Systems Simplified

Dondi Scumaci is the President of Dondi Scumaci, Inc., where she and her team consult with organizations to develop better employees, leadership, and overall company culture through its public and private seminars, keynotes, and management retreats. Dondi has many years of experience as an executive in the financial industry and transitioned to consultancy to help businesses and people thrive. She is the author of many books, including the best-seller Designed For Success: The 10 Commandments for Women in the Workplace. Dondi is an international speaker best known for her high-energy presentations and workshops designed to inspire employees, executives, and entrepreneurs to reach their potential. In this episode: People need to feel connected with others, that their work has meaning, and that they're an important part of the company's vision. It makes employees more productive, communicate and collaborate effectively, and fuels overall engagement. How can that be done? People feel engaged when they find meaning and purpose in their work, making them want to release their potential. During the pandemic, people became isolated, so companies need to find ways for them to reconnect because collaboration is integral to effective teams. Involvement in the company vision, having processes in place, and receiving support help form employee connectivity and a sense of community. If they know they're part of the bigger picture, it drives their commitment to their jobs, and they feel involved in the meaning and purpose behind their work and the impact of their role in the company. Giving feedback, especially the positive kind, is also key, and companies can support their employees through a mentorship or coaching program to build engagement. Engagement creates a solid company culture, a sense of community and collaboration, and drives the company vision. What else can leaders do to motivate and engage their people? Dondi Scumaci, President of Dondi Scumaci, Inc., joins Adi Klevit in this episode of the Systems Simplified podcast to talk about systems for creating engagement. They discuss how a sense of community helps fuel engagement, differentiate mentorship from coaching, the art of delegation, and share best practices for a constructive feedback system.

David Brier is the Founder and CEO of DBD International, Ltd., a branding consultancy that helps build brands for clients worldwide, no matter your size, location, or industry. He is a branding expert and the recipient of over 330 international industry awards in branding, rebrands, design, and brand strategy. He received the Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship medallion and has been featured in Adweek, Forbes, Inc, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, Business Insider, and numerous podcasts. David is also the author of the award-winning book Brand Intervention: 33 Steps to Transform the Brand You Have into the Brand You Need. In this episode: Customers buy transformations — products or services that make things simpler, better, easier, tastier, smaller, or bigger. How can you use your company's unique story as a selling point to differentiate itself from competitors? How can your brand add value for customers? The most essential factor in building your brand is the experience people have with your product or service — the actual differentiator of using it, interacting with it, and the transformation it helps bring about. With a wealth of branding experience behind him, David Brier's advice is to start by focusing on customers' problems and needs. He helps companies create a unique brand that relates and interacts better with customers. Customers look for brands that fill the gap between where they are and where they want to be — they are looking for a solution. Once you can do that for them, your business will grow. In this episode of the Systems Simplified podcast, Adi Klevit interviews David Brier, Founder and CEO of DBD International, Ltd., about his system for creating a differentiated brand. David also talks about his book, explains what branding means, and discusses how companies can become extraordinary and differentiate themselves from competitors.

Cindy Free is the Owner and CEO of HR Annie Consulting, a human resources consulting firm located in Portland, Oregon. She started her career in the ski industry, and after college, she started working in HR. She officially joined HR Annie Consulting in 2012. The company was originally founded by her mother, Ann "Annie" Reed, in 2009. Annie transferred ownership to Cindy in 2016. HR Annie Consulting specializes in high-quality human resources solutions using a tailor-made approach. The team works with many small to mid-sized clients to help them with their HR needs. Cindy is responsible for all functions of the HR Annie team, including sales, marketing, customer service, project management, and overall customer satisfaction. In this episode: Your business requires employees to function, so treating them well is essential. They are your most valuable asset. If you don't take good care of them, they won't be as productive or happy in their roles, and your business will suffer. Does your company need a better HR plan? Having a human resources infrastructure is crucial not just for the sake of legal compliance but also for the success of the company and the well-being of its employees. Every business needs an HR infrastructure with systems and standard operating procedures in place for guidance. In the long-term, companies benefit from a low employee turnover rate and a more productive team. Cindy Free, the Owner and CEO of HR Annie Consulting, is Adi Klevit's guest on this episode of the Systems Simplified podcast, where she talks about systems for human resources management and how they use a tailor-made approach with companies. Cindy explains how she works with clients, why documentation and systems are vital for a solid human resources structure, and best practices to ensure legal compliance.

