Women Worldwide with Deirdre Breakenridge

September 2018
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Fri, 28 September 2018

Taking Your Skills from One Role to the Next

What's it like when you're the CMO of the New York Stock Exchange and you get bit by the entrepreneurial bug? My guest today is Marisa Ricciardi who was Vice President at Goldman Sachs and then became the CMO of the New York Stock Exchange. She then made the leap to a business owner and founded her own company.

She first served as a virtual CMO for several major financial-focused brands and quickly identified a niche. She then founded the Ricciardi Group where she helps early-stage CEOs allocate venture capital, assists CMOs navigating the marketing landscape, and provides clients with a clear path for turning business strategy into action.

Marisa was named “Marketing Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2017 at the Markets Choice Awards for Women in Finance and was cited as one of Inc.’s “10 Leading Ladies Changing Business as Usual” in April 2018. On this episode, she shares insights into her business and making the transition from employee to founder.

Show Notes

[03:18] Being the CMO of the New York Stock Exchange was amazing. They had several different businesses, so from a marketing aspect, they had to get into the mind of several different personas.
[03:49] There's also a huge sense of national pride working for an exchange.
[04:45] Part of her role at the exchange was to engage and market the startup community. While meeting with entrepreneurs, Marissa got to feel the entrepreneurial spirit.
[06:05] It was magical to work with companies like Twitter, Yelp, and Pandora.
[07:07] Marketing is an intersection of sales and risk-taking.
[08:00] A lot of team members that used to work with Marisa have since joined her company.
[08:56] She has a small boutique company but adds freelancers to give the business diversity.
[10:10] When you have different people in a room, you will have different outcomes. Marisa likes the idea of adding in different people based on the problems she is trying to solve.
[11:02] They also treat clients like partners and try to get the best results for them as possible. It's like being part of a big collaborative kitchen.
[12:49] The biggest challenge is always prioritizing whether it's in the corporate world or your own company. There is added pressure, knowing that you are responsible for other people's livelihoods.
[15:24] When an employee doesn't work out, it's important to know why.
[17:12] Leadership skills include knowing your own personality and your appetite for risk and reward. For women, having a family plays into the decision making process.
[19:41] Marisa is driven and results oriented. To run a business you have to have a heart and skin for volatility.
[24:17] Some of the things that motivate Marisa today include her family, her team, and her mortgage. She wants to be successful and contribute to her family.
[25:11] Motivation is different than passion. Showing up and seeing results is what drives her.
[26:08] The two qualities that Marisa looks for most in team members and herself is independence and integrity and being accountable.
[29:19] Clients won't trust you if you're not being accountable and if you're not delivering results.
[30:44] Trust is earned and it is about delivering and seeing results. It's a combination of earned and showing results.
[34:17] Making the choice between showing up and being present. Marisa practices radical presence whether she is at home or at work.
[35:59] It's not easy to compartmentalize, but it is something that has to be contumaciously worked at.
[39:30] Running a business is hard. Being a woman and a mother running a business is more difficult, because there are so many demands on your time. Prioritize the things that are important.

Links and Resources:

Direct download: WW188.mp3
Category:Business -- posted at: 7:00am EDT

Fri, 14 September 2018

Making Saving Money Fun Using Gamification With Long Game CEO Lindsay Holden

Our current economy is growing. Some would even say it is booming. Are you feeling the financial effects and saving more? My guest today, not only wants to solve the problem of people not saving enough but has found a way to do it that makes it fun. Lindsay Holden is the CEO and co-founder of Long Game an app that combines savings with gamification.

With Long Game you get a personalized savings system that includes an FDIC insured account. This account is also interest bearing and is linked with winning prizes and getting free crypto rewards. It also educates users. Lindsay graduated from college with dual engineering degrees, but was interested in entrepreneurship.

This is her second company. She has helped Long Game raise $6.6 Million from Thrive Capital and Collaborative Fund. In this interview, Lindsay shares her enthusiasm for the app, the purpose behind the app, and her inspiration. This is a great interview where a young entrepreneur shares how innovation can change our futures.

