Politely Pushy with Eric Chemi

Today’s episode is a milestone one as we welcome two CEOs to the podcast for the first time. Our guests are Wendy Greenland of Openforce and Mark Warnquist of InShare. It’s particularly appropriate that they’re “sharing” the spotlight as they are both devoted to professionals who work for share platforms - i.e., Uber, Lyft - and companies that employ independent contractors. Openforce is a technology-driven services firm that reduces the operating cost and compliance risk for companies using independent contractors, and Inshare delivers insurance solutions for the sharing (“gig”) economy platform. The two CEOs partnered out of a passion for meeting and serving the needs of independent workers and are continually thinking of ways to work together.  They discuss their commitment to helping contractors who wish to stay independent, what the logistical and legal challenges are, how Covid affected gig workers, how their companies jointly ensure that independent contractors are protected, and how technology solves these challenges.

We are joined by Professor Luis Almeida today, who says it’s totally fine if we call him “Luis” as his students do. This is the congenial style and collegiate type of banter that Luis has with the future PR and marketing professionals he educates. Now at Claflin University, Luis has enjoyed learning from students of different backgrounds and cultures by teaching at universities around the country. His LinkedIn handle is “The Cool Prof” and that is reflected in the opinions of those he’s had the pleasure of teaching. He discusses his hands-on approach to immersing students in real-life marketing and PR scenarios, finding out what creative media and film endeavors they are involved with, and generally figuring out how he can provide guidance. Luis talks to our host about many topics relating to being a “cool professor” in the PR and marketing space. From the escalating expense of tuition to tapping into different talents of students and teaching to the individual, Luis helps our audience understand how enriching this type of education can be for future communications professionals today.

Yuval Boger, AKA "The Qubit Guy," joins us for today's podcast. He makes quantum computing understandable to the masses and hosts "The Qubit Guy's Podcast," drawing on his expansive knowledge in this area and his prior work as CMO of Classiq. Quantum computing is essential in many areas, including manufacturing data and knowing why a product fails through incidents in the assemblage process. In addition, he discusses how quantum computing shows up in unexpected industries like music production and its importance to the Suez Canal. The field is incredibly far-reaching, yet not out of reach; listen to how he describes how everyday people can fire up a quantum computer today. The misconception is that quantum computing is "futuristic," but Yuval explains that it is essential and very much in use today. 

Today, Professor Mark Congdon joins us - and that’s “Mark” to his students as the world has changed since the person writing this podcast description attended college a century ago. Mark is an assistant professor of communication studies at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. Many public relations professionals didn’t necessarily attend college with a major in the communications field historically, but this is Mark’s teaching focus, and forte and his students, who are there to study PR, are learning a tremendous amount. As a former special education teacher, he taps into how different students learn and the insightful and creative activities that engage them individually. He incorporates diversity, equity and inclusion and is mindful of what appeals to different generations of students in every lesson plan. Mark discusses how Covid changed the industry and how the remote approach to PR requires a shift in thinking for students. Finally, he clues us in on some innovative research he’s been working on that will help shape the future of PR, including focusing on financial literacy. Tune in to learn more about how this ongoing research relates to PR and how students are afforded an incredible, hands-on, experiential syllabus in the PR field today through Mark’s unique teaching methods.  

Today our host is excited to welcome a fellow New Jersey resident to the podcast. Kelly Ford is a tech industry veteran turned growth equity investor who serves as a general partner at Edison Partners. Kelly discusses what it is like to switch from operator to investor and how these different careers compare to one another. She explains how she landed in her current position entirely by accident, having initially worked “on the inside” for a former Edison portfolio company. Knowing the inner workings of a company Edison backed, she subsequently found herself in the ideal position to help evolve Edison Partner’s strategy from venture to growth equity. Kelly enjoys building and growing companies, but she never imagined years ago that someday she’d be an investor. She explains how she adapted and rose the ranks to leading significant investments and raising capital. She also lets our host know about companies and unexpected industries in underserved markets that investors should be evaluating and in remote pockets of the U.S. not typically recognized by those looking to invest. Kelly is the expert with a keen eye on profiles to examine how to spot great investments in unusual industries and discover opportunities in the most unlikely locales. You’ll want to hear her strategic way of thinking and how it elevated her to where she is today.

