Impact Makers

In today's world, getting a degree isn't the only way to making your entrepreneurial dream a reality. Jennifer talks with Claire Coder, a 21-year-old college dropout and founder/CEO of the wildly successful Aunt Flow. Her company provides high-quality menstrual products to a variety of schools, businesses, and organizations, and donates thousands more to women in need across the country.

• So, where did it all start? Claire takes us back to her high school days and tells Jennifer about the beginning of her entrepreneurial journey: starting a promotional products company at the age of 16.
• Claire was destined for sales. After becoming a top seller on Etsy and having a blast running her modest company, she realized her passion lay in the entrepreneurial world.
• The ultimate question for a young mind: where are you going after high school? For Claire, that question has always meant college. But knowing academia wasn't where she would thrive, Claire kept her eyes on the horizon for any new opportunity.
• Sometimes inspiration can come from those day-to-day experiences that throw a wrench in your gears. While attending a 54-hour entrepreneur hackathon weekend and realizing that the bathroom had no menstrual products whatsoever, Claire knew something could be done. And thus, Aunt Flow was born.
• Why is better access to menstrual products so important? Claire drops the facts: in the United States, menstrual products are not covered by food stamps or by the SNAP and WIC programs and as a consequence 16 million women living at or below the poverty line don't have dependable access to tampons and pads. In a woman's lifetime, she will spend an average of $3000 dollars on tampons and pads, many of them subpar and overpriced.
• After learning about how menstrual products are made with highly dangerous ingredients like chlorine bleaches, synthetic fabrics, and dyes, Claire was driven to create a sustainable and accessible alternative. Aunt Flow now manufactures 100% organic cotton tampons and pads, and sells them to businesses and companies, which they then provide to their students, guests and employees in their bathrooms and restrooms.
• Every new endeavor requires sacrifices and compromise. Claire describes the contentious choice to drop out of school to start Aunt Flow, and what the first months and years of her business were like. From product sourcing, to building a website, to learning how to become an adult, Claire built up her business over two years before finally launching sales.
• In 2016, where does a college dropout working 3 waitressing jobs get the kind of funding to start a company? The answer was, naturally: crowdfunding. Using her experience running crowdfunding campaigns at her marketing day job, Claire raised $25,000 to purchase Aunt Flow's first product run.
• So where did the name Aunt Flow come from? Jennifer asks Claire about the origin story of the name and how she turned an old-fashioned euphemism into a winning brand identity.
• For ridiculous reasons, most people don't like talking about menstruation, bu Claire is all about speaking frankly. Jennifer asks Claire about her outspoken nature and how that has played into her life's journey so far. Claire talks about her work as a nude model for artists, and how that experience has helped her embrace both her body and her self going forward.
• Today, Aunt Flow currently serves over a hundred businesses and organizations but it's beginnings were more humble. Claire talks about Aunt Flow's early individual subscription model and how it eventually enabled the business to transition into the B2B space. Claire also describes the values that she held onto from the very beginning, when the company still operated on the subscription model: for every Aunt Flow box purchased, one was donated to a person in need in the United States.
• Aunt Flow now serves some very large organizations and companies, from Fortune 500's to major universities. Jennifer asks Claire about how she secured her biggest clients and how these large accounts enable Aunt Flow to donate tens of thousands of menstrual products a year. Last year, Aunt Flow donated 100,000 menstrual products. This year, Claire is shooting to donate half a million.
• As a young woman in the business world, asking for what you want, riding out the no, and learning when and how to ask again is the not-so-secret to success. Claire fills us in on her philosophy of business and how it has enabled her company to secure great clients, as well as high-profile media attention.
• When it comes to their brand, Claire is the charismatic face and voice of Aunt Flow. Claire discusses the decision to use her personal profile to push conversations about menstruation into the mainstream via CEO-focused media coverage. She also talks about the more challenging aspects of being a young business woman, and how sometimes both a combination of ageism and sexism can rear its head in both client and investor interactions.
• As a young entrepreneur, what advice does Claire have for other young change makers trying to make the world a better place? Here's her 2-part breakdown:
  • Just Google it! Use the power of the information age to your advantage and don't be afraid to research.
  • Make a Big Ask. If you can't find the right answer or person for your problem, don't be afraid to get straight to the point.
• Everyone has role models or trailblazers they look to for inspiration. Claire talks about the success of Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, as well as her advisors at Aunt Flow.
• How does Claire feel about not finishing college? Despite some mild FOMO about dormitory experiences or collective school pride, Claire has no regrets. Would she recommend her path to others? Well, figuring out whether or not college is for you is a lot cheaper if you're not in college.

