believes that this mindset leads to more meaningful and sustainable relationships with customers and ultimately, more successful sales outcomes.Lynn emphasizes the importance of determining the right fit between a client and a business's services. She believes that building genuine rapport and connection can help businesses make this determination quickly. She believes that being true to oneself leads to stronger and more authentic relationships with clients. By taking the time to understand the client's needs and goals, businesses can ensure that they are providing the right services for their clients and building mutually beneficial relationships.&nbsp;Key points from the Episode:Understanding the concept of worthy intentWhy is worthy intent critical&nbsp; in the sales process?How to lead with worthy intent toincrease sales?How to rapidly build rapport and connection through worthy intent?Why does the mindset of abundance affect the sales process?5 Things your clients need to say YES toIdeal clients &amp; Insights on Lynn Whitbeck’s work&nbsp;About Lynn Whitbeck: Lynn's fundamental value is to serve others. It's what motivates her. Lynn, the Founder and CEO of Petite2Queen, wakes up every morning saying, "There are so many things I have got to do today."Lyn is the Sales Queen. Business owners and entrepreneurs hire Lynn to ignite winning teams because most are chasing clients, locked in a hectic sales cycle, and needing more client retention, conversions, and revenues. As a result, she assists in transforming thinking from the client's perspective, ending sales pandemonium with a solid strategic strategy to harvest the hidden earnings. Bottom line: Lynn will boost your sales and provide long-term profits.&nbsp;About Petite2Queen: Petite2Queen assists the world by giving sales and leadership programs that enable people to achieve more in less time. They present a proven shortcut to adopt a growth mindset, discover the answers you seek, prevent blunders, and get ahead of the crowd, so you can confidently stand in your authority.No matter where you are on your path, their goal with the sales and leadership programs is to propel you to live your own true life. You get your formula with impactful ingredients and tools to help YOU accelerate your success. And it's a tremendous game changer when you convert into your actual self and learn what you're capable of.&nbsp;Links Mentioned in this Episode:Want to learn more? Check out the Petite2Queen website at https://petite2queen.com/Check out Petite2Queen on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/petite2queen/Check out Lynn Whitbeck on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnwhitbeck/Check out Lynn Whitbeck on Twitter at https://twitter.com/LynnMWhitbeckCheck out Lynn Whitbeck on Facebook at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LynnWhitbeck"...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the Host, Media Personality, Author, Kelly Roach.Kelly can help individuals and businesses scale and grow their online presence. With the right strategies and tools, Kelly can assist in building a life of fulfillment and financial stability through growing their business. This can be achieved by creating a comprehensive marketing plan, optimizing the company's website, leveraging social media, and implementing effective lead-generation tactics. Additionally, Kelly can provide valuable insights and recommendations on how to streamline operations and increase productivity, ultimately leading to a thriving business.She emphasized that achieving bigger goals in business is not the only metric for success. In fact, Kelly believes that these goals will be meaningless if the cost of reaching them involves sacrificing the quality of life with loved ones. Kelly encourages a balanced approach to business growth, ensuring that one's personal and professional life is in harmony.&nbsp;Key points from the Episode:Overview of Kelly Roach's workBackstory on how Kelly entered the businessThe impact of authenticity in the world of growth strategyDos &amp; Don'ts to scale a businessPlaying a long game in business for longevityUnderstanding the impact of high value long form content in 2023Hope, How to, &amp; Conviction Based Marketing for businessHow to stand out from business competition with high value content?About Kelly Roach: Kelly is an award-winning 8-figure entrepreneur, business consultant, and mentor to leaders and visionaries who are building legacies and disrupting their industries. She founded Kelly Roach International while working full-time in Fortune 500 as the youngest senior vice president at her firm, where she was promoted 7 times in 8 years, was responsible for leading teams of over 100 to record-breaking sales, and leading through the economic downturn of 2008 (without a single layoff). She built her business to 7-figures before quitting her corporate job, and now mentors CEOs and professionals around the globe to achieve freedom, financial abundance, and fulfillment in all areas of life.She is a 4X bestselling author, top-rated podcast host of The Kelly Roach Show (with over 2 million downloads), founder of The Conviction Marketing Agency and The Human Family Foundation nonprofit, where she is committed to ongoing philanthropic work, and co-founder of Give Her Courage and The Advance Women’s Expert Network. She has been featured in some of the world’s leading publications, including Forbes, Inc, and Business Insider.&nbsp;Tweetable Moments:02:54 - “The majority of small business owners are great at their craft, they're great at whatever it is that they do. But most of them don't have a decade of Fortune 500 experience building businesses before they started their company.”14:26 - “I think more people need to really upgrade their thinking around content, and I think they would put a lot more heart and conviction into it, which I think would get them far better results.”&nbsp;Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guestLinks Mentioned in this Episode:Want to learn more? Check out Kelly Roach website at https://kellyroachcoaching.com/Check out Kelly Roach on LinkedIn at <a...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the Keynote Speaker, Author, Entrepreneur, Certified EOS Implementer, of EOS Worldwide, Chris Jones. Chris is an expert in helping individuals uncover their strengths and using them to drive transformative growth in their businesses. He suggests that taking a break during difficult times can be beneficial as it allows access to a different part of the brain, leading to the discovery of previously unseen opportunities. Chris emphasizes the importance of considering the broader impact on the future of the business when facing a crisis. EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) is a system that provides a roadmap for entrepreneurs to guide their businesses towards growth and success. Chris recommends using this system as a tool to drive progress and advancement in a business. The system provides a clear path for entrepreneurs to follow and helps keep their efforts focused and on track, leading to improved outcomes. In essence, EOS serves as a roadmap for entrepreneurs to achieve their goals and spur growth in their businesses. &nbsp; Key points from the Episode:  Overview on what &amp; how EOS works Who can benefit from EOS Understanding the impact of EOS in today’s business Backstory on how Chris Jones got into the business Application of EOS in business to spur growth &nbsp; About Chris Jones: Chris is a Certified EOS Implementer, Proven Entrepreneur, Author &amp; Keynote Speaker. Chris has founded multiple companies including Strategic Traction, Jensco Management &amp; Entrix Sport. Has launched multiple sports products into the Canadian market, with some becoming the #1 market share product in its category for Canada. Chris has volunteered with the Entrepreneurs Organization, working on their accelerator programs, chairing their Calgary program, and becoming the Canadian lead. Chris volunteered with the children’s cancer care program Believe in the Gold project, was a mentor in the Haskayne Mentorship program, and served on the board of advisors for student-entrepreneur organization Enactus. When Chris Jones isn’t crushing goals and heading toward the end zone in business, you’ll find him spending time with his family. They enjoy hiking, biking, walking, or doing anything with the family dog. Chris also likes to cycle, run masters track (for which he holds a Canadian record, set in 2010), ski, golf, hike, and catch a Stampeders or Flames game whenever he can. &nbsp; About EOS Worldwide: The Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS) is a business operating system designed to assist you operate a stress-free organization while also gaining increased energy, concentration, excitement, and business success. &nbsp; Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out the EOS Worldwide website at https://www.eosworldwide.com/ Check out EOS Worldwide on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/eos-worldwide-llc/ Check out Chris Jones on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisjonesyyc/ Check out Chris Jones on Twitter at https://twitter.com/keepupwithcj Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time! &nbsp; More from...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the Founder of Frution Initiatives, Sarah Duran.Sarah is a business coach who specializes in helping entrepreneurs set better goals and operationalize them to achieve them. She works with entrepreneurs to identify their goals and then allows them to create a plan for achieving them. This includes setting specific, measurable, and achievable targets and identifying the steps needed to reach those targets. She also helps entrepreneurs create systems and processes to track their progress and make necessary adjustments. Her goal is to empower entrepreneurs to take control of their businesses and achieve their desired success.Sarah believes that setting short-cycle goals is more effective than setting long-term goals. This is because life is unpredictable, and what you want today may be different from what you want tomorrow. Additionally, you may change as a person over time, and your goals may also vary. Setting short-cycle goals allows you to assess your progress and make adjustments as needed regularly.Sarah encourages entrepreneurs to set short-cycle goals to stay on track, stay motivated, and succeed in their businesses. With a flexible approach, you can be better equipped to adapt to any changes that come your way and reach your goals more efficiently and effectively.&nbsp;Key points from the Episode:Tips on how to get big things doneWhy is it important knowing what you really want?Insights on setting goals without compromising happinessShort cycle goals versus long term goalsUnderstanding the ‘why’ behind success&nbsp;About Sarah Duran: Sarah is a project management consultant, consistent six-figure freelancer, and solopreneur coach. She started her company, Fruition Initiatives, to help people and organizations turn their ideas into action – to bring their goals to fruition. She’s an operational expert and has been a project strategist for over a decade, designing and leading projects for a variety of organizations, helping businesses refine systems and processes, and providing support to researchers, educators, entrepreneurs, and leaders.On top of her project management expertise, she’s also an author, coach, blogger, and content creator who helps solopreneurs live up to their highest potential. She takes her expertise as a consistent six-figure freelancer and combines it with her background in curriculum design, facilitation, and coaching to give solopreneurs the support to get what they need out of their work EVERY DAY.About Fruition Initiatives: Fruition Initiatives is a company or organization that helps people and businesses turn their ideas and goals into action. They provide various services such as strategic planning, project management, and implementation support to help individuals and organizations bring their goals to fruition. This can include things like starting a new business, launching a new product, or achieving a specific objective. Essentially, Fruition Initiatives act as a catalyst for individuals and organizations to turn their plans and ideas into reality.&nbsp;Tweetable Moments:05:55 - “Life is fundamentally unpredictable. And I think what happens is we're always coached to set these super long-term goals, and then we don't set up systems to check in on them strategically over time. What's relevant to you now is iterative. It's always going to change.”06:37 - “I think you have a lot more control about making sure that your happiness when you have a team, you also have to...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the Mindset Monk of ROI Media Works, VK Lakkineni.VK Lakkineni is a professional who helps entrepreneurs overcome their mid-life challenges by shifting their mindset in the right direction. He believes that many entrepreneurs need help on having the right mindset. By working with Lakkineni, entrepreneurs can learn how to change their perspective, overcome obstacles, and achieve their goals.VK Lakkineni believes that there are many ways to help entrepreneurs overcome midlife challenges. One practical approach is to work with a guru or mentor who can share their knowledge and wisdom on dealing with particular challenges. By borrowing the insights and experiences of a guru, entrepreneurs can gain valuable guidance on navigating difficult situations and overcoming obstacles. This can help point them in the right direction for success. Additionally, Lakkineni suggests that entrepreneurs can achieve this by learning from the experiences of successful people, reading books, attending seminars and workshops, and more. All these methodologies can help entrepreneurs to change their mindset, gain a new perspective and find new opportunities.Key points from the Episode: Overview of what a Mindset Monk doUnderstanding the importance of mindset to entrepreneurial successTips on conquering the fear of failureDesperation mindset versus abundance mindsetEngagement &amp; Insights on working with VK LakkineniAbout VK Lakkineni: VK is a digital marketing entrepreneur, Amazon bestselling author, technology enthusiast with a passion for marketing, strategic business growth and operations. Currently CEO of ROI Media Works and Chief Mindset Coach at MindsetMonk. VK is passionate about helping business and individuals navigate everyday life using mindset skills he learned and practiced over the years.Working as a programmer at Diffiniti (Aegis UK) designing digital marketing solutions gave him a good foundation. His entrepreneurial experience began with ROI Media Works. This digital marketing agency worked directly with 120+ clients over the last 12 years, generating a remarkable $90 million cumulative lead volume for its clients. As a founder, he is in charge of business development, operational procedures, team management, and marketing innovation.His entrepreneurial expertise includes founding two companies: 1) Snap QR, an NFC and VR-based solution for automobile dealerships, and 2) Buddie Golf, a golf booking software with real-time foursomes and guaranteed low-cost bookings. He produced and Live2Inspire talk show/podcast featuring experts, leaders, and mentors during COVID-19, which is accessible on Spotify, Amazon, Apple, and YouTube.About ROI Media Works: An innovative and leading full-service Internet marketing business that provides results-driven online marketing services such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Pay Per Click Campaigns (PPC), Social Media Engagement, and site analytics.They collaborate with clients to develop a website marketing plan that transforms visitors into consumers. They also provide businesses with tools to track brand engagement, website visitors, and the items and services that customers are actively looking for. As a commitment to their clients, they deliberately devote time and resources to offer high-ranking results and keep you ahead of the competition.Tweetable Moments:04:15 - “It's 100%. If you don't have the mindset, it's just like, impossible to be an entrepreneur.”05:34 - “When we're thinking about...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the Founder, CEO and Business Advisor of Revampologist, LLC, Kareen Zahr Walsh.Kareen emphasizes that change is necessary to achieve different outcomes, particularly in business. She notes that leaders often have to navigate various dynamics when it comes to change and must be comfortable with change to effectively lead their teams through it and achieve the desired results. This highlights the importance of having a mindset that embraces change rather than resisting it to succeed in today's fast-paced business environment.Kareen works with her clients to help them achieve their desired results by providing them with strategies and toolkits. These tools are designed to help her clients navigate the change they need to make to reach their goals.She also works for teaching her clients how to be comfortable with change, and how to accommodate it. By providing her clients with both the practical tools they need to make change happen and the mindset they need to be comfortable with it, Kareen helps her clients achieve their desired outcomes. This approach helps clients understand how to implement change sustainably, making it more likely for them to have long-term success.Key points from the Episode:What does Revampologist do?Understanding why people fear change Embracing change with preparedness and agility toolkitInsights on Kareen Walsh help entrepreneurs embrace changeIntrospections on how leaders can grow and be ready for changeAbout Kareen Zahr Walsh: Kareen is the CEO and Head Strategist of Revampologist – A Strategic Growth consulting and coaching practice that helps thought leaders build 7-8 figure businesses with ease. She has 17+ years of experience coaching C-Suite executives to help them up-level their leadership stance, conceive and implement business growth strategies, and lead initiatives that result in high quality customer experience.Kareen Walsh has mastered integrating her heart of service, her healer training, and her business savvy to assist entrepreneurs and C-suite leaders of any industry align what they love with what they do every single day. Kareen believes income can always be earned, but fulfillment is what each of us should strive to attain. Kareen can disarm you with undivided attention and help you quickly jump into action after one short interaction.You are going to want to hear how Kareen shares her clarifying and actionable methods for growth in her book, Lead with Value, How Leaders Unleash Their Vision, Empower Their Team, and Evolve Their Business, because you will love how her relatable, practical practice will help you lead. She is also the author of the self-development book: Be A Badass, Six Tools to Up-Level Your Life.About Revampologist: Strategic Consulting, Advisement and Augmented Staffing Services are geared toward businesses aiming to optimize and scale their operations. They are brought in to assist executives in determining the skills required to help them achieve their corporate objectives. They assist c-suite leaders in matching who they want to become with the growth of their business through their leadership development and executive coaching programs.They begin each encounter with a brief examination and suggest how they may best assist you. Fintech, Health and Wellness Companies, Digital Marketing Agencies, Staffing Services, and Executive Advisory and Coaching are among their specialties.Tweetable Moments:01:36 - “The impetus for the work that I do is to...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the Podcast Host and Founder of Positive Popularity, Dave Molenda. Dave explains that customer experience, often abbreviated as CX, is the overall perception and interaction that a customer has with a company or product. It encompasses all customer touchpoints with a brand, including pre-purchase research, the purchase process itself, and post-purchase engagement. He also shares that one of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs face is a need for more engagement among their team members. Team members must be fully invested in the company's mission and goals to improve customer experience. Dave emphasizes the importance of understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each team member and then leveraging those strengths to create a more engaged and motivated team. He suggests that you can create a more efficient and effective team by knowing what your team is made of. He highlights that creating a positive work environment and fostering a culture of growth and development is key. &nbsp; Key points from the Episode: Overview of Positive Polarity What is Customer Experience? Tips on creating a culture resulting in a positive customer experience Addressing the challenge of retaining great talent How Positive Polarity works &nbsp; About Dave Molenda: Dave is the founder of Positive Polarity, a Midwest-based coaching and consulting firm. His last company he grew He grew his previous company’s annual sales to $10 million in annual sales before he sold it.. He now passes the principles of his success onto his clients so that they too can succeed and grow on purpose! &nbsp; About Positive Popularity: Positive Polarity tries to mix things up a little since, like our business style, this site is all about YOU! To experience real growth, you must be READY to change, just like with a new diet, exercise regimen, stopping smoking, or other major life adjustments. They assist people like you in evolving, changing, and dealing with the "difficult things" in business. What is the result? Business expansion manifested. Positive Polarity is here to help you if you are bored of the status quo, trapped in a rut, can't get over the hump, or can't climb the next rung. They're here to supply the positive energy you need to turn things around if you can't stand inaction or want to break free from the business patterns you've fallen into. &nbsp; About Positive Polarity Podcast: The Positive Polarity Podcast is a business podcast that talks about the intersection of business growth and personal growth. Each week, some of the top minds in business share their experiences, but from a unique and interesting perspective. Dave talks about things like blind spots, self-awareness, soft skills and other things that are not typically mentioned in the corporate world. The podcast has over 100 episodes and it’s  one of the top 5% of business podcasts in the world, according...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the General Partner of Flint Capital, Andrew Gershfeld. Flint Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in promising entrepreneurs and technology ventures with global ambitions. The firm's unique global positioning allows it to support Israeli and European experiences as they expand into the US market. According to Andrew, this means that Flint Capital can provide financial and strategic support to these ventures, helping them navigate the US market and grow their businesses.  Additionally, Flint Capital's global positioning allows it to connect its portfolio companies with a vast network of industry leaders, potential partners and customers, providing them with valuable resources and opportunities to help them grow and succeed. He further named some industries and the ideal clients for Flint Capital. &nbsp; Key points from the Episode: Overview of services offered by Flint Capital Benefits of working with Flint Capital Backstory of Flint Capital Dos and Don'ts in a founder’s activity &nbsp; About Andrew Gershfeld: Andrew Gershfeld, Partner at Boston-based Flint Capital, an investment company supporting entrepreneurs from Israel, Europe, and the U.S. at an early stage of their business. Andrew has more than 10 years of VC experience. He is an entrepreneur who turned to be a VC after selling his company to a large eCommerce group. His particular interest is eCommerce, B2B SaaS solutions, Health Tech, Consumer Internet, and other applications of AI and virtualization.  Andrew led the first institutional investment round in Flo Health (series B) and currently is a board member at Intento, Job Today, Yva.ai, and Flo Health. During this time, he participated in investment rounds with Many Chat and 1520 and continued to advise them. Andrew is also a fellow at Kauffman Fellows, an extensive global VC network.   He holds a Bachelor of Science, a Master of Science in Applied Physics and Math, and a postgraduate degree in Innovation Management from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Previously, he was a Chief Investment Officer at ABRT Venture Fund. Andrew is a ski marathon runner and an IYT skipper. &nbsp; About Flint Capital: Flint Capital is a venture capital fund that invests in early-stage companies. We invest in the best firms from the United States, Israel, and Europe and assist them by acting as a bridge to the US market. We are a group of seasoned operators who have successfully implemented this strategy for other businesses. We are well-known in our target markets since we are local. &nbsp; Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out the Flint...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the Founder and CEO of Yellowdig, Shaunak Roy. &nbsp; Yellowdig is a company that provides active learning solutions for educational institutions. They aim to help students be more engaged and retain more of the knowledge they study by integrating interactive and collaborative learning tools into the classroom. These tools include discussion boards, peer-to-peer interactions and simulations. Using these tools, students can actively participate in the learning process, leading to a deeper understanding and retention of the material.  According to Roy, active learning is crucial for moving information from short-term memory to long-term memory. He states that students can connect and establish a deeper understanding of the material by actively engaging with the material through discussion, experimentation, and reflection. This deeper understanding allows the information to be transferred from short-term to long-term memory, making it more likely for the student to retain the information in the long run. And with their platform, they offer many ways to keep the students engaged and interactive during their studies.   &nbsp; Key points from the Episode: What is Yellowdig? What makes Yellowdig better than other learning management platforms? Outlining the learning experience using Yellowdig Understanding the effects of active learning versus static learning Engagement and working with Yellowdig &nbsp; About Shaunak Roy: Shaunak founded Yellowdig in 2015, a community-driven active and experiential learning platform. It is now used by hundreds of thousands of students of all ages and backgrounds in the US and around the world. Shaunak graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from IIT Bombay and completed his graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Prior to founding Yellowdig, Shaunak spent a decade advising global companies on technology, strategy, and growth. &nbsp; About Yellowdig: Yellowdig is dedicated to transforming the way students interact with their education. They provide a modern platform meant to create meaningful connections between students and teachers in in-person and blended courses. Join Yellowdig and over 100 other institutions that have increased student engagement by doubling it through social learning and gamification. &nbsp; Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out the Yellowdig website at https://www.yellowdig.co/ Check out Yellowdig on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/yellowdig/ Check out Yellowdig on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/yellowdigINC Check out Yellowdig...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the Founder &amp; CEO of Particle 41, Benjamin Johnson. Connecting with Benjamin Johnson would be beneficial due to his extensive experience and expertise as a technology leader. His strong background in open-source programming and various frameworks and ability to scale and lead engineering teams in diverse environments make him a valuable asset. Benjamin's proven track record in delivering high-quality products on time and within budget demonstrates his commitment to excellence. His experience managing remotely distributed teams and implementing effective project management methodologies like SCRUM ensures seamless collaboration and communication. Benjamin's dedication to professional and personal pursuits showcases his well-rounded character and ability to impact the technology industry and local community positively. &nbsp; About Benjamin Johnson: Benjamin is a highly accomplished technology leader with expertise in open-source programming and various frameworks. He excels in scaling and leading engineering teams, particularly in remote and distributed environments. By implementing SCRUM and other best practices, Benjamin maintains high-quality standards and achieves exceptional results in product delivery. His dedication to professional and personal pursuits is evident in his commitment to his local church and family, as he actively coaches his sons' soccer teams and leads community workshops. Overall, Benjamin is a well-rounded individual who significantly impacts the technology industry and his local community. &nbsp; About Particle 41: Particle41 is a technology company inspired by niobium, the 41st element in the Periodic Table, known for its superconducting properties and ability to strengthen alloys. The company aims to improve businesses through its expert teams, specializing in Application Development, DevOps, and Machine Learning. Particle41's core values include velocity, visibility, and vision. The company believes in moving quickly to get things done, ensuring clear and constant communication, and preparing for the future while creating new opportunities. Particle41 aims to amplify businesses and drive their success in the ever-evolving technological landscape by offering dependable, high-caliber teams. &nbsp; Tweetable Moments: 06:33 - “Development is a very iterative process. If you have big bangs in your project management lifecycle, those are bad because then there's this kind of distance between the people executing the mission and then the results.” 09:48 - “I would say almost 60% of my business has been referral and about 40% partnerships. So also, finding strategic partners is a great way to achieve hair steps in growth.” &nbsp; Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guest Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out Particle 41 website at http://particle41.com/ Check out Particle 41 on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/particle41/ Check out Particle 41 on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/particle41 Check out Benjamin Johnson on LinkedIn at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/particle41/" target="_blank" rel="noopener...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the Founder and CEO of Method Marketing, Lucy Mowatt.&nbsp;Lucy shares that adding a touch of intrigue to content can pique the audience's interest and increase the chances of it being viewed. She also emphasizes the importance of knowing your audience; the better a business knows its audience, the more effective the content they produce.She states that the return on investment for promoting content relies on the type of promotion used. It can take months or even years for a business to see a significant impact, also known as the "snowball effect" that business owners aim for. However, if businesses want faster results, she shared several exciting ways to quickly get their content in front of their audience without relying solely on Google.&nbsp;Key points from the Episode:Overview of Method MarketingBenefits of working with Method MarketingTips on content strategy todayHow to avoid content strategy mistakes businesses doGuidelines for what type of content is effective todayHow to get the “eye-balls” to your content?&nbsp;About Lucy Mowatt: As a former magazine editor and content marketer with more than 15 years’ experience, Lucy founded Method Marketing back in 2018 with the aim of helping businesses in complex, regulation-heavy industries to use content marketing to drive results and a return on investment.Since then, the agency has grown to a team of three people, working with organizations in a range of sectors, including financial services, insurance, construction and technology. Method Marketing provides audits, strategy and planning, alongside deliverables, such as articles, white papers, lead magnets, emails, social media and more.&nbsp;About Method Marketing: Method Marketing is a content marketing agency based in Norwich, UK. Founded by Lucy Mowatt in 2018, the agency specializes in helping businesses of all sizes with their content marketing efforts. The team at Method Marketing has extensive experience and expertise in the field, and works to help clients maximize the potential of their content marketing.&nbsp;Tweetable Moments:2:40 - “The strategy is to start with the audience. Think about who they are, what they want, and then how that content applies to your marketing funnels.”5:06 - “If you're sharing your content on social media, you can immediately start driving that audience, or email newsletters. If you're sending stuff out to your existing clients and prospects, you can immediately start building an audience quite quickly.”&nbsp;Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guestLinks Mentioned in this Episode:Want to learn more? Check out the Method Marketing website at https://www.methodmarketing.org/Check out Method Marketing on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/methodmarketing/Check out Scalable Method Marketing&nbsp; at http://facebook.com/HelloMethodMarketingCheck out Method Marketing on Twitter at <a href="http://twitter.com/MethodMrktg" rel="noopener noreferrer"

