Prism Of Value

Sometimes we have to step back to step forward. That was something that advertising executive and entrepreneur Cary Hatch did when she decided after several successful decades to merge her firm MDB Communications with Toledo-based Hart. In this episode of the Prism of Value podcast, Cary discusses the challenges and opportunities of the merger, her own evolution as a leader to take this important step and some of the practical things she did to communicate and facilitate culture building at the expanded firm.

It is well recognized that in order to understand the value of something, one must first understand both its strengths and limitations. In order to do this, one needs to go through specific steps. The same holds true for ourselves and our business. If we want to understand the genuine worth of our businesses and ourselves, we must undergo these tests. Some people overlook some of the process's preliminary steps. Starting at the beginning is still the greatest course of action because we can see all of the inefficiencies and difficulties along the way. In today's episode, we have Cary Hatch, CEO of MDB Communications and a communicator extraordinaire, having 30 years of experience in the advertising and marketing field. She emphasizes the importance of building a valuable company and how she gains partnerships with other businesses. She also shares some advice on how to proceed in unfavorable situations and still establish high value of herself and her company.

Key Takeaways

The Guest’s background and her company
How to build a valuable company and getting partnerships
Navigating uncomfortable circumstances and establishing values along the process
Takeaways and advices for our audience

Quotes

"Humility is key to success, and I also think you must have a mentioned objectivity." - Cary

"You constantly have to be evolving. You have that responsibility for your people, your clients, and honestly, for yourself." - Cary

"Give yourself permission to start at the beginning. It's not starting at the bottom. It's starting at the beginning." - Cary

Featured in this Episode

Cary Hatch
CEO and Brand Advocate, MDB Communications
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caryhatch
Profile: https://www.mdbcomm.com/cary-hatch
Company Website: https://www.mdbcomm.com

Chapters

00:00 Episode and guest intro
02:05 Cary’s company and what is all about
03:05 Building the company and getting partnerships
09:53 Navigating through discomfort situations
15:49 Going into process and establishing values
19:49 Piece of advices for the audience
22:47 Maintaining the proper perspective
24:47 Challenges of the future and opportunities
30:06 Final Thoughts

Maintaining a dynamic and vibrant organizational culture has never been more important or difficult. For leaders like Phillippe Lanier, who oversees all activities for EastBanc Tech, a 600-person global real estate, retail,  and technology company, building and empowering his team is a central focus and that involves letting go and an emphasis on being of service.  In this episode of Prism of Value, Phillippe discusses his approach and philosophy managing this family-owned company, navigating through the pandemic and laying the foundation for the future.  

Key Takeaways:
0:00 Intro
1:32 Philippe talks a little bit about his company, how it came to be and what it does 
2:43 Philippe talks about communication in a family ran company and how it impacts the company 
3:33 Philippe talks about how having a mix of businesses in the company reinforce each other 
5:33 Philippe talks about the number of employees that they have in total in their company 
6:36 Philippe talks about how they maintain connectivity in all of their employees so that they understand the company and family values to do business
7:27 Philippe talks about how the pandemic has impacted their business and what they are doing to cope with the situation 
9:39 Philippe talks about some of the things that they are doing to keep the positive energy and connectivity to manage the pandemic situation 
13:46 Philippe shares some of the things that they have learned through the pandemic that will guide them through and some of the challenges they faced and are still facing
16:50 Philippe talks about the importance of good communication in a company and some of the challenges that he faced as a leader during the pandemic 
20:23 Philippe shares his advice to leaders, someone starting a company or someone who is moving to a leadership role 
22:40 Philippe talks about how the people that he works with are important to his brand and how, in a sense, they are the brand 
26:12 Philippe talks about some of the things that give him hope and optimism these days 

Shows Mentioned:
Whack-a-Mole
https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/coronavirus/assistance-for-small-businesses/paycheck-protection-program 
https://www.netflix.com/ 

Quotes Mentioned: 
“When you build something new that you want to keep, you try to build it well.”
“You should enjoy your work, you're better at it when you enjoy it.”
“We’re in such a disruptive and dynamic world, and if you don't have an infrastructure that can adapt rapidly, then you're constantly chasing bad decisions.”
“Part of good decision making is listening as much as speaking.”
“The good leaders were the ones that recognized that they were born into servitude.”
“You have to run your company acknowledging that there is more risk ahead, and not the other way around.”
“The company starts with a team.”
“Everybody is human.”