Resources & Links:

ClaireCoder.com

Claire Coder LinkedIn

Claire Coder Instagram

Claire Coder Twitter

GoAuntFlow.com

Go Aunt Flow Facebook

Go Aunt Flow Instagram

Go Aunt Flow Twitter

Jeni Britton Bauer | Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams

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HR expert Laurie Ruettiman hosts a podcast called Let's Fix Work where she speaks with a diverse array of people about how to change the way we think and work for the better.

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The search for one's true purpose in life is one of the most daunting questions we humans face – but it doesn't have to be. Jennifer chats with Kevin Monroe, a self-described servant leader who brings his lifelong study of purpose into his work as a leadership coach and consultant, advising both individuals and companies in their search for purpose greater than themselves.

• How would you describe Kevin Monroe in one word? According to him, that word is "pilgrim." Kevin tells Jennifer a little bit about how his outlook has changed throughout his life and how getting fired from his position in the church was exactly what he needed to start the next stage of his journey.
• After 10 years in telecommunications sales and marketing, and after finding out some hard truths about his long-coveted dream job, Kevin left to join a high-tech startup with some friends. Their timing wasn't so great; as the dot-com bubble burst in 2001, the company dissolved and Kevin was brought back to that nagging question of purpose staring him in the face.
• Corporate America is a beast in its own right. Uninterested in returning to the predictable machinations of another corporate position, Kevin took a hard look at what success meant for him and where true fulfillment lay on his path, ultimately moving on to the non-profit sector.
• The tale of a short-lived career in the non-profit sector is, unfortunately, a dime a dozen. Kevin's experience was no exception. After losing his job, the next step was a no-brainer: time to start a business. Jennifer asks Kevin about founding X Factor Consulting, LLC and the early days of being out on his own.
• Unearthing your purpose isn't just about reaching a destination at the end of a path but navigating a winding road, its direction only visible a few steps ahead. After Kevin landed some clients and got things working smoothly, the question of purpose returned. Jennifer asks Kevin about how he used to think about his purpose and how it has changed over time.
• In Kevin's view, purpose is not singular but is multidimensional and multifaceted; he talks about the importance of his family when it comes to purpose and the primacy of relationships.
• The times have changed. The corporations of yesteryear are catching up to the socially minded ethos of the non-profit sector. Kevin talks about how today's conversations around balancing profit-making and social good are in line with the thread of servant leadership that he seems to have been following all along. Jennifer asks Kevin about what servant leadership is to him.
• For many doers and thinkers, the hyper-focus upon the individual leader is counterintuitive. Kevin talks about other-centered leadership, relaying a story about visiting the corporate headquarters of Chick-fil-a and the servant leadership approach of Southwest Airlines.
• How does one become a servant leader? Jennifer asks Kevin if people are born as servant leaders and if one can learn to shift their way of thinking. According to Kevin, "Little things matter most. And we never know what little thing is going to matter most to whom when." Sometimes a warm greeting and a handshake can do amazing things.
• Both Kevin and Jennifer are walking proof that you can change the way you think about leadership step by step, throughout your life. Listen to them tell some stories about leadership experiences in their careers. Kevin also provides insight into the power of servant leadership and why it's so much simpler and intuitive than it often sounds.
• Between his podcast – called the Higher Purpose podcast – and his consulting and facilitation work, Kevin's focus on purpose is driven by the importance of self-driven discovery. There is no universal training program for servant leadership because everyone's story is different. What Kevin tries to do is create the ideal conditions for companies and organizations to connect with their own story on a deeper level in order to discover, be inspired by and effectively lead with their newfound purpose.
• While Kevin mostly works with larger companies, he talks about some tools and resources for helping individuals. You can find some of these resources in the links below!

So what's next for Kevin Monroe? Kevin gives us some details about a new interview segment on the Higher Purpose podcast called Profiles of Purpose and drops a few juicy takeaways in the form of some excellent quotes, credited and original:

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." – Jim Elliott

"Purpose thrives in community, but starves in isolation." – Kevin Monroe

Links and Resources:

Kevin Monroe

Website

LinkedIn

Twitter

Facebook

Higher Purpose podcast

Purpose Manifesto

Profiles of Purpose

Mike Kim

Website

Books (affiliate links):

Firms of Endearment: How World-Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose

Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit

Are you struggling with developing your personal brand?

You can now download Jennifer McClure's Personal Branding Worksheet to help you ask and answer the right questions so you're making the best impression.

Check out another trailblazing HR powerhouse!

HR expert Laurie Ruettimann hosts a podcast called Let's Fix Work where she speaks with a diverse array of people about how to change the way we think and work for the better.

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Do you want to spend your personal and professional time making a lasting impact on others? Do you want to be the kind of leader people love? Subscribe today and we will bring you new ways to change the world every single week.

