The Thoughtful Entrepreneur

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the Chief Innovation Officer of Henry Schein, Bruce Lieberthal.Henry Schein provides products, solutions, and services that practitioners in the United States use. They serve as a beacon in health care, aiming to provide innovative, integrated healthcare products and services, allowing them to deliver quality patient care and improve practice management efficiency and profitability.  Bruce stated that innovation is a different thing for each company. For Henry Schein, innovation is about finding products, services, and solutions so they can evaluate them and get them to be mapped around their business units. Bruce's team in the innovation serves as the intake funnel for new ideas that can be a solution, products, and services coming, and it's his role as the Chief Innovation Officer to allocate these products appropriately to each business unit so it can be marketed and commercialized.  He also pointed out that the pandemic accelerated the progress of innovation regarding infection control and infection. He then shared his thoughts about development of AI and its progressive utilization in medicine would help practitioners test their patients and get the necessary information about the patient's health status.  The Company's network of trusted advisers, which includes more than 22,000 Team Schein Members worldwide, provides more than 1 million customers with more than 300 valuable solutions that improve operational success and clinical outcomes. Key points in this episode:The role of Henry Schein during the pandemicWhat's your area of focus as Chief Innovation Officer?Innovation is different things in different companiesThe meaning of innovation in HenryExciting areas of medicine in the coming years and the effects it'll have in the fieldThe impact of AI in the field of medicine Exciting areas of medicine in the coming years:Artificial intelligenceInternet of things, embedding the internet and smarts into everyday thingsPrecision medicineAbout Bruce Lieberthal: Bruce serves as the Chief Innovation Officer for Henry Schein, Inc., reporting to Chris Pendergast, Henry Schein’s Global Chief Technology Officer.  In this role, he is at the nexus of evaluating hundreds of cutting edge solutions and technologies, advising the many medical and dental business units of Henry Schein on important emerging trends and helping connect the company’s global sales, marketing and distribution capabilities with important new products that help its customers run better practices and deliver excellent patient care. Previously, from 2009 until 2015, he was the Vice President, Emerging Technologies for Henry Schein, Inc., reporting to the president of Henry Schein’s Global Practice Solutions Group. Bruce had oversight responsibility for Henry Schein Medical Systems (MicroMD) between 2011 and 2017 and currently leads Henry Schein One’s DDX business. He led the ConnectDental team, focused on the launch of Henry Schein’s digital dentistry business, for two years and worked closely with the Corporate Business Development Group advising on technology opportunities.He started, at Henry Schein, as the Director of Product Management to the leadership team in Utah when Discus Dental Software was acquired by Henry Schein, Inc. in May 2007 and was promoted, in 2008, to Vice-President of Product Management and Development, managing all of Henry Schein Practice Solutions’ software lines and development teams. Bruce was the founder of Direct Vision Software, the General Manager of Discus Dental Software and has been a leader in dental technology for almost 35 years.  He graduated from SUNY Buffalo’s School of Dentistry in 1983, practiced dentistry for 14 years between 1984 and 1997, and brings much knowledge to the Henry Schein team.About Henry Schein: Henry Schein operates in a centralized and automated distribution network, with over 120,000 branded and Henry Schein private-brand products in stock and over 180,000 additional products available as special-order items.With more than 3,400 field sales consultants, approximately 2,100 telesales representatives, and more than 170 equipment sales and service centers worldwide, Henry Schein has a sales and marketing approach that is uniquely integrated, all supported by approximately 30 million highly targeted direct marketing pieces.Tweetable Moments:05:56 - "So innovation for us, for us is a bunch of things, but mostly what it's about is us finding products and solutions and services or product solutions and services finding us."16:54 - "There's lots of different types of cancers and these serious diseases, but what do we all know? We know that if we can diagnose this stuff very early, we can save people from incredible morbidity and mortality."Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guestLinks Mentioned in this Episode:Want to learn more? Check out the Henry Schein website at https://www.henryschein.com/us-en/global.aspxCheck out Henry Schein on Twitter at https://twitter.com/henryscheinCheck out Henry Schein on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/henryscheinCheck out Henry Schein on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/henryscheinincCheck out Henry Schein on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/henryschein/Check out Bruce Lieberthal on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/bruce-lieberthal-08737a6/Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:Tickets for the FIRST Annual Fame and Profit Summit 2022 are on sale now! Check it out HERE!️We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE.Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here.What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks to the CEO of HamiltonDemo, Yvan Demosthenes.HamiltonDemo brings additional resources to the clients, helping them with placement and recruiting projects for organizations. Yvan grew up witnessing the effects of diversity in the community and noticed how groups that embraced this thrived more compared to its counterparts. Through examples and stories he shared, it was clear that diversity is a significant factor in businesses' productivity and growth. He also explained that there's a difference on how each organization defines diversity.HamiltonDemo works with different segments in the business, allowing them to develop best practices. By embracing all demographics in the business, Yvan and his team learned that the future is in small and medium businesses. HamiltonDemo has the vision to attract diverse candidates. This better represents the goal of developing a dynamic, flexible workforce that today's global economy and multicultural labor force require.Key Points from the Episode:The impact of HamiltonDemo to the world.Inception of HamiltonDemo.Small and medium size business is the future. The difference of definition of diversity in organizations.The Effects of Embracing Diversity in Organizations:Diverse organizations drive more revenue.Organizations that embrace diversity stand the test of time.They attract more customers.About Yvan Demosthenes: Yvan Demosthenes is the CEO at HamiltonDemo. HamiltonDemo sources game-changing talent—qualified, proven professionals who will propel your business forward. Hire with confidence. HamiltonDemo has a team size of 2-10 employees and is perfect for those looking for qualified talent ready to help your business thrive. As a boutique firm with a national reach, HamiltonDemo has the scale to ensure your needs are comprehensively met while possessing the flexibility to tailor our approach to your search’s unique challenges.About HamiltonDemo: HamiltonDemo assists organizations with recruiting, hiring, and retaining a diversified pool of exceptional talent. Their team has the insight and expertise to enable you, whether you're an investor looking to expand or upgrade your portfolio management team, or an executive interested in learning more about prospects and exciting opportunities in your industry. HamiltonDemo believes that a varied and inclusive workforce is the best method to ensure the creation of fresh ideas.Tweetable Moments:08:36 - "We could look at 55 and older, 65 and older age is a big, huge demographic that's growing at the fastest pace than it ever has."10:08 - "Diverse organizations have better bottom lines. They drive more revenue than their counterparts. Those organizations that have embraced diversity in the past have stood the test of time."Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guestLinks Mentioned in this Episode:Want to learn more? Check out the HamiltonDemo website at https://www.hamiltondemo.com/Check out HamiltonDemo on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/hamiltondemo/Check out Yvan Demosthenes on LinkedIn athttps://www.linkedin.com/in/yvandemosthenes/Check out HamiltonDemo on Twitter athttps://twitter.com/HamiltonDemoCheck out HamiltonDemo on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/HamiltonDemoRecruiting/Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:Tickets for the FIRST Annual Fame and Profit Summit 2022 are on sale now! Check it out HERE!We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE.Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here.What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the CEO of Greener Process Systems Inc, Matt Sweetwood. Greener Process Systems Inc works to capture emissions of oceans from ships docked in the port. According to Matt, the increasing number of ships is one of the world's leading causes of air pollution. It's a global catastrophic problem that everyone is experiencing today. Greener Process Systems helps counter this issue with its technology that captures harmful emissions from ships, aiming to reduce air pollution. Matt goes into the details of how their device does its work capturing harmful emissions. He even shared what's to come for Greener Process Systems technology and their collaboration with European universities to polish their work further. Through their device, they're setting out to change the world for the better. Key Points from the Episode: Overview of Greener Process Systems Inc. Idling ships is a cause of global air pollution. Impact of idling ships on the environment. How do people from port cities benefit from Greener Process Systems technology? How does the Greener Process Systems device work? What sets their technology apart from devices in the market? About Matt Sweetwood: Matt Sweetwood is the CEO of Greener Process Systems Inc and the co-Founder of Insurious and Luxnow. He is a successful serial entrepreneur, professional speaker, business consultant, award-winning marketer, social media influencer, personal branding expert, and photography instructor. Matt was the CEO of beBee. He served as President of Unique Photo, NJ’s premiere camera store for 28 years. Nationally known in the photography industry as an innovator, he has helped acquire over 25 U.S. and International Trademarks, and he founded and ran the Ozzie Award winning publication Photo Insider®. Matt has been credited with the reinvention of the modern camera store, as well as the country’s largest in-store education program, the Unique University®. Unique Photo was named 2008 and “2013 Dealer of the Year” by Digital Imaging Reporter magazine. Matt was named the Photo