Patricia O’Connell interviews Mac Gardner, CFP®, Founder and Chief Education Officer at FinLit Tech about teaching children financial literacy to help eliminate the wealth gap. Mac shares his vision of financial literacy for elementary school students, and how parents can teach it in the home. He describes new technology parents can use with their children. Mac shares what he learned growing up with a father with an MBA in Finance.

Listen in to learn more about the link between financial literacy and financial wellness.

Key Takeaways:

[:25] April is Financial Literacy Month in the United States. Fewer than half the states require any economics or financial literacy. According to Mac Gardner, we are missing a huge opportunity to help close the wealth gap.

[:45] Patricia O’Connell introduces Mac Gardner, CFP®, Founder and Chief Education Officer at FinLit Tech. Mac joins the podcast to talk about why financial literacy matters, how to increase awareness in children about the power of money, and the relationship between financial knowledge and financial wellness.

[:56] Patricia welcomes Mac to the podcast.
[1:11] Financial literacy plus financial capability — the tools — equals financial wellness.

[1:50] Mac founded FinLit Tech to build a bridge between financial literacy and financial technology. Financial technology tools allow people to utilize financial education to achieve financial wellness.

[2:23] Florida has just announced a requirement for a half-credit in economics or financial literacy for high school seniors to graduate.

[3:29] There are 23 states that offer or require a class in financial literacy by the senior year in high school. According to a Cambridge study, a child’s connectivity with money starts as early as age seven. That leaves ten years without teaching financial literacy.

[4:24] If a child has no access to financial literacy technology, most of their financial education comes from what they observe among their family members and peers.

[4:42] If parents never learned financial literacy, how do they teach their children to use money? This is why Mac wrote the book, The Four Money Bears. Mac teaches about three “Rs” of money: First, you realize what money is; second, you recognize the function of money in your life; and third, you rationalize how to use this tool in your life.

[5:34] If your only awareness of the function of money is about spending and saving, you’re limited in what you believe it can do for you. The idea behind The Four Money Bears is to open up the minds of young people that you have four options: you can spend it, save it, invest it, or give it away.

[6:16] Children often identify with one type of Money Bear, more spending, saving, or giving than investing. Mac tells about an Investing Bear kid. If we start kids thinking about investing and growing their money long-term, we can see good things happen.

[8:18] Will children resonate more with their parents’ behaviors with money or with what they read in The Four Money Bears? Mac gives his thoughts on the new Berryville app. It uses the TAT method to teach, analyze, and track.
[9:03] Financial wellness is developed over time by things you do regularly. Most young people absorb how their parents talk about money. They see how they shop at the grocery store. Are they looking for the better price?

[10:04] Our society shies away from talking about finances. You need to be intentional about having the conversation. We live in one of the strongest economies. We need to teach our children how to use the tools that got us here.

[10:38] Mac addresses parents who have different money personas. One may be a Spender Bear but the other is a Saver Bear. The important principle of The Four Money Bears is making young people aware they have options. When you invest, your money works for you. Giving harnesses the power of altruism.

[12:04] The four rules of The Four Money Bears are Spend Cautiously, Save Diligently, Invest Wisely, and Give Generously. Mac explains. The big issue in our country is overspending!

[13:14] Do parents have to agree in terms of teaching their children about money? Who teaches children about money? Why isn’t financial literacy talked about in society?

[14:58] How do you teach young people about money in a digital world where they may not even hold physical money? Most elementary school children still get money, because they don’t have credit. Mac’s older children use a Greenlight account for their allowance, debit card spending, and more.

[16:00] It’s so important to start the educational process early. If you have a debit card instead of cash, you’d better know how to use it! With the technology, young people can even buy fractional shares of stocks.

[17:39] Mac talks about FinLit Tech’s Berryville app in development. It will provide an on-ramp to a child’s ongoing financial education journey into the four options they have with money. What if we could get children to start investing at age seven?

[19:37] Mac shares what he learned about money at home. Mac grew up in Antigua. His grandmother didn’t have a lot but she was able to make the dollar stretch. His dad had an MBA in Finance and taught him young about assets, liabilities, and balance sheets.
[20:51] Where’s the Earning Bear? Mac hears that question a lot. The Berryville app teaches both sides of the personal finance fence, including how to earn money and run a business. Look at TheFourMoneyBears.com to learn more about the mission to teach kids money. You can download the demo of the app from Apple or Android.

[22:03] Patricia thanks Mac for joining This is Capitalism, the podcast, during Financial Literacy Month.