Staying nimble and agile will take you a long way – in business and in life. Jennifer catches up with her friend Mary Ellen Slayter, pivot master and CEO of Reputation Capital Media Services, LLC, a B2B content marketing agency based out of Baton Rouge. As a successful working wife and loving mother, Mary Ellen has made a huge impact in her field and in the lives of her family, friends and community.

• The life of Mary Ellen Slayter is a story like no other. Jennifer asks Mary Ellen about how she got to where she is and what she does; she gives Jennifer the lowdown on the work that her new company Reputation Capital Media Services (Rep Cap) is doing, her undergraduate days of studying soil, and tells the story of how she started her career in journalism. Mary Ellen also forwards a convincing case for why kids still need good math and algebra skills in today's world.
• After working as a part-time copy editor for the financial desk of the Washington Post, Mary Ellen landed an advice column with a unique pitch. Mary Ellen gives us a look into some of the seeds of her later career that were planted with her fresh approach to the column.
• To fully commit to a career change is no easy feat. Mary Ellen describes diving into her new career in journalism and talks about her early interest in the founding theories and philosophies of modern journalism.
• Like many others, Mary Ellen saw the digital future of journalism coming fast. While the Post was still largely focused on print, Mary Ellen moved to the digital-savvy SmartBrief and stayed on for three years. Her life eventually took her from Washington back to Baton Rouge where she received some bad news on her daughter's birthday that came to be a blessing in disguise.
• With her future uncertain, Mary Ellen's business idea now had ample room to be cultivated. Mary Ellen got a fateful call from Jennifer Benz of Benz Communication who didn't call with an offer, but with a challenge.
• Sometimes the first steps of a new venture can be the most daunting. Mary Ellen gives Jennifer an idea of what the first few weeks of Rep Cap looked like, how she got her first client, and how her small up-and-coming business evolved into a fully-fledged agency.
• Mary Ellen considers herself a connector. If she can't help people, she wants to get people connected with others who can. Mary Ellen and Jennifer talk about how relationships play a key role in developing a new business.
• How in the world do you make HR tech, financial services and insurance services sexy? Mary Ellen talks about how her work has changed over time, from writing blog posts and running client social media to full-on digital marketing strategy consulting. She also talks about how the landscape has shifted in the last six years since Rep Cap was started.
• As a marketer, what should you be focusing on? Jennifer asks Mary Ellen for her thoughts on what marketing and content managing folks should be thinking about when trying to get their business, brand or personal profile out into a changing landscape. She offers a handful of rich takeaways based on her experience and observations of emerging trends in her field.
• Is a series of pivots actually just a full-on spin? Jennifer asked Mary Ellen about what Rep Cap's work looks like now and what might be next moving forward. Mary talks about the importance of learning new things in the constantly shifting market landscape of the 21st century.
• As you can tell, Mary Ellen is no stranger to cultivating new ideas, skills, knowledge, and people. Jennifer asks Mary Ellen about her progressive ideas in building a positive workplace culture at Rep Cap such as fully paid maternity leave and pay transparency.
• Smashing goals is Mary Ellen's bread and butter. Now that Rep Cap has achieved beyond what she imagined, what's next in the pipeline? Mary Ellen talks about participating in the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program and how that helped her envision and create a 10-year plan for her business. She also talks about her plans to write a career advice book specifically for writers.
• It's safe to say, more than ever before, we are living in the age of the pivot. Jennifer asks Mary Ellen about what the future of work looks like and the importance of a willingness to learn, staying nimble, and keeping your eyes open.

Mary Ellen Slayter LinkedIn

Mary Ellen Slayter Twitter

Rep Cap | B2B Content Marketing Agency

Managing Editor digital magazine

Jennifer Benz – Benz Communications

Scott Eblin

Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program

LivePlan: Online Business Plan Software

6 Tips For Developing Executive Presence

When it comes to making an impact, nobody brings the fire like Tim Sackett. Jennifer catches up with her old friend and firebrand who isn't afraid to say, blog and write what's on his mind. As outspoken leader in his field with 20 years of top-level HR and talent experience, Tim shares what he's learned working as a talent and HR wizard.