Isaiah Nolte is the COO at Traction Tools, a cloud-based software platform that helps organizations implement the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) with ease. It helps businesses manage meetings, operations, member permissions, and communications across the organization. Its "To-Dos" functionality enables users to create a list of tasks during meetings and send automatic reminders. Isaiah is a Professional EOS Integrator at EOS Worldwide. Prior to his current position, he was the Operations Leader and then the Integrator and President of Traction Tools. Before joining Traction Tools, he was the Sales and Tech Leader at Marketing Concepts. In this episode: Are you wasting time in an endless stream of meetings? Do you have trouble staying on task and prioritizing your responsibilities? Is it challenging for you to stay organized? A software systems solution could help you and your company with all those challenges. Many companies have adopted the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) because it helps prioritize time, execute duties, and achieve better results. Useful software helps promote clarity and accountability to manage workloads, priorities, and goals efficiently. For the EOS system to work efficiently, you need the right software to execute it. Traction Tools allows you to take the components of EOS and use them so everybody in the company can access the areas focused on what they need to know. Once it's integrated into your business, you'll be glad you didn't try to reinvent the wheel. In this episode of the Systems Simplified podcast, Adi Klevit interviews Isaiah Nolte, the COO at Traction Tools, about the benefits of using its software to implement a business operating system. Isaiah discusses common challenges leaders face with how they spend their time, explains how to use Traction Tools to create actionable items to promote accountability, and how it's used for teams to collaborate on essential company goals.

Mitchell Levy is a global credibility expert, a 2x TEDx speaker, an international best-selling author of 65 books, and an Executive Coach for the Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches community. Mitchell has interviewed 500 thought leaders on credibility, which led him to publish an international bestseller book, Credibility Nation. He has also delivered a powerful TEDx Talk on humanity, created courses, and built a Credibility Nation membership community to help people live, learn, grow, and surround themselves with the "right" people on a similar journey. He's an accomplished entrepreneur who has created 20 businesses in Silicon Valley, including four publishing companies that have published over 750 books. He's provided strategic consulting to hundreds of companies and has been the chairman of a board of a NASDAQ-listed company. In this episode: What does it take to become a credibility expert? What can you do to be viewed as credible? Credibility is your character and other people's perception of your character. According to Mitchell Levy, credibility is a journey and not a destination. It is the quality in which we are trusted, known, and liked. When presenting an elevator pitch or your CPoP (Customer Point of Possibilities) statement, credibility is essential to make an impact on your audience. You have to establish trust with them quickly, so they want to know you and work with you rather than your competitors. To create credibility and be likable, you must be authentic and consistent, display integrity, be vulnerable, and respect people, among other things. In this episode of the Systems Simplified podcast, Adi Klevit interviews Mitchell Levy, a global credibility expert, about his proven process of creating credibility. Mitchell also discusses the 10 aspects of creating credibility, why it takes three seconds on your online presence to generate trust, how to state your purpose succinctly, and guides Adi to create her personal CPoP statement and what comes next.

Jackie Kibler is a Certified EOS Implementer™ for EOS Worldwide. She is passionate about helping CEOs and business leaders transform their companies and, ultimately, the quality of their lives. Jackie has held various leadership roles for about 30 years, with 10 of them being a coach for CEOs. As a Certified EOS Implementer™, she has clients all over the US in a variety of industries. Jackie is also a Certified KOLBE Consultant at the J.W. Kibler Group. In this episode: Having a proven business development process is one of the best things you can do to grow your business. It can help in attracting leads, qualifying them, and driving sales. Being a Certified EOS Implementer™, Jackie Kibler learned that many companies lack a well-defined structure for business development. She now advises leaders to put in place the right structures for executing sales, creating a value proposition for prospects, and building business networks. This makes work easier for teams and helps create a healthy company culture. In this episode of the Systems Simplified podcast, Adi Klevit is joined by Jackie Kibler, a Certified EOS Implementer™ for EOS Worldwide, to talk about processes for business development. Jackie explains how EOS works, discusses the benefits of having a proven process, and shares tips for business networking.

