Evolving Your Workplace

On this episode of Authentically Successful, host Carol Schultz interviews Paul Baron, the founder of The Wall Printer. Paul's printer technology transforms images into wall art.

In this episode, you’ll learn about Paul’s winding journey through business, including his experience in retail and manufacturing, and what later lead him to retire. He also delves into the process of starting The Wall Printer post-retirement. 

The company is aimed at muralists, interior designers, painters, etc., and takes on a leading role in the current commercial printing industry. His years of entrepreneurship have given him the know-how to enter this space. 

Paul champions partnerships and believes in the strength of collaboration and making expectations clear. He currently has a 10% partner who brings expertise in printing. The partner has been instrumental in the company’s success, he says.

Tune in to gain insight into taking charge of your business, including marketing and branding, and how to find great partners. 

Learn more about Paul Baron and The Wall Printer.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

On this episode of Authentically Successful, we dive into the world of healthcare and the importance of vaccinations with our guest, Dr. Jonathan Baktari. Jonathan leads three organizations: e7 Health, a platform aimed at streamlining adult vaccinations, eNational Testing, offering nationwide access to laboratory tests, and lastly, U.S. Drug Test Centers, a network of testing centers in America. 

Carol and Jonathan discuss consolidation within the healthcare industry and how the shift affects patients. This leads to a conversation about the significance of vaccinations for adults. Carol inquires specifically about his opinion on the covid vaccine.

Jonathan shares his unique career journey, emphasizing the importance of being open to new opportunities and not always relying on a sudden epiphany when making career changes. He dives into how he stays on top of all three organizations currently.

Tune in to this episode to gain valuable insights into communication and culture within these three companies. Jonathan boasts his continuous learning program and emphasizes the importance of individual success and developing others for similar achievements.

Learn more about Jonathan Baktari and e7Health.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

“I think there's a lot of disruption coming, and that disruption has started with the advent of Chat GPT and all these generative AI tools. And I think if you ask me if there's anything that's going to keep me up at night is, how do we pivot as a company to understand and appreciate these tools that are coming. And what does that mean to our workforce?...”- Rajeev Kapur

On this episode of Authentically Successful, host Carol Schultz sits down with Rajeev, CEO of 1105 Media, a portfolio of four companies that provide B2B marketing events and media services. Rajeev shares his experience of joining the company after a big shift and the challenge of changing the culture within a business primarily built through acquisition. He also details what each business under his umbrella does.

Rajeev’s experience ranges from being in phone sales to working for Michael Dell and eventually becoming the CEO of 1105. You’ll hear about his winding career journey and how he got to where he is now. 

The episode concludes with Rajeev's thoughts on the disruption coming with the advent of Chat GPT and generative AI tools, and how his company is preparing for the future. And also a discussion of the importance of “enlightened leadership” as the workforce shifts towards Gen Z and millennials. 

Tune in to this episode to hear advice on managing a large group of businesses and brands all at once. 

Learn more about Rajeev Kapur and 1105 Media.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

On this episode of Authentically Successful, host Carol Schultz sits down with guest Ted Rubin, a highly successful CEO in the automotive tech industry. They discuss topics such as the importance of evolving conversations, messaging solutions, and how to succeed in the automotive industry. 

Ted’s company, ActivEngage, aims to help automotive companies sell and service more cars through an improved customer journey. It ultimately serves manufacturers, dealers, and aggregator sites, so it's crucial for employees to help both parties and not focus solely on the end customer. 

You’ll hear how ActivEngage became profitable in its first year. This technology is significant in facilitating effective and secure enterprise solutions for its customers, including at large organizations like General Motors, AutoNation, and Auto Trader, Ted says. 

His career progression through the automotive industry brought him a diversity of skills from working in operations, sales, technology, analytics, and M&A. 

Tune in to learn about the challenges and benefits of working in the tech and automotive industries, as well as how to prioritize employee engagement and create meaningful connections with both clients and customers. 

Learn more about Ted Rubin and ActivEngage.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

On this episode of Authentically Successful, host Carol Schultz invites the co-founder and CEO of Carbon Title, Trevor Dryer, to share his journey in Fintech and later co-founding his organization in the climate tech space. 

Carbon Title offers transparency into the carbon emissions of all buildings, empowering stakeholders to understand, manage, and take action to reduce emissions across their portfolios. Trevor tells us the origin story of the company and how the platform can benefit not only the Earth but also individual buyers and large investors. 

The platform is similar to Zillow or Walk Score, allowing users to see the carbon output of properties and whether the owners are making efforts to reduce emissions. The two delve into which common building materials are least and most harmful to the environment.

Trevor reveals his experience using 1099 contractors for his agency and how he wishes he had focused on the commercial side of his product earlier. They discuss the challenges of educating the market about the impact of CO2 emissions in buildings, sustainable building design, and managing a distributed remote team. 

Listen for helpful tips on giving feedback, finding talent, the climate change space, and how you can help the environment as a homeowner. 

