Executives Uncut

Excited to welcome onto to podcast Colleen Blum! She is the VP at Combs & Company and Host of The Try & Stop Me Podcast.

This episode will be about how she got to where she is today. She's got a passion for career motivation, health, and mindset similar to me so this should be a good one!

Together Sarah and Colleen talk about how they both "googled" their way to where they are now. They talk about the principle behind that mindset which is that things don't have to be perfect to get started. Colleen started her podcast as a perfectionist as most of us do with anything in life. She says "We're not afraid of failing, we're afraid of failing in front of other people".

In her tips for the audience, she emphasizes ideas of not being afraid of failure, which is difficult to come to terms with, checking in with yourself constantly, and consistency in general when working towards a new goal.

Colleen's Instagram: @collblum

Colleen's Podcast: ‘Try & Stop Me’

This episode marks the “one year anniversary” of Executives Uncut and it was also the first episode that we streamed to LinkedIn live after applying 7 times to get in. 

This episode will feature Sarah and only Sarah. She will be answering from the audience in a Q&A fashion. Questions covered the following topics: Going back to in person after the pandemic, how will we rebuild the USA, how to achieve work/life balance, positive lifestyle changes, and working with Gen Z. Some previous guests made an appearance in the form of highlights from old podcasts to provide more insight to some questions. 

Since Sarah is not joined by a guest, the 3 quick tips will come from her this time as well as ending with a coaching challenge as usual. 

Sarah and Nicole talk about a new business paradigm. One that consists of regenerative leadership, authenticity, and self-awareness. Nicole explains her transition from Harvard University and a corporate lifestyle to her current journey of living out of her van. 

Nicole Bellisle is the Co-Founder of Collective Channel and Executive Leadership Educator at Harvard University. 

Nicole specializes in Feminine Leadership, Conscious Leadership Practices, and Mastermind Facilitation. 

Nicole Bellisle LinkedIn: 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolebellisle/

Collective Channel:
collectivechannel.com

Social Media (Facebook, Insta, TikTok):
@collectivechannel

Sarah is joined by another guest that she has not met in person but has enjoyed chatting with over LinkedIn, Jim Tenzillo. Jim is the Vice President of Invest Michigan, a venture capital firm focused on tech companies throughout the Midwest. Jim and Sarah talk about the booming venture capital scene in Michigan and the Midwest. With the emergence of COVID-19 and the help of technology, new startups are able to grow and put themselves on the map, regardless of geography. Jim talks about some of the “unicorns” in the Midwest as well as that time he forgot his suit during a job interview. 

Putting on some long term glasses, Sarah and Jim get into their predictions about the future of technology and venture capital. We are living in a “YouTube Era” where anybody can start a business and see rapid growth with the advancement of tech. We also get an inside look of the conversations happening within the colleagues of venture capital. Jim’s closing statements include tips for startups from the eyes of a venture capitalist and his personal tips for the general audience. Jim’s tips emphasize themes of digital content and community as well as following one’s passion. 

Jim's Medium: 
https://jtenzillo.medium.com/

Twitter: 
@forrealjim

LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimtenzillo/

Sarah is Joined by another LinkedIn connection, TED Talk speaker, Podcast Host, CEO of Strategy Sprints and creator of his own method, Simon Severino. Simon has 3 CEO habits that all come together to help you run a healthy business in 2021. Simon’s method focuses on knowing your monetary numbers every day, week and month as well as agility which is how fast you can adapt to the outside environment. Simon notes the importance of adaptation through analogies biomimicry and explains how the fittest organizations will survive. 

Sarah admits her business flaws to Simon and asks Simon for some personal tips which include checking her bank balance daily. The rest of the talk focuses on Simon’s personal story of living a fast paced, repetitive life which eventually turned into an online digital presence during the emergence of COVID-19. Simon explains how technology has allowed him to spend more time with family and increase his happiness throughout work.

Check Out Simon's Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...

Follow Simon on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonseve...