Jeremy Ryan Slate is the Founder of The Create Your Own Life Show, a podcast that studies the highest performers in the world. He is also the Co-founder and CEO of Command Your Brand Media, a public relations firm that helps premium brands and leaders maximize the power of podcasts to change the world. Jeremy was ranked #1 in iTunes' business category and #78 in the Top 100. Throughout his career, he has received numerous recognitions, including being named one of the top 26 podcasts for entrepreneurs by CIO magazine and the top podcast to listen to by Inc. magazine. In this episode: Do you want to live an extraordinary life? What if you knew the tenets of being extraordinary are a repeatable and predictable process? Through his trials and tribulations, Jeremy Ryan Slate discovered what it takes to become extraordinary and achieve success. He shows people what success actually looks like — it's hard, it's gritty, and sometimes you have to work at it a long time to get there. However, if you know the right strategies and apply them to the right things, you can achieve many great things and help out a lot of people. Jeremy helps people who believe they were meant for more and want to achieve a higher level in life, and it starts with the courage to push yourself. In this episode of the Systems Simplified podcast, Adi Klevit interviews Jeremy Ryan Slate, the Founder of The Create Your Own Life Show and the Co-founder and CEO of Command Your Brand Media, to lay out the step-by-step components necessary for people to become extraordinary. Jeremy talks about the realities of achieving success, what success looks like, and what it takes to get there.

Bob Burg is the Founder of The Go-Giver Community Network, an organization that connects private, global businesses. In the past 30 years, he's helped companies and leaders evolve their communication habits in order to increase their sales and grow their businesses. He is also the Co-author of The Go-Giver, a book that talks about the five laws of stratospheric success, what they are, and how they can be implemented in everyday life. In this episode: Can giving value to others help your business grow and succeed? What are the five key principles entrepreneurs should focus on in order to prosper? The Co-author of The Go-Giver, Bob Burg, has been helping companies and people alike achieve extraordinary results both professionally and personally. In his career of over 30 years, he's addressed audiences and shared the stage with notable leaders, athletes, broadcast personalities, and politicians, including the former President of the United States. His goal is to help shift your focus to that you are providing immense value to others and to yourself. Bob Burg, Founder of The Go-Giver Community Network, is Adi Klevit's guest on this episode of the Systems Simplified Podcast. Bob shares his experiences while co-writing The Go-Giver with John David Mann, how it's different from his past works, and what makes it so special. He also talks about how The Go-Giver Community Network helps businesses, the importance of finding a mentor, and the value of authentic relationships when conducting business.

Anne Huntington Sharma is the President and a Board Member of Huntington Learning Center, the leading learning and tutoring center in the country for test preparations. The center was founded in 1977 by Dr. Ray And Eileen Huntington, Anne's parents. The center currently has over 300 locations and more than 500 part-time and full-time employees. In this episode: How do you run a mission-driven company? How do you adapt to unforeseen changes in the environment you operate in and expand in the process? Anne Huntington Sharma knows that the secret to growing and scaling a business is investing in good systems and processes. She advises new business owners to be organized, set up systems and processes, prepare well-laid-out goals, and use key performance indicators to evaluate performance. Anne Huntington Sharma, the President and a Board Member of Huntington Learning Center, joins Adi Klevit in this episode of the Systems Simplified Podcast to talk about systems for growing and scaling a franchise business. Anne explains how Huntington Learning Center was started, how it started franchising, and how it uses systems and processes to scale. Stay tuned.

Bonnie Low-Kramen is the Founder and CEO of Ultimate Assistant Training & Consulting, where she provides assistants and their leaders the tools they need to build the ultimate partnership and workplace. Bonnie was the Personal Assistant for Oscar-winning actress Olympia Dukakis for 25 years and learned the skills needed to be an incredible assistant. She is also an international speaker and the Author of the best-selling book, Be the Ultimate Assistant. In 2015, she was named Educator of the Year by DEMA, the Domestic Estate Managers Association. In this episode: One of the biggest mistakes leaders make is thinking that they can save a lot of money by taking care of all of their administrative tasks — without the need for an executive or personal assistant. This is not an effective use of time regardless of how skilled they are and can limit their success in the long term. So what should leaders do to get started with personal assistants? What do they need to know when hiring an assistant? And what are the top qualities to look for in a good assistant? Bonnie Low-Kramen, the Founder and CEO of Ultimate Assistant Training & Consulting, joins Adi Klevit in this episode of the Systems Simplified podcast to talk about systems for nurturing successful relationships with executive assistants. They also discuss the benefits of having an executive assistant, tips and tricks for hiring an executive assistant, and the qualities of a good executive assistant. Stay tuned.