The Business of Meetings

We are delighted to be speaking to Heather Mason today. Heather has tons of energy and lots of great ideas. She created her company, Caspian Agency, in 2005, and today, she is a rockstar, planning all the meetings and events for some of the world’s major foundations.  In this episode, Heather talks to us about how our industry needs revolution, not evolution, and that women need to learn the mantra, “men, money, and materials.” We hope you enjoy our amazing conversation with Heather Mason today! Heather Mason’s bio Heather Mason founded Caspian in 2005 to produce conferences for the innovative and social good business space. Caspian’s social enterprise clients include the Skoll Foundation, the Omidyar Network, New America, Code for America, Rockefeller Foundation, Endeavor Global, Impact 2030, The Philanthropy Workshop, and Sunnylands. Caspian has also worked with brands including HarperCollins, Vanity Fair, and Keurig Green Mountain Coffee. Caspian has had the distinction of producing the Skoll World Forum for the past 15 years.  Heather also created the Caspian 10 Essentials methodology as a system to ensure business goals could be mapped and met through live events. The Caspian 10 Essentials is offered as a training program for in-house event teams and clients include Oxford University, Swansea University, and Cheung Kung Institute of Business in London. Recently, Caspian partnered with Cvent, the largest event software provider in the world, to provide the Caspian 10 Essentials via a webinar series. The online Essentials were featured as course material for the San Diego State University Meetings and Events Masters course. Mason is also the instructor for the Masters Meetings Financials and Economics Course. Heather’s previous work experience includes Fox Studios, Fox TV, the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals, the Bud Greenspan Olympic film crew, as well as a marketing career in technology including ShowBIZ data, Broadstream and UltraDNS. Prior to starting Caspian, she worked at Charles Schwab, producing conferences across the country.  She graduated with a degree from Utah State University, where she was awarded Woman of the Year award and the President's Leadership scholarship.  She is a strategic advisor to the Women Founders Foundation and serves on the boards of Social Venture Circle (SVC), American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC), Utah State University Alumni and on the Advisory Board for Women Founders Network (WFN.)  She has been a keynote speaker at the Western Regional MPI Conference in Las Vegas, featured speaker at Future of Cities LA, Cvent Connect Conference, Women Founders Network, Talk Forum NYC, HSMAI, LA AiP (International Association of Advisors in Philanthropy) and the Global Women’s Leadership Summit. She is an instructor for the PCMA Digital Event Strategist certificate program. Heather has been featured in Southwest Airlines, Collaborate, and Successful Meetings magazines. Mason has been named a 2020 Changemaker by MeetingsNet, a 2018 Top 500 Most Influential Event Professional by BizBash, and her event SUREFIRE was named one of the top 15 most Innovative Events of 2018 by BizBash Magazine. The film bug When she was in school, back in 1993, Heather found out about the Sundance Film Festival, and she got bitten by the film bug. She wanted to go and produce movies and thought it would be easy, so she went to Hollywood. She worked at the Fox 2000 studio, and after that, she worked for Fox TV. The internet After leaving Fox TV, she went to work as the head of marketing for two different internet companies. That took her away from Los Angeles to the Bay Area.  Producing events A friend told her that producing events is a lot like producing movies. She had no job at the time, so she decided to give it a try, and ended up working as an event manager for the next three years. That was when she learned to use a third-party agency to augment her team, and she did events all around the country. She then learned how to do what a third-party agency does. Save the world Heather wanted to save the world, so she decided that if she was going to start her own company, she only wanted to work with people who were saving the world.  Caspian So she quit her job, and with just $1400 in the bank, she started the Caspian Agency. Quora Heather became part of a civic learning platform for high school and college students, called Quora. For a brief time, they had a learning program to teach professionals how their city works, how they could engage in the democratic process, and how to become a more active citizen.  Skoll Foundation Through the program, Heather met someone who worked at the Skoll Foundation. She was looking for an event manager to do one event. The Skoll Foundation then became her client for the next fifteen years. If you want to have faith and believe in the world If you want to have and believe in the world, Heather suggests that you look at what the Skoll Foundation does. Go to www.skoll.org to read all about them. The foundation funds, connects, and celebrates social entrepreneurs. They look for those social entrepreneurs who are using business to change the world for good.  Heather Mason’s social entrepreneurship Heather Mason had never before heard of social entrepreneurship, and when she learned about it, she thought it was cool! After getting the Skoll Foundation as her client, she started getting to know all the different organizations in that world, and from there, she got many referrals. She found that once she started working in that group of foundations, things began to build on themselves because she learned all the different initiatives and knew the language. Revolution, not evolution Heather thinks that the revolution is here if we want it. She thinks this time of chaos and disruption is a lot like what was happening back in the dot-com days. During any time of disruption, things tend to rise like a phoenix from the flame. They can get better because the disruption allows for the deconstruction of the systems and models that we had accepted were written in stone, that we see are just written in the matrix. Recreating the industry in a better way People in organizations don’t know what to do currently. Those event producers who are not afraid of authority, responsibility, failure, or experimenting can own the industry and recreate it in a better way. Project managers Project managers are traditionally able to usurp the formal order chart when they are in charge of a worldwide project. Heather feels that event producers should be the same way.  The massive opportunity that Heather Mason sees Heather Mason sees that there is a massive opportunity now to revolutionize the industry. There is no option right now for people to stay at the same level and do logistics because that will trend downward into commoditization. Men, money, and materials  Heather feels that women need to learn the mantra, “men, money, and materials”. She explains that the women she works with are afraid to take on any more responsibility because they think they will have to do everything themselves. In the military, however, when an order gets given, the person always says “yes” no matter what the job is, and then they will ask for the men, money, and materials to accomplish the job.  Having authority When you have authority, you do not have to know how to build the bridge. You need to know how to direct people to build the bridge, and you need the men, money, and materials to do it. Fears Heather had lots of fears and made a lot of mistakes along the way. Now that she’s on the other side of pushing back, however, she sees that her fears were nothing more than the matrix talking to her and telling her stories that were not true. A life of hesitancy A life of hesitancy has a lot of sacrifices to it. A life of fear has sacrifices in it. Heather would rather have the sacrifice that the risky life and the bold life offer. Five people Five different people changed Heather’s life when she was fifteen. They helped her transform from being a hesitant, shy, frightened, introverted girl into someone who could see that a life of boldness had fewer sacrifices.   Among them were a walking coach, a presentation coach, her history teacher, and a dance teacher.  Surefire Heather thinks we all have a responsibility to pass on and pay forward what people have done for us.   Surefire is a collective impact model meant to go in any major metropolitan area. They get 20 girls from different schools to be ambassadors. They have to supply topics that girls want to talk about the most. They then go into the community and find all the organizations that serve girls and youth, and have a one-day conference and a community village where all the organizations get set up around the main stage to help the girls.   The future of conferences  The future of conferences for the organizations Heather works for means expanding the idea of having global audiences. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Heather On Website On LinkedIn