Mentioned in This Episode:

National Financial Literacy Month

FinLit Tech

Mac Gardner

The Four Money Bears

Greenlight

 Patricia O’Connell interviews Tom Stewart, Chief Knowledge Officer at AchieveNEXT® about the 2022 CFO-CHRO Sentiment Study. They discuss the top concerns of middle-market companies.

Listen in to learn more about middle-market company plans for 2022.

Key Takeaways:

[:36] AchieveNEXT® specializes in helping businesses grow by sharpening their focus on human capital.

[:58] Patricia O’Connell introduces Tom Stewart, Chief Knowledge Officer at AchieveNEXT®.

[1:18] Tom describes AchieveNEXT®’s CFO-CHRO Sentiment Study. AchieveNEXT® surveys CFOs and CHROs at the beginning and end of each year. As 2022 began, CFOs and CHROs looked back on 2021; 40% said their performance was very much better than the year before. Looking forward, 46% expected 2022 to be even better.

[1:41] A total of 77% of CFOS and CHROs surveyed said that they expected 2022 to be much better or better than 2021. Of course, businesses fell off a cliff in the Spring of 2020 from pandemic issues. Many of them rebounded in late 2020. Businesses entered 2021 with confidence in a good year; 2021 turned out to be better than expected.

[3:16] At the beginning of the year, AchieveNEXT® asked CFOs and CHROs what their biggest challenges and concerns were. The number one risk was talent and the number one obstacle was talent. They were looking at the Great Resignation and wondering where the people would come from to execute the companies’ growth plans.

[3:47] AchieveNEXT® has just completed 10 roundtable meetings of CFOs and CHROs from New York to Orange County. Talent remains the number one issue, with two nuances: Can they get the talent, and how much will it cost to get the talent?

[4:30] Some of the CFOs are worried more about the cost of talent. Others are worried about how to get critical technical employees that are hard to find. The power in the labor market has shifted to the employee. Tom addresses the reason employers think employees leave vs. the reason employees leave.

[7:49] Companies are starting to think about succession planning, and leadership development to improve retention. They are also working on diversity, equity, and inclusion issues to build a sense of belonging.

[8:32] The question of diversity that came up a few years ago has expanded into a larger question of does the employee have a feeling of belonging and a voice and is the company listening to that voice? Do employees have a sense they can learn and grow, and that there is a career path for them?

[10:09] Money matters, but it’s not the deciding factor in recruitment and retention. A sense of belonging matters more. Before the pandemic, employers were competing with each other for talent. Now they are also competing with life choices such as flexible hours, working from home, or part-time work.

[11:27] Tom shares some of the thoughts he hears from mid-market companies at the roundtable meetings. There is concern about competing with large corporations and their pay packages but that is balanced by a better quality of life and personal attention. They don’t have to be rigid and bureaucratic.

[12:48] Tom discusses supply chains and supply chain disruptions. A lot of the middle-market companies are tier-one and tier-two suppliers to large companies. Going with supply chain disruptions are concerns about costs of talent, fuel, materials, and components. CFOs have to change their budgets dramatically.

[15:00] As the pandemic sent everyone home, officers couldn’t walk down the hall to talk to everyone. Suddenly, processes were needed to catch up with people. Processes and structure are now needed at mid-sized companies to recruit and retain talent.

[15:56] Tom talks about the training offered by AchieveNEXT® in sales, sales and relationship building, customer experience, and the alignment of the employee experience and the customer experience. Tom says that fast-growing companies are 25% more likely to say that they had a formal customer experience process.

[17:35] People are still expecting a strong 2022, but are looking to the second half of the year and thinking maybe it’s going to be a bit tougher, especially the cost issues. Tom is hearing from CFOs that they have a Plan B budget for “tougher sledding.” Most of them are on plan or ahead of plan but see headwinds coming up.

[18:49] Tom Stewart gives the link to find more about the survey.

[19:10] Patricia thanks Tom for being on This is Capitalism, the podcast.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Tom Stewart
AchieveNEXT

AchieveNEXT 2022 CFO-CHRO Sentiment Study

McKinsey & Company

Patricia O’Connell interviews Drew Russell, EVP of Sports Properties & Media Assets at Intersport about how the recent rulings that permitted Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals directly between collegiate athletes and sponsoring brands have affected college sports and individual branding for collegiate athletes. They discuss the legal background, the choices athletes have now, and any effect NIL deals may have on how collegiate games are played.

Listen in to learn more about this exciting development for college athletes.

Key Takeaways:

[1:13] Patricia O’Connell introduces Drew Russell, Executive Vice President of Sports Properties & Media Assets at Intersport, a Chicago-based sports and entertainment marketing company.

[1:35] Drew is a big-time fan of college sports.

