Month: July 2021

Female Disruptors: Jenny Chang of ROCKNEVENTS On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your…

Female Disruptors: Jenny Chang of ROCKNEVENTS On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

“Make a speech when you’re angry, and you’ll make the best speech you’ll ever regret.” Not sure who quoted that, to be honest, but this quote/advice has helped me become more responsive rather than reactive throughout my personal and professional journey.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jenny Chang.

Jenny Chang is the event planning mogul that the world of celebrations has long been waiting for. Recognized as one of the country’s ‘Top 50 Event Planners’ by PartySlate, and ‘Top 10’ in Los Angeles by Junebug Weddings, Jenny brings her distinctive and ever-evolving business strategies to break the boundaries of the experiential event sphere. As the founder of national events agency ROCKNEVENTS, she serves some of the area’s most exclusive clientele, planning celebrations to remember ever. Jenny is also the founder of ROCKNUNIVERSITY, the only online learning program dedicated exclusively to aspiring event special producers. Through a series of courses also known as “tours”, students have the chance to learn directly from Jenny through her years of expertise and experience. Additionally, Jenny is continuing to revolutionize the event planning industry through the tech world as well with the creation of Vowlá, an intelligent app matching clients with their very own virtual wedding planner.

Jenny’s positive and uplifting attitude and outlook on life have also made her an influencer, beloved by millions on social media as she speaks out on hot-topic issues most important to her. From life’s most significant moments to a night of social fun, Jenny Chang’s vivacious personality, coupled with her daring and creative intuition, acts as a beacon of light even in the darkest of situations. With her unmatched ability to make dreams come true, Jenny Chang is, without a doubt, the event mogul that the world has long been waiting for.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I first became interested in the creative field during my last few months of high school. I had decided I wanted to pursue a degree at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) and specialized in education revolving around Visual Communications.

I started my first event planning company, ROCKNEVENTS, when I was just 19-years-old after graduating from FIDM with an Associate’s Degree. To start gaining “in the field” experience, I offered to plan events completely free of charge to any clients who would agree to work with me. After three years of operating my business with no actual monetary profit, I began to mold my company into what it is today where I now manage a team of executives across three offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Manhattan and now in Miami, Florida.

Being of a true entrepreneurial mindset, I knew that I wanted to share the real-life knowledge that I learned with others so that they too could become leaders in the events industry. I founded ROCKUNIVERSITY, which is the nation’s only 100% online course series dedicated to inspiring special event producers. But, understanding that experiential marketing and virtual reality are the way of the future, I also wanted to create something that could offer my company’s services virtually to those with a smaller budget. Thus, Vowlá was born. This smartphone app matches couples with a virtual wedding planner for an entirely remote planning process.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

I am creating a bridge between my intentions and each of my companies’ individual missions for this world. I am all about evolvement which is why my creations are very much related to a couple and who they are and then manifesting their event to be the most timeless that it can possibly be. It takes times to get to know the clients and learn each couple’s stories and the people that they have developed into because of each other which I why I then take that and turn it into an “experience”.

I feel that I am revolutionizing the event planning industry with concepts that I am not afraid to act on and thus, bringing more creativity to problem-solve. This industry needs someone that brings in technology which is why I always find myself problem-solving after putting on an event and seeing how I can help clients get more value out of their investment.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I first started my event planning journey, I made the mistake of thinking I could charge for my services without having real event planning experience other than a two-year degree. Wrong! No matter who you are, we all have something to learn. To be honest, I never thought I wanted to have my own company but the more I was rejected time and time again, the more I had to. Rejection has always done the opposite of deterring me and for that, I am thankful.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

By far, the biggest mentor during my journey has been my brother, Tony Chang. He’s so much more than family though — he is my best friend, my confidant, my supportive hand who has been there every step of the way. His energy has and continues to serve as my ‘light’. When I all had were my dreams floating around in my head, he was there by my side helping me to visualize them and turn them into reality. During tough times, he has lifted my confidence, reassured me of my self-worth and validated my chaotic and very inventive mind.

Likewise, my parents taught me the value of hard work. Growing up in Southern California, where the cost of living is sky-high, they had immigrated here and worked day in and day out to make sure my brother and I were comfortable, received a good education and could pursue our dreams in this country.

In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?

Being disruptive is continues to stay a positive action, so as long as the plan has the right ‘intentions’. Before following the companies/influencers that are planning to ‘disrupt’ anything — find out what their intentions are. We need to be more curious into ‘who’ and ‘why’ we are giving the power to those that are planning to revolutionize an industry. Are they actually solving the many problems the industry faces? Is the new way forward a healthy approach for the three-way marketplace? I believe the moment “being disruptive” turns negative is when it is fueled by ‘control’, and not ‘intentions’.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

“Make a speech when you’re angry, and you’ll make the best speech you’ll ever regret.” Not sure who quoted that, to be honest, but this quote/advice has helped me become more responsive rather than reactive throughout my personal and professional journey.

I live through my own advice of living “unapologetically”. There will be more times in this life where people ‘expect’ you to conform to bring them comfort, but then I remind myself that I can’t revolutionize the world being submissive to those that want to stay the same. Stay unapologetic, every day, in every single way.

“To every one naysayer, have 10 reasons to succeed.” I just made that up, but it’s a subconscious advice that I take on a daily basis.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

I am going to continue to become more expansive with what I’m ‘putting out’ into the world. I want to help people pursue their passion and purpose and what they dream of becoming. Both financial and emotionally, I wanted to invest in other creators and help them achieve that level.

I also want to use my comical side, which has unleashed itself this past year on my TikTok, and show what it really means to be unapologetic and diverse. I want to become heavy in a lot of different shows and documentaries and show the world “real entertainment” where what you see is what you get.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

Overall, I think the biggest challenge that ‘women disruptors’ face is struggling to be taken seriously. As women, we often feel like we have something to prove and feel that we need to be more aggressive, more tough and in the end, harder on ourselves should something not work out the way we wish. Being an entrepreneur for over a decade and rising in the influential world has programmed me to view ‘success’ in a perpetual chase to grow larger teams, close more deals, expand to larger destinations, create multiple establishments, and market life whilst surrendering privacy — but this perspective of achievement is all backwards.

Today, all I want to reach is a life where I love what I do; I do what I love — while birthing the freedom of ‘time’ to enjoy my personal life. I see, now, that success is as simple as this ‘thing’ we call: “freedom”, yet we choose to ignore our pursuit towards it. In everything, I invest my energy, time and creativity in, I’d like to work smarter, create a trail of efficient decisions, hire less people and build more mountains, help my community that finds their way to me, and birth the freedom of ‘time’ to be MORE in service of myself.

I aim to achieve the success of ‘feeling’ my days, as opposed to putting all my attention towards ‘accomplishing’ every milestone planned for that day. I believe if we learn how to stay present and stay ambitious for self-care, no matter what we’re all trying to achieve, we as a collective can go after our greatest milestones by strengthening our intuition.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

There have been two books that have truly made an impact on my way of thinking and helped set off my greater spiritual journey. First, “The Magic” by Rhonda Byrne has been one of the greatest contributions as to why my “glass half-full” perception and spiritual language is what it is today. Starting an event production firm when I was 19-years-old was the most rewarding risk I’ve taken, and on the contrary — was one of the most reflective decades of my life regarding my relationship to myself. I learned rather quickly that being an artist of experiential dreams doesn’t come without a consistent set of problems to solve and a self-sabotaging conscience. This book has unveiled my relationship to ‘abundance,’ and decoded the spiritual tongue. Today, I’m proud to inspire my tribe to experience their lives through the simple pleasures of inhaling and exhaling gratitude. Personally, this book helped me create a religious habit of starting and ending my day with the magic of gratitude that helps me perpetuate a cycle of abundance in my every day, week, and month to come.

The second book is “The Power” by Naomi Alderman. I’m obsessed with ‘love’, so much so that I built an entire career in celebrating it. “The Power” has inspired me to activate the energy that I not only have within myself but to continue investing this infinite energy of ‘me’ towards those in which I respect most. It reminds us that no matter the difference in views, lifestyles, or beliefs that we humans have this one perfect commonality: love. It’s being reminded of this reality that helps me ground myself to working with the many different types of people and cultures that I’m fortunate to represent in my career.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

In this world, we’re flooded with financial investors, and not enough of intuitive investors. It’s no surprise that financial investment isn’t an interest of mine, so instead, I’d start a movement where we create a group of creative leaders to invest their light, energy and motivation to those that are in need of the strength, advice and branding so we can, perpetually, create a world of creators.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My absolute favorite quote is “Be unapologetically you”. When times became very dark recently, I truly believe that’s more important now than ever. Every day, I am constantly reminding myself, to “be all of you as much of you as you possibly can”. Never apologize for being so in your comfort zone for what you love and believe.

When I was first starting out, I was fascinated with my perception of the glory of being an event director and thought it translated into having a fancy office, one that involved expensive coffee machines, beanbag chairs and wallpapers to achieve that illusion. Is a creative, healthy and safe office space necessary for success? Absolutely. However, the “shiny-object-syndrome” of a Pinterest-inspired office is unnecessary to our ongoing success and not me as a person. The big lesson was to be true to myself, someone who has never been focused on material surroundings.

How can our readers follow you online?

My work and contact information is found on my website, jennychang.com — and it’s here that you can find a list of my establishments. You can also find me on my social outlets: TikTok: @iamjennychang / Instagram: @jennychanggang!

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Female Disruptors: Jenny Chang of ROCKNEVENTS On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Lessons from a Thriving Power Couple, With Luke & Whitney Wright of MudLOVE

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Our faith is personal and unique to each of us. But we share the same life purpose, family values & personal commitments because of our relationship with Christ and His sacrifice. We ground one another and remind each other of the truths we believe when the other might be struggling. We carve out time to pray with one another, giving the weight of our days to Him, releasing the pressure valve in our heads & hearts.

As a part of our series about lessons from Thriving Power Couples, I had the pleasure of interviewing Luke & Whitney Wright from MudLOVE.

