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Whitney Teal on the Power of Communications Over Marketing

July 2, 2025 by John Ray

Whitney Teal on the Power of Communications Over Marketing, on North Fulton Business Radio with host John Ray
North Fulton Business Radio
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Whitney Teal on the Power of Communications Over Marketing, on North Fulton Business Radio with host John Ray

Whitney Teal on the Power of Communications Over Marketing (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 881)

Whitney Teal, founder of The Teal Bridge, joins host John Ray for an insightful conversation about why most small businesses are focusing on the wrong thing when it comes to visibility. A self-described communications specialist, not a marketer, Whitney breaks down how reframing your outreach around communications rather than marketing can lead to deeper client relationships, more meaningful engagement, and content that actually resonates.

She explains the importance of vulnerability in business, explains how to present authentically on podcasts and social media without oversharing, and explains why she believes podcasting is one of the most underutilized tools for building trust. Drawing on her radio background and current work with service-based businesses and thought leaders, Whitney offers a refreshing and practical take on what it means to show up, sincerely and consistently, for your audience.

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is produced by John Ray and North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, and is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Key Takeaways from this Episode

  • Stop saying “marketing.” Instead, start thinking “communications.” It changes how you show up and how others connect with you.
  • Podcast guesting and hosting are powerful tools for storytelling, not selling.
  • Vulnerability builds trust, but there’s an art to doing it well and meaningfully.
  • You don’t need to chase trends or go viral. Consistency, authenticity, and relationships win.
  • Thought leaders, lawyers, CPAs, and nonprofits can all thrive with message-first strategies, even in highly regulated industries.
  • Your brand isn’t what you say; it’s what others say when they see or meet you.

Topics Discussed in this Episode

00:00 Introduction to North Fulton Business Radio
02:00 Guest Introduction: Whitney Teal
02:16 Whitney’s Background and Career Journey
05:54 The Evolution of Marketing and Social Media
09:11 The Importance of Communication Skills
11:15 The Value of Media Training
12:58 Being a Podcast Guest and Host
18:35 The Importance of Delivery for Thought Leaders
19:05 The Power of Podcasts in Business
19:37 Challenges of Self-Promotion on Social Media
23:24 The Art of Vulnerability in Marketing
24:39 Authenticity in Business Communication
27:14 Building Relationships Through Marketing
30:09 Identifying Marketing Issues in Your Business
33:31 Success Stories and Client Testimonials
35:58 Contact Information and Final Thoughts

Whitney Teal, The Teal Bridge

Whitney Teal, The Teal Bridge
Whitney Teal, The Teal Bridge

Whitney Teal, a trailblazing visualizer, has extensive experience in the marketing industry. Her beginnings in radio kickstarted her journey as an entrepreneur. She co-founded her first business in 2015 and since has helped start four additional businesses specializing in services for thought leaders and SMBs including her current venture, The Teal Bridge.

Whitney is also a founding member and ambassador of the FEW (Fellowship of Extraordinary Women) Atlanta Chapter and hosts the podcast If I Ever Live to Be, highlighting personal stories and tips for navigating life the best way possible.

Website | LinkedIn | Instagram

Renasant Bank supports North Fulton Business Radio

Renasant BankRenasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, with over $17 billion in assets and more than 180 banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services offices throughout the region. All of Renasant’s success stems from each banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way to better understand the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X (Twitter) | YouTube

Beyond Computer Solutions supports North Fulton Business Radio

If you’re a law firm, medical practice, or manufacturer, there’s one headline you don’t want to make: “Local Business Pays Thousands in Ransom After Cyberattack.” That’s where Beyond Computer Solutions comes in. They help organizations like yours stay out of the news and in business with managed IT and cybersecurity services designed for industries where compliance and reputation matter most.

Whether they serve as your complete IT department or simply support your internal team, they are well-versed in HIPAA, secure document access, written security policies, and other essential aspects that ensure your safety and well-being. Best of all, it starts with a complimentary security assessment.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube

About North Fulton Business Radio and host John Ray

With over 880 episodes and having featured over 1,300 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in our community like no one else. We are the undisputed “Voice of Business” in North Fulton!

The show invites a diverse range of business, non-profit, and community leaders to share their significant contributions to their market, community, and profession. There’s no discrimination based on company size, and there’s never any “pay to play.” North Fulton Business Radio supports and celebrates businesses by sharing positive stories that traditional media ignore. Some media lean left. Some media lean right. We lean business.

John Ray, host of  North Fulton Business Radio, and Owner, Ray Business Advisors
John Ray, host of  North Fulton Business Radio and Owner, Ray Business Advisors

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. John and the team at North Fulton Business Radio, LLC, an affiliate of Business RadioX®, produce the show, and it is recorded inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

The studio address is 275 South Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.

You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and many others.

John Ray, The Generosity MindsetJohn Ray also operates his own business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their value, their positioning and business development, and their pricing. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants, bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.

John is the national bestselling author of The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices.

Tagged With: Beyond Computer Solutions, Branding, building relationships, communications, John Ray, marketing, North Fulton Business Radio, relationships, renasant bank, Social Media, thought leaders, Whitney Teal

Taking the Stage: Speaker Series with Amanda Pearch

April 23, 2025 by Amanda Pearch

Chat with AP
Chat with AP
Taking the Stage: Speaker Series with Amanda Pearch
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Step on stage like you own it- with this powerhouse speaker series!

