Today’s guest is a writer and speaker committed to fighting for social justice. He has written over one hundred essays and articles about racism, mass incarceration, politics, gender, tech, and business. 

His latest book, “Straight Dope: A 360 degree look into American drug culture” explores why drugs are so entrenched in America’s society.

He is a three-time TEDx speaker, his first talk, “How I overcame my fear of stuttering,” has been viewed over 320,000 times. His work has been featured in Salon, Black Enterprise, Harvard Business Review, and Al Jazeera.

Please join me in welcoming LeRon L. Barton. 

In this episode, we discuss the following:
His thoughts on leadership: “Leadership is being able to inspire, being able to listen, and being able to usher people towards a positive direction. It’s being a model for people.”
When he knew he was a leader.
The people who influenced him at a very young age.
His early dreams of being a stuntman, an astronaut, a race car driver, and a writer.
Who inspires him in his career, mainly ballet dancers and race car drivers, and why that connection makes sense to him. “I am not envious of writers because I can do what they can do.”
His journey into IT because his mom was worried about his future if he pursued writing.
Studs Terkel has had an incredible impact on his life and how he shows up as a writer.
His connection to Cheryl Crow and how his early journey could be described by her song “Every Day is a Winding Road.”
His dream of wanting to do a TED talk.
How delivering a TEDx led him to hire a coach and the effect of that decision.
How he nurtures and sustains his network. “Relationships need to be nurtured.”

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

Today’s guest is a people sculptor.

Bringing an innovative, straightforward approach, she pushes individuals to leave their “Subject Matter Expert” mindset behind and become relationship-oriented leaders that drive their organizations into the future. With a keen talent for anticipating and responding, she helps her clients create actionable plans that mitigate risks and open new avenues of opportunity.

She has worked in operational risk management as a health & safety advisor and in financial risk management at a derivatives trading desk. Today, she centers her career around transformational risk management, where she partners with clients to develop leadership resilience and design foresight strategies for deployment.

Please join me in welcoming Ebony Smith. 

In this episode, we discuss:

• her thoughts on leadership: “A leader is a person who knows the next best move.”
• The difference between being the leader in the hierarchy and being the subject matter expert.
• The importance of respecting the people in the industry, predominantly your team, and how that can change the working experience.
• How spending the summers at her grandmother’s developed her leadership at a young age. Her grandmother had a rule that you were responsible for yourself and the kid directly younger than you.
• Her mother gave her independence over her grades and education when she was eight years old, which made her a planner.
• How she ran experiments with young children to get them interested in science.
• Your clients and colleagues will always tell you something you can’t see about yourself.
• The very apparent impact of her mother in her life.
• Her first coaching client was while she was still in coaching school.
• Why the concept of reciprocity is essential to her. “When you give, give, give when you have an ask, they will joyfully help you.”
• How she nurtures and sustains the outer levels of your network as an introvert.
• What she’s looking forward to in the year ahead.

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

Today’s guest is known as the LinkedIn Whisperer.

An experienced sales trainer, she has extensive knowledge of traditional sales techniques and has adapted them for LinkedIn. As CEO of Social Sales Link, she guides professionals to establish themselves as a thought leader with a subject matter expert brand. She helps them find and engage their target market by leveraging clients and networking partners for warm introductions to qualified buyers.

She is the co-host of the Making Sales Social podcast and author of “The LinkedIn Sales Playbook: A Tactical Guide to Social Selling.”

Please join me in welcoming Brynne Tillman.

In this episode, we discuss the following:

• her thoughts on leadership: “Leadership is leading a group of people from a business perspective, a family perspective, etc.”
• She selected to go into training because she didn’t want to be a leader.
• All of the things she wanted to be when she grew up. “Who wouldn’t want to be a dolphin trainer?”
• Why she enjoys running her business by allowing someone else to run it for her.
• When she officially became a salesperson.
• Her desire to be valuable and helps others rather than make sales.
• The difference between actual social selling and ‘connect and spam’ selling.
• Her start in banking and how that led to launching a training company.
• How one can feel entrepreneurial while working in sales.
• How she landed a contract with Aramark by using a shared connection on LinkedIn, by leveraging the same tool she wanted to teach them. That led to being introduced to someone at Comcast, who also became a client.
• Her definition of social selling.
• QUICK TIP! 85% of your LinkedIn connections are weak ties.
• How she nurtures and sustains her network, including the weaker ties and connections.
• What she’s looking forward to in the year ahead.

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

Today’s guest believes you can achieve anything you want in life with the right strategy.

He went from being a person who was afraid of public speaking to becoming a certified Google Trainer and training 10,000 business owners. He is the CEO of Ajax Union, a company he started in January 2008 and grew to number 178 on the INC 500. Currently, his focus is supporting B2B companies with marketing funnels, sales enablement, and lead generation.

He is the author of 6 books, including “High Energy Networking: Get anything you want in life while building meaningful relationships that last a lifetime.”

Please join me in welcoming Joe Apfelbaum.

In this episode we discuss:

• his thoughts on leadership: “Leadership is about taking responsibility. What you do, what you say, and how you behave matters.”
• How he learned the balance of leading through coaching and action and listening to others and leading himself.
• His most recent endeavor of becoming a poet.
• His six little side hustles in his twenties were based on his curiosity and being obsessed with learning more and more things.
• Not being able to go to college due to being part of a big family.
• His love of building businesses and supporting other people. “The secret to living is giving, not waking and taking.”
• His transparency through all his “side hustles” and businesses.
• His first product which brought him recurring revenue and how that changed his life.
• Why the equivalent of the original version of SEO is LinkedIn.
• How he became a Google trainer and the journey to learn how to bust through his limited beliefs and understanding how his brain worked. This led to Joe developing himself.
• The bad advice he received from a life insurance guy to spray and pray his business card at an NYC bar during a networking event.
• How he nurtures and sustains his massive network.
• What he’s looking forward to in 2023.

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