Unleashed - How to Thrive as an Independent Professional

In this video edition of Unleashed, Michael Sorrentino provides Will Bachman with an introduction to media training.   No one is a natural in front of a videocamera, because you need to speak in an unnatural way and hold yourself in an unnatural position if you want to look normal. If you have invested time and effort to build up your visibility and expect to be appearing on camera, it is a worthw...

Our guest today is Liliana Petrova, who runs The Petrova Experience, a consulting firm that helps brands build differentiated experiences and leverage technology to increase customer loyalty, efficiencies and revenue. Liliana was previously the Director of Customer Experience at JetBlue Airways, and on this episode we discuss some of the culture driven behind-the-scenes decisions that set JetBlue...

Today's guest is McKinsey alum and Umbrex member Tineke Keesmaat, who is based in Toronto. Tineke's firm works with ambitious leaders and she is known for her unique blend of world-class strategy, organizational change, and people leadership. Tineke was recently awared with a MacKay Canada CEO's Trusted Advisor Award, recognizes the contributions that Trusted Advisors make in the leadership field...

In my conversations with independent consultants, a common question I get is how to generate more business. There are a lot of things one could POTENTIALLY do to generate more revenue, and some people flail around putting effort into initiatives that may have a low return on investment. Of course we all want to put our time and energy into areas with a relatively high return on investment, and I'v...

Our guest today is Michael Ryan, whose headline on LinkedIn is a great example of a fishing line: "Helping B2B Manufacturers Optimize Inventory and Operations to Increase Cash Flow" In this episode, we explore Michael's work on inventory issues. Michael is certainly in the top 1% of people I know in how he has been using LinkedIn to build a brand. Michael has posted every day on LinkedIn for six m...

Today we welcome back David A. Fields, the author of The Irresistible Consultant's Guide to Winning Clients: 6 Steps to Unlimited Clients & Financial Freedom. David was my very first guest, on Episode 1, when we covered many of the topics in his book. https://www.umbrex.com/unleashed/episode-1-david-fields-on-winning-clients/ In Episode 170, David shared tips on how to make outbound calls: https:/...

Our guest today is Paul Millerd, who has been on the show before, on Episode 62. It was great to welcome Paul back to hear what he has been up to. I'm so inspired by Paul, who has been incredibly deliberate about designing a life.  He has built a practice that allows him to work completely remotely, and recently left home in Boston to spend a stretch of time working in Bali and then in Japan and n...

Ripa Rashid is the Managing Director at Culture At Work, which works with Global 500 organizations to build cultural change strategies to maximize their Diversity and Inclusion efforts while generating positive business results. Ripa is the coauthor of three books: Disrupt Bias, Drive Value (Center for Talent Innovation, 2017), Growing Global Executives: The New Competencies (Center for Talent Inn...

Nir Eyal was my guest on Episode 200 of this show. I found his message so important that I asked Nir to discuss his latest book, Indistractable, at an Umbrex Presents event, which took place October 28, 2019. This episode is Nir's complete live talk to a capacity crowd at StandUpNY, followed by a Q&A period. Subscribers of the weekly Unleashed email receive private invitations to register for Umbr...

In Episode 213, Will Bachman discussed how to source experts for interviews - either using an expert network or by doing the work yourself. Listener Gary C. asked if consultants should sign up with expert networks as the one to be interviewed. This episode answers his question, in three parts: Will your expertise be useful to the people who are asking the questions Are you likely to get selected f...

David Minifie is the Chief Experience Officer and Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Centene Corporation. Centene is a Fortune 500 company that provides a portfolio of services to government sponsored healthcare programs. In this episode, David explains to me the role and responsibilities of a Chief Experience Officer, which includes and expands the responsibilities he previously he...

What should you say when you are meeting for the first time with an individual at a client you are already serving? Here's the approach I've used the past few years:  "I'd be happy to provide context on the project, but I don't want to go over material you are already familiar with. What have you already heard about this effort?" In this episode, I explain why I use that question. Every week I sen...

