INspired INsider Podcast

Chris Clark is the Founder and Managing Partner at Digital Ignite. Digital Ignite is a full-service digital agency using data science to improve advertising, media, and marketing decisions. Chris focuses on generating attributable results through the latest technologies. He entered the fast-paced AI industry in 2012 and has embraced helping clients and partners find success in the world of digital marketing. He thrives on the challenges occurring in media delivery and the ever-changing shift in content consumption. In this episode… Media buying is almost a democratic space where anyone can participate and succeed, but few know how to deliver results. The difference-maker is data. Not just any data but data used transparently to place marketing campaigns in front of the target audience. Chris Clark of Digital Ignite knows all too well about data transparency, and it is at the core of their business which recently made the Inc 5000 list. So, what type of data do you need for media buying? How has Chris used data for campaigns to help clients such as RiverDogs and Gigpro? Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring Chris Clark, Founder and Managing Partner at Digital Ignite. They talk about Chris' agency's journey to grossing $10 million in revenue, how they use data for media buying, attaining the Inc 5000 list, and lots more.

Todd Taskey is an M&A Advisor for CEOs and Entrepreneurs at Potomac Business Capital. He has been an entrepreneur, business owner, investment banker, and business finance advisor for more than 20 years. In addition to M&A advice and investment banking activities, Todd has been a founding investor, board member, or part of the management team of several business ventures. He helps CEOs and entrepreneurs develop a successful exit strategy by understanding the mid-market investment banking process. In this episode… What's the most valuable thing you should know when selling your agency? Beyond that, how do you navigate the entire process, knowing that the buyer is coming with a team whose job is to close that deal? But you, on the other hand, are an expert at running your business and not much else. How do you ensure you're not blindsided? You'll get answers to these defining questions and more, as Todd Taskey of Potomac Business Capital reveals the intricacies of an agency acquisition process. From the reasons why many deals fall through to knowing how your company is valued, Todd spares little to the imagination providing the finer details of selling your agency. Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring M&A Advisor for Potomac Business Capital, Todd Taskey. They discuss the most valuable thing an agency should know when selling their company, second bite, multiples, and how to determine what your business can sell for, why some acquisition deals fall through, and lots more. Stay tuned.

Alvy Ray Smith is an American computer scientist and a Co-founder of the Lucasfilm Computer Graphics Division, Pixar, and Altamira Software. Alvy was part of the 1980s and 1990s expansion of computer animation into feature films. He created his first computer graphic in 1965 at New Mexico State and, by 1970, he had earned a Ph.D. in computer science from Stanford University. Alvy would later become the first Graphics Fellow after Microsoft bought Altamira Software. He was also the first Director of Computer Graphics at Lucasfilm. More recently, he authored the book, A Biography of the Pixel. In this episode… Have you seen the Toy Story series or The Incredibles? Pixar, the company behind these animated movie classics and many others, has been around for decades and is worth $7 billion today. What's more exciting is that a letter started it all as one of the co-founders, Alvy Ray Smith, said. How did Pixar start, and what's its connection to Disney? What are the inner workings of such a company, and what has Steve Jobs got to do with it? Alvy answers these questions and shares never-before-heard parts of the building of Pixar. He even reveals how he convinced a millionaire to fund the world's first 24-bit pixel. Want the full story? Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz, featuring Dr. Scot Gray of Top Minds as co-host, and Pixar co-founder, Alvy Ray Smith as a guest. They discuss the genesis of full animated movies in America, Pixar's contributions, Pixar becoming part of Disney, Steve Jobs's infamous role, and some business partnership lessons.

Chris Peer is the Founder and Owner of SyncShow, a digital marketing firm specializing in sales and marketing success for manufacturers, professional services, and the transportation & logistics industries. He's an online marketing expert with a passion for integrating marketing and sales strategies. Chris helps companies rethink their approach to sales and marketing, fostering rapid growth and brand loyalty for the customers he serves. Chris has more than 20 years of experience in B2B online marketing strategies, sales processes, and customer communications. He also holds an Inbound Marketing Certification and is HubSpot Sales Software Certified. Before SyncShow, he worked for independent design studios and corporations, including Ernst & Young and American Greetings. In this episode… If you run an agency and spend half the time trying to show companies why they should devote XYZ dollars to marketing, Chris Peer of SyncShow thinks you're in the wrong business. Why? Because you should be selling people on why your agency is the best choice once your prospects have decided to do marketing. But sadly, some industries are slowly coming up to speed with digital marketing, and you risk spending time selling the idea of marketing to them. How do you navigate such industries, like manufacturing, for example? Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Wiesz, featuring Chris Peer, Founder of SyncShow. They discuss Chris' early days as an agency owner, the mistakes that shaped his growth, and how he helps manufacturing, transportation, and logistics companies develop. Plus, Chris shares the best strategies to market your agency's services and reach your ideal customers. Stay tuned.

