Strategy & Action

Today on the show, Strategy + Action = Solving Your Own Pain to Grow a Successful Company

Today on the show, Strategy + Action = Solving Your Own Pain to Grow a Successful Company

Today, I've got Craig Lillard on the show.  His company is ClipScribe.  It's an amazing tool for ... at its core, automatically putting subtitles onto your videos.  Automatically generating those subtitles that go on there and all sorts of design features and things like that.  And while that may sound so basic because we kind of look around and there are several tools doing something similar.  But, to be able to do it so easily and so well?  That's a different animal. I've looked recently, you know, at some of these other tools as I see them pop up.  And for what you get with ClipScribe, it's just unbelievable.

And now Craig is even adding training, and not just around his product, but training around turning your videos into way more than just a simple video throwing it up on social.  So we dig into all of that:  some of the training he's got going on, how he is very purposefully the face of his company, still, even though it's a SaaS company and some folks have advised him not to do that.  He's seen the benefits of that. And that's honestly a trend that I've seen some really high profile, very successful folks doing: being the face of the company but still being able to scale.  And because you've got that human connection, it actually helps not only in the beginning, but even as you grow.

So we dig into a bunch here around ClipScribe and his journey to get there.  Why he started it in the first place really solving his own pain points.  And then looking up and seeing, "Oh, wow.  This is a really good product and not many other people are offering the service."  And he's kind of gone from there and built on it and built on it all the way up to you know offering done for you services now through this platform.  Really strong.

Today on the show, Strategy + Action = Effectively Doing Business with the Air Force

In this episode, I talk with Dr. Kate Gilpin and Chris Mather. They're with a program called APEX (Academic Partnership Engagement Experiment).  APEX is administered by Parallax Advanced Research and is all about pairing entrepreneurs and universities with the Air Force.

This is an exciting topic for me because I've had my eyes opened recently to all the new opportunities that are out there for entrepreneurs to work with the Armed Forces faster and more efficiently than ever before.  A lot of the branches are really looking for that next new, innovative solution to a variety of problems.

And they're improving how they discover and work with those entrepreneurs, as well as the university sector.

APEX is not only working with entrepreneurs and universities, but pairing them together, and creating those alliances, through the networks that they have to then go and work with the Air Force.

I hope you'll check out this episode and maybe it will spark an idea of how your company could benefit from this program.

Today on the show, Strategy + Action = Overcoming the Stigma of Mental Health in the Workplace

We all need Connection in our lives to varying degrees.  But when we're going through something difficult it's even more important.

When we're dealing with some kind of mental illness or addiction ... it can mean the difference between life and death.

Tim Clarke is on the show today.  I am so impressed with not only the difficult journey he's been on but his passion and hard work to help others going through their own journeys.

Tim is a former Marketing Leader at Salesforce, but what we really dig into the most in this episode is his work as co-founder of Uncrushed, an organization dedicated to raising awareness around mental health, particularly in the workplace.  But beyond awareness, Uncrushed is showing people a path to recovery on their own terms.

I'm grateful to Michelle Hecht for her introduction to Tim.  I'm honored to have him on the show and I encourage to check out the full episode (link in the comments) and connect with him and his team at Uncrushed.

Remember that Connection is everything in this world.  Connect with someone who needs it and Connect for yourself as well.

Today on the show, Strategy + Action = Educating First for Better Sales

The amazing Barbara Tunstall is on the show today!

A dear friend and incredible Connector in the Dallas, TX tech scene, Barbara is the first person to take on the dual roles of Executive Account Manager for both the Richardson Chamber of Commerce and Tech Titans - the technology association of North Texas.

In addition to her extensive sales experience, Barbara is a lifelong learner especially when it comes to the latest technology and all of the good it's doing in the world.  And she has a passion for sharing that knowledge with as many people as possible.

As she explains it, in every sales role she's ever had, her first job is to educate whomever she's working with to see if the solutions she offers could be a fit for that prospect.  

That's such a great approach for all of us to take.

We cover strategies like that, the power of technology, and so much more in this episode.

Make sure you reach out to Barbara on LinkedIn, especially if you're a business owner in the Dallas area.

Today on the show, Strategy + Action = Ingredients for a Successful Acquisition

I am excited to bring this episode to you.  I know I say that a lot, but I truly am.  We've got Chintan Sutaria on the show today and his company, CalcuQuote is this incredible software company specialized in the space for contract manufacturers.  

I've been fortunate to know Chintan for several years now back from my Dallas startup days, and I've been so impressed with him.  Not only starting this company in this great little niche area that he had very specialized knowledge in ... but also in the way that he has incrementally grown over the years.   Expanding carefully, making sure that he has a solid, amazing product.  Then a solid, amazing company. 