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the Founder and CEO of Scalable Path, Damien Filiatrault.&nbsp;Scaleable Path is a premium vetted remote software development marketplace. Damien states that individuals who use their services can expect to have a better experience working with developers who can help them define their needs and build a strategy around them.Damien shares valuable insights on attracting the right tech team for business. He stresses the importance of clearly defining the needs and goals of the business and each team member's specific roles and responsibilities. This will help attract candidates who are a good fit for the company culture and can contribute to the company's success. Another critical aspect of attracting the right tech team is identifying the skills and qualifications required for the positions. This includes technical skills, such as programming languages and software development experience, and soft skills, such as communication and teamwork.He believes that by focusing on the needs of the business, identifying the right skills and qualifications, building a strong employer brand, and offering competitive compensation and benefits, any business can attract the right tech team to drive success.&nbsp;Key points from the Episode:Overview about what Scaleable Path doesTips on attracting the right tech teamMistakes to avoid when working with developersWhat makes Scaleable Path different from the competition&nbsp;About Damien Filiatrault: Damien is the founder and CEO of Scalable Path, a software staffing agency that matches leading companies and startups with vetted, remote software developers. Previously, he headed PHP development at SolutionSet, a multichannel marketing services company, where he spent five months managing a team of developers in Goa, India.Damien has held sales and marketing positions at notable San Francisco technology companies, including Evite and CNET Networks. Through his work at Scalable Path, Damien has championed employment equity for software developers across Latin America. He also cares deeply for the environment and has pledged 10% of all Scalable Path profits to climate change research. Damien holds a BA in Geography and BSc in Computer Science from UC Berkeley and San Jose State University, and is passionate about software development and agile processes.&nbsp;About Scalable Path: Scalable Path is a platform that connects companies with a network of over 26,000 remote software developers from over 179 countries. Founded in 2010, the company specializes in helping businesses expand their software teams and aims to provide an exceptional hiring experience.&nbsp;Tweetable Moments:04:59 - “You can't just get strung out because time is your most valuable asset. Time and money."12:56 - “There are just so many pros to remote working. It saves companies money on rent, it saves people money on commuting, it helps the environment through less pollution.”&nbsp;Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guestLinks Mentioned in this Episode:Want to learn more? Check out the Scalable Path website at https://next.law/Check out Scalable Path on LinkedIn at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/scalable-path/" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the CEO and owner of NEXT.Law, Anthony Millin.&nbsp;According to Anthony, Next.law's new model offers a solution to one of the challenges that startups often face: the lack of predictability and sustainable legal fees. By productizing legal services and offering fixed prices, Next.law aims to make the cost of legal services more predictable for startups. This can help startups budget for legal expenses more effectively, and avoid unexpected costs. Additionally, by making legal services more accessible and affordable, Next.law's new model can help to ensure that startups have access to the legal support they need, without breaking the bank.Anthony explains that early startups typically have typical engagements such as the steps needed when one founder leaves, seed financing, and protecting their intellectual property. He states that business owners should cover these legal needs to derisk their businesses. By covering these legal needs, startups can reduce the risk of legal issues arising in the future and help ensure their long-term success.&nbsp;Key points from the Episode:Overview on what Next.Law is aboutServices offered by Next.Law5 most common engagements for early start upsThe benefits of working with Next.LawC-corp versus LLC&nbsp;About Anthony Millin: Anthony is a trusted legal and business advisor to startup and emerging growth companies. As a startup attorney, a serial entrepreneur, a venture partner, and the Founder and Co-Chair of NEXT powered by Shulman Rogers, an innovative new model for delivering legal services to startup and emerging growth companies. Anthony brings his unique legal and business perspective to advising his clients.A creative problem solver and strong advocate dedicated to the success of his clients, Anthony frequently serves as his clients’ “outside general counsel, taking a leadership role in managing the full range of their legal needs from formation and financings to growth and exit.Anthony understands firsthand what it takes to start, scale and manage a company, to successfully prepare for and run a fund raising process, and to address the legal issues faced by a startup. This background provides him with valuable insights into the legal and business needs of his clients. Within Shulman Rogers, his unique skill set has earned him an appointment to the firm’s 7-person Strategic Planning Committee.&nbsp;About NEXT.Law: NEXT, powered by Shulman Rogers, is a game-changing new paradigm for providing legal services to startups and emerging growth firms across their entire life cycle. NEXT has productized a wide range of legal services and provides startup businesses with predictable legal bills via over 75 fixed-price packages and service bundles. Their clients receive legal advice and services from a high-touch, hands-on legal team formed of senior Shulman Rogers' attorneys.To design and provide a unique and powerful client-centric experience, NEXT employs various cloud-based technologies and innovative business models. Shulman Rogers is a forward-thinking full-service legal firm with almost 100 attorneys in the DC Metro Area and regional and national practice.&nbsp;Tweetable Moments:00:51 - “One of the big challenges for start-up and emerging growth companies is the lack of predictability and sustainability of legal fees.”04:08 - “Have a partner who understands what it takes to start, build and successfully scale the company. Working as a partner on your side, helping guide you through the pitfalls...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the Serial Entrepreneur, Director of Limitless Mentoring, Elliot Wise.&nbsp;Limitless Mentoring is the first proper alternative to traditional academia. Their approach to learning and development focuses on providing mentorship and guidance to individuals looking to achieve their goals. It gives a more hands-on, personalized approach to learning that can help individuals achieve their goals more quickly and effectively.According to Elliot, learning from a mentor who has experienced the hurdles of entrepreneurship first-hand can be very valuable because they have real-life experience and can provide valuable insights and guidance. This contrasts learning from a theoretical perspective, which may only partially capture the complexities and nuances of starting and running a business. A mentor who has been through the process can share their personal experiences, successes, and failures and offer practical advice on navigating the challenges of being an entrepreneur. Additionally, they can provide a sense of mentorship and support, which can be invaluable for entrepreneurs who are just starting.&nbsp;Key points from the Episode:Overview of Limitless MentoringInsights on why Mentorship is more valuable than taking a college class for entrepreneurshipWhat makes Limitless Mentoring&nbsp; different from other mentoring programsTips on choosing the right mentorship programThe importance of understanding the connection between personal wellness and professional wellness&nbsp;About Elliot Wise: Elliot started his first business aged 13 and is the founder of 10 businesses and a rapidly growing business empire worth more than £10 million. He now works with budding entrepreneurs and SMEs sharing hard-learnt lessons from his decades of experience building multiple companies from ideation to multi-million-pound success.He arms entrepreneurs with the skills they need to succeed – from soft skills like developing a winning mindset, staying composed under pressure and beating stress to how to generate sales leads online, retain clients and take your business to the next level. He also specializes in working with business leaders to scale up their business – mentoring them to drive growth and hit their financial goals. Elliot has turned companies with little or no digital presence or online marketing strategies into multi-million-pound a year enterprises.Wise believes the education system is broken. Education is failing to prepare young people with the real-world skills they need to succeed in business on purpose. We still operate a “factory model” education system designed to create punctual, subservient, unambitious workers. Yet, we’re seeing rising numbers of young people wanting to work for themselves and Covid changing the expectations of those already in the workplace (only a third of UK employees are currently happy in their jobs) and precipitating a start-up boom.&nbsp;About Limitless Mentoring: Wise founded Limitless to mentor budding entrepreneurs to build their dream business and hit their financial goals, sharing proven, battle-tested strategies and techniques based on decades of experience building companies from ideation to multi-million-pound success.Their marketing and personal development initiatives have resulted in them hiring personal trainers and increasing their income by 5x to 10x in less than a year. This isn't just with established coaches; they also take new coaches from nothing to fully fledged enterprises in under 12 weeks. It may

