System Execution Podcast

After graduating in 2003 from the Pennsylvania State University with a degree in Crime, Law, and Justice Business Emphasis and completing an internship with the United States Marshals Office, Michael switched gears and put his Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certification that he earned at Penn State University to use working at Atlantic Health System in New Jersey and becoming the Rescue Captain of the Rockaway Township Fire Department. After a year, he began to climb the ladder within Atlantic Health System becoming the Administrative Manager of Atlantic Ambulance Corporation Air and Ground Transportation, overseeing over 250 medical professionals. He spent over 11 years growing the company from $2 million dollars and leaving valued at $44 million. During his tenure, Michael was seen as a mentor for new managers, won the Corporate Employee of the Year in 2008, Six Sigma President's Award in 2012 and was a five-time finalist for New Jersey EMS Manager of the Year. Through his operations and growth backgro

Alaia Williams is a business systems strategist and community cultivator based in Los Angeles, CA. Alaia works with entrepreneurs and small business owners around the globe, helping them build better businesses by connecting them with the resources they need to succeed. What you’ll learn about in this episode: The underlying challenges that all business owners face Why organization is the most important system to put in place How to start thinking about organization as a system How to utilize the systems you already have in place to reorganize your business Figuring out what is or isn’t working with your strategies Identifying what you can do better and what is already going well When in your business journey you can work with a systems strategist Looking for systems you can develop to improve operations significantly Functioning at the highest level using strategic systems Keeping track of everything in your life and focusing on what is important Ways to contact Alaia: Email: alaia@alaiawilliams.com Websi

Before entering the financial planning industry, Courtney worked in City government for the duration of her career in Human Resources. Courtney has been in the financial industry since 2012 and joined the Troxell Financial team in 2016 in which she creates, maintains and enhances the ongoing operations and project management within the firm as well as serving her individual clients. She is devoted to helping her clients and the Troxell Financial team, envision their goals and develop a plan and process to pursue them. Courtney specializes in financial planning for women and special needs planning. Courtney is married and lives in Springfield, IL with her husband Mike and two children Lillian and Bennett. While Courtney is not working with clients and spending time with her family, she enjoys exercising, reading, volunteering with United Cerebral Palsy and most of all, the outdoors, especially by the water. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Customer experience processes that can foster better relations

Mike is currently the Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer for cyber security firm Ops Tech Alliance (OTA), a certified SBA 8a Small Business and Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business. OTA was founded by former National Security and Special Operations professionals with over fifty years of experience and was formed with a singular focus: to bridge the gap between operations and technology to enable mission success. In the rapidly shifting arena of cyber security, mission success depends upon maintaining a technological advantage. OTA provides that advantage. Their culture begins with their commitment to their people, who share a passion for our business and a commitment to serving customers. Their approach is strongly based on understanding the ever-changing threat environment and the core theories behind applied technologies. Then as a trusted partner, they advise their clients on theory and technical solutions, coupled with associated tradecraft with the intention of discovering new app

With over 15 years in the technology consulting business, over 8 years in the medical device industry, and over 4 years in the financial sector, Anthony Rivera is experienced with developing systems that make businesses run better. What pushed Anthony into the financial sector was seeing the opportunity to help the economy. He believes that if businesses obtain capital for strategic growth they will hire more people and consumer spending will increase, lifting the whole economy. This personal cause set in motion a new business, where Anthony partnered up with over 5k lenders and developed a new software platform that allows business owners and investors to work with lenders directly. What you’ll learn about in this episode: How to be driven by purpose in your life and your business A software platform that will enable businesses to raise capital more quickly Networking to develop contacts that can help you move forward Working with the right people for your business Developing networking systems that consist

