Digital Connections

What does it mean to be a truly incredible leader? Unfortunately, just because someone holds a position of leadership, doesn’t mean they should. Often times that leader has found themselves there because the leaders that put them there do not understand what actually makes a good leader, and they have been chosen for the wrong reasons. So how do we recognize great leaders, and more importantly, how do we ensure that we are leading well. Because the real question is not how to make someone else more effective through your leadership. The real question is are you able to effectively lead yourself first. Two-time martial arts Hall of Fame inductee and two time best-selling author, Dr. John Terry of the Black Belt Leader stops by to help us on this journey with his wisdom, humor, and amazing knowledge in this area. Guest Bio A two-time martial arts Hall of Fame inductee, Dr. John Terry brings years of black belt experience to helping people, young and old, discover and develop the Black Belt Leader within and lead themselves with Black Belt Excellence. They can then use their leadership and influence to create high-performance, people-centric, values-based, non-leader-dependent teams and make an impact right where they are. John is a 2-Time Best Selling Author and an in-demand international public speaker. He is the founder of Black Belt Leadership, the president of Real Life Management, and currently serves as a President's Advisory Council member with Maxwell Leadership. John is also a DISC-certified human behavior consultant and a CTAA-Accredited Emotional Intelligence Coach & Practitioner. Contact Info: Dr. John Terry The Black Belt Leader Email: [email protected] Website: www.beablackbeltleader.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/johnterry3/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/beablackbeltleader

Today we're talking about giving up your life for the life of your company. More specifically, we are talking about how to get out of the cycle of suck that can sometimes occur to lone business owners. We may be making a living, but our lives are paying a high price. You may have started off loving what you do. You may work really hard every day to move towards success, but in the end it might feel like you are just spinning your wheels. Sandy Rutherford with Inspired Destinies stops by Digital Connection to share her formula to cut the C.R.A.P. (Counterproductive Really Asinine Programming) to find real, lasting success not just in our businesses, but life in general. Guest Bio Sandy Rutherford is a Success Mindset Coach and Founder of Inspired Destinies. Taught and mentored by legendary Bob Proctor – the top success and prosperity teacher in the world – Sandy teaches you how to create an accelerated pathway to success through a proven, simple and powerfully effective roadmap in an environment of support, hands-on guidance and accountability. Through the innovative and life changing programs at Inspired Destinies, including its renowned Unstoppable Success System, entrepreneurs and professionals hungry for breakthrough success are able to cut the C.R.A.P. and dramatically accelerate their success. Contact Info: Sandy Rutherford Inspired Destinies Email: [email protected] Website: www.inspireddestinies.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandyrutherford/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InspiredDestinies

Sales and Marketing are par for the course in the success of any company. How they work well together can make or break your business, and one without the other is like the sand without the sea. Great marketing requires a great sales strategy. Lynn Whitbeck with Petite2Queen, also known as the "Queen of Sales", joins your host, Nancee Johnson, to help us sort through the noise and bring some clarity around what a great sales strategy looks like in conjunction with amazing marketing. Lynn also shares some secrets to help those of us who might feel a little queasy when we hear the word "sales," by coming from a place of authenticity, sincerity, and the ultimate in real relationship building. Guest Bio Business Owners and entrepreneurs hire Lynn Whitbeck and Petite2Queen to ignite winning sales teams, because most are chasing down clients, stuck in a chaotic sales cycle, and lacking client retention, conversions, and profits. Lynn helps transform thinking to the client’s perspective, ending sales chaos with a robust strategic plan to harvest the hidden profits. Bottomline, Lynn will ignite your sales and unleash lasting profits. The powerful live programs delivered by Lynn and the Petite2Queen team create immediate results in easy shifts, shortening the sales cycle, building stronger relationships, and closing more profitable sales. Contact Info: Lynn Whitbeck Petite2Queen Business Success Solution Website: petite2queen.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lynnwhitbeck Facebook: www.facebook.com/petite2queen/ Twitter: twitter.com/petite2queen/ Phone: (206) 498-5122