Today, we have the pleasure of speaking to another icon in our industry, Ed Rigsbee, of Rigsbee Research. Ed has spent his entire career helping associations and societies to recruit and maintain their members and increase their revenue. He has written five books: one of them on soccer, one on member recruitment, and three of them on strategic alliances, and he has also written more than 2,500 articles.  In this episode, Ed shares his story and talks to us about providing value and the amazing community he started, called The Cigar Peg. It is very important right now for associations to provide value, so we’re sure that you will enjoy our conversation with Ed. Ed Rigsbee bio: Ed Rigsbee, (CSP) Certified Speaking Professional, (CAE) Certified Association Executive, is the ROI Guy. He is obsessed with helping individuals and organizations to both receive and give more return on investment (ROI) in everything that they do. He regularly serves two sectors of the economy—helping corporations to develop and maintain strategic alliances—and helping trade associations and professional societies to grow their membership. Ed is the originator of the “Member ROI Valuation Process” and “Member ROI-Centric Organization Transition.” Ed’s background Ed used to work at Yosemite National Park as a retail manager. In the winter, he was made manager of the ski shop, but he got fired for being obnoxious just a week before the end of the season.  Throughout the season, Ed’s sunglasses supplier had been trying to get Ed to work for him. He contacted Ed once again, just before he left the park, asking him to interview in Southern California. Ed went along to the interview. Afterward, he got handed a company car and a credit card. He took to selling sunglasses like a duck to water and started selling sunglasses to ski shops. Product clinics Ed noticed that the ski reps used to do product clinics, which he found fascinating. So, he bought a spectrometer and started giving product clinics at ski shops. That boosted his sales, which prompted both the company he was working for and some retail customers to ask him to train their salespeople. Professional speaking At a sales meeting in 1984, Ed met the NSA president. He was impressed with her, and that sparked his interest in finding out what professional speaking was. A few years later, he joined the National Speakers Association and started doing paid talks. Time to leave In 1990, the owner of the sunglasses organization took Ed out for lunch. He told Ed that it was time for him to leave the organization.  Ed Rigsbee started his business Ed Rigsbee decided to start a business of his own. He started off by going after associations in the retail world, and his business kept on growing. His first book In 1994, he wrote his first book, The Art of Partnering. That took him down the path of doing alliance work, and he did that for the next fifteen years. Selling speaking services  Throughout his career, Ed resonated with selling speaking services to associations. A roundtable workshop Ed got hired to be the keynote speaker for the California Alarm Association. He was asked by the president of the company to do an industry roundtable workshop. The board members at the workshop wanted to discuss the value of the association.  Qualitative research Before he knew what qualitative research was, Ed was doing qualitative research because of that workshop. He followed that up by writing his first article for that company, on member ROI. How Ed Rigsbee helps associations grow their memberships Around 2015, Ed Rigsbee started getting less aggressive around the strategic alliance work he was doing. Today, he focuses mostly on helping associations grow their memberships by teaching them how to prove the return on investment they deliver in actual dollar numbers.  ROI Member Recruitment Brochure Ed started helping his association clients to produce a simple, three-fold ROI Member Recruitment Brochure. It makes it easy to show why a business decision is a good one. The feature of association membership Unless it is a closed meeting, anyone can go to an association meeting. The feature of association membership is the differential or discount that the member gets. The cost of virtual meetings has gone down The cost of virtual meetings has gone down because they require no physical space. The attendance at many meetings has been boosted a lot recently, so currently, many associations are making double the profit they were making before from meetings. Virtual regional meetings Many associations are talking about putting on virtual regional meetings for lower-level employees. They are planning in-person meetings for the CEO and top-level employees because those employees will afford to pay higher fees to go to the meeting. Five years from now Ed predicts that in-person meetings will slowly start getting more populated, and five years from now, things will be back to where they were before.  The challenge with sponsors If you’re going to put a representative from a company on at an event, you should say that the event is a sponsored one. If a sponsor speaks at an event, they should talk about the category topic and not their brand. Smart associations are giving mandatory presenter training to their sponsors. The future of communities Ed believes that associations need to do a better job with their communities. The chapters in cities need to create satellite communities to ensure that they also reach their members in the outlying areas.  The Cigar Peg Community The Cigar Peg Community is a community of professional speakers that got started in 1999. It raises money for charities. It used to be a professional emphasis group, and then it got changed to a professional expert group.  Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Ed On Website

We are delighted to be speaking today with Joel Block, a rock star in the worlds of speaking, finance, and real estate! Joel has a background as a venture capitalist, a CPA, and in real estate. He is also an entrepreneur and a board member of the National Speakers Association.  In this episode, we focus on what will be coming up in 2021. We discuss the changes and trends that Joel foresees and who he thinks will own the assets in the future.  We hope that you will enjoy this very interesting and thought-provoking conversation and benefit from Joel’s knowledge as much as we did!  Joel Block’s bio  Joel Block’s CPA experience started in 1985 at PriceWaterhouse, where he first got exposed to the syndication business as a team member doing tax returns for 500 real estate limited partnership syndications. While he did not love the tax work, he was fascinated by the partnership agreements. Futurist and money business insider, Joel’s a long-time venture capitalist and hedge fund manager (gobbledygook for a professional investor) who lives in a Shark Tank world like on TV. Since selling his publishing company to a Fortune 500 company, Joel keynotes conferences, sharing Wall Street insights that supercharge stakeholder value with growth strategies and the inside track on ways to accelerate innovation so companies can compete better, faster, and smarter. Joel’s goal is to empower business executives and their teams to “Disrupt Their Competitors’ Future”. Joel’s background When Joel started in the CPA business, he was a terrible fit and did not like it at all. The last account he worked on at PriceWaterhouse was a giant company that was raising money from investors, and he decided that he wanted to be a dealmaker, just like them. So he quit the firm and started his own operation. Venture capital Joel fell into a venture capital transaction where he and a partner invented the concept of delivering stock quotes to investors by fax. And because he had learned how to raise money from doing real estate deals, he managed to raise ten million dollars to launch his company. He traveled the country selling his stock holds by fax service to the big newspapers. He ended up selling that company to a Fortune 500 company seven years later for a good price.  Joel Block as a business model expert Joel Block went through the entrepreneurial cycle, and after that, he started buying and selling other companies. Now, he is considered a business model expert, and he helps other companies to be the best that they can be. The future Joel considers himself a futurist. He has developed some great techniques for looking forward in time, and he advises his corporate clients about the future. Betting on the future  To incentivize himself when he thinks about future trends, Joel takes money and bets on what he thinks will happen. If he is right, he makes a lot of money. The trends we should be aware of going into 2021 Joel advises his Mastermind group of hedge fund managers to organize their cash and ready themselves to start buying. Assets are going on sale in 2021 because business and real estate owners won't be able to keep holding on for much longer before they run out of money, so prices are going down.  