Business Infrastructure - Curing Back Office Blues

Jennifer Wang began her career with a major advantage. Being Chinese-American, speaking fluent Japanese, and having lived in multiple countries as a child afforded her an appreciation for cultural differences. Now, as a prominent event planner, she imbues this with every project. In this episode, Jennifer speaks openly about the importance of having difficult conversations to build an all-star tea...

Attend a top-ranked university, check. Move up the ranks at IBM, check. Become a CEO by age 40, check. Shellye Archambeau is unapologetically ambitious and achieves what she believes. But it's not by accident. As one of the first black women to lead a high-tech Silicon Valley company, she embodies hard work, strategic planning, and carefully crafted execution. In this episode, Shellye pays it forw...

When it comes to traditional and new media, Steven Cuoco has been there and done that. So, when he describes himself as the "WikiLeaks of Public Relations," it's for good reason. In this episode, he taps into his 25+ years of experience to give a no-holds-barred masterclass on pitching and presenting to media. You'll learn breakthrough strategies to protect your company's coffers and operations fr...

Lily Allen-Dueñas is a modern Renaissance woman. Her work in marketing, the arts, and yoga has led her to teach and interact with women around the world. Now, as the Interim Executive Director of The State of Women Institute, she has a platform to amplify the voices of this under-represented and marginalized group. In this episode, Lily describes the organization's technology platform that provide...

Len Samborowski moved up the ranks to become a Colonel in the U.S. Army. Realizing he would not become a General, he retired after 30 years. Transitioning to civilian life led him to an assistant football coach position and later a college professor, but it did not come without challenges. In this episode, Len shares why a veteran's knowledge of the latest technologies, experience being around dif...

Tonia Morris noticed shifts in team makeup as she climbed the corporate ladder. Teams were composed of diverse generations which led to challenges and opportunities. After she became an Executive VP of H.R., she resigned and founded SimplyHR. Now, she's known as the "Generational Connector." In this episode, Tonia provides a blueprint for navigating communication hurdles caused by multiple generat...

Gregory Brown's mother was told her son would never graduate high school. Not only did he finish high school without attending special education courses, but he also graduated from college. He never let cerebral palsy hinder him. Ultimately, his childhood love for computers led him to become a digital strategist. In this episode, Greg shares his process for selecting technologies to digitize your...

When Punam Saxena's family relocated to a small town in Georgia, her neighbors asked what tribe they belonged to. They mistakenly thought her family was Native American, not Indians from India. Growing up ostracized, she knows the impact of social isolation and vowed to do something about it. In this episode, Punam shares her process for coaching parents to become active partners with their childr...

Jesse Torres is the American-born son of Mexican immigrant parents. Growing up in multi-cultural Los Angeles, he's not uncomfortable being around people who looked different from him. So, as he grew his consultancy, ArroyoWest, building a diverse team came naturally. He's also no stranger to technology. In this episode, Jesse shares how leaders can prepare for the future of work by leveraging gove...

We've come to the end of another amazing season of the Business Infrastructure podcast. In this episode, Alicia does her traditional end-of-season monologue, but with a twist – she talks about the people, processes, and tools that set the foundation to scale. And, as she explains, none of this work was in vain, as evident by the special announcement she makes that will take this podcast to the nex...

Although the barrier to entry into the fashion industry is low, it's also fickle and highly competitive. Yet, when Kevin Afuwah and two childhood friends started Royal Kulture, their unique spin on dashikis took off! Soon, they found themselves relocating from NYC to L.A. for cost-efficient production. In this episode, Kevin reminisces on how they scaled their brand, attracting celebrities like Sa...

"Scaling must be done with scientific precision." Sage advice from branding expert, Maureen Mwangi. She helps product-based companies become retail-ready with strategies rooted in data analytics and marketing research. In this episode, Maureen takes us on her journey from watching her parents build a strong brand in Kenya to her scaling products for Pepsi, Dove, and L'Oreal in the U.S. She also de...

Laura Cathcart Robbins is an avid reader and dreamed of one day penning her own book. In 2018, she arrived excited at a popular writer's retreat, only to leave dismayed when she realized she was the only black person there. Soon, an article she wrote about her experience went viral on the Huffington Post. It led to a movement that quickly grew into a podcast. In this episode, Laura chronicles the...

Amal Hassan is living proof of the tenacity required to build, grow, and scale a business. She started a contact center three different times only to be forced to shut down. The fourth time was the charm. Now, Outsource Global employs over 850 people with clients in the U.S., UK, and Japan. In this episode, Amal gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the quality control measures to select the best p...

Lynn Bonner's tenure at Big 4 consulting firms, as a VP at U.S. Bank, and as a Founder is a trifecta of scaling success stories. She knows it takes energy, leadership, and action to get things done. As the CEO of her firm, Action Leadership Lab, she applies agile and digital transformation principles from her corporate experience to scale her clients' companies. In this episode, Lynn shares how to...

There are several ways you can scale your company, one being a Merger & Acquisition (M&A). But be careful. As Jeffrey Musgrove warns, "M&As always make sense on paper. The difficulty is the people part." With a career that spans wealth management, operations, and private equity, he knew what to look for when he merged his consultancy with Think Systems. In this episode, Jeff details how to execute...

Henry Kaminski started his marketing agency, Unique Designz, on a high. The clients and money flowed in. But all of that changed after Hurricane Sandy. Suddenly his bank account had a negative $2,500 balance. Down but not out, he invested in a course that gave him the tools to rebound. Then he had a different problem – more business than he could handle! In this episode, Henry describes how he rec...

Scaling your subject matter expertise may seem impossible, especially when people think consulting firms can't scale. It isn't true, as evidenced by Dorie Clark. She went from growing up in a small town to becoming the #1 communication coach in the world as well as a prolific author, speaker, and professor. How? In this episode, Dorie teaches organic marketing strategies to leverage your core comp...

There's no one way to scale, but a common and critical component is business infrastructure. Outgrow, a digital content marketing and technology company, is proof. In this episode, Saksham Sharda, the CIO and Creative Director at Outgrow, shares their 3-pronged approach to becoming New York's top B2B software company. Now, they're expanding globally. Get the full scoop plus resources he recommends...

"Don't grow alone. Ask for help." Wise words from serial tech entrepreneur and investor, Jeff Wald. And he would know. After studying the causes of his first company's failure, he resurfaced, and, in true entrepreneur fashion, started another company. And then another. When he founded WorkMarket, he knew that scaling from 8 to 8,000 salespeople required business infrastructure. Eventually, Jeff so...

If accounting is the language of business, then technology is the language of scale. And today's successful leaders must be fluent in both. After working as an engineer and B2B salesman in Silicon Valley, Aman Agarwal started an education company to close the widening technical fluency gap he noticed among leaders. In this episode, he shares his equation for scaling and explains how you can measur...

Kathleen Black values business infrastructure - it's the basis for how she became one of the top real estate professionals in North America! She says, "When systems are clear, people are empowered." Now, she teaches other high performers how to build the most efficient and productive teams in the world. In this episode, Kathleen shares insights on the people, processes, and tools she leverages to...

In this Season 10 finale, host Alicia Butler Pierre unpacks the importance of converting "why" into "how" when facing business challenges. She uses this conversion as a backdrop to give updates on all guests and their respective workflows and technologies. Alicia also shares four lessons she's learned about operating a business in 2020. A special thank you to all guests, sponsors, and subscribers...

Tasked with creating something that does good for the world, nine 10th and 11th graders conceived the HydroHat. It's a wearable technology designed to reduce heat-related stress and injuries. Though rejected by MIT for a $10k development grant, they forged ahead and formed a company called SenseHydro. In this episode, these young inventors/entrepreneurs give a live demo of their process from ideat...

Workflow improvement stumps small and large businesses alike. Where do you start? What framework will you use? As the founder of an emerging H.R. consultancy, Cornelius "Neil" Dowdell faces these questions regularly. One thing's for sure – you have to identify and document processes before you can improve them. In this live consultation, Alicia shows Neil how simple tools like stick figures and no...