In this episode Thom Singer shares his observations about how in these crazy times of pandemic, the people he has observed who have pivoted and found success are achieving because they have an extra does of that "fire in the belly".

Creativity, Confidence, and Ambition are the key to getting ahead. While Thom admits he has a good does of all three of these, he is not in the top 10% of people. Yet to raise the level of creativity, confidence, and ambition means more success. Thus, he is working to raise his game. And in this episode he is hoping to encourage everyone listening to get fired up, too.

https://thomsinger.com

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With over 260 locations and over 3000 people, Amazing Lash Studio has a great story of growth and success. CEO Stephanie Hu joins the conversation on "Making Waves at C-Level" and shares her experience and advice.  

About Stephanie Hu

Stephanie Hu is the CEO of Amazing Lash Studio® and Fitness Together Franchise, LLC. Stephanie brings over 20 years of consumer products and health and fitness experience to the WellBiz Brands, Inc.-backed franchise concepts, most recently serving as the President of Life Time Sport (a division of Life Time, Inc.). Stephanie holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BBA from the University of Michigan.

About Amazing Lash Studio®

Founded in 2010, Amazing Lash Studio locations’ estheticians utilize a patented process to apply semi-permanent eyelash extensions to the clients’ own lashes, replicating the curve and size of natural lashes. The concept began franchising in 2013 and to date has over 260 open studios in 28 states. In 2021, the brand ranked No. 14 on the Franchise Times® 2021 Fast & Serious list and in 2020 the brand was recognized with several accolades including ranking No. 307 on Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500® list. Each Amazing Lash Studio® location is independently owned and operated. Amazing Lash Studio® and the Amazing Lash Studio + design are registered trademarks owned by Amazing Lash Franchise, LLC.

https://thomsinger.com/amazing-lash

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What? Another cannabis industry interview on Making Waves at C-Level? Yes, because if you want to look closely at entrepreneurs and companies that are facing change and growth, this business is always new. The leaders in these legal cannabis companies have to think on their feet, know how to pivot, deal with government red tape, and see the future via visionary eyes.

This episode (Episode 669) we talk to John Sedillo from Family Hemp brands in New Mexico. As the state changes their laws over the next year, the company will take their years of experience and be making changes. John is a real advocate and pioneer in the business and he shares openly about how he has grown the business and where he is headed.

About Family Hemp Brands

With the vision of an organic, craft scale, seed to sale, vertical hemp company, focusing on product quality and positive customer experience above all,  

Family Hemp Brands came into being in 2018.

When it came time to creating a collection of premium consumer products, region and passion gave Family Hemp Brands a unique edge. Combining the unique qualities of the New Mexico high desert region and a well tuned acumen for cannabis cultivation and breeding, brought forth some serious hemp flower power. From consumable flowers to effective tinctures, topicals and more, Family Hemp Brands has become a single source solution for premium cannabinoid rich products.

https://www.thomsinger.com/podcast/Family-Hemp-Brands

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Do you think "Fish" when you think of business. You should. Peter Handy has turned his seafood company into a major entrepreneurial venture and has grown the business in the middle of a pandemic. While you might think supplying fish to restaurants would be problematic during the last 18 months, he expanded the business in other areas and has added revenue and staff.  

About Peter Handy

Peter Handy is president & CEO of Bristol Seafood, a processor and distributor known for its uncompromising Maine standards. In addition to his role at Bristol, he serves on the boards of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Maine, Maine Public Radio and Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, and the investment committee of the Portland Museum of Art. Before joining Bristol, Peter co-founded BoxMyDorm.com, a national storage and shipping company for college students. In addition, he held financial services roles in New York at JPMorgan and Sanford Bernstein in roles ranging from asset management to institutional trading. Peter is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Chartered Financial Analyst. He lives in Yarmouth, Maine with his wife Jocelyn and three daughters.

About Bristol Seafood

Bristol Seafood is on a mission to make seafood America’s favorite protein. Since its founding in 1992 on the waterfront in Portland, Maine, the company built a nationwide following for its steadfast adherence to its Uncompromising Maine Standards. Bristol was named to the Top 25 Seafood Sustainability & Conservation list, the Top 25 Seafood Product Innovations, and is the first seafood company in the US to earn a Fair Trade certification. The company specializes in dry scallops, wild-caught haddock and cod, and ready to cook Seafood for the retail market under its My Fish Dish brand.

See more at www.bristolseafood.com, or contact Iréne Moon VP – Marketing [email protected] and 207-200-2561.

https://thomsinger.com/podcast/bristol-seafood

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Episode 667 is a great conversation with one of the authors of the book "Connect: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends, and Colleagues" (by David Bradford and Carole Robin). This is a topic that is near and dear to host Thom Singer, as he has been talking to audiences for years about how to connect better with people in this gadget crazed world.  

About Dr. David Bradford

David is the Eugene O’Kelly II Senior Lecturer Emeritus in Leadership at Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he helped develop Interpersonal Dynamics (“Touchy Feely”) as well as much of the School’s leadership curriculum. He is the author of numerous books, including Managing for Excellence, Influence Without Authority, and Power Up. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife of more than fifty years.

