The MACE Podcast - Hosted by Marco Macente

Welcome to the new episode of the MACE Podcast!

Today I am excited to welcome my new guest, DIANA BRANDL, travelling all around the world and working as Digital Nomad.

She is an international key note speaker, she is a trainer and she spends her time teaching admin professionals to be strategic business partners when working with Managers and Leaders across companies and organizations.

She has more than 15 years of experience as Admin professional and now she runs her own business, delivering training sessions and programs for multinational companies to educate and train admins and staff to work strategically and effectively in hybrid working environments.

She published different articles in Germany and abroad, focusing on Leadership, Personal Branding, Technology, Communication, Digital Skills, themes that we covered also during our conversation.

- How can admin professionals work with Millennium Managers effectively? How can the communication style and the approach change when working with them?

- Which are the most critical skills in the post pandemic world that can help us to mantain a competitive edge?

- Why Personal Branding is more than ever important?

- Why advocacy and speaking up are two important factors in the post pandemic workplace?

Enjoy our conversation! You can find the episode on your favourite podcast platform: Spotify, Google Podcast, Apple Podcast and Amazon Music

MM

Are you R.E.A.D.Y.? Are you... Reflecting, Evaluating, Aligning, Dreaming and Yielding?

This is the fabolous acronym that my new guest, Ayanna Castro, from US, has found to share her incredible "mantra" all around the world.

Ayanna castro is a global speaker, life coach and author with expertise in helping others see their potential and overcome self-imposed obstacles in pursuit of their goals.  As the founder and chief maven of work your package®, her mission is to educate, encourage, and equip othersto enhance what they already have to become the “total package” and be extraordinary. 

Known for her perfect balance of guidance, support and hardtruths, she is the “go-to” person for those embarking on new ventures or

She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Government Meeting Professional (CGMP), and Master Life Coach with over 25 years of professional experience in city government, law, public relations, private equity and media. She is alsocertified in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. She is currently the Program Manager of Employee Engagement for one of the country’slargest water utilities.

Here the link of her blog where she shared the "work your package" contents and incredible resources for her audience: https://ayannacastro.com/

Thanks and stay tuned for the next episode of the MACE Podcast!

MM

"Beside every Successful Leader/Founder, there is a Force Multiplier"

With this quote I want to introduce the special guest of this episode: Hallie Warner, from United States!

Hallie is the co-author of the book titled "The Founder and The Force Multiplier". What it started with a blog, it became a book and now it has turned into a movement (https://founderandforcemultiplier.com/book).

Hallie is the Chief of Staff and she works with the CEO Adam Hergenrother, after more than 12 years of partnership. She started as Executive Assistant and she was able to grow and develop her career to become what she's today.

The episode with Hallie is entirely focused on Business Partnership and Mutual Engagement, and we explore how these are key to be successfull in the business.

We discuss what the Chief of Staff role is all about and which are the best qualities Leaders and Executives should have to be able to work with "Force Multipliers".

How can you build a great partnership with your Executive and bring an added value to the business?

Stay tuned and enjoy our conversation!

MM

Hello everybody and welcome to this new episode of the MACE Podcast!

I'm so excited to bring this new episode entirely focused on DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), Mentorship and Business Culture.

Our stop is United Kingdom with the special guest: Paula Moio.

Paula likes seeing herself as the "3L Lady" as she was born in Luanda (Angola), raised in Lisbon and adopted by London.

She is a self-made, future-focused professional, who truly embraces her passion, advocating for change of perceptions and recognition of the Admin Profession. She works tirelessly alongside a likeminded global network of professionals to raise the profile of the Admin Profession in today’s demanding market, and she's determined to break barriers.

She has worked for 15 years at BBC News/BBC World Service where she won the BBC News Award for her outstanding contribution to the company.

In 2016 she worked as a consultant in a professional training project for EA/PA in partnership with the prestigious Academy BAI in Luanda in the creation of a co-designed course for Admin Professionals. A partnership to foster a change of mindset to develop and amplify potential in raw talent and creating annual seminars for the last four years.

