Relationship maintenance and human connection are key to member retention. This is especially critical to membership or association based businesses. If people don’t stay engaged, they’ll cancel. But how do you seamlessly provide what will keep a member invested in such a fast-paced digital world? How do you focus your company to improve human connection?

To discuss digital solutions to these questions, I (Kyle) interviewed Farhad Khan, CEO and Digital Strategist of Grype Digital and their Member Lounge app. Farhad shared that the more narrow your niche, the better you can penetrate the market. He and I also discussed listening deeper, utilizing the people around you, self-sufficiency within your team, and adding small positive habits.

“The number one thing that we learned was: the narrower the niche, the better the chances of market penetration. Right? If you have too broad of a niche, it becomes difficult. The narrower the niche–you know, like the sharper the spike at the end–for you to penetrate the market.” -- Farhad Khan

• Cohesive experience
• Narrowing your niche
• Listening deeper
• Utilizing your people
• Appropriately letting go
• Self-sufficiency within team
• Adding small positive habits

Farhad is the CEO and Digital Strategist of Grype Digital and their Member Lounge app. Grype Digital is a company that helps member-based organizations realize their potential by building meaningful web experiences that engage and delight their audience.

With 15 years of experience, Farhad is a software engineer with a passion for user experience strategy. Through Grype Digital, he helps build large-scale membership sites for professional associations because Farhad realized that too many organizations were building websites and membership sites without having a clear strategy to generate revenue or engage members. There are strategy consultants who can provide big picture strategies but don't execute on the technology. Then there are developers who don't have experience with member-based organizations and couldn’t collaborate on creating a strategy for member engagement. Farhad saw a gap in the market and created strategy workshops for clients. To date, every client Grype Digital takes on starts with a strategy workshop leading to an effective execution of the strategy.

Website: memberlounge.app

Website: grype.ca 

Podcast: grype.ca/podcast

Webinar Videos: grype.ca/videos  

Email: [email protected]

Linkedin - Farhad Khan 

Linkedin - Grype 

Twitter - Grype

Facebook- Grype

Youtube - Grype

Kyle Maloney is a Senior Account Executive at FullStack PEO and co-host of the Savage to Sage podcast. As a high energy Human Resources professional with a strong cross-cultural background and experience, Kyle brings the ability to lead and implement effective Change Management. His policies and procedures enhance overall morale and productivity

Bringing your vision to life is mentally and physically exhausting, especially during the savage days. You have to make it happen or it probably won’t. You may even find yourself and your team needing to create solutions that currently don’t exist or don’t quite fit your needs. And in order to keep everything going, you need some wins, you need to be engaging meaningful work, and you need optimism. But in the midst of that, you need humility perhaps most of all.

To discuss this more in depth, I (Daniel) interviewed Jason Beutler, the CEO of RoboSource. Jason opened up about mental exhaustion, the fallout of arrogance, and accepting correction. He also shared about embracing the energy of fresh perspective and humble leadership modeling. 

“I was surrounded by very high quality people… and they did a phenomenal job of lovingly helping me become aware that I’m not everything I thought I was… that I needed to make some changes… For me, that was a revolutionary moment.” -- Jason Beutler

• Mental exhaustion
• The need for optimism
• Meaningful work
• Humble leadership modeling
• Energy of fresh perspective
• The fallout of arrogance
• Accepting correction and deeper self-understanding

• Book: Who Not How: The Formula To Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork by Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy
• Podcast episode containing Daniel’s flash flood story: savagetosage.com 

Jason is the CEO of RoboSource, a robotic process automation and custom software company dedicated to helping companies automate their processes through RPA-as-a-Service.

Several years ago, Jason was teaching a college computer engineering class when he realized that his students were writing better code than an outsourced team he was supervising at the same time. And that’s how RoboSource was born. 

With almost 20 years of professional programming experience, you might expect Jason to spend his free time reading fantasy fiction, playing board games, or drinking Mountain Dew. He does. But he also spends a fair amount of time playing competitive sand volleyball and fanning hard-core at Notre Dame football games. His passion for Notre Dame extended to completing his MBA there in 2009. 

Professionally, Jason is passionate about process improvement and using accountability to grow young developers. He speaks often on this topic, to audiences as diverse as coding conference attendees, classes full of university students, and computer science educators. 

Website: robosource.us 

Email: [email protected]

Linkedin - Jason Beutler 

Linkedin - RoboSource

Daniel is a partner and the VP of Business Development for FullStack PEO and co-host of the Savage to Sage podcast. He is passionate about seeing people, leaders, cultures, and organizations develop. He says, “When I have the honor of being a part of that...

