Janet Fouts's Blog, page 12

Brands, Marketing, Diversity and Equity- A #MindfulSocial panel

As responsible and conscious marketers we are taking a closer look at how marketing is handing issues of culture, diversity and inclusion, especially on social media (this is mindful social after all!). This week Janet facilitates a conversation with 4 individuals who have their fingers on the pulse of the issues, to offer some insights into what’s been going right, as well as what we can certainly be working on as conscious, mindful, and engaged marketers.

Have a listen to the podcast and be sure to reach out to our panelists through their information below.

About our panel

Aleya Harris is the founder and owner of Flourish Marketing. an agency dedicated to helping wedding, catering, and event professionals reach their full potential through fresh, cutting-edge marketing strategies that get and keep a consistent stream of clients. She is a firm believer that business owners should make good money doing what they love and she spreads this message through her role as a thought leader in the industry.

Aleya has made it her personal mission to support catering and event businesses in their growth and help them to reach their definition of success. Her decade-plus long career as a chef and catering company owner,  paired with her wealth of expertise in marketing, are matched with a remarkable work ethic, providing her clients with an engaging and interactive experience that inspires them to take action. As a professional speaker, she fosters valuable discussion about actionable marketing strategies and profit-driven storytelling in an effort to inspire her audience to take charge of their businesses’ financial futures.

Her in-depth knowledge about social media marketing, branding, sales conversions, and effective marketing tools have earned her spots and top rankings on stages across the nation, including The Special Event and Catersource. She also serves as the marketing committee chair for NACE National and is a StoryBrand Certified Guide.

Connect with Aleya:

instagram.com/aleyaharris/

facebook.com/flourishmarketing.co/

linkedin.com/in/aleyaharris/

linkedin.com/company/flourish-marketing-co/

Lynn Abate-Johnson is an endlessly curious community builder (on and offline) as well as a holistic business consultant who cares deeply about doing business from the heart.

She’s experienced with, and committed to working with conscious brands who understand that if one person is not free to be fully self-expressed, no one else is really free.  Lynn specializes in social media outreach across all major channels, and is currently “the voice” of the Co-Active Training Institute (CTI).

Connect with Lynn:

twitter.com/lajbiz

linkedin.com/in/lajbiz

facebook.com/lajbiz

instagram.com/lajbiz

lynnabatejohnson.com

Rai-mon Nemar Barnes “How do we do better?” Rai-mon was born with this question in his ear. Following the example of his parents, grandparents, and mentors as activists, innovators, and community leaders, Rai-mon has been constantly compelled to build businesses that lead with that question and support the growth of businesses for good.

Working with influential brands like G.M., Red Bull, Etsy, AirBnB, Vitamin Water, Vans, and Compass has given him a diverse lens through which to help his clients, and guided his founding of Consciously.

Rai-mon uses his marketing method to help conscious businesses connect more deeply with their audience, create alignment with their shared values, and communicate their company’s value authentically so they can grow sustainably and holistically.

The Consciously Method has evolved and been honed to over time, but was born from that question that’s been the constant thread through Rai-mon’s entire life. So now, when he’s asked, “how can we do better?”, he answers, “Do it Consciously.”

Connect with Rai-mon:

twitter.com/raimonnemar

linkedin.com/in/raimonnemarbarnes/

Ellie Tumbuan is the eldest multiracial, queer daughter of an immigrant from the largest Muslim country in the world (Indonesia) and is co-owner of The Justice Collective, a full-service social impact consultancy specializing in unapologetic racial equity strategy since 2015. An equity, diversity, and inclusion specialist with a 20-year career in management consulting, social impact and enterprise, organizational and leadership development, philanthropy, and open data and civic technology, Ellie believes that individuals and communities are the experts of their own experiences. An intensely curious strategist, researcher, advisor, and coach inspired by Decolonized Methods, she has worked intimately with executives, boards, and entrepreneurs across all sectors. After finishing her MPA, she was intrigued by the mind-body connection and dove deep into developing specialties in Generative Somatics, emotional intelligence, and mindfulness as bias mitigation, healing, and leadership tools. Ellie uses her multicultural background to authentically connect with a diversity of people and has been interviewed by and featured in the Washington Post, USA Today, Silicon Valley Business Journal, and Tech Inclusion’s D&I Leader Spotlight for her intersectional expertise. She lives with her partner and rescue dog in the Bay Area.