Taxes All the occupancy and payroll taxes from hotels that would normally go to the cities and states are no longer happening. People are also buying much less, so there are a lot fewer sales and gasoline tax happening currently. Some cities are down by seventy or even eighty percent. A crisis is looming Joel sees a tremendous crisis on the horizon for municipalities, cities, states, and other governments. Economic cleansing Joel sees the crisis as an economic cleansing. He thinks many companies will end up way better off on the other side of all that is happening right now because the whole economic structure is set to change.  The winners The winners will not be coincidental. They will be the people who will take specific actions, act smartly, protect themselves, and take necessary risks. They will do that in consultation with advisors and people who have experience and insight and know what they are doing. The greatest time in American history Joel thinks that the other side of this pandemic will be the greatest time in American history. Getting there will not be easy, however. Gaining success in the meetings and events industry Over the next six months, people in the meetings and events industry should be planning for the last two quarters of the year.  The future of meetings, according to Joel Block Hybrid events are here to stay, says Joel Block. They save companies a lot of money. About half of all the people who used to go to conferences don’t need to go to conferences, so future meetings might only need to be half as long as before, with half as many people attending them. Meetings professionals Although shorter meetings with fewer people will not affect the meetings professionals, it will affect the hotels. Meetings professionals will need to embrace the hybrid concept and start organizing Zoom meetings in affiliation with digital producers and people who are good at producing events.  Twenty Trends for 2020 Joel has a group that puts together a research report, and they created a trend report called Twenty Trends for 2020. Even though they could not predict the pandemic, they did very well in predicting the business trends that would affect the world. An impending social media crisis In getting ready to revise it for 2021, they have come up with some new trends, and one thing they noticed was that businesses are starting to reject social media. So, there is an impending crisis in the social media world. A solution As a solution, they came up with a platform that would allow a company to go directly to the handheld device of everyone important to them, to network and make sales without any friction or social media interference. Sharing expertise When it comes to sharing expertise, Joel looks at the bigger picture. He looks at what you know that others need to know, want to know, or could learn from you.  Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Joel On Website  To get the most updated version of our business trend report, text TREND to 72000

Today, we are extremely grateful to be speaking with Melanie Bradshaw, the Vice-President of Global Events for the direct sales company, SeneGence.  Melanie has a wealth of experience in meetings and events. Like most of us, she had to switch to virtual last year, and she learned a lot from doing that.  In this episode, she will be speaking to us mainly about two things. She will talk about her international experience working in more than twenty-five different countries, and she will also be sharing her virtual experience.   We gained a lot from our conversation with Melanie, and we are sure that you will too!  Melanie Bradshaw’s bio Melanie Bradshaw has spent her entire professional career in event organization, production, and management. Working across a wide variety of industries and with extensive experience in both the association and the private sector, Melanie has led teams that have organized business events for up to +35,000 participants in over 25 countries. In her current role, and like many event organizers, she has used the challenges of 2020 to transform 12 of her company's biggest international live events to virtual, and she is thrilled to connect and share the learnings from her experiences. Getting into the events industry When attending university, Melanie was unsure about what her niche was going to be. After graduating, she took a job with the events team at the university. It was a fit for her. She quickly got locked into a role that she had not been trained for, but she knew that if she tried and stayed open to learning, she could figure it out. Melanie had a patient boss who was open to working with her, so she grew into the role with which she was titled. That set her up for an era of partnership success and new experiences. After leaving the university After leaving the university, she joined the PennWell Corporation in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was ripe with different companies and industries that did international events. She worked at the PennWell Corporation for five years, and that was a turning point for her. That was where all the different countries came into play for her because she got assigned to many industry events. Opening her eyes to different cultures She was working for an event company that had publications associated with different industries, so, as a centralized events service, they got passed around to various industry events. That continued to broaden her horizon. It opened her eyes to the difference in working in different cities, different countries, and different cultures.  A big lesson What Melanie learned from her experience abroad was that she did not know everything and that it is okay to ask questions. Aligning with other cultures She learned that the quicker you align with and understand another culture and how other people do things, the quicker people will be open to whatever your expectations are. The oil and gas industry Melanie began working for a company in the oil and gas industry. Working in the oil and gas industry in areas of the world, like the Middle East and China, opened new doors for Melanie and opened her eyes to many different things and new ways to interact with people.  Culture She gained respect for the local cultures and learned from them, and she found that having local resources was of great benefit to her. Creating an engaging experience The core of the events strategy at SeneGence is quarterly training conferences. Pre-Covid, those got run simultaneously in all the countries, with the same content and structure. Before Covid, however, they were not very open to virtual. Now, they continue to do the same thing. The direct selling industry In the direct selling industry, you need to stay in front of your field and your distributors because things keep changing, and new products keep on getting launched.  A challenge People within the direct selling industry gain a lot from coming together and networking. Recreating that was a big challenge for Melanie. The core The core of how Melanie was able to bring continued intensive engagement to the direct selling industry was to keep the schedule, the structure, the experience, the branding, and as many of the elements as possible consistently the same from live to virtual. Creating longer breaks They created an intentional stretch in their activity breaks to break up the resting time because it is more difficult to concentrate when you are at home. Before the event When they started, they did a 30-minute pre-event "hype it up party" the night before the event to test the technology and prepare all the participants for the virtual experience. They included activities for the kids of the participants to involve them in the virtual event. Melanie Bradshaw’s production partner Melanie Bradshaw still uses the same production partner that she used for the live events for the virtual events because they already speak the same language and understand what the expectations are. They worked together to find the virtual platform that was the best fit for them. Attending some larger events In the beginning, Melanie paid to attend some larger name virtual events to learn from them. Registration There is not just one registration choice, and people require different levels of engagement, so they created tiered registration packages for their events. They have been very creative with the packaging of what is included in each registration.  The convenience of virtual events It has been so convenient for people not to pay for traveling that Melanie thinks that virtual events are probably here to stay forever. What Melanie Bradshaw sees for the future Melanie Bradshaw’s company has one more virtual event planned for January 2021, and then they plan to create hybrid events with low live numbers. They are also hoping to pick up their incentive trips again in June of 2021. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Melanie On LinkedIn

