Manage Smarter

Matt Blumberg is a technology entrepreneur, business builder, and CEO of Bolster, an on-demand executive talent marketplace that helps accelerate companies’ growth by connecting them with experienced, highly vetted executives for interim, fractional, advisory, project-based or board roles. Matt has been recognized as one of New York’s 100 most influential technology leaders by Business Insider, by Crain’s as one of New York’s Top Entrepreneurs, and by Ernst & Young as an Entrepreneur of the Year finalist. Before Bolster, Matt built businesses and worked in marketing, consulting, and venture capital. He is the author of Startup CEO, Startup CXO, and Startup Boards.

In this podcast for managers, Audrey, Lee and Matt discuss: 

·      How boards work and definitions of a good board vs. a bad board

·      Why should a startup or company in growth stage create a board of directors and what are the benefits?

·      How boards increase credibility

·      Creating a board including size, composition, roles of VCs and independent directors, what to look for in a director, and how to recruit directors

·      Celebrities on boards

"The top problems CEOs have when building boards are (a) not adding independent directors, and (b) saying they want diversity on the board…but then saying they only want to add independent directors who have already been board members before (by definition a very small pool…and by definition not expanding the pool of available underrepresented directors).”– Matt Blumberg

Build Credibility and Effective Leadership with the Manage Smarter Podcast

Join hosts Audrey Strong and C. Lee Smith every week as they dive into the aspects and concepts of good business management. From debunking sales myths to learning how to manage with and without measurements, you'll learn something new with every episode and will be able to implement positive change far beyond sales. 

 Connect with Matt Blumberg

https://bolster.com/

https://twitter.com/mattblumberg

https://www.linkedin.com/in/blumbergmatt/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/bolstertalent

 Connect with Manage Smarter Hosts

·         Website: ManageSmarter.com 

·         LinkedIn: Audrey Strong                                                           

·         LinkedIn: C. Lee Smith  

 Connect with SalesFuel

·         Website: http://salesfuel.com/ 

·         Twitter: @SalesFuel 

·         Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salesfuel/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Maney is a bestselling author, award-winning columnist, and partner at Category Design Advisors (CDA). His critically-acclaimed book, Play Bigger: How Pirates, Dreamers and Innovators Create and Dominate Markets, introduced business to the idea of category design and has sold more than 150,000 copies worldwide. As a founding partner of CDA, Maney has helped leadership teams at hundreds of companies all over the world focus their strategic thinking through category design. Maney has been a contributor to Newsweek, Fortune, The Atlantic, Fast Company, CNN and ABC News, among other media outlets. He was a contributing editor at Conde Nast Portfolio during its brief run from 2007 to 2009. For 22 years, Maney was a columnist, editor and reporter at USA Today.

In this podcast for managers, Audrey, Lee and Kevin discuss: 

·       The latest new business categories that are hot for 2023

·       The role of artificial intelligence/AI and how it can help define your category

·       Why AI is the new electricity of creating new categories of products and services

·       Class category design and how it defines what the new problem is that you are trying to solve

"The #1 mistake managers make is they don't clearly define the problem that their product solves and why it matters to the target persona.”– Kevin Maney

Build Credibility and Effective Leadership with the Manage Smarter Podcast

Join hosts Audrey Strong and C. Lee Smith every week as they dive into the aspects and concepts of good business management. From debunking sales myths to learning how to manage with and without measurements, you'll learn something new with every episode and will be able to implement positive change far beyond sales.  

Connect with Kevin Maney

categorydesignadvisors.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinmaney/ 

Connect with Manage Smarter Hosts

·         Website: ManageSmarter.com 

·         LinkedIn: Audrey Strong                                                                

·         LinkedIn: C. Lee Smith  

Connect with SalesFuel

·         Website: http://salesfuel.com/ 

·         Twitter: @SalesFuel 

·         Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salesfuel/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marc Reifenrath is the CEO & Co-founder of Spinutech, a full-service digital marketing agency with 150+ team members across the U.S. In that capacity, he understands firsthand how critical a company’s culture is to achieving and maintaining success.

Marc has helped Spinutech grow from a college start-up to one of the premier full-service digital marketing agencies in the country. The secret ingredient? Company values that are truly lived, including a commitment to “Get Better Every Day”. 