MudLOVE is an Indiana-based pottery boutique owned by Luke and Whitney Wright. In 2009, inside a tiny garage with nothing more than an old stamp set, a box of clay, and a plan to support clean water projects in Africa, MudLOVE was born. With mud on their hands and love in their hearts, MudLOVE sees the chance to make a difference as their inspiration to create. They put thoughtful, skillful hands to the clay to shape mud into love, producing mugs and bracelets that make unique and meaningful gifts. MudLOVE is a for-profit business built on the idea of giving back. Partnering with Water for Good, MudLOVE ensures that every product purchased provides one week of clean water for someone in the Central African Republic. Alongside providing water, MudLOVE products have become everyday instruments of encouragement and inspiration.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you two to your respective career paths?

Whitney: A few critical moments inspired my start as an entrepreneur. I have always been a creator and knew from a young age that I wanted to start my own business. I suffered from a sudden and debilitating bout of anxiety and depression that lasted for the better part of 2001. One of the pathways for my healing was creating again, and it took the form of making jewelry. At the urging of my friends & family, it was a natural fit to start selling my work. But it wasn’t until many years later that I founded my jewelry business, Bel Kai. I was pregnant with my first son at the time, and my desire to work from home while raising little ones grew into making my dream of entrepreneurship come true.

Luke: When I graduated from college, I had a degree in ceramics. You may be surprised to know that market demand for potters is fairly weak. So I did what everyone should do after college; I traveled the country in a 1991 Volvo station, racked up credit card debt, and landed at home back with my parents. Ok, so I don’t recommend the last two things… At the time, my dad was a staircase carpenter but also had some health complications. He had one last big job, and I decided to help him while figuring out what I wanted to do with my life. Midway through the staircase project, I applied to be a bus driver, ended up failing my CDL test, and never went back. Then a friend of mine heard about my mud-making passion and offered his basement as a temporary workspace for me. I never looked back.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you two got married?

Whitney: We built our dream home and sold it two years later. We love working together on projects, and because we share the same design style, we agreed on everything. I’ve often heard that building a house is stressful for many marriages. We had so much fun! We added so much love + story into our home, finding one-of-a-kind pieces of furniture, art, and architectural touches. Our architect + builder put the same amount of heart into his work. It was (and is!) a beautiful home. After moving in, we realized it wasn’t quite the right fit for us and some of the values we have in place for our family. Add in a surprise 4th pregnancy, and with peaceful but heavy-ish hearts, we decided to sell. We live two doors down, so we still get to admire it from afar, and it will always hold a special place in our hearts.

Luke: To me, the most interesting story that happened was the merge of Bel Kai and MudLOVE and how that came to be. Whitney was working on Bel Kai out of the house and had one employee. MudLOVE was seeing rapid growth and had two locations and about 50 employees. One of the MudLOVE locations was a garage, the birthplace of MudLOVE, in 2009. The other was a much bigger facility that did all production in downtown Warsaw, 8 minutes down the street. In a small Indiana town, two MudLOVE locations was a bit overkill. When discussing the future of Bel Kai, we felt a little weird about that employee having to work from our house with two rambunctious kids in the midst. I proposed the garage as a studio for Bel Kai, and then the ball was rolling fast. Next thing you know, it turned into our story. We now call that garage Belove, a marriage of Bel Kai and MudLOVE. The artisan village where it resides today continues to be a favorite hub for patrons in our hometown.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Whitney: Oh goodness, so many come to mind. They were mostly having to do with the process of my medium for making jewelry. The craft and handmade revolution had barely begun (Etsy got its’ start the year prior to mine). There was little information about handmade jewelry using pendant settings, paper, + resin. Needless to say, the pendants from the early days of Bel Kai are no longer in existence. If they are, they certainly have not aged well. At the start, I was living in a California bungalow, and because I couldn’t find pendant settings that I liked and would work well, I was soldering metal in my dining room. I had no business using tools like that! And I was printing images on uncoated cardstock that would often bleed under the resin layers once poured. Our production is now a perfected science as a result of years of trial and error.

Luke: Easy, not listening to my wife about a licensing deal we ended up trying. She didn’t feel good about it, and I was convinced we were going to make it big. Although it’s not too funny, it was a good reminder that a devil’s advocate is always an important role in a marriage and in business. I had blinders on and wasn’t willing to accept the cons in this situation. The truth is, the deal almost cost us the company, and it was hard on our marriage as well. I learned that my optimism can be misleading in my head, and I need to look at too good to be true opportunities more objectively. I am also a better listener now.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

Whitney: Bel Kai strives to create jewelry that is rich with meaning. As an all-kinds-of-jewelry lover, there are so many brands I love to wear because they are beautiful. But because we work with images that can be customized for our community, there are many ways we can add value to a piece of jewelry that can become a meaningful keepsake. We work with initials, birthstones, photographs, and design images with names, anniversary dates, and words that serve as reminders or encouragement. Over the years, we have had the opportunity to work with many artists, photographers, musicians (setting their lyrics in pendants), organizations to create custom jewelry for their beloved communities, and it has become our greatest joy!

Luke: I have a lot of things I could say, but if I had to pick one, it would be the synergy our products and the customer have together. I never anticipated the amount of effort our community would pour into other people with our products. I also didn’t anticipate the impact that small gesture of a word would have in other’s lives. I’ve heard a lot of stories, one of a former gangbanger on his deathbed in tears when he receives a MudLOVE bracelet that says hope. My favorite is Morrey Hester. He was an older guy that drove an old white truck and mopped the floors of the local Post Office. I noticed Morrey coming into our shop on a weekly basis, purchasing two hope bracelets at a time with a brown elastic. Eventually, I had to ask him if he wanted to buy more at a time and get a bulk discount. He politely declined and informed me that he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He went on to tell me how he put his two hope bracelets on the turn signal of his truck, and whenever he learned of someone having cancer, he would give them a bracelet. When he ran out, he would get two more. This went on for a while until he eventually passed. I was honored he spent the last days of his life using our product to love others in a time of need.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Whitney: We run a small gift shop in a village of shops and restaurants right down the street, in our Indiana lake town. We have an antique drafting table in the middle of our shop that holds thousands of components of Bel Kai jewelry pieces that can be put together to create necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. We recently duplicated “the jewelry bar” in a retail store in Fort Wayne, Indiana, called goodMRKT. It is a collaborative space of vendors and makers intent to do good through their businesses. The project has been very well-received by the Ft. Wayne community, and there are plans to expand. We are thrilled to cultivate space and opportunities for our customers to create meaningful pieces of jewelry.

Luke: Our outsourcing partnership with Vida Plena in the Dominican Republic is an ongoing project that I continue to have renewed excitement about. I’ve learned that outsourcing can be a very impactful choice, not from a profit perspective but from a mission perspective. It’s a choice that has renewed a passion in me and drives me as a social entrepreneur… It’s not an easy path to choose this specific group of people to create a product I’ve been making for 12 years now. However, in my last visit to our partner in DR, I was creating original bracelets with ten women that I couldn’t communicate with, and we were connecting on a new level. The joy and respect on both sides of the spectrum were incredible. As they are helping me with products, we can provide a sustainable job that they are proud of.

What advice would you give to other CEOs or founders to help their employees to thrive?

Whitney: We give our employees their own agency in their roles at MudLOVE LLC. We like to think of them as entrepreneurs in their own space and right. We live by a small liberal arts college, and many of our employees have started their careers in our midst. Because we are a small business, through and through, the opportunity for employees to make a difference is great. They can make their job what it is. MudLOVE LLC has been a stepping stone for employees to refine skills and hone in on their giftings, so when they leave, they have a greater sense of what they want to make a career of.

Luke: For the sake of the employer, and the employee, never stop rubbing shoulders in the process. As I have learned the hard way in my situation, being too far removed from the process is detrimental to me, the team, and the company. There have been too many times when an employee has been burnt out because the process or the system was broken. Often it can feel personal, and for them, it is usually personal. My lack of involvement at a time of rapid growth for MudLOVE led to frustration, and eventually them moving on to something else. If I’m not willing to help solve problems or ask good questions, it’s tough for an employee to thrive. It’s not about Luke as a person, it’s about the fact that I am the leader in this company, and they need someone that will jump in the weeds with them to understand what is truly happening.

How do you define “Leadership”?

Whitney: Lately, leadership to me has been about owning and bearing the weight of taking risks. At the end of the day, Luke and I are at the helm of our company and have the responsibility to each other, our family, and our employees to confidently make decisions that we know are the best. There are potentialities and liabilities at every turn. In hindsight, we may discover that we didn’t make the right decision. But leadership is about taking the risk with integrity, without knowledge of the eventuality, and humbly accepting any outcome.

Luke: I define leadership as an ambiguous journey certain people will eventually embark on that, involves making decisions based on experience, education, and gut. Sometimes by choice, sometimes by situation will a person become a leader. Many of our employees have been given the charge of “leader” as we work through team transitions. Early on, I always expected MudLOVE to be just me, leading myself, making my own decisions and agendas. Boy, was I wrong! For me now, I hope to put myself in a situation where the actual work being done is run by good systems and processes, in which I’m helping lead improvements and future needs of those things. Outside of that, I can now use my experience to lead, avoid repeated mistakes, and make better decisions.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

Whitney: With our recent growth and the necessity to find creative ways to increase production without investing in more space + people, we partnered with an organization in the Dominican Republic called Vida Plena. They exist to provide fair employment opportunities to women to break the cycle of poverty. In addition to trade training, this beautiful team of women is also involved in adult literacy classes, micro-finance programs, and counseling. Vida Plena exists to see these women flourish economically, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. We are honored to train and work with this team on both Bel Kai + MudLOVE production.

Luke: It’s a tricky question to answer without feeling like we’re tooting our horn. In general, I believe that an entrepreneur’s success, by default, should bring goodness to the world. Why are social good entrepreneurs hard to find? Entrepreneurs have an innate ability to make decisions, whether it’s the right one or the wrong one, and learning from both of them. They have strong convictions of what’s not working in their business and feed off of the things that are working. They are master problem solvers. We need you to step up because you’re a rockstar! If we look around, we know what’s wrong in the world. We just need to make one more step. Oftentimes, the hardest step is thinking outside of ourselves.

