Today’s guest has been talking about Social Business before it even had a name and views social media as an excellent way to tear down silos, build strong communities, and connect people face-to-face.

He is the founder of a digital strategy agency, called From the Future. As a recognized expert strategist, he helps his clients see frameworks rather than supplying them with templates, scripts, and tactics.

He engages audiences as a keynote speaker, cutting through BS and not pulling punches. Everything he talks about puts an intense focus on business applications designed to ensure that everyone wins.

He is also the host of Shareable, a popular podcast about people and technology. He explores the pivotal moments in people’s lives where a person or technology had a profound impact on them, forever shifting the direction of their career and life.

His forthcoming book, which discusses his loveable leader framework, is called “The Loveable Leader.”

Please join me in welcoming Jeff Gibbard.

In this episode we discuss:

• his thoughts on leadership: “Leadership at its very core is just the ability for someone to follow you. It’s an amoral framework at its core. What makes a great leader is how you see yourself in the context of the people you work with.”
• advice he received from his dad that helped him when he was thinking about careers.
• his goals as a leader, including providing an inclusive environment that supports people exactly as they are.
• how everything for him, in terms of building networks, starts and ends with generosity.
• his desire to help connect people to each other and his belief that all efforts will be reciprocal in some manner.
• how he values networking and what his habits are.

Listen, subscribe and read show notes at www.OnTheSchmooze.com - episode 164

Today’s guest helps people unleash their creativity by banishing their inner critic and hacking their creative brains.

She is a keynote speaker, author, and creativity evangelist who consults with companies worldwide. As the founder and CEO of The Creative Dose, she uses research-backed data, vivid storytelling, and experiential exercises to give people an injection of inspiration and immediately applicable tools to help them do their best work.

Author of “Banish Your Inner Critic,” a premier handbook on silencing fears to unleash creativity,  she has presented at organizations like Google, Facebook, GitHub, the BBC, and TEDxRheinMain.

In her previous life, she was in the Web Design and Development industry and is the author of “The CSS Detective Guide.”

Please join me in welcoming Denise Jacobs.

In this episode we discuss:

• her thoughts on leadership: “Being a leader and leadership is about having a vision, seeing what needs to be done, and understanding how to go about it. You won’t always have all the answers but leaders have the clarity of seeing the path.”
• how she embraced being a leader when she was in high school and ran for student council.
• her experience with seeing women in leadership roles in college, and how that helped shape her view of leaders.
• how she got into computers and technology, learned them, and then discovered her passion for helping others.
• the journey that took her to establish herself as a sought-after speaker.
• how speaking has influenced her life, including giving her the opportunity to speak in place of Brené Brown.
• her methods for maintaining connections, using strategic serendipity.

Listen, subscribe and read show notes at www.OnTheSchmooze.com - episode 163

Today’s guest is an immigrant who went from incredible poverty to founding a multi-million dollar business.

She was born in an orphanage in Mexico and her first shot out of poverty was an opportunity to play basketball for the Mexican National Team - a shot she missed because she had broken her collarbone. Undeterred, she managed to immigrate to the United States on a basketball scholarship.

With a college degree in hand, but no job to be found, she found herself living on the streets during a snowy winter. A condition so familiar that she didn’t realize she was homeless. A friend saw her and gave her a place to stay.

Weeks later, she entered a Fresh Salsa competition, won unanimously, and received $800 to start a natural salsa and dips company. Which she grew into a multi-million dollar business within four years, with products distributed across 38 states to major supermarkets like Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Whole Foods, and many more.

At the height of its success in 2015, she sold her company to Campbell’s and then went to Mexico and rescued 31 orphaned children from a drug cartel.

Please join me in welcoming Magie Cook.

Would you leave an honest rating and review on Apple Podcast? Or Stitcher? They are extremely helpful and I read each and every one of them. Thanks for the inspiration!

In this episode we discuss:

• her thoughts on leadership: “The secret to great leadership is great empathy. When you can be empathetic over people and really care about them, they really respond differently.”
• some of her experiences growing up in an orphanage in Mexico, and how a basketball scholarship to the United States began her journey to a new life.
• her experience with homelessness and how winning $800 in a random salsa competition catapulted her to significant business success.
• the mindsets she has adopted that make her an incredible inspiration.
• the aha moment she experienced in her salsa business.
• how she built her business on her own and now helps other people, even competitors because she values collaboration.
• how she got into speaking, what she has learned, and where she is going with it.
• the correlation between sex trafficking, supply and demand, forgiveness, and collaboration.

Listen, subscribe and read show notes at www.OnTheSchmooze.com - episode 162

Today’s guest is the world’s first Humor Engineer, teaching people how to get better results while using humor and having more fun.

While working in the corporate world, he observed how using humor at work helped him be more effective with the hardest thing he had to manage: fellow human beings. He discovered that research shows that people who use humor well get promoted, make more money, are more productive, and enjoy their work more. He left the corporate position and started his own company, Humor That Works.

He has worked with thousands of people at over 250 organizations, including P&G, Microsoft, and the International Association of Canine Professionals. He is a best-selling author, has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and FastCompany, and his TEDx talk on humor has been viewed more than 4 million times.

Please join me in welcoming Andrew Tarvin.

In this episode we discuss:

• his thoughts on leadership: “Leadership is not a position or title you have but rather an attitude in action. It’s you actually out there doing something.”
• how he got into improv.
• his analytical and conscious process for moving away from PNG and into his own business.
• his three steps for having a conversation with anyone.
• how he follows up with people to keep relationships strong.
• the tools he has gained for being an introvert who enjoys connecting to other people.

Listen, subscribe and read show notes at www.OnTheSchmooze.com - episode 161