In this podcast for managers, Audrey, Lee and Marc discuss: 

"The #1 mistake managers make is trying to lead every person the same way and with the same message. You have to say the main points at least seven times before the team will truly hear it. You also have to say it many different ways because we all hear the same words differently.”– Marc Reifenrath  

Build Credibility and Effective Leadership with the Manage Smarter Podcast

Join hosts Audrey Strong and C. Lee Smith every week as they dive into the aspects and concepts of good business management. From debunking sales myths to learning how to manage with and without measurements, you'll learn something new with every episode and will be able to implement positive change far beyond sales.  

Connect with Marc Reifenrath

www.spinutech.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcreifenrath/

Connect with Manage Smarter Hosts

·         Website: ManageSmarter.com 

·         LinkedIn: Audrey Strong                                                                

·         LinkedIn: C. Lee Smith  

Connect with SalesFuel

·         Website: http://salesfuel.com/ 

·         Twitter: @SalesFuel 

·         Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salesfuel/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elizabeth Rosenberg is a personal branding expert, strategic communications consultant, intuitive, and founder of The Good Advice Company. Her company is a marketing and communications consultancy, and with more than two decades of experience working with some of the most innovative brands and leaders in the world, Elizabeth taps her knowledge, intuition and truths to uncover and amplify purpose and ownable narratives.

In this podcast for managers, Audrey, Lee and Elizabeth discuss: 

"Leaders make a mistake when they are living and leading in fear of being accepted as our authentic selves. And when they want to be famous, well known, or popular vs. wanting to make an impact.”– Elizabeth Rosenberg  

Build Credibility and Effective Leadership with the Manage Smarter Podcast

Join hosts Audrey Strong and C. Lee Smith every week as they dive into the aspects and concepts of good business management. From debunking sales myths to learning how to manage with and without measurements, you'll learn something new with every episode and will be able to implement positive change far beyond sales.  

Connect with Elizabeth Rosenberg

www.thegoodadvicecompany.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethrosenberg/

https://twitter.com/goodadviceco

Connect with Manage Smarter Hosts

·         Website: ManageSmarter.com 

·         LinkedIn: Audrey Strong                                                                

·         LinkedIn: C. Lee Smith  

Connect with SalesFuel

·         Website: http://salesfuel.com/ 

·         Twitter: @SalesFuel 

·         Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salesfuel/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dana Pharant grew up in a cult and in her journey to healing became a Dominatrix. She's the author of "Become a Badass in Business.” These days, she has changed gears to help leaders show up with true authenticity and confidence by standing in what she calls the Inner Dominatrix energy. Her training and philosophy show leaders how to become a badass in life and business by being unique and standing in your own personal power.

In this podcast for managers, Audrey, Lee and Dana discuss: 

-Definition of Badass Leadership and how leaders can transition from submissive leadership to dominant leadership styles

-Inner Dominatrix energy channeling for leaders

-Finding the courage to make bold decisions outside your leadership comfort zone

-How her cult upbringing drove her to the business philosophy she has today showcasing empowered leadership

-Tangible exercises to shift your mindset

"For the term dominatrix, most people think in terms of what Hollywood presents. But what a dominatrix is actually about is taking people on this journey where we use pain as a way to transform what is going on in your life and to drop you into a space where you can see you are far more powerful than you thought.”– Dana Pharant 

Build Credibility and Effective Leadership with the Manage Smarter Podcast

Join hosts Audrey Strong and C. Lee Smith every week as they dive into the aspects and concepts of good business management. From debunking sales myths to learning how to manage with and without measurements, you'll learn something new with every episode and will be able to implement positive change far beyond sales.  

Connect with Dana Pharant

http://www.danapharant.com

https://twitter.com/DanaPharant

https://ca.linkedin.com/in/danapharant

http://www.facebook.com/Powernatrix

Connect with Manage Smarter Hosts

·         Website: ManageSmarter.com 

·         LinkedIn: Audrey Strong                                                                

·         LinkedIn: C. Lee Smith  

Connect with SalesFuel

·         Website: http://salesfuel.com/ 

·         Twitter: @SalesFuel 

·         Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salesfuel/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jody Grunden co-founded Summit CPA Group (Summit) in 2002, which merged with Anders CPAs + Advisors (Anders) in 2022. Summit, now a division of Anders, was the first fully distributed accounting firm. As the leading provider of Virtual CFO Services in North America, Summit provides professional Virtual CFO Services for over 100 companies across the United States, helping business owners dive deep into the financial side of their business to maximize profits, minimize taxes, and increase cash flow.