Industry’s, “2016 Person of the Year” by the PMDA. However, by far, his greatest achievement is having raised five successful children to adulthood as a single dad. Matt was awarded full custody of their five children, ages 18 months to 8 years old. In the 25+ years since, he has raised his kids into happy, successful and kind hearted adults. He has a #1 best-selling book, “Leader of the Pack: How a single dad of five led his kids, his business and himself from disaster to success.” In it he details his journey to success as a father and as a business leader. Matt has appeared as a regular contributor on Fox News, NBC Today Show, CBS TV, News 12 NJ, PIX11, and other high-profile programs. He has also spoken publicly for organizations like Panasonic, UPS, PMDA, Microsoft, NJ Devils Hockey and the BMW CCA, and was a member of the prestigious CMO Club, where he won the President’s Award in 2014. His past charitable endeavors include having served as Chairman of the Board of Directors at both The Aish Center (https://aishny.com/), a spiritual/educational non-profit and The Josephine Herrick Project (http://jhproject.org/), a nonprofit that uses photography to enhance the lives of the underserved. Matt was honored by The Aish Center with its 2014 Continuity Award. He is currently an advisory board member for Ithaca College School of Business’ Customer Experience Certificate Program, which helps teach a new generation of business leaders about the power of great customer service. Proving his contention that single dads can lead exciting, balanced lives, Matt is a die-hard NJ Devils’ hockey fan, an advanced auto racer with the BMW Club, and of course, an avid photographer. He has been sponsored by LG Global and Panasonic® in his photographic endeavors as a Lumix Luminary but is most known for his spectacular smartphone photography and as a photography expert on TV. He received his BA in mathematics from Rutgers University and MA in theoretical mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania. About Greener Process Systems: Greener Process Systems Inc., based in South Florida, promotes an inclusive culture, a professional management approach, and a relentless drive to enhance the earth's environment via innovation, technology, and the firm belief that people can always do better for our planet. Through their continuous research, they're finding solutions to one of the catastrophic environmental issues the world is facing today. Tweetable Moments: 04:29 - "People have gotten used to living with this problem. They've gotten used to living with the health problems associated." 08:03 - "You're gonna hear about Greener over the next couple of years because we really believe we have the solution to this huge problem." Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guest Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out the Greener Process Systems Inc website at https://greenerprocess.com/ Check out Greener Process Systems Inc on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/greenerprocess/ Check out Matt Sweetwood on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/msweetwood/ Check out Matt Sweetwood on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/msweetwood/ Check out Matt Sweetwood on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MSweetwood Check out Matt Sweetwood on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/msweetwood/ Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time! More from UpMyInfluence: Tickets for the FIRST Annual Fame and Profit Summit 2022 are on sale now! Check it out HERE! We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE. Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here. What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the Founder of Bosunsolutions, Nicole Grinnell. Bosunsolutions was created around six years ago and is aiming to supply remote staffing for business owners. Nicole explains some common challenges or mistakes made by business owners are bad hiring or putting too much work on one new hire because that is all a company could afford. If an employee does not fit into every box, it could lead to less productivity and efficiency. Bosunsolutions works to find individuals that fit into each specific box and can do the work effectively and productively. Nicole explains the name Bosun was referred to repeatedly on a television show and they connected to the meaning. Bosun is a position on a ship that supports the captain and the crew. They are connected to this because they help support businesses and support the owners stay in the captain's position to keep their focus on what matters. Nicole explains she has been involved with business her entire life from watching her parents struggle to scale their business to serving as an executive assistant. Bosunsolutions was a way to bring together employers who need help with their business and employees who may not want a full-time job or individuals who work from home. Nicole states that they worked to find a way for businesses to scale through human capital without having fixed employees. During Covid, many fixed employees were let go and now that things are opening back up, more flexible employees are wanted. This is an area where Bosunsolutions fits in very well as they provide the platform for these flexible workers to be hired by businesses. Nicole explains they have had a focus on administration workers this year regarding bookkeeping as well as social media management and placement services. While other platforms are good for project-oriented work, Bosunsolutions is focused on the team aspect between a business and its outsourced workers as well as supporting both