Christina Talks Podcast

Fellow podcaster Stephen O’Donnell has been in the world of recruitment for 36 years, including owning and running recruitment agencies before building a website and branching out into the technology side! He joins Christina to talk a little about his personal journey and why he has such a passion for utilising tech in recruitment. Stephen also talks about the role of AI as well as outlines the red flags to watch out for in tech!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• People often play down their expertise, especially in the UK. You need to recognise where your expertise lies and then share that with others.
• Stephen was drawn to the tech side of recruitment out of pure curiosity and then discovered his unique talent for it.
• Some tech can be utilised for almost instant results, but some take time to work, such as things that focus on marketing.
• There is some promising AI in recruitment right now, including tech where the system is learning from both candidates' and recruiters' behaviour and experience and matches them accordingly
• When you are looking at recruiting someone you don’t just look at who they are and what they can achieve today but what you expect to get from them in the future and technology is exactly the same.
• Bear in mind which apps your customers will use, what you prefer to use or think is in favour might not be what your ideal client uses. You don’t want to spend time and money developing your product onto apps they will never use or convert on.

BEST MOMENTS

05:05 “I want to be known as someone who knows what they’re talking about within recruitment”

29:07 “There are some technologies I’d expect to make an immediate effect, there are some that are gonna take a while to pay dividends”

30:57 “It was one of those, this is gonna change everything moments”

41:49 “Just because something can be done, doesn’t mean it should be done”

51:16 “I’m never ever working on the launch of an app ever again”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

Christina has been working with SME’s since 2013 to launch, develop and perfect their online presence. In 2019 Christina made the move from employee to business owner of a successful digital marketing agency focused on educating business owners in the use of

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

LinkedIn

Twitter

Website

Steven Rothberg is the founder of college recruiter, a job search site. He believes that every student and recent grad deserves the right career and finding one should be easy and inexpensive for employers to reach them and this is what they facilitate.

He joins Christina to talk about the current generation of people entering the workforce, who the winners and losers of AI and automation will be as well as the different approaches of businesses in regards to recruitment and progression.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The current generation of students and graduates have more opportunities than ever especially in regards of flexibility, doing what they want when they want and where they want.
• Everything is going to be changed by AI and it will happen faster than most people realise.
• Universal basic income would not be as much of a far-fetched idea in a world filled with AI. In the best-case scenario, the world would become less about output and making money and more about fulfilment and purpose.
• As most larger organisations have many opportunities and specific graduate programmes, this is where most university and college leavers start their careers, whether they want to or not.
• Having a specific set of skills won’t always serve you, being versatile and having more general knowledge can protect you in harder economic times, allowing you to be more flexible and avoid layoffs.
• It’s good for a business to develop their employees but it needs to take into account that they are individuals rather than the ‘cookie-cutter’ approach.
• One of the benefits of small organisations is that they are generally more nimble, meaning they can be flexible with the skillset of those they hire. If someone fits culturally they are more likely to hire them even without the required skills.
• Try and think of ways you can include and demonstrate your company culture in job ads, to ensure you attract the right candidates.

BEST MOMENTS

07:21 “We’re gonna know in a couple of years whether AI is going to be beneficial for most or just the few”

14:38 “We’re going to get to a Star Trek workplace where people aren’t going to have to work nearly as much”

20:28 “The vast majority of university grads go to work for large organisations whether they want to or not”

22:14 “People with more generalised skills tend to survive layoffs better”

35:19 “We try very hard to include in there a sense of our culture”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

Christina has been working with SME’s since 2013 to launch, develop and perfect their online presence. In 2019 Christina made the move from employee to business owner of a successful digital marketing agency focused on educating business owners in the use of

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

LinkedIn

Twitter

Website

David Roberts has successfully grown multiple businesses and is the host of the ‘People with Purpose’ podcast, along the way he has learnt lots about business, life, relationships and purpose. He talks to Christina about finding your purpose and passion and why as a leader building an environment with psychological safety is crucial in creating a commitment culture where purpose and commitment are shared by all. He also discusses the powerful role of feedback in building rapport and trust in relationships