• Who is Tim Sackett? And why the heck is he so happy? Jennifer asks Tim a little bit about himself and how he entered the recruiting business through his family. Tim tells Jennifer about memories of his mother's recruiting calls, getting fired by her, and his return to the business after some time in the HR corporate world.
• Tim's mom is cut from some rock-hard stuff. Jennifer asks Tim about how she came to start her recruiting company and how she influenced him. Tim tells the story of his more immature and egotistical days, why he was axed by his mom, and how he made his way to corporate HR.
• How do you spark a passion for HR? Tim talks about the reward of being able to help people more directly, the challenges of a new field and a deeper sense of camaraderie sucked him into the HR world.
• While Tim had a history of playing it fast and loose in the workplace, the corporate world demanded an adjustment in temperament. Jennifer asks Tim about how he cooled his heels for the better and who has helped him along the way, personally and professionally. Tim relays his experience working in HR at Applebee's and how he learned the value of talent strengthening and critical feedback.
• What inspired Tim to pick up the quill? Tim tells the tale of how he came to writing and blogging, and his experience writing for Kriss Dunn's The HR Capitalist. He also talks about the therapeutic value of writing in his own voice and how his practice has translated into bonuses for his professional career.
• According to Mama Sackett, blogging and speaking engagements are just more ways to give away the secret sauce. Tim discussing how his drive to help others has informed his open and friendly approach to giving advice and sharing knowledge.
• Practical, hilarious and brave; the Tim Sackett voice doesn't sound like anything else. Jennifer asks Tim about the most controversial thing he's written and he talks about why he doesn't shy away from topics like race and gender in the workplace.
• While it might seem innocent, the tale of how Tim Sackett became The Workplace Hugging Expert is juicier than expected. Tim fills us in on the details of his 15 minutes of fame turned icebreaker comedy skit.
• Blogging is one this but publishing a book is a whole new ball-game. Jennifer asks Tim about his process for making the jump from the web to the printed page and what it's like to be an author.
• Tim is notorious for being a fountain of advice. Jennifer asks Tim about the best advice his mother has given him and the greatest advice he would give to his sons.

Tim Sackett

Tim Sackett Website

Tim Sackett LinkedIn

Tim Sackett Twitter

Fistful of Talent

Book (affiliate link):

The Talent Fix: A Leader's Guide To Recruiting Great Talent

Check out another trailblazing HR powerhouse!

HR expert Laurie Ruettiman hosts a podcast called Let's Fix Work where she speaks with a diverse array of people about how to change the way we think and work for the better.

Give us a hand getting the word out!

Do you want to spend your personal and professional time making a lasting impact on others? Do you want to be the kind of leader people love? Subscribe today and we will bring you new ways to change the world every single week.

When the market moves as fast and Donald Trump tweets, how should we think about money in the digital age? Jennifer talks with psychologist and behavioral finance expert Dr. Daniel Crosby about his life story and how he has built a career helping both individual investors and institutional clients understand themselves and the psychology of the market.

• For Daniel Crosby, the beginning of the story started with an ending. Daniel tells Jennifer the story of how he came into the world on the day of his grandfather's passing and how that has driven him to live his life to its fullest potential.
• An important part of leading a rich and full life is to always be learning. Daniel talks about how his love for learning and how his academic education laid the groundwork for developing his interpersonal skills which were key to his success later in life.
• As the son of an investment manager and advisor, the stability and comfort of his father's profession was an alluring one. But after serving a mission through his church in the Philippines and helping a close friend whether an eating disorder, Daniel shifted his academic path towards helping people.
• How do some people with so little manage to find joy in their lives? Jennifer gets Daniel to flex his clinical psychology skills and asks him why some people blessed with great privileges can't seem to find the same happiness of some people living a simpler or rougher life. He also talks about his own success and his approach to being happy.
• What drove Daniel to fly straight into graduate school? Jennifer asks Daniel a bit more about his trajectory towards becoming an impactful force in people's lives. He talks about the value of therapy and why building a strong relationship between therapist and client beats out any high-level degree or specialized school of thought.
• Misconceptions about therapy and the therapeutic process are a dime a dozen. Daniel does some mythbusting and distills some of what he's learned as a therapist into some takeaways for listeners that they can use in their personal and professional lives.
• Whether it's for work, in our relationships or just in our day-to-day lives, we all talk about ourselves. Jennifer and Daniel talk about why being able to talk about yourself and your feelings openly and authentically with a trusted professional is so important is our society.
• After being burnt out by individual therapy work, Daniel moved on to workplace-focused psychology work in Atlanta. While doing pre-employment assessments across the Deep South, he learned some hard truths about competence, wealth, meritocracy and the under-recognized value of general intelligence.
• You're not that great. Daniel fills us in on one of the key moments of his journey to becoming an impact-maker: a 2011 TEDx talk in Huntsville, Alabama about 7 counter-intuitive truths for living a better and more meaningful life. This talk eventually turned into a self-published book of the same name (check out the links below).
• "Only as we accept our normality, are we able to build something that is better than normal." Daniel talks about the central message of his book, the concept of overconfidence bias and how it keeps us back from achieving our fullest potential.
• In late 2009 – in the swell of the recession – Daniel set out on his own to get away from his rough day job. His new behaviorist economics consultancy called Nocturne Capital offers a wealth of services around the psychology of investment decision making.
• Jennifer asks the question on all of our minds: so how should we think about money? Daniel offers some of the insights he's gathered over the years helping people understand and navigate financial markets. Daniel shares a couple tidbits with Jennifer but you can find all 10 of his investing commandments in his book The Laws of Wealth, named the best investment book of 2017.
• If you've been listening to this week's episode so far, you'll know that Dr. Crosby is a man of quick wit. Jennifer asks Daniel where he gets his funny bone from and how it finds its way into his work.
• Validation and criticism some in equal spades in today's digital word. Jennifer asks Daniel for some advice for everyone about how to engage with the digital dimensions of our fast-paced contemporary world, as well as where you can find Daniel online. Check the links below!