Guests Social Media Links:
Website: https://eastbanc.com/ 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippe-lanier-735814/ 
Email: [email protected] 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/pmlanier

Whether we are a business or a not-for-profit, it is vital that our stakeholders understand and appreciate our value.  Mark Stiving, who helms a company called Impact Pricing, has spent a career studying value and how it translates into favorable pricing both for the seller and buyer.  In this edition of Prism of Value, we discuss the complex mathematical and psychological factors that affect how our customers, clients and donors make decisions on what they will buy and how much they will pay for it.

Key Takeaways: 
0:00 Intro
1:50 Mark defines what value based pricing means
3:05 Mark talks about how solopreneurs can truly find out what someone is willing to pay
5:55 Mark talks about how you diminish your value when people ask for a lower price and you accept it
8:00 Mark talks about his perspective on value and how you should translate your product in features to get people to care
10:47 Mark explains how you have to think about the problems your feature has so that you can truly set an accurate value for yourself
14:17 Mark explains RFP's (request for proposals) and why to avoid them
17:53 Mark explains attitude plays a big role in pricing things and how you have to accept "no's"
19:31 Mark talks about the two halves of pricing, value and psychological
25:07 Mark talks about his approach to a clients webpage, and how he would view it as a customer and then approaches the changes from there
27:47 Mark explains to Liz how communications companies like her own can use his approaches to measure their success

 

Resources Mentioned:

Proctor & Gamble - The Procter & Gamble Company is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble.

Cisco - Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Integral to the growth of Silicon Valley, Cisco develops, manufactures and sells networking hardware, software, telecommunications equipment and other high-technology services and products.

CrowdStrike - CrowdStrike Holdings, Inc. is an American cybersecurity technology company based in Sunnyvale, California. It provides cloud workload and endpoint security, threat intelligence, and cyberattack response services

Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions - https://www.amazon.com/Predictably-Irrational-Hidden-Forces-Decisions/dp/006135323X/ref=asc_df_006135323X/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=334204344421&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14889700127184455880&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9008165&hvtargid=pla-662733339546&psc=1

Win Keep Grow: How to Price and Package to Accelerate Your Subscription Business - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B097MY328L/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

 

Impact Pricing: Your Blueprint for Driving Profits - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005DIBA4O/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

 

Guests Social Media Links: 
Website: https://impactpricing.com/about-us/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarkStiving?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Terri Lee Freeman is a tireless advocate for justice, equity, and inclusion and for making sure that voices that have often been marginalized are heard. In her current role as Executive Director of the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture and former post as President of the National Civil Rights Museum, Terri works to bring  people together for dialogue and fuller understanding of history. In this podcast, Terri discusses the challenge of keeping cultural institutions viable during the pandemic and providing a safe space for connection,  important conversations about race, and  inclusive path forward.

Key Takeaways: 
0:00 Intro
1:23 Terri shares a little bit of history about Reginald Lewis Museum and why she is excited about leading it 
5:24 Terri talks about the role that museum plays in bringing people together, have conversations and just connect 
8:47 Terri talks about some examples of how she has made people come together and be able to talk about difficult topics like race, equity, and inclusion at these museums 
12:34 Terri talks about the features that museums bring to the table that facilitates conversations of race, equity, and inclusion 
15:23 Terri talks about where she gets the energy to keep on advocating for these difficult conversations to happen for so long even when people don’t want to have them 
22:01 Terri talks about some of the ways in which she has been navigating through the pandemic especially as a leader
28:59 Terri talks about how they had to pivot to digital and virtual programming in the museum due to the pandemic 
30:29 Terri talks about the things that give her optimism that other leaders could use to their benefit too

Books Mentioned: 
Inclusive Museum Leader: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57344518-the-inclusive-museum-leader 

Shows Mentioned:
National Civil Rights Museum: https://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/ 
Greater Washington Community Foundation: https://www.thecommunityfoundation.org/ 
Black Lives Matter: https://blacklivesmatter.com/ 
Putting Race on the Table: https://www.puttingracismonthetable.org/ 
RACE, Are We So Different: https://www.americananthro.org/LearnAndTeach/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=2062 

Quotes Mentioned:
“The whole reason for people to come to a museum is not just to take, but also to give.”
“All museums now are trying to figure out how do I better engage the audience?”
“All labor had dignity.”
“If we can’t talk about race here, we can’t talk about it anywhere.”
“Different doesn’t mean bad.”
“We have to acknowledge the past and we have to acknowledge those differences and understand each other’s truths.”
“You can’t exclude more than 50% of the population.”
“You have to put things out there and you have to put it out as the truth.”
“Once we get beyond our issues with race, then we’ll be able to really function as a powerful society.”
“Every day that babies are born, there’s going to be a future.”
“Some things have to be broken for us to fix the situation.”