Connect with Ellie:

instagram.com/justice_collect/

linkedin.com/in/ellietumbuan/

twitter.com/ellietumbuan

 

Diversity and Inclusion at HP- #mindfulsocial with @dailyslate

What’s the first thing you think about when you hear the words “Diversity and Inclusion”? Is it unconscious bias tests? Maybe you’ve worked somewhere you had to take diversity and inclusion training in order to move up in the company and it was just another box to check off? Or maybe you’d LOVE to find a company that took diversity, inclusion, and equity seriously?

This week I’m talking with Lesley Slaton Brown, the Chief Diversity Officer at HP, Inc. to hear how drawing from diverse points of view improves the products and services as well as the corporate culture at HP. Listen up!

About Lesley Slaton Brown

With over 20 years of experience in the technology industry, Lesley has a unique ability to align and build strategy across organizations and drive business outcomes within corporations, start-ups, and non-profits. Coupling her global marketing, branding, communications, and diversity and inclusion experience, with a deep passion for social entrepreneur and leadership development, she has led key efforts to address the digital divide and build a sustainable enterprise in Senegal, West Africa. Most recently, Lesley served as the Principal Investigator for the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME), “Go West” Computing Project. This project focused on broadening the representation of women and minorities in computing education and careers.

Lesley was recently awarded the 2016 Woman of the Year in Technology by Silicon Valley’s Chapter of National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc., in addition to the 2016 Multicultural Leadership Award by the National Diversity Council. Lesley was twice recognized by Black Enter-prise as a Top Executive in Marketing and Advertising, Savoy Magazine as a Top Influential Woman in Corporate America, and was featured in Diversity Journal’s Leaders Publication.

Learn more about HP’s Diversity program here, and follow Lesley on Twitter @DailySlate.

Mike Robbins- We Are All In This Together on the #MindfulSocial

At the moment it is even more important that our teams feel safe, heard and working together isn’t it? Mike Robbin’s new book, – We’re All in This Together: Creating a Team Culture of High Performance, Trust, and Belonging addresses core principles include fostering an environment of psychological safety, fostering inclusion and belonging, addressing and navigating conflict, and maintaining a healthy balance of high expectations and empathy. Listen in!

About Mike

Mike is an expert in leadership, teamwork and emotional intelligence and works with a wide range of clients, including Google, Wells Fargo, the IRS, Charles Schwab and many others.

He delivers keynotes and seminars around the world that empower people, leaders, and teams to engage in their work, collaborate, and perform at their best.

Through his speeches, seminars, consulting, and writing, Mike teaches important techniques that allow individuals and organizations to be more appreciative, authentic, and effective with others and themselves.

Find Mike Across social media:

Website
Twitter
Linkedin
Youtube
Facebook

What’s wrong with online community today?

If you know me, you know that community has always been the backbone of my work, and the foundation of my business.  You may also know that taking a thoughtful and mindful approach to how we communicate with others really matters.

In the last week, I have been so overwhelmed with sadness, and there are a lot of reasons for that. There’s the growing polarity in our country and around the world.  Some of that is political, some of it is ideological, some of it is fear, grief, ignorance, purposeful disinformation and misunderstanding. The end result is a lot of frustration, fear and anger.

When we look at what we dream online communities could be, we wanted:

For them to be for us, whoever we are and whatever we believe.
We wanted them to be places we could speak freely and be understood.
To feel a part of something bigger. To be validated in our own personal worth to the world.
We wanted online communities to be a reflection of our personalities and a place for personal expression.

It makes me so sad that online communities have become a place for venting our frustration and using it as a weapon. For shaming, belittling, bullying, and holding our own values above all others.

But here’s the thing, online community is made up of several factions. The directors or owners of those online communities have a responsibility to the members of the community to keep it safe and to guide without restriction. That’s what moderation means.

When moderation fails, it is up to the community to manage itself in a way that benefits the community as a whole, rather than putting one set of values on a pedestal.

It’s always been fascinating to me that communities online can be such a beautiful place, even( on rare occasions) a place for diversity and disagreement without rancor. The communities that pull that off often have a face to face component so when we post in the community we know the real person on the other side of the screen. (Think small, tightly knit trade communities or Facebook groups for example.)

When we are face-to-face, standing in the same room with each other, we treat each other differently than we do in large, public, online communities.

It’s much harder to lie, to be hurtful or thoughtless when we are looking someone else in the eyes, when we are connected to them in an energetic or visceral way.