[2:12] Court cases opened the door for collegiate athletes to monetize themselves, starting with the lawsuit brought by UCLA player Ed O’Bannon over an EA Sports video game that used his likeness and the likenesses of other players in its NCAA games.

[3:01] The courts allowed the institutions and the states to determine monetization opportunities for college athletes. For the first time, college athletes can monetize their name, image, and likeness (NIL) in various ways. College athletes cannot be paid for performance or paid to play.

[5:28] Each athlete is their own brand. There’s a female gymnast at LSU with four million followers. This rule has been very helpful for Olympic athletes and female athletes.

[6:26] The average of athletes’ NIL deals has been in the range of $2,000 as social media influencers to amplify a local or national brand’s message.

[7:23] A lot of brands jumped in right away. A number of deals were struck at midnight the day NIL became legal for college athletes. The brands were looking for PR value more than an immediate return on their investment.

[8:53] A variety of brands are getting involved. Footwear and apparel companies and sports beverage companies, that have long been linked with collegiate sports are now starting to jump into NIL deals, not just with the star quarterback or the center.

[9:59] The larger brands that go for the professional athletes have been strategic with their approach to collegiate NIL deals.

[10:51] Collegiate athlete NIL deals present a great opportunity for local businesses that might not be able to afford to buy a sponsorship campaign with the university.

[13:51] Drew talks about how the athletes benefit from this NIL initiative. They are being educated about brand-building and opportunities and with whom they want to align. What are their social causes? What do they advocate? NIL is part of the recruiting pitch, so the universities are assisting the athletes in the area of branding.

[14:52] The universities are getting assistance from third-party consulting companies and collectives.

[15:43] For some athletes and some sports, college playing is the pinnacle of their sports career. The ability to build a social media presence and content offerings is a great benefit to their growth.

[16:44] Drew discusses the positive sides of athletes’ NIL campaigns. Athletes have learned to be selective in choosing where they want to be aligned.

[18:37] Are there downsides to allowing college athletes to participate in NIL campaigns? They have to be sure they are generating a return for their investors. Drew is not aware of any situations that have gone South, relative to either the brand or the athlete, after almost a year of campaigns.

[20:04] The disparity in resources for universities is the biggest downside for schools. There are only a small number of universities that are making money from college athletics. Only the larger institutions are going to be able to supply support resources to NIL programs. This is no different from the past differences between schools.

[21:35] Drew discusses his experience as a college sports fan. The NIL campaigns have not affected his enjoyment. It’s an opportunity for the athletes and the institutions to perform on the biggest stages. It may even encourage the athletes to perform to their best ability.

[23:00] Old-school thinkers may object that this is not the college sports they grew up with. It’s true that we’re living in a different world. This is not the downfall of college athletics. It hasn’t had the negative impact that some predicted would occur. It’s been good for everyone involved.

[24:52] Patricia thanks Drew for being on This is Capitalism, the podcast.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Drew Russell
Intersport

Ed O’Bannon

EA Sports
Ed O’Bannon vs. NCAA

Patricia O’Connell interviews Ron Jaworski, the CEO and Co-Founder of Trinity Audio about how a website can be “audified,” how audio increases the stickiness of a website, and some of the other use cases of audio powered by AI.

Listen in to learn more about engaging your audience with a new channel for consuming your content.

Key Takeaways:

[:26] Patricia O’Connell introduces Ron Jaworski, the CEO and Co-Founder of Trinity Audio.

[1:45] Ron describes the audience for audio content; particularly audio content converted from print through AI.

[2:47] Ron says AI voices are being created to sound more human, while human ears are becoming more tolerant to AI voices. He shares how people were given eight separate voice samples to rate between mechanical and human, and only 25% rated them all correctly as AI. Half could not be certain and 25% rated them all incorrectly as human.

[5:54] Men tend to prefer female AI voices; women are split between a preference for male and female accents.

[7:11] Localization of accents is a developing issue. Trinity Audio has just one U.S. accent, not separate accents for U.S. regions. The U.S. accent is separate from the U.K. and Australian accents. There are several Spanish accents, by country.

[9:11] What is the business case for content creators to use AI to create audio content from print? There is a boom in audiobooks, which can be consumed while doing another activity. Everybody is looking to consume audio. You should give them an audio option.

[11:49] How does Trinity Audio work? Ron gives a short explanation of how Trinity Audio can “audify” the written content on your website. Trinity also offers other robust products to deliver a larger audio experience. The basic building block is having the option to listen to an article.

[13:14] Ron describes how monetization and ads work with Trinity Audio.