We are delighted to be speaking with David Burkus today. David is an amazing human being with a great mind, and he is full of very concrete ideas that you can apply to your business. He has just released a book called Leading From Anywhere, the Essential Guide to Managing Remote Teams. In this episode, David talks to us about adapting to what the future has in store. He discusses the idea of working flexibly and remotely and explains how to do that easily, effectively, and successfully.  We are sure you’re going to enjoy today’s conversation! David Burkus’ bio: One of the world’s leading business thinkers, David Burkus’ forward-thinking ideas and bestselling books are helping leaders and teams do their best work ever. He is the best-selling author of four books about business and leadership. His books have won multiple awards and have been translated into dozens of languages. His insights on leadership and teamwork have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, USAToday, Fast Company, the Financial Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, CNN, the BBC, NPR, and CBS This Morning. Since 2017, Burkus has been ranked as one of the world’s top business thought leaders by Thinkers50. As a sought-after international speaker, his TED Talk has been viewed over 2 million times. He’s worked with leaders from organizations across all industries including Google, Stryker, Fidelity, Viacom, and even the US Naval Academy. A former business school professor, Burkus holds a master’s degree in organizational psychology from the University of Oklahoma and a doctorate in strategic leadership from Regent University. A project with Audible At the beginning of 2020, David released a project that he did with Audible called Pick a Fight. It was all about how organizations can phrase their purpose in a more meaningful way. Unfortunately, coming out with an audio-only project in 2020 turned out not to be the best idea.  The process of writing his latest book David Burkus started talking about writing his latest book in May of 2020. He saw a hole in the marketplace of literature because the world came to an end, and most of the knowledge workers in the world suddenly became remote, and events got canceled.  The pandemic accelerated something Around April of 2020, a flood of different types of literature came out. Some of it was old voices that had for more than a decade been advocating for working remotely.  The pandemic  The pandemic accelerated something that had already been going on. David felt that people needed help to know what to do when they suddenly got forced to manage a team remotely over a protracted period. So that was what he decided to write about. Research Because of the broader remote work movement, there was a lot of research already out there. David Burkus’ challenge For David Burkus, the challenge in writing the book lay in translating what was already known about boundaryless, virtual, remote-work teams, and the research that had been done on fully distributed companies. That then needed to be distilled down to something directly applicable and actionable. Flexible work By June, it became obvious to David that the future of working from anywhere would require a level of flexibility that we have never seen before.  Results-only work environment David sees us having to move to a results-only work environment going forward. That means that each company will have to create its own set of rules for when people need to be physically present at meetings and when virtual attendance will suffice. Each company will have to become more flexible than ever before. A stigma Working from home used to be associated with not working at all or with being inefficient or unproductive, even though the data suggested the opposite.  The optimal level of engagement A study published by Gallup showed that the optimal level of engagement happened for employees who were at the office two to three days a week. David Burkus’ thoughts on where we are headed We are headed to a situation where people will spend forty to sixty percent of their time at the office and the remainder anywhere, not just at home, according to David Burkus. Building culture When building a remote team, you immediately need to take deliberate steps to create three pieces of team culture. They are shared understanding, shared identity, and a sense of psychological safety. A monitor The team leader could appoint someone trustworthy to monitor all the virtual meetings and notice any instances where someone’s psychological safety could inadvertently be compromised by another team member. After the meeting, they could share their feedback. Top talent Top performers get to call the shots. Because as David points out, top talent has needed organizations less than organizations have needed top talent. So, you need to start making positive changes straight away if you would like to attract the top talent into your organization. Building bonds remotely One of the best ways to build bonds remotely is to start a meeting five minutes early and leave it open for fifteen minutes on the backend to allow people to chit chat as they would at a physical staff meeting. Conversely, you can schedule regular meetings over lunch. The future of work To best prepare yourself for the future of work, you need to have adaptability as your core skill.  Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with David On Website On LinkedIn  

Today, we are extremely happy to be talking to Megan Grant. Megan is an amazing entrepreneur! She started her business after getting laid off four times in five years. After the last time, she decided that enough was enough. Megan is joining us to talk about her business, how she grew it, how she qualifies leads, and how to get into a mindset of abundance. We have a very inspiring conversation today, and we know you will enjoy it! Megan Grant’s bio From unemployed to a business owner, here’s Megan Grant’s story, in a nutshell. Megan has been writing professionally for 11 years, sometimes on the side of a 9-to-5, and other times, as her full-time income. However, it was when she got laid off for the fourth time in five years that she made a decision: she’d had enough. At that exact moment, Megan told herself, “I will never be laid off again.” Megan quickly grew her small freelance writing gigs into a full-time income, bringing in new clients and helping more businesses manage their blogs — and she never looked back. Along the way, she realized how much overlap there is between content creation, social media, and email marketing, so she expanded her business further. Megan created her agency, Revenue Spark Digital Marketing, and very rapidly saw herself buried under a mountain of work, so she hired a small team and continued growing her agency. But she wanted to do more. Having worked with so many other professionals over the years, it always bothered her seeing incredibly skilled people struggle. Why are they overworked and underpaid? Why is it so hard to find high-paying clients? Megan was traveling when she wanted, working from where she wanted, setting her own hours, and steadily growing her income. Why weren’t more professionals doing the same? Megan realized the problem. The problem was that she learned much of what she knows simply from trial and error (lots of errors). But people need a leader. She knew she could help them, so that’s what she’s doing here. Megan began coaching other client-based professionals and businesses, teaching them the exact steps that she took to grow a lucrative business for herself. One of her first steps was launching her course — Revenue Spark: A Proven Formula for Landing High-Paying Clients. She’s also made it her mission to provide as much information as possible across her YouTube channel. Since setting out on this journey, Megan has helped professionals all over the world create the business and life that they want — not the life that an employer is willing to give them. Megan’s background Megan’s background is in writing, and that expanded very naturally into marketing. She used to work for the marketing departments of mostly smaller companies and found that when smaller companies struggled or markets were down, marketing was always the first to get cut. That seemed backward to her, because if you are struggling you need to throw even more money into marketing.  