Mavens Do It Better

In this episode, Heather interviews Nikki Rausch, author, speaker, sales coach, and CEO of Sales Maven. Tune in to hear their conversation on:   

"I came across this word Maven." - Why Nikki chose to name her company Sales Maven.  

"Am I going to be standing here talking to the same people in 10 years?" - What inspired Nikki to leave her sales career and start her own sales coaching business.  

"I'm going to write a book while I'm job hunting." - How Nikki got started writing her first book during a career transition.  

"Sales is something you do with people." - Nikki's tips on how to approach sales with confidence in your expertise, the importance of connecting with people, and how to make the entire process less awkward.

For full shownotes and access to Nikki’s free eBook Closing the Sale visit mavensdoitbetter.com

In this episode, Heather interviews KC Mancebo, artist manager and CEO of Clamorhouse & Clamorhouse Kids.  

Tune in to hear their conversation on:  

“I fell into music and entertainment through a completely different world.” 

How a devastating loss spurred KC to reevaluate her career in fashion and led her into the music world launching the Spice Girls. 

“I look at brand as more of a quality and really explaining what your quality is.” 

From Brittney Spears to K-Pop festivals, helping people identify with the music they love and creating memories is the driving force behind KCs work branding artists and producing events. 

“I got really focused on it when I started working with the Whole Planet Foundation. “

After years working in the music management industry, KC began working with the Whole Planet Foundation and helped food brands and the music world come together for philanthropic purposes. 

"We ended up talking to Food Network and figured out how to shoot the show during COVID." 

KCs work managing the Potash Twins and shooting The Takeout Twins during COVID and how things are starting to transition back to live. 

"We're hoping to open it up to fundraisers." 

After losing her home to the fires, KC and her husband are rebuilding it as a tribute to her late father-in-law, architect Irving Tobocman, and their plans to use it as an event venue as well as a home. 

"I am the proud mother of pretty incredible people."  

KC's 16-year-old daughter Zoe launched the charity Queens in Need to support drag queens during COVID. 

In this episode, Heather interviews Debbie Ireland, speaker, CEO of ShareThePoint, and author of Work Life Balance My Arse: How to remove the guilt of putting your life first. 

Tune in to hear their conversation on:  

"We had 17 events planned for last year and we got 1 done." - Debbie's work with ShareThePoint and the Digital Workplace Events in the Asia/Pacific region and how they've adapted during COVID. 

"This stuff's pretty cool, I can figure that out." - How a weekend at the beach reading Access for Dummies sparked Debbie's passion for tech and started her on a career in it. 

"There's this other side of me that's not just tech." – How speaking at events and an early interest in self-development led Debbie to write Work-Life Balance My Arse! 

"Balance implies that you have to be in the middle." - One of the topics Debbie takes on in her book - magic doesn't happen in the middle – identifying what matters most in the moment and changing the balance to achieve that goal without swinging too far and losing all control. 

"Looking at the results I was getting and knowing the results were based on the meaning I was giving something." - How learning the why of her actions and choices has helped Debbie spark change in her life and career and seats her in who she is now. 

In this episode, Heather interviews Nancy McSharry Jensen, CEO, and Co-Founder of The Swing Shift, the destination for women in career transition.    

Tune in to hear their conversation on: "I was kicking around this idea of working with women who took breaks or wanted to do something different." – How Nancy and Sarah Duenwald met and formed the Swing Shift.  

"COVID hit and we needed a hard, fast shift to digital." – Shifting how their services were offered when in-person events and coaching were not feasible with a focus on building community and guidance without 3-hour zoom calls.  

"In January women lost 156,000 jobs and guys picked up 16,000 jobs. So, it's a net loss all at a working woman's expense." - The overwhelming impact of COVID on women in the workplace and what needs to change to fix it.  

"When it's time to go back it may have been years since they have looked for a job and they don't really know how the game is played." - How Nancy's Back to Business book and e-course guide people through the entire process of returning to work and finding a job at their own pace.  

"Don't let them funnel off – keep them in." - The Swing Shift's latest offering, Career Break Initiative, focused on helping companies recruit and retain employees and build loyalty with the company by developing support programs and benefits to allow career breaks for employees.  

Visit mavensdoitbetter.com for full show notes and more.

In this episode, Heather interviews Andy Ginn, Senior Consultant and Solution Architect at Hewlett Packard Enterprise Pointnext Services and Director of Pocket Angel. 

Tune in to hear their conversation on:

"I went into menswear to start off with." - How a brief stint in retail led Andy to take a government-funded programming course and begin his career in tech.

"The user is the most important aspect of any transformation program." - Andy's work with HPE and their many initiatives that focus on the human side of tech internally and with their customers.

"She asked me to join that organization in my spare time." - How Andy became involved with Pocket Angel, a not-for-profit digital platform helping those experiencing homelessness, rough sleepers, and the socially disadvantaged.

"We pivoted the app quite quickly." - How the lockdowns spurred Pocket Angel to shift how they delivered the donations their users contributed.

"If you really analyze your life you can probably find five to six sliding door moments." - A mentor early in his tech career taught Andy to focus on the people using the tech which has been a theme throughout his career.

