Unleashed - How to Thrive as an Independent Professional

Show Notes: Unleashed has been running for six years and has 335,000 downloads. In episode 500 of the podcast, host and creator, Will Bachman wants to share three things: the deep personal history behind the podcast, what listeners can expect going forward, and the impact it has had on him. An Interest in Journalism Will began his publishing adventures in junior high school when he started the Henry James Herald, a photocopied newspaper he sold or gave away in the lunchroom. He tried to start an alternate to the school newspaper in high school when he found the school paper to be a little less interesting than what he thought it could be. Despite not having the opportunity to pursue his initial dream of starting his own newspaper in high school, his passion for journalism continued in college when he joined the Harvard Crimson. He became a photographer and learned how to develop film and print photographs, spending around 30-40 hours a week as a photo editor. He enjoyed this experience immensely, as it gave him a sense of being in the know and being able to see his photos in print. From College to McKinsey Will discussed his experiences in college, the Navy, and business school related to publishing. During his time in the Navy as a communications officer, he created a bulletin designed to keep the crew informed during a tactical readiness exam. In business school he created an elaborate cheat sheet for his fellow classmates to use in their exams. One day when walking into the exam room, he was thrilled to see almost 80% of the room using his cheat sheet. And later in his career at McKinsey, he had a dream of gathering together a collection of resources, but never had the time to execute it. At McKinsey, Will had the idea of getting the whole business analyst class together every Friday morning to share tips and tricks they had learned from their projects. The Birth of the Book After being an independent consultant for four years, Will had an idea to write a book about how to thrive as an independent consultant. This was the birth of a book called Unleashed where he could share his experiences as an independent consultant. He designed a cover for the book with a dog leash and a dog jumping off the page which eventually became the logo for the show. Looking back on his life, Will realized that he'd always wanted to talk to people and then share what he'd learned, and that is the purpose of the show: to share practical lessons learned so people can apply them in their professional lives. Timestamps: 05:26 Taking cheat sheets into Business school 07:26 The birth of an idea at McKinsey 09:21 The creation of the Unleashed logo 11:06 Interviews that address a specific need 12:47 What Will has learned from the podcasts 13:27 Authors interviewed 15:10 The importance of having a podcast 18:49 David Fields episodes

