Laura Steward Atchison's Blog, page 17
December 5, 2018
179: Rory Sanchez – Growing and Thriving through M&A
The man that bought my tech services company several years ago, and several others over the years speaks openly and completely about the perils and pitfalls, the highs and the lows of growing your company through mergers and acquisitions.
He talks about:
The most important things to look out for when buying another company.
What to know and understand before selling your company.
Why you might want to merge versus acquire.
How to think ahead of where the pack is going.
and so much more…
A no holds barred discussion you do not want to miss no matter where you are on your entrepreneurial journey.
We laugh, a lot. We run out of time. And, Rory Sanchez shares what matters most to him when he grows his business.
Rory Sanchez is CEO of True Digital Security. Rory is the visionary responsible for the company’s strategic direction and high-level architecture of its award-winning management platform, GN Secure (formerly Guaranteed Networks®), a comprehensive offering which has positioned TRUE as a recognized leader in IT, Security and Cloud management.
Rory is deeply involved in both the local business community and the IT industry overall. He frequently speaks, presents best practices, and participates in panel discussions at industry events. Rory was a founding member of the ConnectWise Partner Advisory Board. He is an active member of TechData’s TechSelect Community, is a Past President of the TechSelect Advisory Council, and is regularly featured in MSP Mentor’s Top Managed Services Executives.
December 2, 2018
178: Joe Mechlinski – Shift the Work – Move from Apathetic to All In
All in. What does that really mean? Can you be all in one aspect of your life or business or does it only apply if you are all in with all aspects of your being?
At various times in my life I have felt all in with everything. When I am all in, magic seems to flow out of my every being and positivity is the outcome. The last ten years or so not so much. I have had moments of all in but to be honest, I do not really think it was really “All In” since it latest just a moment.
So how do you know if you are All In, Part way in or not even close?
My guest today has not only written the Wall Street Journal bestselling book on how to be All In, Shift the Work: The Revolutionary Science of Moving From Apathetic to All in Using Your Head, Heart and Gut, he lives and breathes it. His life’s work is to help businesses, people and communities become all in in all aspects of who they are and what they do.
In a no holds barred interview Joe shares how he believes the world can change via one All In at a time to move life and business for everyone from apathy to positive shift.
It was a joy to reconnect with Joe after many years. Take a listen and see if you can hear the moment I realized somewhere along the way I lost my own personal all in to me and how he helped me begin to bring it back.
Joe Mechlinski is a New York Times best-selling author, speaker, entrepreneur, community activist, husband, and father to two. Despite attending a high school with the worst graduation rates in the state of Maryland, Joe went on to graduate from Johns Hopkins University.
Joe has a deep rooted passion for helping build mission-based, high-performing cultures and challenging business leaders to think differently and strategically about how they attract, hire, and develop the best talent to grow regardless of their size, their industry, and the economy.
Since 2001, his company, SHIFT (formally eQ), has focused on just that. SHIFT’s mission is to drive growth with entrepreneurs, executives, and organizations.
SHIFT’s top 100 clients have grown by more than 174%, including more than 30 companies that have been nationally recognized as Best Places to Work, Inc. 500/5000 companies, and Forbes Most Trustworthy… just to name a few.
Joe and SHIFT have been featured on FoxNews.com Live and Bloomberg Radio, as well as in the Baltimore Sun, Forbes, Entrepreneur, and The BBJ – which named eQ a “Best Places to Work” five consecutive years starting in 2011, and recognized Joe as a 2013 “40 Under 40,” and The Daily Record – where, in 2010, Joe made their “Successful by 40” list, and in 2012 and 2015 was honored as one of Maryland’s Most Admired CEOs.
In 2016, Joe was a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Maryland.
Joe has served on various boards including: Betamore, Conscious Venture Labs, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater Chesapeake, and the Community-University Collaborating Committee (CUCC). He also co-founded the b4students Foundation, which linked corporate mentors with at-risk Baltimore students for their entire high school careers.
November 23, 2018
177: Ron Howard – SoTellUs – Manage Your Online Reputation
Gone are the days when one bad review only went as far as the person next door. Now one bad review can go viral and destroy your company’s reputation in an instant without the reviewer even leaving their home.
What can you do to change a bad review to a good one on the Internet? Nothing. Once a review is posted on the web it is rare you can ever get it removed. So what do you do?