KEY TAKEAWAYS   

• If you can fill the start of your day with the highest priorities for you that align most strongly with your values then your day is starting well
• Write down what you love, what the world needs, what you are good at and what you can get paid for and try and do one of those things in your day
• Building rapport and maintaining rapport with others is about developing empathy and when you can openly give and receive feedback you are in a really strong relationship
• It’s important to be open to all feedback but you don’t need to act on feedback, it’s a gift and you can decide what you want to do with it
• Knowing you’re in an environment with psychological safety where you can be yourself and bring your best self to a situation is crucial
• People knowing they have psychological safety and that their emotional and mental well-being is being looked after and they are empowered to be able to make a difference to innovate, to be creative and to be themselves in what they are doing is what brings long term commitment
• Everyone has a story to tell and we can all learn from each other
• When you are trying to unlock your purpose use a story arc (awareness, reflection, create

BEST MOMENTS

02:36 “What’s been the most meaningful thing is seeing people achieve things they didn’t think they were capable of when they started and that’s what really floats my boat and what I really like doing”

10:56 “Having a focus on what you want is definitely the holy grail and the end game but understanding what you don’t want so you can stop doing it is equally important”

20:17 “I open myself up to it, I ask for feedback all the time and it’s so, so powerful”

 20:45 “If someone feels they can trust you with what they really think then you’ve broken through a barrier and boundary that keeps people apart”

31:44 “The ultimate culture is where you have a commitment culture, everyone’s aligned on the why and everyone is committed to working together” 

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

Christina has been working with SME’s since 2013 to launch, develop and perfect their online presence. In 2019 Christina made the move from employee to business owner of a successful digital marketing agency focused on educating business owners in the use of

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

LinkedIn

Twitter

Website

Russell White is a co-owner of a recruitment company after years of experience as a recruiter including working with a variety of FTSE 500 companies. Russell joins Christina to talk about his wealth of knowledge in the industry including what real inclusion in the workplace looks like, the demands on agency-style businesses and account managers and how the pandemic revolutionised how we work forever.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

BEST MOMENTS

04:05 “[recruitment] Supported the life and careers of so many people who have gone on to help other people”

04:34 “You evolve the values of what a recruiter should be doing, for me it’s very much about helping the individual whilst understanding the cultural ethos and values of a business”

12:33 “Businesses need to adjust how they talk to them [neurodiverse], the environments those people work in”

16:31 “Being neurodiverse is not a negative, it’s a positive”

24:10 “It’s all about making people feel part of something, your people will respect the brand, the organisation, the ethos, the approach”

41:26 “As a business owner I do feel like a bit of a chameleon at times”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

Christina has been working with SME’s since 2013 to launch, develop and perfect their online presence. In 2019 Christina made the move from employee to business owner of a successful digital marketing agency focused on educating business owners in the use of

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

LinkedIn

Twitter

Website

Darin Adams from Keap (previously Infusionsoft) joins Christina in this episode to talk about the strength and power behind AI and automation for businesses and entrepreneurs. Darin has shown people across the world how to run their businesses via the power of automation and how to utilise this to make their small and medium-sized businesses more successful. He talks with Christina about how he does this and shares the many benefits of automation and AI beyond just saving time as well as defines why no one needs to feel worried or overwhelmed when integrating these tools into their business.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Small businesses and entrepreneurs often fall into the trap of thinking they need to do everything themselves but automation is one of the best solutions to this.
• Automation isn’t new, it’s just being talked about a lot at the moment. Keap actually started using automation over 20 years ago.
• People are often intimidated when they hear the words automation and AI, but it’s simply because people don’t understand it.
• You don’t have to automate from start to end, you can break processes down and automate parts of it, this alone can save you a lot of time.
• To make a business successful you need good processes and structures, automation can aid you in doing this.
• Automation and AI aren’t just about saving time, the benefits go way beyond this.
• Sometimes we can get too focused on various new tech when instead we should be focusing on one thing at a time and making it work for us and our business.
• If you can use automation to compile and validate the right data you can then use this to aid your strategy, marketing and follow-ups.
• It’s actually a benefit of being smaller when start to integrate automation and AI into your business. If it is just you, you build the systems first before having to teach anyone else.

