Business Karaoke Podcast with Brittany Arthur

Send us Fan MailWelcome back Business Karaoke Podcast community. As you know, I do my absolute best to bring you the most innovative, impactful and all around good people from our very niche Japan-Global community and this episode is no different. We're lucky enough to be joined by, renowned marketer and communications coach, Anthony Griffin. Anthony founded Saga Consulting, a boutique agency that supports small to mid-sized Japanese companies market to global audiences. Over the next hour, Anthony takes on a insight-rich, yet, personal entrepreneurial journey to address topics like; building a quality network of trusted partners, managing expectations clients who are used to white glove service, the importance of not only leading a healthy business but a healthy life abroad and the opportunities that exist on the horizon for those who can effectively communicate and then charge for the "plus alpha."I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did and don’t forget to share your feedback with me on your favorite social platform. Also, go and connect with Anthony Griffin on LinkedIn, he's got to be one of my most new yet most valued connections.Let's begin!05:50  |  Networking in COVID times; less quantity and higher quality.08:30  |  The changing management mindset of "Foreign Curious" Japanese Small-Medium Businesses.17:05  |  Managing scope and expectations in white glove Japan.22:30  |  Surprising willingness to change.27:00  |  Process of creating value based content and deploying equal empathy for your client and their client.33:40  |  Illustrating commitment to the Japanese market.36:55  |  Role of technology in cross border collaboration and a case study for global expansion.41:15  |  How to prioritize projects both for clients and as a entrepreneur.45:30  |  Business and personal health as an entrepreneur.52:10  |  Plus alpha and charing for your USP in Japan.58:05  |  Opportunities on the horizon for Japanese SMEs and entrepreneurs.Find out more about Anthony Griffin here;https://www.consultsaga.com/en/the-teamhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonygriffin/---

Send us Fan MailIn this episode we're joined by Matthew Scott Waldman. Matthew is best known as the founder of NOOKA – the lifestyle design brand that bought the revolution of interface design to physical products and the founder of a “evolution by design” research lab at Keio University's Graduate School of Media Design. This conversation with Matthew left me, as how all good innovation conversation should, both with more questions than answers and with a motivation to be part of creating an innovation ecosystem in Japa n, to rival that of any other global hub. We explored the cyclic nature of design and linguistics; that is, how our language affects design that design affects our languages. Then we explored innovation in Japan from policy lens; we talked about LGBT rights, maternity leave and how to affect real change in Japan and some how we also touched on psychedelics. I don't know how it happened but it did and I loved it. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did and don’t forget to share your feedback with me on your favorite social platform. Let's begin!02:55  |  Techno-progessivism and its relationship to Design.06:15  |  Storytelling via Design.08:50  |  Design as a language.16:45  |  Matthew's Research Lab & Circular Design at Keio University.24:18  |  Innovation in Japan.28:15  |  Cultural Barries to Innovation; including positive policy for LGBT rights, parental leave and foreign talent.51:45  |  Finding you voice in innovation.56:00  |  Storytelling being equally important to tech innovation.1:00:15  |  What innovation to expect next. Connect with Matthew here:→ www.kmd.keio.ac.jp/faculty/matthew-waldman→ www.matthewwaldman.com→ www.nooka.com→ www.myuta.design---@designthinkingjapan@_brittanyarthur

