Unleashed - How to Thrive as an Independent Professional

Jim Peters is the Chief Operating Officer at Rite Aid, which is number 150 on the Fortune 500, with $21.7 billion in revenue in 2019. For the three years prior to joining Rite Aid, Jim ran his own boutique consulting firm serving healthcare and life sciences companies. In this episode, Jim discusses the steps Rite Aid has taken during the coronavirus epidemic to keep its employees and customers sa...

Umbrex member and McKinsey alum Tim DeRoche is an independent management consultant, a screenwriter, an award-winning novelist and a non-fiction writer. In Episode 66 of Unleashed, Tim discussed his novel Huck and Miguel, a re-imaging of the story of Huck Finn, set in modern-day Los Angeles. In today's episode, Tim discusses his latest (non-fiction) book, A Fine Line: How most American kids are ke...

Michael Niczyporuk, currently SVP of Global Product Strategy at Visa, has been the Chief Strategy Officer at USAA, the Global Head of Strategy at Citi FinTech and Digital Payments, and the Head of Strategy for Digital at Capital One. In this episode, Michael draws on his broad experience across digital financial services to discuss innovation in the payments industry.

Alan Iny is the Global Lead for Creativity and Scenarios at Boston Consulting Group, and the co-author of Thinking in New Boxes: A New Paradigm for Business Creativity. In this episode, Alan shares practical tips to unleash creativity in your business. Follow Alan on Twitter: @Alan_Iny Alan's bio at BCG: https://www.bcg.com/en-us/about/people/experts/alan-iny.aspx Check out Alan's book: https://ww...

Jamie Head is the Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Ocean Spray Cranberries, which is an agricultural cooperative with over 700 member growers. The cooperative accounts for over 70% of North American cranberry production. In this episode, Jamie discusses innovations that are underway at this leading global producer. To learn more about Ocean Spray (and find plenty of recipes), visit: https:/...

McKinsey alum Eli Diament is the Founder and Director of Azurite Consulting, which specializes in conducting B2B surveys that require high volumes of niche B2B buyers, decision makers, and product users. In this episode, Eli discusses the principles behind constructing a B2B survey that will yield useful insights, and some of the issues to be mindful of when engaging a survey firm. Learn more abou...

Matt McDonald, a Partner at Hamilton Place Strategies, was recently named one of 38 "Power Players in Consulting" by Business Insider. In this episode, Matt explains how public affairs consulting firms operate. Learn more about Hamilton Place Strategies at: https://www.hamiltonplacestrategies.com/about/

Dan Goldman is the Global Head of Strategy at The North Face. In this episode, he provides his perspective on leading a strategy team during the pandemic. https://www.thenorthface.com/

Ken Cloke is a leading global expert on conflict resolution and the author of over a dozen books. In this episode, Ken shares the principles of conflict resolution, and how he became a pioneer in the field. Learn more about Ken on his website:  https://www.kencloke.com/about

Brian Ahearn has been certified by Robert Cialdini to teach his influence methodology. Through keynote speeches, coaching, and training sessions, Brian helps professionals understand the full set of influence tools. If you have a premium LinkedIn account, check out his LinkedIn Learning courses: Persuasive Selling, Persuasive Coaching and Persuading Different Personality Styles Learn more about Br...

Paul Cuatrecasas is the Founder and CEO of Aquaa Partners, a London-based, FCA regulated boutique M&A and strategic advisory firm that advises established companies on managing transformation to create exponentially increasing market value, revenue and profits. Paul is also the author of Go Tech, or Go Extinct: How Acquiring Tech Disruptors Is the Key to Survival and Growth for Established Compani...

Dhiraj Nayar, CFO of Boston Globe media, provides a perspective on the media business during the coronavirus pandemic. Dhiraj discusses how the company has worked to keep its reporters and other employees safe as well as initiatives to help the communities it serves.  Please do subscribe: https://www.bostonglobe.com/

McKinsey alum Indranil Ghosh is the CEO of Tiger Hill Capital, a business-building and advisory company comitting its energy, network and capital to commercial enterprises with the potential to deliver transformative solutions for global economic and social challenges. In this episode we discuss Indranil's recently published book, Powering Prosperity: A Citizen's Guide to Shaping the 21st Century....