For more visit mavensdoitbetter.com

In this episode, Heather interviews Stacy Deere, Microsoft MVP and Owner and Senior SharePoint Architect of Focal Point Solutions, LLC.  

Tune-in to hear their conversation on:  

"It's not just SharePoint anymore." 

Stacy's work with her company Focal Point Solutions, an end-to-end SharePoint and Microsoft 365 firm, and how it has grown and evolved to keep up with Microsoft's fast development cadence. 

"What's that extra little thing we can do and have fun with it?" 

As an organizer for SharePoint Saturday Cincinnati, Stacy is heavily involved in the community. Hear about upcoming plans for the event, post-COVID and why they plan it for Halloween weekend. 

"How do we use the technology we own to do that?" 

Owning a company that has been remote for the past nine years Stacy shares how she helped clients make the transition to remote work with tech and leadership advice. 

"I tested out of my first computer class my second week in." 

Growing up in a rural area, Stacy's access to computers was limited, but an introductory class in college inspired her to pursue a degree and a career in tech. 

"Always plan for unexpected growth." 

Stacy's advice to entrepreneurs: build for the future and not just the time to be prepared for the worst case and the best case. 

"If I didn't play sports I don't think I would be the same person I am today." 

Surrounded by brothers, sports became a central part of Stacy's childhood and the lessons she learned through them are what seats her in who she is today. 

Visit mavensdoitbetter.com for more.

In this episode, Heather interviews Emily Mancini, Architect at Sympraxis Consulting, Microsoft MVP, and PnP Team Member.

Tune in to hear their conversation on:

"I call them Emily's Cliff Notes."

How Emily uses her blog and micro topics to help businesses and people with Microsoft 365 user experience.

"Give them the set so they can spike it there."

From speaking engagements to her work with the PnP community, why Emily believes continuously learning and sharing those lessons is important to the community and invaluable to the individual.

"Sharing is Caring."

Emily's work with the PnP team to remove barriers and encourage first-time speakers and GitHub contributors.

"I grew up typing in MS-DOS commands before I could write, but it never seemed like a thing I was going to do."

How a screen share mishap led Emily into a career focused on tech.

For full show notes visit mavensdoitbetter.com

In this episode Heather interviews Rachana Gupta and Sahana Gupta, sisters, college students and founders of Silk Sense, a  sustainable, slow fashion line. 

Tune-in to hear their conversation on:

"We decided to keep that sustainability theme in our minds."

Inspired by running a used Sari drove in Texas, Rachana and Sahana developed Silk Sense, a men's apparel line focused on creating luxury items that are sourced and produced sustainably and also supports artisans to keep traditional crafts alive.

"She brings in all of the art side, the fashion design side, and I bring in all of the tech side."

How Sahana, a fashion business major at the Fashion Institute of Technology and Rachana, a computer science major at UT Dallas, use their different skills to build Silk Sense.

"There's so much we can do to help this world."

Born in the US but raised in India, Rachana and Sahana learned early on the importance of community and service to others.

"We both unanimously agree that it's our mom."

How their mother's unrelenting support and guidance has helped seat Sahana and Rachana in who they are now.

Visit mavensdoitbetter.com for full show notes and more.

In this episode Heather interviews Kirsty McGrath, 3 time Microsoft MVP and Managing Director of OnPoint Solutions, an Australian training and adoption practice focused on Microsoft 365.

Tune-in to hear their conversation on:

Originally it started as a PowerPoint company. - How OnPoint Solutions got its start as a PPT building service to a training and adoption practice for all of Microsoft 365 and the new problems clients are facing with their new remote workforces.

The journey that you often have in your career is never really straight in that you do jump several different careers to land on what you are passionate about. - Kirsty's career path from traveling salesperson to various temp positions that led her to tech and founding her own company.

Living a life of no excuses. - How Kirsty learned that keeping a positive mindset helped her bring her family up and build her business even when times were tough.

Understanding your journey and your path and knowing what to brush off and what to standup for. - From fighting burnout and reassessing priorities to facing the challenges of being a woman in tech - Kirsty shares lessons learned.

For me it’s the strong women in my world that I want to be better for or that I want to help show the way. - What seats Kirsty in who she is now.

In this episode Heather interviews Ron Carucci co-founder and managing partner at Navalent, author and speaker.  

Tune-in to hear their conversation on:  

 "We're about helping them construct the path to get there." - Ron's work with Navalent, a boutique consulting firm helping the C-level navigate transformational change. 

"The pandemic was a great awakening for leaders about what it really takes to unleash the best in people and sustain that, versus trying to wring the most out of people before they die ." -  The importance of human focused leadership in surviving crisis situations and massive change. 

"Honesty is not a personality trait, it’s a muscle." - A dive into Ron's upcoming book To Be Honest, Lead with the Power of Truth, Justice & Purpose - shares inspiring stories of leaders who model what honesty really means alongside actionable steps to build honesty and trust into your culture. 

"Everything but death is revocable." - How a few words from his mentor act as Ron's northstar and taught him to lean in and take the risk.