[16:13] Before AI, hiring a narrator was the easiest way to convert text to audio. Ron estimates AI could audify the New York Public Library in a couple of weeks, rather than the years it would take for narrators to read all the content.

[17:59] The business case for periodical publications to audify their content is that it provides a channel to engage their audience with a new option to consume content and stay significantly longer on the page. Audio is about stickiness.

[20:09] There are use cases beyond audifying websites. Ron shares examples of sending audio messages and memos.

[24:00] Content that relies heavily on graphs and charts does not turn easily into audio form. But the audio portion can refer to visual components to be considered separately.

[25:22] The use of audio content will increase but there will continue to be a need for written content. Ron shares another use case of AI live interactivity in a classroom.
[27:38] Ron reveals the genesis of the name Trinity Audio.

[29:34] Patricia thanks Ron for being on This is Capitalism: CEO Stories.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Ron Jaworski
Trinity Audio

MIT

WhatsApp

Patricia O’Connell interviews Beverly Behan about boards. They discuss Beverly’s books, her work with boards and directors, and her advice for newly recruited directors who want to become stars in the boardroom. Beverly’s experience with boards and directors has given her the knowledge of what makes a board run and what makes a star director, and she shares bits of that knowledge in this interview.

Listen in to learn more about reaching your potential as a boardroom star.

Key Takeaways:

[:26] Patricia O’Connell introduces Beverly Behan, a governance expert and author of several best-selling books on the subject, including Great Companies Deserve Great Boards and Becoming a Boardroom Star.

[:46] Patricia welcomes Beverly to This is Capitalism: CEO Stories.

[1:03] Boards have evolved since the fall of Enron around 20 years ago. Before the Enron scandal, being on a board was considered an honor. Boards, whether in private or public companies, were more decorative than functional. Beverly was shocked at the country club nature of boards when she got interested in boards as a young attorney.

[2:17] Directors have never worked harder than they are working today. Being on a board is not only a privilege but also an important job to protect the company, its employees, and its investors and to leverage their expertise to guide the company through tough times.

[3:07] The board sets the tone and culture of the company. They choose the CEO. They approve the strategic direction of the company.

[3:41] A board member brings value by fulfilling two roles: a watchdog, raising tough and important questions, and a sounding board, bringing expertise to guide management through the challenges the company faces. That second role is where Beverly would like to see boards add more value even than they do today.

[5:24] Board composition is the single most important factor in board effectiveness. You want people with experience relevant to the issues they will confront on the agenda. A company needs one or two board members with industry expertise at the table but not all board members should be from the same industry.

[6:29] Bev offers suggestions for the types of experience that would be important to have on a board, depending on the size and type of company. Someone with a lot of industry experience has the credibility to challenge management. You want people who have run comparable-sized organizations. Expertise in finance and tech is important.

[8:40] On top of the various areas of expertise, consider diversity.

[9:28] In the past 12 to 18 months, there had been unprecedented recruitment of diverse board candidates, many of whom had no board experience. Bev started getting calls from women who were being recruited to a board for the first time. They all wanted to be great directors and wanted help to know what to do and what pitfalls to watch for.

[10:26] Bev drew on her thousands of interviews of directors and boards around the world to come up with things that make a difference for the new directors who were calling her for help. What do boards hold in high regard, and what detracts from a director’s credibility? This is how Bev came up with Becoming a Boardroom Star.

[11:07] What does it take to become a boardroom star? Bev shares a few ideas. The first thing is to learn as much as you can about the business. Go beyond the “Executives on Parade” meeting with each of the C-Suite members. After the director orientation, do site visits. Be diligent in your preparation; your work ethic shows.

[14:02] Injecting new people into a board with new and better behaviors can change the norms of the board in a good way.

[14:42] New directors often struggle with learning the line between governance and management. Directors don’t run the company, they oversee the people who run the company. A board may have a “Board Buddy” program where a new director is paired up with an incumbent director to review board materials together before the meeting.

[17:31] Bev lays out a case where the best choice for a director is to resign from the board! If a board votes differently than a director advocated, the director can either support the board’s decision or resign from the board. It is no use trying to revisit the decision and becoming a problem director.

[19:46 How long will it take for “new blood” to have an influence on the board? Bev shares her thoughts. It depends on the director. The better the director prepares for the role, the sooner the influence of that director will be felt. Credibility is key.

[21:59] Bev discusses how virtual board meetings have worked. She brings up the value of board evaluations, a tool to take a board from good to great and keep great boards vibrant. How is a board evaluation done by video conferencing? As boards return to meeting in person, what will change? What about board committees?

