“I’d rather not hire someone than hire the wrong person.”

 Marshall Rule is president of SCOTTeVEST, a company that designs innovative apparel for people who need quick and convenient access to all of their belongings at any time. Marshall’s primary responsibilities in the company are to manage the operations of every department, oversee general brand strategy as well as leverage opportunities to increase market share, and steadily drive monthly and yearly growth.

Listen And Learn:

• Why it’s so important to find the right media type to push out a product that has visual appeal.
• How to increase the lifetime value of a customer.
• How to create an experience for customers that makes them want to come back and become loyal, “platinum-level customers.”
• How eCommerce businesses are adding in brick and mortar locations, and vice versa.
• Why it’s about more than building trust; it’s about trusting your gut.

TO LEARN MORE SCOTTEVEST CLICK HERE.

TO FIND MARSHALL RULE ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

“If you want your people to be reliable and have integrity, you must go first.”

Dr. Gustavo Grodnitzky is a speaker, author, consultant, and psychologist whose diverse background brings a unique and multidimensional perspective to his global clients. After obtaining his Ph.D. in clinical and school psychology, he completed post-docs in both cognitive therapy and forensic psychology. He has previously run an inpatient drug rehabilitation unit in a correctional institution and an outpatient mental health center. For the past 15 years, Gustavo has focused his attention on engagements with corporate clients, and he has worked with Global 1000 companies around the world, as well as with smaller, often family-run, businesses. As a consultant and professional speaker, he has delivered more than 1,000 presentations on a variety of topics, including corporate culture, emotional intelligence, anger management, and integrating multigenerational workforces.

Listen And Learn:

• Why companies that focus on culture first make more profit, and why companies that focus on profit first make less profit.
• The importance of CEOs leading by example.
• How to get rid of “the weeds in your garden,” those behaviors that undermine a healthy and productive workplace culture.
• Behavioral norms in the workplace.
• How to build a culture that ensures longevity.

TO FIND GUSTAVO GRODNITZKY ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

“You have to know the difference between apples and orangutans.”

Connor Wood Bicycles, LLC was founded by Chris Connor in 2012 to build wood bicycles that beautifully combine form and function. Chris, now the worldwide expert on building wood bicycles, is a longtime Denver woodworker and cycling enthusiast. After years of experience building classical guitars and designing and building modern furniture, Chris took his love and respect for the beauty, strength, and durability of wood into the realm of bicycles. Connor Wood Bicycles uses a unique combination of sustainably harvested American White Ash, Black Walnut and Kevlar in curved composite laminations throughout its bikes.

Listen And Learn:

• How he targets his audiences and creates touch points.
• Finding your strengths, finding the arena you belong, and “knowing the difference between apples and orangutans.”
• The importance of testing and scaling.
• About the unexpected places, he has found his audiences.
• How he has used earned media and third-party endorsement to grow his brand.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CONNOR WOOD BICYCLES CLICK HERE.

TO FIND CHRIS CONNOR ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

“The more challenges you face, the more confident you are.” 

When it comes to the evolving audiovisual industry and witnessing new technological capabilities, Diana Mueller CEO of Image Audiovisuals has a front-row seat. With more than 40 employees in Colorado and Arizona, Diana and her husband and business partner David, have taken part in decades’-worth of live events, ranging from corporate, nonprofit, and medical events to political, entertainment, and sports functions. The company has produced presentations for CEOs and leaders of Fortune 500 companies from all over the country, and helped to craft and manage the AV needs of conferences that featured such noted luminaries as Bill and Hillary Clinton, Bob and Elizabeth Dole, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Charlton Heston, and even Michael Jackson.

Listen And Learn: 

• How a “serving others mentality” is what guides her business, her team, and her leadership style.
• The similarities between being a CEO and being a parent.
• How she focuses on taking care of her internal and external customers.
• The four questions she asks every employee.
• Her simple philosophy for getting through sleepless nights and hard times.
• The marketing initiatives she’s deployed to keep her customers in the know.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT IMAGE AUDIOVISUALS, CLICK HERE.

TO FIND DIANA MUELLER ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

“Instructions should not be easy to understand; they should be impossible to misunderstand.”

Liam is the founder and CEO of TimeDoctor.com, one of the world’s leading time-tracking software for remote teams. He is also the founder and CEO of Staff.com, an outsourcing company that concentrates on providing companies with long-term outsourced labor relationships. Both of these companies are focused on companies getting the best results from their employees, even if they’re working with people who live on the other side of the globe. Liam is a speaker, a writer, a metrics-based marketer, and a consultant for many online businesses concentrating on process design and scaling companies through outsourcing.

Listen And Learn:

• The complexities of time tracking for remote employees.
• Why the biggest challenge with remote employees is trust.
• How to improve and manage efficiency and productivity with remote employees.
• The importance and value in taking social media breaks.
• How to “empty your brain” and “get in the butter zone.”
• How he creates collaboration and culture with his remote team.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT TIMEDOCTOR.COM CLICK HERE.

TO FIND LIAM MARTIN ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

“Think local first.”

After successfully elevating the Oskar Blues Brewery brand nationally for over a decade, Chad Melis has become a brand of marketing professional uniquely his own. With PR savvy and an uncanny knack for brand strategy, Chad has an ironclad grasp on how to provide clients with a roadmap to meet their individual goals. He thrives on instigating innovative thinking and amplified anthems that resonate with your tribe. As a brand strategist, he works to authentically “dial up” the story and engage audiences that matter.