Any new business owner should have to be screened before they make a choice to open a business. The test should have one question: Do you love rollercoasters? If the answer is yes, than you meet the height requirement and you can be allowed on the ride. For most of us, though, the reality is that no one asked, and now we're on the ride. Will you survive, and is it possible to actually enjoy the ride? In this episode of Digital Connections, coach Marjika Kemble, founder of Marijke Ocean stops by to fill us in on a few secrets to help business owners improve the journey. Her method allows entrepreneurs to see the bigger picture and make lasting changes to a path of success in their businesses. Guest Bio Marijke Kemble is the founder of Marijke Ocean – a coaching practice guiding leaders who are committed to their work being a source of personal & professional growth. Marijke worked in corporate, executive leadership roles for over 15 years – first in financial services & then later as the President of a Sales & Marketing start up. In addition to being a Certified Wayfinder Coach, Marijke has a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University where she took graduate level course work in organizational behavior, Buddhism, and public policy. She’s also a Certified Mindfulness Meditation Mentor & Teacher – which she integrates into her coaching work whenever it is appropriate. She has an MBA, she’s a mom to two young daughters (age 6 and 9), a recovering perfectionist, and an office supply connoisseur. Contact Info: Marijke Kemble Marijke Ocean Website: https://www.marijkeocean.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lorenfogelman Email: [email protected]

Patty Block, founder of the Block Group, teaches women business owners how to turn up their power to price, sell and run their business on their own terms. This means fine-tuning their operations and scaling their revenue for strategic growth. It means getting paid what they are worth. In her business, she has seen too many business owners that don't, and it becomes a losing cycle. Through a lifetime of learning and coaching, Patty has answers, and in this episode, she shares some of her secrets to break this cycle and generate more revenue with less stress. Guest Bio Patty Block teaches women business owners who are experts in their fields how to turn up their power to price, sell and run their business on their own terms. This means fine-tuning their operations and scaling their revenue for strategic growth. As their trusted advisor, she brings a unique perspective, having experienced and solved many of the same complex issues women face, as leaders, moms, daughters and sisters. Forming a partnership of unbiased accountability, she helps women position their companies--financially, operationally, technologically--for game-changing results. Patty raised three fantastic kids, all of whom are business owners and also work in Patty’s company (she essentially raised her own workforce!) Contact Info: Patty Block The Block Group Website: https://www.theblockgroup.net/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pattyblock/ Email: [email protected]

One step away from what? That is the question we answer in this episode of Digital Connections. Are you one step away from business success, business failure, or somewhere in between? If you don't know, then you can't possible see where your next step should be to get to where you want to go. To find the freedom you seek in your business, you must have to a clear vision of what you and your company can achieve. You need to know where you're going and why you want to go there. It's also necessary to measure results. It's these things that are going to allow you to build a future that supports this dream. And, that vision feeds your mindset, which is a majority of your ultimate success. Larry Reines from Aaron Myer Consulting stops by to help us see the path and move along with great strategic planning. Guest Bio Larry Reines empowers the vision of many small businesses, from start-ups to companies looking to grow and even businesses in distress. Aaron Myer Consulting has a proven track record in establishing effective organizational structure and communication that create the foundation for growth and profitability. Larry inspires and motivates, so you can delegate and empower your team. They work on your mindset. The formula for success is developing and implementing strategies for finance, operations, and sales to structure your business to achieve financial stability, high sales volumes, reduced costs, and a work-life balance. With a short conversation, they will see if they can deliver similar results for you. Contact Info: Larry Reines Aaron Meyer Consulting Email: [email protected] Website: aaron-myer.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/larryreines/ Text message: (917) 776-0309

One of the biggest struggles small businesses have is an inability to clearly define their brand and their messaging. They want more clients, and they try to find them by building a new website or through online advertising or other marketing tactics. They expect that these tactics are the magic formula they've been looking for. To make these tactics successful, though, you must have the right message for your audience. Brand is everything that defines your business and it must come first. Otherwise your message is muddled and people have no idea if you're able to solve the problems they need answers to. When you have that clarity, it becomes so much easier for your clients and customers to find you. On this episode of Digital Connections, Gabriel Shields with Benu Creative joins your host Nancee Johnson as they discuss how to get clear on your messaging and your brand, and ultimately, how to attract the right client to scale your business. Guest Bio People hire Benu Creative to help develop authentic brands that create loyalty and trust with their audience and people. As a husband and wife team, owners Gabriel and Kelly Shields understand how a successful business is like a successful marriage -- it requires two very different people to discover their shared values in order to make healthy and beneficial decisions so they can better the life of the other person. Benu Creative helps businesses look beyond products and services so they market effectively and establish the perfect marriage between a successful brand and successful people. Contact Info: Benu Creative Gabriel Shields benucreative.com (541) 791-7998

