Women Worldwide with Deirdre Breakenridge

Without change business owners will become irrelevant. Change is all around us, but it’s never easy whether in your personal life or business life. Entrepreneurs who are able to embrace change and integrated thinking are the ones who create opportunity. I have the perfect guest today, to talk about change and her journey going through change.

Gini Dietrich is a Women Worldwide alum and the founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich, an integrated marketing communications firm. She is the author of Spin Sucks, co-author of Marketing in the Round, and co-host of Inside PR. She also is the lead blogger at Spin Sucks and is the founder of Spin Sucks Pro. She is a speaker, award winning blogger, and we are fortunate to have her here today to share her story.

You can find Gini Dietrich here:

Gini on Google+
Spin Sucks
Spin Sucks: Communication and Reputation Management in the Digital Age
Marketing in the Round: How to Develop an Integrated Marketing Campaign in the Digital Era
Inside PR Podcast
Spin Sucks Pro
@ginidietrich on Twitter
@spinsucks on Twitter
Spin Sucks on Facebook

Show Notes

  • [03:19] Gini is a PR and digital marketing pro.
  • [03:30] AI and machine learning are some of the biggest changes out there right now. We need to think about how this will change what we do with our jobs.
  • [03:49] We are even seeing these changes with animation and computer software making our lives a little more efficient.
  • [04:07] Most of what we do can be replicated by robots, so we really need to think about what we can do to generate income.
  • [04:17] We need to focus on things that AI can't replace like creativity.
  • [04:59] Women and millennials have fears of their jobs being taken over by A.I.
  • [05:36] With all of the technology changes we have to change as professionals and in business.
  • [06:09] The fear of change may be in part to humans getting busy and not learning anymore.
  • [07:23] Calculated risk when we aren't under pressure is best. If we don't take risk we can't reach our goals.
  • [08:28] The importance of getting into the habit of learning and the habit of professional development.
  • [09:18] A habit is rewiring something to become muscle memory.
  • [10:24] Change can be stressful. Any entrepreneur is somebody who sells an idea and then figures out how to deliver it.
  • [11:44] When Gini's team launches something new she creates the course and gets the process in place. Then roles adjust or new people are added to the team.
  • [13:29] This year Gini's business was about $40,000 away from laying everybody off. They then discovered that their messaging and marketing weren't correct. They took a step back and figured out what was going on.
  • [16:03] A pivot is where you think you are going to go down one path then you pivot until you find what works.
  • [17:23] Using data to handle the pivot and correct course. If something isn't working use data to find out why.
  • [19:11] There is a math fear that revolves around data, but it is really about reading the numbers.
  • [21:49] When it comes to professional development Gini has been working on her writing and working on becoming a better communicator.
  • [25:35]  Feedback is a gift to help us grow and learn things.
  • [26:15] Being a virtual organization has challenges, but Gini thinks being a good leader comes down to listening and motivating people according to their strengths.
  • [27:38] Going from a manager to a leader is a challenge.
  • [29:02] Throughout Gini's career she has had mentors that took her under their wings, but now there is mentoring through communities.
  • [33:58] A significant improvement for Gini has been hiring a nanny. You have to know when to ask for help.
  • [36:23] What success feels like. For Gini, it is having her daughter say that the best part of the day is hanging out with her. From a business standpoint, it is giving back to the industry.
  • [38:07] Conversations and creativity cannot be replaced.
  • [38:54] Gini would tell her younger self to build a thicker skin and not take things personally.

Links and Resources:

Shift Ahead
Sex, Lies and A.I.
Master Class
The Power of Habit
Educated: A Memoir

Direct download: WW185.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:00am EDT

Life is all about passion, change, and growth, and business should be the same! So, I am thrilled to have another passionate woman entrepreneur for you this week! My guest today has a story to share. Her story is about some big changes she had to make, and what those changes meant for her professional journey, her entrepreneurial venture, and the overall growth of her business.

 

Priscilla McKinney is the CEO and “Resident Mama Bird” leading her team of creative “Peeps” at Little Bird Marketing. Little Bird is a boutique marketing agency specialized in branding, design, campaign, and content strategies. She is also the host of “Ponderings from the Perch,” a podcast about entrepreneurship, marketing best practices, managing creatives, company culture, and much more!

 

Stay tuned with the fabulously cool Priscilla McKinney and learn more about her journey, her process, and how her passion and humility made all the difference in the world!