Robbie Kellman Baxter is the author of The Membership Economy: Find Your Superusers, Master the Forever Transaction & Build Recurring Revenue, a book that has been named a top 10 marketing book of all time by BookAuthority. Robbie discussed that book on Episode 6 of this show. In today's episode, Robbie discusses her latest book, The Forever Transaction: How to Build a Subscription Model So Compel...

David A. Fields is back on the show, this time to help me answer a question from listener Caroline Taich, who asked for best practices on what steps to take at the end of a long project to: 1) hand over deliverables 2) ask for recommendations and referrals 3) stay in touch with key individuals you've developed relationships with over the course of the project We cover all three topics, and I found...

McKinsey alum Venkat Nagaswamy is the Group VP of Marketing at 8x8, a leading Software-as-a-Service provider of voice, video, chat, contact center and enterprise-class API solutions. In today's episode, Venkat discusses how contact centers have kept functioning during the pandemic by rapidly shifting from on premises operations to working remotely. He shares one example in which 8x8 got a call fro...

Roger Samways is the VP of Cargo Sales at American Airlines. In this episode, Roger first provides a brief overview of the air cargo industry, then we discuss the impact of the coronavirus, including how American Airlines has been adapting. Learn more about American Airlines Cargo at: https://www.aacargo.com/index.html

Kazuki Kozuru-salifoska is a fashion professional, a skilled creative designer as well as tech designer. Together with Doni Jantzen, she founded KEDIC Fashion Workshop. One of the services they offer is helping fashion brands get into the plus-size market. I was shocked to hear that the 'standard' clothing sizes manufactured by many brands don't fit 70% of women consumers in the U.S. KEDIC Fashion...

Keith Stoeckeler is a VP/Group Director at MKTG, where a significant portion of his time is spent working with brands to establish and manage sponsorships of sports and other entertainment events. In this episode, Keith discusses how sports sponsorships work and the impact of the coronavirus. Follow Keith on Twitter: https://twitter.com/keiths For more on MKTG, visit:  http://mktg.com/ For more on...

Mark Goulston is a psychiatrist, consultant, and the author of seven books, including Just Listen and Talking to Crazy. In this episode Mark shares tips on learning to listen including some of the lessons he taught to FBI hostage negotiators. Ways to learn more about Mark's work: Website:  http://markgoulston. com Non-profit:  http://wmyst.org Instagram:  https://www. instagram.com/wmystglobal/ tw...

Austin Publicover is a food safety expert and the Founder of Bulletproof! Food Safety, a consulting firm that works with many of the top restaurants in New York City. In this episode, Austin discusses the services his firm provides restaurants and food manufacturers, particularly: - preparation for NYC Health Department inspections - help with obtaining and maintaining all the necessary permits. W...

Liz Dunn is a noted retail expert who regularly appears on CNBC to discuss the industry. In this episode, Liz shares a perspective on how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the retail industry. We cover multiple segments including grocery, home furnishings, home improvement,and apparel.  Follow Liz on Twitter: @Lizabeth_Dunn On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lizabeth-dunn-6677034/ Her co...

Frank Kochenash is President of Wunderman Thompson Commerce North America - a global eCommerce consultancy within the agency. In this episode Frank provides an overview of the agency world, explaining along the way why the term "digital agency" is now considered obsolete, as every aspect of marketing now has a digital component. We dive into the intricacies of what it takes for a brand to thrive o...

Marvin Riley is the President and CEO of EnPro Industries Inc., a diversified manufacturer of proprietary engineered products used in critical applications. EnPro is a truly global firm - the company operates manufacturing facilities in North and South America, Europe and Asia; employs more than 5,000 people worldwide, and sells products to more than 50,000 customers in over 100 countries across t...

William H. Bachman, PhD, spent 28 years designing nuclear fuel for civilian reactors. After taking early retirement in 1997, he set himself up as an independent professional - a handyman. In today's episode, my dad tells the story of his second career. Check out his one YouTube video, mentioned in this episode, on how to replace a kitchen spray nozzle (308,000 views and counting): https://www.yout...