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the Best-Selling Author, Founder and Chair of NextChapter, Faisal Hoque.&nbsp;Faisal briefly talks about his best-selling book, Everything Connects, and gives the main takeaways readers should look for. He emphasizes the importance of understanding how humanity, science and technology, and how this understanding can help leaders to be more creative and make a bigger impact.Faisal believes that the secret to making a lasting impact as an entrepreneur is rooted in self-kindness and empathy. He emphasizes the importance of taking care of oneself both physically and emotionally and being attuned to the needs of the world and to those they are trying to serve. By doing so, leaders can not only avoid burnout but also be better equipped to handle the pressures and responsibilities of being a leader.&nbsp;Key points from the Episode:Overview on Faisal Hoque’s Work of ExpertiseKeyTakeaways on Faisal’s best selling book “Everything Connects”How to Stay in Your Zone of Genius as LeadersTips on How to Stay in the Zone of Genius as Leaders&nbsp;About Faisal Hoque: Faisal&nbsp; is an accomplished entrepreneur, noted thought leader, technology innovator, advisor to CEOs, BODs, and the US federal government, and an author with more than 25 years of cross-industry success. He is the founder of SHADOKA, NextChapter, and other companies. They focus on enabling sustainable and transformational changes. He is a 3 times winning Founder and CEO of Deloitte Technology Fast 50 and Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ awards.Throughout his career, he has developed over 20 commercial business and technology platforms and worked with public and private sector giants such as US Department of Defense (DoD), GE, MasterCard, American Express, Northrop Grumman, CACI, PepsiCo, IBM, Home Depot, Netscape, Infosys, French Social Security Services, Gartner, Cambridge Technology Partners, JP Morgan Chase, CSC, and others. What sets Faisal apart is the unique position and perspective he has always maintained, which is grounded in hardcore technology with deep roots in leading-edge management science.His broad areas of expertise include innovation, leadership, management, sustainable growth, transformation, strategy, governance, M&amp;A, frameworks, and digital platforms. He holds a strong belief that it is through knowledge sharing that we may provide the greatest clarity on how to improve our collective future. As a globetrotter, he is passionate about nature, people, culture, music, and design, and he loves to cook.&nbsp;About NextChapter: NextChapter is a research organization that focuses on sustainable and transformational changes. The organization brings together experts from a variety of disciplines to collaborate on research projects aimed at creating a more sustainable future. The organization's multidisciplinary approach allows it to address complex issues from multiple perspectives, and its focus on sustainable and transformational changes means that it is dedicated to finding solutions that not only address immediate problems, but also create long-term positive change.About Shadoka: The Bengali word ‘SHADOKA‘ is derived from the sanskrit word sādhaka. A sādhaka is a practitioner of a particular sādhanā. A sādhaka, or practitioner, is one who skillfully applies… mind and intelligence in practice towards a goal. Sanskrit word sādhanā, literally translates to “a means of accomplishing something”.Their ultimate goal is to generate various fresh ideas, dynamic...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the Podcast Host, Strategic Consultant of Expert In You , Ann Carden.&nbsp;Ann is a consultant and coach who specializes in helping people turn their expertise into a successful consulting business. Her unique top-down approach allows her clients to earn six figures by leveraging their suite of services. Her approach has helped many of her clients earn six figures by leveraging their expertise and turning it into a successful consulting business. Her clients have achieved this by having a clear value proposition, a robust suite of services, and effective marketing and business development strategies. Ann's top-down approach has proven to be highly effective in helping her clients turn their expertise into a successful consulting business. Her clients can tap into their expertise's full potential and earn a significant income by doing what they love.Ann pointed out that one of the challenges many business consultants face is the sudden shift from employee to business owner. Starting a business requires a wide range of skills and knowledge. Many individuals with an employee mindset may need to gain the necessary experience to take on these responsibilities. She also gave crucial tips to help coaches and consultants position themselves for business growth and success. On top of that, she emphasized understanding the buying behaviour of high-ticket clients and the steps coaches and consultants can take to convert these individuals into sales.&nbsp;Key points from the Episode:How to shift from an employee mindset to a business owner?What are the tent poles of business growth for coaches and consultants?The Fastest Path Into Creating a Full Time IncomeLeveraging Suite of Services for Revenue GrowthWhere to Look for Bigger Ticket Clients?&nbsp;About Ann Carden: Ann is an interactive motivational speaker, strategic business coach/consultant, 3x author &amp; #1 bestselling author, CEO of A. Carden Inc., and current business owner of Carden Business Consulting/Coaching Solutions and Expert In Your Marketing &amp; Media Agency. She is passionate about helping entrepreneurs, business owners, and professionals, have&nbsp; greater success in their business and lives, through strategic business growth, powerful marketing &amp; sales strategies, and success principles.Ann’s expertise is derived from more than forty-one years in business, marketing, and sales success. Thirteen years in corporate business management, and over thirty years as an entrepreneur and business owner - building and selling five previous businesses. She has educated, influenced, and impacted hundreds of thousands of professionals through keynote speaking, podcasts, virtual stages, workshops, seminars, programs, coaching, and digital platforms.Ann has been featured on ABC, NBC, CW, and FOX, as well as many other online media outlets. Her articles have been published in multiple media sources, such as Small Business Trendsetters and Business Innovators Magazine. She was also chosen by the Six Figure Coach Magazine as one of the top 125 business coaches in the world. She has recently been inducted into Who’s Who In America for Entrepreneurship and Who’s Who In America for Professional Women.&nbsp;About Expert In You: Expert In You is a company that specializes in helping individuals and businesses build expert authority brands that stand out in their industry. The company's strategic approach is designed to help clients get noticed, establish themselves as thought leaders,...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the CoFounder of Riverbend Consulting, Lesley Hensell. Riverbend Consulting provides services to assist sellers in navigating the complex rules and regulations of the Amazon marketplace. They may offer guidance on product listing optimization, account management, and compliance with Amazon's policies. &nbsp; Lesley shares that having a presence on Amazon is crucial for brands as it is one of the biggest platforms for e-commerce and offers a built-in audience of millions of potential customers. Being on Amazon can also help brands grow their business through its powerful e-commerce features, such as search optimization and customer reviews. The platform can also be seen as a small business incubator, providing resources and support for small businesses to reach and grow their customer base. &nbsp; Key points from the Episode: Overview About Riverbend Consulting 2 Reasons Why Amazon Sellers Get Suspended Tips on Becoming an Amazon Choice Amazon SEO versus Google SEO 2023 Insights About Amazon &nbsp; About Lesley Hensell: Lesley is co-founder of Riverbend Consulting, whose 85+ employees solve critical problems and offer effective growth strategies for sellers on Amazon and other ecommerce platforms. Lesley oversees Riverbend’s client services team. She has personally helped hundreds of third-party sellers get their suspended Amazon accounts and ASINs back up and running. &nbsp; Lesley leverages two decades as a small business consultant to solve the underlying business issues in online retail businesses, resulting in improved operations and profitability. She has been an Amazon seller for a decade, thanks to her boys (ages 20 and 15) who do most of the heavy lifting. &nbsp; A lifelong Longhorns fan, Lesley earned an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and volunteering for A Wish With Wings, a wish-granting organization for little Texans with life-threatening conditions. &nbsp; About Riverbend Consulting: Their team comprises ex-Amazon employees and Amazon professionals who will guide you through the tedious Amazon reinstatement process. They help thousands of Amazon sellers in reactivating their accounts and ASINs following a suspension, deactivation, or ban. &nbsp; With thousands of accounts have been reinstated due to inauthenticity, review manipulation, product quality, policy violations, and other reasons. They provide excellent ongoing services like account maintenance, seller account protection, FBA reimbursements, and Amazon account and ASIN reinstatement. &nbsp; Their clients come for the appeals but stay for the continuous services, which include: &nbsp; Reimbursements, ensure that FBA sellers receive every dollar owed to them by Amazon. Account management includes bad feedback removal and customer service communications across several platforms. Seller Account Protection, in which we monitor and respond to performance notifications to ensure the account remains healthy - Account audits for potential acquisitions Project-based consulting services include pick-and-pack engineering, warehouse management audits, and customer service audits, among others. &nbsp; Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out the Riverbend Consulting website at https://riverbendconsulting.com/about/ Check out Riverbend Consulting on LinkedIn at <a...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the CEO and Founder of Ignition, Derek Osgood.&nbsp;Ignition is a platform that helps companies create structured launch plans by providing tools and resources tailored to the launch process's specific communication needs. Derek advises businesses that treating each launch as a smaller version of future launches can help owners establish a defined process for launching new products or services. This approach helps ensure that each launch is well-planned and executed, and helps identify areas for improvement that can be applied to future launches.Additionally, having a tiered launch process that can adapt to different types of launches can be beneficial, as it allows the company to tailor its approach to the specific needs of each launch.&nbsp;Key points from the Episode:What is Launching?Insights on the Launching ProcessDisadvantages in Using Simple PlatformsIgnition versus Project Management Tool&nbsp;About Derek Osgood: Derek is a former marketing exec turned founder, building Ignition – the collaborative GTM platform helping Product and Marketing teams to get new products to market faster and more effectively. Prior to founding Ignition, he was an early hire at Rippling where he stood up the Product Marketing function and helped scale the company to $20M in ARR. As a Product Marketing leader everywhere from startups to major brands like PlayStation, Derek has launched over 100 products and his products have generated over $1B in revenue. Now he’s building the platform he wished he had along the way.He's an executive with broad marketing knowledge and talents. His skill set was polished while running massive P&amp;Ls at PlayStation and constantly performing at startups. It includes all aspects of marketing, such as go-to-market, segmentation, product positioning, user acquisition and engagement, integrated offline marketing, digital performance marketing, creative development, and product management.&nbsp;About Ignition:&nbsp; It's a collaborative center designed with Product Marketing Alliance to manage GTM activities from start to finish. It assists Product Marketing and Product teams in increasing internal alignment by centralizing launch plans, assets, and execution in a single, visible source of truth, which automates internal communications and predicts whether products will ship on time or not.Ignition has embedded tools to help you execute tasks such as conducting pricing research, monitoring competition intelligence, and recommending planning modifications based on your goals, allowing you to produce better plans faster. Ignition is backed by some of the best investors in the valley, including Bling Capital, Hiten Shah, Jack and Max Altman, and executives from Uber, Opendoor, TechCrunch, Sentry and others. Our founding team has extensive experience building at high-growth, industry-leading companies like Rippling, Facebook, Craft and PlayStation.&nbsp;Tweetable Moments:02:33 - "You need to understand who your competitive landscape looks like, why the thing that you're building is better or different from that."10:14 - "It's never going to be perfect. But ideally what you have is you have frameworks where you have a tiered launch process where you're able to adapt to different shapes and sizes and types of launches with different objectives."&nbsp;Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: <a href="https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guest" rel="noopener noreferrer"...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the Brand Champion and CEO of Brand Iron, Michael Doyle. Michael is an expert in building great brands and Brand Iron helps its clients achieve their desired results. His company, Brand Iron, works with clients to develop a strategic brand plan, make brands quantifiable, trackable and produce desired outcomes.  According to Michael, their team tackles the branding issue from every angle because he strongly believes that a great brand is more than just having a great message and a great persona. &nbsp; Michael advises business owners to first identify their interests and desired outcomes before seeking help from a branding or marketing company. By having a clear understanding of what they want to achieve, business owners can better evaluate which company will be the best fit to help them reach their goals. He suggests that this understanding will guide them to the right company to collaborate with, and ultimately lead to their desired outcome. &nbsp; Key points from the Episode: Insight on the 2023 Graphic Design trends Understanding the difference between Brand Strategist and Web Designer Engagement &amp; Consultation &nbsp; About Michael Doyle: For almost two decades, Michael has been transforming the face of Brand Marketing. He grew DNA Advertising, a tech-based advertising business, into a multimillion-dollar enterprise. In 2000, Michael sold the company as part of a nationwide IPO. Michael launched Brand Iron in 2002 and has since advised hundreds of other companies in a variety of industries throughout the world. &nbsp; He also loves actively participating in community events and public speaking to educate others on the power and importance of branding and business development. Michael enjoys sharing his enthusiasm for what can be achieved when branding and strategy are aligned. He wants to help others by sharing his network and expertise. &nbsp; Michael has:  • Built a Denver-based advertising agency into a multi-million dollar company and sold it to a national integrated services provider in 2000. • Served as a National Brand Director for a National Dotcom in preparation for going public. • Has more than 25 years of branding, marketing and advertising experience. • Michael has led more than 450 signature BrandStorm sessions &amp; lead more than 500 brands being developed, has helped companies raise more than 5 billion dollars in capital and helped more than 40 companies get acquired. • Serves on various boards - Return to Prosperity, The Dealmakers Conference, Halen Technology. • Michael facilitates several CEO Groups including the The Dealmakers Conference (PE, RE and Tech networking group) &amp; Emerging Companies Group. &nbsp; About Brand Iron: Brand Iron is a multi-faceted branding and marketing agency passionate about changing businesses and altering brands. They're a group of independent thinkers, artists, and doers dedicated to producing unparalleled results for our clients. &nbsp; They have years of experience in creating real-world results for companies in different industries, and know what it takes to make your business stand out.They propel their clients and organizations to new heights by utilizing tried and tested marketing strategies, inspired design, and integrated technological solutions. &nbsp; Since 2002, Brand Iron has been inventing, defining, and reshaping brands, partnering with businesses seeking to achieve specific goals through their brand. They've worked with over 200 clients around Denver, Colorado, and the country, to build brands and increase revenue.