If we could all stop shouting at each other,  being snide, humiliating, belittling, and making fun of other people’s choices and open our ears and our hearts to listen to what those people are dealing with? Everything would change.

Just imagine for a moment that you met someone who was on the opposite end of the spectrum from you.

What if instead of shouting back at you they stopped and looked you directly in the eye and said “I’m here to listen to your story, and understand why you feel this way.”  How would you feel about that person then?

What if you took a moment to realize that according to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs? Would you begin to recognize that we all have the same needs at the core of our beings?  That need for safety for understanding for happiness and for Love?

What’s gone wrong with online communities?

One issue is that community owners have been doing the same thing that traditional media has. They focus on what gets the most views, what gets people talking, because that is how they make money for their business–through ads.  Whatever stimulates the most conversation gets the most attention and brings in more money in ads. They need to have that volume, so they need that polarization in order to drive their income. It’s always been this way and it has never changed.

Years and years ago when I started an online community in the ’90s we tried to create a safe space for people who worked in the restaurant industry. Their passion came forward,  and it was beautiful. When the trolls and haters showed up we kick them out, and for that and probably many other reasons we didn’t make the money we needed to survive and we failed.  So I get it. I do. Communities have huge costs behind them and at some point, they all seem to give in to the reality of $$.

One of the things that have made online communities so aggressively negative is the way the algorithms that decide what we see work. They show us people and posts from people we are likely to agree with, but then, when one of those people we agree with finds something that shocks them (because it is so opposite of what they think or believe) they share it on social media in outrage or some other biased way. Others who think like them are also shocked by it.

Now it becomes viral. Every time we share something that goes against what we believe all those viral discussions start about how (whatever) it is. We are feeding the algorithms and they show it to more people who believe like us and so on and so on. Whether that polarizing post is even true is no longer discussed and the algorithms feed our distrust (again…whatever) to the opposite side of the spectrum and THEY get reactive.

So it’s easy to see that it isn’t the actual community itself.  The need to make $$ and therefore the development of the algorithms to feed the polarization (AKA conversations) because that’s what drives money, building traffic.

I know this is a long rambling post, and you may not relate to it, and that’s OK , but I believe that if we want online community to be what it’s supposed to be we need to take it back. Each and every member of the community is responsible for how the community is represented.

We still will have polarization, and there will still be a discussion, but if we want to do so in a way that brings out the humanity in all of us, we need to pay more attention to how we talk to one another. We need to start to listen to WHY this person is expressing distrust, fear, anger or frustration. We need to bring empathy, kindness and compassion to everything we do, but most especially to how we talk to each other on and offline.

It’s been traumatic for some time to watch all the virulent negativity in communities, but I’m not going to give up. Not yet. I am doing my best to avoid perpetuating the negativity and reminding myself that we are all in this world together. Together alone in many cases right now, with tremendous amounts of stress raining down around us.

Let’s all make a pledge to remember that we are all born into this world as good, sensitive, loving humans. With those same basic needs.

Let’s bring loving kindness into the community. If you think that’s froufrou or airy-fairy that’s just fine. Not everyone agrees with me and that’s what community is.

I share with you the loving-kindness prayer or meditation whatever you prefer to call it, to remind us that we are all one together, we are all human, and we have a choice to love each other and to cherish each other.

I am grateful that you have read this far and I hope that you realize that you matter and you are loved, and so I offer you a very short version of the loving-kindness meditation, one of the most powerful tools I use to offer empathy and compassion to everyone in the world. (especially the challenging ones).

It has some amazing power to remind us that we all wish for some basic needs. Try repeating this for others, for yourself. when you need to practice some mindful self-care too.

 

Mindfulness and the culture of service in hospitality

The hospitality industry is all about serving the customer’s needs and creating a customer experience that creates loyalty. We want them to come back again and again, trusting that not only will we do right by them, but that we will provide what they want, even if they don’t know what that is yet.

It’s a tall order, but in my history in the hospitality industry, I have worked with some legendary human beings who truly found their joy in service, like the waiter who can read a table as they sit down and know who is in authority and who needs a little bit of extra attention to set them at ease. The server who can accurately predict what on the menu will please each person and suggest modifications is an art form.

Knowing how to resolve an issue with the food, even if it’s not about the food at all, with grace and courtesy is an art form too. These men and women set the bar high for anyone in any sort of service role, be that customer service, retail, or corporate sales. The job is about setting and exceeding expectations through careful attention to what the customer needs.