Send us Fan MailMichael (Mike) Howard was a journalist-turned-businessman in Los Angeles before he joined the Tokyo salaryman brotherhood in 2008 where he now works full-time as a product manager at an American technology company. In this episode, we explore the stories and experiences behind Mike's book and now manga, The Salaryman, which is a humorous memoir from a Tokyo American who tried and failed to fit into Japanese office culture for almost a decade. The Salaryman is an immigrant's story from a land where there are few immigrants, with even fewer being crazy enough to do what the Mike did: become a real train-cramming, brow-wiping, late-night overtime-working, passed-out-drunk-on-the-train-ride-home salaryman. Mike's book serves as a partner to anyone striving to do meaningful work in foreign environment. A particularly interesting moment in this episode for me, was the story of reverse culture shock when Mike was sent to America as an expat from Japan.I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did and don’t forget to share your feedback with me on your favorite social platform. Let's begin!Below are some timestamps of our conversation so you can quickly navigate the topics most relevant for you.Key Takeaways:💡03:15  |  Salaryman Book and transforming a blog to a book💡09:10  |  Navigating the complex ecosystem of traditional Japanese companies as a foreigner.💡15:30  |  When to move on; being able to identify and then execute on what's important to you.💡20:15  |  Navigating contracts in a "contract-fluid" environment and negotiating non-financial benefits.💡32:18  |  How to identify and connect with mentors who see value in your work.💡37:30  |  Connecting with manga artist and a surprising partnership. 💡43:30  |  The lessons of reverse culture shock and what we can learn when we"go home" to a city that may be not "home" anymore.💡51:45  |  Future of a Salaryman in Japan.Find Mike's book here; https://www.thesalarymanbook.com.

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, we're joined by Tomomi Hainu from Career Fly. Tomomi supports international women who, as the name suggests, are looking for their career to take off in Japan. In this episode we explore how she leads a business-based dialogue with C-level leadership on the benefits of diversity in their workplaces, as well as, share strategies for both, foreign talent and the Japanese companies who hire them, on how to build an ecosystem of collaboration where everyone has a voice and uses their unique strength for the good of the group. This episode is in Japanese but if you're interested in the insights. Check out the show notes for a link to an English article.I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did and don’t forget to share your feedback with me on your favorite social platform. Let's begin!Below are some timestamps of our conversation so you can quickly navigate the topics most relevant for you.Key Takeaways💡03:00  |  What is diversity and reflections on why Japanese brands have a strong international presence yet, low international diversity in their talent pools. 💡07:48  |  Leading a dialogue around diversity as a leader in Japan.💡14:00  |  How to model leadership to your domestic employees around foreign talent.💡24:30  |  Responsibility foreign talent plays and actionable strategies to aid in a smooth transition.💡44:11  |  Recommendations for both foreign talent and Japanese companies in moving forward.Thank you so much to Tomomi for so generously donating her time and expertise to this on-going discussion. Connect with Tomomi, on LinkedIn or visit the Career Fly website.

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, we sit down with Evan Burkosky and take an anecdotal approach to exploring the evolution of e-Commerce and digital transformation in Japan. Evan is the Japan country manager for Dynamic Yield, where he channels 2 decades of e-commerce insights to improving the customer experience (CX) by digitalizing the internationally renowned customer service concept of Omotenashi. We begin the conversation with a very candid recap of entrepreneurship and learn about Evan's experience as being one of the first evangelists of e-commerce and the digital economy. We then dive into the some of the non-obvious influencers behind the slow adoption of technology among Japan Inc. while giving equal focus to the tangible opportunities that present themselves to businesses who can stomach risk.I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did and don’t forget to share your feedback with me on your favorite social platform. Let's begin!Below are some timestamps of our conversation so you can quickly navigate the topics most relevant for you.Key Takeaways💡 03:30  |  A personal journey of almost 2 decades in e-commerce💡 35:05  |  10 years of growth in 90 days & the internet democratizing the playing field in Japan.💡 40:00  |  Social shifts and the wider impact on consumer behavior.💡 45:30  |  Challenges for Japan Inc. in responding to the pressure of COVID-19.💡 51:00  |  Non-obvious barriers to digitalization; natural disasters.💡 55:40  |  The ultimate goal of a corporation and trust ecosystem of the sub-contracting structure.💡 1:02:50  |  New business opportunities and mindset barriers to digital transformation 💡 1:20:20  |  What's next?Connect with Evan on LinkedIn.

