The Shift Spotlight!

Your host, Winter Baserva, talks with the Founder and CEO of Authentically American, Dean Wegner. Dean's journey is as remarkable as the man himself. After graduating from West Point in 1993, he chose aviation and learned to fly helicopters. His military career also included a stint at the Army Special Forces Ranger School, an experience he later found invaluable when leading a startup.Six years ago, Dean launched Authentically American, a brand inspired by his time in the military. Despite the challenges of marketing an American-made brand on a limited budget, Dean has successfully garnered significant media coverage by promoting their feel-good American story. Looking ahead, Dean shared that he plans to invest his time and resources in digital marketing and events. Dean has found that allowing people to see, feel, and touch the products at events has made a big difference in generating interest and sales. Dean personally leads many of these trips and exhibits to ensure a positive brand experience.To learn more about Dean's work, click HERE and HERE.The Shift Spotlight Podcast is a GCE Strategic Consulting production.Join us at GCE Strategic Consulting to learn more about our fractional EOS® integrator support and executive leadership services.Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply HERE!

Your host, Winter Baserva, talks with the President and Founder of Excelsior Capital, Brian Adams. Brian is not just a name in the commercial real estate industry; he is a force to be reckoned with. He founded Excelsior Capital with a vision to connect high-net-worth individuals and families with lucrative commercial real estate investment opportunities. His focus on commercial real estate was driven by its scalability and the opportunity to provide a different investment option in a less crowded market.Brian's journey to founding Excelsior Capital is an interesting one. As a recovering attorney, he was motivated to escape the negative aspects of the legal profession. The potential tax advantages and value creation opportunities in real estate inspired him to leap into this industry.Brian described their target audience as professionals. He also shared the challenges faced by CEOs and entrepreneurs in running their businesses. Many CEOs start with a good idea or skill but struggle with wearing multiple hats and lacking experience in leadership, payroll management, and invoicing. This often leads to feeling overwhelmed and being the biggest employee in their own company. Brian emphasized the importance of transitioning from working in the business to working on the business to scale and succeed.To learn more about Brian's work, click HERE and HERE.Join us at The Shift Spotlight, the go-to place for CEOs and business owners looking to make radical shifts in their businesses and lives. Visit www.TheShiftSpot.com for more information.Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply HERE.

Your host, Winter Baserva, talks with the Founder and CEO of ExecThread, Joe Meyer. Joe's journey to creating ExecThread was born out of his own experiences as an executive. He was often approached by recruiters for roles he wasn't interested in, while the ones he would have loved to pursue remained hidden. This sparked the idea for ExecThread, a platform designed to unveil these hidden job market opportunities on a larger scale.Joe clarified that ExecThread isn't limited to full-time jobs and board opportunities. The platform also features contractor, interim, and advisory roles. However, the majority of the roles are full-time operating positions.When asked about the rapid growth of ExecThread, Joe was quick to point out that it wasn't an overnight success. The initial growth was fueled by organic referrals and crowdsourced job opportunities. Over time, they began to proactively market their service, attracting more jobs and members.Joe explained that ExecThread has a clear and focused value proposition. They aim to drive member growth, increase awareness, and convert free members into paying subscribers. They offer a free service to attract as many users as possible before asking them to pay for additional value-added components.To learn more about Joe's work, click HERE and HERE.Join us at The Shift Spotlight, the go-to place for CEOs and business owners looking to make radical shifts in their businesses and lives. Visit www.TheShiftSpot.com for more information.Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply HERE.

Your host, Winter Baserva, talks with the CEO of JDAQA, Jay Aigner. Jay is a seasoned entrepreneur who runs a successful software quality assurance agency. He is filled with valuable insights about scaling a business, balancing work and personal life, and the importance of consistency in marketing. Jay's journey as an entrepreneur has been marked by numerous challenges. One of the most significant has been balancing his work and personal life, especially with five children. Despite the difficulties, Jay has always maintained a determined mindset, refusing to give up even in the face of adversity. He admits to facing personnel challenges and making mistakes in the early stages, but these experiences have helped him learn and develop.Jay highlighted the top three things impacting Jay's company. He mentioned the rise of AI platforms and the increasing demand for testing and integrating them. He also noted that the current time of year, between summer and winter holidays, is favorable for his business as many companies seek to finalize their initiatives.To learn more about Jay's work, click HERE, and HERE.Join us at The Shift Spotlight, the go-to place for CEOs and business owners looking to make radical shifts in their businesses and lives. Visit www.TheShiftSpot.com for more information.Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply HERE.

Your host, Winter Baserva, talks with the Owner of MG Marketing Group and NG Virtual Assistants, Natalie Guzman. Natalie Guzman is a successful entrepreneur who co-founded a virtual assistant agency. She also runs a second business, which is an all-in-one system for entrepreneurs to create landing pages, email campaigns, text campaigns, and more. Natalie explained that she has a base team of project managers who are W-2 employees and contractors who provide support. Instead of matching clients directly with virtual assistants, clients are matched with project managers who assign tasks and create strategies and processes for the team to complete.Natalie shares her experiences and insights on delegation, work-life balance, and the importance of taking care of oneself as a CEO. She discussed how she initially struggled with delegation but realized that her business and her child both required the input and support of others to grow. Natalie also talked about the challenge of balancing time and money, and how she recently decided to take Tuesdays off to focus on her family and personal well-being.To learn more about Natalie's work, click HERE, HERE, and HERE.Join us at The Shift Spotlight, the go-to place for CEOs and business owners looking to make radical shifts in their businesses and lives. Visit www.TheShiftSpot.com for more information.Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply HERE.