I was chatting with an independent consultant at an event last night, and he told me, "I'm having a hard time finding project opportunities, and I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I've got three decades of experience, so usually if I sit down with someone and talk to them about their business, I'm able to find a way that I can be helpful, but I'm not getting the opportunity to have those conversat...

In this episode, Will Bachman explains how to source experts to interview for a consulting project. The episode covers: 1) How to work with expert networks such as AlphaSights, GLG, and Third Bridge and 2) How to source experts on your own using LinkedIn and other channels We cover: - How to identify the populations to be sourced - How to work with a researcher to generate a list of targets - How...

Umbrex member Ushma Pandya is the Co-Founder and Partner at Think Zero Inc, an environmental consulting firm supporting businesses' waste reduction and diversion goals. In this episode, Ushma walks me through the stages of a typical waste reduction project, and shares some of the surprising things she has found in the recycling bin. You can learn more about her firm at: https://thinkzerollc.com/ T...

In this episode Will Bachman covers: Which type of LinkedIn Premium subscription should you get Tips on posting LinkedIn articles and posts Recommendations on each element of your LinkedIn profile, including: Photo Name Headline Contact info Summary section Summary section attachments Experience  Experience section attachments Education Skills Interests Recommendations received and given For more...

McKinsey alum Raghav Nandagopal is the Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and Mergers and Acquisitions at Ascensus Incorporated. In today's episode, Raghav explains how he build an M&A group to complete acquisitions at scale at Ascensus. Ascensus is the largest independent retirement and college savings services provider in the U.S. with over $163 billion in assets under management,...

Tom Schwab runs Interview Valet, a firm that helps its clients get booked on targeted podcasts where they can speak directly to their ideal customers. In this episode, Tom shares his perspective on why being a guest on a podcast is a great way to raise your visibility How to prepare for an interview How to promote the interview How to work with a podcast interview booking firm like his And How to...

Jake Jorgovan turns consultants into thought leaders through content marketing. Jake's firm, Content Allies, works with consultants who have deep industry or functional knowledge, but who simply don't have the time to sit down and get that knowledge onto paper. A writer from his team interviews the client to get a brain dump on a particular topic, and then they write the blog post or the white pap...

Our guest today is Tanya Kleindienst, a culture and leadership coach based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Prior to starting her independent consulting practice, Tanya was the Senior Vice President and Head of Corporate Culture at Fifth Third Bank. In this episode, Tanya describes the roles and responsibilities of a head of corporate culture. You can connect with Tanya via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/...

Our guest today is Michael Fertman, a marketing consultant who runs The B2B Marketing Group based in New York City. In today's episode, Michael explains the fundamentals of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). If you are looking to have your website ranked higher in search engine results, and SEO is a bit of a black box to you, then this episode could be a good place to start. You can learn more abou...

Our guest today is Annie Scranton, the Founder of Pace Public Relations,a full-service media relations and communications agency based in New York City. If you want to raise your visibility by getting interviewed on TV or by print journalists, this is the episode for you, since Annie explains to me the basics of how public relations work. You can find out more about Pace Public Relations on their...

Our guest today is Clark Beecher, the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Beecher Reagan, the largest U.S. executive search firm that exclusively focuses on current and former consulting talent. In this episode Clark provides tips on how to best work with executive recruiters – both when you are looking for a new role and when you aren't. He also provides his perspective on how recruiters and emplo...

A five-minute investment in sending a recap email can significantly improve the effectiveness of meetings and the overall outcomes on a project. In this episode, we discuss two flavors: #1: The post-meeting recap email #2: The weekly recap email If you are interested in hiring an independent consultant for one of your project needs, email Will Bachman at unleashed@umbrex.com

Our guest today is Avish Bhama, the CEO of Sonia, where the mission is to build Artificial Intelligence that interprets human intent, and use it to democratize access to information-flow at work. Sonia builds tools that empower you to focus on the interesting and creative nature of your work rather than the repetitive and mundane parts. When you sign up for a plan with Sonia, you get an AI tool th...