Losing jobs Although Megan was a hard worker, she lost four jobs in about five years. That was devastating for her.  Pivoting In 2016-2017, she realized that she was on the wrong path and needed to pivot. She decided never to work for anyone else again, and she went into freelancing full-time. What Megan Grant does now Megan Grant has an agency where she provides mostly writing services and some social media and email marketing. She also works with other professionals. She teaches them how to grow their businesses in the same way that she did, so they can have stability and security. Building relationships For Megan, building relationships is about tons of outreach. She also has some processes that are running in the background.  Putting herself out there She puts herself out there by doing simple, casual things like tweeting or emailing someone to form genuine relationships and provide value for them. Human to human connection More and more, Megan has realized the importance of caring for others and forming genuine, human-to-human connections with people. Organizing things and managing time Megan schedules time blocks to keep things organized and help her manage her time. Creating content If you are creating content in any capacity, you are essentially building up a library of value and resources. Megan built up her library of resources over time. That allows her to reach more people with less effort. Finding her first customers Megan got her first clients by tweeting them, introducing herself, and telling them she wanted to blog for them. She was more interested in forming relationships with those people than trying to sell to them.  Trial and error At first, finding clients was about lots of trial and error because, at the time, she did not know how to go out and land clients. She refined her process over the years to find what works for her consistently. How Megan Grant now find clients Megan Grant now uses a combination of LinkedIn and warm emailing to find her clients. She starts by creating a human connection with someone on LinkedIn, and after that, she asks if she can email them to talk about business. Developing and maintaining a mindset of abundance Initially, Megan’s abundance mindset came out of a need for survival. She then stopped using writing platforms to find work and started finding clients willing to pay her what she is worth. Shifting from a place of lack to one of abundance opened the whole world up for her. Numbers Megan points out that you can’t build a business or know if your business is working without knowing your numbers.  Dashboards Megan used Google to find out how to track her metrics and create dashboards.  A big lesson One of the biggest lessons she learned was that it is about working smart, not hard. Ask for help Megan learned that if you don’t ask, the answer is always no. So, she now asks for help whenever she needs it, and she helps others when they ask her to do so. Qualifying leads   Not everyone is a potential client. Megan first checks whether or not she has the solution for someone’s problem, and if she can help them. She also looks to see if they are active in the way she needs them to be. If, for example, they don’t already have a blog, she does not reach out to them. She does not want to try to convince them that they need one because that is too big a hurdle and it will not be the best way that she can make use of her time.  Budget She also looks at their budget to make sure that they have enough money to spend. She looks for hints that they have already spent tons of time, money, and energy on building a quality online presence. Building relationships When building her relationships and reaching out to people on LinkedIn, Megan is very concise, transparent, and to the point. She keeps it simple. She tells people her name, what she does, and why she is messaging them. And it works. Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Megan On Website On LinkedIn  On YouTube On Instagram

We are extremely happy today to be speaking with Simon Bowen, the founder of The Models Method. Simon is an amazing man! He is a true genius in sales and communication, and he has created something truly unique! In this episode, you will learn how to position your pricing, how you can differentiate yourself, and how you can use models to explain to your customer and your team what you are doing. You will also find out how to start building loyalty from the sales process onwards.   We are sure you are going to enjoy our unique conversation with Simon! Simon Bowen’s bio  With a strong belief that, if held in the hands of the right leaders, public and private commerce and enterprise can be one of the most powerful forces for good on the planet, Simon Bowen has invested over two decades in facilitating the resolution of complex issues for businesses and organizations of all sizes, across all sectors.  Born and raised in the country of Western Australia, that practical “just get-it-done” ethic has never left him. Combined with multiple tertiary qualifications in education and business and accreditation in several leadership programs and behavioral and talent profiling instruments, Simon’s mix of real practicality, with structured, researched solutions and rich understanding of human nature, allows him to bring a unique clarity to most situations. Utilizing this broad base of experience and knowledge, Simon created The Models Method, a system for elevated and accelerated thinking and influence. The Models Method uses the power of visual models to simplify the complex, make the abstract tangible, and completely shift the dynamic from conflict and contention to influence and alignment. As a consultant, Simon has been in constant demand both throughout Australia and overseas. He attracts very high praise from his clients, and his ability to work with people at all levels to deliver results has made him a valuable resource to organizations and individuals that have ambitious goals to achieve.  Dynamic and thought-provoking, his creativity and enthusiasm make him the perfect catalyst for your success.  How it all started Simon grew up in extremely small country towns in Western Australia. That meant a lot of driving on country roads, and to give each other directions, they would often grab a stick and draw the map in the dirt. So nobody ever went anywhere distant without first representing the journey as a model or picture.  His early working life Simon spent his early working life in electrics and electronics. You can’t see electricity, and there are no moving parts in electronics, so if you are to design or repair a circuit, you will first draw it or look at it on paper. A blueprint  Most of what we do begins with the first physical manifestation in the real world as a picture on paper or as a blueprint. The easiest way Simon found that the easiest way to explain complex ideas to people was to draw the idea on paper. And that evolved into models.  The power of a model  Simon has always been a believer in the power of a model. What he is doing with models is creating blueprints for the brain that represent complex ideas so that people can buy your idea off the plan. Facilitating Simon has a reputation in Australia for successfully facilitating complex, contentious things. Simon Bowen’s secret If you have 100 people in a room who don’t agree on something, you need to frustrate them for the first three-quarters of the available time, according to Simon Bowen. Then start creating a model, and get everyone to contribute to it. Within thirty minutes, they will all agree on an answer. The way Simon Bowen sold When you draw, you draw people in. So, drawing models became the way that Simon Bowen sold to his clients. When he was sitting in front of a client, he would draw his way through the conversation. He discovered that as soon as the client asked to take a picture of his drawing, they had bought whatever he had been talking about. He would then offer to walk through the models with the client’s management team, and that would get him in front of the decision-makers. Testimonials Simon believes that you do not gather testimonials for marketing purposes. You get them to build your belief in what you do and to gain the power of that. Changing the language people use to influence Simon came to realize that with models, he could change the language that people use to influence in every dimension. Not long after that, he realized that the notion of using models was a science of its own, and it was his life’s work. The two most important systems The two most important systems are the system for thinking and the system for influence. Thinking your way through If you can powerfully think your way through something and then influence others to support you, just about everything else takes care of itself.  