Dr. Daniel Crosby:

Dr. Daniel Crosby website - Nocturne Capital

Dr. Daniel Crosby – LinkedIn

Dr. Daniel Crosby – Twitter

Podcast – Money, Mind & Meaning by Dr. Daniel Crosby

Books referenced (affiliate links):

The Laws of Wealth: Psychology and the secret to investing success by Daniel Crosby

The Behavioral Investor by Daniel Crosby

Personal Benchmark: Integrating Behavioral Finance and Investment Management by Charles Widger & Daniel Crosby

You're Not That Great by Daniel Crosby

Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box by The Arbinger Institute

Dr. Daniel Crosby TED X Talks

TEDxHuntsville - Daniel Crosby - You're Not That Great: A Motivational Speech

Sex, Funds, & Rock N' Roll - Daniel Crosby at TEDxHuntsville

Can being weird make you rich and happy? - Daniel Crosby at TEDxBYU

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Do you want to spend your personal and professional time making a lasting impact on others? Do you want to be the kind of leader people love? Subscribe today and we will bring you new ways to change the world every single week.

Want to raise your game at work?

If you want to raise your game at work, you've got to raise your impact. Find out Jennifer's 10 best strategies to make more of an impact at work.

Everyone's journey to becoming an impact maker is different and unique. Today, Jennifer talks with business coach Ben Brooks, the founder and CEO of Pilot, Inc about his path from a rental car company to founding his own digital coaching service, aimed at democratizing career coaching. Ben provides some insights into how he has forged great relationships, created innovative products and built up award-winning initiatives throughout his career.

• Ben is an impact maker through and through. Jennifer asked Ben about where his journey started and the key moments of his life that led him to where he is today. Ben talks about his "life statement" and his early formative days after graduating from university working at Enterprise Rent-a-Car and Lockheed Martin. Ben delivers some takeaways from what he learned during these years and his mantra for approaching new problems.
• Whether its fate, destiny or just plain chance, inspiration can arrive at the most unexpected times. Ben talks about how working job at Oliver Wyman as a management consultant all started from reading a quote in USA Today on a flight home. After sending off a meticulously written letter, an ambitious slide deck, and a Singapore Airlines A380 model airplane to the right person, followed by a series of interviews and flights to and fro, Ben received an offer to start the next leg of his journey.
• Sometimes a bold and targeted approach to getting noticed can be incredibly successful. Ben tells Jennifer his thoughts on the merits of an aggressive approach to getting your dream job and why within the context of modern click-to-apply recruiting technologies, makings a memorable impact is more important than ever.
• Even in a recession Ben is a force to be reckoned with. During his time off from Oliver Wyman, Ben turned down a job driving a tractor in West Texas – found by his very endearing parents, and saw an opportunity for a rotation at Wyman's parent company Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. Ben tells the story of how he ended up as there in talent management and some of his duties in his new role. For example, Ben created a succession risk index chart that had top-level executives sweating bullets.
• Management consulting is an incredibly diverse field; you never know what project, industry, or region you'll find yourself immersed in. Ben relays some of the greatest challenges and hurdles he's had to overcome and focuses on some of the key concepts, tools and frameworks he uses to deliver results. He also tells the story of how he got his job at Marsh LLC (insurance).
• While taking some time off, the entrepreneurial call found Ben Brooks in the form of a mislabeled nametag at a conference. Ben reached what he calls his fork in the road and decided to take entrepreneurship seriously. After getting some advice from some successful people in his life, Ben started building out a diverse coaching business using his problem solving skills from his management consulting background.
• With the ambitious idea of democratizing coaching, Ben founded Pilot, Inc. with his life savings. While at first they focused on individual sales, Ben's team now strives to help employers and companies cultivate and retain the best talent they have.
• Democratized coaching? Sounds too good to be true! Jennifer asks Ben how exactly Pilot works and why it's so effortless.
• Satisfaction in your career – and your life – is unique to you. Jennifer and Ben talk about some of central drives behind Pilot and the larger questions that Ben considers instrumental in finding your own definition of satisfaction.
• We know all about the journey of Ben Brooks but what does satisfaction look like for him? Jennifer asks Ben to shine the light on himself and talk about what drives him as an impact maker. Ben shares some stories about how Pilot has changed people's lives for the better.
• In the workplace, LGBTQIA individuals face adversity in all sorts of different ways. Ben talks about his experience navigating his career path as a gay man and the beginning of his trailblazing diversity and HR efforts at Oliver Wyman that have won various industry awards. He also talks about his contributions towards repealing the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy and the potential for creating change by taking a risk and leveraging your identity while in key positions.
• Ben's secret? Meditation. Ben gives Jennifer a peek into how he prioritizes self-awareness and being present so that when the wrong nametag comes along, he's ready to step into the role that's truly right for him.