BEST MOMENTS

02:17 “If you can automate things you can grow your businesses without manually having to do it”

05:47 “If it’s a technology we don’t understand and it feels overwhelming to us…it seems intimidating”

09:58 “Just find one or two things that you’re crap at the things that you can just streamline and maybe get the most amount of impact from the smallest investment”

14:16 “If you want to build a business that has value you need to build structure, you need to have process, and that’s all automation is”

17:35 “There are so many benefits beyond saving time”

45:10 “They’ve looked at the data but they haven't read the data, they haven’t understood the data, they haven’t taken intelligence away from it”

50:39 “If you get it right, the urgent things on your to-do list are presented to you”

53:53 "It's [AI] so flexible, we just need to get started with it"

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

Christina has been working with SME’s since 2013 to launch, develop and perfect their online presence. In 2019 Christina made the move from employee to business owner of a successful digital marketing agency focused on educating business owners in the use of

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

LinkedIn

Twitter

Website

Nishi Patel is a fellow podcaster and specialises in helping businesses with their cashflow management and getting their pricing right, which is even more important in the current economic crisis.

He joins Christina to talk about his approach to business and marketing, including how he created his business as well as budgets, podcasting and mindset.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Focusing on content creation has allowed Nishi’s company to build interest and generate leads for a part of the market that didn’t exist.
• Results take time, there is always a delay of at least six months in marketing.
• A mindset shift was necessary for Nishi to transition from simply accountant to becoming a marketing director.
• Marketing is an investment, not a cost.
• Surround yourself with the right people with the same mindset as you.
• Content creation and the social media age are the new gold rush.
• The podcast space is still growing. Nishi likes to compete where others aren’t competing as you get better growth, and this is why he is focusing on podcasts.
• The more time people spend with you the more they trust you which is why podcasts are a unique vehicle for developing relationships with potential clients.
• Build a referral strategy, it’s an essential way to generate strong leads.
• Marketing is important but you have to spend just as much time on your offering.

BEST MOMENTS

06:32 “The results you get today are the benefit of what you put in place 6 months ago”

11:02 “That’s the bit that really got me down about marketing, is the amount of money we wasted to get it to work”

18:11 “You spend money on marketing, your business gains value”

25:38 “Content creation is the goldrush, social media is the vehicle”

30:25 “There’s no hype you can generate that with override a weak offering”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

Christina has been working with SME’s since 2013 to launch, develop and perfect their online presence. In 2019 Christina made the move from employee to business owner of a successful digital marketing agency focused on educating business owners in the use of

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

LinkedIn

Twitter

Website

As entrepreneurs, we can’t underestimate the importance of health, both physical and mental and Lauren Lepley joins Christina in this episode to talk about exactly how we can prioritise it. Lauren is a multiple business owner including a wellness centre she also coaches and mentors people around strategizing them as a human, to better themselves and their business.

She joins Christina to talk about all things wellness including the importance of sleep, finding out the things that count for you and gives tips and advice on what we can do to make a difference in our health to impact our lives and business. Christina and Lauren also talk about aligning your people, clients and business relationships with your vision and goals and why it’s ok to say no.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

BEST MOMENTS

03:28 “I work with people on their health, their psychology to help them become better for themselves and that makes their business better”

03:40 “Whenever there is an obstacle with in business, a human has created it”

07:22 “The way you feel today is dependent on the way you slept, it always starts with sleep”

16:22 “People say listen to your body, it’s quite a hard thing to do and then your head gets in the way”

27:28 “To be in flow is a complete control state, overwhelm is a lack of control”

31:08 “There’s so much pressure to always be Instagram filtered, to live that trailer life that we forget, rewind, that I’m human”

41:15 “Things don’t happen to you they happen for you”

45:10 “I work with as many people as I say no to”

46:43 “It doesn’t take a lot anymore for someone to say they are a coach which is a sad thing because it’s such a powerful place to be in”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

Christina has been working with SME’s since 2013 to launch, develop and perfect their online presence. In 2019 Christina made the move from employee to business owner of a successful digital marketing agency focused on educating business owners in the use of

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

LinkedIn

Twitter

Website

Cliff Spolander, CEO and founder of Business by Design talks with Christina about the importance of having an exit plan in place right from the very beginning

He explains the importance of working on financial, personal and business plans to make sure that  you can successfully operate your business with effective strategies in place that mean you are prepared for the future and can exit well, whenever this happens