Hamilton Perkins is the founder and President of Hamilton Perkins Collection, an e-commerce retailer, offering designer travel bags at an affordable price while holding the highest standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. Hamilton Perkins Collection has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, The Washington Post, and Money Magazine. Hamilton Perkins Collection has hosted trunk shows at Bloomingdale’s and was the winner of the 2016 Virginia Velocity Tour business pitch competition hosted by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Prior to starting Hamilton Perkins Collection, Hamilton was an Investment Advisor at Merrill Lynch and, earlier, worked as an Analyst at Bank of America. He has also served in a leadership capacity with various non-profit organizations and has been recognized for his volunteer work and service hours assisting low-income populations. Hamilton is also a contributing blogger for The Huffington Post. He is a graduate of Old Dominion Univers

Heath Barnett graduated from Texas State in 2013 with a degree in Finance. He started off trading financial derivatives for Oil and Gas and then joined a pipeline construction company, Rapid Pipeline Services, as the Chief Financial Officer. After a successful career in Oil and Gas, Heath joined Accenture and their Transaction Services Team. His team was responsible for less than 3% of the transactional volume but represented almost 50% of the company’s transactional value. After Accenture, He started his own company, Partake Technologies Inc., known as Partake, which is a mobile commerce platform that connects golf courses with their customers to provide an on-demand omnichannel shopping experience. He is an advisor for multiple other start-ups in a variety of industries and believes that his main purpose in life is to be an Entrepreneur, Protagonist, Husband, and Friend. Life Motto to Live By: Think different and question the assumptions. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Finding what makes you thri

You might call Sheryl Brown the Jaime Sommers of financial services marketing. Using her bionic strength and amplified listening strategies in social and digital marketing, she has taken on the mission of changing how the financial services community is represented and doing business online. As CEO and Social Media Strategist of BIONICsocial, a boutique social and digital marketing agency headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri, Sheryl is focused on making the financial services community hip, fresh, and relevant to today’s consumers. Sheryl is an international speaker, writer, and business trainer and has spoken at many industry events and moderated panels with executives from Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and more. You can find her most anywhere online as ‘BIONICsocialite’ where she flexes her message of being bigger, better, and more bionic to financial professionals across the United States. What you’ll learn about in this episode: The ways Sheryl is working to promote women in the finance communit

Christopher Conner has been in the franchise industry since 2002 working with several hundred different franchise systems in management, franchise sales, and franchise development work. His experience ranges across all fields of franchise expertise with a focus in franchise marketing and franchise sales but includes work in franchise strategic planning, franchise research, and franchise operations consulting. Chris Conner has worked with multiple International franchises and licensed organizations throughout the United States, Middle East, India and Europe. In these International expansion programs, he played a pivotal role in developing the program, putting together documentation and marketing franchises to Domestic and International buyers. Chris’s company, Franchise Marketing Systems, is currently working with several International companies in developing and managing independent distribution channels throughout the globe. Chris Conner has worked with many diverse independent distribution systems including

Vera K. Fischer began her career in residential real estate, working her way up from Leasing Agent to Property Manager. She segued to Operations Manager for the first privately held Cognitive Rehabilitation clinic in Austin, Texas. In 1993, Vera launched her career at GSD&M, an internationally known advertising agency. After various positions within several Austin area agencies, Vera went client-side to Forgent Networks. There she managed and implemented a multi-million dollar marketing budget for several years. In 2004, Vera founded her agency, 97 Degrees West known as The Brand Marketing Agency. Since 2004, the agency has survived both recessions and shown significant growth since 2012. Clients include: LS Tractor USA, United Heritage Credit Union, FirstCare Health Plans and several area small businesses in real estate, oil & gas and specialty medical practices. 97 Degrees West has been the recipient of 15 international creative and marketing awards including a Stevie Award from the American Busines