Sarah is joined by a LinkedIn Guru and the CEO of Skaled, Jake Dunlap. The topic is on the future of sales, but that just because we couldn’t put “Jake Dunlap talks about the secrets of LinkedIn, turning sales into a desirable experience, being authentic without ostracizing, creating a digital presence and the future of sales.” since that would be too long. Jake takes a deep dive into topics that non-sales executives and employees can easily understand and implement. He believes in bringing value to the table while being authentic in his approach. His three quick tips towards the end of the episode include having an opinion when creating a digital presence and trying to become a thought leader in your industry. 

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Watch the podcast in video form here: https://youtu.be/vvxPbOxAxZ0

Be sure to follow Jake on social and check out feel free to check out Skaled Sales Consulting using the links below.

Jake's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakedunlap/​
Jake's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jake_dunlap_/​
Skaled Sales Consulting: https://skaled.com/

Sarah is joined by the Director of Research in Industrial Organizational Psychology at Vanguard University of Southern California, Ludmila Praslova. The topic is neurodiversity in the workplace. This is one of the most interesting and important episodes we have had so far because Ludmila talks about the assumptions the people have towards autistic people and common misconceptions about those neuro-minorities. Sarah’s mind was blown a couple times during the episode which only made the episode better. Ludmila covers how the interview process is flawed to not accommodate neuro-minorities, as well as how neuro-minorities can help organizations thrive. Ludmila brings passion and a kind heart to the table while fully intending to school every person who listens to this episode.

Sarah is joined by Bob Gerst, an HR professional, executive coach, and a podcast host of his own show ‘People in Transition’. Bob notes that the hardest part of transitioning jobs is change. Change is scary and uncomfortable, and nobody sees it as an opportunity to grow. The number one thing Bob tells people who have just lost their job is to be kind to themselves and use self compassion. This means taking care of both your body and mind and doing things that you weren’t doing before. Bob emphasizes eating healthy and exercising to really give yourself that edge when turning the corner to find a new job. He also urges people to not give away their resume out like free candy. Sitting and thinking critically about what kind of job you want to pursue is going to be more beneficial in the long run rather than sending your resume out to a bunch of companies that you are probably not interested in. 

In the back half of the episode Bob shares his favorite success story from his coaching career as well as 3 concise tips that the audience can take home. Sarah also shares her coaching challenge at the end of the episode.

Sarah sits down with her two interns Emily and Justin to talk about internships and their personal experience with interning under Sarah. They get into some technical aspects of the internship like how they found out about it and the onboarding process and then get into their first impression from the first months of working under Sarah. They team also talks about their biggest “oopsies”. Justin talks about how he locked himself out of his room right before a podcast and Emily talks about her roommate coming in and interrupting a meeting. This lead to a great point that interns are learning what professional means and Sarah defines it on the spot as “authentic courtesy”. 

Sarah asks for some advice for executives who are potentially bringing on interns and both interns emphasize strong and open communication as well as developing personal relationships. Sarah emphasizes that caring about the “who” rather than the “what” is more beneficial to help interns grow and learn. Getting into some quick tips from Sarah, she talks about the importance of understanding that your boss is imperfect and learning just as much as the interns are. 

Nonye, all the way from Nigeria met Sarah in a Harvard University Sustainability Leadership class when they were put in the same “pod”. Nonye adds some early spice to the show by losing power about 2 minutes before going live. Thankfully her family was nice enough to shine flashlights over Nonye while she continued the podcast in true improvisational style. Nonye establishes her passion for helping people, especially children out of school and on the street in Nigeria. Sarah asks what made her take the action steps required to fulfil her desire to help, since so many people have passions that they don’t act on. Nonye said planning was a large part of it, attributing that behavior to her own personality and habits. 

One takeaway Nonye emphasizes is that keeping the issue at the center of everything you do is critical to continuing your journey. Getting into her quick tips, she encourages the audience to plan, develop, and revise when following your passion. It’s not going to be perfect and it’s not going to be simple. Nonye also mentions the importance of adaptability and Sarah provides the example of a Harvard class project that was spun on its head thanks to Sarah’s “wing it” mentality.