The Leadership Locker

“It’s not smarter, it’s not harder, it’s smarter and harder.”- Gary Vee

 I admit it, I was in an engagement pod. It seemed like a good thing at the time and that it was going to help my content engagement. It was not a good fit for me, it did not grow my business in an authentic way. I had to stomach the time and effort it was actually going to take to build my brand, the right way. To me there are no shortcuts to building up an authentic personal brand following.

In this episode I talk about using LinkedIn engagements pods for your content.  

Connect with Rich Cardona: 

• Website- www.richcardonamedia.com    
• LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/richcardona/
• Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/richcardona_/
• Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/richcardonamedia/
• Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwNKFB37VbrGqRkBDVBjvoQ

In this episode, we discuss:

• What is a Pod?
• Expectations Being in a Pod
• Organic vs Non-Organic Leads
• Life After Pods
• Is a Pod a Good Fit for You?
• Should You Disclosure You’re in a Pod?

“If you are apathetic about showing the difference of other people to your kids and pathetic about showing them that the world is an ugly place when it comes to race then someone else is going to get to them, in many cases it is the right person, but it may be the wrong person.”

Christopher has worked with everyone from high profile billionaires to celebrities to small businesses to identify, strategize, and build bridges that develop not just into relationships but new ventures never before imagined. 

Christopher McDonald grew up as an Army brat moving from place to place ranging from Japan to Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He was often exposed to people of different color and backgrounds, but did not come face to face with racism until high school. Since high school Christopher has faced racism both subtle and overt during his time in Boston and Los Angeles. 

Connect with Christopher McDonald: 

• 
  
• Website – www.connections-first.com 
• 
  
• Website- https://impacttheory.com/
• 
  
• Twitter- https://twitter.com/FinesseMcDonald
• 
  
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/finessemcdonald/
• 
  
• Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/misterchristophermcdonald/
• 
  

In this episode, we discuss:

• 
  
• What is “Code Switching?”
• 
  
• Changing Behavior to Protect Feelings
• 
  
• Navigating the Streets of Boston
• 
  
• Experiencing Overt Racism
• 
  
• Racism in Media and Education
• 
  

“You can smell chemo in your sweat. I remember being chained to the lifesaving bags that filled my body for hours at a time, each year when the studio gets hot and beads of sweat form above my lip, the memories come pouring back to me.”

In March of 2015, Owen Hemsath was diagnosed with stage 3 Thymoma which is a cancer of the thymus and began chemo immediately. While fighting through his cancer, Owen grew his business over 107% and was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year by the State of California. 

Owen tells the story of his experience battling cancer while also being an entrepreneur in a rapidly growing field. Owen could have easily quit and focused on his health, but he embraced it as an opportunity to pull people in to see his journey. Now he builds YouTube channels for industry thought-leaders who have awesome content and want to become the recognized authority.

Connect with Owen Video:

• Website – https://thevideomarketingschool.com/
• Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/owenvideox
• Twitter- https://twitter.com/owenvideo
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/videospot
• Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/owenvideo/
• LinkedIn – https://www.youtube.com/user/simplebusinessvideo
• Email- [email protected] 

In this episode, we discuss:

• Using Cancer to Grow Business
• Get Past Just “Getting By”
• How to Make a Partnership Work
• Seeking the Right Clients
• Exploring Future Opportunity

"We were in the hallway counting on our fingers as the sharks waited for a response. We were young entrepreneurs - we didn't expect this to happen."

Meet Sarah Nuse and Megan Reilly are CEO and COO of Tippi Toes Dance. In Season 2 on the last day of auditions, they were in finally invited into the Shark Tank.

Sarah and Megan walk you through how they were "discovered" and didn't actually apply, all the way to texting back and forth with Mark Cuban on the partnership.

This podcast is incredibly valuable for entrepreneurs because you can hear from the story not only how much they have evolved, but also the clarity needed to be completely behind your business.  

Enjoy this wild ride with these positive upbeat entrepreneurs who didn't want to sell their souls away.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The Experience of Being on Shark Tank
• Sticking to Your Values When There is Opportunity 
• How to Make a Partnership Work
• How to Evaluate Partnerships
• Words of Advice to Women Entrepreneurs 

Tippi Toes is a dance franchises with over 30 franchisees, offering dance classes, dance camps, parties, and even kids’ music. They started as a small business and now have grown into a national brand. 

Connect with Sarah and Megan:

• Website – https://www.tippitoesdance.com/
• Megan’s Twitter- https://twitter.com/meganlReilly      
• Sarah’s Instagram: https://Instagram.com/sarah_nuse  
• Megan’s Instagram- https://instagram.com/meganlreilly
• Megan’s LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganlreilly-tippitoes
• Sarah’s LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-nuse-1211b57/
• Megan's Email: [email protected]
• Sarah's Email: [email protected] 

James and Rita are co-founders of Science House based in New York, NY. Science House specializes in the development of collaborative culture, business strategy and leadership at the intersection of human nature and technology. A self-proclaimed futurist, Rita J. King is also the EVP for Business Development for Science House. James is a memory and innovation consultant. He is the named inventor on more than 530 issued patents covering a broad range of industries.