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• It’s a flexible framework that people can use to understand where they are from a business personal and financial perspective
• A successful exit is when the personal and financial plans of  the business owner are met
• Exit planning is a good business strategy and by removing the emotion you can view the company realistically
• Its understanding the objective of the seller looking at it through the eyes of the buyer
• If you are going to sell what are you going to do next
• Most people start with a vision but can find the business all-consuming resulting in the business becoming their identity
• For the majority of people, their business becomes their baby but around 50%  will end up being forced out  
• People exit for a variety of reasons but the key is to be prepared and have a plan in place

BEST MOMENTS

‘I’m getting a double buzz of building something helping people in the business world and it's kicking off cash that I can give away’

‘Over time the owner's identity can become completely wrapped up in the business’  

 ‘Exit planning is like insurance you hope you’ll never have to use it in a bad way but should life throw you a curveball you are prepared for it’

RESOURCES FOR THIS EPISODE

https://www.businessbydesign.co.uk/

https://www.thesmarterexit.com/

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

Christina has been working with SMEs since 2013 to launch, develop and perfect their online presence. In 2019 Christina made the move from employee to business owner of a successful digital marketing agency focused on educating business owners in the use of

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

LinkedIn

Twitter

Website

Richard Osborne Founder and CEO of the Business Forum Group talks with Christina about

the emotional rollercoaster of being a business owner and how being part of a community with other business owners with shared experiences makes such a positive difference

In a time where being a business owner is more accessible than it’s ever been, hear about the key elements you need to get in place and why building the right team is so important

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• It’s a human need to want to be part of something and belong
• There is a shift in drivers and values when you start a business and you can end up feeling isolated
• UKBF takes people who all have shared experiences and brings them together
• These communities are a massive support for small business owners and their mental health
• Small businesses are small teams, they are micro families and you can’t not get close to people
• Being a business owner has become more accessible and the pandemic resulted in a huge increase in  e-commerce-style businesses
• There are more people starting up in business but education doesn’t include any of the necessary aspects of starting a business

BEST MOMENTS

‘You spend more of your time with the people you work with than your spouse and children’

‘There is no education about starting a business’

‘There are more people starting businesses than ever before

ABOUT THE GUEST

Richard Osborne is the founder of UKBF, the UK’s largest and most active community for startups and small business owners. He also founded Business Data Group which, among other things, is the UK’s leading company formations platform. 

You might also know Richard as the host of the DRIVE podcast, where he shares small business owners’ stories and what motivates them to keep pushing despite all the odds.

Christina Talk podcast

Richard Osborne is the founder of UKBF, the UK’s largest community for startups, and Business Data Group, developer of the UK’s leading company formations platform. In this episode, we talk about the challenges Richard’s faced, from overcoming a difficult childhood to scaling a community.

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

Christina has been working with SME’s since 2013 to launch, develop and perfect their online presence. In 2019 Christina made the move from employee to business owner of a successful digital marketing agency focused on educating business owners in the use of

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

LinkedIn

Twitter

Website

In this episode with Christina, she talks about the importance of having a distinct tone for your business when outsourcing social media and marketing activities, and why working on, and with, that tone throughout all you do is essential in remaining authentic and trustworthy to your audience.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The more conversations you have with the people helping you with marketing, the more they can help you and your brand get your messaging right.
• Using something like AI for your copy can be a fast solution but you can also easily lose your tone of voice and with it, your authenticity.
• Think about the perception of the words you use with your audience. What words would you want your clients and audience to use to describe you?
• What values are important to you and your business, these will provide clues to what your tone of voice should be.
• Look at businesses in the same sector as you and what they are doing, there are lessons you can easily learn here, what is working for them? Can it work for you?

 BEST MOMENTS

02:11 “It’s so important that you do it in a way that protects your sound, the voice that you have for your market”

03:11 Your tone of voice is how you say what you say, it’s how you communicate your message”

04:27 “Think about how you communicate naturally when you talk with people, listen to how you speak”

07:20 “If we define our tone of voice we can define what we’re not going to sound like as well”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

Christina Talks Podcast

https://www.green-umbrella.biz/how-to-launch-anything-using-social-media/

ABOUT THE HOST

Christina has been working with SME’s since 2013 to launch, develop and perfect their online presence. In 2019 Christina made the move from employee to business owner of a successful digital marketing agency focused on educating business owners in the use of

social media. Christina is driven by the fact that in today’s world, it doesn’t

matter how big or small your marketing budget is, you can be a major player.

For small businesses, the tools are just as accessible – you just need to know

how to use them!

LinkedIn

Twitter

Website