Enter Ron Howard Founder of SoTellUs and his sons.
When was the last time you Googled yourself or your company? if you said more than a day, stop reading and go Google them both. What did you find? Nothing is as bad as bad reviews.
You do not have to live with a bad online reputation created by one bad review that will not go away. Learn how to get your clients to be raving fans with video, audio and written reviews and get them to share it with their social media friends.
Ron also shares how he and his family keep it all together in not one, but two family businesses.
Ron Howard is a master of sales, marketing and networking. Ron is also an author, trainer and speaker. He covers subjects including sales strategies, motivation, sales team training and online marketing. Ron’s passion, desire and willingness to teach has helped thousands of businesses around the world achieve record profits.
Ron started his sales career over 40 years ago in door-to- door sales with World Book Encyclopedias and quickly rose to Regional Manager. Always a visionary, he saw the end of encyclopedias and moved on to be a trainer, manager and top salesman in the yellow page industry. In the mid 90’s, having an insight into the future of business marketing, Ron left the yellow page industry and became the Vice President of Sales at YP.net, one of the largest online directories.
Since 1999, Ron has started several successful marketing companies including EZSiteMaster, WebForce Pro and onTop local which have helped thousands of small business owners around the world dominate their competition online and drive record growth in their businesses by disrupting the idea of traditional search engine optimization. Ron and his team have made this possible through training, motivation and proprietary marketing technologies developed in-house to give their customers the competitive edge online.
Ron’s current project and passion will be another industry disruptor in online reviews. He recently launched SoTellUs, the world’s only review platform that let’s businesses instantly collect video, audio and written reviews from their customers using an app on a smartphone or tablet. Every review is phone verified in seconds by SoTellUs and if it is a valid review it is automatically marketed online for the businesses’ through their website and social media sites. This combination of video reviews, 100% phone verification and automated review marketing will change the review industry as we know it.
November 11, 2018
176: Douglas Vermeeren – Personal Power Mastery
I quote Think and Grow Rich in my book, What Would a Wise Woman Do? and its ideas still hold true yet the world has changed significantly since Napoleon Hill researched and wrote his groundbreaking book. How does one improve upon perfection? They research 400 successful and not so successful people from all walks of life and write a new book that shows you how you can increase your personal mastery.
I love reading books because I want to shift my perspectives and perceptions of what I think I know to what I need to know. Personal Power Mastery by Douglas Vermeeren is such a book.
Douglas Vermeeren has been on the personal improvement scene forever it seems and his work doesn’t grow stale because he is willing to ask and answer the tough questions. In his latest book and workshops he helps readers and attendees release that which no longer serves and embrace a new and empowered thinking.
During this episode he explains why positive thinking is actually negative thinking and how neutral thinking will sink you to the bottom quickly.
We have a conversation about Choice and how you always have choices even when you think you don’t.
Douglas Vermeeren’s search for success strategies took him into the offices of the founders and CEOS of such companies as Nike, Reebok, Fruit of the Loom, FedEx, American Airlines, UGG boots, Uber, KFC, McDonalds, Disney, United Airlines and Microsoft. As a result, ABC Television and FOX Business are referring to him as the modern-day Napoleon Hill.
He is also the producer and director of three out of the top ten personal development movies ever filmed, the author of three books in the Guerrilla Marketing series and a regular featured expert on FOX, CNN, ABC, NBC, CTV and CBC and others.
Currently, his program Personal Power Mastery is rated as number three in the world for the most powerful personal development seminars. And now his new book Personal Power Mastery will take its place on the list if international bestsellers.
Website DouglasVermeeren.com
November 1, 2018
175: Elizabeth Scovil – Creating a worldwide business after a fatal diagnosis
What would you do if you were told you should be dead already because of the rare heart condition you never knew you had that reared its head and went undiagnosed for over eleven months?
Well my guest chose to create a business raising awareness through handbags, of the #1 killer of women in the world, heart disease. Did you know 1 in 3 women die from heart disease that is 80% preventable versus 1 in 30? Do you know the signs can be different for women than in men? Do you know the signs?
Would you be able to start a business and an international movement and foundation to help women get medication and treatment after being told you might not live very long?
