Reinventing Nerds

Reinventing Nerds

By Joanie ConnellBusinessTechnologyCareersManagement
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Reinventing Nerds episodes

  • Kevin Ehlinger-Wilde: Communicating Innovation

    Joanie interviews Kevin Ehlinger-Wilde, a nationally award-winning creative entrepreneur, speaker, and innovation trainer who has worked with over 500 executives and companies across the country.  He’s an expert on the TIPS personality profiling tool and he has offered our nerd community a special offer.
    Get a free overview of all of the TIPS profiles: www.wildespark.com/reinventing-nerds.
    The first 20 people who visit will get a free TIPS assessment!
    Highlights:
    Q: Kevin, you’ve worked with numerous executives.  What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in working with them?
    “People in the Sales Department tend to be more on the creative side. The IT people tend to be more systems oriented.  You’re dealing with a lot of different people who want information in different ways.”
    Q: How do you know what your audience is?
    “Sometimes it’s based on the skills they already have.  Sometimes it’s based on key indicators, like if their eyes are glazing over.”
    Q: Tell us about TIPS.
    “It’s a profile system, like Myers-Briggs on steroids…  As we go through TIPS, we learn how people like to be presented with things.”
    “For example, with the Thinking Style, some people are very figure oriented.  They like facts and numbers.  Others are very fantasy oriented.  A lot of systems people are figure oriented.  A lot of entrepreneurs and people in Marketing are in the fantasy world.”
    Q: How do you make it so people aren’t at each other’s throats?
    “That’s management–how do you put together teams that can function at a high level?  The idea of using tools like TIPS is so people can understand where everybody can help, where everybody can work, and then what’s the best way to put together teams.”
    Q: How do you put together innovative teams?
    “Let’s talk about innovation styles.  Some people are very innovative or they are adaptive.  The adaptive people look at small, incremental changes, like adding wheels to a chair.  The innovative people will ask whether we need a chair at all.”
    Q: How do you avoid feeling pigeon holed?
    “We all have strengths and weaknesses.  It’s not a matter of being pigeon holed.  We all have value in everything we do.  Theorists develop ideas.  Entrepreneurs build businesses.  Systems people organize.  Innovation is messy and chaotic.  The most successful companies have figured out how to systematize, keep doing what we do really well, then branch out.  We all have a role.  We all play a critical role in the company in every stage.”
    Words of Wisdom:
    “Change can be really tough for a lot of people.  The more you’re open to change, the more you’re open to new ideas of how things can be done.”
    “We’re all born 100% creative but we’re taught to conform.”
    Contact Kevin:
    Website: www.wildespark.com
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinehlinger/
    33 min
  • Kevin Ehlinger-Wilde: Communicating Innovation

    Joanie interviews Kevin Ehlinger-Wilde, a nationally award-winning creative entrepreneur, speaker, and innovation trainer who has worked with over 500 executives and companies across the country.  He’s an expert on the TIPS personality profiling tool and he has offered our nerd community a special offer.
    Get a free overview of all of the TIPS profiles: www.wildespark.com/reinventing-nerds.
    The first 20 people who visit will get a free TIPS assessment!
    Highlights:
    Q: Kevin, you’ve worked with numerous executives.  What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in working with them?
    “People in the Sales Department tend to be more on the creative side. The IT people tend to be more systems oriented.  You’re dealing with a lot of different people who want information in different ways.”
    Q: How do you know what your audience is?
    “Sometimes it’s based on the skills they already have.  Sometimes it’s based on key indicators, like if their eyes are glazing over.”
    Q: Tell us about TIPS.
    “It’s a profile system, like Myers-Briggs on steroids…  As we go through TIPS, we learn how people like to be presented with things.”
    “For example, with the Thinking Style, some people are very figure oriented.  They like facts and numbers.  Others are very fantasy oriented.  A lot of systems people are figure oriented.  A lot of entrepreneurs and people in Marketing are in the fantasy world.”
    Q: How do you make it so people aren’t at each other’s throats?
    “That’s management–how do you put together teams that can function at a high level?  The idea of using tools like TIPS is so people can understand where everybody can help, where everybody can work, and then what’s the best way to put together teams.”
    Q: How do you put together innovative teams?
    “Let’s talk about innovation styles.  Some people are very innovative or they are adaptive.  The adaptive people look at small, incremental changes, like adding wheels to a chair.  The innovative people will ask whether we need a chair at all.”
    Q: How do you avoid feeling pigeon holed?
    “We all have strengths and weaknesses.  It’s not a matter of being pigeon holed.  We all have value in everything we do.  Theorists develop ideas.  Entrepreneurs build businesses.  Systems people organize.  Innovation is messy and chaotic.  The most successful companies have figured out how to systematize, keep doing what we do really well, then branch out.  We all have a role.  We all play a critical role in the company in every stage.”
    Words of Wisdom:
    “Change can be really tough for a lot of people.  The more you’re open to change, the more you’re open to new ideas of how things can be done.”
    “We’re all born 100% creative but we’re taught to conform.”
    Contact Kevin:
    Website: www.wildespark.com
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinehlinger/
    33 min
  • Elisa Yu: Start-Up People Skills