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Sigjun Gudjonsdottir, Europe’s #1 Online Best Mentor, Award Winning Business Coach, International Speaker and Bestselling Author of Kickstart Your Online Business: Create an Online Course and Start to Make Sales. Sigjun shares her mission to use online business to accelerate gender equality for female entrepreneurs. She reveals that more than 90% of businesses founded by women generate less than 6 figures per year, which means that they are not contributing to the economy in the way expected of them. Her goal? Increase the contribution of women-owned businesses to overall turnover, which is only 4% at the moment. &nbsp; She believes women entrepreneurs need to see more role models of women doing what they want to do. She helps women gain self-confidence so they can unleash their full potential. She also shares the best process she discovered when launching a new program. She recommends providing FREE transformation programs so you can convert about 5-50% of customers afterward. &nbsp; Key Points from the Episode: How to Accelerate Gender Equality for Women Entrepreneurs? How to Manage Risk When Launching a New Program? Guiding Principles for Running a Program &nbsp; About Sigjun Gudjonsdottir: Sigrun Gudjonsdottir is founder and CEO of Sigrun GmbH, a company that focuses on helping female entrepreneurs turn their passion into a profitable business. &nbsp; She has combined her unique background in personal development, architecture, software engineering, and business, to offer result-driven online programs and high-impact coaching. &nbsp; During her 10 years as a CEO, she also consulted numerous startups before she became an entrepreneur herself. Sigrun has trained thousands of entrepreneurs with her live online training and mentored hundreds of passionate entrepreneurs to take their business to the next level. Icelandic by origin but global citizen by heart, she splits her time between Switzerland and Iceland while also traveling the world. &nbsp; Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out Sigjun Gudjonsdottir’s website at https://www.sigrun.com/ Check out Sigjun Gudjonsdottir on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sigruncom/ Check out Sigjun Gudjonsdottir on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/sigruncom Check out Sigjun Gudjonsdottir on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/sigruncom/ Check out Sigjun Gudjonsdottir on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sigruncom &nbsp; Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time! &nbsp; More from UpMyInfluence: We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE. Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here. What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? <a...

