Welcome to the first episode of the Strategic Momentum podcast!

Every month, we’ll be sharing the perspectives, recommendations, and approaches that progressive executives have used to break through their business inertia and move their businesses forward. These interviews will be with leaders across a variety of roles and industries because valuable insights should – and do – come from everywhere.

Challenges in a business vary but it always falls within one of three buckets: people, process or technology.

With the people part of this three-legged stool, personal and professional fit are critical, but there’s often a gap. Kareen Walsh from Revampologist shares her perspective on how companies need to ‘Mind the Gap’ in order to get that necessary alignment to drive company success.

We will learn:

• The key gaps that plague an organization
• How to diagnose and assess the personal and professional challenges of ‘people’ that impact a firm’s performance
• Addressing the issue of fit to drive towards business and team alignment

Resources:

• Learn more at Revampologist.com
• Connect with Kareen: LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram

Challenges in a business vary, but it always falls within one of three buckets: people, process or technology.

In the last episode, we talked to Kareen Walsh, Founder of Revampologist, about the People component to this triad. Today, we’re diving into Process and Technology – specifically, how organizations need to understand and work through the ever-changing dynamics that impact these two components in order to ensure forward momentum

You will learn:

• Process management through change
• Understanding and balancing internal and external (i.e. customer) technology needs and it’s alignment to an organization’s business objectives.
• Importance of data and measurement in optimizing technology and overall operations.

Resources:

• Learn more at Revampologist.com
• Connect with Kareen: LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram

Production & Development for Strategic Momentum by Podcast Masters

Today’s guest has a fascinating entrepreneurial journey that has led from tech to… well, tape.

Just a couple years ago, Andy Musliner was a Chief Technology & Innovation Officer at an award-winning mobility company. Now Andy is the Founder and CEO of InRoad Toys, an award-winning toy company. Their premiere product, PlayTape, has revolutionized how the world plays with toy vehicles.

You will learn:

• How Andy’s mindset of continually thinking outside of the box as a result of his career in innovation lead to the creation of PlayTape.
• What it took to start InRoad Toys with no industry knowledge or experience in the toy industry – observation, data gathering, research and analysis on every facet of the toy business.
• The importance of finding top notch talent when it’s time to expand, and what it takes to attract them even as a startup.

Resources:

• Connect with Andy on LinkedIn
• Learn more about InRoad Toys: InRoadToys.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Production & Development for Strategic Momentum by Podcast Masters

Greg Johnston is the SVP and Creative Director of AgencyQ, an award-winning digital agency that transforms the way organizations reach, engage, and inspire their key audiences.

From the mail room to the C-Suite, Greg Johnston has achieved success throughout his career by recognizing the need to constantly innovate, iterate, and evolve over time. And this mindset has been relevant and applicable to the agencies that he has worked with particularly given the impact of technology on marketing.

Yet it takes self-awareness, self-reflection and listening to realize how to create that forward momentum.

You will learn:

• What inhibits many agencies and even their clients from evolving to address the ever-changing customer dynamics.
• The need to listen and what to listen for
• The importance of achieving that agency, client and customer relationship - Agencies need to listen to their clients, clients need to listen to their agencies, and both need to listen to the customers.

Resources:

• Learn more about AgencyQ
• Connect with Greg on LinkedIn

Production & Development for Strategic Momentum by Podcast Masters

Will Choi is the President and CEO of VerticalApps, an IT consulting company focused on facilitating the agile transformation of the federal government… which is quite a daunting task.

We discuss strategies and advice for creating momentum in product development. This forward movement requires breaking down the norms, not just in the way they work but down to their fundamental culture

Resources:

• Learn more about VerticalApps
• Connect with Greg on LinkedIn

Today we explore how fear affects us in business through the eyes of the incredible industry experts who have shared their wisdom on the show, as well as a subject matter expert who offers a lot of insight into the psychology of fear and motivation:

• Kareen Walsh, Founder and Solutions Strategist at Revampologist
• Andy Musliner, Founder and CEO of InRoad Toys
• Greg Johnston, SVP and Creative Director at AgencyQ
• Will Choi, President and CEO of Vertical Apps
• Dr. Mary Lamia, a psychologist who has spent her career studying and encouraging emotional awareness. She is the author of numerous books for kids, teenagers, and adults, including What Motivates Getting Things Done, as well as the upcoming The Upside of Shame.

Resources:

• Dr. Mary Lamia:
  • MaryLamia.com
  
  
• What Motivates Getting Things Done: Procrastination, Emotions, and Success
• The Upside of Shame: Therapeutic Interventions Using the Positive Aspects of a "Negative" Emotion
• Will Choi:
  • VerticalApps.com
  
  
• Greg Johnston:
  • AgencyQ
  
  
• Andy Musliner:
  • InRoadToys.com
  
  
• Kareen Walsh:
  • Revampologist.com
  
  

Jim Gregoire is the Chief Product Officer at Openbay, an award-winning online marketplace for auto repair and provider of SaaS-based offerings for the auto care industry. Unlike most product leaders, Jim started in marketing and shifted to his current role.

We discuss what an effective product strategy entails (it needs to be truly customer-centric vs. taking an inside-out point of view), how a product leader creates the momentum that garners stakeholder buy-in and enables them to get the resources they need – and, ultimately, why establishing a product experience that delivers intrinsic value requires you to empathize with your internal and external customers.

Resources:

• Connect with Jim on LinkedIn
• Learn more about Openbay

The Digital Revolution has brought about fundamental changes in the way businesses operate inside and out much like the Industrial Revolution. As a result, organizations have to undertake a ‘digital transformation,’ which often requires rethinking the business itself.

Mike Renner has over 20 years of executive management experience leading technology services and consulting companies that focus on aligning everything within a business to create exceptional value around technology. As CEO of MPRE Digital, a digital transformation consultancy, he focuses on bringing Digital Products, Customer Experience, and Data/Analytics to the core of his clients’ businesses.

Resources:

• Connect with Mike on LinkedIn