Guests Social Media Links: 
Website: https://www.lewismuseum.org/ 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/terri-freeman-8879754/ 
Twitter:

Lidia Soto-Harmon is a connector, and the pandemic didn’t slow down her efforts as CEO of the Girls Scouts Nation’s Capital (the largest chapter in the country to bring the thousands of girls and troop leaders together for meaningful and important connection.  Full of optimism, inspiration and practicality, Soto-Harmon and her team successfully pivoted to virtual events and communication. And as we all continue to deal with uncertainty, Soto-Harmon offers some valuable lessons and insights for all of us about staying connected and engaged in this edition of Prism of Value: Navigating the Pandemic.

Key Takeaways: 
0:00 Intro
0:56 Lidia shares a little bit of history about Girl Scouts in Nation's Capital and also what they do 
2:40 Lidia talks about how she was able to put up a Camp CEO in the Women’s Advisory Board during the pandemic and made it meaningful both to mentors and those girls 
4:45 Lidia talks about how they pivoted internally during the pandemic and how they were communicating out to the people on what they were doing to the girls 
7:48 Lidia talks about the advice that she provided to the troop leaders to keep the girls socially engaged since at the age they are in, it’s hard for them not to be social 
10:59 Lidia talks about the things that she is proud of that they did during the pandemic in terms of empowering young women and building a community 
13:56 Lidia talks about the lessons that she learned during the pandemic and also things she now knows that she wishes she had known before the pandemic 
16:45 Lidia talks about how being in the pandemic has changed her as a leader and what it is that has changed 
19:31 Lidia talks about how she shifted and able to evaluate that work was being done in the right way given that everything was now virtual 
21:54 Lidia also talks about the exciting things that she is really looking forward to when everything reopens after the pandemic 
23:27 Lidia talks about how the pandemic in terms of the lockdown has taught people not to be taking people and relationships for granted and being intentional about everything 
25:30 Lidia talks about the different Girls Scout cookies that they have and also talks about what her favorite cookie is and why 
28:18 Lidia talks about Camp CEO of this year and what it will be all about and also talks about mental health and why we need to give ourselves space to breath 

Shows Mentioned:
The Syrian Women’s Advisory Board (WAB) was established by the Office of the Special Envoy in January 2016, in partnership with UN Women and with the support of the UN Department of Political Affairs. The core idea behind the WAB is to ensure diverse women’s perspectives and the gender equality agenda are considered throughout the political process and at key junctures including when peace talks are convened in Geneva. 

Camp CEO is a weekend leadership retreat that connects high school Girl Scouts with accomplished female professionals through teambuilding and skill sharing in a relaxed camp setting. Girls will have the opportunity to learn leadership and life lessons while the women mentor and inspire the young leaders of tomorrow.

Zoom Cloud Meetings is a proprietary video teleconferencing software program developed by Zoom Video Communications. The free plan allows up to 100 concurrent participants, with a 40-minute time restriction. Users have the option to upgrade by subscribing to a paid plan. 

Samoa Girls Scout cookies are crisp cookies with caramel, coconut, and dark chocolaty stripes.

Quotes Mentioned:
“In times when there's a crisis, you need to over-communicate.”
“We have to all sort of learn to have grace.”
“Uncertainty is very anxiety-producing.”
“Give yourself a little more grace in times of uncertainty.”
“Organizations that haven't learned that lesson and are not willing to be...

Gina Shaefer, who operates 13 Ace hardware stores throughout the Washington, DC region is an optimist through and through.  Her positivity and commitment to doing business that does good for her employees and community has enabled her to come through challenging times of the pandemic stronger than ever.  In this episode, Gina shares her secrets of staying power and success: hint listen to everyone carefully and be prepared to communicate often and in different ways. And signs of optimism: sales of flower pots are up.

The winter of the pandemic was challenging for everyone, especially arts organizations, like Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Arts. But one thing that Chief Operating Officer Beth Brummel says has gotten them through it all, was the strong relationships they’ve built with their publics over the last half century.  And now for their 50th Anniversary they have a lot to celebrate.  Beth shares how this beloved community organization navigated the challenging waters of the pandemic last winter, finding hope and resilience

“When the staff also could see the kind of relationship the organization has in the community, there was a real sense of pride, even though it was so sad what we were doing was so difficult and so challenging.”