About the Book - "Connect"

Connect is a transformative guide to building more fulfilling relationships with colleagues, friends, partners, and family, based on the landmark Interpersonal Dynamics (“Touchy-Feely”) course at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. The ability to create strong relationships with others is crucial to living a full life and becoming more effective at work. Yet many of us find ourselves struggling to build solid personal and professional connections or unable to handle challenges that inevitably arise when we grow closer to others. When we find ourselves in an exceptional relationship—the kind of relationship in which we feel fully understood and supported for who we are—it can seem like magic. But the truth is that the process of building and sustaining these relationships can be described, learned, and applied.

Using many real-life examples and research-backed insights, Connect can help anyone hoping to improve relationships and build new ones at any stage of life. We follow five relationships – read about their challenges as they move towards deeper and more fulfilling connection and how they use the concepts in the book to get there. They learn about the value of showing more of themselves in an authentic way, developing trust, mutual influence so that each can get their needs met, handling minor annoyances to prevent major conflicts and dealing with significant disagreements in ways that resolve issues while further strengthening the relationship.

To increase the book’s practical value, each chapter concludes with suggestions on how to apply the material to the reader’s own relationships.

https://thomsinger.com/podcast/connect

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Episode 666 is not the mark of the devil. This is a solo episode where Thom Singer will rant about success. Some listeners of the "Making Waves at C-Level" podcast pointed out it had been too long since Thom did episodes that were just him sharing ideas and his story, so he is working to re-instate these with weekly thoughts being shared.

Thom is a huge believer in the power of participation in trade association events. He has seen people in a variety of industries who have had more opportunity because they showed up and were part of the community. People do business with those they know, like, and trust. And all things being equal, your participation is key to success.

Collaboration is another pillar to success that too many people skip. Thom is so excited to be in partnership with others, as together they accomplish more. Sometimes it is just ideas and accountability... other times it is the creation of a new business product that neither person or company could have done alone.

Transformation is something all humans should want. Being stuck in a rut sucks. But transformation is not easy and it is hard to do alone. This ties back to participation and collaboration, and when we really change for the better and open new doors, the world gets better. Get excited and help lead everyone on your team to ways to positively transform.

Finally, Thom shares his concepts of "uncommon connections". Too many are focused on their social media followings, but when is the last time some like, link, share, or follow sent you business? It is more than links that lead to opportunity. Get off the bandwagon of counting LinkedIn followers, and look to those few and rare people with whom you are deeply engaged.

Enjoy this episode (yes, 666).

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Bryan Kelly helps busy leaders and their teams unlock and implement one or more business books a month. He does this through a program called "Stroke of Genius". In this episode he shares his journey and his ways to get more from reading great books. 

About Bryan Kelly

Bryan Kelly is an entrepreneur and executive who has built, sold, and acquired multiple companies over the past 15 years. His success has been rooted in a simple system for unlocking and implementing concepts contained within the pages of business books. He now works with leaders looking to get more from the stack of books sitting on their shelf. Follow Bryan on LinkedIn at www.LinkedIn.com/in/BryanKellyNow.

About Stroke of Genius

Stroke of Genius is for leaders who know there isn’t enough time to extract, implement, and execute ideas from business books. They see the value in hiring someone to do the hard work so they receive all the benefits — with 90% less effort. These leaders are looking for 1 actionable insight per book — because they know they can’t execute 100s of ideas. They know 1 focused idea could 10x their monthly cost for Stroke of Genius... and substantially impact their business and career. Visit GetStrokeOfGenius.com to learn more.

https://www.thomsinger.com/podcast/stroke-of-genius

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Dr Ivan Misner returns to "Making Waves at C-Level" to talk about networking after the pandemic. So much has happened in the last year, but the need for human connections does not change in the business world.

About Ivan Misner

Dr. Ivan Misner is the Founder & Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, the world’s largest business networking organization. Founded in 1985 the organization now has over 9,800 chapters throughout every populated continent of the world. Last year alone, BNI generated almost 12.3 million referrals resulting in $16.7 billion dollars worth of business for its members.

Dr. Misner’s Ph.D. is from the University of Southern California. He is a New York Times Bestselling author who has written 26 books including one of his latest books – Who’s in Your Room? He is also a columnist for Entrepreneur.com and has been a university

About BNI

BNI is the world’s leading business referral organization with over 280,000 Members in over 10,000 BNI Chapters worldwide. In 2020 alone, BNI Members shared over 11.5 million valuable new client referrals and generated over $16.2B (USD) in revenue.

Many BNI Chapters are currently meeting using BNI Online™, a powerful and convenient platform that enables Members to continue sharing new client referrals. BNI Members are actively supported by regional, national, and global BNI staff that provide the training, structure and the technology needed for the continued success of BNI Members.

https://thomsinger.com/podcast/networking-after-the-pandemic

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As we get back to live in-person meetings, you company cannot leave the human experience to chance. We have proven over the last year that we can do a good job delivering content via virtual platforms, but when people come to in-person events they are expecting more than they did before.

The engagement and networking part of meetings is going to be powerful when done right, and will keep people from coming back next year if done wrong. Thom Singer has been teaching people how to make meetings more engaging for 15 years, and he sees what is happening as conferences and other networking events come back to our society. They are often sucking and are cliquey.

If people are so excited to see old friends at your event, the new comers will sit on the sidelines and hate your event. Do not leave the networking to change. Plan for a great event where people look for ways to share, talk, and enjoy shared experiences.  

https://thomsinger.com

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