Listen And Learn: 

• About his untraditional approach to interviewing.
• People-powered “do-goodery.”
• How he bridges and builds off the brand’s many extensions.
• About Can’d Aid and how it has raised more than $3.4 million.
• How the Oskar Blues’ taprooms provide insight into the market, the customers, and the perception of the brand.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OSKAR BLUES BREWERY, CLICK HERE.

TO FIND CHAD MELIS ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

“There’s the role of tenacity, almost forcing things to happen, really pushing through walls and barriers, but at some point, you have to realize the difference between that and banging your head against a brick wall.”

Jojo Collins started making Jojo's Sriracha back in 2010. She was 26, which made her, as she says, “old enough to know I wasn’t taking care of my body but still young enough to try and do something about it.” She took refined sugar out of her diet for a month and started reading food labels and learning about what she put in (and on) her body. Jojo’s Sriracha is a tiny company, often just a crew of two or three, but she’s had the good fortune to create something truly noteworthy with a big reach. The company has been featured in “Sriracha,” the documentary, and on The Cooking Channel. She recently moved her production from shared kitchens in Brooklyn to a 323-square-foot commercial kitchen in Denver, where she works closely with farms in both Colorado and New Mexico to create a unique green chili sriracha that is indicative of the region. 

Listen And Learn:

• The difference between quality and jargon.
• Why authenticity and vulnerability are key to connecting with her customers and brand ambassadors.
• Her simple philosophy of, “fail quick and pivot.”
• The importance of developing collaborative relationships.
• How smaller brands like her own have an opportunity to bring about some “much-need change in the food system.”

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT JOJO'S SRIRACHA, CLICK HERE.

TO FIND JOJO COLLINS ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

“It has nothing to do with (the product), it has everything to do with WHY (your customers) want it.”

Britton Purser created Vintage Overland out of necessity, out of “the need to grab that romance, passion, and sense of adventure and take it into the middle of nowhere.” Britton, alongside his two brothers, Cody and Cullen, spend day and night in the studio where they meticulously design, shape and assemble each of their custom caravans by hand. It is Vintage Overland’s desire to preserve the quality and heritage of American craftsmanship.

Listen And Learn:

• How to market to your customers’ lifestyles.
• Why he takes a “coffee shop” approach to marketing.
• The value of PR and third-party endorsement.
• The importance of zeroing in on who your customers are.
• Why it’s important to thank your employees every day.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT VINTAGE OVERLAND CARAVANS, CLICK HERE.

“Before you walk a mile in another person’s shoes, you must take your own shoes off first.”

Rob Andzik is president of AMERGINT Technologies, a company that delivers next-generation technologies to the space industry. The company’s mission is simple: be technically focused and customer-supportive. Rob and his team at AMERGINT solve hard problems through innovation and by building intellectual capital that their customers leverage. Before coming to AMERGINT, Rob worked at Lockheed Martin and RT Logic. He is co-chair of the OMG Space Domain Task Force and co-author of the Ground Equipment Monitoring Service (GEMS) specification.

Listen And Learn:

• What it takes to create a “sticky” team culture.
• How a leader must conduct “the whole orchestra.”
• Innovative ways to build trust with customers.
• How leadership roles shift as a company grows.
• Why it’s important to empower and defend your culture and your team.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT AMERGINT TECHNOLOGIES , CLICK HERE.

TO FIND ROB ANDZIK ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

“78% of people will actually touch Amazon at some point during their purchase cycle. That means that every brand needs to consider Amazon as part of their marketing plan.”

Jeff Cohen is chief marketing officer at SellerLabs, a cloud-based tool for e-Commerce businesses to source, sell, and provide customer service. Jeff’s goal is to empower small businesses with the tools they need to succeed, provide excellent support and service, and always push to make things better.

Listen And Learn: 

• The four quadrants of achieving success on Amazon: search, page conversion, advertising, and reviews.
• How to create “discoverability” and relevancy for your brand on Amazon.
• The three most important elements of your product’s searchability on Amazon.
• How to get customers to your product detail page and entice them to make a purchase.
• How Amazon reviews help with product refinement

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SELLERLABS, CLICK HERE.

TO FIND JEFF COHEN ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.

“Content should be relatable, emotive, reusable, and snack’able.”

Ed Graczyk is an experienced chief marketing officer for start-up companies as well as a 16-year Microsoft veteran where he launched more than a dozen products worldwide. He has built and led high-performance marketing teams and programs for award-winning consumer, enterprise, and business-to-business-to-consumer products and services. He has deep vertical market experience across Internet and online services, telecom and cable, TV and media, IPTV and Internet video, digital entertainment, and financial services, along with a huge passion for the travel space.

Listen And Learn:

• The importance of creating a messaging and positioning framework that speaks to all of your constituents.
• Developing a timing cascade of messages leading up to an announcement.
• The sales-enablement, channel partners, and employee communications tools he deploys to communicate effectively.
• How his team were able to pivot and manage the inevitable roadblocks, setbacks, unknowns, and announcement delays along the way.
• How humor can cut through the clutter and create – and increase – memorability.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BROCADE, CLICK HERE.

TO FIND ED GRACZYK ON LINKEDIN, CLICK HERE.