Today’s guest is world renowned attorney Jay Edelson, Esq., once referred to by The New York Times as “the class action lawyer who may be tech’s least friended man.” Among Jay’s many cases, he has gained international attention for suing tech companies that have violated individual privacy, and most recently, for his firm's pro bono work on behalf of the families of  Lion Air crash victims. But Jay offers something unique and non-traditional as the founder of the successful Chicago law firm Edelson PC, through a creative division of his company that brings attention to legal matters in music and acting videos. Hear how this widely respected and successful attorney makes his field more fun through innovative marketing and how the creative arm of his law firm, Edelson Creative, breaks down ideas into more digestible concepts for law students. Jay, who hosts his own podcast, Non-Compliant, dispels the notion of lawyers as stiff corporate honchos in suits and discusses how bringing their creativity to the marketing process makes for a delightful work culture. He may be a formidable opponent in the courtroom, but Jay explains why he is scarier on the volleyball court, why he’s passionate about bringing levity to law and the impact it has on a firm in 2022. 

Today we are joined by Ken Jacobs, the principal of Jacobs Consulting & Executive Coaching. In this position, he helps to empower public relations and communications leaders at agencies and corporations through leadership coaching. Since 2007, Ken has seen and guided leaders through different types of challenges that impacted the public relations industry at large. He began his career in management at some of the nation’s leading PR firms and later branched out to lend his insights about leadership to the industry as a consultant. Through his work, he helps PR managers achieve and surpass their organizational, career and personal goals by becoming more inspiring and effective leaders. Ken discusses how the pandemic and uncertain economic times impacted his advice to leaders, his understanding of what clients expect from professionals and the positive opportunities that challenging times introduced to these leaders. Hear from Ken about how he inspires people to be better at their jobs and the impact that that has on living a fulfilled life.

Today’s guest is Zack Butcher, the first engineer to work at Tetrate, a cybersecurity solutions company that employs service mesh to guarantee layered security solutions for every user in a network, ensuring they are individually authenticated and authorized for all activities within that network. With his Alabam roots making him the most friendly person to describe cybersecurity, you can’t help but get captivated as his tech talk is combined with Southern congeniality. Zack hails from Google and prior to that was an intern at Colonial Pipeline – yes, that one! He never envisioned back then that one day he would be working closely with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to develop the language and protocols around “Zero Trust” - that the Colonial Pipeline attack necessitated. He talks about how Tetrate works with customers in defense, financial tech and healthcare, all highly regulated industries where Zero Trust cybersecurity is paramount. What does Zero Trust mean? Zack explains that it is not about “not trusting.” Rather, it’s about elevating trust, and he goes into detail about what that entails. Companies like VISA and Freddie Mac trust Tetrate and the people behind it – like Zack - who are working with NIST to standardize a framework of cybersecurity practices. Find out more about what Tetrate does in today’s episode. 

Today’s guest is George W.. - no, not that one, but a man with his own mission to shape this country and make it safer across many industries. George Waller may have more luck than the former president because he - and his company Zerify (formerly Strikeforce Technologies) - have focused on cybersecurity for 21 years and invented two methods of securing video conferencing to protect private data - keystroke encryption and out-of-band authentication. Covid changed the way we do business and conduct meetings and the most proprietary and classified information is discussed through collaborative communications. George initially approached the popular video conferencing platforms (the names we all know and platforms we’ve all used!) to offer security solutions, but was unable to make headway. For some, refusing his company’s help was due to a lack of manpower and others just failed to foresee the increase in breaches that a switch to remote work models would bring - or how long we would all be working remotely. Hackers follow the money and they know that video conferencing is hot now. When it comes to protecting conversations about mergers and acquisitions, disaster relief plans or government initiatives (among countless other examples), “zero trust” cybersecurity is a must. George explains what that means and discusses how Zerify ensures that every single user is verified before entering a conference. He also talks about the importance of classifying conferences according to priority levels for security so the proper controls are in place. From this cybersecurity visionary you will learn why we are in danger if we (and the government!) don’t make cybersecurity in video conferencing a priority!

Today’s guest has had quite the whirlwind of a year! That entails the birth of a new baby, a marriage, a major location move and becoming a CEO after graduating Stanford’s MBA program only four years ago. But for Christina Martinez, who majored in microbiology at Princeton as an undergraduate, only motherhood seems to be the biggest challenge. She quickly acclimated as CEO of Traject, a company that handles digital marketing needs for SMBs. She credits the people she works with for her ability to learn fast and manage tasks well. Christina says that by saying “yes” to new roles and challenges, rather than following a specific strict trajectory from one’s college days, she accomplished things she had never envisioned and now greatly enjoys. Hear more about how this microbiology major and former Teach For America educator ended up as a leader in the tech space, helping companies with social media, reputation management, SEO visibility and giving them an underlying data product to tie all those marketing assets together. She and Traject are intent on helping small to mid-sized businesses manage their marketing needs so they can focus on their day to day business and operations.