What are the “5 Things You Need To Thrive As A Couple”? Please share a story or example for each.

Shared Faith. Our faith is personal and unique to each of us. But we share the same life purpose, family values & personal commitments because of our relationship with Christ and His sacrifice. We ground one another and remind each other of the truths we believe when the other might be struggling. We carve out time to pray with one another, giving the weight of our days to Him, releasing the pressure valve in our heads & hearts.
Community. We are fortunate to have found kinship with several couples that we couldn’t live without! We have years of history. We travel & family together. We know each other well. We respect their opinions, so there is freedom in hearing from them. Because we share similar values in our homes, we learn from them as we share life together. The gift of being able to speak safely and openly about marriage, parenting, running a business is invaluable.
Counseling. Leading a team can weigh heavy, and at times, we can feel lonely and isolated. Of course, we have each other, but because we spend so much time together, it helps to have a neutral voice and outside perspective in our life. We both have had mental health challenges, and an added trial within the walls of our home and in our family keeps us relying on the help of mental health professionals.
Quality Time. We prioritize our marriage in time spent playing and connecting. We date on a weekly basis. We travel, sans kids, every couple of months, even if just 24 hours. We let grandparents love on our kids at their homes so we can experience our quiet, clean home (pro-tip!). When you consistently take the time, you’re more prone to notice & miss the connection. Some evenings require work-time, but if they add up to too many evenings, it doesn’t sit well. So we take the time to close our laptops, make cocktails and sit on the porch together.
Partnership. There is always room to grow in mastering this. But we have made great strides over the years to partner in every aspect of our marriage truly. At times, we divide up responsibilities. Other times, the lines are blurred as to who is responsible for what. One of us, picking up the slack, for the other, without question. This becomes especially important when one of our workloads is greater than the other. We review our calendars regularly and adjust as needed, whether one of us is at home with the kids while the other goes into the office. It’s a continual dance, and when we’re synchronized, it’s sustainable for everyone!

Luke: I don’t want to take the easy road, but she nailed it.

You are people of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

Whitney: First thing that comes to mind. Free Mental Healthcare for all. The stress of this life is great. We are aware of the negative impact that our fast-paced, success-driven, social-media-addicted lifestyle has created. We have personally benefited from the help of mental health professionals in our family. We know that it is cost-prohibitive for many, and our schools need more funding for additional help. I’d love to experience a world where everyone gets the help they truly need.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Whitney: I often think of the phrase, “Bloom where you’re planted.” It’s an oldie but a goodie, that keeps me grounded (no pun intended). It’s taken me many years to feel like I’m in the right lane pertaining to my work, partly because of significant life experiences and childbearing years when I’ve chosen to give more time to family. Today, right now, I know I am where I am meant to be. If that changes tomorrow, no problem. I just want to take each day for what it is, give it everything I’ve got and remain content in the midst of it all.

Luke: One of my favorite bands no one has ever heard of has a lyric that is “the tree that stands the tallest is the most prone to fall down.” It’s just a reminder that the more I grow and learn as an entrepreneur, husband, and father, the more I need to be aware of my pride, which can be very dangerous. In fact, what I learned is that pride is the root of conflict for so many things. I ended up using the concept of chopping our pride (tree) in our first core value as a team.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

Whitney: Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx. She epitomizes Women Entrepreneur to me, but the things I appreciate most have nothing to do with her success as a businesswoman. I have followed her on social media for several years and appreciate so much the words and mantras she shares with her community. She has a generous spirit in wanting others to succeed. When she shares, she places such a high value on realness, something I strive for in my own life. Her love for her family is evident, just as her love and support for her husband and friends. And she’s just hilarious. I imagine a private breakfast would be the most fun.

Luke: I’d have to say, Zach Braff. While doing repetitive MudLOVE elastic production, I ended up watching his movie Garden State twice in a row. This wasn’t the first time I’d seen his movie either because it’s my favorite of all time. I have this idea in my head that we’d be pretty good friends. I think I could overlook his star status and be pretty chill. I’d want to explore his creative process together and see if there are things I could apply to my work.

How can our readers follow your work online?

Whitney: You can read the Bel Kai studio story as well as my personal story on www.belkai.com — where you can also shop and view our current jewelry collection. I have always enjoyed writing, so I’m often sharing about the delicate intersection of life, work, family on Instagram @whit_wright.

Luke: www.mudlove.com. @mudlove I’m on a long break from social media, so don’t judge my lack of posts if you happen to find me.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Lessons from a Thriving Power Couple, With Luke & Whitney Wright of MudLOVE was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Angelica Prescod On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

I’m intentionally accessible to people at whatever income level they are at. I give them actionable items that they can use to improve their financial future. I enjoy proving the fact that at every income level you can find your ideal client.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Angelica Prescod.

Angelica Prescod is a top black female financial advisor and expert in complex management and generational wealth building located in Scottsdale, Ariz. She is actively disrupting the norm by increasing financial literacy across multiple cultures and wealth demographics. Prescod is a key leader and influencer nationwide and is heralded for her expertise in the financial planning industry.

Initially, I believed my life’s purpose was to be in the medical field. However, due to my father’s illness and untimely death, I found myself being asked to step in and increase our family’s financial literacy. When only one parent is left, and their death is looming, there’s a sense of urgency concerning loose ends and the drive to protect the next generation is great. Thanks to my mother, who told me I could achieve anything and everything I set my mind to, I took a leap of faith and pursued a completely different industry in my 20s. I decided to take a risk in 2007 and entered the financial industry right before the market had its worst crash in history. Even with everything going wrong in unprecedented numbers, I pressed through, learning and leaning into the knowledge gained through this market disruption. Now, as an expert in my industry, I’m glad it all happened that way.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

Intentional accessibility is my focus. I believe everyone can win. We can all be financially free. If everyone could have the opportunity to work, yet not need the income they’re generating from work, their world would be infinitely changed for the better. Now if by default, people were already wealthy or are on their way to sustainable wealth, what would that look like? If generational wealth planning was a default scenario for everyone, and every family was able to know their ABCs when it came to money management, it would level the playing field. If you can make it through 2nd grade, financial literacy is already instilled.

I’m intentionally accessible to people at whatever income level they are at. I give them actionable items that they can use to improve their financial future. I enjoy proving the fact that at every income level you can find your ideal client. Your smallest account can refer your biggest account and your biggest account can refer you the smallest account that may have more impact to business than any of your largest accounts. We need not measure a person’s worth based on their current net worth.

My goal is to humanize my industry, to make this conversation available and proactively presented to every wealth demographic in a way that causes action.

We won’t check the box when it comes to building true equality and equity until financial literacy can be achieved by all demographics. I believe that if someone’s willing to learn and act on sound advice, it should be available to them. Tailor-made solutions are irrelevant to a client’s educational choices or previous financial choices. I choose to meet my clients where they are and help them be financially free.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

He was an OBGYN and his nature reminded me very much of my father, who had passed away years ago. I was afraid to offer my services and for three years never approached the conversation, even though working with him would feel like an atonement towards wishing I could have been my parents’ financial advisor.

So, I stayed afraid when it came to him, even while growing my practice and accomplishing many goals for my clientele. By the fourth year, I mustered the courage to ask him if he could benefit from my services. “I would have done business with you years ago if you had just asked,” he said. Hindsight, I was afraid of nothing at all. We’ve now been together for over a year and he still makes jokes about it. I use this experience as an example to remind myself, “no matter what, no matter who, always let them know what you do.”

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

There are so many people who were part of my journey. Some are still alive and some are long gone, but their impact is still felt today. Individuals like Kim Covington, Summer Fausette, Robin Reed, Vanessa Halim, Crista Johnson Agbakwu, Alyssa Harper, Rodney Bahr, as well as many others, played a huge role in helping me walk through my journey from point A to now.

It was one of my worst days. I swore I could no longer continue in this industry. I had the sequential hell week and previous to that I probably had six months of the worst luck ever. I was up to my head in reasons why I should leave the business and every attempt to find a positive light ended up in chaos again and again and again. Then my mentor came by to visit. She always seems to come at the best time and in my worst moments. After I vented for three hours, she asked me the simple question, “so what’s next?” That’s when I learned that instead of focusing on the problem I need to focus on solutions.

After that moment, every complaint, every problem, every chaotic opportunity I had in my life impacted me differently. I started looking at — and reacting to — life differently. This changed how my career went from then on, it even changed my personal relationships. I can comfortably say that my life today is a direct result of that moment. I know my future took a completely different direction after that day.

Disruption has no benefit when it’s there for the noise and not the action of the activity. The idea of disruption can sometimes come across as something that creates attention but it doesn’t always lead to positive results the disruption was intended to achieve. We are on this Earth to create disruption. Disruption creates an action that changes a future for the better and helps boost the empowerment of others.

If we were to offer financial literacy at the elementary school level, but only provide it to districts in high-income areas, we have missed the mark. Even though there’s disruption, it’s not equally attainable. Also if the lesson in financial literacy is explained in a way that it is not truly actionable for the individuals learning from it, again this disruption has missed its mark.