Send us Fan MailIn this episode we are joined by Angel Guevara. Angel is the founder and creative lead at HYPERMILK where they strive to make marketing become art. They do this by supporting companies in Japan to create exciting and innovative social media content. In this conversation, we explore insights and strategies of how bi-lingual and tri-lingal professionals, can use their unique gift of empathy for diversity of thought to drive innovation and build creatively confident communities in Japan. And somewhat ironically, we also leave behind the cultural and language lens for a moment and simply explore what it means to tell a deeply meaningful human story. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did and don’t forget to share your feedback with me on your favorite social platform. Let's begin!Below are some timestamps of our conversation so you can quickly navigate to find what is most relevant for you.Key Takeaways💡 07:15  |  How mastering culture broadens your view of the world to create empathy.💡 12:05  |  Spirituality in business and withstanding adversity.💡 17:45  |  Importance of understanding what you REALLY selling.💡 23:45  |  Managing the uncertainty present in Japan when inspiring people to create.💡 27:55  |  Disagreeable people and mobilizing teams in a consensus driven society.💡 38:45  |  Encouraging action in the present where the long term is valued.💡 40:05  |  The true value of diversity.💡 44:35  |  Benefit for Japan to attract global talent.💡 46:05  |  Importance of community when creating a movement.💡 51:30  |  Service as a motivator.To learn more about Angel or join his Japan-preneur Nightcrawler community, follow him on LinkedIn or  Instagram.

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, we're joined by product manager, growth expert and former Kansai Gaidai classmate of mine, Jon Clemons. Jon builds solutions to problems faced by Japanese job seekers in Indeed’s Tokyo incubator. There, he is also founder and product manager of an app for Japanese job seekers. In the next hour, Jon synthesizes a decade plus of insights from working at Indeed, Google and Groupon into tangible strategies for you, on how to leverage both your unique value as a global professional in Japan and empathy-driven design to build products that really mean something to people.I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did and don’t forget to share your feedback with me on your favorite social platform. Let's begin!Below are some timestamps of our conversation so you can quickly navigate to find what is most relevant for you.Key Takeaways💡07:40 |  2 Myths exposed: Is a meshi (business card) still important? And is Japanese your superpower?💡25:00  |  Design Sprints in Japan and ensuring you understand your WHY before launching.💡31:05  |  How pain of first-hand experience in applying for jobs in Japan resulted in a new product.💡35:40  |  Are we confusing politeness for user experience? 💡41:43  |  Suggestions for making a career change in Japan.💡47:25  |  Sharing Marketing & Growth Hacking lessons.💡49:00  |  If you're about to begin in marketing and product development, keep this in mind.💡54:00  |  Giving up vs a well-thought though no.💡55:50  |  A first step getting into new ways of product development. ---To learn more about Jon, sign up for his free 1 hour marketing training. https://growthlesson.com/

Send us Fan MailIn this episode, we're joined by Donny Kimball. Donny is a Tokyo based digital marketing and PR maverick with a penchant for exploring the lesser known sides of Japan. This conversation is a unique opportunity to hear insights and strategies from someone who is somewhat of a unicorn - someone who deeply understands the needs of both the corporate AND influencer world when it comes to social media marketing. Join us as we explore that change in Japan is possible when you begin with deep curiosity and follow through with data.I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did and don’t forget to share your feedback with me on your favorite social platform. Let's begin!Below is the list of our conversation so you can quickly navigate to find what is most relevant for you.Key Takeaways💡 02:55  |  Recognition in the agency world from the perspective of an employee vs an influencer.💡10:40  |  Japanese consumer identity in a post-global world.💡14:43  |  The marketing industry shifting from PR to integrated communications.💡20:10  |  Using micro AB testing to gain investment and stakeholder buy-in.💡26:52  |  Telling a story in Japan today and the importance of user-testing. 💡34:30  |  Growth hacking strategies for influencer marketing and e-commerce in Japan.💡41:10  |  Staying motivated to innovate and explore new strategies while moving fast and slow.💡45:37  |  Why choose Japan as the use case for Donny's marketing endeavors. 💡47:25  |  Future opportunities for Japan; the imminent generational change in leadership.💡54:10  |  What's next; learning new skills and identity bending.---Connect with Donny on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/donnyjkimballFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/donnyjkimballInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/donnyjkimball