Potentiality pushes through the muck and the mud to emerge with beauty and impact. Most things do not come easily. Dedication, perseverance and belief is needed. When we refuse to stay stuck and we continually move forward, we will create something of worth. To fuel this pursuit, we need to be both savage and sage. We need to be fearless.

In this episode, I (Daniel) discussed this truth with Steve Johns, the CEO of OneCause and the author of Fearless: Leadership Lessons at the Crossroads. Steve related what it means to be fearless, effects of what the pandemic stole from us, reestablishing human connection, and hope with a plan. He also shared about his inspiration for Fearless, leading with authenticity, being a modern stoic, and much more.

“Fearless is being willing to move forward and take action in the face of great unknown.” -- Steve Johns

• Observation and execution
• Inspiration for Fearless
• Effects of what the pandemic stole from us
• Reestablishing human connection
• What fearless looks like
• Hope with a plan
• People first: adjusting post pandemic
• Being a modern stoic

Steve is the CEO of OneCause and the author of Fearless: Leadership Lessons at the Crossroads. He is passionate about helping nonprofits build a better tomorrow. 

Steve has over 30 years of experience in technology, corporate development, venture capital, event production and entrepreneurship. He has served as a senior executive in the Fortune 500, as well as successful early-stage start-up investing and scale-up executive leadership. Steve served on the Motorola Research Visionary Board and was a pioneer member of DePaul’s Coleman Entrepreneurship Center Blue Print Mentoring Program. He currently serves on the board for TechPoint helping guide growth initiatives for the Indiana tech industry.

As the Chief Executive Officer at OneCause, Steve leads a team of dedicated, curious, and helpful professionals who have supported more than 10,000 nonprofits as they achieve their missions. OneCause has emerged as the leading mobile fundraising platform helping nonprofits raise more money and connect with more donors.

In 2022, Steve added “author” to his resume. He began writing his debut book, Fearless: Leadership Lessons at the Crossroads, after a message to his team: “Be safe.” A modern thinker, Steve links timeless learning, stoicism, real life experiences, and powerful stories into a mesmeric diary that delivers warmth and charm.

Outside of leading fearlessly, you can find him jamming to classic rock tunes in his office, walking the sands of Cocoa Beach with his family, or cheering on his beloved Chicago White Sox.

Website: OneCause.com 

Get Steve’s book: Fearless: Leadership Lessons at the Crossroads

Linkedin - Steve Johns

Linkedin - OneCause  

In business, we tend to view employee retention and engagement in tangible terms such as benefits, compensation, and flexible schedules. But those things are technically tied more to employee satisfaction. Genuine and meaningful employee engagement is much deeper than that. And if we wish to retain excellent employees, and achieve results we must understand it.

In this episode, I (Kyle) and Adam K. Binkerd, a Founding Partner and the CEO of 240Solutions, explored this topic. Adam explained the three pieces of employee engagement which bring understanding of the human experience: belonging, vulnerability, and shared purpose. Adam further expounded by discussing producing quality results through quality human experience, the value of trouble-makers, walking leaders into leading differently, and the gift of peace.

“Employee engagement is… an innate piece of who we are… Our engagement comes from the acknowledgement of our humanity. And that comes in the sense of belonging, vulnerability, and shared purpose. These are true about all of us.” -- Adam K. Binkerd

• Belonging, vulnerability and shared purpose
• Inviting perspectives and being heard
• Quality results through quality experience
• The value of trouble-makers
• Walking leaders into leading differently
• What are you afraid of?
• The gift of peace

Start With Why by Simeon Sinek

The Six Types of Working Genius by Patrick Lencioni

Adam is a Founding Partner and the CEO of 240Solutions, a fractional employee engagement company designed and dedicated to improving organizational health by helping leaders better understand their team's collective value and the value of each unique member.

“My story is simple but it wasn’t easy. Anything worth pursuing is usually a challenge. I like to say ‘When it starts to suck, Congratulations…you just started learning.’

“So here it is…

“As a teen, I survived sexual assault, navigated a learning disability [dyslexia], battled addiction, and finished high school genuinely believing I was stupid. I worked 10 professional years as a landscaper from the most impoverished county in Indiana before pursuing my college education.

“After 15 years, I left the landscaping profession to pursue a career helping struggling students (like me) discover their brilliance and self-belief.

“8 years later, using a human-centered strategy, I became a nationally recognized expert in student success and retention by focusing solely on EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT.

“In 2021, I stepped out and started a business helping others learn how to recognize, elevate, and act on the inherent value of their people.