If these classes were given not only to elementary schools in high net worth districts, but to all individuals at all elementary schools across the entire country and the lessons were given in such a way that even the lowest denominator could understand what was being taught, now we’re truly creating a good disruption. Knowledge, opportunity for a solution, and a process to act on the solution where many actually do good it is a positive disruption. The results will not only be seen immediately but they’ll be generationally felt.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

Always apply. You can do anything you set your mind to. This is how I came to Edward Jones in the first place. This was not my dream job. It was my dream and duty to understand the topics covered by this career but I didn’t grow up wanting to be a financial advisor. This required an instilled truth passed on by my mother, “you can do anything, but are you willing to pay the price to do it?” She loved making sure we knew nothing was free. There’s a fee for excellence and it’s paid for every single day irrelevant of what you see before you. As the first black female captain in the Panama Canal, she didn’t just preach it, she lived it. She died of cancer when I was in my preteen years, nevertheless her guidance gave me the courage to reinvent myself. That was truly the courageous act. So, when my father, who then had cancer, asked the question, “could you do this?” My answer was ingrained, even before the question was asked. “Of course, I can! Anything for you, dad!”
Never give up. You’ve come too far; we must break through the pain into the privilege of the victory. I found it quite common to be the only person that looked like me in a room of excellence. I remember being questioned many times throughout my career concerning the validity of my statements. But even so, I remember the words I received from those that came before me. “It’ll be 1,000 times harder to get into the room, and 10,000 times harder to stay in the room but whatever the price, take it gracefully because you’re on the shoulders of those that came before you. The price they paid gave you the opportunity to be even consider being in the room.”
See it from their perspective. This sentiment leads the way I teach my financial literacy classes, the way I lead my team, my branch, my parenting, my relationships and my life. Each time I was asked to present about my expertise, I made sure to inquire about the audience. Once I know that, I can transcribe my information into their language and can present in a way that’s understandable. For example, explaining investments from the perspective of a carpenter involves understanding what carpentry is all about. Once I’m able to do that, every time the carpenter acts in his normal job, he’ll remember how it relates to investing and therefore be more interested in continuing the behavior necessary to build financial wealth. The same applies to my kindergarten teacher, my physicians and my engineers. Their business language becomes my language too. As a financial advisor I find it fun to explain my information in the customized way it applies to each of my client’s lives. Then the knowledge will last forever.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

I believe in creating this type of customization for every individual who works in corporate America as much as individual business owners. I want this type of financial literacy to happen with a high emphasis on individuals who are going into athleticism as a career or entertainment. I believe there should be an emphasis on the lowest income earning community within the corporation as well as a higher income owner. If individuals could attend work and actually practice what their gifts are because they’re financially free, I think it will provide us all a better community to live in.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

Women disruptors usually have to validate the right to be disruptive because there’s an innate assumption that a woman’s role is to raise a family. If the disruptions are not happening within the framework of a household or advocating for her children, anything outside of that range is seen as problematic. In the financial sector, being a woman, from a different country, with a different skin tone, a single parent, first in her family to be in this field, with a faster track and more success than most and being disruptive for the benefit of the underdogs, is not always looked upon kindly. It’s seen as rebellious, ungrateful, unsatisfied, restless and almost disrespectful. But that’s ok with me. I don’t mind that reputation. The more millionaires of every race and income level that we’ve got in this world, the better.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

Podcasts:

Pivot Play with Jerry A Thompson
The Community Collaborative with Robin Reed
Venus Clapback with Coco and the Muse
Girl, we need to talk with Charity Bailey
Of Sound Mind with Ashley LaRea

Books:
Next Move, Best Move: Transitioning Into a Career You’ll Love by Kimberly B. Cummings and Lindsey Pollak
Allies and Advocates by Amber Cabral

I heard for the first time that I was excellent in my field, irrelevant to my gender and race, from
a key leader who knew my reputation and accomplishments. It was the first time I felt like I was actually seen. After over a decade of making history in my field and firm, honing my craft with a relentless passion to help everyone willing to attain more freedom, I still didn’t feel seen. I made history as the first black woman to be a million-dollar producer in the history of my firm and still I didn’t feel seen. Until Robin Reed and Jerry Thompson said those words, “you’re one of the best, period!” I didn’t feel validated. It was mind blowing because I didn’t realize there was a lack of validation within me until the rush of emotions overtook me. I am worthy, but I still felt unknown by many.

I want to create a space for everyone to be educated in financial literacy. I want for the requirement of learning the ABCs and balancing a budget to be within the same framework. I want others to understand interest in compound growth in the stock market before the age of 10 and for those who may have not learned it for it to be a requirement while they work and participate at their jobs.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“Always be curious and lead with love.” This prevented me from being afraid of breaking ceilings or approaching individuals that you would presume may not want to work with me. This freed me from any expectations or limitations that others may have imposed on me and allowed me to re-create myself over and over again for the sake of those I was trying to help. Leading with love opened my eyes and encourages me to never assess someone based on their current circumstances. I always look at a situation from the position of an opportunity and as if I was the only one available to help that individual. That’s leading with love. I’m trying to be the financial advisor I wish my parents had all those years ago.

How can our readers follow you online?

Angelica F Prescod, Financial Advisor | Edward Jones

Angelica Prescod | LinkedIn

Edward Jones — Financial Advisor: Angelica Prescod | Facebook

Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!

Female Disruptors: Angelica Prescod On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Shonda Sharee of Boujee Hair Salon On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your…

Female Disruptors: Shonda Sharee of Boujee Hair Salon On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today: Its so easy to make an excuse as to why you have to wait to start a new journey you have been wanting to start forever. But the reality is there will ALWAYS be “something” that you feel is stopping you from starting. That “something” will always be there. Just start and you can work that “something” out along the way.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Shonda Sharee.

Shonda Sharee is a licensed cosmetologist and founder of Boujee Hair Salon. She specializes in the micro bead (link) method of installing hair extensions with handtied wefted beaded row sew ins as well as I-tip micro link installs being her top ranked services. Her love for hair, her clientele and her fellow hairstylists has ignited her passion for helping women suffering from hair loss feel confident and fabulous wearing natural looking extensions and organizing online education for hairstylists to share the techniques that helped her become successful.

At a very young age I knew that I wanted to be a cosmetologist. I would go to the salon with my mother when she would get her hair done and I was so amazed at how talented the hairstylists were. I was even more amazed at how excited the clients were when they would see how fabulous they looked. I wanted to be apart of allowing someone to feel that type of joy, adding to their beauty and confidence. So I took up cosmetology while in high school, when I graduated I started work in my first beauty salon. I have been hard-working for over 15 years now as a hairstylist with the last 5 focusing on hair extension installs.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

Over the years I have seen my fair share of hair loss clientele. The amount of women young as well as older who suffer with hair loss is astronomical. This has inspired my goal to help women with hair loss through a safe and subtle manner that allows them to feel confident and fabulous. It’s also what has motivated my specialization in the micro bead methods of installing extensions. I also aspire to help my fellow hairstylists who love hair extensions become more confident and successful in their business working with their dream clients. So I have curated an educational platform both online and in-person teaching my expertise on micro bead methods for those eager to learn.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Oh goodness when I was first starting?! How about now? Lol I first started out in my career doing braided extensions and I thought I was so good (but I was so bad at the time) one of my closest friends at the time allowed me to do her hair for a special event that was the same day. When I finished her hair I was so proud (pride before a crash right) but then she looked in the mirror and started laughing hysterically. I really thought it was because she loved her hair but she was laughing because she hated it and thought I was joking when I told her I loved it. Lesson I learned its okay to laugh with those who are laughing at you. Also I learned that its absolutely okay to mistakes they help your prepare for greatness.

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

I have to say my biggest mentor and supporter is my mother. As cliche as that may sound. She was a single mother of 6 children and from a very young age she not only taught my siblings and I the value of working hard but she led by example as well. She is a serial entrepreneur and is currently the CEO of 3 thriving businesses. So you can say she instilled the entrepreneurial spirit into her children as well. Her journey has made a lasting impact on me. Everyday I strive to be as successful as she has been and has taught me to be.

Disrupting an industry is positive when your sole purpose is to help those around you and of course when you are not seeking to help ones that’s when it’s not so positive. I can only speak for the industry that I am in. Sometimes the vibe can feel very intimidating and competitive. But when you’re focused on helping people and not competing the positivity just flows and flourishes in your favor!

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today: Its so easy to make an excuse as to why you have to wait to start a new journey you have been wanting to start forever. But the reality is there will ALWAYS be “something” that you feel is stopping you from starting. That “something” will always be there. Just start and you can work that “something” out along the way.
It takes work to make it work: No one is an overnight success. Not even the influencers that you follow on IG. Success is only attainable if you are putting in the work to attain it.
Rest is necessary not optional: She have that “rest when I’m dead” mentality. But if you “rest when you’re dead” you don’t get to enjoy the fruits of your labor. So rest when you feel tired, worn out or even when you don’t feel any of that. When I get the rest I need, I am able to come back into my business stronger with better ideas and creativity. I feel refreshed and rejuvenated on another level.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

Is an entrepreneur ever done?! I am expanding my Boujee Hair empire by selling my Boujee Hair Luxury extension line featuring luxury handtied wefts and i-tip hair extensions. I also have a product that I am working on launching hopefully in the next several months but I can’t give that one up yet…

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

I think the biggest challenge faced by women disruptors are the negative motives and false narratives that can be placed on what we are doing. Some not all women like to discredit what others are doing because of their own insecurities and its not nice. There is so much room for everyone to win and be happy for each other. I think male disruptors are faced with this too but its way more prevalent among female counterparts. It needs to stop.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

I would have to say the Bible! It honestly helps to keep me balanced and focused, realizing that the secular goals that I have don’t outweigh the spiritual goals that I need! My first priority will always be for my spiritual advancement, and secular advancement I may achieve is just icing on that cake.

Oh man, a movement that I know would bring the most amount of good is a movement of being kind to people. I would call it “kindness carries all” it only takes one kind act to put a smile on someones face. If we all contributed a kind act to one another it would make for less tension these days.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

Its the journey, not the destination! This has helped me to realize that I have to take the good with the bad and find a happy balance. This was relevant in my life because there seemed to be so many roadblocks in my journey of getting where I am today. But just because one road is blocked doesn’t mean you can’t find another route to get to your destination. The routes in between is what makes you stronger in the journey.

How can our readers follow you online?

They can follow me on my Instagram page @shondasharee_ , and on FB www.facebook.com/boujeehairbyshondasharee

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Female Disruptors: Shonda Sharee of Boujee Hair Salon On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Ruth Thomas of Curo Compensation: 5 Things We Need To Do To Close The Gender Wage Gap

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

We also need to act now to counteract the impact the pandemic has had on women who have been impacted by their congruence in sectors most impacted economically leading to income disruption as well as bearing the brunt of caring responsibilities during the crisis. Women in senior roles are now 1.5 times more likely than men to think about downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce due to COVID-19. The knock on effect if this is if women leaders leave the workforce, women at all levels stand to lose their most powerful allies and mentors.