sides in the process. Engagement with Bosunsolutions starts with a strategy call to gauge what is needed by the business to create more revenue, then they can add in workers to support the business one by one. Sourcing is done by taking the strategy call as well as other factors into account such as culture, to find the best worker for the business. An onboarding call will then ensue so the business owner can meet their new employee and their relationship manager that supports both sides. Quarterly meetings will be had to determine if the metrics are being hit or if something needs to change. The time span between the strategy call to onboarding is about five to seven days depending on the needs of the business. Key Points from the Episode: What Bosunsolutions does Common challenges encountered by business owners Where the name Bosunsolutions originated How Nicole came into this business Why Bosunsolutions is a relevant solution in 2022 Experts Bosunsolutions sources How working with Bosunsolutions differs from other platforms Engagement with Bosunsolutions About Nicole Grinnell: At a very young age, Nicole gained experience in small business ownership working in her family’s business from the age of 10. She worked in corporate America until the start of her remote fractional staffing company and took it to $1M within 2 years. The mission of Bosun is to give the small business owner a nimble and profitable business in ANY economy. About Bosunsolutions: At Bosun, they want to holistically solve clients’ problems by providing the right remote team members for all back-office roles who can operate their business. New services to clients include implementing and automating technology, such as CRMs, accounting software, project management tools, payroll, etc., and documenting processes around technology and their remote team. Tweetable Moments: 00:39 "What we say a lot is that your revenue should always be tied to labor. Those should not be fixed expenses." 07:57 "We want to provide a team member in a true relationship because your success is our success." 11:05 "I think there's a lot of soft skills and other factors that go into hiring to make that a good match." Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluene.com/podcast-guest Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out the Bosunsolutions website at https://www.bosunsolutions.com/ Check out Bosunsolutions on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/bosunsolutions/ Check out Nicole Grinnell on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-grinnell-b6190515/ Check out Bosunsolutions on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/bosunsolutions/ Check out Bosunsolutions on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/bosunsolutions Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time! More from UpMyInfluence: We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE. Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here. What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the CEO and Chairman of Proof Analytics, Mark Stouse. Proof Analytics is a marketing analytics platform that strives to help its clients make better decisions on a consistent efficient basis. In typical analytical formats, a business will see its statistics every quarter, half, and yearly basis. This does not help the business as they will always be looking backward while they are trying to move forwards which clouds the progression. Proof Analytics allows for consistent results to be provided so businesses can see where things need to change to promote growth. Mark explains that many teams are doing multiple variable regression analytics the old-fashioned way which does not promote efficiency for businesses. Proof Analytics changes this by providing the platform of speed for these consistent accurate results so businesses can get the results faster to make the changes faster. Mark explains throughout Covid, video conferencing platforms soared in demand and the platforms were not built for this at the time. Revenues climbed as well as the stress on the technology that provided those services such as struggling bandwidth. Changes are happening at rapid pacing which changes the trajectory of investments and business strategies completely. Mark explains that self-aware automation is far from taking over because humans provide morality, ethics, and awareness of context that automation cannot. Mark explains that analytics gives context to data because without that context data cannot do much to aid a business. Analytics help businesses identify changes to patterns and make the appropriate responses to them so they can contribute to their growth and stability in the market. Key Points from the Episode: What Proof Analytics is How Proof Analytics tackles data differently Changes Mark has noticed throughout Covid Automation The importance of analytics About Mark Stouse: Mark is the CEO of Proof Analytics, a marketing analytics platform that helps CMOs and CFOs bridge the ROI gap by providing cause-and-effect analytics that shows marketing and sales true business impact and financial worth. The company's 'Proof Business GPS' guides through the whole marketing lifecycle, and provides a complete picture of a company's marketing efforts. Their solution enables planning, budgeting, and optimization of marketing in all channels. An award-winning B2B CMO and CCO, Mark is one of the first leaders to connect all types of marketing investment to revenue, margin, and cash flow impact in complex, long-cycle companies. In 2014, he was named Innovator of the Year for his pioneering work by U.S. marketing leaders. Tweetable Moments: 06:04 "You've got to put the crude into a refinery and generate the gas that can power your car. It's the same thing with analytics. Analytics is the refinery, and we have automated very large portion of it." 12:09 "If you believe that tomorrow is going to be just like today, then go for it, right? But that's not happening. That's not the way life is. That's certainly not the way business is." Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out the Proof Analytics website at https://www.proofanalytics.ai/ Check out Proof Analytics on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/proofanalytics/ Check out Mark Stouse on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/markstouse/ Check out the Accelerating Value podcast at https://acceleratingvalue.sounder.fm/ Check out Mark Stouse on Twitter at https://mobile.twitter.com/markstouse?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time! More from UpMyInfluence: We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE. Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here. What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the CEO and Founder of goLance, Michael Brooks. GoLance is a freelance marketplace that focuses on lowering its costs compared to competitors while increasing the number of features on its platform. Michael explains some competitors like to keep their interactions between provider and consumer on a texting basis and things like sharing phone numbers could result in the termination of the provider. This is a negative quality as it is easy for things to get lost in translation through texting and having a quick call can clear those issues up almost immediately. GoLance is solving this issue for the common freelancer so they do not feel taken advantage of and can provide the appropriate services to the consumer in an easier way. Michael explains that they plug in Slack, Zoom, and Google Meets platforms so the freelancers can have better connections with their clients which can lead to more valuable services being provided and ending with happy clients. The way goLance operates starts with the consumer posting a job and the freelancers will apply. They will take that job opening and encourage people within that specific sector to apply as they are the individuals best fitted for the work. There is a head of the community that encourages freelancers to apply for jobs, complete their profiles, show off their work, as well as finding out who they are so they can find the best job for them. Key Points from the Episode: What goLance is and how it’s unique Competitor downfalls and goLance’s strengths How goLance operates The goLance origin story About Michael Brooks: Michael Brooks is a strong believer in harmony, teamwork, loyalty, and partnership. He has spent years building businesses with remote freelance talent and implementing strategic solutions through digital marketing and electronic payments. As founder of the award-winning online freelance marketplace goLance, Michael made it his mission to help others by finding new business solutions through digital marketing and electronic payments. Michael has published two books focused on digital marketing strategy for eCommerce businesses and one book on remote businesses. His perspective is that success doesn’t happen without risk – but with the right approach (and some luck), it’s possible to minimize the risks while maximizing your chances for success. Tweetable Moments: 06:17 "You're an entrepreneur. You don't want to be owned, right? You want freedom, and that's why you chose the life you have." 07:56 "If you are not constantly providing value, enough value to where people want to use your service, then you're doomed." Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: Links Mentioned in this Episode: Want to learn more? Check out the goLance website at https://golance.com/ Check out goLance on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/golance/ Check out Michael Brooks on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelabrooks/ Don’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time! More from UpMyInfluence: ️We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE. Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here. What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the Founder and CEO of Carter & Custer, Jim Carter III.Carter & Custer helps entrepreneurs thrive to make a bigger impact in the world. Jim has had a large interest in technology all of his life and his partner works more with the consumer package goods and marketing side of the business world. They help entrepreneurs by using ethical-based marketing and they love to support nonprofit organizations. Carter & Custer works in primarily two ways, the first being through their mastermind program, Fast Foundations. Through this, they bring entrepreneurs together into a community and offer in-person events as well as coaching to help them get from a starting point to building a stable foundation for their business. The second way Carter & Custer works is by providing repeatable flat-rate services for entrepreneurs in the areas they need such as email management or search engine optimization. They can also make content out of podcasts to push out to the client’s audience as well as help manage content for social media platforms.Jim explains that using platforms such as Facebook or Linkedin to communicate or engage with an audience comes with a price as an individual is using someone else’s platform with different rules. However, when an individual has ownership of their own audience through platforms like Circle or Mighty Networks, it allows for personal rules to be made and the elimination