Unleashed - How to Thrive as an Independent Professional

Nadine Sinclair has a doctorate in molecular biology, she was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey, and is now an independent consultant and advises companies on how to improve conditions for mental health for their employees.  Today she talks about mental health in the workplace. Key points include: 03:39: The cost of poor mental health to business 07:10: How poor mental health impacts performance 16:44: How companies can help build resilience in employees 21:13: Tackling negativity bias 28:33: Resilience training 38:45: How exercise in the morning helps performance Learn more about Nadine’s company and take the test on your emotional health at mindmatters.pro 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.  

  David A.Fields is a consulting firm expert and author. He has helped hundreds of boutique and solo consulting firms grow, increase margins, and create lucrative, lifestyle-friendly businesses. This episode is taken from a session that David A. Fields led for the Umbrex and Veritux communities on how to craft your fishing line. Key points include: 06:06: The two-by-two grid 08:32: Solving precise problems 10:17: Mistakes in fishing lines 11:07: Generic problems, generic targets, conjunctions and comets  Sign up for David’s newsletter or order his book on www.DavidAFields.com. 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.

Amanda  Setili is president of the strategy consulting firm Setili & Associates, author of two books of strategy and growth, she is a McKinsey alum and an Umbrex member. On this episode, she shares expert tips on running a successful virtual event.  Key points include: 06:50: First steps in connecting 13:28: Pre-event preparation 27:22: Cold call panels 29:28: Breakout group exercise on a future event  Amanda can be reached through LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandasetili/ or her website https://setili.com.

Nina Froriep is a video producer and visual storyteller. Her company enables business coaches to grow their business with consistent and easy-to-implement video marketing, and today she shares her expertise on video content marketing. Key points include: 15:32: Finding a professional video editor 17:28: Tips of doing a video series 22:28: The impact of video posts 25:20: What converts 27:36: Equipment 31:56: Posting frequency Nina can be contacted through LinkedIn at,  https://www.linkedin.com/in/nina-froriep/, or followed on Twitter @NinaFroriep.

Amol Sarva is a backer, advisor, and mentor at 50+ companies; he has co-founded several startups, including Virgin Mobile USA, Peek, Halo Neuroscience, Knotable, Knotel, and he has developed and taught the course "Venturing to Change the World" at Columbia University. In this episode, he talks about content creation and communication with his network of around 5060 people and shares a few of his experiences in business. Key points include: 05:43: The Knotel startup roller-coaster ride 10:36: Lessons learned building a business valued at $1.5 billion 22:39: How to get started in the entrepreneurial world 27:28: Advice on finding companies to get involved with 29:43: What’s going on in Amol’s lab Amol can be contacted by email, which can be found on his websites. To access his address visit http://amolsarva.com or http://amol.sarva.co/. 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.

The Idea Suite is a boutique agency that unlocks the creative potential of people and businesses through innovation, and on this episode of Unleashed, Shelli Baltman and Fiona Stevenson discuss how their innovation agency helps big companies deal with the challenge of pandemic burnout. Key points include: 03:51: What we mean by burnout 08:49: Managing motivation and energy 18:02: Monitoring and assessing team energy 29:27: Gratitude specificity 33:29: Dealing with self-improvement overwhelm To banish burnout, visit www.energyforgrowth.com, you can also learn more about their business at https://theideasuite.com/ or connect with Shelli and Fiona through https://www.linkedin.com/company/theideasuite/. 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.

Professor Zachary Schrag is a historian of the twentieth-century United States and a professor of history at George Mason University. His specialities are: history of technology, policy history, transportation history, urban history, and oral history. In this episode, we discuss what history means and his book, the Princeton guide to historical research. Key points include: 01:40: History as the study of people 07:23: Internal contradictions 19:48: How a historian organises information 30:04: Recommendations for history students 37:26: History’s influence on politics 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.

Samuel Bachman is a film major in the 10th grade at Frank Sinatra High School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens. In this episode, he discusses the hugely popular podcast he co-created and produces, The Half-Blood Report, and the inspiration behind the podcast. Key points include: 07:49: Authors interviewed on the podcast 11:57: Social media lessons learned on making a podcast 16:47: Preparing for an author interview 26:53: Skills learned from producing a podcast 32:03: Best practices for producing a successful podcast You can check out the podcast through the website https://www.thehalfbloodreport.com, follow them on Twitter @halfreport and Instagram @TheHalfBloodReport and connect with the crew on https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-half-blood-report. 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.

Rick Denton shares an episode from his podcast, CX Passport, a conversation with people about customer experience with a dash of travel. In this episode, he has a brilliant conversation with Sharon Boyd who is from the UK. She is the author of Customer Experience 2,  and the CXO of MKL Innovation.  Key points include: 03:26: The power of gifting 08:34: The ten-pence CX celebration 13:07: The Valentine’s Day, greaseproof paper incident 17:31: The Disney approach to CX 21:42: CX in the airline 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.

403. Rick Denton on Excellent Customer Service Rick Denton has over a decade of experience in customer service and relations; he is now the managing principal at EX4CX, a company that helps companies increase revenue by listening to customers and creating great experiences for their customers. In this episode, Rick shares his expertise in this field and talks about his new podcast. Rick can be contacted through linkedin.com/in/rickdenton or his company website http://www.ex4cx.com. You can also listen to his podcast at cxpassport.com. Key points include: 04:52: Customer experience projects 11:02: The biggest tools used in customer service 14:19: The difference between customer experience and customer insights 22:23: “Holy smokes” case examples 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.