1447 - Creating a Course for Success with Nancy Giere

1446 - Unraveling The Programming with Alaina Schwartz

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Carly Cais, Founder and CEO of RevvSpark. Carly shares her passion for helping B2B companies succeed by producing full funnel content and copywriting for them to increase retention and sales. She explains the importance of providing a great onboarding experience with their customers - onboarding scripts, email sequences, PDFs, anything that can add value to the customer. Their objective? Ensure that the content their customers post is aligned with how their audience wants to interact with their business. Carly says things have changed a lot in B2B since the Internet exploded. She says many B2B buyers no longer want a full sales process where they have to deal with a salesperson. They want to self-educate and get as much information online from your website or other digital touchpoints for legitimacy. She says their mission at RevvSpark is to ensure that their clients have a very robust digital library that people can tap into and self-educate to get to the point where all sales calls close around 50% or more. &nbsp; Key Points from the Episode: How Can Content Increase Customer Retention for B2B? What are Customers Looking for Today More Than 5-10 Years Ago? Understanding the Modern B2B Buyer &nbsp; About Carly Cais:  Carly J. Cais (Founder and CEO, RevvSpark) started in marketing over 20 years ago, first in B2C and then B2B. Author of the upcoming book “Startup to Scaleup '' and CEO of content marketing agency RevvSpark, she is on a mission to grow businesses with creative “Conversion Content” that enhances internal teams and drives demand. &nbsp; About RevvSpark:  RevvSpark is a content and copywriting agency that provides Conversion Content for demand generation, content marketing and sales enablement. It was launched in 2021, originally as a sales and marketing consultancy, then rebranded as an agency. Their team spans the globe with B2B content and copywriting experts. Founder and CEO Carly J. Cais brings over 20 years of experience in marketing, revenue operations, and sales enablement for SaaS organizations. RevvSpark focuses on B2B businesses, primarily SaaS and services. They typically work with Growth Managers, VPs of Marketing, CMOs, CMOs, and CROs to amplify their efforts and help the business get to the next level. They create words, layout and images that convince and convert. They also help accelerate the growth of mid-stage businesses by complementing what internal teams can accomplish. They provide marketing content to generate demand in the market, encourage prospects to take the next step in the buyer's journey and convert visitors into buyers (MoFu/ToFu content). RevvSpark's focus on excellence in the middle and bottom of the funnel. They delve into buyer psychology and buyer pain points, product expertise, long-tail keyword research, and leverage research and interviews with SMBs to create content that speaks to the target audience, exactly at their stage of the buying journey. They also create internal enablement content for sales teams to convert sales reps into seasoned professionals, reduce ramp-up time, document internal processes, and upgrade skill sets. &nbsp; Tweetable Moments: 1:04 - "PDFs or any product documentation and anything that can add value to the customer, like providing them more information about the industry segment that they're in, that you get from your product and services so you can be the expert and the authority in your field and give more value to your customers." 01:42 - "We want to make sure that the content you're putting out there is always going to align with how your customer wants to interact with you, how they want to buy from you, and how they

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Greg Edwards, CEO of Canauri. Greg shares the process by which Canauri could protect, detect and stop ransomware caused by cybercriminals. He says their system could recognize it, kill it and isolate the machine running the ransomware attacks. He adds that ransomware happens all the time - every 11 seconds every day on average - hitting a business or government entity in the United States. He explains that what the ransomware does is devastating to businesses because it locks down all files, so the owner can no longer access them - without paying the ransom or paying for the backup in full. Greg says the majority of vulnerability, about 50% of ransomware, occurs through email. He says that now, the mass majority of malware that gets through is ransomware. He also says that cyber criminals these days are now financially motivated and their mode of payment is in the form of ransomware. Greg provides a few best practices that users can proactively apply to reduce their risk of being attacked: multiple layers of protection, knowing how many assets you have, ensuring network computers are updated with the latest software and security, good password management, multi-factor authentication, advanced antivirus and endpoint detection and response, and security operations centers. He also recommends working with a cybersecurity expert. &nbsp; Key Points from the Episode: Why Ransomware Should be a Concern for Business Owners? The Most Common Way of Ransomware Attacks Best Practices That Users Can Proactively Apply to Reduce Risk of Ransomware &nbsp; About Greg Edwards:  Greg is the CEO of Canauri (formerly Cryptostopper), a ransomware protection service that automatically detects and stops active ransomware attacks. He has been a technology entrepreneur since 1998 and has founded numerous companies, including Axis Backup, a backup and disaster recovery company for the insurance industry, which he founded a few years before CryptoStopper. He specializes in disaster recovery, cloud computing, and network security, to name a few. &nbsp; About Canauri:  At Canauri, their goal is to make ransomware protection straightforward and successful – that means faster time-to-detection and fewer false positives. In the pursuit of creating advanced next generation systems, companies have overcomplicated their security solutions and excluded tried and true methods.  Ransomware protection should be easy to implement and offer more than just defense; it should give you the upper hand. Canauri gives businesses an advantage over their attackers. By using proven systems which emphasize the essentials, they allow businesses to withstand an attack, even after it’s reached the internal network. Their system of traps and decoys lowers the time-to-discovery and safeguards one of the most critical elements of a business, its data. &nbsp; Tweetable Moments: 02:24 - "It's happening all the time. Every 11 seconds of every day, a ransomware attack hits a business or a government entity in the US. And so what that means for small businesses is that they are a target." 07:00 - "It's all about the multiple layers of protection. And so it starts with what I call 'hygiene.' So good technology hygiene, knowing how many assets you have, how many computers are on your network and they are all patched and up to date with all of the software patches that come out, which on average, there are 60 vulnerabilities per day that are identified in all of the different software packages that we use." &nbsp; Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: <a href="https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guest" target="_blank" rel="noopener...

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Jason Byer, Marketing and Partnerships Manager at Crowdspring. Jason talks about the impact he provides to CrowdSpring and his passion for helping businesses grow and shape their brand into something much stronger through the services they provide. He says they've curated their market heavily by bringing in talented people they've vetted and offering their clients dozens of different concepts and avenues to take their brand and see it come to life. Jason shares how important it is for their company to ensure their employees are doing the best job possible to be able to deliver quality results for their clients. He also talks about their selection process in terms of acquiring creatives and talent to join their team - making sure they recruit only the best people. The best part? The price is incredibly reasonable for the amount of work their clients get back. &nbsp; Key Points from the Episode: How Crowdspring Achieved Mass Interest Today? Partnership Opportunities with Crowdspring Resources that Crowdspring Provides &nbsp; About Jason Byer:  Jason Byer is the Head of Marketing and Partnerships for Crowdspring, a Chicago-based branding firm that helps businesses, agencies, and nonprofits of all sizes start, run, and grow their business through design and a denomination of quality. Crowdspring dramatically simplifies the design process by handling the complexity so that you can focus on getting great results. Crowdspring started to address a fundamental problem with the design process, most clients had little choice, and most designers had few opportunities to find clients. Jason is the oldest of 7 children. He was raised and attended school in Florida, but realized he needed to feel a change of seasons, so he moved to Chicago. He’s equally comfortable reading The Game of Thrones and Dostoyevsky while training for triathlons and endurance races and brewing beer. He authored Get The Job: How to use personal branding to jump-start a career and dominate the competition.About Crowdspring: Crowdspring is the world’s leading marketplace for buyers and sellers of crowdsourced creative services, including logo design, web design, graphic design, product design and even naming companies and products. Clients who need a new logo design, stationery design, web design, banner ads, marketing materials, product design, company name, product name or other creative content simply post what they need, when they need it and how much they’ll pay. Once posted, creatives from around the world (more than 200,000 from 195 countries work on crowdspring) submit actual work – not bids or proposals. As the submissions come in, buyers are able to review, sort, rate, provide feedback and collaborate with multiple creatives until they pick their favorite. The Crowdspring community has worked with the world’s best Brands, including Amazon, LG, Starbucks, Microsoft, Barilla, Philips (and many more), with many of the world’s best agencies, and with tens of thousands of entrepreneurs and startups from 100 different countries. Since launch, crowdspring has been featured in many media publications and shows, including Forbes, New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Crain’s, Chicago Tribune, Advertising Age, Chicago Tonight, Fast Company, SmartMoney, and many others. The company is privately held and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. &nbsp; Tweetable Moments: 01:25 - "It's fun to see these ideas for entrepreneurs just getting started or businesses that have been operational for decades hone in...

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the CEO of Client Attraction Pros, Atiba de Souza. Video content is a powerful medium for businesses to attract new clients and establish themselves as thought leaders in their respective niche. Client Attraction Pros use video to help businesses grow by leveraging its ability to convey information in an engaging and visually appealing way, which can be more effective than text-based content alone. One of the main challenges that businesses face is getting their brand and services known to potential customers. According to Atima, the problem is not that the services offered by businesses are not good, but rather that not enough people are aware of them. This is where video content can be particularly effective, as it can be used to introduce a business and its services to a wider audience, and help to build brand awareness and trust with potential clients. By leveraging video, businesses can effectively communicate their unique value proposition and differentiate themselves from their competitors. &nbsp; Key points from the Episode: Leveraging “Moment of Truth” Strategy with Videos How can Client Attraction Pros Help Brands be Thought Lleaders Video Creation Process with Client Attraction Pros &nbsp; About Atiba de Souza: Atiba started his career in internet-based search in 1996. In the early 2000’s he consulted for several government agencies (INS, EPA, DLA, and several military departments) and led teams that designed and built search tools. For the EPA, in 2001, Atiba and his team built a $10 million dollar system that allowed the EPA to easily search their data agency-wide. After almost 10 years in the government sector, Atiba turned to the private sector and the burgeoning field of SEO. Using a unique method of blending storytelling with search keywords Atiba has helped rank over 10, 000 pages on Google’s Page 1 for various search terms. When he is not geeking out on the latest SEO principles and trends Atiba is a man of God, husband, father, and IG Food Influencer in the Washington DC area. Atiba de Souza is the Content Superman. Decades of running an exclusive agency combined with hardcore technical skills -- I'm talking CODE, people, REAL CODE! -- have made him one of the few people with the skills and insight to marry emerging software and Google’s algorithm with an intuitive feel for the culture of every social media platform. &nbsp; About Client Attraction Pros: They use video as a medium to connect audiences with their clients. They believe that videos is the most powerful medium to bridge the gap between businesses and their customers. Atiba, the founder of Client Attraction Pros believes that video allows businesses to tell their story in a compelling and engaging way, and allows their clients to get a feel for the company's personality and values. Additionally, video allows businesses to showcase their products and services in a way that is easy for customers to understand and remember. As a result, video is a powerful tool for building brand awareness and engagement. &nbsp; Tweetable Moments: 01:27 - "If you're saying that to yourself, you are a thought leader. It's because you have created a system or a process in your business that solves a problem for your customer that no one else is doing." 05:00 - "If you get bad service at a restaurant, you're not going back. Be wise because you don't trust them. You're not going to do business with someone you don't trust." &nbsp; Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: <a...

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the CEO and Founder of Great Mondays, Author of Great Mondays: How to Design a Company Culture Employees Love, Josh Levine. Josh shares his passion for helping leaders create the kind of company culture they want for their employees. He says defining corporate culture and creatively designing it, as they see fit, is something leaders can do proactively. He guides them through his 6 components of corporate culture that will enable employees to work better. He says the secret to making employees more invested and engaged is to make them feel loved and understood. He advises companies to create a culture where employees can feel their impact, understand that they are part of something important, and work with a team they can trust. Josh also addresses the issue of deteriorating employee relationships, especially when the pandemic hits, and offers practical ways to rebuild and strengthen them again for future investment and productivity. He says relationships are the synapses of culture - if you want people to connect around a shared set of values, beliefs, and commitments, you have to make sure those synapses continue to be built and strengthened. &nbsp; Key Points from the Episode: How Important is Corporate Culture today? Practical Tips to Improving Employee Engagement 6 Components of Corporate Culture The Biggest Challenge Most Leaders Face Right Now Engagement, Recruiting &amp; Retaining Talents &nbsp; About Josh Levine: Josh is a best-selling educator, designer, and author. He’s on a mission to help organizations design a cultural advantage. His new book Great Mondays: How to Design a Company Culture Employees Love, provides the framework and tools business leaders need to understand, design and manage their own culture. For over 15 years, Josh has helped build culture-driven brands, and as Director of Great Monday, he continues his work with technology and social enterprises. He is best known for co-founding the nonprofit Culture LabX in 2013 and, as executive director, overseeing its growth into an international community. Each year, tens of thousands of culture professionals attend Culture LabX events and engage in in-depth conversations about promoting and defending culture as a strategic advantage for business. Josh is sought after for his entertaining, inspirational and educational speeches that not only reveal new ideas, but inspire new action. He spoke to SXSW, Disrupt HR, and Wellness Council of America. And because he just can’t get enough, you will also find him sharing his ideas as an instructor in the groundbreaking MBA program in Design at the California College of the Arts and in articles across the web. His highly entertaining and accessible writing has been featured in Huffington Post, Fast Company, and the Design Management Journal. Josh holds a BS in Engineering Psychology from Tufts University, and BFA in design from the Academy of Art University. About the book Great Mondays: How to Design a Company Culture Employees Love The book is about creating a vibrant work culture that inspires employees and promotes organizational growth. Evidence shows that culture drives budget performance. It's no secret that a toxic work culture can scare away employees and drive down profits. Creating a dynamic work culture that promotes both employee and business growth is essential to an organization's success. However, culture is a moving and difficult...