Elizabeth Scovil (www.Elizabethscovil.com) is my guest on this episode. Listen as she shares a story of persistence, love, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, passion and purpose.
If you are a woman, or have some women in your life you love, this is a must listen to episode.
October 24, 2018
173: Kateri Ruiz – MAIA.Community – $20/month = $37.7 million in one year
Did you know that if each woman in America spent $20/month at a woman owned business that would put $37.7 billion into the hands of women-owned business? That amount is more than all the venture capital given to women-owned businesses in 2017. Crazy isn’t it?!
My guest is making it easier for you to spend that $20/month. She has created MAIA.community. A directory website with profiles of currently over 700,000 women owned businesses.
Rather than just give lip service to supporting women Kateri Ruiz has devoted her business to growing women owned businesses.
Take a listen as we talk about how she decided to create her business after declaring she sold her soul in corporate life.
At MAIA, our mission is to change the status quo on gender equality at the highest levels of leadership. We are women-conscious consumers and we’re creating the first free access searchable platform of woman-owned businesses in the United States, 13 million and counting. As the CEO of your life, does your purchasing power align with your values?
My personal challenge is 83% – 5 out of 6 people in my household are female. 83% of our household spending will go to women-owned companies, and women-created ventures. When women are involved equally at the highest levels of leadership, where we ideate, create and make decisions, we have the potential for our products, our services, and solutions to truly represent all of us.
If each female in the U.S. spent $20 a month at a woman-owned business for 1 year, they would drive $37.7 billion more to women-owned companies than all Venture Capital funding did in 2017. Your money matters, use it to make a difference!
I also sold my soul for corporate America for 17 years. I had full P&L responsibility of $42M. website: maia.community
October 17, 2018
172: Kevin Murphy – The Three Rooms
Live in the now. Be present. Don’t borrow worry from tomorrow. Don’t dwell in the past. We’ve heard those phrases over and over for most of our lives. Easy to say . Not so easy to always do.
Our reactions to the way ideas are presented can vary by who we hear them from and even when we hear them. When Kevin Murphy was introduced to me and I read his book I knew I had to have him on the show. He presents a unique way to look at something we have all heard before that I hope can help.
During the show Kevin shares how you can observe your thoughts, the three rooms, what questions to ask to know what room you are in, is it ever ok to visit the past or future how stress is based on the room you are in and more.
If you want to stay in the present more, reduce stress and perhaps even have a happier life and business, take a listen.
Kevin Murphy is a former Wall Street managing director for Citigroup, high school and collegiate wrestling champion, community activist, speaker, coach, and author of the book The Three Rooms.
These experiences have given Kevin a unique and eclectic mix of understanding human nature. He noticed that our happiness and unhappiness in life is always the result of our thoughts – whether observations of the present, memories from the past, or projected fears about the future. Combining this theory with the deep personal insights he attained along his own 20+ year spiritual journey, Kevin stepped away from the corporate world to write the book The Three Rooms, in which he explains how observing which room your thoughts are in, can change your experience of life.
The Three Rooms invites you to start the process of better monitoring your thoughts—while providing you the keys to transform your life by doing so. As Kevin notes, those thoughts merely affect our health, our wealth and our relationships.
Website thethreerooms.com
October 11, 2018
171: Mark MacDonald – Be Known For Something
10-2-18 episode
Most of us want to have a legacy and be known for something that lasts beyond physical lives. Yet in this day and age of social media, viral videos, short attention spans and continual distractions, how do we insure that we are living our something consistently? How do we define and track what we are known for and course correct if our perception and reality are different about ourselves?
Enter my guest Mark MacDonald. He not only is known for something but he helps others connect with their communities and revitalize their reputation.
I loved when he said this on the show. “Your brand is your emotional after taste.” Do you know what your brand tastes like?
Who do you want to influence? Are you the best kept secret? Do you want to be found? Do you know how threads control your brand conversation? Do you even know what you are promising to your tribe of followers and clients?
Take a listen as one of the top brand consultants in the country share show you can Be Known For Something and have it be what you truly want to be known for.
Mark MacDonald is a speaker, best-selling author of Be Known For Something, and communication strategist for BeKnownForSomething.com and the 3000+ churches of the Florida Baptist Convention. He empowers people, organizations and churches to become known for something relevant (a communication thread) throughout their content, websites, and social media. His book is available at BeKnownBook.com and amazon.com.