of threats from the algorithm. Jim explains that search engine optimization is a long process and a content footprint needs to be planted now so that channel of opportunity can be realized. The midrange form of marketing is email marketing which an individual can slowly grow through their list and gain the trust of the people on their list. Once their trust and support has be gained, the business can start to push its offers toward them through the email list. The short form of marketing is using platforms such as Tiktok, Instagram reels, or Youtube shorts. This can get information out in an easily digestible way for an audience and promote growing a businesses reach or audience.Key Points from the Episode:The work Jim does with Carter & CusterHow Carter & Custer worksCommunityDifferences in marketing stylesAbout Jim Carter III:Jim Carter II is the Founder and CEO of Carter & Custer, a digital marketing agency that specializes in amplifying the online influence of nonprofits and change-makers so they can have a greater impact on the world. The agency has helped build multiple $1M social impact companies, and together with one of its clients, Pencils of Promise has raised over $300,000 to educate children in need around the globe. Jim believes that if you let your desire for social change align with your professional talents, you can make an incredible impact on the world. This belief led him to use his over two decades of tech experience to raise over $20M for different charities in the last eight years.Tweetable Moments:06:58 - "When you're playing in somebody else's field, you are susceptible to their roles."07:46 - "When you have those phone numbers, there's called data portability. It gives you the ability to have that information and make it portable."10:50 - "You have to ask yourself what game do you wanna play and where are your customers that you want to talk to? And if you believe more of them are searching the web for it, well then you should really start getting content out into the world."Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guestLinks Mentioned in this Episode:Want to learn more? Check out the Carter & Custer website at https://carterandcuster.com/Check out Carter & Custer on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/carter-custer/Check out  Jim Carter III on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/causehacker/Check out Jim Carter III on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/causehacker/?hl=enCheck out Jim Carter III on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/causehacker/Check out Jim Carter III on Twitter at https://twitter.com/causehackerDon’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE.Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here.What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here. 

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with Crisis Culture and Performance Specialist and the Director and Founder of Waterhole Leadership Program, Mark Ashby.A Crisis Culture and Performance Specialist is in the corporate sphere that works with an individual concerning their business to change their mindset whether it is regarding personal, staffing, or cultural business issues. Crisis Culture and Performance Specialists are needed today because it is better for businesses to be working preemptively rather than reactively. Mark has worked with media networks in Australia, The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Australia,  and the United States Military. Mark explains that he will get into the nuts and bolts of a business when he is advising them. This can help him determine if it is a communication issue, an issue with the executives, or a culture problem. Mark explains that he takes the emotions out of decisions and advises his clients to do so to make the most rational decision.If a toxic environment is allowed to fester within a business, it will run out of control very quickly. Mark explains that bigger businesses with toxic leadership can almost absorb the blows from high turnover rates because they are such big companies. At times the higher executives are not connected to the lower end of the business, which is why this toxicity may not be addressed. Mark explains with one on one mentoring he will go in and listen first to get the full story of what is going on to then be able to fix the issues the individual is having.Key Points from the Episode:What a Crisis Culture and Performance Specialist doesWhy Crisis Culture and Performance Specialists are needed todayMark’s ClienteleHow Mark approaches business issuesToxic LeadershipHow Mark makes change happenAbout Mark Ashby:Mark Ashby is a highly-regarded specialist who assists multinational companies and their leaders in crisis awareness, cultural change & high-performance leadership. He has displayed an extraordinary ability to perform optimally under stressful scenarios through extensive experiences as a member of the Elite Paratroopers and other Specialist roles in the Australian Army, with Operational tours of East Timor.Mark was deployed to Iraq as a team leader in the highly-dangerous private security sector for eleven years before returning to Australia to work as a senior risk consultant in the corporate world for six years.Mark relied on rigorous training and discipline to carry out forty-one operational rotations, consisting of one thousand six hundred missions successfully completed during his time as a Close Protection Team Leader. Mark’s duties often took him to high-threat, hostile situations where he faced immense pressure to perform tasks in both covert and overt capacities with great emotional control, discipline, and