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Keynote Speaker, Owner of One Man with a Plan, #1 Best Selling Author, David Nordel. David shares his passion for helping people and organizations overcome the unknown and take the next step towards self-improvement and betterment by developing leadership attitudes they can adapt. He says that everything we do - trying to improve ourselves, achieving success, overcoming adversity - is usually the result of two things: fear and pain. He explains how to deal with pain and fear the right way, and how to adopt the right attitude in an organization. David also provides practical advice on how today's leaders can better instill organizational values ​​in their organizations. He explains the importance of understanding what motivates people of each generation, and shares the importance of having an alignment of values ​​in an organization. He believes people are happiest when you're in tune with them, when you know you respect them and understand things about them beyond what they can bring to the table. &nbsp; Key Points from the Episode: Insight into David's High-level Military Experience How Can Today's Leaders Better Instill Organizational Values? How Great Leaders Build the Capacity to Rise in Crisis &nbsp; About David Nordel: Dave Nordel is a retired United States Air Force Command Chief Master Sergeant with over 30 years of service. He is a registered nurse and emergency manager, and served as a medic in areas of operations that include Saudi Arabia, Somalia, South America, Iraq, Korea, Japan, and Hungary. Dave grew up in rural Northern California in a dairy farming community and experienced all that brings to a young man raised in the late 60s and 70s. Dave left home at age 19 to join the Air Force and ascended through the enlisted ranks to culminate as the Senior Enlisted Leader for all nuclear missile forces in the United States. He has vast experience leading small groups and large organizations and has led city government activities and large organizations as an emergency manager for multiple communities through Covid and other disaster situations. Dave currently lives in Billings, Montana, and is an outdoorsman, a mentor, and speaks to young leaders to aid in their development and future successes. He continues to give back the gifts he has collected along the way. &nbsp; About One Man with a Plan: One Man with a Plan offers top-of-the-line leadership programs as well as consultations. We help you become a clear and motivating leader, and to build more of a collaborative, inclusive, and productive environment for your team. &nbsp; Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out David Nordel’s website at https://onemanoneplanmt.com/ Check out David Nordel on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-nordel-85265246/ Check out David Nordel on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/dnordel1 Check out David Nordel on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DaveNordel Check out David Nordel’s book on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Giving-back-Leadership-Combat-Beyond/dp/1982285818...

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Emre Fadillioglu, Co-Founder and CEO of AppSamurai and Storyly. Emre shares his passion for helping brands achieve their growth goals in the mobile growth industries. He shares some of the established and newly launched brands they work with all over the world. Emre says there are many manual consulting processes when it comes to mobile app growth. Their solution? Automate manual work and put their know-how and practice within everyone's reach. Emre provides recommendations on how to acquire leads, optimize your app, and grow third-party networks by working with great partners. He says that even if you acquire a lot of great users, it's important to keep those users engaged with your app — the reason they've built Storyly. He explains Storyly’s features and benefits in terms of helping customers create an environment where their users can share their own experiences to increase conversion and retention rate. &nbsp; Key Points from the Episode: Overview of AppSamurai &amp; Storyly Practical Tips to Get More Users to Engage &amp; Use Your App How Storyly Can Increase Conversion &amp; Retention Rate of App Users &nbsp; About Emre Fadillioglu:  Emre Fadıllıoğlu is co-founder and CEO of App Samurai, went on to graduate with a degree in Business Administration from METU, and had an Executive Leadership degree from UC Berkeley. He later pursued finance, sales, and business development roles at PwC, Enerjisa, and Oracle. Before App Samurai, he also co-founded Netvent (2013), a digital marketing agency that still operates today, and Growth Tower (2015), a mobile market agency, which gave way to App Samurai, which is listed in Europe’s Top 100 Hottest Startups list by Wired magazine in 2018. About AppSamurai: AppSamurai Inc. is an ad tech company providing expert knowledge and success-driven mobile growth solutions for any need in the mobile ecosystem. The AppSamurai User Acquisition platform is a solution of AppSamurai Inc. It is an AI-powered, secure mobile user acquisition platform to help you achieve your performance goals by reaching out to the right users at the right moment through different campaign types. Over the span of the past 6 years, user acquisition of mobile apps has evolved, and hence being a technological company, AppSamurai has evolved along with it to better serve our clients. Among these models, they can be segmented as below depending on the requirement of the client: User Acquisition Rewarded Engagement On Device Media (OEM) Influencer Marketing AppSamurai Inc. HQ is based in San Francisco-CA, USA. They also have branch offices across the globe in Ankara, London, Berlin, and Barcelona. They have 60+ people who are passionate about removing barriers to mobile advertising for high-growth companies. &nbsp; About Storyly: Storyly is on a mission to unlock the new channels in mobile to spark creativity. Inspired by transformative creativity and powered by flexibility, their journey is all about exploring and disrupting how businesses connect and build long-lasting relationships with their users, be it B2B or B2C. For them, the circles of Stories are the gateways to a world of boundless imagination, creativity, authentic content, interactions, and long-lasting connections. They believe that Storyly Stories are something more than a circle, full of possibilities. Powered by the founders of AppSamurai, an FT500 and Inc5000 company, Storyly today is the ultimate channel that is...

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks with self-leadership &amp; business coach, author of Joy-Full AF: The Essential Business Strategy We're Afraid to Put First, Erin Baker. Erin shares their passion for helping business leaders feel more joyful in all areas of their lives to make a meaningful impact in people's lives and the world. Erin says they know a lot of entrepreneurs who achieve their goals but aren't joyful. They believe joy should be above business strategy. Their goal? Help companies focus on their joy and discover how they can concretely integrate it into everything they do. Erin also believes that some of the deepest joy occurs when we allow ourselves to feel our deepest pain – bringing the wholeness of our humanity. Erin explains the differences between joy and toxic positivity, as well as joy and happiness. They say joy is a byproduct of connection, curiosity, creativity, and courage. Erin adds that joy is about finding where you feel enlightened, energizing yourself, and following that energy. &nbsp; Key Points from the Episode: Joy versus Toxic Positivity Tips for Being Joyful Happiness versus Joy &nbsp; About Erin Baker:  Dr. Erin Baker is a self-leadership coach, business strategist, social psychologist, Internal Family Systems practitioner, and official curator of joy. They are on a mission to help heart-centered entrepreneurs and small business owners create prosperous, difference-making, joy-full AF businesses and lives that light them up. Erin holds a PhD in psychology from University of Texas at Austin and was formerly in leadership roles at Facebook and Microsoft. They are known for their infectious energy, unapologetic authenticity, incisive wit, and unflinching commitment to their clients' joy. Erin is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan where they live with their wife, Meryl, and their dog and cat. &nbsp; Tweetable Moments: 05:50 - "I don't believe that joy is about bypassing our human emotions. I don't believe joy is about pretending everything's okay, even when we're having a sucky day. I actually believe that joy is this really awesome emotion because it is something we can feel simultaneously with other things." 11:22 - "If you were ever feeling down, go serve somebody. Go do something nice for somebody else and lose yourself in just doing something nice." &nbsp; Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guest Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out Erin Baker’s website at https://erinmbaker.com/ Check out Erin Baker on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinmikaelabaker/ Check out Erin Baker on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/drerinmbaker/ Check out Erin Baker on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/erin.m.baker.33 Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time! &nbsp; More from UpMyInfluence: &#xfe0f;We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur.<a href="https://upmyinfluence.com/guest" target="_blank"...

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Ken Babcock, Co-Founder &amp; CEO of Tango. Ken shares his passion for helping individuals and organizations make documentation easy, passive, and less time-consuming. He understands that creating documentaries can be so tedious. His goal? To make the processes and visual format of tango very easy for someone to follow, and for creators to easily change or remove steps whenever they want. Ken also says that tango serves a variety of documentation purposes – from best practice procedures to internal training – the tool can be that top layer. He says it's a great tool for creating custom documents and workflows for any type, then sharing and exporting them easily. He explains how the tool works and what makes it better than the old way of creating documentaries. He also shares some of the features of Tango, including screenshots, automated description, and URL generation. &nbsp; Key Points from the Episode: How to Use Tango? Better Ways for Agencies to Use Tango Practical Tips for Attracting Attention at the Start &nbsp; About Ken Babcock:  Ken Babcock is the Co-founder and CEO of Tango, which allows users to create step-by-step how-to guides with perfectly cropped screenshots, in seconds. Ken, along with his co-founders, Brian Shultz and Dan Giovacchini, dropped out of Harvard Business School during the pandemic to start the company. Since then, the company has grown to over 200,000 users and 35 full-time team members. Tango’s launch on Product Hunt in September 2021 earned many accolades: #1 Product of the Day, #1 Product of the Week, and one of four finalists for Product Hunt’s Product of the Year. More recently, Tango was recognized by Fast Company in their 2022 Next Big Things in Tech issue and by Google as one of twelve of their favorite Chrome Extensions of 2022. Tango is backed by Tiger Global Management, Slack Fund, Salesforce Ventures, Atlassian Ventures, Wing VC, GSV, General Catalyst, Red Sea Ventures, and Outsiders Fund. Prior to HBS, Ken spent most of his career in the Bay Area at Uber, where he held roles in Launch Operations, Data Science, and Product Strategy from 2014 to 2018. Ken holds a Bachelor's degree from Cornell University, where he met his wife, Colleen. Together they live in the Chicagoland area with their Havanese poodle mix, Balboa, and infant son, Quinn. Ken's an avid skier, Bill Simmons listener, and chicken wing enthusiast. &nbsp; About Tango:  Tango’s free-to-use product is a Chrome Extension that automatically creates written, step-by-step how-to guides in real-time without the need for video recording. Users complete their process in the browser while Tango transcribes actions, URLs, and screenshots. The resulting how-to guide can be easily pasted or exported to commonly used knowledge bases and learning management systems. Tango believes everyone should feel empowered to be the best at what they do. That's why we've made it their mission to support individuals and teams on their path to success, and make their lives easier along the way. They want to transform the world where work is easier to do, learning on the job is frictionless, knowledge sharing helps teams thrive, and no one is held back by a lack of know-how. &nbsp; Tweetable Moments: 06:43 - "I think the other thing too is these support organizations are being asked to do a lot. So the trend in enterprise SaaS is really, how do you create personalization for your customer?" 11:22 - "When you talk about creating a document that might take three to 4 hours, you're now doing it in 20 to 30 minutes." &nbsp; Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: <a...

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks with self-leadership &amp; business coach, author of Joy-Full AF: The Essential Business Strategy We're Afraid to Put First, Erin Baker. Erin shares their passion for helping business leaders feel more joyful in all areas of their lives to make a meaningful impact in people's lives and the world. Erin says they know a lot of entrepreneurs who achieve their goals but aren't joyful. They believe joy should be above business strategy. Their goal? Help companies focus on their joy and discover how they can concretely integrate it into everything they do. Erin also believes that some of the deepest joy occurs when we allow ourselves to feel our deepest pain – bringing the wholeness of our humanity. Erin explains the differences between joy and toxic positivity, as well as joy and happiness. They say joy is a byproduct of connection, curiosity, creativity, and courage. Erin adds that joy is about finding where you feel enlightened, energizing yourself, and following that energy. &nbsp; Key Points from the Episode: Joy versus Toxic Positivity Tips for Being Joyful Happiness versus Joy &nbsp; About Erin Baker: Dr. Erin Baker is a self-leadership coach, business strategist, social psychologist, Internal Family Systems practitioner, and official curator of joy. They are on a mission to help heart-centered entrepreneurs and small business owners create prosperous, difference-making, joy-full AF businesses and lives that light them up. Erin holds a PhD in psychology from University of Texas at Austin and was formerly in leadership roles at Facebook and Microsoft. They are known for their infectious energy, unapologetic authenticity, incisive wit, and unflinching commitment to their clients' joy. Erin is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan where they live with their wife, Meryl, and their dog and cat. &nbsp; Tweetable Moments: 05:36 - "Most of us today, especially those of us in the entrepreneurial space, we tend to get head down on the other end in the air and we tend to miss out on opportunities because we are not being productive." 14:50 - "We all need to be rewarded. I don't care who you are, if you're the entrepreneur sitting at the top of the heap with an incredible team around you, or you're that person that just came on board yesterday. When we reward something, we celebrate the successes." &nbsp; Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guest Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out Erin Baker’s website at https://erinmbaker.com/ Check out Erin Baker on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinmikaelabaker/ Check out Erin Baker on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/drerinmbaker/ Check out Erin Baker on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/erin.m.baker.33 Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time! &nbsp; More from UpMyInfluence: We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur.<a...