Find Ben Brooks:

What Color Is Your Parachute? 2017: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers

Do you want to spend your personal and professional time making a lasting impact on others? Do you want to be the kind of leader people love? Subscribe today and we will bring you new ways to change the world every single week.

If you want to raise your game at work, you've got to raise your impact. Find out Jennifer's 10 best strategies to make more of an impact at work.

Sometimes making an impact comes down to finding the perfect person for the job. A self-described "recruiting geek" and a woman of many hats, Carmen Hudson is an impact-maker in every sense. She has enjoyed a prestigious career recruiting for Amazon, Starbucks, Yahoo! and Microsoft, and even founded her own social recruiting tech company. Carmen now shares her immense knowledge with her clients through her work at the Recruiting ToolboxSM.

• Everyone has an origin story. Before diving into the details of her life today, Carmen talks about her history and early career dreams. She describes how she landed in Seattle at Amazon and why her unique skills enabled her to carve out her role as a sourcer at the company.
• What does expert recruiting look like in the digital age? Carmen gives some insight into her methods of finding top-level talent and how she can find anyone anywhere!
• Every opportunity can be a stepping stone to something greater. Carmen talks about her journey from Amazon to Starbucks to Yahoo! and some of the highlights of the Silicon Valley leg of her journey.
• Carmen was one of the first to recognize the potential of Twitter for recruitment. In 2009, she bravely stepped out on her own and founded Tweet-a-Job, a technology company that connects job-seekers with employers. But a recession is a forced to be reckoned with; after a tough three years, Carmen sunsetted the company and moved forward.
• But how does someone accomplish so much when they haven't got two pennies to rub together? Carmen describes what founding a tech company with no technology background was like, interacting with investors and technology types as a black woman, and the invaluable lessons she learned from the experience.
• After Tweet-a-job, what was next for Carmen? Carmen talks about how she ended up as a Principal Consultant and Trainer at Recruiting ToolboxSM and describes the diversity of clients and projects that she has worked on. From educational and financial institutions to thinktanks and startups to big commercial brands, Carmen has helped her clients develop their recruiting tools and practices to secure the best talent around.
• Gender and pay equity are issues close to Carmen's heart. Jennifer and Carmen talk about the glaring gender disparities of our contemporary society and discuss the importance of transparency. New regulations, technologies and individual negotiating efforts – undertaken by both women and men in the workplace, are of key importance to Carmen.
• Telling your story openly and proudly can inspire others to step into the spotlight. Despite the flak that social media platforms get these days, Carmen reminds us of the power they hold to sharing one's successes and failures in order to inform and inspire others.
• As a woman of color working in recruiting, Carmen has seen her fair share of lackluster diversity initiatives. She offers her thoughts on the contemporary state of diversity hiring regimes, why they so often yield meager results, and what kind of approach is needed for a serious commitment towards true diversity in the workplace. She also talks about how both a sour hiring experience early in her career and the encouragement of a mentor has informed this perspective.
• A woman of many hats indeed! Jennifer asks Carmen about her work with Seattle's homeless youth initiative called YouthCare and where you can find her on the internet. Check out some of the links below.

Links:

Find Carmen Hudson:

• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Carmen Hudson AT recruitingtoolbox DOT com

Tweet-a-Job

Talent42 Conference

Recruiting ToolboxSM

YouthCare

Give us a hand getting the word out!

Do you want to spend your personal and professional time making a lasting impact on others? Do you want to be the kind of leader people love? Subscribe today and we will bring you new ways to change the world every single week.

In this episode, our host Jennifer McClure talks about the importance of developing key relationships when trying to maximize your impact in our world. Digital communication has made it easier to connect with people across the globe but nothing replaces intentional connections and a deep commitment to reciprocity. Jennifer shares her strategy for building relationships and relays some stories about a few amazing people that she has connected with.