As part of my series about “the five things we need to do to close the gender wage gap” I had the pleasure of interviewing Ruth Thomas.

Ruth Thomas Co-founder of Curo Compensation a HR technology company that help organizations prove their commitment to fair pay.

Thank you so much for joining us! Can you tell us the “backstory” that brought you to this career path?

When graduating I knew I wanted to understand more how people interacted with each other, and somewhat stereotypically began my career in Human Resources. Little did I know those two words “Human” and “Resources” could offer such a huge scope of experiences during a journey across three continents. I have always had an interest in IT, and my first HR generalist role was in a Retail Bank’s IT division when back then it was all mainframe and on premise technology, I worked in the Bank’s offices on the southbank of the river Thames in London that was built to withstand terrorist attacks and in bound planes with two mirrored computer rooms at either end of the building. Forward wind and my career took me traveling before returning to London as the advent of SaaS technology hit for HR. When I co-founded Curo back in 2010 this gave me the opportunity to explore how SaaS technology could transform traditional approaches to reward and drive fair pay and I have loved designing our innovative product strategy.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this career?

I have been privileged to have worked internationally across many different cultures which has resulted in some incredibly unique and challenging situations. I often say I should write a book about those interesting stories. I recall back in the 1990’s after negotiating wages with a Japanese news authority my success at leveraging my female status to make gains in our agreement was repaid by an interesting lunch where I was presented with some eating challenges, more reminiscent of I’m a Celebrity Get me out of here! Quid pro quo.

Can you share a story about the funniest or most interesting mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Having just started working in Asia Pacific getting my head around the regions myriad of currencies and varied exchange rates, I managed to create a bonus notification for an US employee in Korea, mixing up Korean Won for USD awarding them a US$ 115 million bonus. They were kind enough to point the mistake out, but when I asked them to return the letter they said they were keeping it to frame and put in their bathroom for posterity!

Ok let’s jump to the main focus of our interview. Even in 2020, women still earn about 81 cents for every dollar a man makes. Can you explain three of the main factors that are causing the wage gap?

Sure, for clarity the 81 cents for every dollar metric you mention here is the median gender pay gap in the US. This compares across the US the average pay of men versus that of women. Still today many commentators will dispute that this pay gap is not real, and that when you look at women and men doing the same or comparable work they are actually paid equally. Sadly this is not always true, but either way it is important to understand why average pay gap exists.

One key reason is occupational segregation and the fact that historically women have been excluded (or self-excluded) from certain industries and jobs which has meant that entire classes of occupations have typically fallen into the category of “women’s work” and have overtime been underpaid which has led to an systemic undervaluation of female work. Studies have shown that when women enter fields in greater numbers, pay declines — for the very same jobs that more men were doing before. You only have to look at Bureau of Labor Statistics data to see for example that median earnings of IT managers (mostly men) are 27 percent higher than HR managers (mostly women) and then at the other end of the wage spectrum, janitors (usually men) earn 22 percent more than maids and housecleaners (usually women).
The other type of segregation that impacts the pay gap is Vertical Segregation (when men are most commonly found in higher grades and women in lower grades). This is due to bias and other barriers that impact progression. Bias can play out in a number of ways; in recruiting, in promotion, and performance assessment. Others will say that lack of progression is simply a reflection of the choices women make in the workplace. But are they really choices? Or are they simply the reality of the options available? For example, women “choose” to disrupt their careers and take time away from the workplace to bring up children. When the reality is there is a lack of paid shared parental leave that allows women and men to share childcare responsibilities equally. As a result, women suffer a significant pay penalty on annual earnings. A Women’s Policy Research study found that women who took just one year off from work had annual earnings 39 percent less than women who worked all 15 years between 2001 and 2015.
Related to this is my third issue, it’s also stated that women choose to take “easy” jobs that earn less so they can balance work and caring responsibilities. Again, this is more a reflection of lack of workplace flexibility. A Harvard Business Review (HBR) study highlighted that a flexibility gap exists. In the study, 96% of employees said they need flexibility, yet only 47% reported having access to the types of flexibility they need — a gap of 54%. This gap is even larger for women, as only 34% of women have access to the flexibility they need. Obviously the last year of remote work and the move to hybrid work models is driving change here but we need to ensure change brings equal benefits to all.

Can you share with our readers what your work is doing to help close the gender wage gap?

We have created technology that helps employers prove their commitment to fair pay by analyzing pay equity gaps in order to create an equal and inclusive workplace. Traditionally done by external advisers our solution provides a more cost effective and flexible option, with greater ownership of your data and analysis in line with the reality of an agile business world.

Can you recommend 5 things that need to be done on a broader societal level to close the gender wage gap. Please share a story or example for each.

At a societal level I would start with looking at how to break down the segregation that confines women to lower-paying occupations and workplaces. Whether this is by education, by encouraging women into STEM roles, or by increasing awareness and cultural change that comparable work should be valued equally.
Then looking at things like affordable childcare, which makes it easier for women to remain in the workforce, paid sick days and paid family leave, which strengthens the connection of caregivers to the workplace, so women can maintain their earning power and share parental responsibilities, thereby lessening the pay penalty for motherhood.
Related to this is opening up flexible working to both men and women in senior jobs. This too enables women to maintain their earning power and facilitates the sharing of the day to day responsibility for looking after children between both parents.
We also need to act now to counteract the impact the pandemic has had on women who have been impacted by their congruence in sectors most impacted economically leading to income disruption as well as bearing the brunt of caring responsibilities during the crisis. Women in senior roles are now 1.5 times more likely than men to think about downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce due to COVID-19. The knock on effect if this is if women leaders leave the workforce, women at all levels stand to lose their most powerful allies and mentors.
The term patriarchy can be an emotive word, but historically the working world was originally created by men, yet women today hold 50% of American jobs. A shift in mindset is needed to acknowledge that women simply trying to ‘fit’ into a man’s world is not equality. We need society and the workplace to be an equal environment on all fronts.

If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I think I would take inspiration from this year’s International Women’s Day campaign of ‘Collective Individualism’ and that is to make one choice in the coming week that helps progress gender equality. ‘Collective Individualism’ works on the belief that we are all parts of a whole. Our individual actions, conversations, behaviors and mindsets can have an impact on our larger society. Collectively, we can make change happen. Collectively, we can each help to create a gender equal world. So if we each made one positive choice this week that in its own small way progressed gender equality… be it a new hire choice, a pay decision, a choice to grant for flexible working, a choice as a business leader to promote a gender equality strategy — imagine the impact?

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

As an advocate for equality it would have to be “Look at the world through someone else’s eyes”. To truly understand participation and outcomes by different groups and address disparities, including race, ethnicity, gender, and we need to understand each other’s lived experiences to see that that it is not equal for all.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂

I think in terms of someone who is trailblazing success with an empathetic style of leadership and demonstrating the fact motherhood should not be a barrier to leading a fulfilling career (if that is your choice) is Jacinda Ardern, who at the age of 37, became as the world’s youngest female head of government as Prime Minister of New Zealand and then in 2018, she became only the second elected prime minister in the world to give birth while in office. Her decisive leadership style and clear communication have steered her country through the Covid-19 crisis.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Ruth Thomas of Curo Compensation: 5 Things We Need To Do To Close The Gender Wage Gap was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Kiara Martilla: Five Ways To Leverage Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Do NOT use Instagram as a billboard. Especially nowadays, people don’t like feeling constantly sold to and will scroll right on by your content if it feels like it’s speaking at them instead of to them. Instead, use it as an opportunity to show your customers the behind-the-scenes of your business, showcase your values, share user generated content, and provide additional context to how your business is solving a need.

As a part of our series about How To Leverage Instagram To Grow Your Business, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kiara Martilla.

Kiara Martilla is the owner of digital marketing and design agency, Kiara Jennifer & Co. Kiara has worked with clients ranging from local solopreneurs to international brands and helped them to build and execute creative marketing strategies that increase brand awareness and set them up for sustainable growth.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I actually discovered the digital marketing realm by accident. When I was in college, I was working full-time in human resources at a national retailer. I was in a marketing course at the time, and one of my big projects for the semester was to shadow someone who worked in marketing and document our experience. I didn’t know anyone in our marketing department, so I asked my director if they could help connect me with someone. I ended up on the team who managed the social media strategy for the company. I remember very specifically one of the meetings I attended was to research Twitter parties– we all logged into our personal Twitter accounts and joined in on a different company’s Twitter party and spent the hour participating and also studying how well Twitter parties engaged the company’s audience.

I just remember thinking– wow! This is really a job? I had so much fun with everything that I was involved in and I felt so fulfilled both creatively and analytically. I became really obsessed with digital marketing after that experience.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

The most interesting story for me was taking on a client whose Instagram was overrun by purchased followers (all waaaaay outside of the brand’s target demographic) and working to make it healthy again. I had to spend days straight removing over half of the brand’s thousands of followers because they were either fake or without question someone who would never purchase from the company. Once we cleaned out their followers, we worked on creating a consistent posting rhythm and started slowly rebuilding with the RIGHT target market and eventually were able re-establish the brand’s image on social media. Since then, they have gone viral and completely sold out of product multiple times between Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. I think this story is important because it reminds us that the number of followers doesn’t matter as much as attracting the right followers who actually have an interest in what you share and offer.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

For context, I do a LOT of research before I start having discussions with potential clients. I look at their brand, their competitors and their industry as a whole before we even get on our first phone conversation so that I am prepared and able to speak to a general direction that we can take their marketing efforts.

When I was in conversation with my first corporate client, things were going really well. All that was left was to send a video proposal to the C-level team to approve. I created this presentation deck filled with visuals and mock ups. I felt really good about it! I sent it off to my point of contact who was going to forward it to the C-level team. This particular company owned multiple brands– so I made sure to include mock ups for each brand. My point of contact responded and told me that I had used an entirely different company for one of their brands, and it happened to be their biggest competitor! When I had searched for them to pull up their website, their competitor had a Google Ad at the top of the page. I had falsely assumed that the first listing would be to the client’s website since I searched for them by name (this was clearly before I was well versed in Google Ads) so I pulled all of my information from the competitor’s website.