I’ve worked in service since I was a child, serving guests at my parent’s resort, then working pretty much every position in foodservice from dishwasher and busser to server, manager, line cook, pastry and chef de cuisine. I will always believe that everyone should work in the service industry at least once to truly learn what service and respect are. But that’s for another, likely much longer rant!

Hospitality staff often work under very high stress and physical pressure, day after day. Obviously, this can result in a less-than-perfect attitude when they run into a challenging customer or co-worker. It’s a volatile environment. Stress like this can cause a number of maladaptive behaviors. Substance abuse, depression, aggression, and behavioral sublimation are easily recognized by those in the business. It’s also common for emotional exhaustion to result in employees exhibiting obvious, forced emotions, which further erodes mental health.

Stemming from this stress, we may see a drop in productivity, efficiency, chronic tardiness or failure to show up for work. Turnover rates depend on the culture of the organization and the general feeling of the team. Of course, all of this also trickles into family relationships or dropping out of school and support programs.

Whether you work in hospitality, sales, customer service, or support, the job is all about service, but if you don’t have good tools to cope with it and support from the employer, it can be a harrowing experience.

Improving well-being and service skills
Organizations can be overlooking simple ways to improve company culture and the well-being of the staff. Offering personal development services can dramatically improve the culture and well-being of the entire organization.

According to this study on work-related mental health and job performance, mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) can be effective when a trained instructor works with employees to be more mindful.

MBI is a secular (not based on religion), conscious discipline around how we pay attention to our life. It’s most simply described by Jon Kabat-Zinn as the intentional cultivation of moment-to-moment awareness. Simply stated: being aware of the present moment without judgment of self or others.

The practices of mindfulness have been shown to be transformational in a number of industries. Westin hotels, General Mills, Goldman Sachs, Google, and Facebook all have programs to aid employee wellness that goes beyond the usual insurance plans and on-site gyms.

Famed Chef Eric Ripert, owner of Le Bernardin, credits meditation for his transformation from screaming and plate throwing to express himself, to a happier, more productive, and compassionate chef.

Making It Work
A single meditation class is not going to change the culture overnight. The trick to making mindfulness part of the culture is in repetition and, especially, knowing that top-level executives are committed to their own well-being too. However, that doesn’t mean it has to disrupt service or workflow.

For example:

Take a breath before approaching a table to minimize distracting self-talk and improve communication.Develop mindful listening skills to be more attentive to body language as well as what the customer is saying and how to ask better questions.Switch from the traditional “smoke break” to a “sanity break,” -a way to get out of the fray for a moment and recollect. Consider creating a quiet room where micro-breaks can be taken without disruption.Spend time with employees to talk about stress and the benefits of mindfulness and meditation as well as the physical effects of stress.Create opportunities for employees to learn more through repeating classes on emotional intelligence and mindfulness to boost self-awareness, resilience, and communication skills.Consider subscriptions to training programs to promote mental fitness in the workforce. Even if there is not an established program, employees can learn simple methods of staying focused, reducing stress and conflict, and improving the well-being of the entire organization through the use of micro-practices they can do anywhere at any time.

Many of these practices are simple to do in a moment, and not at all disruptive of the flow of work.
The key is to create an environment where these tools are supported and with a skilled mindfulness trainer who understands the complexity of the service industry and can accommodate the sometimes chaotic workflow.

Rather than adopting a rigorous program, it’s often best to start small and demonstrate results. It’s wonderful to hear someone say they feel more grounded and find jobs that were once onerous now less so. Finding joy in simple tasks allows us to be happier throughout our day and our life.

If you or your team are struggling with burnout, lack of communication, or service quality issues. Let’s talk. I can help you be your best self–resilient, focused, and feeling better about your relationships at work, with your customers, and at home.

Non Wels is a @feelyhuman and so are you! #mindfulsocial

Empathy, emotions, vulnerability, these emotions are a part of all of us, even if we don’t fully acknowledge them, and these days emotions seem to be taking us over from time to time, don’t they? 

This week I’m chatting with Non Wels, founder of the podcast You Me Empathy and the Feely Human Collective, a safe space for us all to gather and learn about ourselves and our emotional lives which is launching on May 27. Just what we all need right now!

Non has been on Mindful Social in the past, and I’ve been on his You, Me, Empathy podcast too. It’s always a pleasure to talk with this feely guy.

Listen to the podcast below.