    Joanie interviews Elisa Yu, a business coach who started out as a biochemical engineer.  Elisa talks about the people challenges she’s faced in running a startup company and being a business coach and what skills she has developed to succeed in these different roles.  She also gives tips for leaders from her business coaching practice.
    Highlights:
    Q: How did you come to move out of biochemistry?
    “I did some soul searching and realized I was not interacting with people as much as I would like to.  I saw that ‘Field Application Scientist’ seemed like a good sidestep to make that happen.”
    Q: What people challenges did you run into moving to a startup?
    “There are two main people challenges.  One is dealing with the founders.  The second is dealing with employees.”
    “The main challenge was we all have different personalities and we look at things differently.  Throughout the process, we built a level of trust.  We could have arguments.  We could have disagreements.  But we knew we were working to the same goal and we were not going to screw each other.”
    “Retention of people is a huge challenge for us.  What we realized over the years was to deal with our mindset before dealing with employees.”
    Q: When you hire people with good people skills, what do you look for?
    “When we hire people, we hire for good fit.  Just by hiring the smartest person might not be the best for the team.  Sometimes you have a team of very smart people but it’s a very dysfunctional team.  Because everyone’s personality clashes, they don’t have a unified vision.  It may not be the best for the team to have everyone fit into one mold.”
    Words of Wisdom:
    “When someone in Silicon Valley calls you to join a startup, it’s not something you say ‘no’ to.”
    “You learn on the way when to insist and when to give in.”
    “When you say you cannot, it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
    Contact Elisa:
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisa-yu-mba-9032001/
    34 min
  • Elisa Yu: Start-Up People Skills

    Joanie interviews Elisa Yu, a business coach who started out as a biochemical engineer.  Elisa talks about the people challenges she’s faced in running a startup company and being a business coach and what skills she has developed to succeed in these different roles.  She also gives tips for leaders from her business coaching practice.
    Highlights:
    Q: How did you come to move out of biochemistry?
    “I did some soul searching and realized I was not interacting with people as much as I would like to.  I saw that ‘Field Application Scientist’ seemed like a good sidestep to make that happen.”
    Q: What people challenges did you run into moving to a startup?
    “There are two main people challenges.  One is dealing with the founders.  The second is dealing with employees.”
    “The main challenge was we all have different personalities and we look at things differently.  Throughout the process, we built a level of trust.  We could have arguments.  We could have disagreements.  But we knew we were working to the same goal and we were not going to screw each other.”
    “Retention of people is a huge challenge for us.  What we realized over the years was to deal with our mindset before dealing with employees.”
    Q: When you hire people with good people skills, what do you look for?
    “When we hire people, we hire for good fit.  Just by hiring the smartest person might not be the best for the team.  Sometimes you have a team of very smart people but it’s a very dysfunctional team.  Because everyone’s personality clashes, they don’t have a unified vision.  It may not be the best for the team to have everyone fit into one mold.”
    Words of Wisdom:
    “When someone in Silicon Valley calls you to join a startup, it’s not something you say ‘no’ to.”
    “You learn on the way when to insist and when to give in.”
    “When you say you cannot, it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
    Contact Elisa:
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisa-yu-mba-9032001/
    34 min
  • Brian Dersch: Engineering Good Customer Relationships