Your host, Winter Baserva, talks with the Founder and CEO of Mavens & Moguls, Paige Arnof-Fenn. Paige is truly a powerhouse in the world of branding and marketing, her expertise and insights have helped countless businesses find success and stand out in their industries. As the owner of Mavens and Moguls, she has built a virtual marketing department that brings together top-notch professionals to deliver exceptional results.Paige shares that an important aspect of Mavens & Moguls' work is the necessity of marketing and branding for businesses. Paige also emphasized that marketing is not just an optional add-on, but a vital component for success. Without effective marketing, businesses risk being branded by the market itself, losing control over their image and reputation. Paige encourages business owners to show their personality and take risks in their marketing efforts, as being bold and standing out is what makes a brand memorable and attracts the right clients.To learn more about Paige's work, click HERE and HERE.Join us at The Shift Spotlight, the go-to place for CEOs and business owners looking to make radical shifts in their businesses and lives. Visit www.TheShiftSpot.com for more information.Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply HERE.

Your host, Winter Baserva, talks with the Co-founder and CTO of Yembo, Zach Rattner. Zach's journey as an entrepreneur began unexpectedly; while purchasing a house, his real estate agent, who had recently ventured into the moving business, shared the operational challenges he was facing. This conversation sparked an idea in Zach's mind. He realized that many companies in the home service industry were grappling with similar issues - relying on manual processes like physical site visits and note-taking, which were not only time-consuming but also prone to errors.Zach and his team wanted to see if people would be willing to download an app and record videos of their homes for accurate quotes. They partnered with a local moving company and provided them with software to try this approach. The results were overwhelmingly positive. People found it convenient, and the quotes became more accurate. This success gave them the confidence to further develop their product and incorporate AI to streamline the workflow.Zach emphasized the importance of hiring the right people and delegating tasks as a business owner. He shared his experience of building remote teams in different time zones to ensure 24-hour progress and prevent burnout. This approach requires effective communication, documentation, and consideration of how different team members interact with each other.To learn more about Zach's work, click HERE and HERE.Join us at The Shift Spotlight, the go-to place for CEOs and business owners looking to make radical shifts in their businesses and lives. Visit www.TheShiftSpot.com for more information.Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply HERE.

Your host, Winter Baserva, talks with the Master Coach for CEOs and Senior Leadership Teams, Doug Thorpe. Since 2008, Doug has helped hundreds of leaders in all types of industries find ways to be more effective in running a business. Doug wants business owners to have greater influence and build stronger teams so that they can reap the benefits of a healthy business.Founders may often find it challenging to let go of control and delegate tasks, Doug believes that ego can be a significant hindrance to growth, a founder will become bottlenecked, limiting efficiency and flow. Fear and trust issues can also prevent founders from empowering their teams. Doug firmly believes that for a business to ascend to the next level, founders need to shift their mindset and start thinking like a CEO.To learn more about Gary's work, click HERE and HERE.Join us at The Shift Spotlight, the go-to place for CEOs and business owners looking to make radical shifts in their businesses and lives. Visit www.TheShiftSpot.com for more information.Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply HERE.

Your host, Winter Baserva, talks with the Managing Director of Massey and Company CPA, Gary Massey. Massey and Company CPA, based in Atlanta, GA, provides tax preparation, strategic tax planning, and tax representation services throughout Georgia and in states across the country. They prepare IRS tax returns and state tax returns for individuals, partnerships, S corporations, C corporations, nonprofits, trusts, and estates. Massey and Company CPA also handles quarterly taxes for small business owners, independent contractors, and real estate investors.Massey and Company CPA's tax preparation services are governed by the highest levels of ethics and due diligence mandated by the AICPA and the IRS. Their tax planning services are creative and above all forward looking. They are always thinking of creative ways to legally minimize taxes for their clients. To learn more about Gary's work, click HERE and HERE.Join us at The Shift Spotlight, the go-to place for CEOs and business owners looking to make radical shifts in their businesses and lives. Visit www.TheShiftSpot.com for more information.Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply HERE.

Your host, Winter Baserva, talks with the CEO of Information Experts, Adam Levin. Information Experts works with you every step of the way, from strategy and objectives through program launch and implementation. They create and manage your platforms, campaigns, programs, or projects. Or whatever piece of the puzzle you need to succeed. Regardless of their focus, they produce extraordinary work and measurable results. They base their structured approaches on globally recognized Project Management standards.They are experts at producing practical and effective design and marketing solutions that offer your audiences fresh perspectives. Whether your objective is to develop a compelling brand, enhance your website, or market to a particular audience, Information Experts is here to help.To learn more about John's work, click HERE and HERE.Join us at The Shift Spotlight, the go-to place for CEOs and business owners looking to make radical shifts in their businesses and lives. Visit www.TheShiftSpot.com for more information.Think you'd be a great guest on the show? Apply HERE.