[25:36] Patricia thanks Bev for sharing her great insights with This is Capitalism: CEO Stories.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Beverly Behan
Great Companies Deserve Great Boards: A CEO's Guide to the Boardroom, by Beverly Behan

Becoming A Boardroom Star, by Beverly Behan

Enron

Sarbanes-Oxley Act

Patricia O’Connell interviews Ramy Gafni about Ramy Cosmetics, LLC. They discuss how he began in law school but realized his heart was in beauty school, how he started his career in photoshoots and retail and moved to an upscale salon until cancer and chemotherapy changed his appearance and cost him his job. Ramy discusses the steps he followed to continue receiving an income, including opening a private studio, creating a product line for cancer patients, and writing two books on beauty, how he won over a manufacturer and landed his first cosmetic client.

How did Ramy become the “go-to guy” for brows?

Listen in to learn more about Ramy Cosmetics LLC and the surprising path to becoming a cosmetics entrepreneur.

Key Takeaways:

[:29] Patricia O’Connell introduces Ramy Gafni, makeup artist, author, and CEO of Ramy Cosmetics, LLC, a company that uses cosmetics to bring out your best eyebrows.

[:52] Patricia welcomes Rami to This is Capitalism: CEO Stories.

[1:21] Ramy dropped out of law school and moved to Australia, where he went to beauty school. His parents were hoping he would go back to law school. He wrote a letter to his parents about going to a beauty school. He talked to his parents after sending the letter and they were very supportive. He took his studies seriously.

[2:11] Ramy returned to New York to pursue a career as a makeup artist in photoshoots and retail. He got hired as makeup director at a Fifth Avenue salon. That was the job that put him on the map. He started doing eyebrows and working on celebrities. He developed a makeup line for the salon.

[2:45] Vogue wrote Ramy up in a story about eyebrow obsession. The article dubbed him the “go-to eyebrow person” in New York. Other articles linked him to eyebrows, so he went with it.

[3:24] Then Ramy developed Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He worked every day during five months of chemo. He was about to start radiation when the salon fired him because of his changed appearance. Another top salon called him. He went to meet them, but having gone through chemo, he didn’t look like his picture. They didn’t hire him.

[4:33] Ramy realized no one was going to hire him while he looked like a cancer patient. He had taken his Rolodex of clients with him and started mailing to his clients to come to his private studio. Many of them came.

[5:45] Ramy kept getting written up in different magazines and newspapers as the eyebrow guy. That sent new people his way. His business was thriving; he was never busier. Ramy was also working as a freelance makeup artist and he got a gig for ABC Television doing makeup for a PSA for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

[6:17] Ramy decided to create a makeup line, using his experience of creating a makeup line for the salon that had hired him. He started with 12 products, selling them to his brow clients. He called the department stores, and Bergdorf Goodman returned his call. They called him in for a meeting every three months.

[7:03] Ramy was doing the eyebrows for the editor-in-chief and the staff at InStyle magazine and they gave a placement to his product line in the “What’s Hot Now” feature of the September issue. Ramy took it into Bergdorf Goodman and asked for a counter. They gave him one.

[7:45] Ramy talks about spending a year of his life going through cancer. You have to forge ahead, one day after another. He felt that if he could get through cancer, he could get through anything. He was happy to be alive; he was happy to be working and have an income.

[8:05] The buyer at Bergdorf Goodman asked about his numbers. Ramy didn’t know what she was talking about. Bergdorf was good to him and gave him an education about running a counter.

[10:02] Ramy talks about Ramy Beauty Therapy. It began with a concealer he used to hide the effects of his chemotherapy. This led him to write a book to address the appearance of the physical effects of chemotherapy.

[11:49] Cosmetics are often superficial, but for a mother to be able to make her skin look healthy for her children while she is taking chemotherapy is incredibly empowering. Beauty Therapy came in to meet that need. When you look good, you feel good.

[13:20] Ramy.com is what saved Ramy during the pandemic. Ramy has always been known for eyebrows; his top seller is the Perfect Brow Wand. The online sales never slowed down for that product. Ramy also sells a mask gel to prevent acne from masks. It was featured on the Today Show and was a big hit for his business.

[14:50] Ramy has been in business for almost 25 years. He was sometimes torn between continually working with clients and focusing on his product line. A collision where he was run over by a moped required therapy and surgery for him; for some time he was unable to work with clients. So he relied heavily on the product line.

[17:18] As a diabetes patient, Ramy is also nervous about getting COVID-19 from a client, as it is very close work. He has caught the flu several times from clients who assured him they were “not contagious anymore.”