• Jennifer identifies 3 types of people that you should focus on building relationships with. Whether they are in your community, industry or desired area of impact, these intentional relationships will be above and beyond the most enriching, compared to quick-and-easy connections found online.
• Focus on the long-term! Jennifer stresses the intentional and strategic elements of relationship building and what they mean for your network and business down the road.
• Keep an eye out for potential mentors, skip the coffee date, and be prepared to make an investment! Many of these people are farther along in their journey and are working to deliver value to hundreds, if not thousands (or even millions) of people. Take advantage of services such as coaching and courses to get right to the heart of what they are offering. Jennifer relays her experience with leadership mentor Michael Hyatt and how joining his community enabled her to connect with well-known high achievers. She also talks about her relationships with online marketing expert Amy Porterfield and professional speaker Ryan Estis as other examples.
• Who do you know already? Stepping back and taking stock of your existing networks, communities and even competitors, can uncover new opportunities for building more intentional and valuable relationships. Jennifer talks about a few people in her network like Laurie Ruettimann, Steve Browne, Kris Dunn, and Cy Wakeman.
• Who can you grow, refer, and champion? Jennifer stresses the importance of staying on the lookout for people to bring up, particularly those from diverse backgrounds who don't have access to the same resources or opportunities as yourself. She also offers some examples of people she has encouraged and learned from such as Mary Faulkner and Michael Sipple Jr.
• Who is above you, who do you know, and who can you grow? Jennifer summarizes the 3 types of people to build relationships with in order to maximize impact between everyone involved.

Links:

Michael Hyatt

• Platform University
• 5 Days To Your Best Year Ever course
• Full Focus Planner

Amy Porterfield

Pat Flynn

Ray Edwards

Jon Acuff

Donald Miller

Jeff Goins

Michele Cushatt

Ryan Estis

Jane Atkinson /Speaker Launcher

Seth Mattison

Kindra Hall

Laurie Ruettimann

• Let's Fix Work podcast with Laurie Ruettimann

Steve Browne

Kris Dunn

Cy Wakeman

Mary Faulkner / Surviving Leadership

Mike Sipple, Jr. / Centennial, Inc.

Talent Magnet Institute podcast

Impact Makers podcast episode 2 with Laurie Ruettiman

Impact Makers podcast episode 3 with Steve Browne

Impact Makers podcast episode 9 with Kary Oberbrunner

Books (affiliate links):

Platform: Get Noticed In A Noisy World by Michael Hyatt

Living Forward: A Proven Plan To Stop Drifting And Get The Life You Want by Michael Hyatt

Your Best Year Ever: A 5-Step Plan For Achieving Your Most Important Goals by Michael Hyatt

HR On Purpose: Developing Deliberate People Passion by Steve Browne

Give us a hand getting the word out!

Do you want to spend your personal and professional time making a lasting impact on others? Do you want to be the kind of leader people love? Subscribe today and we will bring you new ways to change the world every single week.

For Colin Gautrey, curiosity is key. After a long and storied career in the corporate world with specializations in mergers and acquisitions, international strategy, IT, Sales and Leadership Development, Colin has never stopped being curious about the cutting edge. Through his research, writing, and coaching, he has been working to better equip his clients with practical knowledge about how to achieve results with greater influence.

• Focus on the future, but not at the expense of the present. Colin talks about why when it comes to achieving your goals, mastering the day-to-day is part of an essential foundation of building long-term influence.
• While delivering top-notch results is absolutely necessary, it's only part of the equation; you have to be able to stand out from the crowd in more ways than one. Jennifer and Colin talk about the importance of trust and goodwill relationships within your field that will ensure that everyone knows who you are and what you can do for them.
• But what is influence? What does it mean to be influential? And what is the difference between influence, politics and manipulation? Colin sets the record straight about the differences and the importance of intent in this equation.
• Influencing a person's behavior isn't just about applying pressure; it's also about connecting your agenda with theirs. Building a trusting relationship can enable you to understand others and get them to understand your goals as a part of their own.
• Do you hate the politics of the corporate world? Are there moments where you feel like navigating this sphere is harder than it should be? Colin offers some insights into why this is such a common complaint and reiterates the importance of knowing the rules of the game.
• When entering a highly political organization, it's all about the long game. At the outset, it's easy to misstep by being overeager in locating and aligning yourself with the key players. Colin stresses the importance of neutrality, patient observation, and relationship building when attempting to get your finger on the decision-making pulse of an organization.
• Power can sometimes be a dirty word and often comes with a slew of emotions attached. Colin explains how taking a step back and breaking down what constitutes power in any given situation or group can inform where – and with whom – you should be developing influence.
• When assessing where you want to be, what you've got so far, what you'll need, and where you can get it from, high-level influencing is all about investing time in people. Colin talks about what this looks like in large organizations and why it is so important.
• Power doesn't exist in a vacuum. When thinking about developing individual influence, what about individuals or groups who start on the back foot, those that didn't enter the world with the same privileges enjoyed by others? Jennifer asks Colin about his thoughts on how to approach the challenge of developing influence as a minority in an organization.
• Do you have the tools you need to become a successful leader for tomorrow? Colin provides a sneak-peak of some of his research around the importance of influence and risk-taking and talks about what these skills can do to shake up traditionally static industries in order to keep them competitive.
• Always have a plan B! Just because you're in a position to exercise your influence to achieve your goals or the goals of your organization, it might not always go your way. Jennifer asks Colin about what you can do to prepare yourself for a diversity of organizational situations.