“After 4 college degrees, including two Masters degrees in Leadership, I have discovered that ALL leadership success is predicated on two traits, (1) a relentless belief in others and (2) courageous curiosity. As an organizational leader, the answers you need lie within your organization, within your people. My proven approach can help you mine both the answers and the hidden gems in your company.

“There is no secret to my success...it’s people-first, nothing less and no exceptions.”

Website: 240Solutions.com 

As savage-minded entrepreneurs, we have to think beyond the norm and push boundaries. Nothing new happens unless we do. This may take the form of pursuing methods or ideas others have dismissed or perhaps not even considered. It may take the form of ignoring those who say it won’t work. For an entrepreneur, rejecting the expected is integral to life and goals.

Eager to discuss this further, I (Kyle) interviewed Matt Speer, the Founder of LIV Indy, and the Founder and CEO of Property Management Advisory (LivLabs.io). Matt shared how he’s used not-so-ordinary ideas to accomplish goals throughout his life, and now is improving the technology that is sorely lacking in the world of real estate and property management. Matt related stories of avoiding working in the campus bookstore, the chip on the shoulder mindset, values to determine passion, and having hard conversations.

“But when it's your own vision–you know, when it’s just an idea and it becomes a reality–and then you’re selling that product... That’s what gets me up in the morning and gives me a lot of excitement… I just follow it, chase it as much as I can.” -- Matt Speer

• Stacking tools and resources
• The calling of the savage mindset
• Rejecting the expected
• Guide with traction
• Presenting values to determine passion
• Having hard conversations

Traction: Get A Grip On Your Business by Gino Wickman

Burn Rate: Launching a Startup and Losing My Mind by Andy Dunn

Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud

Matt is the Founder of LIV Indy and the Founder and CEO of Property Management Advisory (LivLabs.io). Matt has built a real estate portfolio, a property management company and now he’s making it all better with technology.

Both driven by technology, LIV Indy is a property management organization that alleviates the strain of being a landlord by taking care of all the tenant interactions, rent collection, maintenance, and upkeep. And PMA was built for property managers, by property managers, with one simple goal: equip every day property management company owners with world class technology so they can make more money with less effort.

livindy.co - LIV Indy

https://www.propertymanagement.page/ - Property Management Advisory

[email protected] 

Linkedin - M Speer 

Linkedin - LIV Indy 

Linkedin - Property Management Advisory

Kyle Maloney is a Senior Account Executive at FullStack PEO and co-host of the Savage to Sage podcast. As a high energy Human Resources...

A leader is someone who raises their hand. Someone who, despite adversity, says “Yes” to opportunity, to tackling hard things, to adapting and overcoming, to seeing solutions and implementing them.  True leaders lead because it is simply part of who they are. They do when others say they can't. They prove naysayers wrong.

To discuss raising your hand, I (Kyle) talked with Inez Evans, the President and CEO of IndyGo. Inez related thriving and leading regardless of difficulties, the necessity of integrity, focusing on solutions rather than problems, managing from the floor, and much more. She also shared some of her personal experiences that shaped her commitment, her focus, and how she learned to persevere even more by working together.

“Don’t take no for an answer… If I allowed people to tell me ‘No, you can't’, I would not be here today.” -- Inez Evans

• Raising your hand
• Proving naysayers wrong
• Standing by what you say
• Being solution bound
• Caring for others to de-stress
• Pillaging awesome employees
• Managing from the floor
• Persevering together

Inez is the President and CEO of IndyGo – Marion County, Indiana’s metropolitan transportation company. Selected in summer 2019, she became the first minority woman President and CEO for the transit agency, managing an agency of more than 800 employees, with a fleet of more than 200 vehicles, averaging 9 million trips annually. 

Inez has ushered in IndyGo’s first all-electric bus rapid transit line, recruited emerging leaders to the executive team, maintained and innovated service during a pandemic, developed and executed the purchase of a new headquarter location to meet the growing needs of the agency, put new vehicles into service (moving IndyGo towards its clean fleet goals), enforced vendor accountability, enhanced improvements with paratransit services, and championed diversity and workforce development within the agency. 

With more than 25 years of experience, Inez’s career has been rooted in her ability to build and nurture relationships, bring communities together, and affect organizational change. Before joining IndyGo, she began her career in customer service and most recently was the Chief Operating Officer for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). 

Inez serves on the Indianapolis Arts Council board of directors and on their diversity and inclusion committee, as well as being appointed by Mayor Hogsett to the Greater Indianapolis Progress Committee board of directors in 2019. As the co-chair for the American Heart Association’s Circle for Red Committee, she is able to champion heart health to her community. She also serves as a board member for American Public Transportation Association (APTA), and committee member for Leadership APTA, a program that grooms transit professionals aspiring to become leaders within their organizations.