When we caught up a few weeks ago, he talked about the acquisition of his company that's happened in the last couple of years.  And there were so many insights that I thought would be useful for you and wanted to have him on the show for that reason among many others, including growing his business.  But a lot of these insights apply even if you're not going to sell your company.  There's a valuable way to approach that process and even contemplating whether or not you want to could benefit your company by thinking about it in ways that maybe you never have before.  

And of course, we get into where he's taking the company next. 

Today on the show, Strategy + Action = Transformation, Gratitude, and the Strength of Service.

It's one thing to believe in the idea of gratitude, helping people out, and living with energy. 

It's a whole different thing to be a shining example of it for everyone you come in contact with.

Danny Galvez is one of those people (and I know hundreds of folks who would agree!).

I fully believe that Danny's "giving" spirit and driving work ethic are what have attracted many of the seemingly impossible opportunities to come into his life.

From an incredible scholarship coming out of high school to finding his passion in radio and getting on air faster than he was "supposed to", to building sales skills and meeting people who would change his business life forever, Danny's drive and positive energy have not only attracted those opportunities but allowed him to work full out to take advantage of them as well.

Danny dives into some great stories about these moments and will be the first to tell you that finding your path and staying positive and grateful isn't easy. But it's worth it.

Danny's new endeavor, Voice Your Life is taking his master of audio in all of its powerful forms and helping people utilize it in building their legacy.

I encourage you to check out this episode with Danny and find a way into Danny's world.  It's a beautiful place.

Today on the show, Strategy + Action = Power of Innovative Marketing

Today, we're talking to Jackie Bese.  I'm so excited to have him on the show.  I've known Jackie for several years now from Dallas and he is such a great guy.  He's somebody who really knows marketing and has been running his agency, Atomic Design & Consulting, for almost 20 years now. 

I wanted him on the show to talk all things marketing.  kind of narrowed it into inbound a little bit but we spent a big part of the episode just digging into the state of digital marketing right now - what's working well and also some really good overall business tactics that so many people miss when they're trying to grow their company, like how to cultivate the assets you already have in your existing clients before trying to get new customers in the doors. 

We all want the new, right?  The new client.  The new marketing tactic.  And those things are great and important.  But there are some tried and true elements to business that really help you grow, so be on the lookout for those as well as some incredible stories that Jackie has of some really unique marketing initiatives he's done recently for his clients. 

Make sure you check out Jackie's agency at https://www.atomicdc.com/

Today on the show, Strategy + Action = Showing Up Like a Pro on Camera

I had to add a little layer of style here today because I knew my guest was going to bring it, and he did!  Garrin Bulani is on the show today, and with his company, Deskrig, he's helping all of us look better on camera. 

In this world of constant Zoom meetings, video content marketing, having to network remotely:  appearance matters.

How you show up matters.

I think we all grasp that concept when we go to work or we go to a networking event and (maybe) we show up to our Zooms decently in that regard. 

But now, how our camera image looks, how the lighting looks, how the audio sounds ... there's a level of professionalism that just matters, whether we want it to or not.

If you embrace it and you level up your game in that area, it can be an incredible competitive advantage. 

Garrin walks us through some of the ways he helps people with all of this, not just the technical setup but actually walking them through how to show up better on camera, create content, all of that.  But we also dig into several areas that you probably haven't thought of in terms of using that competitive advantage. 

Today on the show, Strategy + Action = Purposeful Reinvention

I'm so excited to bring you this interview with Michelle Hecht.

She is an incredible salesperson who has gone all-in on answering that "pull" from inside to finally own her superpower of teaching and guiding people on the "human" aspect of selling and doing business.

I am so grateful to Michelle for allowing this conversation of reinvention to go to the deep level it deserves.

Starting over (better said:  "moving to your next level") is hard.  There's no way around it so why not approach it with that mindset and take it step by step in order to avoid the overwhelm that can come so easily as a result.

Michelle gives us insights on how to take that first step of reinvention, embracing your true self, and the importance of listening to that inner calling.

Today on the show, Strategy + Action = Innovating Your Marketing with Data.

I'm excited to bring you this interview with JP Clement.  He is the CEO of Boomtime, a digital marketing agency with a hyperfocus on data.  They are data centric in everything they do from the time a client comes on board, all the way through a campaign through, to six months down the road to the wrap-up of a client engagement and really digging into it.

So many of the insights around their approach  just blew me away.  One of the biggest, though, was how they tell a story around the data, both internally and with their clients.  Data is great, but without  the context of how it applies to your business and what to do with it, it's not much of an asset.

And another really impressive aspect of their agency is their internal proprietary software - Fuse.  It's a marketing differentiator, which we get into, but also, it's used to run their entire agency and is why they can do so as efficiently as they do.

And we just have a blast talking marketing like we did offline after connecting a couple of weeks ago on LinkedIn.  So enjoy two marketing nerds kind of geeking out and diving deep on the power of using data to exponentially grow your marketing results.