In order to promote and raise the profile of the profession in Angola, she's partnering with associations and institutions to bring seminars and conferences to grant the access to people that want to start the Admin Profession. 

More recently she became the founder of Moyoeno Lusofonando a project that has its primary objective to train and empower professionals and let them excel in what they do.

My takeaways are:

- Be open, Be authentic and stay true to you first

- DEI needs "B": Belonging. We cannot be inclusive without belonging

- DEI starts with intentions and daily actions: it is about "Calling people in"

- Stereotypes belong to humans. It is up to humans breaking them.

- It is much bigger what makes us closer than what divides us. Differences are manageable

- There is no possibility without curiosity.

Which are your ones?

Stay tuned!

MM

Hello Everyone and welcome to this new episode of the MACE PODCAST!

This is a special episode as I am focusing entirely on HR and Recruitment, having a special guest joining me from United Kingdom: Davide Mele.

With decades-long experience previously as international Chairman of another recruiting firm, Davide founded SELECTUS RECRUITMENT SOLUTIONS, a bespoke recruitment consultancy committed to placing high-quality candidates in executive support functions, which is aimed to provide specialist search and selection services for Admin and Office Professionals, and overall ‘right-hand people’ in senior leadership teams.

Davide believes there is a difference between ‘competence’ and ‘talent’. It takes talent to spot talent, and that is precisely his raison d’être.

With offices in London, Paris and Tel Aviv, SELECTUS is a globally leading international recruitment agency with a sophisticated local market presence across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) for the most ambitious and highly competent executive support functions. 

Davide is a strong believer in promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and he works tirelessly to advance an inclusive workplace culture for candidates and clients where everyone feels supported to bring their whole, authentic selves to work every day, confident that they can thrive with equal opportunities for career advancement. DEI is what makes organisations strong and Davide wants to build a workforce that brings together people with unique skills, backgrounds and professional experiences. We should be who we want to be, able to be our authentic selves in our private lives and at work. Over the past 30 years, Davide has had the privilege to recruit for some of the most influential executives and leading organisations across EMEA.

It was a pleasure to meet Davide and I was able to record this episode in person, while I was in London. 

My takeaways are:

- Focus on Values, as these are the molecules that are part of your DNA and that you bring to the company/team you work for.

- Recruitment is more than Strategy, is connecting strategy with reality, is framing the architecture of business organizations.

- High Quality standards, Embracing change and Digitally mindset are the standalone assets company look for.

- Employee Empowerment, Engagement, Autonomy and Trust make the difference for employees and talents&retention

- Sense of Purpose is what makes the difference, transforming simple jobs in real careers.

- Listen, Learn and Implement as working means partnering, sharing same goals and objectives.

Which are your ones?

Stay tuned for the next episode of the MACE PODCAST!

"People may forget what you said, people may forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel"

Welcome to this new episode of the MACE Podcast, the second one focused on Communication and this quote is the one that reflects today's episode.

I am passionate about communication and I invited a special guest to discuss more about this: Menekse Ahbab from Turkey.

I was able to meet Menekse during a private trip to Instanbul (Turkey) during the Xmas break and I was able to meet her and share amazing thoughts and insights. I decided to invite her to make this episode as she's a trainer and she has an extensive experience in the Admin Profession.

She graduated in Classis Philology and Literature in Instanbul and she's teaching at Marmara University (Turkey) Communication and Meeting Techniques to young students.

Sharing knowledge and expertise is in her DNA, therefore she is an active networker.

My takeaways from this episode are:

- Do not make assumptions, make questions

- Choose your words wisely 

- Frame yourself before engaging others

- Find your why and your line which help you to shine

Which are your ones?

***

I wanted  to share some words for Turkey, as this episode happens in the same days when a terrible earthquake hit the sout region of this country: many people lost their lives and we still do not know how many need to be saved. Getting together to bring our help can make the difference and I do hope we can rescue as many lives as possible.

