The Start-Up (R)evolution

Becoming the CEO - Julio Taylor

My guest today is Julio Taylor. He is the CEO of Hallam Agency, a digital marketing agency with 60 employees and almost 5 million pounds in revenue. 
 
In this episode, we discuss the path to becoming CEO and embracing the visionary and oneself. What is special about Julio is that he compares his business journey to his time playing full-time and an alternative metal band. 
 
⭐ We discuss creative differences, power struggles, and setting the right incentives. He talks about how you need to know your instrument, but also your role in a band, and that not everyone needs to be a songwriter or front center. From here, we have a side discussion about agency operations and time tracking specifically; again, this is all about incentives. 
 
For many agency owners, just like myself, time tracking is at the core of capacity planning and profitability analysis. But now that AI is making us so much more productive, time spent might have just become obsolete as a way to evaluate the value of our work. Who says that if you could start over again, he would build a culture without time tracking poorly is open, honest, and well-reflected; you will enjoy this one. 
 
Let's dive in! 
 
⭐ More about Julio: 
 
Julio is a highly experienced leader with a proven track record of leading successful teams on demanding and high-performing projects and campaigns. Skilled in Digital Marketing Strategy, UX, and brand strategy.
 
CEO of Hallam, winner of Google's Growing Business Online 2019 award and 6 of The Drum's awards including Agency of the Year 2019. Hallam is an emerging force in the digital space, helping clients to thrive in a digital world.
 
He also works closely with senior leadership teams at global companies to improve the way they think, work and deliver digital experiences for their audiences.
 
Don’t forget to follow Julio: 
⭐LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliotaylor/?originalSubdomain=uk 
⭐ Website: ​​https://www.hallaminternet.com/team/julio-taylor/

The art of adapting - Helene Jelenc

Welcome back to the show, everyone! In this episode, we sit down with Helene Jelenc, a fascinating anthropologist turned SEO expert.
Helene shares her journey, which started with a master's degree in anthropology from the US and led her to live in various countries before settling down in Slovenia. Helene has gained extensive experience in research, consulting, editing, content writing, SEO, and cultural consulting as a freelancer. In 2022, she joined my Agency, Flow SEO, as part of the team and has inspired everyone ever since.
Our conversation centers around Helene's decision to transition from a successful career in entrepreneurship to becoming part of a team. We explore what motivated her to make this change and how she has grown personally and professionally since the switch.
As two marketing enthusiasts, Helene and I also discuss the ever-changing landscape of search and what excites us about new marketing strategies.
So, get ready for an insightful conversation with Helene. Don't miss out!
 
⭐More about Helene: 
She’s an American living in Slovenia, a curious traveler, and a mother of chickens who travels for food and music. 
Coming from a research background, Helene stumbled upon marketing when she began blogging in the early 2010s. Her interest in SEO quickly blossomed, and she started working with brands to create authentic and intentional content that ranks. 
Helene is a huge fan of collaborative projects, original research, creative content that pushes the boundaries of what’s out there, and anyone who at least gives an honest effort.
 
⭐Follow Helene on social media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenejelenc/ 
Blog: https://wanderinghelene.com/ 
Instagram: @wanderinghelene
⭐Don't forget to follow us:
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/the_startup_revolution

Authentic relating in business - Pablo A. Fernandez

My guest today is Pablo Fernandez, a community builder passionate about human connection. He is the Founder of Secret Table, a renowned experienced design company that connects leaders, innovators, artists, and entrepreneurs. 
 
In our conversation, we talked about my well-made events, deep connection, and psychological safety. No one wants a sleazy networking event with business cards. But we are all burnt out from zoom and small talk as well. We are so eager, and we're so meant to connect deeply. 
 
Pablo shares about consciously creating community and why you might want to spend time with those who are different from you. Let's dive in.
⭐ More about Pablo 
 
Pablo Fernandez is the founder of Secret Table, a renowned experience design company that connects leaders, innovators, artists, and entrepreneurs. On a mission to share the importance of in-person connection and a supportive community, he advises multiple start-ups and serves on the board or leadership team of various nonprofits, such as the San Diego Food Systems Alliance. 
 
He is also a start-up mentor through the Founder Institute. Pablo has hosted and produced over 300 events over the past decade. Most recently, is advising Experience House, a one-month creative mastermind and artist residency for experienced designers and community builders.
 