We had a good laugh about it (although I was mortified) and spun it as if I had already knocked my competitor research out of the way. I have tripled checked my client information ever since.

Ok. Let’s now move to the main focus of our discussion. For the benefit of our readers, can you explain why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?

I’ve done work in the social media space in both Fortune 500 and small business capacity for 8 cumulative years. Social media was the very first digital marketing service I offered when I started my agency in 2018, and continues to be our most in-demand service to date. We’ve helped clients ranging from small, local businesses to international corporations create an on-brand social media experience for their customers, develop strategies that create brand awareness and steady growth among a targeted audience, and create consistent brand recognition that flows cohesively across all of their marketing channels.

Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?

It is truly dependent on the business and their target demographic. One of our clients who sells a particularly visual product across the United States sees the biggest return from Pinterest and uses Instagram more as a portfolio for their products. We have another product based business who has completely sold out multiple times thanks to Instagram and TikTok.

Social media can definitely drive direct sales in certain instances, but is more often an indirect contributor to growth by creating brand awareness, showcasing social proof, and building relationships with your target market. This in turn results in increased revenue because of how social media can be used to warm up a cold audience and prime them to buy.

Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share five ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.

Do NOT use Instagram as a billboard. Especially nowadays, people don’t like feeling constantly sold to and will scroll right on by your content if it feels like it’s speaking at them instead of to them. Instead, use it as an opportunity to show your customers the behind-the-scenes of your business, showcase your values, share user generated content, and provide additional context to how your business is solving a need.
Be SOCIAL on social– don’t post and ghost. Social media wasn’t created to become yet another place for businesses to blast their products and services the same way they do on commercials and billboards. There is a reason people pay to skip the ads on YouTube and Hulu. Use social media to talk with your customers, build trusting relationships, and to LISTEN to what your customers are wanting and needing from you. Customers are people, so when they feel they are being treated as a person rather than a number, they will be a lot more likely to buy from you and refer others to you.
Play! Social media is an opportunity to let the personality of your brand shine through. Test out Reels, go live and spend time with your audience, share memes that will make your audience laugh or quotes that will leave them feeling inspired. Not to mention, being an early adopter of new features often leads to increased reach as the competition is a lot more scarce than it is for more established features.
Check your analytics every. Single. Month. When you dive in and look at what content performs best each month, it will give you direction on what to create the next month. Sometimes we think we know what our audience wants, but the analytics can totally surprise us. Which leads me to my last point…
Test test test! Try different types of content. See how photos do compared to quotes and graphics. See if video attracts more engagement. See if the time of day you post makes a difference. Play with different hashtags. Engage with new people. And do this often, because it will always change.

Because of the position that you are in, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

The biggest thing that I can think of is just promoting the importance of balance and taking care of yourself. I just read in Rachel Rodger’s book, We Should All Be Millionaires an idea that really sparked some thought for me– that by having someone come in and take care of your laundry, delivering your groceries, walking your dog, or in the sense of business taking over something like your accounting or your marketing, you get all of that time back that you would’ve been spending on those activities. That time can then be spent re-energizing yourself at yoga, turning your phone and computer off earlier at night and spending more time with your family, creating a new offer, reconnecting with your clients in a more personal way, etc. By taking things off of your plate, you are giving yourself more capacity to take care of yourself and your business in a way that will only help you to succeed even more.

Some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂

Definitely Joanna Gaines! Every quarter, I sit down with the newest issue of the Magnolia Journal and go through it page by page. I not only enjoy the content itself, but as a marketer, it fascinates me seeing how all of the different pieces of Magnolia are tied together from the Journal, to the Silos to Fixer Upper and beyond. I’ve studied it immensely from a marketing perspective because I’ve always loved how effortlessly they can draw in their audience through carefully thought out story and beautiful visuals. I am a long time fan and can’t wait until my next visit down to Waco!

Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!

Kiara Martilla: Five Ways To Leverage Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Dimitris Manikis of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts On The Future of Travel in The Post Covid World

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

When the mind eases, the eyes get lost in the horizon and the sounds you hear reflect the peace you feel. Regardless of where and when it happens, once this moment occurs and you fully relax into a destination, you know you are on the perfect vacation.

As part of my series about “developments in the travel industry over the next five years”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dimitris Manikis.

Dimitris Manikis was appointed President and Managing Director for EMEA in April 2018. In his current role as President of EMEA, he is responsible for the development of all of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ brands in the EMEA region as well as maximizing the performance of all new and existing franchise and managed hotels. He focuses on driving the strategic objectives of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts including quality and technology solutions as well as new business, loyalty, sales and marketing.

Dimitris Manikis has a long-standing career and deep knowledge of the hospitality industry. Prior to joining Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, he spent over 27 years with RCI, the worldwide leader in vacation exchange, across a number of senior roles, and most recently served as Vice President of Business Development for EMEA. Earlier in his career, he also held a number key positions in the region as Managing Director of RCI Greece and RCI South Africa.

A Greek national, Dimitris was born in Athens and holds a Bachelor degree in Tourism and Administration from the Technical University of Patras in Greece, and an MSc Postgraduate degree in Tourism Marketing from the University of Surrey. His passion for people and work ethic comes from his father, who built up a grocery retail business in Athens where Dimitris learned the value of elevated customer service, having a positive outlook and hard work as being the foundations of success in both business and life.

He is based in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts’ London office.

Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

I grew up in a family where customer service was at the epicenter of everything that they did. My dad owned and worked in supermarkets alongside running a delicatessen business and working there during the summer holidays I was always impressed by his smile, positive attitude, and his love for the job. Hospitality was the obvious choice for me to then go into, and an industry where the values I was raised with could be put into practice in everything I would do going forward in my career and life.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

I was blessed and privileged to be able to start traveling with my job from very early on in my career and there are so many stories and interesting things I have seen and experienced that it is very difficult to choose just one! However, one that I do always especially cherish is from when I visited Kolkata in India. This city is a vibrant melting pot of cultures and religions. I had never realized that in one place so many religions could be present, and I was struck by how the people that live there lived in such peace and harmony respectfully. I have always taken it as a model for how we should base our lives. When you work in travel, meeting new people and experiencing new beliefs and cultures is at the heart of what you do and why you love it. I thought Kolkata was a wonderful example of how the world could be and the embodiment of the wonders of exploration.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The good thing is that I made lots of mistakes and learned from each one of them! One of the funniest mistakes was when I met the CEO of the company that I started my career with, and I mistook him for the security guard. I had a long conversation before he properly introduced himself to me! We had a good laugh afterwards, but it was a nice CLM (career limiting move!) and a reminder that we are all human.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”? Can you share a story about that?

Always take time to reflect and recharge, love what you do and find the right people to learn from and use as a reference. In my early years I had the luck of meeting some truly incredible people who acted as my compass, and they taught me the lessons which have shaped my business character and attitude.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

The founder of my first job, the late Christel De Haan gave me an opportunity, trusted me, and allowed me to be myself. She was my mentor, my moral compass and her values helped me shape my business life.

Thank you for that. Let’s jump to the core of our discussion. Can you share with our readers about the innovations that you are bringing to the travel and hospitality industries?

As a global hospitality company, we always strive to innovate and elevate our guest experience. The pandemic has generated significant changes in demand and guest profiles, so we have implemented a variety of new initiatives that have adapted to these changes. For example, we launched our Wyndham Mobile App with features such as a simplified hotel booking process, to meet the demand for low-contact, in-stay functionality for guests. The app has been well received by the corporate events market with guests visiting for conferences able to minimize exposure to hotel staff.

Additionally, we launched our Wyndham Easy Book program and our hybrid meeting solutions to attract travelers to Wyndham properties in this new environment. We recognized that the meetings and events world needed to adapt and provide new solutions due to on-going restrictions caused by the outbreak of Covid-19. To address this, we designed a hybrid meeting concept which enables in-person meetings combined with elements of virtual engagement with attendees off-site. This was initially rolled out at Dolce by Wyndham in EMEA and thanks to its success has since expanded across a variety of our brands and properties globally.

Which “pain point” are you trying to address by introducing this innovation?

The pandemic has of course changed the way in which people want to travel and what they will now expect from hospitality. The biggest ‘pain point’ for us has been the new desire for ‘low contact’ stays and meetings which before were practically the opposite of what travel involved. Without a doubt Covid-19 has accelerated the use of technology and increased consumer adoption of these tools, this will continue to evolve over the coming years. We will continue to mold our tools around this pain point, as it will enable more seamless and personalized guest experiences.

Particularly for our MICE and business guests, we recognized their meetings and events world needed to adapt to provide new solutions due to on-going restrictions caused by Covid-19. Our hybrid meeting platform is aimed at accommodating these guests. The new proposition includes a blend of conventional meetings with virtual elements to suit each events’ needs. Highlights include live streaming to separate meeting rooms in the same location, on-site broadcast studios connecting various Wyndham Hotels & Resorts properties in EMEA, and large-scale online conference capabilities. Every event comes with a dedicated Wyndham Hotels & Resorts hybrid meeting expert, state-of-the-art technology, high-speed internet and pre-event technical rehearsals. Businesses booking a hybrid event can also benefit from Dolce’s full project management services ensuring effective event coordination from start to finish. The new concept comes complete with a variety of experiences to keep attendees engaged, including specialised event moderators to promote remote participation, various activities involving live music, yoga, and Tai chi, as well as hybrid team building solutions.

How do you envision that this might disrupt the status quo?

I would argue that we are not disrupting the status quo, that the pandemic has done that for us! But we are at the forefront of hospitality brands looking to meet these new demands in guest experience. If you look at our hybrid meeting platform specifically, the pandemic caused the disruption, but our innovative technology has left other brands scrambling to catch up. Hybrid meetings are the future. Why spend thousands of pounds flying delegates all around the world, when you can split a conference across a number of venues closer to home using on-site broadcasting studios, state of the art technologies and in-person break-out rooms to connect them all. Like with homeworking, the pandemic has propelled us into a future that was waiting to happen and that benefits us all. We will not return to the old normal now.