Find Colin's Gautrey:

LearnToInfluence.com

Colin Gautrey on LinkedIn

Colin's Books:

21 Dirty Tricks at Work: How to Beat the Game of Office Politics (2005)

Political Dilemmas at Work: How to Maintain Your Integrity and Further Your Career (2008)

Advocates & Enemies: How to Build Practical Strategies to Influence Your Stakeholders 2011

Building Reputations in Tough Organisations (eBook 2014)

Influential Leadership: A Leader's Guide to Getting Things Done (2014)

A Project Manager's Guide to Influence (2015)

Give us a hand getting the word out!

Do you want to spend your personal and professional time making a lasting impact on others? Do you want to be the kind of leader people love? Subscribe today and we will bring you new ways to change the world every single week.

Does your day job feel like the first part of Shawshank Redemption? It did for Kary Oberbrunner. His day job was a prison, and it took some planning to get out, and the payoff for his patience and effort is a very successful publishing company. If that weren't enough, part of Kary's latest book was written in main character Andy Dufresne's actual cell from the movie. What Kary has to say about life and entrepreneurship will inspire you, and hopefully, ignite your soul.

• Your pain is your platform. Kary had an early life filled with pain, and rather than honoring his voice, he used self-harm to deal with the pain and anger. But it was his heartbreaking childhood that has become his medium for making an impact on others and, as he calls it, igniting the souls of those he comes in contact with.
• Self-injury isn't just physical. Kary believes that another way people do it is by having self-limiting beliefs. It's an emotional, and sometimes spiritual wound that many people don't realize they have. He shares the story of his daughter's teacher and how she reacted to it.
• Do you know the definition of entrepreneur? Kary learned it when he realized that's exactly what he is: the bearer of risk. He shares the story of how he decided to leave a stable income and benefits and became an entrepreneur. But Kary did it the smart way.
• One of the things Kary teaches is to use the Shawshank Redemption method for leaving your job to become an entrepreneur full time. Andy, the main character, didn't break out of jail in a year. It took him 19 years. Similarly, Kary suggests you spend time developing the character and discipline you need by keeping your entrepreneurship as a side hustle until you can do it right. You don't have to wait 19 years, though.
• So what did Kary move to from ministry? He wrote his first book while still a pastor, but a call with one of his colleagues was a terribly RUDE awakening that he was taking too long. Kary shares the story of being called out, called a hypocrite, and how it changed his future.
• For a long time, Kary couldn't get clients. He realized it's because his thoughts were centered on himself. So he began to 'show up filled up.' People noticed the difference immediately, and he shares exactly what he did to get his first coaching client.
• Do you want to know what selling and marketing are at the core? Serving and storytelling, respectively. Kary explains what this means and how he uses it in his everyday business life. He also shares his tactics for getting people to REMEMBER his stories.
• If you're fuzzy on what your VPS is, your Value Proposition Statement, then you need to hear Kary's explanation. It begins with the thing that people will pay you money for. There's a simple sentence you can fill out that will get you laser-focused on yours: I am _______ who helps _______ do or understand _______ so that _______. Before you fill it out, you need to hear how to make it work like a true VPS.
• Kary has made a practice of writing a book and generating multiple revenue streams around it. When people starting noticing the trend, they came to him asking how he did it. He couldn't find anything for them so he decided to teach them himself. He tells the story of how he sold out a course before it was built and focused his efforts on a publishing company to help others.
• If you're interested in writing a book and having help building a business around it, that's what Kary does. What's better, you keep the royalties and intellectual properties. He uses the method he used for his own 7 plus books, so it works.

All Things Kary Oberbrunner:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

YouTube

Instagram

Igniting Souls Podcast

Igniting Souls Conference

Author Academy Elite

Business Academy Elite

People Mentioned:

Mike Kim

Chet Scott

Jeff Brown – Read To Lead podcast

Dan Miller

Books Mentioned (affiliate links):

Kary's books:

Elixer Project – Everything Can Be Hacked, Even The Truth (fiction)

DAY JOB TO DREAM JOB - Practical Steps for Turning Your Passion into a Full-Time Gig

THE DEEPER PATH - Five Steps That Let Your Hurts Lead to Your Healing

YOUR SECRET NAME - Discovering Who God Created You to Be

THE FINE LINE - Re-envisioning the Gap between Christ and Culture

CALLED - Becoming Who You Were Born to Be

THE JOURNEY TOWARDS RELEVANCE - Simple Steps for Transforming Your World

Book published by Author Academy Elite:

Vlog Like a Boss: How to Kill It Online with Video Blogging by Amy Schmittauer-Landino