Show Notes John Livesay is the pitch whisperer - he helps people calm down and deliver a winning pitch. He believes that the best way to win more sales is to tell a story that includes your own personal story, a company story, and then turning a case study into a case story. He was approached by Anthem insurance to be their sales keynote speaker and ended up staying for their improvisation session to help people with their pitches. Ink Magazine dubbed Jordan a pitch whisperer after she gave an example of how she helped a client tell a better story. She was working with Olympus medical, who had a piece of equipment that could make surgeries go 30% faster, but they couldn't understand why more doctors weren't buying it. Jordan explained that people buy emotionally and then back it up with logic, and then she asked the client some questions. The client told a story about how their equipment had helped a doctor at Long Beach Memorial put a patient's family out of their waiting misery. The other doctor saw himself in the story and decided he wanted the equipment. The client was amazed and said they had never thought to make the patient's family a character in the story. 4 Steps to Effective Pitches John Livesay talks about his process for pitching and how he uses a four step structure to make his pitches more effective. He gives an example of how he used this process to pitch for an airport renovation project. He first paints the picture with the who, what, where, when. Then he highlights the problem and the stakes involved. Next, he provides a solution. Finally, he brings the story to life with dialogue that allows the listener to see themselves in the story. The speakers discuss the importance of focusing on the problem statement when seeking independent consultants. They tell a story about a fictitious client, James, who needs the caliber of consultant found at a big firm like McKinsey or Bain, but without the full team. James exhausts her personal network and then has trouble finding the right person. The speakers argue that this is a problem that their company, UpWork, solves. Pitching Tips for Independent Consultants In this conversation, John Livesay discusses some tips for independent consultants who are pitching their services to potential clients. He stresses the importance of selling yourself first, as people are more likely to buy into your energy than anything else. Additionally, he talks about the importance of using stories to connect with potential clients, as this will help them to see themselves in your experiences. Will Bachman and John Livesay discuss the importance of finding a mentor, and how to go about finding one that is a good fit. They advise against simply posting a request for a mentor online, and instead recommend reaching out to people you know personally or have worked with before. They also suggest stacking multiple problems to solve, in order to make the mentee more attractive to potential mentors. Cold Email Subject Lines John Livesay, a sales trainer, recommends focusing on empathy, listening, and storytelling when making cold calls or emails in order to build an emotional connection with the person you're trying to reach. This will help you earn the right to have a meeting or conversation, rather than be seen as an annoyance. The conversation discuss tips for writing cold email subject lines and John Livesay shares his tip of funneling potential contacts on LinkedIn. He believes that by staying connected with potential contacts, it won't feel like a cold email when you do reach out. Links: https://johnlivesay.com/ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChWp7P-2gv2a-nppJpXswoA https://www.amazon.ca/Successful-Pitch-Conversations-Invisible-Investable/dp/0982285353 https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-successful-pitch-with-john-livesay/id982063571 https://www.joinbytext.com/ Timestamps 0:01: What is a pitch whisper? 4:18: How to find the right story to sell. 9:15: The importance of telling the best story. 11:55: How did you get into the field of consulting? 18:50: How do you find the right person? 23:34: How to open your email with a compelling pitch? 28:07: What's a great open? Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Peter is an energy industry thought leader, and consult and international keynote speaker and co-founder of NorthBridge Energy Partners LLC, an independent consulting organization with expertise and perspective on US energy markets. Peter has worked with and advised companies as large and established as GE, Nike, and SunPower while also helping numerous start-ups navigate the challenging path to success, and he is the author of "The Energy Switch: How Companies and Customers Are Transforming the Electrical Grid and the Future of Power." You can learn more about Peter and his work at www.peterkellydetwiler.com. Key points include: 06:02: Current challenges faced by the energy system 13:25: Energy storage and the energy grid 39:02: The future of consulting for the energy industry Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Jonas is a media and entertainment executive with a passion for innovating in the on-demand content ecosystem. In 2019 he was named one of British Columbia's 40 under 40. As a co-founder of Bumper, Jonas uses his 20+ years of experience in the on-demand content space to help podcasters grow their audiences and return on investments. Previously, as the Director of Strategy at Pacific Content, Jonas helped clients achieve success in branded podcasting. Pacific Content is an award-winning podcast agency working at the intersection of brand strategy and high-quality audio storytelling. Learn more about Jonas and his company on Bumper. Key points include: 05:54: The range of requests and services 11:23: Podcast strategies 21:17: Reviews and vanity metrics Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Todd Cherches is a visionary leader with experience as a consultant, trainer, executive coach, TEDx speaker, keynote speaker, panelist, professor, author, blogger, and thought leader in the field of leadership and visual thinking. In this episode, he talks about his patented VisuaLeadership® approach. You can learn more about Todd and his work at www.toddcherches.com or www.bigbluegumball.com. Key points include: 06:18: How to host a creative meeting to drive growth 11:43 Exercises in visual leadership 24:07: The origins of visual leadership Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Jonathan Paisner has worked with B2B Fortune 1000 companies to evolve and implement their corporate brand to adapt for the changing needs of their business. He has held leadership and senior consulting roles at DeSantis Breindel, CoreBrand (now Tenet) and Siegel & Gale, and previously, he created and ran the brand licensing division of A&E Television Networks. In this episode, he shares his expertise in brand architecture. You can reach out to Jonathan on Linkedin or through his company website BrandExperiencedGroup.com. Key points include: 02:32: Brand architecture as a window to the overall business strategy 11:51: A case example of brand building 21:06: Securing alignment between teams and departments Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Raffi Grinberg is the Executive Director of Dialog and an educator. He also created and taught the course Adulting 101 at Boston College (the most popular course in the undergraduate business school). The course covered personal finance, relationships/communication, positive psychology, and career skills. In this episode, he talks about developing this program and why it has been so successful. You can reach Raffi through Linkedin. Key points include: 05:22: Cognitive skills coaching 14:18: Growth mindset 34:32: Communication skills Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Joana Domingues was an executive coach at McKinsey for 22 years. She is an experienced leadership and organizational consultant, and C-level coach. In this episode, she talks about her services, and her career path. You can connect with Joana through Linkedin or learn more about her work at Outsight.pt. Key points include: 04:29: Favorite open-ended coaching questions 27:16: A breakdown of a typical session 39:33: A case study of coaching a multinational organization Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

After graduating with a BA in History and Education, Krysten knew she wanted a career where she could help people and make a positive impact. She became a teacher at middle school, but three years later she moved to an insurance agency where she led multiple departments, from operations to training to sales. Since the early days of her career, she has used her skills to coach sales in several industries, including entertainment, construction, retail, property management, consulting, health care, financial services, waste management, manufacturing, and software. You can reach Krysten on Linkedin or through her website Crosscuts.io. Key points include: 01:19: Tips on running a successful Linkedin content strategy 12:07: Reaching out to decision-makers 22:13: The importance of engaging with comments Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.

Kyle McDowell is an author, speaker, and leadership coach. Kyle started his career in a regional bank as a front-line customer service representative. He has nearly three decades of experience leading tens of thousands of employees for some of the biggest companies in the US, and he has recently launched his best-selling book, Begin with We, which he talks about in this episode. Kyle can be reached on his social platforms as Kyle McDowell Inc. and his website KyleMcDowellinc.com. Key points include: 09:47: Dealing with mistakes 18:31: Measuring ourselves by activities or outcomes 25:42: Challenging with diplomacy Unleashed is produced by Umbrex, which has a mission of connecting independent management consultants with one another, creating opportunities for members to meet, build relationships, and share lessons learned. Learn more at www.umbrex.com.