Why Not Ask? Negotiate for More

Any experienced traveler knows that you can't just copy and paste what you know in the United States to be true and expect it to work in another. This is especially the case when you're negotiating across borders. Ron Fortin, the founder and CEO of Homeschool Spanish Academy, learned this when traveling to set up a business in Guatemala. In this episode, he shares with Christine McKay the key lessons he learned when working in another country. He talks about the differences he had found between emotional negotiation and ego, the contracting process between Guatemala and the United States, and how each country deals with conflict. Join in on this conversation and learn from the inside out how negotiations across borders work and what you can expect along the way.

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The importance of stories in negotiations is often overlooked. Far too often, negotiation is seen as a battle to gain more than the other party. What negotiators don’t know or tend to forget is how powerful storytelling can be as a tool to humanize the conversation. Christine McKay digs deeper into this topic with, Dr. Joshua Weiss, co-founder of the Global Negotiation Initiative at Harvard University. Having worked with some of the best and brightest in the negotiation space, Dr. Joshua Weiss has a lot of experience and insights to share when it comes to leveraging the power of storytelling in the negotiating table. He also shares some points on the proper execution of negotiation and mediation at the individual, organizational, government and international levels. Join in and learn how these principles apply to everything from winning high-stakes business deals to maintaining everyday relationships.

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With hundreds of thousands of podcast shows these days, PR people have a hard time determining the right one to pitch for. Seeing how a lot could benefit from automating podcast pitching, Christina Nicholson shares how she started Podcast Clout to answer this very purpose. Joining Christine McKay, she looks back on her transition from a TV host to a full-time business owner in the SaaS sector. She explains how exactly the PR community can use this software to make it easier for people to find them through the right podcast choices. Christina also discusses how her career transition taught her the true art of negotiation when working with different professionals and why effective communication skills must never be neglected, especially in today’s virtual setting.

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Whether you’re negotiating internally with yourself or externally with other parties, how you show up determines the kind of success that the universe will allow you to manifest. In this episode, Andrew Kaplan joins Christine McKay to explain how the Law of Attraction works and how you can do it properly to bring you the success you have always dreamt of. Andrew is the author of The Last Law of Attraction Book You'll Ever Need to Read, a number one bestselling book in its category that Forbes has recognized as one of the 21 books to read in 2021. Join in and learn how the Law of Attraction applies to negotiations and can change the way you negotiate for good.

Many people have this impression that negotiations are ruthless and that one party always comes out gaining the upper hand. This isn’t exactly accurate as Bethany Sloggett illustrates what should be happening during a good negotiation. As the Head of Consulting and Design at YouNique Kitchens & Bath, Bethany finds herself every day in negotiation rooms filled with men. In this conversation with Christine McKay, Bethany highlights the importance of staying at the negotiation table, especially if you’ll lose leverage by leaving, sharing a story about continuing with a negotiation while nursing her four-month-old baby at a table with three men. She explains how wearing our heart a little bit more on our sleeves and showing our authentic selves will take our negotiations, conversations, and partnerships to a new level.

Our preconceived notions can be the undoing of a long-term relationship. Often, people go into a negotiation and make decisions based on short-term outcomes, not thinking about the long-term implications. As a result, they end up losing in the negotiation over time, even if they feel like they won at the moment. In this episode, Christine McKay has a one-on-one talk with Jillian Michaels, a renowned fitness expert and a certified nutritionist, about how to go around a situation that involves making decisions that would bring a win-win situation to any negotiation. As a fitness trainer, Jillian deals with people's mindsets all the time and constantly encouraging and pushing them out of their comfort zones. She explains how her training as a fitness instructor moved her forward in her negotiations and finding solutions that work for everybody. She also talks about the win-win situation mindset and how she overcomes the challenges of managing her own business and negotiations. 

Negotiations happen everywhere, the sports industry included. Athletes live and breathe negotiation, from getting that scholarship, bagging a sports contract, to being drafted into their dream teams. Join Christine McKay as she interviews Aquil Abdullah, the first African-American male to qualify for the Summer Olympics in the sport of rowing. Aquil is currently the Senior Infrastructure Engineer as well as a featured athlete at Hydrow, Inc. He walks us through some of the lessons he learned while training for the Olympic team and the things that he negotiated with his coach to continue doing what he needed to do. Hear him talk about the negotiation experiences that shaped his life and led him to where he is in his life right now. 

In the negotiating process, one of the main factors that will dictate the outcome is how you present yourself. Christine McKay brings back app developer Roman Tirone for an episode redo, discussing the right way to establish your credibility and eliminate awkwardness. He shares his journey from being groomed into the entertainment industry, only to pivot into a completely different sector because of the pandemic. Emphasizing the negotiation processes commonly encountered by entrepreneurs, he shares his challenging yet fulfilling first project at The Rumble Company, as well as his collaboration with people from different cultures and walks of life.

The alpha culture is different than an effective culture,” says today’s guest, Scott O’Neil. Scott is the CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports Entertainment (“HBSE”) which owns the Philadelphia 76ers, the New Jersey Devils, and other world-class sports entertainment brands. In today’s episode, Scott talks with our host, Christine McKay, about the importance of leadership and diversity in negotiation, in the supply chain, and embracing a different approach. He shares more about HBSE’s recently launched Buy Black initiative and how it impacts the organization, his people, and the community. Scott shares his wealth of experience gained from his first big business failure to being a leader in the industry and the sport he loves. Scott gets candid about the lessons he learned and how his youngest daughter taught him how to be even more effective in life and business. Whether or not you love the NBA, the NHL, or any other sport, this episode will show you how one CEO moved from being an alpha to being effective. Hold on to your seats because you do not want to miss this one!

Knowing your value, understanding your counterpart's needs, and building trust are foundational negotiation principles. So, what in the heck do horses have to do with it? Join Christine McKay on today's episode as she explores the answer with Hannah Zapletal, Owner of WildeWood Farm in suburban Atlanta, GA. Hannah provides valuable insights on understanding the value we deliver to clients, reading people, and building a trust-based business. Join Christine and Hannah for this back-to-basics conversation about how lessons learned in the horse paddock and on the ranch can inform your negotiations.