A system Models are a great system because a good model will cause you to think through something in a highly structured way, without shutting down your creativity. And models produce something that you can use to influence other people. Buyer behavior The pandemic has created some interesting shifts in buyer behavior. If you draw a continuum, with the boom on one side, bust on the other, and a dividing line down the middle, on the boom side, people will pay for big ideas, strategic improvements, and longer-term solutions. Those sales get made on aspiration.  On the bust side, people are paying for prescriptions, and that is about survival.  When that pandemic hit, we moved from being on the boom side to the far end of the bust side. That shifted buyer behavior dramatically.  Business The first job of a business is to make a sale. The second is to deliver value. And, if you don’t deliver value, the business won’t survive. There are four levels of delivery: At the lowest level, you could disappoint people.     At the next level, you only do what you promised to do.     At the next level, you delight the customer.     At the top level, you do all three of the above. Simon calls this level the “I should bloody hope so” level. The highest level of customer service People want to buy from a hero, and someone they know will be there for them if anything goes wrong. So, the highest level of customer service is to defend the customer. The sales side On the sales side, some people sell on price alone. The next level up from that is selling on pressure by creating a false sense of false urgency and scarcity. After that, there is solution-based or consultative selling, where you ask the customers questions and put value in front of them.  Value has changed since the pandemic Since the pandemic, the perception of value has changed. People have moved away from the idea of perceived value to wanting deep and profound value, based on wisdom. People want to be made to feel safe right now because they are moving into the unknown.  Customer loyalty  Research has shown that 53 percent of a customer’s loyalty gets formed during the buying process. Your customer should feel safer with you than without you, so it is critical to choose the right time to bring them into a safe conversation with a real human who will make a sale to them. Marketing Marketing is all about letting the customer know about you while they still have the safety of anonymity. You can differentiate yourself by respecting that and selling accordingly. How you sell matters  How you sell matters. People all need to feel safe first. The founder of a very great company Every great company gets built by a person’s genius. Much of any great company’s genius has been based on the founder’s philosophy and the founder’s history- what they have learned from their wins and losses, and their expertise. The Origins of Genius Model The Genius Model is about organizing the intuitive genius of the founder of a company. There are three sides to it, as Simon explains. Context The idea or solution that you bring to the table is the “what”. That is all about context. A solution is only as good as the context it serves because context gives everything meaning. Value is only value in the context of what it serves. Concept The concept is the big idea behind the value that you are offering and the specific transformational results it delivers to clients. The delivery How do you bring the concept to the table? How easy is it? How quickly does it happen? How leveraged is it from a profitability point of view? Startup The right time to think deeply and profoundly about the compelling, self-evident transformational value of your product you want to sell would be at the startup of the business. Most people are just trying to survive at the startup phase, however.  Bringing information in Only eleven percent of the information we bring in from the world around us comes through the ears. When we read, it is still auditory because we speak the words in our heads. So, if you give people visual access to an idea or your product concept, they will see it. What people see is always more interesting than what they hear because 83 percent of the information from the world around us comes directly through the optic nerve, and the eyes are way more emotional than the ears. Structural access Giving people structural access via a model gets people to understand and believe what you are demonstrating. A model for price positioning Simon has a video and a check-list about his bell-curve model for price positioning that you can access here.  Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Simon On Website On LinkedIn On Facebook The link for Simon’s Bell-curve model for price positioning is here.

We are pleased to be speaking to one of the leaders in our industry today! Aaron Bludworth, the President and CEO of Fern, is joining us as our guest for the show.  Aaron is someone who truly walks the walk when it comes to helping others. In this episode, he gives us some great insights and talks about the impact of trade shows on the economy. He tells us why he believes that face-to-face events will never get replaced with online events, and he also explains how we can help others and what we should and should not worry about if we are unable to change a situation. Stay tuned. We know you’re going to enjoy this conversation! Aaron Bludworth’s bio: Aaron Bludworth is the CEO of Fern, a top-three exhibition official services provider in the United States. Fern has operations throughout the U. S. and services nearly 1500 exhibitions annually as well as thousands of other events. Aaron’s career in the industry began in 1992, and before joining Fern in 2008, Aaron held executive positions at Modern Exposition Services and GES. Aaron has been engaged extensively in industry leadership throughout his career. Aaron is a past president of the Exhibition Services & Contractors Association (ESCA), past chair of the Center for Exhibition Industry Research (CEIR), past board member of the International Association of Exhibitions & Events (IAEE), and a former board member of several other industry organizations. Aaron was the inaugural recipient of IAEE’s Humanitarian Award. Aaron is an officer and appointed board member of Tri-ED, an economic development agency in the Cincinnati region. Aaron is a board member of the Next Generation Freedom Fund, an organization focused on reducing intergenerational poverty. Aaron advises and fundraises for poverty relief organizations in Kentucky, New York, Ohio, and Utah. Getting into the industry Aaron says that just like everyone else, he got tricked into joining the meetings and events industry. In 1992, he accidentally ended up on the show floor, and he never left.   What Aaron Bludworth enjoys the most Aaron Bludworth enjoys privately held events the most, and that is what he has now. He prefers to have the amount of flexibility that he has currently and the ability to determine and drive his destiny over the long term versus the short term decisions that are required in publicly traded or investor-owned companies. Wear a damn mask! There is a reasonable argument to be had that shutting down the economy was too much, and it caused more harm than good, but there is no argument for omitting to do basic mitigations, like wearing a mask, distancing, and washing your hands. Real lives are being affected Real lives are being impacted every day by the COVID-19 pandemic, and it frustrates Aaron that some people are being undisciplined and careless. He feels that national leaders need to be setting an example for the rest of the country at a state, national, and local level. Some countries did not shut down  Countries like Singapore and Taiwan did not shut down their economies, and they kept working with masks.  Lack of discipline There has been a lack of discipline in certain areas. So some government leaders are understandably gun-shy about letting things like shows, movies, and events happen because people have shown that they are not responsible enough to do basic things like wearing a mask. Why trade shows are so important for commerce    There is no place more effective for commerce to happen than at a trade show or an event. There, hundreds of thousands of buyers can get brought to hundreds of thousands of sellers at one time, and they can enjoy massive selections, and great selling opportunities. They can also build relationships and get entertained. What people don’t see Small and medium companies all over the US rely on trade shows as one of their main order-writing opportunities. Most people don’t realize that there is a big problem coming down the road, in the economy, as a result of trade shows not happening due to the coronavirus. Education Unlike the commerce piece, much of the education piece can be replaced effectively with virtual technology.  