In this podcast for managers, Audrey, Lee and Jody discuss: 

-The Four Most Important Financial Metrics for Growing Your Business

-Cash flow as it relates to profit

-Jody’s recommendations on accurate financial forecasting

-How to preserve the bottom line no matter what changes happen in real time

-How to grow the company financially while maintaining firm control and agility 

"The biggest mistake managers make is not knowing or understanding their non-financial KPIs.”– Jody Grunden 

Build Credibility and Effective Leadership with the Manage Smarter Podcast

Join hosts Audrey Strong and C. Lee Smith every week as they dive into the aspects and concepts of good business management. From debunking sales myths to learning how to manage with and without measurements, you'll learn something new with every episode and will be able to implement positive change far beyond sales.  

Connect with Jody Grunden

https://www.summitcpa.net/

https://twitter.com/jgrunden

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodygrunden/

https://www.facebook.com/summitcpagroup

 Connect with Manage Smarter Hosts

·         Website: ManageSmarter.com 

·         LinkedIn: Audrey Strong                                                                

·         LinkedIn: C. Lee Smith  

 Connect with SalesFuel

·         Website: http://salesfuel.com/ 

·         Twitter: @SalesFuel 

·         Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salesfuel/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

David Horsager, MA, CSP, CPAE is the CEO of Trust Edge Leadership Institute, Trust Expert in Residence at High Point University and The Wall Street Journal best-selling author of The Trust Edge, The Daily Edge, and Trusted Leader. He is also a podcaster, creator of the Enterprise Trust Index™, and director of one of the nation’s foremost trust studies, The Trust Outlook. ® Horsager has advised leaders and delivered life-changing presentations on six continents, with audiences ranging from Delta, FedEx, and Toyota to the New York Yankees, MIT and the Department of Homeland Security. His work has been featured in prominent media such as Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and MSNBC.

Through speaking, training, consulting, and coaching, David and his team at Trust Edge Leadership Institute make it their mission to develop trusted leaders and organizations. With his trademark 8 Pillar Framework, David breaks trust down into tangible steps that can be leveraged right away to build a high-trust culture— because high-trust leaders and organizations bring out the best in their people and get measurable results.

In this podcast for managers, Audrey, Lee and David discuss: 

 "Leaders don’t realize that a lack of trust is their biggest expense. They often don't see how a lack of trust affects EVERY aspect of the business!”– David Horsager 

Build Credibility and Effective Leadership with the Manage Smarter Podcast

Join hosts Audrey Strong and C. Lee Smith every week as they dive into the aspects and concepts of good business management. From debunking sales myths to learning how to manage with and without measurements, you'll learn something new with every episode and will be able to implement positive change far beyond sales.  

Connect with David Horsager

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhorsager/

https://trustedge.com/

http://www.davidhorsager.com/

 Connect with Manage Smarter Hosts

·         Website: ManageSmarter.com 

·         LinkedIn: Audrey Strong                                                                

·         LinkedIn: C. Lee Smith  

Connect with SalesFuel

·         Website: http://salesfuel.com/ 

·         Twitter: @SalesFuel 

·         Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salesfuel/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jon Morris is the founder & CEO of Ramsay Innovations and a serial entrepreneur. Prior to Ramsay, he established Rise Interactive in 2004,with prize money from his second-place finish in the University of Chicago’s prestigious New venture Challenge. Over the next 16 years he grew Rise from a one-person shop to one of the largest independent marketing agencies in the world, selling in 2018. While pondering his next move, he realized that he was most energized when connecting and helping fellow entrepreneurs grow their businesses. Ramsay Innovations’ mission is to transform marketing agencies by providing them with world-class, agency-specific finance management and strategic planning at a fraction of the cost.

In this episode, Lee, Audrey and Jon discuss:

-Current landscape of agencies in the U.S. and prediction for 2023 given a possible recession

-The huge opportunities Jon sees for agency sales reps this year and methods to grab more market share

-How to expand owned and earned media

-EBITA for agencies and recommended percentages to keep this year

-How to scale up your sales departments to drive growth and gross margins he recommends for 2023

-Jon's methods for accurately budgeting and forecasting for the year

"The biggest mistake agency managers make is the lack of understanding how to use financial insights to improve decision making that will lead to more profits, cash and growth." - Jon Morris

Build Credibility and Effective Leadership with the Manage Smarter Podcast

Join hosts Audrey Strong and C. Lee Smith every week as they dive into the aspects and concepts of good business management. From debunking sales myths to learning how to manage with and without measurements, you'll learn something new with every episode and will be able to implement positive change far beyond sales.  