    Joanie interviews Brian Dersch, the president and CEO of Dersch Design & Engineering.  Their mission is to design power and lighting systems for construction projects with an emphasis on renewable energy, customer service, and employing engineers that you can hold a conversation with. Brian is no exception!
    We start out a little bit differently in this episode because Brian is able to articulate how his keen awareness of what was going on around him led to his career and business and success—a great lesson for all nerds!  He also shares insights into how he developed his people skills, manages virtual teams,
    Highlights:
    Q: How did you get into your field of business?
    “I noticed there weren’t a lot of people going into large-scale power engineering.  I thought, ‘There’s a gap here and ten years from now, someone could end up inheriting it.’”
    Q: How did you come to start up your own company?
    “I got married and my wife had a dream of becoming a travelling nurse.  She said, ‘You can either stay in San Diego and work or come with me.’  So, I quit my job…”
    Q: How did you come to create a company where engineers can have conversations with customers?
    “I am an engineer first, and a business person second.  Positioning the business for success, that was learned from trial and error.”
    Q: How did you develop your people skills?
    “I thought I was shy in high school.  I joined the speech team and theater and I broke out of my shell.”
    “One of the skills I developed was public speaking skills.  I needed more architects.  I put together an educational presentation for architects to connect with them.”
    Q: How do you connect with people?
    “In networking events, I’m often the youngest person there.  It can be very intimidating to show up in a room where everyone is in suits and have grey hair…  All it takes is finding out what someone’s interests are.”
    Words of Wisdom:
    “In the small business atmosphere, there are no limits.”
    “The more I practice, the luckier I get.” –Arnold Palmer
    “Tell them the time, not how the clock was made.”
    “You can’t beat face-to-face interaction.”
    Contact Brian:
    Website: derschdesign.com
    Phone: 858-768-0867
    37 min
  • Brian Dersch: Engineering Good Customer Relationships

    Joanie interviews Brian Dersch, the president and CEO of Dersch Design & Engineering.  Their mission is to design power and lighting systems for construction projects with an emphasis on renewable energy, customer service, and employing engineers that you can hold a conversation with. Brian is no exception!
    We start out a little bit differently in this episode because Brian is able to articulate how his keen awareness of what was going on around him led to his career and business and success—a great lesson for all nerds!  He also shares insights into how he developed his people skills, manages virtual teams,
    Highlights:
    Q: How did you get into your field of business?
    “I noticed there weren’t a lot of people going into large-scale power engineering.  I thought, ‘There’s a gap here and ten years from now, someone could end up inheriting it.’”
    Q: How did you come to start up your own company?
    “I got married and my wife had a dream of becoming a travelling nurse.  She said, ‘You can either stay in San Diego and work or come with me.’  So, I quit my job…”
    Q: How did you come to create a company where engineers can have conversations with customers?
    “I am an engineer first, and a business person second.  Positioning the business for success, that was learned from trial and error.”
    Q: How did you develop your people skills?
    “I thought I was shy in high school.  I joined the speech team and theater and I broke out of my shell.”
    “One of the skills I developed was public speaking skills.  I needed more architects.  I put together an educational presentation for architects to connect with them.”
    Q: How do you connect with people?
    “In networking events, I’m often the youngest person there.  It can be very intimidating to show up in a room where everyone is in suits and have grey hair…  All it takes is finding out what someone’s interests are.”
    Words of Wisdom:
    “In the small business atmosphere, there are no limits.”
    “The more I practice, the luckier I get.” –Arnold Palmer
    “Tell them the time, not how the clock was made.”
    “You can’t beat face-to-face interaction.”
    Contact Brian:
    Website: derschdesign.com
    Phone: 858-768-0867
    37 min
  • Etienne de Bruin: The CTO’s People Challenges