Meeting safely Aaron believes that people can meet safely right now. They need to follow the basic mitigation protocols like social distancing, wearing masks, and cleaning their hands and surfaces.  The industry  Aaron firmly believes that the industry will regain a similar footing to the one it had in the past at some point in the not too distant future. Traveling People are not too comfortable with the idea of traveling at the moment. Once they start to feel more comfortable about traveling, meetings can start taking place safely. Fern Health Check Fern partnered with an app-based technology company called Share My Health a couple of months ago, and they introduced a product called Fern Health Check. It is available today and can be used to test the health of the attendees of events. Rapid-testing tools There are also various other rapid-testing tools available currently. Aaron Bludworth’s thoughts on the future Aaron Bludworth thinks that we will be using virtual in the way we should have been using it for the last decade when all of this is over. He does not think things are likely to change outside of the trajectory of the way they should have happened. Virtual Aaron thinks that we must find effective ways to use technology in the way that we should have been using it, to bring people to live events. He has no problem with the idea of virtual being the way of the future. Working from home If people keep working from home permanently because of changes that have come about due to the coronavirus pandemic, it will make it more desirable for people to meet in person. Do whatever you can Although you cannot change the things that are out of your control, you should still be doing everything that you can to accomplish the things that you can do. And we should all help one another in any way that we can. “You should spend very little time worrying and stressing about things out of your control.” Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Aaron On Website  On Linkedin profile

Today, we are very happy to have Noah Rosenfarb as our guest! Noah is a third-generation CPA, an investor and entrepreneur, and an incredibly knowledgeable advisor about everything related to finance! He has lived many different lives and is currently the Chief Investment Officer of his company, Freedom Family Office. Noah focuses on helping entrepreneurs to keep more of what they make. He is joining us today to talk about finances and what to do as an entrepreneur in the meetings and events industry. If you’d like to know what to do with the money you’ve earned in your business, where to invest, what kind of revenue and passive income you need to focus on going forward or even selling your business, you will gain a lot from this podcast, so be sure to stay tuned! Noah Rosenfarb’s bio Growing up, Noah Rosenhfarb quickly learned that having money allowed more choices in one’s life, and he wanted that freedom for himself one day. As a CPA, his father’s focus was on forensic accounting, which provided many stories of clients whose families often fought over money. It became clear to Noah that money couldn’t buy happiness or make people behave kindly to one another.  When he began his career in forensic accounting, Noah specialized in helping families cope with divorce. He encountered entrepreneurs that ultimately prioritized their desire for success over the needs of their partners, resulting in divided wealth and lackluster portfolios. Noah went on to create the world’s first family office for divorced women, where he focused on the transition of being a financially stable spouse to a new reality of being solely responsible for investing, budgeting, taxes, and estate planning. His skill of translating complex issues into straightforward lessons became invaluable as his clients became more confident in their decision-making.  Married for over 20 years, Noah is the proud father of two school-aged children and currently lives in Parkland, Florida.  Tax planning In a year like 2020, when your income is down, you still need to plan for your taxes. Noah explains that there are several ways that you can make the best of a bad situation. Noah’s journey Noah’s dad was a practicing accountant, he married a woman whose father is a practicing accountant, and his grandfather was an accountant. So, dealing with money is in his DNA.  Noah’s business Noah’s business has morphed over time. He has always been passionate about making money, and he wanted to figure out how to control the destiny of the dollars he was creating. He realized that by focusing on taxes, he could achieve that and also get to keep more of the money he was earning.  Entrepreneurs There are many ways in which entrepreneurs can allocate their money in ways that benefit society better than the government can. Noah works with smart, successful entrepreneurs who can recognize value when they see it. Food business When he was in college, Noah owned a pizzeria. He then grew a fraternity and sorority catering business that was serving 20,000 meals a semester. Owning a business while being a full-time student was a great learning experience for him. Noah’s father’s CPA firm Noah joined his father’s CPA firm and helped him to scale it. When his father decided to sell his business, Noah realized that he did not want to buy it because he preferred to have the kind of lifestyle where he could own a business and not have to show up at work every day.  Noah Rosenfarb’s stepping stone From a young age, Noah Rosenfarb knew that accounting would be a stepping stone to another opportunity. So, after helping his dad set his business up to sell it, Noah transitioned into the Freedom Family Office business.  Exit planning The best time to sell your business depends on what your goals are. Often, entrepreneurs fail to make the right decisions about when and how to sell. A Vestige study showed that 75% of 1,500 entrepreneur founders who sold their companies regretted doing that. It came down to the entrepreneurs not focusing on what they were going to do next.  Noah Rosenfarb’s Exit Noah Rosenfarb wrote a book called Exit after learning about the unfortunate consequences of entrepreneurs not planning.  Marketing Noah tried marketing the opportunity for entrepreneurs to plan in advance of their sale. Unfortunately, that business failed. Income ratio Noah uses an income ratio to work out how much of your income you need to get up and work for and how much of it comes in without you having to do anything. He helps people set targets for each year, for what they want their income ratio to be.  Switching to a passive income People tend to think that in the future, they can switch from 100% active income to 100% passive income after selling their business, but that is not how it works. Tax strategy  Always invest in yourself and your business first. After that, another place to invest is in tax strategy. It won’t create a passive income, but it might help you to increase the percentage of your income that you can keep.  Investments Noah suggests investing in low-risk, low return insurance products. Owning a property is also a way to invest, so if your business owns the property that it occupies, it could help you to start building a type of passive income. You can also get a good return by investing in someone else’s company and then dedicating some time each month to helping them succeed. Programs outside of the US If you plan a meeting outside of the US, ask the bank about options to cover your client and yourself in case the currencies evolve and fluctuate.  A lottery lifestyle Make a list of what would change, the things you would start and stop doing, and the people you would spend either more or less time with if you won the lottery. You might then realize that you don’t have to win the lottery to get closer to that vision. Review your business model You can also get closer to your vision for the future by reviewing your business model and aligning it with your vision.  Alternative opportunities when things are looking down Look for alternative options and opportunities when things are looking down in your business. And have the courage to speak to a bankruptcy lawyer to find out what your options are and help you figure out if reorganizing your business will be your best option. Competitors If your business is sustaining in hard times, and you are finding growth opportunities, start looking at your competitors. If any of them are wounded, you could step in, rescue the business, and get a part of the ownership. Do what you can now Do what you can right now to start preparing for the eventual future that you want to achieve.  Noah Rosenfarb’s 23 overlooked tax strategies Go to Noah Rosenfarb’s Linkedin profile to find his list of 23 overlooked tax strategies. One thing he recommends is getting a second opinion on your taxes at least once every three years.  