As you know, COVID19 changed the world as we know it. Can you share 5 examples of how travel and hospitality companies will be adjusting over the next five years to the new ways that consumers will prefer to travel?

The past 14 months we have learned some great lessons both in our personal lives and in business. The key for us as an industry and as professionals is not to forget these lessons but use them as a reference point as we move forward. Five major areas to look at will be: the way technology changes our engagement with each other and our guests, the way hotels will become part of the living community and not just a place for people to sleep and eat, the mixed use of hospitality spaces, how hotel design will change to reflect to new normals such as social distancing and a renewed focus on wellness as our health becomes ever more at the forefront are some of the things I believe will shape industry changes in the future.

You are a “travel insider”. How would you describe your “perfect vacation experience”?

When the mind eases, the eyes get lost in the horizon and the sounds you hear reflect the peace you feel. Regardless of where and when it happens, once this moment occurs and you fully relax into a destination, you know you are on the perfect vacation.

Can you share with our readers how have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I am honored and privileged to work for a company which values social responsibility, diversity, equality and thrives for sustainable hospitality. Being part of this group of people that share the same core values helps me sleep better at night, knowing that together as a team we add our little brick in building a better future for our industry and the world.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

There are so many great people in the world advocating some amazing causes and ideologies, that I feel that I hold a very insignificant presence in front of them. Being Greek though, if I were ever to choose to start a movement it would be around studying and learning from the classics, and Greek philosophers and their work. There is so much wisdom in their work and I feel that many of the answers we all seek are in them.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Readers can follow me on my LinkedIn page here.

Thank you so much for this. This was very inspirational, and we wish you only continued success!

Dimitris Manikis of Wyndham Hotels & Resorts On The Future of Travel in The Post Covid World was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Eleanor Winton of Foresightfully Limited On The Three Things You Need To Shake…

Female Disruptors: Eleanor Winton of Foresightfully Limited On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

The very first time a ran a workshop for senior people I was terrified and it was tough, but it was also the first step in becoming an expert. Many of the things I once had to be brave to do, from asking difficult questions to speaking to huge audiences, are now the things I love the most about my work. The challenges we face as a global community require us all to be brave, to challenge long held assumptions and to advocate for what matters.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Eleanor Winton.

Eleanor is a consultant and expert in disruption, innovation and foresight and the former head of the Future Institute for a major consultancy. She has extensive experience of working with senior teams to stimulate creative thought and action. Through her consultancy Foresightfully, Eleanor works with organizations to understand what the future might hold for them and to develop strategies in response.

I definitely didn’t have a straight path to the job I do today! In fact, having trained as a lawyer, my early career was in investigations. I worked in a number of different organizations investigating misconduct, fraud and money laundering all over the world. I made the switch to innovation and foresight when I began to see for real how much more effective proactive mechanisms could be in addressing those challenges. In other words, you can’t think about risk without also exploring the opportunity to innovate around why those issues arise in the first place.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

Through thedisruptiongameplan.com, my colleague Ruth Murray-Webster and I have set out to challenge the way that organizations have traditionally treated innovation and risk. In our experience, they often act as deeply entrenched siloes- sometimes even fighting against each other for leadership attention and support. Indeed, that’s something we expect many of your readers will recognize. Our passion is in helping our clients to think clearly about what the future holds for the business before they decide how to tackle a new challenge. That’s disruptive because most established consultancies match their services to a client’s expressed need e.g. ‘we’ve identified a risk’ or ‘we want to innovate’. We, on the other hand, enable our clients to explore long term value and how they can shape new approaches to preserving and growing it. That’s a game changer in helping clients to think beyond the issue they see now and instead to explore what lies beyond that.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Shifting to a hybrid model for the delivery of our services (largely triggered by the pandemic) has led to Ruth and I developing lots of video content that our clients can access as and when they need it. We haven’t had many opportunities to record video together thanks to the lockdown rules here in the UK — but that’s probably for the best as we’ve found that we end up laughing the whole time when we do record together. I think sometimes you just have to record and put the content out there — it’s a mistake to over analyze what your face is doing on camera!

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

I’ve been incredibly lucky to have been helped along the way by people who invested their time in my development — from the school teachers who drove me to debating competitions all over Scotland, to the boss who once told me I smiled too much to be taken seriously! My generation has been particularly lucky to see more women in power than ever before in history but Greta Thunberg’s incredible leadership and commitment to take action on climate change, from a position of no formal authority, has had a huge impact on me — as has the shockingly dismissive reaction of so many powerful people. It’s wonderful to have mentors but we must always question whether their route to success is still available in a disrupted world.

I think it’s really interesting that you have interpreted disruption as having a primarily positive connotation. Our experience, in working closely with disrupted businesses, is that it can trigger a more negative response. In our book, ‘The Disruption Game Plan: New rules for connected thinking on innovation and risk’, we advocate that leaders see disruption and disruptive thinking as a force for positive change. Of course, that’s not to say that there aren’t often negative consequences of disruptive change — e.g. jobs and industries changing and even disappearing. What we have to be good at doing to really drive value from disruption is separating short term consequences from potential long term benefits. For us there are two key things which must be at the heart of disruption for it to generate positive long term outcomes:

Disruptors must respect the shifting role of business and indeed capitalism. The desire to disrupt the status quo must seek to deliver maximum value to all stakeholders — not just shareholders
Disruptors must acknowledge their part in addressing the climate crisis, the greatest challenge the world has ever faced.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

Curiosity — This is the number one behavior we need as leaders in a disrupted environment. How can we expect to stay ahead of change if we’re not curious about what’s changing? Every day I force myself to read something I wouldn’t normally read / talk to someone new / try something new / ask a curious question to keep my Curiosity Quotient up.
Bravery — The very first time a ran a workshop for senior people I was terrified and it was tough, but it was also the first step in becoming an expert. Many of the things I once had to be brave to do, from asking difficult questions to speaking to huge audiences, are now the things I love the most about my work. The challenges we face as a global community require us all to be brave, to challenge long held assumptions and to advocate for what matters.
Collaborate — There are very few challenges that can be solved by you alone. In my experience there’s always value in collaborating both to understand the challenge and to address it. Collaboration sparks innovation and creativity — look at the impact of crowdsourcing on the development of Hyperloop or how ‘citizen scientists’ are helping to identify previously undiscovered stars. If you’re stuck or you feel like you’re dealing with an impossible challenge — chances are, you aren’t. You just need to collaborate on it.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

Ruth and I have big plans to democratize access to our thinking by making it cheaply and easily available online wherever you are in the world. We think that by doing that we’ll help to drive positive outcomes for the stakeholders of businesses everywhere.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

There are all sorts of challenges around funding that are well documented. For us the primary observation, not necessarily a challenge, is that the vast majority of senior clients are male. That means we are surely missing the opportunity to work with talented women who are still not making it into our boardrooms in sufficient numbers.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

I absolutely loved ‘The Luck Factor’ by Dr Richard Wiseman. It’s an exploration of how the way we think about our own ability to be lucky shapes the outcomes we see. So, his research demonstrates that when we consider ourselves ‘unlucky’ we often stop looking for opportunities. Narrowing our perspective in that way means we don’t see the opportunities that a ‘lucky’ person might. I love the book’s message because it directly relates to how Ruth and I see the opportunity for business. Unless an organization can see that it has the potential to be a disruptor, rather than always the disrupted, it will continue to miss clear opportunities to change the game. That’s such a waste of organizational energy and talent.

All of our energy right now needs to be focused on addressing the climate crisis. I’d love to see a ‘net positive’ movement which seeks to transform the way we impact our planet. Interface is a perfect example of business that is changing the game on climate and should be an inspiration to every leader.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

‘Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.’ Joel Arthur Barker, American Futurist

In a world that’s in crisis we all need to live and act with purpose. I use this quote all the time to explore with clients how they want to impact the world for the better. It’s a fantastic provocation to explore whether a business has a true strategy or is bogged down in activities.

How can our readers follow you online?

They can sign up to www.disruptiongameplan.com for access to our insights and consulting support as well as a link to buy our book. Alternatively they can follow Ruth and I on LinkedIn. We’d love to hear from your readers.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

Female Disruptors: Eleanor Winton of Foresightfully Limited On The Three Things You Need To Shake… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Brant Lyons: Five Ways To Leverage Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Make your Instagram feed vibrant and exciting. Aesthetic is so important when it comes to catching customers eyes within only a few seconds!

As part of my series about healthcare leaders, I had the pleasure of interviewing Brant Lyons.

Brant Lyons always liked to break the mold, especially when it comes to candles. When Lyons moved from Alabama to Nashville, Tennessee for a marketing director position at Twitter, his very first purchase was a condo right at the heart of the city. With a blank canvas in front of him that was just begging to be decorated, Brant set out to find the most iconic furnishings to make this new place feel like home again. After gathering up his treasures from nearly every home store or eclectic flea market he could find, he noticed one thing was still missing. Where were all the fun, statement candles? Candles had always made his space feel warm and cozy, but with this new condo he wanted the candles to be a direct reflection of his bold and wildly fun aesthetic. Thus, SCANDLE was born.

SCANDLE is a fiercely unapologetic brand that seeks to make your house feel like a home no matter where you may find yourself. With over-the-top sayings that range from quirky to racy, to our candles that look like fine art pieces, every SCANDLE is aimed at making your space more lively and tailored to you. As Brant would say, “if your life isn’t a little SCANDLE-ous, are you even living?”

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

Absolutely! Thank you for having me! I was a Global Account Director at Twitter living in the race of the corporate world, and I did not find it fulfilling, even though I thought it was going to be my dream job. Candles have always been a product in my everyday routine that I loved to use, a passion you could say. I started studying the formulas of candle wax and fragrance for over a year, and dreamed up SCANDLE!

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?

I had a major celeb (from one of my favorite shows — HINT: she’s one of the “Real Housewives” ?) reach out to me complimenting my business and wanted to buy a candle. She ended up ordering a bunch of our body candles!

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Without thinking, I gave out my cell number to a customer and she started reaching out to me constantly, like I was her best friend bahaha!