Learn more about Trevor Dryer and Carbon Title.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

"I feel like men think— and a lot of people think— oh, nonprofits are just nice and they're all volunteer ran and it's this nice, fluffy thing over here. But we are really meeting a need." - Tracy Smith

On this episode of Authentically Successful, we hear from Tracy Smith, the CEO of Make-A-Wish Alabama, a nonprofit organization that grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions. 

Carol and Tracy discuss the origin story of Make-A-Wish and how the organization has evolved over time. Tracy points out how greatly one wish can affect the child’s future medically, leading to fewer ER visits and hospital stays according to data.  

You’ll hear what a typical day looks like for a “wish granter”, a key role in the nonprofit. They also discuss the success of her internship program, which is paving the way for paid internships in Alabama to break down socioeconomic and diversity barriers. 

On the leadership front, Tracy tells us about her long career in the nonprofit industry and her experiences with bad bosses in previous jobs, which taught her how not to behave when she became a leader. She also delves into the challenges of nonprofit work, including burnout and work-life balance.

Learn more about Tracy Smith and Make-A-Wish Alabama.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

“By bringing customers to the back along with their pets, they were able to see everything that was going on. And so we did that for transparency reasons. What we discovered then is when the pet owners we call customers were able to see the caregivers, what they were doing, they were really appreciative. It added value in their eyes to the work that we were doing." — David Bessler 

It’s a 2-for-1 episode! This week Carol speaks to two leaders at Veterinary Emergency Group–aka VEG– David Glattstein and David Bessler. VEG is revolutionizing the veterinary emergency industry through a "Vegolution", a holistic experience for pet owners in emergencies. Their organization currently has 41 ERs for pets across 14 states and treats over 300,000 emergencies annually.

Both founders recount how luck and timing played a role in their successful partnership, and how they prioritize differentiation at every point for all their teams and employees. You'll also learn about VEG's unique "nerd program" to produce highly-skilled emergency doctors and nurses. 

The episode also discusses the misconception of dreading or avoiding the veterinary ER and how the company is changing that perception. They explore the historical precedent for separating patients from their loved ones in hospitals and how their “open” concept changes that.

Looking at the current state of emergency medicine, the founders delve into a post-Covid issue: the quickly growing pet population and the shortage of veterinarians. 

Learn more about David Bessler and David Glattstein and VEG.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

Should you take venture money? "You really need to be up for growing a business, growing it relatively quickly, and finding an exit." — Seth Levine

On this episode of Authentically Successful, Carol interviews Seth, the managing director and co-founder of Foundry Group. The venture capital firm was formed in 2007 and has now grown to 75 employees. 

You’ll hear about Seth’s winding journey from majoring in psychology and thinking he would become a professor to working long hours at an investment bank to eventually leading a large company. 

He talks about the founding of Foundry Group and the world of venture capital. According to Seth, taking venture capital is not always the best course of action for entrepreneurs and they should do their research carefully before taking the plunge.

They also discuss Seth’s first book called “The New Builders: Face to Face With the True Future of Business” and the surprising facts about entrepreneurism today. 

Learn more about Seth Levine and Foundry Group.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

“Don’t invite me onstage because I’m a female.” Bobbie Shrivastav says, “Invite me onstage because I have something valuable to add to the conversation.”

Bobbie, co-founder, and COO of Benekiva, is a second-time founder. She and her husband first created Docsmore, a document manager, and later moved on to join Benekiva, a platform that transforms the end-to-end insurance claims and servicing experience. 

In a previous episode, Carol interviewed Benekiva’s founder & CEO, Brent Williams. Now you’ll hear more about the industry from the perspective of his female co-founder.  Bobbie tells us how she and her husband met Brent initially and began working with him to form Benekiva. 

In this episode, she opens up to Carol about the reality of working with her spouse. They also discuss the delicate issue of being chosen because you’re a woman or racially diverse rather than being chosen based on what you bring to the table. 

There have been many lessons for Bobbie as a founder of both companies, but she touches on one that she considers most important: trust.

Learn more about Bobbie Shrivastav and Benekiva.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

“The true answer in the startup world is those who are successful are almost always white men who have exited before.” Leslie Hyman says, “In order to compete particularly in the payment world and then in the multifamily world, it takes a fair amount of money. That is not easy, and I just want to call out, it’s hard, I mean women still get 2-3% of VC funds. That is unconscionable.”

Leslie co-founded Circa, an organization that is reinventing rent. The company created a platform for renters to customize their payment experience, splitting payments if needed. Their goal is to increase the overall number of people that can successfully pay rent. 

After working at large companies for many years, Leslie decided to take the leap and build her own business. She details the impetus for that decision as well as the long road of funding she and her co-founders went through to gain a footing in the space. 

In this episode, Carol and Leslie dive into how the platform works and the ideal client. Leslie explains that no marketing is needed because the demand is so high on the part of renters. They also discuss how people are discovering Circa and how that is shifting as they grow. 

Learn more about Leslie Hyman and Circa.

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.