    Joanie interviews Etienne de Bruin, CEO of 7CTOs, a company that offers forums of peer groups of CTOs who follow a curriculum to pursue and inspire innovative thinking.  Etienne shares the typical people challenges CTO’s run into, as well as his own.  He also asks Joanie about hers!
    Highlights:
    Q: What kinds of challenges do CTOs run into?
    “When you start going into a leadership role, especially CTO land, your problem starts to shift to a people problem.”
    Q: How did you pivot when you moved into the role of a CTO?
    “I had a few moments when I realized I was missing the plot.”
    “A transformation for me was when I personally went from seeing my employees on my team as extensions of me.  I had to flip that and see them as creative beings that had their own ways of how they wanted to do things.”
    “I always thought I was creating a collaborative environment, but I wasn’t.  At one point, I almost had a mutiny on my hands.”
    Q: What kinds of things come up in your CTO forums?
    “When you strike this beautiful balance between mutual trust and vulnerability, then you see tech geniuses open up at levels that are really amazing.”
    “Being able to have your friends that you connect with is rare.  To get to that level where you can really share and have people give you actionable advice or help takes really hard work.  It’s an investment.”
    Q: How does technology factor in to your forum format?
    “In-person meetings are crucial to us because we think that the nuances, the unspoken gestures, all those things contribute to the larger conversation.  It does impact the way people share, to have a physical manifestation that your voice has an equal place at the table.”
    Words of Wisdom:
    “Letting them fail.  That’s tough.”
    “With the control factor, oftentimes there’s something else going on.”
    Contact Etienne:
    Websites: 7ctos.com, Everydev.com
    Twitter & Instagram: @etdebruin
    34 min
  • Etienne de Bruin: The CTO’s People Challenges

    Joanie interviews Etienne de Bruin, CEO of 7CTOs, a company that offers forums of peer groups of CTOs who follow a curriculum to pursue and inspire innovative thinking.  Etienne shares the typical people challenges CTO’s run into, as well as his own.  He also asks Joanie about hers!
    Highlights:
    Q: What kinds of challenges do CTOs run into?
    “When you start going into a leadership role, especially CTO land, your problem starts to shift to a people problem.”
    Q: How did you pivot when you moved into the role of a CTO?
    “I had a few moments when I realized I was missing the plot.”
    “A transformation for me was when I personally went from seeing my employees on my team as extensions of me.  I had to flip that and see them as creative beings that had their own ways of how they wanted to do things.”
    “I always thought I was creating a collaborative environment, but I wasn’t.  At one point, I almost had a mutiny on my hands.”
    Q: What kinds of things come up in your CTO forums?
    “When you strike this beautiful balance between mutual trust and vulnerability, then you see tech geniuses open up at levels that are really amazing.”
    “Being able to have your friends that you connect with is rare.  To get to that level where you can really share and have people give you actionable advice or help takes really hard work.  It’s an investment.”
    Q: How does technology factor in to your forum format?
    “In-person meetings are crucial to us because we think that the nuances, the unspoken gestures, all those things contribute to the larger conversation.  It does impact the way people share, to have a physical manifestation that your voice has an equal place at the table.”
    Words of Wisdom:
    “Letting them fail.  That’s tough.”
    “With the control factor, oftentimes there’s something else going on.”
    Contact Etienne:
    Websites: 7ctos.com, Everydev.com
    Twitter & Instagram: @etdebruin
    34 min
  • Abby Malchow: Women Vets in Tech