Show Notes

[03:17] Lindsay's dad was a huge influence in her life. He ran a pet hospital in San Francisco.
[03:38] Being an entrepreneur for Lindsay is a combination of being a die-hard optimist and having a sincere interest in solving problems.
[03:58] She started her career caring about problems with the environment. She then became more involved in tech and financial services.
[04:29] Most people are extremely bad with their finances.
[04:41] This is a huge macro problem. It is taboo to talk about financial stress. You can feel like you are failing when you are failing at your finances.
[05:24] Lindsay was watching a John Oliver sketch on the lottery and realized how huge it was.
[06:20] This inspired her to take a mechanism that people love and use it to inspire them to save.
[06:30] Long Game is a mobile app that is an FDIC insured savings account. When you save money in the account, you get opportunities to win up to a million dollars.
[06:49] This is a no risk way to engage in risky lottery type behaviors without risk.
[07:07] The app solves the problem of savings and getting finances under control.
[07:28] Half of Americans can't come up with $500 to cover an emergency. Most are walking a tightrope without a net.
[08:25] A lot of people cope with financial problems by ignoring them. Many people don't budget.
[11:08] Why gamification? How we feel really matters. The goal is to bring joy and fun into finances. The strategy to achieve that is to use games.
[11:53] there are a lot of sparkles, graphics, characters, and you get to play a game of chance. This makes savings exciting and it feels different.
[12:34] There was a lot of resistance at first especially from investors.
[13:32] The purpose of the app is to help people make meaningful change by playing games as opposed to grinding through it.
[13:57] They had to have a banking partner and convince them that came of was the way to go.
[14:25] The first design of Long Game felt like a bank. Then they realized it didn't have to look and feel that way.
[15:12] Crypto currency and how it plays a part in the platform.
[15:25] Blockchain is a new way of storing and distributing information. People have built currencies on top of this platform.
[15:42] It's an exciting time with crypto, but it is still a very volatile market.
[16:12] Crypto isn't the most responsible place to put your $500 that you are saving for a rainy day.
[16:16] Crypto was added as a reward in the app. You can win ethereum and bitcoin and other crypto currencies. This is an opportunity to encourage savings and to educate consumers about crypto.
[16:55] Ethereum is a distributed computing network. It is on blockchain, transparent, and managed by a community of developers. They are building an infrastructure for other platforms to launch on. One of those is ethereum.
[18:08] The purpose of Long Game is to attract people to save by enjoying rewards. The average Long Game consumer is under 26 years old and already aware or interested in crypto. This is just a way for them to be rewarded with more in a safe way.
[23:29] Working in startups you learn a lot about your strengths and weaknesses. Early on in Lindsay's career she thought she had to be good at everything. She had her team take personality assessments and they all learned about their own strengths and weaknesses.
[24:41] For Lindsay the test confirmed her traits like being a number seven an enthusiast.
[26:05] Lindsay is willing to give up things that she doesn't do well at.
[26:27] Lindsay's biggest accomplishment is Long Game. She is super proud of creating something completely new that is helping a lot of people.
[27:18] Mistakes are how we learn. Maybe Lindsay's biggest mistake is not making more mistakes earlier.
[29:11] At long game you earn .1% interest. They do plan to move into other financial services.
[30:59] Everybody's Long Game account is personalized. And they are all different.
[32:00] Lindsay likes to focus on the energy and intention of how she is showing up. She is building a product she truly believes in and is excited about it, and her team feels the same way.
[32:45] An important entrepreneurial skill is truth telling. It's important to build trust with your team and deal with situations head on.
[34:55] In Lindsay's spare time she hangs out with friends and family. She loves to cook and is going camping this weekend.
[36:28] There is actually more to do once the app is launched.
[36:51] Be the change that you hope to be.

Links and Resources:

Direct download: WW187_V2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:00am EDT

Fri, 7 September 2018

Learning Leadership in an Unexpected Place With Helen Rothberg

Do you remember how you first learned about leadership? Today’s show will make you take a step back and reflect on that. Maybe it was in school, an internship, or at your first corporate job. Maybe you're an entrepreneur, and it was when you launched your first company. My guest today has a really interesting career journey. She is going to be sharing how she learned about leadership in an unexpected place.

Helen Rothberg, PhD, was a bartender in New York City throughout her academic career. She has also consulted with Fortune 500 companies, small technology start-ups, and nonprofit organizations. She speaks regularly at associations, alumni, and student gatherings about leadership and bartending.

She is the author of The Perfect Mix: Everything I Know About Leadership I Learned as a Bartender. She has dual degrees in business and behavioral science. She is a professor of strategy at the School of Management at Marist College, senior faculty at the Academy of Competitive Intelligence, and president of consulting firm HNR Associates.

Show Notes

[02:49] Helen originally planned on becoming a doctor.
[03:30] Having summers off was a big motivation for Helen to go into an academic career.
[03:54] She also realized that there was something special about helping young people find something magnificent in themselves.
[04:11] She became addicted to helping young people have an impact on the future.
[04:28] She also helps companies build a future.
[05:49] Helen's book is a fantastic book, and Deirdre thanks her for writing it.
[06:25] Helen realized all of the skills, about management, being successful, and leadership were learned when she was behind the bar.
[07:20] She thought the book would be meaningful.
[07:46] Deirdre was also a bartender, and that is one the reasons the book resonates. It's also interesting how these bartending stories relate to corporate stories.
[09:03] A friend recommended that Helen match the stories to corporate life.
[09:45] ADVICE is Helen's recipe for leading yourself.
[10:14] The A is about taking action and the lesson is doing more and saying less.
[10:18] D is about determination and finding a way to get things done with civility and ingenuity.
[10:35] V is about vision which drives everything. A leader turns on the light and shares the vision.
[11:02] The I is for integrity. Tell the truth all the time, don't create drama, and if you do own what's yours.
[11:35] C is for communication which is one of the hardest things to do well.
[12:00] E is for empathy dare to care, because everyone has a story.
[12:23] Stand in your own shoes and don't be afraid to be your authentic self.
[13:02] Shape shifting and having the courage to change. Have the courage to leap.
[14:15] Helen's favorite story is the story about Eduardo in the empathy chapter.
[17:55] Helen shares the story where Eduardo regained his humanity.
[18:45] A story about communication and five guys in a bar. Communication is more than just words.
[21:17] Actions speak louder than words, and there are other ways to handle situations rather than being violent.
[27:30] Deirdre shares a story about how she had a similar moment, but decided to leave the job. Once we feel threatened it's hard to move forward.
[29:55] Helen's biggest lesson learned is that bartending, just like life, is about relationships.
[31:03] Helen also learned how to build a community around herself.
[33:34] Letting people shine and do what they do best makes great things possible.
[35:16] Helen shares how Frank McCourt who wrote Angela's Ashes was her English teacher in 10th grade. He was her first influencer.
[37:50] He made her believe that at a young age she could do it and be a writer.
[39:59] When we are young, we don't realize that we are stressed. Walking and dance class always made Helen feel better.
[42:16] She learned lessons from living life and wasn't afraid to say so. It's important not to get lost in life. Keep something that is yours. This will help manage stress.
[43:53] Trust yourself and ask yourself what really matters to you and what you can do to support it.

Links and Resources:

Direct download: WW186_V2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 7:00am EDT