accuracy.Having been attached to the U.S. military, and the U.S. State Department and embedded with the Green Berets, Mark’s adaptability to extreme situations of crisis and armed conflict allowed him to oversee operations of the highest global, financial and geopolitical importance such as the first two independent elections in Iraq.Mark also spent four years ensuring the safety and security of Australian Diplomats and Politicians as a close protection team leader at the Australian Embassy in Baghdad.Since returning to the corporate sector & setting up my own consulting firm in Australia, I’ve been using my experience to assist senior members of multinational companies in leadership, crisis awareness, and cultural change so they can become more resilient and adaptable. I recently completed my Master’s Degree with Distinction from Macquarie University in Sydney.Tweetable Moments: 06:30 - "When people love working for you, it increases productivity and it increases morale. People love going to work on Monday mornings as opposed to going there on Monday mornings and they can't wait for Friday."09:49 - "Sometimes, you can have a great organization at the top, but below it is just running rampant."12:00 - "Human beings are habitual creatures by nature. We don't like change, so that's a big one."Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guestLinks Mentioned in this Episode:Want to learn more? Check out the Mark Ashby consulting website at https://markashbyconsulting.com/Check out Mark Ashby on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/markashbyconsultingDon’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE.Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here.What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the Founder and CEO of Knit, Aneesh Dhawan.Knit is a Gen Z insights platform that helps brands tap into the audience of Gen Z to develop feedback on their products. Companies use their platform by uploading questions and within a few hours, Gen Z consumers will answer them. Brands can target specific audiences down to a city level or demographic. The technology of Knit allows for the answers to be compiled and analyzed for easy access for the company to then use to revise its marketing strategies. Aneesh and his co-founder found through their past work experience, that the way marketers are talking towards Gen Z is not working. They came up with the idea to get marketers involved with their younger consumer base at the speed of the internet. Knit obtained a majority of their panelists of Gen Z by going out and recruiting themselves. They also have third-party partnerships that help them amplify their reach. Aneesh explains that they work primarily with consumer brands on concept testing their marketing and understanding Gen Z.Key Points from the Episode:What Knit doesEngagement between Knit and its partnersHow Knit came aboutRecruitment of Gen ZUse casesAbout Aneesh Dhawan:Aneesh Dhawan is the CEO and co-founder of Knit, the Gen Z insights platform. Aneesh launched his first company, a Gen Z agency called Feed A Friend, at the age of 16. A few years later, he started Knit the platform helping brands like JBL, the WNBA, and NASCAR understand the next generation of consumers. Aneesh is an avid traveler, triathlete, and loves golden doodles.Aneesh was born a problem solver. In 9th grade, he worked with an NGO and a team at MIT to install a desalination device in a village in Haiti. In 10th grade, he launched his first company - Feed A Friend, a cause marketing agency. In 11th grade, he spearheaded a project bringing solar-powered lights to the local school and 100+ residents of a rural Haitian village. By the time Aneesh was a senior in high school, he had founded and launched PurPics, which later became Knit.When not working for the company, Aneesh is an avid traveler and endurance sports competitor. He has traveled to 20+ countries, is an Ironman 70.3 finisher, and loves to swim and wrestle. His personal dream is to travel and compete in an IronMan on every continent, but his larger passions include solving the world's most challenging problems through technology and partnerships.Tweetable Moments:04:16 - "The way people are talking to their customers today just doesn't work."04:26 - "When it comes to this next generation, our behaviors, our attitudes, our preferences are literally changing at the speed of the internet."06:38 - "The other big use case is if you're a consumer brand and you just need to understand how is Gen Z shopping, how are they making different decisions?"Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guestLinks Mentioned in this Episode:Want to learn more? Check out the Knit website at https://goknit.com/Check out Knit on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/goknit/Check out Aneesh Dhawan on LinkedIn at https://linkedin.com/in/aneesh-dhawan-140212141Check out Aneesh Dhawan on Twitter at https://twitter.com/aneeshdaone?lang=enDon’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE.Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here.What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here.