Ok. Let’s now move to the main focus of our discussion. For the benefit of our readers, can you explain why you are an authority about Social Media Marketing?

In my experience as a Twitter employee, I was lucky enough to work on some amazing global campaigns for large brands from Urban Outfitters to NFL teams. It was an incredible learning experience and taught me so much about how to shine my creative lens on these projects and use that experience for SCANDLE’s branding and marketing.

Which social media platform have you found to be most effective to use to increase business revenues? Can you share a story from your experience?

I will say Instagram for sure! I am really lucky with an amazing group of friends who are all extremely plugged in on the platform and they undeniably show their support for my business. A lot of influencer marketing and word of mouth has jump started SCANDLE’s success so far. A fun story would be a playboy mate posting one of our body candles last month and it was a super exciting day of website engagement for sure — I guess you can say sex sells!

Let’s talk about Instagram specifically, now. Can you share five ways to leverage Instagram to dramatically improve your business? Please share a story or example for each.

Make your Instagram feed vibrant and exciting. Aesthetic is so important when it comes to catching customers eyes within only a few seconds!
Engage with individuals daily on the business’s account for at least 20 minutes. Your customers want to feel like they are getting the support they need when it comes to their orders.
Post 5–7 stories daily. Customers want to follow an account that they know will have fun and interesting content to check out daily.
Really try to incorporate video content in reels a few times a week if possible. Keeping up with the latest trends is so important when it comes to e-commerce success. If reels are what’s hot, then reels are what ya gotta do!
Lastly, show your face and be fun on your stories. Your customers want to know about you and how your brand started; be vulnerable with them!

I honestly just want to bring happiness and laughter through my products. I want customers to be so excited for their SCANDLE package to be delivered and for it to brighten their day. This past year has been so hard on people regarding the pandemic and other issues, that people need a little joy on a daily basis, and if I can bring that amazing feeling through my products, then in my mind, I’ve done my job.

Oh my gosh! I loveee this question! I honestly would love to sit down with an absolute e-commerce queen, like Kim Kardashian or Kylie Jenner and their teams. People can say whatever about that family, but the way they have hit the eCommerce scene has completely disrupted and revolutionized online shopping in a trendy, sexy, and fun way. Not many can say they have made ecomm enticing and hot like they have.

Thank you so much for these great insights. This was very enlightening!

Brant Lyons: Five Ways To Leverage Instagram To Dramatically Improve Your Business was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Female Disruptors: Erin Houston of wearwell On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Perseverance will get you furthest. Starting a company takes grit, but it also takes determination and flexibility to keep moving forward without having full clarity from the start of what the outcome might look like. When one door closes, you find another one to open, or you switch gears and find a different path toward your goal.

As a part of our series about women who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Erin Houston of wearwell.

Erin Houston is the co-founder and CEO of wearwell, where she’s committed to changing the fashion industry for good. Before wearwell, Erin led the partnerships division at Devex, a global development media company, from infancy to high growth. During this time, Erin held multiple roles, served on the company’s leadership team, and worked with corporations, NGOs, and agencies to build partnerships, alliances, and communication campaigns to help organizations amplify their message. She also consulted for Kate Spade & Co.’s ‘on purpose’ division, their social impact product.

Erin graduated from The College of William and Mary, where she earned her bachelor of arts degree in Government and English and continued her education at American University School of International Service, where she earned her master’s degree in Social Enterprise.

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Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I never imagined myself co-founding a company. Several years ago, I reached a point in my life where I had figured out how to live impactfully in many different ways, from my purpose in my career to the ways I was shopping for everyday items like food and cleaning supplies. But, when I tried to carry these values into my clothing and accessory purchases, it was too complex and time consuming to do, even as someone who had spent nearly 10 years of a career focused on impact.

At that same time, I was heading up the partnerships division at a media company, where my role was to work with large companies to communicate about the impact of their supply chains in developing communities. At first glance of our client list, you could see that the only industry missing from this discussion was fashion and apparel. I began to realize from both my professional and personal experiences that this industry was not only ripe for change but wouldn’t change unless consumers began demanding it with their purchasing power.

When you begin to peel back the layers further, 75 percent of the 65+ million garment workers are women — many of whom face unfair wages and unsafe working conditions. I chose this career path because I believe in the promise of what change in the fashion industry could mean for millions of women around the world.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

Revolutionizing the fashion industry will take collective action by consumers using their purchasing power to vote with their dollar. As a society, we’re not there yet, but we’ve made major strides over the last decade. When this type of unity in purchasing power takes place, the outcome is meaningful — it means that emerging brands who are walking the talk in ethics and sustainability are supported in their growth, which allows them to deepen their impact. Wearwell is disrupting the industry by being that key online sales channel where ethical and sustainable brands can gain more visibility and grow to improve outcomes for both people and the planet.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

The funniest mistake we made in the beginning stages of wearwell was, hands down, how much energy we took to pick a business name. As we were preparing to launch, we landed on a name we loved, only to discover just a few weeks before our go-live date that a new upstart company focused on a similar demographic had launched just a month prior. Our team had the craziest brainstorm sessions and lists going, waking up in the middle of the night with new ideas and more. It’s laughable now to think about the options we were considering. The lesson, of course, is that a name is what you make of it!

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

My greatest mentors have always been women who have paved the way before me. I’m fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn from and connect with leaders in the fashion and apparel industry, investors, and other entrepreneurs. These women have made an impact by always carving out time to dig in when there’s an immediate business need. I have many women in my life who inspire me, but one woman, in particular, stands out. She is impacting my life — and others — by hosting a small group of women entrepreneurs in our community to her home every couple of months for dinner. This community allows guests to hear new perspectives, and has served as a space to talk openly and honestly about the challenges we’re facing — encouraging a supportive environment to solve problems with innovative ideas.

A lot of entrepreneurs want to disrupt an industry because they want to “change the (entire) world.” Building a business that increases equity for marginalized populations is a great virtue, but when executed without an immense amount of background and context, good intentions can cause harm. An example of this is TOMS Shoes. During the first couple of years, their business model of providing a pair of shoes for every shoe sold collapsed local economic systems in the communities where the “shoe drops” occurred. To their credit, they’ve done a lot to revise their business model and impact. If you disrupt without considering the ramifications to the populations you’re aiming to benefit, the result is not positive.

Can you share 3 of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.

Perseverance will get you furthest. Starting a company takes grit, but it also takes determination and flexibility to keep moving forward without having full clarity from the start of what the outcome might look like. When one door closes, you find another one to open, or you switch gears and find a different path toward your goal. For example, we pivoted wearwell in our early days because of customer feedback and because we saw an opportunity to make a more significant impact. We persevered and sought another path, which has landed us in a better spot than what we initially anticipated. This is one big example, but persistence is something that enters into our day-to-day, from fundraising to delivering the best experience possible for our members.

Spend your time with the people who believe in you. Your energy is too important to focus on trying to change the minds of people who doubt you and your idea. Feedback and candor are a must-have, but think carefully about the source and be sure to really listen to your biggest advocates and champions. Especially early on in a business, everyone has an opinion. We met people who couldn’t empathize with our target customer or who didn’t get it. Had we listened to their advice on building our businesses, we would have been long gone by now. Instead, we choose to listen to the advocates who believe in our mission and believe in us as founders. Sometimes their feedback is the hardest to hear, but that’s when you know it’s really important!

Move fast, but not too fast. Get your ideas out into the world, lean and fast. But do also take time to listen to your customers, mentors, and advisors. Instead of only heeding the “move fast and break things” trope, move fast and take a quick minute before taking the next step forward. You’ll build a responsible, flourishing, and less reactive business in the long run.

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

We’re not done until we see a completely revolutionized fashion industry, where it’s the norm that workers are paid fairly and that environmental impact is minimized. Wearwell has always been focused on the positive impact in the making of an item. Over the past year, we’ve also taken steps to highlight how purchasing power can build equity in society. The steps we’ve taken means showcasing and partnering with women-owned brands, BIPOC-owned brands, others that demand dignity in the lives of their makers, and those creating more wealth for more diverse stakeholders in the industry.

In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by ‘women disruptors’ that aren’t typically faced by their male counterparts?

You’re always underestimated. In 2020, only 2.3% of venture capital funding went to women. That means that women have to work 49 times harder than their male counterparts to earn investment. When women have to build extremely lean businesses because of the lack of access to startup capital, their businesses most often grow a bit slower. Because of these funding barriers, you’ve got to have a lot of grit, perseverance, and support from family and friends to be able to give it your all.

Do you have a book/podcast/talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us?

I read Start With Why by Simon Sinek while in grad school, which is where my co-founder, Emily Kenney, and I met. Put simply, Sinek explains that people don’t care what you do or how you do it, they care about why you do it. As founders building a company focused on purpose, Start With Why has had an enormous influence on everything from how I communicate about wearwell to constantly reinforcing our north star values as a company. It always comes back to the ‘why’ for us.

Coming back to the ‘why’ directly played into the business model we chose for wearwell. Every step of the way in our early prototyping, we returned to our reason for wearwell’s existence. We tested out many ideas, and we chose the business model that actually solved the problem for both consumers and ethical brands. We chose the route that tapped into the ‘why’ of what we do day in and day out — make it easier for people to discover and shop for ethical and sustainable brands.

We’re working on the movement! Wearwell’s movement seeks to inspire people to live out their values each and every day by using their purchasing power to vote for the kind of world they want to live in. We believe it’s unacceptable that the burden is on individuals to weed through greenwashing and tirelessly seek out brands that align with their values. Wearwell is building a movement where everyone can find ways to support fair wages, environmental sustainability, and meaningful causes each time we make a purchase. This movement is so much more powerful than a transaction. It’s collective action that leads to greater wealth distribution and policy change to protect both people and the planet.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

I love the quote, “Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” When one is focused on success, they’re chasing praise. Contrarily, those focused on creating value instead serve others around them — whether it’s their customers, friends and family, or your community.

How can our readers follow you online?

Follow wearwell’s journey on Instagram @shopwearwell

Thank you so much for these insights! This was very inspirational and we wish you continued success in your great work.

Female Disruptors: Erin Houston of wearwell On The Three Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.