⭐ Follow Pablo on social media:
 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pabloafernandez/ 
 
Website: https://www.secrettable.co/ 
 
⭐Don't forget to follow us:
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/the_startup_revolution

The psychology of change - Ken Paskins

In this episode, we explore the psychology of change and why organizational shift is more than just tools and practices with my guest, Ken Paskins, an expert executive coach and fractional COO.
 
Together, we delve into the importance of vulnerability and honesty in leadership and how fostering trust within your team can lead to success.
 
At the beginning of the episode, we talked quite a bit about EOS. This is short for Entrepreneurial Operating System. It's a management methodology by Gino Wickman, which emphasizes the importance of clear goals, success metrics, and check-ins to enable business growth. 
 
Whether you're looking to implement a new system or scale up your business, this episode is for you. Because, as usual, these systems are easy in their best-selling books. But complexity arises during implementation.
 
⭐ More about Ken 
 
Ken Paskins, Founder of GCE Strategic Consulting and COO of The Shift Spot™, is an accomplished CEO / COO and Executive Coach.  Ken brings a broad range of leadership experience, including operations, sales, acquisitions, strategic planning, and P&L management (up to $500M) while leading teams north of 400 people across North America and Europe for Fortune 100 companies such as Oracle.
 
Ken is a results-oriented, decisive, and strategic executive with proven success in leading and scaling organizations.  He has worked with a wide range of industries and company sizes in various funding stages by helping companies get "unstuck” so they can scale to the next level!
 
⭐ Follow Ken on social media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenpaskins 
GCE Website: https://www.gcestrategicconsulting.com/ 
The Shift Spot: https://www.theshiftspot.com/ 
⭐Don't forget to follow us:
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/the_startup_revolution 

Excelling in extreme environments - John D. Russell

JR and I first met in 2018 in Black Rock City. John D. Russell is a photographer, content creator, and adventure guide. He's also my friend who taught me what to do when stuck in a sandstorm where you can't see at arm's length. 
 
Yes, he is the leader of my Burning Man Camp Hex Collective. I wanted to talk with him because of the wild conditions when leading at Burning Man. Everyone is a volunteer gifting their time and energy, and the conditions are extreme between the heat, sandstorms, and cold. 
 
But everyone is ultimately united in a shared vision and common values. So in this episode, we talk about becoming a leader, choosing your language carefully, letting go, and letting people make their own mistakes. 
 
They say a burner can endlessly talk about Burning Man. Let’s dive in!
 
⭐ More about John D. Russell
John D. Russell is a Visual Storyteller passionately driven to help businesses stand out from their competition through persuasive visual media, marketing, and education. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accountancy from CSU, San Marcos. 
 
A Best Selling Author, John is internationally published and has been on assignment in over 30 countries. His client list includes brands such as Toyota, Airbnb, Skechers, Habitat for Humanity, and many more.
 
Follow John D. Russell on social media:
⭐Website: www.johndrussell.com
⭐Hex Collective: www.hexcollective.org
 
Don't forget to follow us:
⭐Linktree: https://linktr.ee/the_startup_revolution

Robots vs. humans - Kevin Indig

Kevin Indig is a strategic growth advisor who has run SEO organizations for companies like Shopify, G2, and Atlassian. He has also consulted for brands like Ramp and Eventbrite.
 
Kevin is on a mission to accelerate technology that can solve the world's biggest problems and on today’s episode, he shares his new journey as an independent advisor.
 
We talked about the advantages and disadvantages of working in a big company versus working for yourself.
We dive into the world of Chat GPT/AI and have a wild conversation about copyright, the definition of art, first-order thinking, creativity, and the ethics of promoting oneself on social media.
 
And finally, we discuss leadership and the meaning of success to him. It's a wild and interesting conversation that you won't want to miss. Let's dive in!
 
⭐ Make sure to follow Kevin on his socials: 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Kevin_Indig 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinindig/ 
Website: https://www.kevin-indig.com/ 
Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/c/KevinIndig
⭐ Don't forget to follow us:
Linktree: https://linktr.ee/the_startup_revolution 

Adopting holacracy - Lavinia Iosub

In today's episode, we talk about holacracy, asynchronous communication, and remote-first culture
 
These are three modalities that embrace autonomy and ownership within your team.
 
I love talking with today's guest, Lavinia, because she's so thoughtful.
 And she also has more than 10 years of experience in building remote teams. 
 
She is the managing partner of Livit International. a support system for entrepreneurs, startups, and remote workers who build tech and digital businesses. 
 
