The Independent Minds

How to protect the commercial value of your brand. Anita Mar is a trademark agent and the founder of Trademark Angel , a company that helps entrepreneurs and businesses around the world to protect their intellectual property including their brand names. In this episode of the Abeceder podcast The Independent Minds Anita explains to host Michael Millward what a brand is, the commercial advantages o...

Leading in a way that makes people feel led. Gitte Madelaire had a successful corporate career, who is now a board member, futurist and author of Energetic Leadership a book in which she proposes that as the world changes at an increasingly rapid pace the world also needs a different form of leadership. In this episode of the Abeceder podcast The Independent Minds Gitte explains to host Michael Mi...

How to build, grow, and scale a web shop by converting more visitors into customers. Matt Stafford is the founder of Build Grow Scale , a company that helps entrepreneurs to create web shops like Anso Belts that people want to buy from. In this episode of the Abeceder podcast The Independent Minds Matt and host Michael Millward explore how anyone can establish a web shop that converts more visitor...

What can how successful businesses deal with data and money teach us about building a business? Anwin Mbah is a strategic profit advisor for time-strapped CEOs, and the founder of Wealth Fluency which helps small business owners to boost profits by eliminating the hassle of endless spreadsheets and analytics. In this episode of the Abeceder podcast The Independent Minds Anwin and host Michael Mill...

Which approach delivers the most sustainable business success? Jon Goehring is a radio personality, university professor and founder of Trust Media an audio media production company, based in Rochester New York. In this episode of the Abeceder podcast The Independent Minds Jon and host Michael Millward explore the development of Jon’s business and how moving from a competitive strategy to a more c...

What can business people learn about performance management from the techniques used by the managers and coaches of elite sports teams and athletes? Kevin Pickard is an elite sports coach, a director at AP Race and host of the Rogue Monkey podcast . In this episode of the Abeceder podcast The Independent Minds Kevin and host Michael Millward compare the different approaches to performance manageme...

Looking back on twelve months of independent thinking on The Independent Minds Michael Millward the founder and managing director of Abeceder marks the first year as and host of the Abeceder change management podcast The Independent Minds. Find out more about Michael Millward at Abeceder.co.uk . Audience Offers - listings include links that may create a small commission for The Independent Minds T...

How can small businesses compete when on-line search is dominated by the big players ? Tobin Brogunier is the founder and at the time of recording in 2023 was the CEO of Virtual Store Fronts . Virtual Store Fronts is a localised search engine and marketing service. In this episode of the Abeceder podcast The Independent Minds Tobin explains to host   Michael Millward the problems that small b...

What are the commercial benefits of looking after your employees as well as you look after your clients? Emma Sansom is the founder and CEO at Flamingo Marketing Strategies. In this episode of the Abeceder podcast The Independent Minds Emma and host Michael Millward discuss their shared approach to employee management. They discuss every stage of the employer employee relationship, from hiring to...

Stop giving discounts and start offering incentives. John Dwyer is the founder and driving force of the Institute of WOW , a marketing agency that specialises in creating knock-out customer attraction strategies. In this episode of the Abeceder podcast The Independent Minds John explains to host Michael Millward how to create knock-out marketing campaigns using incentives and competitions. During...

No one wants to be sold to, but we all like to be served. So, what will help you grow your business? That is the question that St John Craner answers in what host Michael Millward describes as a fascinating episode of The Independent Minds. St John is an Englishman who emigrated to New Zealand, a country with famously more sheep than people , and became an expert in selling to that agricultural co...

Kate Assaraf explains how she has grown DIP Sustainable by focusing on small shops and avoiding the costs of big channels Kate Assaraf is the founder of Dip Sustainable which aims to playfully educate people about the environment while encouraging them to buy better beauty care products, which means that can buy less of them, but to do their buying from small retailers. Offering great products got...

Michael Dargie explains how to move your brand from 'meh' to memorable. Michael Dargie is equal parts creative rebel and strategic thinker, the author of "BrandJitsu™: Move Your Brand From 'Meh' To Memorable", host of the Rebel Rebel podcast and founder of Make More Creative , a Calgary-based Creative Intelligence Agency specializing in brand development, strategy, and storytelling using the Brand...

What is it like to go to work everyday feeling like your hair in on fire? Jimi Okubanjo explains the purpose of her film Arise Firebird. Jimi Okubanjo has designed, led, and executed major transformations across engineering, energy, and financial-services sectors, delivering over $250m in realised value across 18 countries. Then Jimi decided to launch a career as a maker of films that help to expl...

Discover how to use the principles of physics to power your small business to maximum momentum Chip Higgins is lifelong banker. When he heard business owners talk about wanting their business to have some momentum, he wondered why the entrepreneurs had decided to use momentum to describe their business objectives. Whilst listening to a scientist friend who he had asked to explain the scientific me...

Reflections on the process of using franchising to grow a business Carson Wagner was a teenager when she founded Lifetime of Love Nannies . Just six years later she is using franchising to expand her business across all fifty states in the USA. Lifetime of Love Nannies provides a range of home best care services for children, the elderly and pets that are available 24/7. In an episode of The Indep...

Leadership the calm, peaceful and untroubled way creating time to absorb a situation and think. Thom Dennis is a former Royal Marines officer who became a cultural change consultant and executive coach. Thom developed Serenity in Leadership , an approach to leadership that aims to provide leaders with a greater understanding of themselves and free them from the constraints of conventional approach...

An Operator’s Guide to a Performance Culture Dr James Chitwood is an Army Veteran, former university president, and sales operations expert who helps organizations build systems that drive measurable performance. In this episode of The Independent Minds James Chitwood and host Michael Millward explore the role of leadership in organisations. They discuss How leadership and employee development is...

Exploring the secret to effective time management Ann Carden was a happy but cash-strapped stay-home mom who became a successful serial entrepreneur, author and business coach. Ann has successfully built and sold at several businesses, that were built around her passions and now spends time supporting other entrepreneurs . In this episode of The Independent Minds Ann and host Michael Millward expl...

Explore the connection between transformational leadership and the motivation of employees Stephen Walker is an engineer who became frustrated when people failed to share his enthusiasm for the work tools he created. That frustration became a fascination for discovering what motivates people at work to engage in new activities and the role of leaders in maximising that motivation. Stephen is the f...

Inside the greatest career you didn't know about that can help you fulfil your lifestyle aspirations like no other career. Bill Becker is a career sales person who advocates for the professionalisation of careers in sales. In this episode of The Independent Minds Bill explains to host Michael Millward how misunderstandings about the role of sales leads to negative perceptions of sales people among...

Visionaries, Rebels and Machines, the story of humanity's extraordinary journey from electrification to cloudification. Jamie Dobson is a member of the founding team of Container Solutions , where he helps all sorts of organisations move to cloud-native ways of working. He is also the author of Visionaries, Rebels and Machines, the story of humanity's extraordinary journey from electrification to...

Jane Ubell-Meyer increases brand awareness and sales by placing products in the right locations Jane Ubell Meyer is the founder of Bedside Reading , a company that increases brand awareness and sales by placing products in the right places. A seasoned media professional with experience as a producer on Good Morning America and Entertainment Tonight , Jane is responsible for launching the gift bags...

We have access to much information than ever before, but it all accessed via a filter that is managed by someone else. Can we really say we are informed? Kira Shishkin is a serial entrepreneur who has founded companies that developed technology with practical applications. His latest venture is informed.now the daily news SMS service that delivers unfiltered news direct to your phone. In this epis...

How EQ via Empathy Transforms Leadership for Better Profit, Productivity, and Innovation. Melissa Robinson-Winemiller is a trainer who operates on a global basis.  Melissa believes that in an era where everyone is niching down, empathy is the one thing that benefits the whole human race. In this episode of The Independent Minds Melissa explains to host Michael Millward what empathy and emotio...