    Joanie interviews Abby Malchow, who was attracted to the dynamic, growing tech industry even without a technical background.  Intel recruited her because of her experience with supply chain management in the Navy.  She now is a commodity manager in software and cloud technology.  Abby tells stories about how she made the transition from military to tech and how she helps veterans.  For example, while others use Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to generate revenue, Abby works with AI to help prevent suicide.  You might also be interested to know that Intel has an “AI for Good” team.
    Highlights:
    Q: How did you develop your adaptability in the military?
    “In Iraq, I had to work with people who didn’t speak English and who weren’t comfortable working with women.  In the beginning, they would try to spit on me.  When they saw how hard I worked, they respected me.”
    Q: How did you earn your respect at Intel without a technical background?
    “I reached out to as many people as I could to gain information.  I leveraged my veteran network here.  Having discussions with people was more beneficial than reading a book or a manual.  I learned what others did, what their mistakes were, what I should know about this industry.  Relationships were formed from that.”
    Q: What kinds of people challenges did you run into?
    “While some people were willing to talk to me, some were less helpful.  In the military we’re always so quick to help people.  It’s our duty.  At Intel it’s different.  Everyone has to focus on their own responsibilities first, before they can help someone.”
    Q: Why is it important to talk to women?
    “If I’m not seeing women in managerial roles, what does my future at Intel look like?  I wanted to know Intel was investing in women in these roles.”
    Q: What kinds of challenges do women veterans face when they transition out of the military?
    “They tend to disappear.  There’s less of a community for them than for men.  People tend to think of the military in a very traditional sense, that it’s male-dominated, and, because of that, facilities have been built to not include women.”
    Q: How is AI being used to help suicidal veterans?
    “AI has grown in several platforms, including Facebook.  Suicide prevention algorithms exist to generate pop-ups with suicide prevention information when suicidal language appears.”
    Q: What challenges do you run into in trying to get multiple different types of organizations to work together on veteran suicide prevention?
    “You have to get the buy-in from the company.  In the end of the day, you have to appeal to them on more than an emotional level.  You have to bring in the data.”
    Words of Wisdom:
    “In this industry you’re never going to stop learning.”
    “Working in a male-dominated industry, I had to look outside of my group to find women to lean on for support.”
    “Veterans sustain invisible wounds.”
    Contact Abby:
    Twitter: @AbbyMalchow
    LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/abbymalchow/
    31 min
  • Abby Malchow: Women Vets in Tech

    Joanie interviews Abby Malchow, who was attracted to the dynamic, growing tech industry even without a technical background.  Intel recruited her because of her experience with supply chain management in the Navy.  She now is a commodity manager in software and cloud technology.  Abby tells stories about how she made the transition from military to tech and how she helps veterans.  For example, while others use Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to generate revenue, Abby works with AI to help prevent suicide.  You might also be interested to know that Intel has an “AI for Good” team.
    Highlights:
    Q: How did you develop your adaptability in the military?
    “In Iraq, I had to work with people who didn’t speak English and who weren’t comfortable working with women.  In the beginning, they would try to spit on me.  When they saw how hard I worked, they respected me.”
    Q: How did you earn your respect at Intel without a technical background?
    “I reached out to as many people as I could to gain information.  I leveraged my veteran network here.  Having discussions with people was more beneficial than reading a book or a manual.  I learned what others did, what their mistakes were, what I should know about this industry.  Relationships were formed from that.”
    Q: What kinds of people challenges did you run into?
    “While some people were willing to talk to me, some were less helpful.  In the military we’re always so quick to help people.  It’s our duty.  At Intel it’s different.  Everyone has to focus on their own responsibilities first, before they can help someone.”
    Q: Why is it important to talk to women?
    “If I’m not seeing women in managerial roles, what does my future at Intel look like?  I wanted to know Intel was investing in women in these roles.”
    Q: What kinds of challenges do women veterans face when they transition out of the military?
    “They tend to disappear.  There’s less of a community for them than for men.  People tend to think of the military in a very traditional sense, that it’s male-dominated, and, because of that, facilities have been built to not include women.”
    Q: How is AI being used to help suicidal veterans?
    “AI has grown in several platforms, including Facebook.  Suicide prevention algorithms exist to generate pop-ups with suicide prevention information when suicidal language appears.”
    Q: What challenges do you run into in trying to get multiple different types of organizations to work together on veteran suicide prevention?
    “You have to get the buy-in from the company.  In the end of the day, you have to appeal to them on more than an emotional level.  You have to bring in the data.”
    Words of Wisdom:
    “In this industry you’re never going to stop learning.”
    “Working in a male-dominated industry, I had to look outside of my group to find women to lean on for support.”
    “Veterans sustain invisible wounds.”
    Contact Abby:
    Twitter: @AbbyMalchow
    LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/abbymalchow/
    31 min

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