Dr. Jeremy Weisz is the Co-founder of Rise25. He has been involved in podcasting for 11 years and was a Senior Producer for one of the early business podcasts; he assisted in putting all of their systems in place and helped them add volume, feature, and edify various business leaders. Dr. Weisz has also been running his podcast, Inspired Insider, since 2011. He has featured top entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs of companies such as P90X, Atari, Einstein Bagels, Mattel, the Orlando Magic, and many more. In addition to running Rise25, Dr. Weisz owns a nutritional supplement business and continues to run his own chiropractic and massage facility, Chiropractical Solutions & Massage. John Corcoran is a recovering attorney, an author, and was a former White House writer and speechwriter to the Governor of California. Throughout his career, John has worked in Hollywood, the heart of Silicon Valley, and has run his boutique law firm in the San Francisco Bay Area catering to small business owners and entrepreneurs. John has been the host of the Smart Business Revolution Podcast since 2012. He has interviewed hundreds of CEOs, founders, authors, and entrepreneurs, from Peter Diamandis and Adam Grant to Gary Vaynerchuk and Marie Forleo. John is also the Co-founder of Rise25 Media, a company that connects B2B businesses with their ideal clients, referral partners, and strategic partners and generates ROI through their done-for-you podcast service In this episode… Podcasting promises great ROI, but unfortunately, we have seen good ones come and go for many different reasons. The top reasons podcasts fail are the lack of ROI and spending so much time and energy on the wrong things. But if you're facing these challenges, you don't have to quit podcasting. Interestingly, it is easier to get ROI from podcasting than you think. It has little to do with subscriber and download numbers, seeking sponsorships, going overboard to purchase gadgets, and releasing squeaky clean audio. Do you want to learn how to build a podcast the right way? Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider show with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring John Corcoran, Co-founders of Rise25. They discuss the top 10 reasons B2B podcasts fail, why they struggle to get ROI, and what to do differently to succeed.

Matt Sunshine is Managing Partner at The Center for Sales Strategy, a sales performance consulting company that helps organizations attract, retain, and develop the highest performing salespeople. He is also the Founder and Managing Partner of LeadG2, an inbound marketing company that helps businesses establish thought leadership and lower lead costs. Matt geeks out on growing sales organizations, finding and developing sales superstars, sales processes, lead generation, inbound marketing, and digital marketing. He is a regular contributor to leading business blogs and magazines such as Inc., Sales & Marketing Management, Sales Hacker, and Entrepreneur. He is the author of LeadG2: Getting Prospects to Raise Their Hands. Forbes magazine lists Matt as one of the "20 Speakers You Shouldn't Miss The Opportunity To See." In this episode… Lead generation and sales are by far the most challenging part of growing a business. To make matters worse, finding sales talent is a high hurdle to scale for most business owners. Even when you find skilled people, they may not have the right tactics to produce the desired performance. So what if you could build a talent bank of skilled salespeople who can come into your business and have an immediate impact? That's possible, but you may have to rethink your sales process. In order to create a skilled team, you have to analyze how you hire for fit and bring the sales performance formula to life. Want to learn more? Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring Managing Partner at The Center for Sales Strategy and LeadG2, Matt Sunshine. They discuss why customer-focused selling is critical, the struggle business owners face when hiring and keeping sales talent, the sales performance formula, and more.

Scott Couvillon is the CEO and Executive Strategy Director of Trumpet in New Orleans. Trumpet is an advertising agency that builds Believable Brands®. They help companies align culture, customer experience, and anything that communicates with a unifying belief that permits organizations to live their purpose. Scott is responsible for brand transformation, strategy development, and analytics at Trumpet. He has worked with leadership, marketing, and communications teams on global brands, local nonprofits, and everything in between. In this episode… Today's consumers want to trust that the companies they're doing business with share their values — they want alignment on a more emotional level. That's where being a purposeful company comes into play. Think Apple, Amazon, and these companies that are 'killing it' with their intentions. That's because being purposeful doesn't always mean altruistic. So how does your company become purposeful? How do you embed your organization's purpose into your culture across all departments? How do you make customers understand that they're not getting duped? Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz, featuring Scott Couvillon, CEO and Executive Strategy Director of Trumpet. They discuss what it means to be a purposeful brand, why being purposeful does not always imply niceness, how to become a more purpose-driven company, and lots more. Stay tuned.