October 8, 2018
170: Kathryn Starke – Bringing Literacy to the World
9/25/18 show – Books have been a part of my life from way before I could read. I love reading so much I even walked out of school in first grade because I thought they weren’t going to teach me how to read. You’ll have to read my book for the details though. Today I want to focus on my guest and how she is helping increase literacy around the world.
Without literacy you would not be reading this episode summary nor would I be able to do my show each week. Smartphones would not exist nor would most of the resources we take for granted today. Yet a large portion of the world cannot read at even a basic grade level and in some countries women are still not allowed to go to school.
Enter Kathryn Starke, Global Literacy advocate. Her goal is to help schools achieve literacy success while making it fun for their students of all ages.
Take a listen as we discuss how you can be a literacy advocate, how Kathryn has built a global business around literacy and how anyone can “Tackle Reading” in their community or around the world.
Kathryn Starke is an urban literacy specialist, reading consultant, author, and the founder of Creative Minds Publications, LLC, a global literacy based educational company. She has been featured on multiple media platforms including Fox Small Business News, Inspire Me Today, Virginia This Morning, and Conversations Live.
She currently serves on the board of Reach Out and Read Virginia. She previously served on the Chris Baker 92 Foundation, and is the children’s author and literacy advocate for the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation reading program. She served as a panelist on educational forums for University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University and was the keynote speaker for the PBS Kids Writing Contest Awards Ceremony.
A native of Richmond Virginia, Kathryn graduated from Longwood University with a BS degree in elementary education and a Master’s degree in Literacy and Culture. She has taught first, second, and third grade and served as a literacy specialist for over a decade in inner city/Title I schools in Richmond Public Schools and Chesterfield County Public Schools in Richmond, Virginia. She is the author of Amy’s Travels, a multicultural children’s book used in schools on over twenty countries on six continents. The book was recently turned into a musical by the Latin Ballet of Virginia.
Kathryn was named one of the 50 Great Writers You Should be Reading by The Author’s Show. She has provided in depth literacy consulting in over 80 schools, has presented at both state and national reading conferences, and has served as a consultant in some of the top 100 largest school districts in the country, working primarily in 5 states (Virginia, California, New York, Massachusetts, and South Carolina).
September 24, 2018
169: Dr. Gayle Carson – Are you an SOB?
SOB. If you heard it in reference to a person what is the first thing that comes to mind? Yup! And that is not Dr. Gayle Carson. She is known as the Spunky Old Broad. At 80 years of age she is going stronger then ever. Mentally and physically. And she even has her own radio station and helps women over 50 become SOBs as well.
I don’t have even half the energy Dr. Gayle has and I am 25 years younger than she is. So how does she do it and what does she want to inspire us all to do?
Take a listen as she shares her secret sauce and how you can achieve your dreams.
Gayle Carson graduated from Emerson College with a degree in Broadcasting, Theatre, and Speech. During college she hosted two radio shows and began her training in live TV
After college she moved to Miami and got her first job in two weeks. One year later she bought the business and proceeded to diversify its sales base from one to seven divisions and it eventually became the largest independent organization in the industry. As CEO, Gayle managed a diverse staff of over 350 people, graduated more than a million students from her training programs and personally managed the company’s complex payroll. While serving as CEO of her business, she received her Doctorate from Nova Southeastern University.
During this time, she also served as a TV spokesperson for Clairol visiting major markets doing before and after makeovers.
As President of the Carson Research Center, she served as a consultant to 50 industries on six continents, advising them on current business trends and cutting edge opportunities to stay ahead of their competition. The author of five books, she hit the Amazon’s best sellers list, was a winner of the Best Seller Quill Award and was inducted into the National Academy of Best Selling Authors.
Selected as a “2007 Legend of the Speaking Profession” she hosted Entrepreneur’s “Women in Business” radio show, wrote for them and had articles in More Magazine. Currently, she hosts over a dozen radio shows per month and is the founder of the sobradionetwork.com She is also the only woman in the world who has a Doctorate, a CSP (Certified Speaking Professional), CMC (Certified Management Consultant) and an FIMC (Fellow to the Institute of Management Consultants).
W: spunkyoldbroad.com FB: spunkyoldbroad1 T: Gayle Carson L: Gayle Carson