Connect with Non and the Feeely Human Collective  on social media:

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

 

Stress Management in a Pandemic

Business as usual just doesn’t exist for most of the world right now. On top of that many of the resources we’ve learned to rely on have either stopped or radically changed.

An article in the New York Times in 2019 (pre pandemic) indicated that Americans were the most stressed-out population in the world! I’m not sure how those numbers would look now, but I’m willing to guess that stress levels are at an all-time high worldwide.

Join me Thursday, May 28, at 9 AM PT to learn how to manage stress more effectively, find creative ways to get through this, with action plans for moving forward in what will certainly be a new work environment going forward.

Sign up for the Webinar today!

Thursday, May 28, at 9 AM PT, 12 noon ET

Grab a seat now for this free webinar and learn how to manage the emotional roller coaster that is our day-to-day life right now. 

Sign Up

Working through a pandemic #mindfulsocial with @nextpivotpoint

On the show this week my guest is Julie Kratz, an inclusive leadership trainer, author, speaker, and founder of Next Pivot Point. We talked at length on what it’s like to live and work through this pandemic while having smart conversations about how we want to be now and going forward. How can we be in the driver’s seat deciding the path we take through and beyond the crisis? What do we want more of? Less of? How do we make smart decisions and choices as we pivot back to unknown territory after this is over?

Julie predicts that people will seek more purpose in their work. This time has allowed for a lot of self-reflection. With self-reflection generally comes the awakening of a deeper purpose. People will question the purpose in their jobs if it is absent. Having honest one-on-one conversations with employees as they return to work and aligning roles that best fit them and the company’s needs is important.

I couldn’t agree more! Are you ready? Listen to the podcast!

About Julie

Julie Kratz is a TEDx speaker, inclusive leadership trainer, executive coach, author and founder of Next Pivot Point. Her latest book “Lead Like an Ally: A Journey Through Corporate America with Proven Strategies to Facilitate Inclusion”

Julie is passionate about promoting equality in the workplace, empowering women to build winning career gameplans while helping organizations pivot to the next level.

Find Julie on:

Linkedin
Twitter
Instagram
Next Pivot Point

 

Take in the Good- #Mindfulsocial with @gbiegel

These days the more we can put our focus on the good in the world the better! Gina Biegel is the author of “Take in the Good- Skills for Staying Positive and Living Your Best Life”. The book has some of my favorite positive coping skills, to help us move away from destructive or harmful patterns and towards ones that can make us happier, healthier and a whole lot better human beings.

Listen to the Mindful Social Podcast with Gina below. Then follow the links to her work!

In addition to this book, Gina has created a wonderful resource kit for stressed teens during COVID19 a stress reduction card deck and a series of courses designed for those who work with teens for Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for Teens. She truly is an amazing resource for parents, teachers and counselors as well as teens themselves to learn how to nurture the good in life.

About Gina

Gina M. Biegel, MA, LMFT, is a psychotherapist, researcher, speaker, and author in the San Francisco Bay Area who specializes in mindfulness-based work with adolescents. She is founder of Stressed Teens, which has been offering mindfulness-based stress reduction for teens (MBSR-T) to adoles­cents, families, schools, professionals, and the community for over fifteen years.

Find Gina on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin Instagram and her website stressedteens.com.

On Self-advocacy and the medical system. #mindfulsocial with @NoShoutStandOut

In today’s episode I talk with Christine Clifton about advocacy for ourselves and those we care for when working within the medical system. Being a voice for ourselves or someone else is absolutely key whenever we are engaged within these systems. Christine and I talk about our own experiences with learning to practice self-advocacy and her journey navigating Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

How do we get the help we need? How do we self-sabotage through not asking for help? How does compassion and self-compassion factor into getting the best care? Can we help others simply by being thoughtful, open, vulnerable, and asking for help?

About Christine

Christine Clifton is a Flow Facilitator. She works with Soul-Powered Entrepreneurs and Professionals who are standing exhausted at a crossroad and don’t know which way to go. She teaches the “how to” to the “woo woo” that strengthens their relationship with The Universe so they can blaze a new trail that’s better aligned with them.  Get her free training, “Ignite Your Inner Leader” at www.ChristineClifton.com

Christine recently launched her latest book, “Get Ready. Get Set. Flow… Work/Life Integration for Soul-Powered People. I’ve read it and truly enjoyed the book. Grab your copy Today!

Follow Christine on:

Twitter

Facebook

Linkedin