In This Episode

  • Priscilla’s Story
  • Dreaming a Different Dream
  • Overcoming Disaster and “Stunning Discomfort”
  • Tough Love and Tough Decisions
  • People, Process, and Ponderings from the Perch

Quotes in This Episode

“Some people stumble, some people are forced. Rare are those birds who go, ‘I know what I was made for.’” —Priscilla McKinney

 

“I think it's about staring down this difficult situations and seeing them as opportunities.” —Priscilla McKinney

 

“It takes a long time to become the business owner and the entrepreneur and the leader that you want to be. It's a long time. But, once you get that voice, you are not going to walk away from it, you're not going to stop talking. ” —Priscilla McKinney

 

“I believe in process. I believe in creating a system that teaches your clients how to work with you, really develops a relationship model with your clients, and that is really geared towards partnership. How are we going to do this together?” —Priscilla McKinney

 

“Who are you sharing that bold idea with? Are they really the right person? By that, I mean sometimes we share this bold, crazy idea with someone who is not qualified to give us sound advice. I'd say, slow it down, think it through for a minute, because I do believe in process.” —Priscilla McKinney

Resources

Priscilla’s Twitter and LinkedIn

Little Bird Marketing Website

Ponderings from the Perch Podcast

Direct download: PriscillaMcKinneyonWomenWorldwide.mp3
Category:Business -- posted at: 6:09pm EDT

While the work of the pioneering and hardworking women who came before us has done so much for the women in business today, there is still a great deal of work to be done. It is incumbent upon us all to speak up and continue to make a difference in our own places of work and advance the cause of all women in the workplace. That is why today we are focusing on investment and gender equality in the workplace. Helping us tackle the cause for women’s equality in the workplace is the unshakeable Martine Liautaud.

 

Martine is one of the first ever female investment bankers in France. She is the Founder and President of the Women Initiative Foundation (WIF), and an international Financial Executive and Entrepreneur. Martine has been incredibly active advocating for and mentoring women in the business world, and her book, Breaking Through: Stories and Best Practices From Companies That Help Women Succeed, has reached an even wider audience of women around the world who have benefited from her mentorship.

 

Learn just how Martine is helping women find courage and confidence in the workplace. Stay tuned as Martine explains the importance of everyone getting involved in the fight, men, women, and even your CEO! Martine shares her own journey as a pioneer of women in investment banking in France and how her foundation (WIF) is doing work across the globe today.

 

In This Episode

  • Martine’s Career
  • Inequality in the Workplace
  • Martine’s Book
  • Martine’s Studies on Gender Equality
  • Dealing With Discrimination in the Workplace

 

Quotes in This Episode

 

“From the beginning of my career, I wanted to be an investment banker.” —Martine Liautaud

“I became a commercial banker, and because I was a woman no one gave me customers.” —Martine Liautaud

“It’s really important that men and women are mentors.” —Martine Liautaud

 

“Women are 50% of the population and 50% of the customers, so we cannot stay only with men at the top level. I think diversity is a richness.” —Martine Liautaud

 

“I don’t expect that you will have U.S. regulation on [family policy] I think it will be in fact the responsibility of the companies to develop that, to help women to have more flexibility in their work...” —Martine Liautaud

 

“For the companies, it is important to include men in the gender equality policies and the mentoring programs. But for that, we need to have strong support from the CEO.” —Martine Liautaud

 

Resources

 

Martine’s Twitter

WIF’s Twitter

The WIF Website

Martine’s Book

Direct download: MartineLiautaudonWomenWorldwide.mp3
Category:Business -- posted at: 11:51am EDT

Today we are focusing on shifting ahead in business. Trying to stay ahead of your clients’ needs can seem like a never-ending feat. We are constantly watching, shifting, moving, and trying to remain relevant in the worlds of our customers. But, there are so many changes in technology and media, that we are seeing wide shifts in consumer behavior. So we have to be flexible and adaptable. Helping us tackle this issue so you don’t get stuck is Allen Adamson.

Allen is a brand strategist and entrepreneur. He is the founder of Metaforce, a firm dedicated to helping businesses diagnose growth strategies and nimbly execute programs in the face of change and market evolution. Allen is also a co-author of the book Shift Ahead: How the Best Companies Stay Relevant In a Fast-Changing World, which we will be discussing here today!

Stay tuned to learn more about the landscape of successfully shifting ahead, and hear some helpful case studies and some cautionary tales from Allen’s book!

 

In This Episode

  • About Allen
  • Case Studies
  • Competition and Disruption
  • Shifting Isn’t a No-Brainer
  • Diversifying Thought
  • Challenges in Business

 

Quotes in This Episode

“Stop being totally fixated on the competitors right in front of your nose, and zoom out, and see what's going on a little bit more to the left and right, and behind you, because typically categories get disruption, not from within, but from outside.” —Allen Adamson

 

“[Kodak] were so addicted to the phenomenal profitability of film, there would be no other business they could even invent that would come close to it. They were stuck, as well as many other companies, by the Golden Handcuffs.” —Allen Adamson

 

“There are many ways you can fall behind, there are not a lot of ways you can stay ahead, but you can start to eliminate some of the culprits.” —Allen Adamson

 

“Analysis paralysis is the other big one that in fact impacts most organizations because figuring out where to shift is never easy.” —Allen Adamson

 

“You need a leader that is comfortable with risk.” —Allen Adamson

 

Resources

Allen’s Twitter

Find out about Allen’s book HERE

Metaforce Website

Direct download: AllenAdamsononWomenWorldwide.mp3
Category:Business -- posted at: 6:54pm EDT

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