***

Stay tuned and I cannot wait to see you again at the next episode of the MACE Podcast.

MM

Hello Everyone and welcome back to the MACE Podcast with the first episode in 2023!

"Assignments may be temporary, but your legacy is not".

So excited to kick January off with this episode that, as well as the next one, will be focused on Communication. It's all about Communication: working in pharma industry, I know it very well and I am centered on communication pathways and strategies along the project management responsabilities I perform.

To address this and to share useful insights on Communication and PR, I have the pleasure to invite Virginia Villa, Director of PR and Administration at EUPRERA, the European Public Relations Education and Research Association. 

Before entering the field of communication, she had experience in the private sector and in the IT field. After studying public relations and strategic communication, she worked at IULM university in Milano and later at EUPRERA. Learning is a never ending process, and every time there is a possibility, she loves keeping updated and attending courses. The latest have been on project management, emotional intelligence and language for diversity and inclusion.

I had the pleasure to cooperate with Virginia several years ago when I joint EUPRERA, and I was able to work with Virginia on important projects and initiatives within the association. She was my first manager and I have amazing memories of what we accomplished together.

Some key topics we discuss are #CommunicationStrategies , #WomenLeadership, #PRandStrategicCommunication, #CommunicatingResponsability and #NewNormal&Communication.

I am sure Virginia is sharing amazing insights on these topics. Enjoy our conversation and I cannot wait to see you again for the next episode of the #MACEPODCAST! 

See you soon

MM 

Hello everybody and welcome to this new episode of the MACE Podcast!

This is a special episode, focused fully on IT, Digital Skills and Digital Transformation, topics that, more than ever, are actual and important for many companies and business organization all around the world.

To discuss and deep dive into these topics I invited a special guest: Vickie Sokol Evans, from Austin (Texas) - Unites States!

Vickie is the author of the best-selling 100 Life-Changing Tips book where she shares with you her expertise as a Microsoft Certified Trainer with over 25 certifications. For over 20 years she has trained high-performing teams all over the world including at Microsoft, Starbucks, LinkedIn, eBay, PayPal, Pepsico, UK's Parliament, European Central Bank, Reserve Bank of New Zealand among others. She is a globally recognized digital productivity instructor and comedic speaker, training the world’s smartest people how to use their technology to get better results in less time. There's an immediate ROI after each session. Audiences can’t wait to get back to their computers and try out their new skills that will save them hours of time! It's no wonder 98% of audiences want her back.

Vickie is the Founder and CEO of RedCape Company (https://redcapeco.com/links), where she and her team help hundreds of high performers become certified experts in Microsoft Office.

I had the pleasure to meet Vickie at BTUA in Brussels in 2019 and, since then, I am completely inspired by her training sessions. So happy to see her and to have her in my network.

Which are your most useful takeaways from this episode? Stay tuned and be ready to share them and I cannot wait to see you again in the next episode of the MACE Podcast!

MM

Welcome to this new episode of the MACE Podcast!

- What does it mean being a Strategic Business Partner for the business nowadays?

- How can we speak up and stand up for what the role is all about?

- Why is it important to find our "why" and our "purpose" in what we do?

These and other topics are the most important ones I discussed in this new episode with my new guest, Lucy Brazier, from Spain!

Lucy Brazier (OBE) is one of the world’s leading authorities on the administrative profession. As CEO of Marcham Publishing, specialist publishers of Executive Support Magazine, Lucy’s passion is for the Admin role to be truly recognised as a career and not just a job. With access to the most forward-thinking, passionate and knowledgeable administrative business leaders in the world, as well as personally meeting and speaking to literally thousands of Admins over the last 10 years, Lucy’s knowledge of the market and what Admin Professonals all over the world are facing on a day-to-day basis are second to none. 

In 2021 Lucy was awarded an OBE in recognition for her services to office professionals.

I am so excited to have Lucy here with me and I am sure she will share amazing insights with all of you.

Stay tuned and looking forward to seeing you again in the next episode of the MACE Podcast.