[18:27] Ramy started his business on a frayed shoestring budget. There was no capitalization. Ramy tells how he sold his plan to a Canadian manufacturer. It was a husband-and-wife team and the husband was also a cancer survivor. After three solid days of negotiation, they had a deal if Ramy didn’t come back tomorrow!

[21:15] On the same trip to Toronto, Ramy also landed his first client, an upscale hair salon, that dropped a high-end product for Ramy Cosmetics! They threw a huge launch party for Ramy Cosmetics, which was amazing! It was a nice beginning for his business!

[23:02] Ramy comes up with the clever names for all his products, except for two names he got from a close friend when he was having a creative block.

[25:48] Ramy’s business began as something to do until he could find another salon job. Eventually, he found his business was his job. Ramy never had a business plan, but a lot of “dumb luck”! As he started with Bergdorf Goodman, the salon that had fired him went out of business. Ramy is the last man standing!

[27:24] Patricia thanks Rami for joining This is Capitalism: CEO Stories.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Ramy Gafni
Ramy Cosmetics LLC (Ramy.com)

Vogue

InStyle

Ramy Beauty Therapy

Ramy Gafni's Beauty Therapy: The Ultimate Guide to Looking and Feeling Great While Living with Cancer, by Ramy Gafni

How to Fake Real Beauty: Tricks of the Trade to Master Your Makeup. By Ramy Gafni

Patricia O’Connell interviews Mac Gardner about FinLit Tech. They discuss Mac’s two books, and how his career in financial planning led him to write these educational books and start FinLit Tech to promote financial literacy for children. Mac discusses the lack of financial education in the American education system, the tremendous cost to society of financial illiteracy, and the role parents can play in providing financial literacy for their children. He explains the educational offerings he has in place and planned roll-outs for children and adults.

Listen in to learn more about FinLit Tech and teaching financial literacy.

Key Takeaways:

[:22] Patricia O’Connell introduces Mac Gardner, Founder of FinLit Tech, a company that uses the four money bears (Save, Spend, Invest, and Give), to teach children financial literacy.

[:50] Mac Gardner’s first book was Motivate Your Money! The book shared wisdom Mac had gathered in over 20 years in the financial industry. One of Mac’s clients then asked him to write a similar book for elementary school children. He did so and called it The Four Money Bears, using bears to teach about spending, saving, investing, and giving.

[2:28] The book is about a family of bears, Papa, Mama, and the Baby Bears, with Papa teaching his children the four functions of money. It is the story of Mac teaching his children to manage money.

[4:40] To introduce investment to students, Mac holds up a $100 bill and asks how they would use it. After the students talk about what they would buy, Mac asks if they knew they could use it to buy the companies that make the things they buy. He introduces the concept of reward and risk and the potential of growth by investing in stocks.

[6:38] A child’s first concept of giving may be of giving to a family member. Parents may teach children about giving to a church. Mac placed worksheets in the back of the book giving examples of giving money to different places and people. There will always be someone in need, and we can give money or give time to help them.

[7:39] Mac talks about the example his businessman father was to him growing up, and how he learned about the uses of money. Mac has worked with many people who had plenty of money but little understanding of personal finance, including the difference between permanent insurance and term insurance.
[8:44] Only 22 states require students to be taught financial literacy by high school. Mac saw a lot more could be done and wrote The Money Bears to help meet that need. The curriculum requirements vary by state.

[9:28] A Cambridge study shows that a child’s connectivity with money starts by age seven. A child of seven can understand the conversations Mom and Dad are having about money. The first habit a child picks up is their parents’ spending habit. If schools aren’t teaching financial literacy until late in high school, that’s a 10-year gap.

[10:32] It has been very challenging trying to get this book into public schools. Most of Mac’s success with the book has come from grassroots efforts. A few years ago, eMoney, a large fintech company, connected with Mac to collaborate on CFP® CE courses for financial advisors across the country.

[12:01] Elementary teachers and students are using technology. There is tech available to help you use your money, but not a lot of tech that teaches you what to do with your money. FinLit Tech builds a bridge between financial literacy and financial technology. They consult with different fintech companies interested in educating their clients.

[13:09] Mac is working on developing a multimedia financial education platform from his book, Motivate Your Money, incorporating videos, interviews with fintech and financial services leaders, and gamified options for financial education for adults.

[14:42] Mac is working on The Four Money Bears Go to Bank, introducing additional characters and principles of banking, credit, and the hierarchy of financial needs.

[16:23] A 2018 statistic showed that the cost of financial illiteracy to our society is in the billions. There are so many people in our society that aren’t getting this education, and it perpetuates their sad financial states. If a parent never learned financial literacy, how can they teach their child? The Four Money Bears is a way to start the conversation.