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Alexis Kingsbury, Co-Founder of Spider Gap. Alexis shares his passion for helping organizations and employees discover personal and professional areas to work on to achieve better performance through their 360 degree feedback tool. He believes that there are many opportunities for growth, and that with self-awareness, feedback and support, they can be fully realized. He says the lack of feedback could potentially cause a lot of stress in an organization, negatively impacting A-players who constantly want to grow and improve. Alexis explains how the power of their service allows organizations to identify the strengths and areas for improvement of their employees. He says their 360-degree feedback tool is a game changer – now the highest rated 360-degree feedback tool in the world. He says they designed it to be intuitive and user-friendly so anyone can easily run it and create projects and reports through it. &nbsp; Key Points from the Episode: What is Spider Gap? How Does Lack of Company Feedback Cause A Lot of Stress? Practical Tips for Business Owners to Succeed &nbsp; About Alexis Kingsbury: Alexis has two software companies with a combined team of 16 super happy people, who don't require him on a daily basis in the business - so he can focus his time on growth or take a lot of time to be with his family. His mission is to help business leaders create and use amazing processes and integration so they can delegate effectively, support their team's development, and get more done with less stress. &nbsp; Alexis is currently active in three businesses / roles: 1. He is the co-founder of AirManual, where they make it easy to create simple processes and onboarding that others can use, edit and provide feedback on. 2. He is the co-founder at Spidergap; the employee-friendly 360 degree feedback tool. They work with over 500 organizations (ncluding, 3M, PwC, Pepsi) around the world to help their employees to prioritize and take action on their personal development. 3. He is a partner in the management consultancy Bridging Insight Ltd, focusing on improving the ways in which teams across organizations work together. They have worked with global FTSE 100 organizations (including Sony, AstraZeneca, IMI, ABF) to help them improve working relationships between teams and individuals, and to design and implement the roles, processes and technology to support effective working. &nbsp; In his spare time, Alexis also hosts the Parentpreneur Accelerator podcast; helping parents who are entrepreneurs to build successful start-ups whilst having quality time with their families. His specialty areas are the following: Employee onboarding, Process documentation, Process Design, Employee development, Entrepreneurship, Parentpreneur, Start-up, SaaS, L&amp;D, 360 feedback, Collaboration, Consultancy, HR, Finance, coaching, change management, online tools, business transformation, facilitation, performance management. &nbsp; About Spider Gap: Spidergap is the employee-friendly 360 degree feedback tool. Customers, such as Fitness First, Sony and Autodesk chose Spidergap because: They can create and manage their own assessments The feedback reports are incredibly easy to understand It's easy to self-manage and scale up without expensive consultants as the customer support provided is world-class. Spidergap is one of the lowest cost providers....

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Lyndon Dochery, Chief Executive of HiveMind Network. Lyndon shares his passion for helping medium and large businesses find independent employees to do the things that would allow them to have a big impact on the world and on themselves. He understands organizations' frustrations when it comes to unmet goals at the end of the year. He believes that one way to transform organizations to where they want to be is to bring together qualified employees - with relevant experience and a set of shared values - ​​in a fun, flexible and free environment. Lyndos shares one of their core values ​​- recognizing and demonstrating that they are stronger together. He says he and his team at HiveMind Network have the ability to help people understand their value, and bring them to where they can get the most out of what they do by working with people with complementary and additional skills. He says using their model would allow companies to cut costs, only have one contract to sign, and still get exactly the skills they want. &nbsp; Key Points from the Episode: What is Hiveman Network? Types of Services &amp; Areas of Consultancy Offered The Advantages of Moving to Hiveman Network’s Business Model &nbsp; About Lyndon Dochery: Lyndon Dochery is an entrepreneur, business leader and market development strategist, with a strong background in IT and over 25 years' experience in the UK and Europe, working in blue chip companies and start-ups. He enjoys and is good at refining and implementing innovative and scalable operations, service and product sales and go-to-market strategies across multiple industries. He also enjoys growing and working with a great network of amazing people. &nbsp; About HiveMind Network: HiveMind Network works with customers at all levels to help make things happen - whatever capability adds the most value. From a sounding board for senior management, to hands-on coaching for employees, to developing, resourcing and helping deliver key programs and projects, they share risks, rewards, guarantees, expertise and experiences. HiveMind Network's ultimate commitment is that if you engage them and don't add value, they don't charge. No customer invoked this option! To do this, they have a global network of incredibly talented, enthusiastic and enterprising business, technology and design experts who are making a positive difference in the world! These are people who love what they do and want to do it without the chains and bureaucracy of traditional businesses. HiveMind Network is able to bring together various disciplines and skills, and focus them on solving their clients' challenges. &nbsp; Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out HiveMind Network’s website at https://www.hivemindnetwork.com/ Check out Lyndon Dochery on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lyndondocherty/ Check out HiveMind Network on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hivemind-company/ Check out HiveMind Network on Twitter at https://twitter.com/HiveMindNet Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time! &nbsp; More from UpMyInfluence: We are actively...

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with business strategist, Jessica Laverde. Jessica shares her passion for helping expert coaches take their business to the next level by reverse engineering their programs and marketing strategies. She shares some of the biggest mistakes she commonly sees with some coaching programs these days, and explains how her training and expertise could help coaches bring the majority of their clients to the promised result. Jessica recommends developing a very simple action plan for implementation and making data-driven decisions through the use of a data tracker. She also adds the importance of setting up systems the right way and collecting testimonials for each stage of the program, so that it speaks to everyone on a different level. Jessica also discusses the impact of a client-centered program. She says if your clients progress, the coaches will also progress. She explains some of the benefits of customer-centric programs, including having lifelong customers who feel seen and heard, and greater profitability for the business. &nbsp; Key Points from the Episode: Overview of the Company’s Objectives Some Big Mistakes Coaches Commonly Make Why are Milestones so Critical? &nbsp; About Jessica Laverde:  Jessica teaches how to scale business to 7 figures with evergreen strategies and group programs. Her knowledge and extensive experience in social media and digital marketing has made her an invaluable asset and business partner. She is an accomplished professional who is able to keep the pulse on how customers are accessing and embracing digital media. Her recommendations and assistance have allowed businesses to increase their relevance in the market and their customer acquisition. &nbsp; Tweetable Moments: 02:38 - "There's a ton of people teaching you to get clients. Many people are teaching you to do all that, but they're not teaching you how to keep your clients. They're not teaching you how to deliver your coaching. They're not giving you the tools or the skill sets to get most of your clients to the promised outcome." 10:43 - "If you have happy, successful clients and get more of them across the finish line, that will make your sales and marketing much easier." &nbsp; Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guest Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out Jessica Laverde’s website at https://jesslaverde.com/ Check out Jessica Laverde on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-laverde-3339b444/ Check out Jessica Laverde on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jessicadlaverde/ Check out Jessica Laverde on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/jesslaverde_coach/ Check out Jessica Laverde on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCU9YYKSI7SHdX2owwtiOoQ Check out Jessica Laverde on Pinterest at https://www.pinterest.ph/jessicalaverdecoaching/ Check out Jessica Laverde on TikTok at <a...

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge talks with Darleen Santore, a.k.a. Coach Dar, Founder and CEO of Performance Meets Purpose Consulting, author of The Art of Bouncing Back: Find Your Flow to Thrive at Work and in Life ― Any Time You're out of your game. Darleen shares her mission to help people recover from adversity through her expertise as a Certified Occupational Therapist, and her passion for seeing people break through and achieve greatness. She understands the pain and difficulties of failure, loss or setback. However, she believes we can all recover from it. Darlene provides practical advice on how to manage negative emotions and free the mind from ruminating on them. One of her methods is to let people recognize the problem, encourage them to feel it and take action, so that they no longer get stuck on it. Darlene says she is honored to serve CEOs and professional athletes in her chosen career path. She reminds everyone that we have a 100% bounce back rate. She says we are able to wire our brains to think we can bounce back from anything hard we can ever think of - as long as we are willing to come back up, there is always a way forward. &nbsp; Key Points from the Episode: Overview of Darleen’s Work &amp; Mission Recommendations to Avoid Ruminating over Failures and Setbacks The Book "The Art of Bouncing Back" Transformative Goals &nbsp; About Darleen Santore:  As a Board Certified Occupational Therapist, CEO and Founder of Performance Meets Purpose Consulting, Author and Keynote Speaker, Coach Dar is passionate about helping people overcome adversity to achieve excellence. Recently named a Senior Fellow of PathNorth, an organization of global leaders and CEOs of Fortune 100 companies, her powerful message continues to reach global audiences. Coach Dar blends knowledge of psychology, life, experience, and her personal mission in life to inspire greatness in everyone she meets. The result? Individuals, corporate executives, and professional athletes are discovering their own personal missions, individual gifts, and turning to goals they thought were impossible. It is her unique style and approach to transformational seminars, high-impact conferences and exclusive one-on-one sessions that have helped countless people say NO to the status quo, raise the bar in their lives and overcome the adversity to revive their fire. An inspirational woman eager to give back, Coach Dar was honored with the WNBA's Most Inspirational Woman of 2017 award, was recognized in the 2018 VoyagerPhoenix series titled “Trailblazers: Rewriting The Narrative”, and is a founding member of WISH (Women in Service and Hope) for the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul in Phoenix. Coach Dar is also a U.S. Ambassador for the Global Pay It Forward Day initiative, driven by the belief that #RaisingTheBar includes acts of kindness that leave every person and place we meet better than when we found them. &nbsp; Tweetable Moments: 11:35 - "I want to remind everyone listening that we have a 100% bounce back rate. Because if you're listening right now, you've bounced back from anything hard that you thought you could never make it back from. We always come back if we're willing to get back up." 13:19 - "Many of them haven't had a chance to dream or think about that. And when they start writing it down, they realize they have more to give than just being an athlete. And they are more than an athlete. Many of them are smart and have great creative ideas for business." &nbsp; Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: <a...

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Samantha Alexander, CEO and co-founder of Bitewell. Samantha shares her passion for helping people make small changes to their diet. She says 35% of medical costs come from nutrition-related conditions, and if people were to cut costs, they would have to seriously revolutionize the way they think about food. Her mission is to work with employers to provide healthy food as an insurance-subsidized benefit to their employees. By encouraging companies to reallocate traditionally unhealthy food spending to health-focused food options, employees can make healthier choices, achieve wellness, and improve workplace performance. Samantha shares how Bitewell’s machine learning based algorithm connects people to nearby deliverable meals that match their nutrient profile. She says they have over 50 million meals and products, have partnerships with all major grocery stores and restaurants and a hub where people connect with each other. She adds that managing Bitewell is not easy, that’s why she’s thankful to her incredible team of experts who made sure everything came together. &nbsp; Key Points from the Episode: Bitewell Mission Overview Bitewell for Consumers and Employees How does Bitewell work? &nbsp; About Samantha Alexander: Samantha is the co-founder and CEO of Bitewell, the nutritional intelligence company whose mission is to improve the world's health through food. Sam is a pioneer in food as healthcare delivery. After knowing that 35% of medical costs in the United States come from diet-related illnesses, Bitewell's unique food and health marketplace enables employers to deliver health benefits through their existing food budget. Prior to co-founding Bitewell, Sam's career spanned marketing, strategy and operations. His notable roles include Director of Global Brand Strategy and Chief of Staff to Jane Lauder at Clinique (NYC), Director of NA Marketing at Smashbox (LA), and Director of Research Analytics at Bridgewater Associates (CT). Sam earned a BFA in Drama from NYU. She credits much of her success to her leadership style – which fuses active empathy (honed during her acting studies) with radical transparency (adopted from her time at Bridgewater). Sam's interest in the impact of food on health goes back decades. Born into an Italian-American family in New Jersey, the kitchen table was the heart and soul of her childhood. In the late 90s and early 2000s, Sam, his sister, and cousins ​​developed food allergies and intolerances that limited the food they could enjoy. Instead of having a reductionist mindset about food, their grandmother revamped generations-old recipes to meet the (many) dietary needs of their family. With the same care her grandmother applied to helping her family navigate the complicated maze of food ailments, Sam is determined to help the world achieve better health through food. &nbsp; About Bitewell: Bitewell is the first all-in-one nutrition planning and food delivery tool designed by their team of food and nutrition experts. Their platform makes eating smarter by connecting health and nutrition data to food deliverables near you. Their mission is to make healthy eating easy, convenient and accessible to everyone. &nbsp; Tweetable Moments: 02:30 - "We know that 75% of that 75% of that is preventable through nutrition. And so 75% of $12,000 per employee per year is the possible savings." 04:59 - "If you want to attract the best people, you need to give people the best benefits." &nbsp; Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: <a href="https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guest" target="_blank" rel="noopener...