Connect with Rita and James:

• Website – www.sciencehouse.com
• Rita’s LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritajking/
• James’s LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/in/jorasch/
• Twitter – https://twitter.com/ritajking
• Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/ritajking
• Email- [email protected]

In this episode, we discuss:

• What are Indicators of Cultural Mismatch
• How Likely is Behavior Adjustment
• How to Make Creative Time
• How to Make the Invisible Visible
• Navigating a Sharp Career Change

Lindsay McGregor is the CEO and co-founder of Vega Factor. Vega Factor is a company that helps organizations build high performing, adaptive cultures through, technology, learning programs, and process design. Lindsay earned her Bachelor’s degree from Princeton and attended Harvard Business School 2011-2013. She went on to work at McKinsey & Company, working with large Fortune 500 companies, nonprofits, universities, and school systems.

Lindsay and her husband Neel co-authored the New York Times bestselling book, Primed to Perform: How to build the Highest Performing Cultures through the Science of Total Motivation.

Connect with Lindsay:

• Twitter- https://twitter.com/mcgregorle
• Website: vegafactor.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsaymcgregor/

In this episode, we discuss:

• Merging Emotional Intelligence and IQ
• How to Collaborate and Motivate
• How to Set Expectations for Experimenting
• Psychology of Recruiting and Hiring
• Flash Points
• What Writing a Book is Really Like
• Working as a Husband and Wife Team
• Tactical and Adaptive Performance

Jason Feifer is the editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur magazine, keynote speaker, and host of two podcasts: Problem Solvers, a history show about why people resist new things, and the Pessimists Archive, how entrepreneurs solve unexpected problems in their business. Jason has worked at many different big-name magazine companies such as Maxim, Men’s Health, and Boston Magazine. Jason and his wife Jennifer Miller also co-authored the book Mr. Nice Guy in 2018, a funny and all too real comedy about the pursuit of success in life-and love-in today’s working world.

Connect with Jason:

Website – https://jasonfeifer.com

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonfeifer/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/heyfeifer

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/heyfeifer

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/jasonfeifer

In this episode, we discuss:

● How to Get to the Greatest Outcome

● How to Tap into Your Creativity

● Managing Family with Work

● Making Hard Decisions

● Interest in Ideas Over People

Dan Fleyshman is the youngest founder of a publicly traded company in history. After licensing his apparel for $9.5 million dollars at the age of 19, he went on to scale energy drink products into 55,000 retail stores. Dan is an author, has launched a top 5 online poker site, has spoken at over 200 business events, angel invested in 36 companies and his agency “Elevator Studio” has spent over $60 million dollars with social media influencers for fashion brands, film studios, mobile apps & consumer products. Dan’s main passion is his Model Citizen Fund charity which creates backpacks for the homeless filled with 150 emergency supply items inside.

Get his e-book How to Set-Up Your Business For Under $1,000 for free at buythisbook.com with code word elevator

Connect with Dan:

Website – https://victoryceo.com/

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoryceo/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/DanFleyshman

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/DanFleyshman

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/danfleyshman/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/danfleyshman/

Model Citizen Fund – https://modelcitizenfund.org/

In this episode, we discuss:

• Surrounding Yourself with Useful People
• How Entrepreneurial Goals are Different
• Getting Social Proof
• Being Knowledgeable vs. Being a Practitioner
• Angel investing to learn
• Consistency and Making Content People Care About
• 8’ Teddy Bears

Carlos Gil is an Entrepreneur, Brand Marketing Executive, Start-up Founder, Public Speaker and author of The End of Marketing: Humanizing Your Brand in the Age of Social Media and AI. Carlos is the CEO and Founder of Gil Media Co., a full-service marketing agency renowned for implementing digital and social media strategies to help clients make relevant connections. Gil Media Co. works with Fortune 500 clients by assisting them to embrace disruption to succeed in their digital transformation.

Connect with Carlos:

Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | YouTube | Instagram | Facebook

In this episode, we discuss:

• Hip Hop!
• Twitter as a Search Engine?
• The Art of Content Marketing Sales
• Quantifying ROI for Clients
• Stop Consuming and Start Creating
• Balancing Learning vs. Doing

Tricia is the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Drift, a Conversational Marketing platform that combines chat, email, video, and automation to remove the friction from business buying. She’s spent 20+ years in the marketing space, with notable stops at Apple, Adobe, and Salesforce among others. She’s spent the past 4 years as a CMO in the startup world.

Connect with Tricia:

Website | LinkedIn | Twitter

In this episode, we discuss:

• Tricia’s background
• Marketing and being tone deaf during COVID-19
• Identifying and moving away from bad practices
• Digital Trust and Brand Awareness
• Frictionless buying and Artificial Intelligence (AI)