Before entering the financial planning industry Dan Nuwash completed a 4 year activity duty commitment to the United States Marine Corps. After his military commitment Dan enrolled in Saint Peter’s University and completed both a business undergraduate degree and a Masters of Business Administration. Dan specializes in developing customized investment strategies for clients based on investment goals, risk tolerance, and capital commitments. His knowledge of risk management helps him mitigate systematic risk and exposure for clients by developing portfolios containing insurance and tax minimization investments. What you’ll learn about in this episode: Why Dan decided to make the move from working for a big firm to becoming an independent financial adviser How Dan has been successful with Finance for Thought without ever making a cold call The process for building relationships with clients that Dan implemented within Finance for Thought How Dan experienced trial and error in developing the relationship buildi

Cindy has 30+ years of business experience, specifically in developing and implementing revenue and profit generating strategies translated to tactical roadmaps from startup to ceiling-busting to exit. Cindy is creator and master facilitator of the ZFactor Methodology, a system which leverages the Visioneering process to catalyze instant change for revenue acceleration. A facilitated think-tank session process elucidates Gaps and Opportunities between current reality and desired future state of the business and creates 90 day agile roadmaps for implementation. She is founder and partner with ZFactor Group and author of “ZFactor Sales Accelerator: From Vendor to Value Creator,” which has been listed on Amazon’s Best Sellers for sales teams. From 2006 to 2012 she was VP Strategic Sales for an Austin Ventures company and helped grow the company from $800K to $54MM in 2012 and leveraged her ZFactor methodology to innovate strategy and develop the talents of a channel of 130+ sales professionals. There she ran the

Megan Malone is a Founding Partner with Vici, a Philadelphia-based digital agency, and leads the Operations division. Megan has both a broadcast and digital marketing background working for the Philadelphia Eagles, Beasley Broadcast Group, and Cox Media Group. Megan has certifications from the Center for Sales Strategy (management, marketing strategy, brainstorming), a certification from Disney Institutes People Management, and was awarded the top 10 advertisers in Louisville from the American Advertisers Federation in 2012. She has managed millions of dollars of digital campaigns in her career. What you’ll learn about in this episode: The story of Vici Media Inc.’s growth from the time when Megan was the only employee How Vici Media Inc. keeps track of over 100 media partners The systems and processes that work best over multiple time zones so Megan can live in Phoenix while many of her employees live in Philadelphia The system Vici Media Inc. uses for superior marketing campaign management How Post-it Note

Elise Torske is the Marketing Manager and Strategic Partnership Director for Centennial Wealth Management, a private wealth advisory team at Ameriprise Financial Services. She started off as an Administrative Assistant at her firm 8.5 years ago and over the years created a position for a marketing role. Currently, she’s in the midst of a major shift in processes of client acquisition and retention, moving from the outdated “dinner seminar” era that worked for advisors 10-20 years ago to creating a digital footprint and segmenting their book of business to replicate their ideal clients. What you’ll learn about in this episode: How Elise created a position for herself within her company when she saw a need What to do when you realize what your strengths are Why dinner seminars aren’t practical anymore and what has replaced them that is more successful An example of how to use relationship building to communicate with and draw in clients Elise’s process of “dating” her clients What center of influence is (COI)

Sanjib Kalita is Chief Marketing Officer of Money20/20, a business he helped grow from startup to the world’s largest event focused on payments and financial services innovation within 3 years. A fintech leader for over 15 years, he has worked for large organizations like Google, Intel and Citi as well as several successful startups including TxVia, a payment platform building technology company acquired by Google in 2012, Irynsoft, a Kauffman Foundation supported mobile education technology company highlighted in Best of 2010 lists by Time and Fast Company magazines, as well as Money20/20 which was acquired by Ascential plc in 2014. He is also on the board of advisors for two venture-backed startups that have collectively raised over $30 million, MPOWER Financing, an alternative lender targeting international students, and Impact Analytics, advanced analytics and data services for the retail industry. During the past two years, Sanjib has been a coach for Student Startup Madness at SXSW, where he coached the