She's also the founder of The Remote Skills Academy, an education platform for Indonesians who want to learn to work remotely. 
 
In this episode we uncover what it takes to work collaboratively in a remote and cross-cultural organization.
 
 
⭐ More about Lavinia: 
Livit has been incubating and nurturing remote-capable teams, projects, and companies for the last 10+ years.  They’ve worked with over 1000 clients from across the world, and their partner portfolio at any given time spans 10-25+ countries.
 
Lavinia is also the founder of the Remote Skills Academy, an education platform for Indonesians who want to learn to work remotely, and a founding member of the Remote-First Institute.
 
Livit recently won the Flexible Workplace Award for "Outstanding Employee Wellbeing" at Running Remote in Montreal, are amongst the 2% happiest and most engaged teams worldwide according to OfficeVibe, and is a top 3 Best Workplace in Indonesia in 2022, and a top 25 Best Workplace across Asia & Middle East according to Great Places To Work®.
 
Lavinia has lived in 8 countries on 4 continents, and explored 35+ others. She is a fan of jazz, heritage architecture, food, nature, and a future of work enthusiast.
 
Follow Lavinia on social media:
⭐ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laviniaiosub/ 
⭐ Livit: https://www.linkedin.com/company/livit-ecosystem/ 
⭐ Remote Skill Academy: https://www.linkedin.com/company/remote-skills-academy-by-livit/ 
 
Don't forget to follow us:
⭐ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/the_startup_revolution 

The business of art - Annika Rhea

If you're like me, and you find yourself glued to the laptop way too often, this episode is for you.
Today's episode is about what can seem like contradictions:
Laptop work and flow states, the office and movement, entrepreneurship and embodiment, discipline, and creativity.
But throughout the episode, you will learn how one can serve the other. 
My guest today is Annika Rhea, a performance artist and Flow coach from New York. The basis of her art is Flow, a combination of rapid creative problem-solving, energized presence in the moment, and mastery of her craft.
She even changed her last name to Rhea the goddess of Flow to commit herself entirely to the art form. 
Her teachings on art and business, as well as the business of art, are about the absence of resistance and a constant process of exception and adaption to push through assistance and find Flow.
 
⭐ More about Annika: 
Annika Rhea is an immersive action painter and movement artist based in Brooklyn, NY. 
She is the creator of BODY MEDIUM, a painting technique that utilizes the body in motion as a painting tool. Her work merges visual art, performance art, and video art. Rhea is a process-oriented artist and is inspired by the relationship between motion, color, rhythm, and emotion. 
 
Follow Annika on social media:
⭐ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annikarheaart/ 
⭐ Website: https://annikarhea.com/ 
Don't forget to follow us:
⭐ Linktree: https://linktr.ee/the_startup_revolution 

Rethinking business advice - Jodie Cook

We all read the same business books and watch the same Ted talks. However, our visions for success are radically different.
 
Do you really know what you are optimizing for when growing your company? Growth, headcount, revenue, profit, freedom, impact or creativity?
 
In this episode, we talk about why great advice for one leader, one vision and one company might be the wrong advice for another one.
 
You will learn about the 4 stages of your entrepreneurial journey.  And we will decode why certain ideas work for certain stages - and not for other ones.
 
In this episode, I am speaking with Jodie Cook. She built and sold her social media agency over a ten-year period and writes books and articles about entrepreneurship. Fun fact: She also competes internationally in powerlifting.
Follow Jodie Cook on social media:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cookjodie/
Website: https://jodiecook.com/ten-year-career
Don't forget to follow us for more insightful content:
https://linktr.ee/the_startup_revolution 
 

The inner game of leadership - Gareth Hermann

Today, we discuss why having good intentions is not enough to have an impact on the world.
You will learn about the intricacies and second-order effects of some of the hottest trends in start-up culture:
⭐ What are the downsides of financial transparency and profit sharing?
⭐ Why would a wellness program lead to more stress?
⭐ And do we really want radical ownership from our team members?
In this episode, I am speaking with Gareth Hermann. He is the co-founder of the digital marketing agency Magic. They are first and foremost catering to conscious companies. They famously worked on the presidential campaign for Marianne Williamson or the Denver Psilocybin Initiative.
We talk about some of the creative new ways of working and leading that he implemented - the ones that worked out - and the ones that lead to struggle, challenges, and unexpected consequences. Let’s dive in!
Follow Gareth Hermann on social media:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gareth-hermann
Don't forget to follow us for more insightful content:
https://linktr.ee/the_startup_revolution