Nearing the two month mark since COVID-19 first transformed our world in the U.S., we check in with Dr. Jesse Ehrenfeld with the Medical College of Wisconsin and six other Milwaukee area leaders to hear how they continue to adapt to COVID-19. 

CEO of Kessler’s Diamonds, Joe Gehrke, discusses how Kessler’s is transitioning to online sales. Christian Vega, co-owner of Screaming Tuna, talks about how they've gotten support from the community since this started. Others discuss how their businesses continue to deal with COVID-19 day-by-day. 

In live interviews from a Milwaukee Rotary Club meeting, Richie talks to six business leaders from various industries about their response to COVID-19. Taking listener questions, they discuss the government’s response to COVID-19 and what comes next. 

The show begins with a conversation with Jim Barry, President of The Barry Company about the state of commercial real estate. Then, Richie talks to Todd Bentley, President of Bentley World Packaging, putting this pandemic in perspective, considering the history of the company that’s been family owned since 1848. Next up is Mark Kannenberg, President of RBP Chemical Technology, to talk about chemical sales during these times. 

He’s followed by Darren Miller, President of JM Construction, who discusses how their projects are proceeding despite COVID-19. Michael Sheppard, Managing Director of IronwoodDrive Financial Group, joined the show, letting us in on what it’s like to make financial decisions right now. Finally, Julie Tolan, EVP and Owner of Lauber Business Partners talks leadership and consulting virtually and how her company has adapted.

It’s a full show, packed with interesting experiences that Milwaukee business leaders have had in these unprecedented times.

When most people and brands think of monetizing a podcast, they think of advertising revenue and sponsorships. This can be a great way to monetize if you’re in the top 1% of podcasts, but for the rest of us — not so much. 

That said, as a company, monetizing a podcast is not too difficult. There’s a slew of options to go about it, and it all depends on your business model. As a small business ourselves, we’ve tracked over $650k in revenue from the podcast to date — with less than $6k of that coming from ads and sponsorships. 

In this episode, I break down the reality of podcast advertising and suggest some tactics you can implement right away to start monetizing your podcast (even if you’re not Joe Rogan).

Last week was a crazy week for our city and state alike. As Milwaukee continues to respond to the increasingly impactful COVID-19, we bring you the third installment of our series of episodes speaking with leaders who are actively grappling with the virus and its impact.

In this episode, we begin with a conversation with Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, first talking about the April election, then Wisconsin’s response to COVID-19 as a whole.

Next, we talk to Dr. David Morgolis of the Wisconsin Medical College about the virus itself, its spread, and how his team is handling the virus. 

Finally, we’ll move into conversations with Tami Garrison of Molson Coors, Peggy Williams-Smith of Visit Milwaukee, Omar Shaikh of Carnevor, Jeff Sherman of OnMilwaukee, and more about how they and their organizations are actively dealing with COVID-19.

We continued the conversation we started last week by having nine more business owners and local leaders on the podcast to talk about COVID-19 and their continued transition in these isolated times.

This week’s episode is special. It kicks off with Senior Vice President of The Bucks and Chair of the 2020 DNC, Alex Lasry, who talks candidly about the Bucks and the DNC, their reactions to the news of being postponed, and what’s next.

We also heard from local business leaders Kira Lafond, Denise Thomas, Khalif El-Amin, and Mike and Monica Jurken on how they have adapted, what it has been like going through COVID-19, and what the future looks like. 

We close the episode out hearing from President of Marquette University Dr. Mike Lovell. It was interesting getting his perspective on what went on at Marquette behind the scenes, the abrupt end to the Big East Tournament, moving classes online, and more. 

Many of us have passions that started when we were young. However, not many of us have the opportunity to test our hobbies out in a potential money-making scenario. David Hackbarth got his crack at just 10 years old working for his brother’s business, and since then, he’s gone on to DJ over 1300 weddings.

On this episode of The GoGedders Podcast, you’ll hear how David started and grew his own business, take a peek behind the curtain of the wedding industry, and hear a few stories about the unexpected things that can happen when you’re out on a gig.

As COVID continues to progress across the country, we wanted to know how local businesses were handling the constantly changing world around them. On this episode, we'll talk to a number of local leaders from diverse companies who are impacted by the outbreak. 

We'll cover how business models have shifted — in some cases majorly, and into completely different industries — and what companies are doing to keep employees and customers safe. You'll also learn steps essential businesses are taking to stop the spread of the virus, and hear about many unexpected silver linings.

Many people are adjusting to home workspaces while working remotely during COVID-19. Earlier this week, our host Richie Burke appeared on the Build High Performing Teams Podcast with Anna Oakes.

In this episode, they’ll cover anxiety in the workplace, performance-based environments, how to effectively communicate with colleagues, and how to take advantage of this unprecedented situation.

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks in Milwaukee. From the Bucks cruising with the NBA’s best record to the season being postponed indefinitely, restaurants and bars going from fully-functional to takeout and delivery only, small business owners and corporations alike being hit hard, and many more struggles — it’s tough to know how to handle it all.

So what do we make of all this? Lucky for us, MMAC President Tim Sheehy was nice enough to come on the show on short notice to shed some light on the situation. During our talk, Tim let us know what’s going on behind the scenes and gave some advice to corporations, small business owners, and the rest of us Milwaukeeans. Listen in to learn about how to handle COVID in both the coming weeks and months.

There’s a lot of uncertainty in the air right now. What’s to come? What actually is COVID-19? With all the confusion about, we’re happy to bring you this timely episode of The GoGedders Podcast with Dr. Malika Siker to shed some light on the situation. 

Along with answering a few listener-submitted questions, we’ll touch on what the virus is, and what to do if you have symptoms. We’ll also cover how COVID is spread, social distancing, handling the virus for your family, the workplace, and more.

Further reading, recommended by Dr. Siker:
Cdc.gov (National)
Who.int (Global)
Dhs.wi.gov (Wisconsin)
Ourworldindata.org