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Steven Perchikov, founder &amp; CEO of Art of Sales Academy. Steven shares his passion for helping businesses create their own unique message that helps leads go from zero to interest. He explains the sales approach, processes and strategies they have in place – from performing vertical work to sales training. He works around the principle that it is better to heavily rely on strategy and empathy than on technological automation. Steven shares practical advice on how businesses can scale faster without cutting ties. He recommends experimenting, using cool features, improving your profile, and doing a thorough analysis of your target audience to curate the perfect post that converts. Steven and his team also do email marketing, but most of their conversions come from LinkedIn messaging. &nbsp; Key Points from the Episode: Common Mistakes and Strategies Marketers Make Understanding the Idea of Scalable Personalization How Does Content Figure Into B2B Sales Today &nbsp; About Steven Perchikov: Shortly after graduating from college, Steven learned the importance of being scrappy. The recession had just hit and there were few opportunities for new graduates to find traditional employment. Meanwhile, he was confused and lost. Now he sees it as the boost he needed to get into entrepreneurship and find a deeper calling. Steven learned all he could about technology, online marketing, sales strategy and started applying it to his own businesses. He started a successful brick-and-mortar digital marketing agency and experimented with dozens of other online ventures. It was through this experience that he began working with high-growth tech startups over 10 years ago. Since then, he has worked and learned from amazing founders, salespeople, consultants and agencies. Steven has helped over 100 clients generate tens of millions of dollars cumulatively through his approach to Linkedin, cold emails, sales and communication. He emphasizes a consultative approach that brings value to every customer interaction and conversation. This means focusing less on cookie-cutter tactics and more on critical thinking and value creation. He believes a data-driven, goal-driven approach is a must for founders and sales leaders. &nbsp; About Art of Sales Academy: Art of Sales Academy is a consultancy and a catalyst designed to help startups and agencies scale. They create systems to fill businesses’ pipeline with qualified conversations and train teams to move deals from first call to close. Their services include outbound campaigns, brand stacking, technology implementation and sales training. &nbsp; Tweetable Moments: 03:56 - "Personalization is the other side of the coin where people think you have to write every message by hand, do that kind of business development, and that's going to work too. That's going to get you calls and opportunities and sales, but it takes forever, and it's a very slow process." 07:30 - "Generally, busy people don't want a million articles sent to them dancing around the bush." &nbsp; Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guest Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out Art of Sales Academy’s website at https://www.artofsalesacademy.com/ Check out Art of Sales Academy on LinkedIn at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/art-of-sales-academy/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener...

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Chris Gwinn, founder and CEO of Great Lakes Advisory. Chris shares his passion for helping small and medium sized businesses standardize all of their processes and ensure everyone follows them.. He added that they also document core processes and measure them, develop and customize training, and teach all leaders how to hold each other accountable. Chris shares some of the benefits of establishing standardized processes - reducing reliance on some of the key employees, creating an environment where there is more responsibility, autonomy and accountability among all leaders, and allowing leaders to focus on the real growth and management of their teams. He also shares the impact of technology on operations. He explains that technology, along with the integration of apps and automation, could help lower operational costs. Chris also provides practical advice on how to assess business processes and performance. He encourages all business leaders to proactively address all issues related to their SOPs if they were to move towards growth and scalability. &nbsp; Key Points from the Episode: How Important is Technology to Operations? Best Practices for Onboarding a New Hire Recommendation for Evaluating Your Company’s SOPs About Chris Gwinn: Chris is the founder and CEO of Great Lakes Advisory. He began his career at Northern Trust working on an investment team within Northern Trust Wealth Management. During Chris’ tenure at Northern Trust, he managed over $85 million of client assets and provided holistic wealth management solutions for high net worth individuals and families. Prior to launching Great Lakes Advisory, Chris was the Director of Finance and Operations at Harmony Center for Surgery of the Ears, Nose, and Throat. As the Director of Finance and Operations, Chris’ responsibilities included consulting on daily business operations, building process playbooks, streamlining workflows, strategic planning, improving patient satisfaction, growing practice visibility within the metro Detroit area, and assisting in human resources. Chris shares a passion for operations, processes, finance, investments, and working with people. Chris holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance from Marquette University. He has earned the right to use the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) designation. Outside of work, Chris loves spending time with his wonderful wife, Courtney, Australian Shepherd, Igor, and their families and friends. He is an avid golfer and enjoys running, cycling, and CrossFit. &nbsp; About Great Lakes Advisory: Great Lakes Advisory is an operations and financial advisory firm located in Chicago, IL. The company was founded on the principle that great companies testify about their people and their processes. They help entrepreneurs realize their vision by improving their processes, standardizing their operations, and developing engaging training to get everyone aligned, so their business runs faster. Their goal is to help companies train new hires faster, serve more customers, and scale their business. &nbsp; Tweetable Moments: 06:30 - "What you do want to make sure is that all of your employees know that you need to be able to apply your processes using the applications that you're currently using." 15:41 - "Sometimes it's kind of difficult to stomach those conversations. But ultimately, it is that feedback from your customers or the willingness to kind of accept that, there might be some things...

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Melissa Kwan, co-Founder and CEO of eWebinar, host of the ProfitLed Podcast. Melissa shares her passion for helping people manage their webinars through automation. She understands how tedious it can be. However, while they are effective, the need to have someone run them makes them commercially non-scalable. With her team at eWebinar, their goal is to reinvent how webinars work – turning them into automated, interactive webinars that people can set on a recurring schedule. Melissa explains the features and benefits of webinar automation. She talks about their chat system, which brings the whole webinar experience to a greater level of engagement as opposed to a regular zoom meeting or webinar. She says their system will truly automate webinar content without feeling like you're missing out on something. &nbsp; Key Points from the Episode: What Makes eWebinar Different From Others? How eWebinar Works Best Practices for Webinars &nbsp; About Melissa Kwan: Melissa Kwan is the Cofounder and CEO of eWebinar, an automated webinar solution that combines pre-recorded video with real-time interactions and live chat to deliver an engaging experience for attendees. Melissa and her team believe that by automating the repetitive and tedious task of giving the same onboarding, training, and sales presentations over and over, they free people up to focus their time on something else they value more. Melissa is also the host of ProfitLed Podcast, a podcast that focuses on growth strategies for seeded entrepreneurs from proven founders and strategists. If only 1% of startups get venture capital, then 99% of startups are ProfitLed. Melissa is passionate about telling the stories of those who forged their own paths and on their own terms to show founders around the world that it can be done and that they are not alone. &nbsp; About eWebinar: eWebinar turns any video into an interactive, automated webinar you can set on a recurring schedule. Designed for customer success and marketing teams, eWebinar delivers the perfect webinar again and again, without you being there. By combining pre-recorded video with live chat and real-time interactions, eWebinar delivers an engaging experience for attendees. They save you from doing the same presentation over and over again. With eWebinar, you can repurpose your time towards other revenue generating activities that cannot be automated. &nbsp; Tweetable Moments: 01:47 - "The best thing about webinars is that they're effective, and that's why people love them. But the worst thing about a webinar is that they're just not scalable because it requires someone to actually be there to run it." 02:00 - "The thing is, people sign up for a replay, but then nobody watches the replay, because every inbox is a replay graveyard." &nbsp; Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guest Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out eWebinar’s website at https://ewebinar.com/ Check out eWebinar on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/ewebinar/ Check out Melissa Kwan on LinkedIn at <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissakwan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener...

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Carl Weische, co-founder of Accelerated Agency. Carl shares his passion for helping business and brands grow and scale more profitably through conversion and optimization. They have worked with many brands across all niches and seen positive results in the first 90 days. His advice is to build trust with your audience and focus on your offer. Carl adds that the more your offer resonates with your prospects, the more likely they are to buy your product or take advantage of your service. Carl also explains the importance of understanding your audience - pain points, beliefs and desires - in order to deliver great benefits. As for doubling your sales, he believes it's not just about an attractive website or a user-friendly interface. Their job is to pull together all the important aspects of the business, identify the gaps, and do their own magic to make that happen! &nbsp; Key Points from the Episode: What Does AI-based Conversion and Optimization Mean? Type of Companies that They Work With Tracking Tools They Used for Data Analytics &nbsp; About Carl Weische: Carl holds a bachelor's degree in BA and eCom. He is a KeyNote speaker at leading marketing events: GeekOut, ESS, VidTao, Kinza360, AdWorld 2023. He is also a Certified Practitioner in NLP + Sales Psychology. Along with his business partner, they have an obsession when it comes to understanding buyer psychology and why things work the way they do. Everything they do is based on the pioneers of psychology, direct response and entrepreneurship. Carl and his business partner have a background in psychology before they started applying it to e-commerce, which gave them an edge over their competitors. They are proud to be German, which means they make sure everything is systemized and optimized efficiently. By understanding the logical and emotional reasons behind what works, they are able to design their funnels in a way that allows their customers and clients to reap the benefits of the way they work. Carl and his team take an active interest in how people think, which is why they invest over $250,000 a year in their own education while testing everything on their own offerings. This means that their customers are not the guinea pigs of their business thinking, but rather the beneficiaries of their data-driven process. As a creative agency, they take what they think works and put it to the test. So they're not just speaking from fantasies or ideas, but rather proving their hypothesis about what works. &nbsp; About Accelerated Agency:  ACCELERATED is an e-commerce agency with core competencies in conversion rate optimization, A/B testing, and brand building. They are strongly performance-oriented and optimize the profitability of businesses. As competent e-commerce experts, they develop, optimize and design online shops with great passion. In doing so, they focus on the conversion rate. This means that they turn many site visitors into paying customers by fundamentally optimizing online stores. Accelerated Agency is for businesses that want to establish their online presence profitably and pursue a long-term strategy to build their own market share. &nbsp; Tweetable Moments: 08:20 - "It's more like the psychology background than just the background of developing something or designing something." 09:43 - "A lot of people miss out on building trust. So maybe they put some reviews on the page, but then they miss out on social proof and authority and press and all of that stuff." &nbsp; Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: <a href="https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guest" target="_blank" rel="noopener...

In this episode of The Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Lisa Robbin Young, business coach, performing artist &amp; author of Creative Freedom: How To Own Your Dreams Without Selling Your Soul. Lisa is passionate about helping business leaders and entrepreneurs become celebrities in their space – to be known, seen and loved – by building an audience of enthusiastic fans. She says it all comes down to 3 things: clarity, confidence and courage. She believes that these 3 components could clear out the different aspects of the business that will allow entrepreneurs to decide and take the necessary steps to be considered experts in their market. Lisa explains the method they use to achieve success. Her goal is to develop a holistic approach that works for the way her clients are wired, so they can present themselves confidentially and be the best version of themselves. By supporting her clients in self-realization, they can gain time and freedom to enjoy the work they do in the world. &nbsp; Key Points from the Episode: The Journey to Clarity, Confidence &amp; Courage The Value &amp; Significance of Authority The Impact of Fame for Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders &nbsp; About Lisa Robbin Young: Lisa didn't wait to be discovered. She is an award-winning speaker, bestselling author and accomplished musician with several albums to her credit. Lisa has been featured on Disney+ and is the host of Creative Freedom, a show that has turned into a book, podcast and live event series. She helps creative entrepreneurs define and succeed on their own terms. Lisa believes the best way to truly succeed in life and in business is to be yourself - warts, sparkles and all - so you can Own Your Dreams Without Selling Your SoulTM. Lisa founded Ark Entertainment Media - a business growth consultancy for ambitious creatives who want to become the celebrity of their industry and leave a lasting legacy to future generations. &nbsp; Tweetable Moments: 00:49 - "Before you can take a courageous action, you have to be able to make a decision with confidence to take that action." 06:03 - "I will say that becoming a celebrity is not for everyone. And that's okay. But anyone can be in that role in their industry. They can be famous in their niche." &nbsp; Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guest Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out Lisa Robbin Young’s website at https://lisarobbinyoung.com/ Check out Lisa Robbin Young on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisarobbinyoung/ Check out Lisa Robbin Young on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Lisarobbinyoung.fan Check out Lisa Robbin Young on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lisarobbinyoung/ Check out Lisa Robbin Young on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/user/younglisam Check out Lisa Robbin Young on Twitter at <a...

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