In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with the Founder and CEO of Infinite SOULutions, Carrie Schmidt.Carrie helps individuals connect to their power, passion, and purpose and help them stop focusing so much on others' expectations by putting that focus on where they want to go. Carrie is a life and business success coach to aid clients in improving their personal lives alongside aiding companies to improve their operations. There are many individuals whose purpose for having a successful business is based on the common dream of retiring early without any worries. However, this dream could get old in reality and it may take a wake-up call for an individual to reevaluate. Carrie explains that death, disease, and divorce are the main avenues that cause individuals to step back and evaluate their life or where they want to go from there. The times are changing and entrepreneurs should embrace these changes to influence the future of their businesses. Society is becoming more about making a true impact rather than being influenced primarily by money.Carrie explains that employers should connect with their employees and understand their purpose alongside determining their strengths and weaknesses. This can help the employers help their staff realize their strengths build the strengths of the entire organization as well as aid the employees in their weaknesses to grow. Through this, trust, comradery, and effective communication are created which also helps strengthen and grow the business or team. Lean organizations are built from the bottom up and the changes come from the employees who feel valued. Carrie explains that lean organizations are focused heavily on fixing problems rather than putting them aside. Throughout life, individuals are conditioned to believe specific things and process those ideas a certain way. Carrie explains that becoming aware of one's perspective and the programming that lead to that can allow an individual to change their thought processes to allow for improvement in the individual's personal life and career.Key Points from the Episode:The impact Carrie has in the worldManaging expectations and goalsThe shift from money to purposeConnecting someone with their passionLean organizationPrinciples within Carrie’s book Behind the ScreenAbout Carrie Schmidt: As the Founder and CEO of Infinite SOULutions, LLC, Carrie Schmidt puts the SOUL in SOULutions by transforming lives personally and professionally. She is a dynamic, influential Thought Leader and Motivational Speaker who has the ability to instantly captivate your mind, heart and awaken your soul by empowering you to gain clarity of your purpose in life, overcome limiting beliefs, and have the confidence to step outside your comfort zone. She customizes her approach to each client's needs and teaches the tools required to actually transform their personal or professional goals into reality.Carrie teaches a structured system of transformation that helped her transform her own life and now has a significant impact on others’ lives. Having done all of this herself, as a single mom at age 25 on welfare and barely making it by, Carrie vowed to provide the best life for her son. She entered corporate America working in an entry-level position in Customer Service and swiftly climbed the ladder in management by showcasing her talents for problem-solving, team building, and conscious leadership. After 10 years of dedicated hard work, Carries assumed full P&L responsibility for a $100 million unionized manufacturing facility as a General Manager. Within 3 months of being promoted to this position, a woman in a mostly male-dominated industry, she led the team to record-breaking improvements.After achieving everything she ever worked for, Carrie still felt a longing for something greater. She embarked on a spiritual journey of personal discovery and development that led her to research the fundamentals of psychology, neuroscience, and quantum physics. She ventured to Los Angeles and studied under Mary Morrissey and the Life Mastery Institute to become a Certified Life Mastery Consultant. It became her passion to help raise human consciousness and teach what she learned as an adult to teens and young adults who need to understand the power of the mind.Now, considered a Transformational Life & Business Success Coach, Carrie offers life coaching programs, and business consulting services and is releasing her first book, Behind the Screen, which teaches the 7-Step Life Timeline System of Transformation. Her vision is to reach, teach, and transform over 1 million lives globally by helping raise human consciousness.Tweetable Moments:4:04 It takes most people a wake-up call to step back and take an honest assessment of their life, career, and business and say, "is this really what I want?"06:48 "Things are changing before our eyes, and the future will look drastically different than it looks today."Apply to be a Guest on The Thoughtful Entrepreneur: https://go.upmyinfluence.com/podcast-guestLinks Mentioned in this Episode:Want to learn more? Check out the Infinite SOULutions website at https://www.carrie-schmidt.com/Check out Infinite SOULutions on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/infinite-soulutions-llc/Check out Carrie Schmidt on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/carrieleighschmidt82/Check out Carrie Schmidt’s book Behind the Screen: Uncover the Truth: Connect to your Power, Passion, and Purpose! At https://www.amazon.com/Behind-Screen-Uncover-Connect-Passion/dp/B09ZCJNFK3Check out Carrie Schmidt on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/coachcarrieschmidtCheck out Carrie Schmidt on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/carebearschmidtCheck out Infinite SOULutions on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SOULutions4allDon’t forget to subscribe to The Thoughtful Entrepreneur and thank you for listening. Tune in next time!More from UpMyInfluence:We are actively booking guests for our The Thoughtful Entrepreneur. Schedule HERE.Are you a 6-figure consultant? I’ve got high-level intros for you. Learn more here.What is your #1 Lead Generation BLOCKER? Take my free quiz here.