[18:25] Mac likes to hear about children starting to connect with specific bears because of their own habits with money. Parents tell Mac they like the worksheets and how they help teach the principles.

[20:00] Mac expects to have the children’s app with the Bearberry Farms entrepreneurism platform, online by the end of 2021.

[20:35] Mac shares links for more information.

[21:03] Patricia thanks Mac for joining This is Capitalism: CEO Stories.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Mac Gardner
FinLit Tech

Motivate Your Money!: Plan, Spend, Save, Invest, Gift, by Mac Gardner

The Four Money Bears, by Mac Gardner

TheFourMoneyBears.com
Habit Formation and Learning in Young Children, by Dr. David Whitebread and Dr. Sue Bingham, University of Cambridge

eMoney

Patricia O’Connell interviews Nick Childs about DIRT. They discuss what the company does, why it was started, how it relates to Nick’s earlier careers, and how biometric neuroscientific testing can help you connect deeply with your audience through content that reaches them emotionally.

Listen in to learn more about DIRT and content improved by biometric science for your audience.

Key Takeaways:

[:25] Patricia O’Connell introduces Nick Childs, filmmaker, producer, director, and writer of film and digital experiences, as well as a Co-Founder of DIRT.

[1:19] Nick and three co-founders started DIRT during the pandemic. They built a platform for neuroscientific research for consumer insights. DIRT stands for Discover and Illuminate Real Truth. They dig in the sandbox with their clients to build connecting content and experiences together through a better understanding of their audiences.

[2:42] DIRT research tests the emotional responses of subjects to the things they are observing by measuring their galvanic skin responses. The responses show when people are paying more attention to what they see. DIRT creates a report for the client that helps them focus on what content had the most impact.

[4:31] Why doesn’t DIRT use surveys or focus groups?

[6:40] DIRT also uses eye-tracking with galvanic skin response. They measure attention and extrapolate emotional connections based on the content itself. A timeline of the responses with the content shows where the audience’s attention is spiking and where it is flagging. This is very valuable knowledge for content makers.

[8:15] The power of infinitesimal improvements over time.

[8:31] Patricia and Nick discuss a hypothetical, concrete example of evaluating a sneaker ad. What is the level of detail they can test? Nick recommends picking at least 50 to 100 people from the client’s audience and getting an aggregate test score.
[10:50] Almost any industry that connects with an audience through content or an app can benefit from this research.

[12:04] How does DIRT fit into the future of making decisions about content? Neuromarketing growth is compounding at 16% annually over the next five or six years. Nick sees NaaS (Neuroscience as a Subscription) as a growing market. What about costs?

[13:57] Are there privacy issues? DIRT does not need demographic information from people to gather galvanic responses. They invite people to opt-in with some data but testing can be done completely anonymously. People are invited in and compensated for their time. DIRT is open about what they gather and what they do not.

[17:03] Can biometric neuroscience be used for nefarious reasons? Not at DIRT, anyway, as they maintain anonymity from audiences that opt-in to the experience. The goal is a better connection with the audience the client is serving with their offerings.

[18:36] Nick would have loved to have access to this biometric neuroscience research back when he was making content to make better connections with his audiences.

[21:14] Does biometric neuroscience divide the “poets” from the “quants”? Nick has not been in a situation where the quants get it but the poets don’t. Everyone gets it. The research bridges the gap and delivers value to all of the stakeholders as DIRT helps the client focus on creating something that connects with their audience better.
[23:29] How to make a new translation of Beowulf culturally significant. Understand where your audience is now. Crime author Elmore Leonard followed the rule to try to leave out the parts that readers skip. DIRT tries to leave out the parts of your content that your audience skips. It makes for a better experience.

[24:49] What can a client apply from one study of one piece of content to develop future content? Nick talks through the process. What insights can a client build?

[25:50] Is this research only for large corporations? DIRT is working on how to put this into the reach of more influencers and companies.

[27:46] Contrasting the creator economy and the attention economy, and how DIRT is involved to help build connections.

[28:44] Nick shares his contact links.

[29:09] Patricia thanks Nick for joining This is Capitalism: CEO Stories.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Nick Childs
WeAreDIRT.com

Twitter: @NickChilds

Maria Headley’s translation of Beowulf

Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf

Elmore Leonard

 Patricia O’Connell interviews Nick Araco, CEO of AchieveNEXT, and Tom Stewart, Chief Knowledge Officer, about AchieveNEXT and recent data they have collected from middle-market CHROs and CFOs regarding where they see business heading for the rest of the year.

Listen in to learn more about AchieveNEXT and projected upcoming mid-market growth.

