Chris DeLaurentis is the global director of innovation at Topcoder and leads efforts to bring cooler, newer edge technology to our community. He joins Uprisor to explain what NFTs are, how you can create new value on top of them, and the things we’re working on at Topcoder including community trading cards and self-sovereign identity wallets.

Larry English is an expert in remote workforces and virtual collaboration. He’s the president and co-founder of Centric Consulting, which he founded 20 years ago as a fully virtual company, and author of “Office Optional: How to Build a Connected Culture with Virtual Teams.” On the episode, Larry shares strategies for creating engagement and connection on hybrid workforces, and what the future looks like for workers in a post-covid world.

A true trailblazing, freelance rockstar, Julie Cortes joins Uprisor to talk about what it means to freelance professionally. What are the risks and rewards of choosing the lifestyle? What makes good client relationships and communication? When she’s not creating amazing content or ad campaigns for her litany of clients, Julie teaches the art and skill of freelancing as an adjunct professor at the Kansas City Art Institute, where she created her own course—aptly named Freelancing 101. Julie is also a public speaker, business coach for fellow freelancers, and the founder of the Freelance Exchange of KC in Kansas City.

Are employees who return to the office more engaged than those that stay home? Topcoder CTO Dave Messinger discusses WeWork’s controversial comments and the future of work, employee engagement, and traditional offices post-COVID.

Azariah Lehman is the Chief Administrative Officer at iWorker Innovations, which creates, negotiates and delivers insurance, benefits, services and resources designed to support independent workers. iWorker focuses on making it simpler and more effective for freelancers to work without putting their families or their finances at risk. Azariah joins Uprisor to talk about the massive growth in the gig economy, why businesses need to consider offering their gig workers benefits and insurance, and how benefits will be important for the gig economy in the long run.

Luis Millan is a Venezuela-based UI/UX designer who has been part of the Topcoder global community for nearly a decade. He shares his experience as a Topcoder community member, what the future of work looks like from his unique vantage point, and the benefits and experiences the gig economy has brought to his life.

Murat Mutlu is co-founder and CEO of Marvel, a modern collaboration design platform. Murat joins Uprisor to talk about the inspiration behind Marvel, why the app is really a productivity platform, and how the simplification of prototyping has changed the whole product design process.

Sheila Mahoney-Jewels is a Life Sciences R&D Independent Workforce Advocate and co-founder of life sciences and R&D marketplace LifeSciHub. She delves into the deep-rooted reasons humans are locked into hierarchies, and how evolutionary biology impacts gig economy adoption.

Author and business leader Jody Thompson joins Uprisor to discuss the Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE). Jody shares why she created ROWE, how work culture and policy combine to resist change, and why mindset is even more important than technology in shifting people to new ways of work.

Nigel Watson is CIO of Northumbrian Water Group, a water company out of the U.K. Nigel and Clinton discuss the creative ways NWG is using technology to interact with its customers and build user engagement. Plus, how the best co-creation happens when you’re brave and humble enough to put out a half-baked idea.