Key Takeaways:
0:00 Intro
0:47 Beth talks about what she thought of the pandemic when it first hit and if she thought it would last and what they did after it hit 
3:59 Beth talks about the technological and the psychological issues that the staff and the organization faced working virtually from home due to the pandemic 
8:29 Beth talks about culture in workplaces and how their culture has shifted due to the impact from Covid and working from home and if it’s a good shift 
11:39 Beth talks about how they communicated what was happening to their staffs after the pandemic and if they did any programming to help in working remotely and how they used the money they were to use for promotion that year 
15:22 Beth talks about the programs that Wolf Trap has to help the community especially singers and how those programs were affected by the pandemic and what they are doing about it
18:03 Beth talks about what she feels the future will be and what the summer festivals looks like in the future
20:16 Beth also talks about the hardest thing about adjusting to the pandemic, she also talks about the best thing and most surprising thing that came with the pandemic 
22:34 Beth shares the advice that she would give to others based on her experience, what she has learned and what she know now that she wished she knew then 

Shows Mentioned: 
Filene Center: Iconic, architectural outdoor concert amphitheater in a national park with covered & lawn seating.

Zoom is a videotelephony proprietary software program developed by Zoom Video Communications. The free plan provides a video chatting service that allows up to 100 concurrent participants, with a 40-minute time restriction. Users have the option to upgrade by subscribing to a paid plan.

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text (libretto) and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance.

The Ravinia Festival is the oldest outdoor music festival in the United States, with a series of outdoor concerts and performances held every summer from June to September. In Ravinia Park's first summer of 1905, it hosted the New York Philharmonic, and the prairie style Martin Theater dates from this time period.

The Hollywood Bowl is an Amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by Rolling Stone magazine in 2018.

Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts.

The Music Moves Us fund supports our groundbreaking education and community initiatives, promotes next-generation artists, and strengthens operations to ensure a future of music for all.

Quotes Mentioned:
“We work hard and we play hard at Wolf Trap.”
“Everybody understood what was going on because of the external environment and external forces.”
“To be the group of people who had to be a part of not having a summer...

During the darkest moments of the pandemic, Liz Wainger spoke with Washington Business Journal publisher, Alex Orfinger,  for the Prism of Value podcast about how he navigated is organization was pivoting from in person events to virtual. In this lively interview, he talks about how they connected with their subscribers in new ways, lessons are valuable as the world opens up.

Key Takeaways:
0:00 Intro
0:43 Alex talks about the strategy they are using around events pre-Covid, events being an important part of Business Journal 
1:36 Alex talks about the things that they started to think about differently after the pandemic hit and what they are also doing differently since they mostly depended on holding events 
3:23 Alex talks about connection of people and some of the things that they did digitally to foster that connection
4:59 Alex talks about how they facilitated the virtual meetings and what they did to kind of get people to open up about what they are feeling and have the connection they need
7:48 Alex talks about how he planned and managed to create a sense of intimacy in the women humane business Zoom dinner that had 100 people last month
10:55 Alex talks about what he would do differently if he were to hold another Zoom call like that again knowing what he know now 
13:01 Alex and Liz share their thoughts on how to do a virtual business card exchange after doing a Zoom call which is a problem in a virtual meeting 
15:34 Alex talks about how you can create experiences in a Zoom meeting or call that are very similar to when in person 
17:55 Alex shares his thoughts on the revenue model for the virtual events versus the way he had thought about it before
21:30 Alex talks about the book release as their big events and how they are going to be planning for them virtually nowadays 
22:16 Alex talks about the things that he now know that he wished he had know in the beginning of the pandemic 
23:52 Alex shares his advice to all people and especially to the business people 

Shows Mentioned: 
The Economic Development 40 Under 40 is a list of 40 individuals who have achieved success in economic development before turning 40 years old. 

Business Journals Leadership Trust: America's top resource for local business news and an invitation only community of business leaders.

Zoom is a videotelephony proprietary software program developed by Zoom Video Communications. The free plan provides a video chatting service that allows up to 100 concurrent participants, with a 40-minute time restriction. Users have the option to upgrade by subscribing to a paid plan.

Print media is a varied landscape of advertising opportunities. This category includes newspapers, magazines, direct mail, flyers, door hangers, and catalogs. These media offer the ability to present your brand, product, or message to an audience in a way unlike any other venue.

Quotes Mentioned:
“Since people were going to be sitting at home, they had a need for information on how to really navigate through the business gap through this pandemic.”
“People always say, it's so much better in person.”
“During the pandemic, people needed a safe space to talk to one another, to talk about the layoffs they were confronting, to talk about the cash crunch that many more people were facing.”
“Part of the secret of the success of a Zoom call is planning, thinking about what your purpose is and also not taking it for granted that it could just happen on its own.”
“You have to think about what you're trying to achieve in a Zoom session.”
“People don't like to eat on Zoom.”
“There’s something on Zoom that actually works better than in person.”
“When people are in a group that they really do care about, that has meaning, that it's not just like a pass through thing, they are more present and more available and they...

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