Send us Fan MailKatheryn Gronauer, of Thrive Tokyo, is an executive coach who supports high-level professionals to understand Japanese work culture and how to live a better life in Japan. Katheryn walks us through both the environmental and emotional drivers connected to life as an expat and more importantly, suggests strategies for you to try today that could bring you greater joy and success at home at and the office in Japan. This episode was full of learning, even for a seasoned Japanese based professional like me. One of my biggest takeaways was to re-design conversations around performance metrics by using examples rather than one liners. Listen on to know the full context.I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did and don’t forget to share your feedback with me on your favorite social platform. A deep thank you to Katheryn for not only so generously donating her time but also for the important work that she does to help people live their best life in Japan, both on and off the clock.Let's begin!Below is the list of our conversation so you can quickly navigate to find what is most relevant for you.Key Takeaways💡11:30  |  Navigating the "Expat Life Cycle" and life after the honeymoon period. 💡12:40  |  Challenges around implementing change and achieving speed as a foreign executive. 💡21:08  |  Balancing your unique role to catalyze change with expectations of the local office.  💡24:20  |  Is the goal to develop a truly global organization when local processes are so influential?💡28:30  |  The changing face of the working environment and global talent in Japan.💡31:42  |  The 4 common expat headaches; communication, meetings, performance metrics and relationships building.💡38:00  |  Redesigning conversations; explain with examples of success stories to manage expectations.💡42:45  |  Managing unsaid expectations with your Japanese team, even in times of COVID-19 and social distancing.💡47:30  |  The role Japan can play in building your global career.💡49:30  |  Insights for expat who were to start their journey today.To know more about Katheryn, connect with her via LinkedIn (katheryngronauer).Take Katheryn's Free 3-Part Masterclass on Business Culture in Japan here:https://bit.ly/2V58klG

Send us Fan MailKen Takayanagi is a graphic facilitator and uses visualization to guide people toward a goal. Takayanagi-san is also a certified scrum master and in our conversation you'll see how he leverages his IT prowess to extract the human element from his interactions. This conversation is a deep dive into how we can use the opportunity of COVID-19, forcing companies into remote work, to scale online facilitation and collaboration to re-write traditions that often got in the way of employee autonomy and creativity. This episode is recorded in way that it's not necessary for you to have the video in front of you but in order to appreciate how impactful graphic facilitation is, I'd encourage you to go to the show notes have a look at the 3 minute video summary (https://youtu.be/y5_qJtPG1sQ).Thank you to Takayanagi-san for sharing his talent, of using the power of visualization to bring the unseen into reality. If you enjoy this episode as much as I did make sure to let me know on your favourite social media platform.This episode is in Japanese. はじめましょう。💡 03:20  |  Experience of building a Work From Home environment in Japan where clients are often unfamiliar with collaboration tools and you have very little personal space at home. (06:00 Worthwhile Quote, "Don't explain yesterday, explain what you're doing.")💡 14:40  |  Role of building trust and understanding your participant relationships to drive the 'human experience' and success in an online meeting.💡 23:42 |  Strategies for reading the room and reactions in the land of no camera and mute meetings.💡 32:30  |  Define the purpose of a meeting and redesigning 30+ people meetings, new people using their voices.💡 36:30  |  Role of facilitator in online meetings and setting expectations.💡 42:20  |  Leveraging online tools to drive focus and clarity and the difference between a PPT and a graphic facilitation when inviting participation. 💡 51:30  |. What do to when you don't have a graphic facilitator?(56:50 Worthwhile quote: "Design meetings by goals not by time, 決まったら、終わり！")💡 1:07:10  |  Importance of role modeling new values and behavior at a senior leadership level.💡1:12:20  |  Designing new values in organizations and how starting with yourself.If you'd like to know more about Takayanagi-san, follow him on:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gaoryuTwitter: https://twitter.com/DiscoveryCoach