Key Takeaways:

[:28] Patricia O’Connell introduces Nick Araco, CEO of AchieveNEXT, and Tom Stewart, Chief Knowledge Officer.

[1:09] AchieveNEXT helps emerging and middle-market CFOs and CHROs to gather and assemble data, to benchmark, and to share best practices, and do it all better, faster, and smarter.

[1:54] Most of the middle-market companies are private. There is not a lot of benchmarking data on which to rely. AchieveNEXT combines a peer network, data from research with CFO and CHRO alliances, and a suite of human capital and performance solutions that will help CFOs and CHROs improve the performance of their companies.

[2:50] Nick talks about capturing data from CFOs and CHROs of 200 private companies about what they are committing to, how they are doing, and what they project for the next six months. The data shows that optimism abounds for recovery. Top-line and bottom-line performance is up in these mid-market enterprises in 2021.

[4:34] Nick and Tom have spent decades working with mid-market enterprises. For most of that time, CFOs and CHROs made conservative projections of nominal, single-digit growth. Their current projections are for more than 10% growth, which is very different from their past projections.

[5:20] Some hospitality and other businesses are constrained by the impacts of the pandemic; they project negative growth. This group is relatively small compared to the mid-market enterprises that project high growth. The bell curve has shifted to the right. People have more confidence.

[6:22] During Q3 and Q4 of 2020, the mid-market was concerned that even if they were up and running, their customers and vendors would not be financially fit. Now, they are worried about retaining talent and finding new talent to sustain and drive their growth.

[7:35] With the expectation of revenue growth, there is an expectation of employment growth. The data gathered by AchieveNEXT shows that 57% of mid-market enterprises say attracting and retaining top talent is one of their top three challenges. It’s the #1 challenge.

[8:42] One of AchieveNEXT's secrets is that the relationship between the finance leader, the HR leader, and the CEO is the trifecta. That relationship and the functions behind finance and people drive the success of the business. Companies that thrive have brought the numbers and acumen of finance together with the people side.

[9:32] At their highest levels, the CFO and the CHRO are responsible for the development of financial and human capital. That’s what makes the enterprise a combination of financial and human resources.

[10:47] Most of the enterprises surveyed said they are not shifting their strategy. They are focused on doing what they do well, and it seems to be meeting the market’s needs and demands. So they are looking for talent like the talent they already have. It’s a battle for talent.

[11:46] Most enterprises are reporting that the supply of talent they are seeking is either not out there, or hard to find, or is not moving. There is not enough talent. They will either have to create or develop new pools of talent, or pay more and steal them from somebody else, or win them with something that doesn’t involve money, like culture.

[12:42] Enterprises were surveyed about actions they are taking for all their priorities for the remainder of 2021. The most important was increasing efficiency. Right under that was addressing talent issues. Workplace flexibility was highly regarded among women CFOs. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are also high priorities for expanding talent pools.

[14:08] Mid-market enterprises are investing and doubling down on technology to fill functions that can be automated. Instead of eliminating people, they are working to upskill people to work on higher-value functions that cannot be automated.

[15:05] “Technology is my friend,” is the message that middle-market CFOs and CHROs have been telling AchieveNEXT. 78% say that technology is providing a positive benefit. They are not buying new tools and equipment, but focusing on getting the most out of what they have and getting the stacks they have to communicate better.

[16:32] Nick and Tom are hearing almost daily stories of CFOs announcing a deal was done. The Alliance of Merger and Acquisition Advisors (AM&AA) says there is about $1.6 trillion available for M&A. Capital is not particularly hard to find. About 21% of mid-market companies are looking for an acquisition.

[18:39] The private equity timelines are compressed. What was once a five-to-seven-year threshold of buying, developing, and selling a platform has come down to 2.5 years from buying to selling. There’s an attitude of bullishness and excitement. Tom sees cyclical and structural issues creating this increasing M&A.

[20:36] Most private companies expect to stay private. When would a company want to go public?

[21:35] Nick mentions some concerns that exist in the mid-market regarding projected top-line revenue performance: capabilities, cost, and COVID-19. These three dark clouds do not cover up the confidence the mid-market has in their companies, industries, cities, and the U.S. economy.

[24:01] Nick shares helpful links and a peek at their upcoming study on mid-market talent acquisition, compensation, and culture.

[25:26] Patricia thanks Nick and Tom for joining CEO Stories on This is Capitalism.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Nick Araco
Tom Stewart

AchieveNEXT

AchieveNEXT on LinkedIn

AchieveNEXT on Twitter

Alliance of Merger and Acquisition Advisors