In 2021, Inez was the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from Miz CEO, a local institution focused on uplifting women in the community. She is a mother of four boys, a native of Texas, and in her free time, she enjoys singing and gardening.

Website: indygo.net 

Linkedin - Inez Evans 

Linkedin - IndyGo

As we build our businesses, finding people who both fit into our business but also enhance our business is crucial. We need different viewpoints, different strengths and different talents. In our search, we may come across people who are wonderfully like-minded with us or we may encounter people who don’t have our best interest in mind. Regardless, success isn’t about being perfect or having everything perfect, it is about being professional, adapting, and continuing to move forward.

To talk about these truths, I (Kyle) interviewed Kirk Booher, the Founder, President and Senior Security Officer of OnGuard Security Solutions​. Kirk shared what it means to be professional but not perfect, the value of working with boundaries in mind, people you may encounter in business, the sum of the room, and much more. He also opened up about some of the rough times he’s been through and what he’s learned from each of them.

“Professional doesn’t mean perfect. Perfect is the enemy of good. If I waited for everything to be perfect, I would get very little, if anything, done. But we need to be professional, right? And all that word holds.” -- Kirk Booher

• Value of audio books and on-the-go education
• Not perfect, but professional
• Working within boundaries
• Not everyone has your back
• 4 quadrants for evaluation
• The sum of the room
• Authenticity with respect
• Ask yourself 3 things

Kirk is the Founder, President and Senior Security Officer of OnGuard Security Solutions​. As the “OnGuardMan”, Kirk has over 40 years of experience implementing security systems (Intrusion and Fire Alarms, Video Surveillance, Access Control, Monitoring, etc). His skills include the primary and specialty aspects of electronic protection, safety, team building, and big picture thinking. 

Kirk began his career working for his father's company, Hoosier Alarm, while attending Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis in 1983. He served in the US Navy along with several local alarm companies prior to joining Guardian in 1999. Career positions prior to founding OnGuard Security Solutions in 2011 include the following: installer, central station dispatcher, sales, and sales management.

Kirk has personally secured 1,000s of residential and commercial properties across Indiana over the past 30+ years. OnGuard installs and services both business and home alarm systems, video surveillance, access control and anti-kick, and door hardening systems. Their purpose is to “professionally protect precious people and property” so that clients have no worries.

Kirk has been married since 2000 and has 3 children. He enjoys tennis, bicycle road riding, and hiking.

​

Website: weareonguard.com 

Blog and Security Field News: weareonguard.com/blog-news 

Kirk’s Personal Blog: ponderinglife.blog 

Linkedin - Kirk Booher

Facebook - OnGuard

Youtube -...

Success brings with it pressures you might not be ready for. In an attempt to alleviate imposter syndrome and to do and learn all the things, your personal life suffers. This then spills over into your leadership, causing issues at work… which then only add to the difficulties at home… and the horrible cycle continues.

To discuss this problem we all face, I (Kyle) interviewed my unofficial mentor, Cory Carlson, Owner and the CEO of Connector Consulting, the author of Win at Home First and Rise and Go, and the podcast host of Win at Home First. Cory opens up about his journey from trying to help himself to seeking a coach, and how that led him to the place he is today. Through his own personal transformation, Cory saw how being absent from home life and existing without purpose in your work doesn’t have to be “just the way it is”. He talks about intentionality, courage with grace, timing, rejecting head trash, and much more.

“You need to put together a vision statement. Just a simple, 10 word or less, pithy vision statement… puts a little fear in you and also excites you.” -- Cory Carlson

• Learning through imposter syndrome
• Courage with grace
• Intentional, not passive
• Timing doesn’t necessarily mean no
• Writing a pithy vision statement and manifesto that works for you
• Rejecting head trash
• Purpose and people

Book: Lead Yourself First: Inspiring Leadership Through Solitude by Raymond M. Kethledge and Michael S. Erwin

Cory is the Owner and the CEO of Connector Consulting, the author of Win at Home First and Rise and Go, and the podcast host of Win at Home First, a Top 1.5% global podcast per ListenNotes.

As an entrepreneur, former executive, husband, and father of three, Cory understands the pressures working parents face. He is passionate about helping business leaders win at home and work.

Twenty years in corporate America gave Cory amazing opportunities as he worked his way up to the executive level. But he also saw brokenness: work without purpose, burnout, lack of focus, strained marriages, and absentee parents. Business leaders, especially, were often not living life to the fullest.