Danilo Coité, MD, comes to Independence Plus, Inc. (IPI) with over 15 years of experience in clinical medicine, risk management, and managed care insurance plans. He is a visionary leader skilled at turning insight into action with a unique blend of medical and business expertise. He offers strategic, decisive guidance while remaining committed to corporate goals and objectives. Dr. Coité is a resourceful problem-solver with the talent for identifying need and creating effective solutions and is dedicated to building a path of sustainable growth that will improve the quality of care, accessibility, and affordability. Prior to joining Independence Plus, Dr. Coité served as the President of WhiteGlove Health based out of Austin, Texas. As the President of WhiteGlove Health, Dr. Coité was responsible for all day to day operations of the company. He provided the strategic vision, leadership and organizational guidance that drove the company’s growth and service expansion to five additional states in the Northeast

Vera K. Fischer began her career in residential real estate, working her way up from Leasing Agent to Property Manager. She segued to Operations Manager for the first privately held Cognitive Rehabilitation clinic in Austin, Texas. In 1993, Vera launched her career at GSD&M, an internationally known advertising agency. After various positions within several Austin area agencies, Vera went client-side to Forgent Networks. There she managed and implemented a multi-million dollar marketing budget for several years. In 2004, Vera founded her agency, 97 Degrees West known as The Brand Marketing Agency. Since 2004, the agency has survived both recessions and shown significant growth since 2012. Clients include: LS Tractor USA, United Heritage Credit Union, FirstCare Health Plans and several area small businesses in real estate, oil & gas and specialty medical practices. 97 Degrees West has been the recipient of 15 international creative and marketing awards including a Stevie Award from the American Busines

Tom Grooms is Vice President, Information Technology and Chief Information Officer for CF Industries, a role he has held since March 2016. Tom joined CF Industries from Valspar, where he served as CIO for four years. Prior to Valspar he held numerous executive IT leadership roles with Medtronic for over seventeen years. Tom has a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Valparaiso University and an MBA from University of Illinois-Chicago. What you’ll learn about in this episode: What a CIO does in IT The engagement between the business and IT: why it matters Tom’s Business-IT Engagement System The pyramid for maximizing IT impact and what needs to be done well at each level How IT can help grow the business Why you need to assign “business partners” to lead this engagement The continuous delivery model that makes IT effective Why IT people have to learn to become great listeners and great question askers Why you need to think 18 months out Collecting the right data Ways to contact Tom: Website: www.cfindustries

Ryan Stewman, CEO and Founder of Hardcore Closer and Break Free Academy, is a 4x best-selling Author, Motivational Speaker, Sales Coach, Podcast Host, Blogger and all around Entrepreneur. He’s also a regular contributor to Forbes, Entrepreneur, Addicted2Success, Good Men Project, Lighter Side of Real Estate, Huffington Post, and more. Ryan is best known for consulting with alpha personality business owners on rapidly growing their sales through the use of strong marketing and advertising. With his no BS, take action approach, Ryan has been able to help high income and high net worth performers make adjustments in their businesses that unleash windfall profits. In the day and age of sales trainers advertising their success by bragging about the private jets and expensive cars they’ve been able to purchase themselves, Ryan prefers to brag about the mansions and exotic cars his clients have been able to purchase through the utilization of his teachings. His programs have propelled numerous clients from 5 and 6 f

Vera Fischer began her career in residential real estate, working her way up from Leasing Agent to Property Manager. She segued to Operations Manager for the first privately held Cognitive Rehabilitation clinic in Austin, Texas. In 1993, Vera launched her career at GSD&M, an internationally known advertising agency. After various positions within several Austin area agencies, Vera went client-side to Forgent Networks. There she managed and implemented a multi-million dollar marketing budget for several years. In 2004, Vera founded her agency, 97 Degrees West known as The Brand Marketing Agency. Since 2004, the agency has survived both recessions and shown significant growth since 2012. Clients include: LS Tractor USA, United Heritage Credit Union, FirstCare Health Plans and several area small businesses in real estate, oil & gas and specialty medical practices. 97 Degrees West has been the recipient of 15 international creative and marketing awards including a Stevie Award from the American Business A