April is Stress Awareness Month, and Digital Connections is celebrating with guest Taryn Laakso from Unlaaking Your Potential. Taryn brings in some amazing processes not just for controlling stress, but that will allow you to truly unlock the potential and creativity that lay just beyond the reach of stress. As a business owner, the success of your company is in your hands. This mere fact alone may be enough to raise your blood pressure, but you can find peace even in the most turbulent of challenges. This episode isn't just for your business, but for the entirety of your life's purpose, and could be the small piece of change that your business needs to find the right track. Guest Bio Taryn is passionate about igniting a spark in her clients to play a bigger game in their life. She speaks on topics such as positive mindset, mental well-being, leadership, and empowerment based on the Positive Intelligence ™ model. Prior to launching her coaching career, she had a 20+ year tenure in the corporate HR world. She boldly left her corporate job to launch her own coaching business days before the global pandemic shut everything down. However, with her resilient mindset, she was able to quickly pivot her plan. Taryn’s commitment to herself and her vision has created a 6-figure coaching business within 18 months as a full-time business owner. This is empowered leadership! Taryn's superpower is inspiring and supporting professionals to strategically plan their next career shift. She helps clients move from a state of frustration to inspiration. Through group and private coaching, Taryn provides strategies to unlock her client's Superpowers. Discover your superpower! Contact Info: Taryn Laakso Unlaaking Your Potential tarynlaakso.com [email protected] (206) 310-9409

You've been working 12 hour days, burning the candle at both ends. You feel like you're spinning your wheels, and your business is paying the price. As business owners and entrepreneurs, business burnout is all too real. How do you recognize before it gets to this point? Can it be avoided? Once you're in it, how do you get out? On this episode of Digital Connections, host Nancee Johnson invites previous guest, Zovig Garboushain of Boldness Ablaze Coaching back to the show for some great tips to keep the train on the tracks, and continue building your company without the nasty side effects of business burnout. Guest Bio Zovig Garboushian, founder of Boldness Ablaze Coaching, is an executive, leadership, and career coach and she focuses on helping women go after what they want boldly and unapologetically. She works with high-performing women and partners with organizations to support and advance their women in leadership. She started her career with 15 years as a marketer after which she pivoted to career development, organizational effectiveness, and in 2019, launched her own coaching practice, Boldness Ablaze. Her certifications and training are multi-disciplined and range from communications to team dynamics, change management to personal development, psychology to yoga. Her clients say she has x-ray vision and can see through the muck to get right to the heart of the issue. The key to her success is that you can never have enough self-compassion. Contact Info: Zovig Garboushian Boldness Ablaze Coaching www.boldnessablazecoaching.com (917) 207-1765

Most small businesses spend an average of $7-10k on basic legal services every year. And these are businesses that that are paying for help. Other companies are losing even more because they believe hiring an attorney isn’t worth the high cost they have to pay. Unfortunately, the truth is that most businesses cannot afford the legal ramifications that come without good legal advice and help. But your host, Nancee Johnson, has found a solution. Jane Lehman has been a trusted advisor working with LegalShield for over 13 years. She believes every American deserves to have access to qualified attorneys whenever they have questions or need help. Which is why she is with LegalShield, and why she is stopping by Digital Connections to help save you time and money in your business. As a bonus, Jane also shares one of the marketing strategies that she successfully leverages on LinkedIn to help connect people to her solutions and ideas. Guest Bio Jane Lehman has been a trusted advisor working with LegalShield for over 13 years. She believes every American deserves to have access to qualified attorneys whenever they have questions or need help. Which is why she is with LegalShield. LegalShield is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year. The founder, Harland Stonecipher, believed every American deserved access to the legal system and their legal rights. Contact Info: Jane Lehman LegalShield Website: janerlehman.wearelegalshield.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/janelehman1/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/JaneLehman.LegalShield Twitter: www.twitter.com/janelehman