We are delighted to be speaking to a fabulous and fascinating entrepreneur today! We have Mike Brcic, the creator of Wayfinders as our guest. Mike started a business called Sacred Rides back in 1996 and was nominated by National Geographic Adventure as the very first mountain bike tour operator on earth!  Mike is an amazing individual. He has been through everything one can go through as an entrepreneur, and he is joining us today to talk about the importance of living a connected life. He also talks about scaling your business, developing systems and processes to allow your business to run on autopilot, making the right choices in your life, and deciding whether to sell your business or create a new one. You’re going to love our conversation, so be sure to stay tuned! Mike Brcic’s bio: Community-builder and a serial entrepreneur by nature, Mike Brcic is passionate about helping entrepreneurs live inspired, more connected lives. Via his events and adventure retreats around the world with Wayfinders, Mike helps entrepreneurs find the tribe and the support they need to achieve great things and personal fulfillment. He is a passionate speaker on many topics related to entrepreneurship, community building, and mental health. Via his [ALIGNED] blog series, he shares tips and resources to help entrepreneurs find more alignment in their lives. Isolation    Community, connections, and belonging matter a lot to Mike because he found most of his school years to be a confusing time, and often felt lonely. He did not fit in too well and had a hard time finding his groove. He also felt isolated, and that feeling never left him entirely. He has put a lot of energy into that space in the last few years, however, and managed to rid himself of some of those hang-ups. Even so, he can still remember the pain of isolation. Helping people forge deep connections The work that Mike does matters to him. A lot of the work he does these days is about connecting people and helping them to forge deep connections. And all of that is due to his painful formative experiences. Research  Recently, Mike has been researching human connection. All of the research says that human connection is one of our most fundamental needs, and our brains have been wired for it.  Stress mode Feeling isolated throws our entire system into stress mode.  Facilitation work Mike has been working with companies to help them build more connections and psychological safety among their teams. Mountain bike trails A friend suggested that Mike show people around the many amazing mountain bike trails that surrounded his town. He liked that crazy idea, so he got a loan and started a business doing something he loved!  Doing things that light him up Since then, Mike has been following his new rule of doing things that light him up. And he has been doing that with heart and integrity. International trips After about ten years, Mike started offering international trips. He rebranded his business Sacred Rides, and he grew his company all over the world.  Time to move on After 23 years, Mike felt it was time to move on. He sold his business in February of 2019.  Mike Brcic’s happiest years Mike Brcic was happiest in the first ten years of his business when he was still very hands-on and on his bike every day. He remained happy in the first few years after he started growing his business internationally. Growing In 2013, Mike became impatient with the growth of the business, and he wanted to scale it even more. He wanted to be in 150 countries by 2021.  Expanding made him miserable He raised money from investors several times, hired lots of people, and expanded. By 2017, they were in 45 additional destinations. Mike experienced everything he had hoped to experience, and it made him feel miserable because he was no longer doing what he loved to do.  Scaling down and implementing systems Mike came to realize that no amount of scale was going to fill the hole he felt in his heart, so he intentionally scaled his company down and implemented lots of systems and processes in order to remove himself from the company and get his life back. He has not looked back since. Companies growing themselves out of business Growing companies typically scale themselves out of business because even though their revenue increases, their expenses tend to increase even more. Reducing costs Mike got rid of all unnecessary expenses, and he also laid several people off. By the end of it, the company was profitable, and the cash flow was good. An issues list Mike got tired of putting out fires, so he created an issues list. If anyone had an issue that would break the company, they had to bring it to him immediately. If not, it would get added to the issues list, and then the core team would look into the cause of it and figure out a solution. The start and the end of the scaling down process The process took about seven months from start to finish. It started with Mike thinking he was losing his mind, and it finished with him doing just two-and-a-half-hours of meetings each Thursday with his core team.  The company thrived The company thrived without him due to the systems and processes he had put in place and less meddling on his part. Mike Brcic’s advice for owners and CEOs As an owner or CEO, Mike Brcic suggests you should spend your time in only a few areas. Those areas include establishing a great culture, creating a strategy and a vision for the company, taking responsibility for a few key contracts, and doing the things you love to do. Selling Mike’s company ran smoothly on autopilot for about six months. After 22 years in the business, he realized he had done everything he wanted to do with that company, and he no longer loved it in the way that he once did. He wanted new professional challenges, so he hired a broker to help him with the process of selling his business.  Getting free and clear It took only four weeks for Mike to be free and clear of the business once a buyer was found. He was happy not to land up in a position where he had built the business, and a new owner was telling him what to do.  Wayfinders Wayfinders creates unique and transformative experiences and adventures for people, and it helps them to create lives of deep alignment. Mike started it before he sold Sacred Rides, and he was very cautious with it because he did not want to repeat the same mistakes he had made with his previous business. Mike Brcic’s objective From the get-go, Mike Brcic’s objective with Wayfinders was to do only two events a year and focus on making them incredible.  A trap Mike realized that people too often fall into the trap of thinking that they have to find their purpose and meaning through their work. He realized that there was a lot of meaning to be found in becoming a great father and the best husband he could be.  Connect with Eric On LinkedIn On Facebook On Instagram On Website Connect with Mike Wayfinders website