Influential U

Today’s mini-sode is an exclusive preview of the July 2020 Influence Ecology 3-D Virtual Conferences. Through VirBELA for virtual events, Influence Ecology now offers a social engagement and communication solution on our private 3-D virtual campus; it transforms a real-time campus into an unforgettable, fully immersive experience. Our private virtual campus is designed to promote real social inter...

Today’s mini-sode is an exclusive preview of the July 2020 Influence Ecology 3-D Virtual Conferences. Through VirBELA for virtual events, Influence Ecology now offers a social engagement and communication solution on our private 3-D virtual campus; it transforms a real-time campus into an unforgettable, fully immersive experience. Our private virtual campus is designed to promote real social inter...

Having experienced job burnout early in her career, Patricia DeBough began to confront her work life and what she wanted it to be. Although successful, she believed in projecting a positive attitude, suffered from anxiety, and didn’t understand her value. As a result, she put up with or stayed too long in situations that were unhealthy or didn’t meet her aims. She was profoundly frustrated and fel...

Helen Kearney is a sales recruiter for a global software company. Her life’s journey and her career specialization allow us to examine the question that we all – at one time or another – find ourselves asking: what is my perfect job (or purpose or life’s mission)? As she explains, many people are exceptionally naive about their professional value. They may not understand their involvement in the l...

Thomas K.R. Stovall is a subject matter expert on turning subject matter expertise into passive and automated income online. He is an author, a sought after speaker and facilitator, a Google Entrepreneur in Residence, the founder of a patented enterprise microfeedback platform, and the creator of an organization that catalyzes growth for Black and Latinx entrepreneurs (ImBlackInTech.com), with alm...

Jennifer Caldwell is the Chief Development Officer with Food Share of Ventura County and works to feed and nourish the community she has called home for the past 30 years. Under Caldwell’s direction, fundraising events have grown to not only raise more revenue for the food bank but to provide the opportunity to spread the work and mission of Food Share within the community it serves. While nourish...

Sterling Hawkins grew up a fifth-generation retailer, having to master the intersection of human behavior and technology under extreme competition. In 2004, he co-founded, launched and sold his first technology company, Convena, where he developed innovative approaches to beat competition, handle high-growth and achieve performance no matter the obstacles. He went on to be involved with the launch...

César Idrovo is a Business Agility Consultant based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His clients span North America, Europe, and South America and range from startups to companies in the Fortune top 10. He helps leaders generate valuable outcomes in the market by embracing and taking advantage of business uncertainty. His focus is to develop a highly tuned organization that responds to leadership an...

As a serial success in the startup space, Dan Murhpy has turned his attention to getting companies to the point of what he calls “just add water,” specifically, working to reduce the cost of scaled growth. While many startups struggle with similar breakdowns, Dan shares a set of practices and techniques to introduce new ways of operating that consistently reveal opportunities for course correction...

As we teach it, the study of transactional behavior allows each of us to understand both the value and cost of our role in any transaction. For example, rigorous standards are valuable when confronting our limited resources–and at the same time–destructive when gregarious or imaginative moods are required. Too often, we get stuck when we assume our assets or contributions are always a good thing....

In 2012, John James and Lauren Cato Robertson started studying with Influence Ecology to develop their massage therapy business and now co-own the Academy where Lauren first trained. Their journey underscores many of the lessons that come with first expanding, then scaling their business. As John James says: It’s been pure joy and frequent discomfort. In this interview, you’ll hear a very transpar...

Alex Bould works with large tech corporations to shorten their time to market. Working in the San Francisco Bay area, he leads enterprise-scale Agile transformations to help solve billion-dollar problems. In this interview, he talks about how what differentiates market leaders from market followers – and how this is changing. For the longest time, the pursuit of efficiency and productivity has dom...

At the University of Virginia School of Medicine, I interviewed a group of women about the impact of our programs. I spoke with Ellen Beverly, Dawn Spiller, Olga Kipnis, Carolyn Saint, and Jenn Oliver about how the framework of Transactional Competence has helped them in their roles within the university. What might you wonder is the most surprising outcome? An environment of respect for different...

Why do some quit while others bounce back? Chances are you’ve heard tales of Thomas Edison overcoming failure. Edison (1847-1931) most famously invented the long-lasting, practical electric light bulb and is credited with developing devices for electrical power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. As a master of trial and error, these innovations have had a widespr...

We all assume we can play to our strong suits – but what about when those don’t work? How do I influence or gain compliance when being likable is my primary tool – and it sometimes backfires? As we teach it, all personalities experience themselves as both an asset AND a liability depending on the state of the transaction. For example, if we’re brainstorming new possibilities, it doesn’t work for s...

Twin Studies have been used for decades to settle the age-old Nature vs. Nurture debate about human behavior: are we hardwired to act according to our biological blueprint, or does our environment influence our behavior or gene expression? Twin Study research has helped find answers to questions on space travel, obesity, IQ, and much more. Empirical evidence has settled the debate for good. The an...

In a 2015 speech, American actress, producer, and entrepreneur, Reese Witherspoon launched a campaign to support women and their aspirations, with the battle-cry, “Ambition is not a dirty word.” In 2018, Oprah Winfrey interviewed Reese Witherspoon & American actress, comedian, writer, producer, and director, Mindy Kaling to talk about that moment. Growing up in lower-middle-class Texas, Influence...

Phyllis Eleanor Tichinin has always struggled to have her contrary voice heard amongst the mainstream. Raised rurally in the once fruit-filled Santa Clara Valley, she earned her education as a soil scientist and environmental manager at the University of California Davis. Now in New Zealand, she raised her two children on her deceased husband’s family farm. She is currently involved in consulting...

From time to time, I’ll explain Influence Ecology and our approach by telling a story about the ABC television series American Idol. The award-winning series involves discovering recording stars from unsigned singing talents. The winner receives a record deal with a major label. In one audition listed in the category of “worst of the worst” from Season 4, Mary Roach, sings “I Feel the Earth Move”...

Trisha Tyler began studying with Influence Ecology in 2012. She was single, struggling to transform a team’s performance, and had a fair amount of consumer debt. During her early participation, Tricia became a disciple of accurate thinking as it made her a better leader and decision-maker, good mentor, and coach. As a graduate of our curriculum, she is now married, has had several promotions and r...

I’m often confounded by those who claim to know something but can’t teach it to me. The famous Nobel winning physicist Richard Feynman understood the difference between knowing something and knowing the name of something, and it’s one of the most important reasons for his success. Richard Feynman lived from 1918 to 1988. He made his mark first with his work on the Manhattan Project then won a Nobe...

Marcus “Bellringer” Bell is an American music producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, singer, social media influencer, activist and entrepreneur. Having first participated with Influence Ecology in March of 2012, we interviewed him in Aug 2016 - and focused on deliberate practice - that "most people don't and won't practice". His piano practice began at age 2 with his first record company by...

Knowing Requires Doing and Fitness Requires Practice with Suzanne Pool

Influential Environments with Christopher Mercier

Asking for Help with Moira Clay