When Cory discovered coaching, it helped him become a better leader, husband, and father. So he left his corporate career to help other leaders win at work and at home. Cory does this through executive coaching, speaking, and writing.

Currently, Cory lives in Cincinnati with his awesome wife and three amazing children and holds both a Civil Engineering degree from the University of Missouri and an MBA from Rockhurst University.

​

Website: CoryMCarlson.com 

Podcast:

Keeping up with changes in technology and suggestions from others can force your business into a place you don’t want to be. When that happens, what do you do? How do you adapt a business during lightning speed changes? How do you evolve a business you don’t want into one you do?

To tackle this issue, I (Kyle) chatted with Ron Tonini, a Co-Owner and the CEO of Picture Marketing. Ron shares the changes and challenges he’s seen over the past 20+ years as technology and customer whims resulted in evolution of his business. He discusses the value of combining passion with product, staying fresh, surviving cycles in business, and the marketability of simplicity. 

“Reinventing the product… really rejuvenates your enthusiasm for it all.” -- Ron Tonini

• Forced into being a service
• Evolving into what you want to be
• Combining passion with product
• Staying fresh
• Surviving cycles
• Rejuvenation through reinvention
• Marketability of simplicity

Ron is a Co-Owner and the CEO of Picture Marketing, a turn-key photo sharing solution to increase brand participation. Ron says…

“Since 2000, my partners and I have been passionately striving to perfect the use of consumer photos and videos in brand-based advertising efforts. We’ve developed Apps for both Android and iOS that allow any company to enlist its own employees as photo-taking brand ambassadors for the brand. Picture Marketing was born out of my passion for database marketing and lead generation.

Prior to founding Picture Marketing, I served as President of Don Ton Associates, where I positioned the company to take advantage of the advent of the Internet by developing multiple web-focused marketing efforts including the CruiseNet, CruiseBid and CruiseWatch web properties, which were subsequently purchased by American Express.”

Picture Marketing, Inc.

SportsEngager.com 

Linkedin - Picture Marketing Inc.

Linkedin - Ron Tonini 

[email protected]

Facebook - Picture Marketing

Twitter - FotoZap

Instagram - FotoZap

Kyle Maloney is a Senior Account Executive at FullStack PEO and co-host of the Savage to Sage podcast. As a high energy Human Resources professional with a strong cross-cultural background and experience, Kyle brings the ability to lead and implement effective Change Management. His policies and procedures enhance overall morale and productivity of both employees and companies.

Linkedin

[email protected]

savagetosage.com

Daniel is a partner...

For any organization to be truly purpose-driven, it needs to become a movement, not just a move. In other words, it cannot simply be a mission statement we put on the office wall or include in emails. It must have deeper roots than that.

For this episode, I (Kyle) chat with John Qualls, the CEO and President of Purpose HQ about putting purpose back into work. As we talk, we discuss one of the biggest issues in building our businesses: finding people who are as purpose-driven as our business. John also shares about understanding your superpower, evaluating what's next, moving from checkers to chess, and surrounding yourself with challengers.

“It’s not about you against them. It’s about us against the problem… That means you’ve got to build a team who can bring all these different perceptions around that problem so that you can get to a better solution.” -- John Qualls

• Understanding your superpower
• Finding purpose-driven people
• Evaluating what's next
• Letting it go
• Moving from checkers to chess
• Surrounding yourself with challengers
• Loving the struggle

John is the CEO & President at Purpose HQ, an Indianapolis-based talent optimization company that helps organizations understand and empower their employees to align people strategy with business results.

From his early roots in application development, data center co-location, managed network services, and disaster recovery, John offers a keen understanding of the last decade’s technological trends and cycles that have evolved into today and tomorrow’s hosted IT environments.

As an accomplished business leader, John has spent his entire career developing and promoting innovative technology solutions that drive and enable business growth and profitability. He’s now focusing his talents on Talent Optimization and addressing the four talent disconnects of poor fit: job, team, manager, and culture.

Purpose HQ

Linkedin - Purpose HQ

Linkedin - J Qualls 

Twitter - We Are Purpose HQ

Youtube

Facebook - We Are Purpose HQ

Kyle Maloney is a Senior Account Executive at FullStack PEO and co-host of the Savage to Sage podcast. As a high energy Human Resources professional with a strong cross-cultural background and experience, Kyle brings the ability to lead and implement effective Change Management. His policies and procedures enhance overall morale and productivity of both employees and companies.

Linkedin

[email protected]

savagetosage.com

Daniel is a partner and the VP of Business Development for FullStack PEO and co-host of the Savage to Sage podcast. He is passionate...