Connect with Jon Morris

https://ramsayinnovations.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonmorrisramsayinnovations/

Connect with Manage Smarter Hosts

·         Website: ManageSmarter.com 

·         LinkedIn: Audrey Strong                                                                

·         LinkedIn: C. Lee Smith  

Connect with SalesFuel

·         Website: http://salesfuel.com/ 

·         Twitter: @SalesFuel 

·         Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salesfuel/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joining us today is Ron Ross, President and COO of Everee, a payroll platform that eases the payroll process for both employers and employees.

Ron is a seasoned finance executive with 15 years of experience leading accounting, finance and operations teams at fast-growing companies. Ron

came up with Everee after seeing firsthand the negative impact of waiting two weeks for a paycheck. His daughter had a job making enough to cover

her expenses, but she kept running out of money because the timing of her payday and bills didn’t match. Realizing what a huge problem this was for

so many Americans, Ron decided to challenge the status quo and created Everee to make faster paydays a reality. Since founding the company in 2018,

Ron has grown the team by 5X and raised Seed and Series A financing rounds totaling $14M in April 2019 and 2020 respectively

In this podcast for managers, Audrey, Lee and Ron discuss: 

-Why the Payroll Industry Still Supports Outdated Pay Cycles

-How a daily payroll is more attracted to talent and key to retention

-Instant Pay Trends, Fintech as a whole, Embedded Worker Payments

-Instant Commissions and the new model for those payments

-How and why remote working has boosted instant payroll trends

-How long it takes for a company to switch from two-week payroll to an instant payroll model

"We will see remote working stick and so people are looking for something that will really be beneficial to their lives and really motivate them and paying them faster is one of those .”– Ron Ross 

Build Credibility and Effective Leadership with the Manage Smarter Podcast

Join hosts Audrey Strong and C. Lee Smith every week as they dive into the aspects and concepts of good business management. From debunking sales myths to learning how to manage with and without measurements, you'll learn something new with every episode and will be able to implement positive change far beyond sales.  

Connect with Ron Ross

www.everee.com

https://twitter.com/EvereePay

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-ross-0b7963bb/

https://www.facebook.com/EvereePay/

 Connect with Manage Smarter Hosts

·         Website: ManageSmarter.com 

·         LinkedIn: Audrey Strong                                                                

·         LinkedIn: C. Lee Smith  

Connect with SalesFuel

·         Website: http://salesfuel.com/ 

·         Twitter: @SalesFuel 

·         Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salesfuel/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bryan Adams is the CEO and founder of Ph.Creative, a global employer branding agency. He is a prominent employer brand thought leader, podcaster, speaker, and author of “Give & Get Employer Branding.” Ph.Creative has built world-class employer brands and talent engagement strategies that have worked with the world’s top brands.

In this podcast for managers, Audrey, Lee and Bryan discuss: 

-Definition of an employer brand

-Examples of how to let prospective employees have a realistic view of what working at your company is really like

-Timing of employer brand rollout in the hiring process

-Why an employer brand can decrease regrettable employee losses and increase retention

 "What is employer branding? It’s very important if you own or run a business, or even manage a team. It’s a strategic approach to employer brand that aligns your business strategy with attracting and retaining the people you need to win.”– Bryan Adams

Build Credibility and Effective Leadership with the Manage Smarter Podcast

Join hosts Audrey Strong and C. Lee Smith every week as they dive into the aspects and concepts of good business management. From debunking sales myths to learning how to manage with and without measurements, you'll learn something new with every episode and will be able to implement positive change far beyond sales.  

Connect with Bryan Adams    

https://www.ph-creative.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanadams1/

https://www.facebook.com/Ph.Headquarters

Connect with Manage Smarter Hosts

·         Website: ManageSmarter.com 

·         LinkedIn: Audrey Strong                                                                

·         LinkedIn: C. Lee Smith  

Connect with SalesFuel

·         Website: http://salesfuel.com/ 

·         Twitter: @SalesFuel 

·         Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/salesfuel/ 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices