The Leadership Stack Podcast

A successful actress turned entrepreneur, listen to Maricar Reyes-Poon’s entrepreneurial journey only in this episode! Joining Mr. CEO at 22, Sean Si, is Ms. Maricar Reyes-Poon, an actress, author, and an entrepreneur as well. After her successful career in showbiz, she founded an online food business last 2019, and just recently, released her own self-titled book. Now, catch Ms. Maricar as she sh...

Sean: Now I want to shift the conversation a little bit and drill down on how important is it for people to be able to learn better as an entrepreneur and as a leader. Because a lot of people tuned in here, maybe some of them not so convinced, not so sold, thinking that, hey, you know, I know what I know, and that's good enough for me and I think I can make it. How important is learning, really? P...

Sean: But I'm wondering now, how did Milestone come to be? Who thought of this? Patrick: Okay, so this is this is a journey that I and my co-founder, Josh, the chief exec, have been on together for the last couple of years now. My background is a little unusual for a tech startup. I'm actually a high school teacher. I was in education in Britain, teaching 17 and 18-year-olds for nearly 20 years, a...

Matthew: There's another thing that I think is really valuable for recognition, right? We have on our Slack, we have a validation channel. And what that is for is peer-to-peer recognition of people who are living up to the values. So it's not top-down, although sometimes managers do it, it's one another recognizing and it costs nothing. There's no cash value. But my goodness, I know for myself whe...

Trust is one of the building blocks in every relationship and in an organization. But how do you earn it back once you’ve lost it? Watch this! How do you build a strong lasting trust? It’s the most relevant question that every leader asks themselves and their people. And it’s the question that we set out to try to understand its importance and how to build it. The need for trust is capable of maki...

Sean: So what are some of the things that you have come up with? Maybe a system, or perhaps it's a set of principles to form an intentional culture that you would like to work in. Matthew: So what levers have you got to manage all of that? Things that have worked for me, had as the company, as articulate marketing grew 5 people, 10 people, 15 people. I brought in external expert consultant-type pe...

Matthew: One observation I had very strongly after leaving my first business was, I had spent a lot of my time, a lot of my time dealing with a small handful of employees who were challenging in one way or another. They needed to develop, or they were disruptive in some way. When you have employees, you know, there's a bell curve, there are some who are awesome. There's a big middle of people who...

Sean: How do you know if you have it though? Naresh: I'll give you some signs. When other people want you, that's leverage when other people are recruiting. Hey, I need you to do this project. I'm on this tight deadline. I'll give you an example because my wife is a doctor here in the United States. And as I mentioned earlier, they just don't really understand these concepts of leverage and focus...

What differentiates successful people from others is the way they handle and think of failures. How can you handle failures? Watch this. Whether we like it or not, we will experience failure in our lives. Being successful is not an overnight process. And throughout that process, there is no doubt that you’re going to fail or make mistakes. Catch Mr. CEO at 22, Sean Si, as he shares what you must d...

Naresh: That's a very important point, making sure that your clients are happy. Many people in my industry, are looking to make a quick buck. And this was the lesson that I learned early on. This was terrible advice. So personally I don't come from a business family. You brought up the whole age thing and what people are asking you. I don't come from a business family, really. I come from a family...

Naresh: But if you are that 50-year-old person or the 40-year-old person, you're like, okay, well, I've got the kids, I've got family, and how do I do this? My situation is my own personal situation. Your situation is your own personal situation. Everyone's situation is unique. I think the key is you just have to make a schedule and you have to stay grounded there for it's like a four-legged stool...

Sean: How about your podcast? Can you tell us a little bit more about your podcast? So you started it during a time when you were in a transition in your life, I'd say a major transition because you finally decided that, okay, I probably don't need to work. What do I want to do? Right. And that's what you mentioned earlier. So why did you start that podcast? What's it for? What's your main purpose...

People can lead without them having the position or role of a leader. The question is, how can you influence other people without a title? Watch this. Just because you have the title, doesn’t really mean that you’re a real leader. No matter what your position is, having influence on other people is the start of developing that leader within you. Catch Mr. CEO at 22, Sean Si as he enumerates five p...

Sean: What would be your advice on the other end of the spectrum for B2C businesses? So let's just say they're selling food-packed meals or they're selling novelty items, and gadgets. What would be your suggestion to them? There are two years old in the business. They have a team, they're making money, but they just want to make more money. They want to be dominating their industry. What digital m...

Sean: So I want to ask and you mentioned that you had a digital marketing agency in Singapore. Why did you choose digital marketing as your business and how did you start that? Yasi: Yeah. So back then I started that company aside is more like a consulting, less digital marketing agency, as is what I'm doing now. Back then I had a full-time job and I have this other side because I told you, right?...

Sean: You follow this idea and a lot of people are in that stage, Carol, more than you know, that they have an idea. They like this idea. They believe it will work. But some people were strong with wondering about these things and ideation and maybe even part of the execution in their heads. They hesitate and they think of all the wrong things that could happen. And then they think, "Oh, well, but...

Sean: You mentioned personal development. What about personal development is so important in critical thinking and becoming a better entrepreneur? Carol: Because we're born incomplete. You think about we're born physically incomplete. We're tiny little things and muscles don't work. We can't stand up, can't roll over. As we go along in life, we learn a lot about our physical being. We learn a lot...

Still trying to figure out what the market needs right now? Here are some insights on how you can determine future market demands! Entrepreneurs look at underserved markets so they can create a solution and build a business from it. Join Mr. CEO at 22, Sean Si, as he shares how he foresaw future demands in the market and found out about SEO which soon became his business. Stay tuned only in this l...

Sean: Now I want to hop a little bit forward. So you sold that business and what went through your mind? I mean, you have this pile of cash now and not sure where to go. How long did it take you for you to have - I don't know what you did right after. Did you go on a break vacation with your husband, with your family, or did you want to already look into what's next? What can we do next? Carol: No...

What you want to do as the 'leader' is make sure that you have the right kinds of personalities in your team. Watch this to know how! There is more to personality tests than helping you become more aware of yourself. Accompany Mr. CEO at 22, Sean Si, for yet another interesting topic about how personality tests can improve workplace dynamics. Also learn the limitations of personality tests and the...

Sean: And with that, I'm going to skip to this question. How much of my income should I be investing? Let's just say this person is making 20,000 - the average 20 or 25-year-old working in a 9 to 6 job, or 8 to 5 job. Nicole: The answer is always 'it will depend.' Say like if you have 20,000 to invest, the answer will depend on your age and your circumstances. As someone who's 21 years old, I can...

Nicole: I'm at that point that I'm scaling, but at this point, like I'm running my YouTube channel, right? It's pretty massive. And yeah, at this point, people usually hire out things, but it's hard to start delegating. Like, that's what I'm trying to learn right now, to start hiring, like outsourcing things, you know, like to delegate things, get people to help me, because it's hard to scale your...

Effective communication is key to becoming an effective leader. But how do you communicate as a leader? Watch and practice these tips! As a leader, communication is crucial especially when you are rallying your team to move toward your shared vision. Furthermore, effective communication helps you build trust and success. Join Mr. CEO at 22, Sean Si, as he shares how communication makes you an effe...

Sean: There's a question, did your family instill this financial literacy at home, or was it something you discovered with peers or at school? I always thought that financial literacy really begins at home. Nicole: Great question. I think for us we're Filipino-Chinese right? I don't know if I can speak for you. But I think at home we've always been told and emphasized on the importance of money, y...

"A true leader always thinks about what he or she can do for others, not the other way around. I guess the reason why we have so many problems in our world today is that we have leaders who are in positions who think that way. What can this person do for me? What can this company do for me? For me, that creates the problems that we have in our world today." Join Mr. CEO at 22, Sean Si, as he answe...