David Littlefield is the Founder and Chairman of Littlefield Agency, which he started in 1980. For over 41 years, the agency has served B2B and restaurant businesses. They even have an official holiday in June every year declared by the Mayor of Tulsa. Littlefield Agency clientele includes companies like the Tulsa Airport, Francis Energy, Tulsa Health Department, Rib Crib, and more. David started the agency with hopes that it would continually evolve, launching the addition of planning and insights, the transition from traditional to digital, and many more initiatives. Sam Littlefield is the President and CEO of Littlefield Agency. After receiving his undergraduate degree from the University of San Diego, Sam was hired as an Account Manager for Mirum, one of the world's largest digital advertising agencies. Since transitioning to Littlefield Agency in 2016, Sam has provided invaluable insight to the company by using his passion for the digital world to drive business. In this episode… It's always a great look — and an innate wish — for every entrepreneur to transition their business to the next generation. Unfortunately, not many companies have successfully transitioned their companies into family-led businesses. If you've been thinking about bringing on a spouse, daughter, son, or any other family member to lead your business, this episode is for you. David and Sam Littlefield share their experience of how they transitioned smoothly and grew their family business to the next level. Want to learn more? Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz to hear from David Littlefield and Sam Littlefield of Littlefield Agency about transitioning your business to the next generation. They open up about why they think their professional relationship has worked well so far, what they did to set the tone, and how they're working together to grow their clients' businesses. You don't want to miss a minute of this episode.

Cheryl Contee is the Chair and Founder of a digital marketing agency, Do Big Things. Before founding Do Big Things, she co-founded Fission Strategy and Attentive.ly. Attentive.ly is a tech startup specializing in influencer marketing technology and was acquired in 2018, making it the first tech startup with a black female founder on board in history to be acquired by a NASDAQ-traded company. In 2019, Cheryl released her book, Mechanical Bull, which details her history as a non-traditional startup founder. Cheryl is also part of the leadership at The Impact Seat, an organization focused on democratizing access to capital in America and around the world. She received her B.A. from Yale University and has an International Executive M.B.A. from Georgetown University. In this episode… In entrepreneurship and raising capital, you would think all that matters is investing in businesses with the highest likelihood of going public or businesses with a promising exit. But that's not the case. Racism is still a significant factor that determines who gets funded — and by how much. Cheryl Contee experienced racism firsthand when she was raising capital for Attentive.ly. An investor told her blatantly that she could not bring the great product and idea to the market. Shocking, right? Wait until you hear how Cheryl overcame that setback, took Attentive.ly to a big exit, and how she thinks investors can do better. Tune in to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz featuring Cheryl Contee, the Chief Innovation Officer at The Impact Seat. They discuss Cheryl's entrepreneurial journey, her encounter with racism in the startup world, what she's doing to change the narrative through The Impact Seat, lessons along the way, and more. Stay tuned.

Bennie Fowler is a current NFL veteran of eight years, Super Bowl champion, executive coach, and best-selling author of Silver Spoon: The Imperfect Guide to Success. Bennie began his career as an undrafted free agent signed by the Denver Broncos after graduating from Michigan State University. He then won the Super Bowl 50 with the Denver Broncos. People may most notably remember him for hauling in the final pass of Hall of Famer Peyton Manning from that game. At Michigan State, he was a member of the 2014 100th Rose Bowl Championship Team, ending a twenty-six-year Big Ten and Rose Bowl appearance drought for the Spartans. As such, Bennie has the award of having played in — and won — both the 100th Rose Bowl and 50th Super Bowl. He has played with Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady. Bennie currently plays for the San Francisco 49'ers. In this episode… What does it take to lead a company or team where everyone puts in the extra work without being asked? According to executive coach and Super Bowl winner Bennie Fowler, effective leadership requires poise: purpose, optimism, intention, strategy, and effectiveness. What does all of that mean to you as a leader, and why should you care? Bennie explains what poise means through his own experiences and those of the many leaders and coaches he's worked with. He takes us on a journey through the preparation and strategies of winning a big break — like the Super Bowl — and the many lessons he learned along the way. Are you ready to dig in and find out more? Listen to this episode of the Inspired Insider Podcast with Dr. Jeremy Weisz, featuring Bennie Fowler, NFL veteran and executive leadership coach. They discuss the winning mindset, why everyone needs a coach in different areas of life, leadership lessons, and why every leader needs to have poise. Stay tuned.