This episode we share the top ten high-impact communication tactics that will elevate your presence, captivate your audience, and leave your people hungry for more. No fluff, just actionable moves. Welcome to Chat with AP, hosted by Amanda Pearch.

Want to engage or learn more visit amandapearch.com

Purpose Driven Podcasts

 

Tagged With: amanda pearch, communications, content strategy, moderator, Purpose Driven Podcasts, speaker series, Taking the Stage

Mastering Business Communications, with Pamela DeRitis, Connect and Captivate

September 18, 2024 by John Ray

Pamela DeRitis, Connect and Captivate, on North Fulton Business Radio with host John Ray
North Fulton Business Radio
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Pamela DeRitis, Connect and Captivate, on North Fulton Business Radio with host John Ray

Mastering Business Communications, with Pamela DeRitis, Connect and Captivate (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 802)

In this episode of North Fulton Business Radio, John Ray interviews Pamela DeRitis with Connect and Captivate. Pamela discusses her background in acting and how it informs her approach to corporate communications, emphasizing authentic connection and captivating an audience. She details techniques like improv and structured storytelling to help clients enhance their speaking and video presentations. Pamela also shares client success stories, including overcoming personal challenges and preparing for high-stakes presentations. The conversation touches on the importance of emotional engagement, the impact of AI on communication training, and tips for effectively connecting with an audience.

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is recorded and produced by the North Fulton affiliate of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Pamela DeRitis, Connect and Captivate

Pamela DeRitis, Connect and Captivate

Pamela draws on over fifteen years of experience in acting and improv to help you create authentic and influential communications with your peers, employees, or audience.

Through coaching that builds confidence and character, Pamela will help you become a trusted partner to your clients and customers, whether you are giving a keynote speech, creating video content to help sales conversions, or networking in person.

Pamela’s coaching programs are formulated from her training in the Meisner technique, Practical Aesthetics, improv, and other neuroscience-based acting techniques, which have all shaped her life as an artist and entrepreneur.

Pamela brings her unstoppable creative momentum to the table to help your businesses gain an EQ advantage and become a captivating communicator, on camera, or off.

Website | LinkedIn | X (Twitter)

Topics Discussed in this Episode

00:00 Introduction to North Fulton Business Radio
01:21 Meet Pamela DeRitis with Connect and Captivate
01:32 Pamela’s Journey and Connect and Captivate
02:10 Acting and Improv in Business Communication
04:41 Emotional Breakthroughs and Business Applications
08:14 Challenges in Business Communication
17:59 Storytelling Principles in Business
21:58 Client Success Stories
24:00 The Role of AI in Business Communication
26:56 How to Know You Need a Communication Coach
32:53 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Renasant Bank supports North Fulton Business Radio

Renasant BankRenasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions, with over $17 billion in assets and more than 180 banking, lending, wealth management, and financial services offices throughout the region. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

Website | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | X (Twitter) | YouTube

Renasant Bank supports the Georgia Alliance for Breast Cancer

Georgia Alliance for Breast Cancer (formerly It’s The Journey) is a registered 501c3 non-profit that strives to support Georgia’s breast cancer community by raising funds to support breast health and breast cancer programs throughout the state of Georgia.

GAABC’s mission is to engage with Georgia’s breast cancer community to increase access to care and reduce disparities in cancer outcomes.

Randi Passoff, a breast cancer survivor, founded GAABC in 2002. She created “the kinder and gentler breast cancer walk” based off the Avon 3-Day Breast Cancer Walk. Instead of a 3-day walk of 60 miles over 3 days and sleeping in a tent, the Georgia 2-Day Walk covers 30 miles over 2 days, and participants sleep in a hotel. Most importantly, what’s raised in Georgia stays in Georgia.

Renasant Bank is a major supporter of GAABC, both in corporately donated funds and employee donations and participation in the walk.

To learn more about GAABC and the 2-Day Walk, go to the GAABC Website.

About North Fulton Business Radio and host John Ray

With over 790 shows and having featured over 1,200 guests, North Fulton Business Radio is the longest-running podcast in the North Fulton area, covering business in our community like no one else. We are the undisputed “Voice of Business” in North Fulton!

The show welcomes a wide variety of business, non-profit, and community leaders to get the word out about the important work they’re doing to serve their market, their community, and their profession. There’s no discrimination based on company size, and there’s never any “pay to play.” North Fulton Business Radio supports and celebrates business by sharing positive business stories that traditional media ignore. Some media leans left. Some media leans right. We lean business.

John Ray, Business RadioX - North Fulton, and Owner, Ray Business Advisors
John Ray, Business RadioX – North Fulton, and Owner, Ray Business Advisors

John Ray is the host of North Fulton Business Radio. The show is recorded and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, and many others.

The studio address is 275 South Main Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.

John Ray, The Generosity MindsetJohn Ray also operates his own business advisory practice. John’s services include advising solopreneurs and small professional services firms on their value, their positioning and business development, and their pricing. His clients are professionals who are selling their expertise, such as consultants, coaches, attorneys, CPAs, accountants and bookkeepers, marketing professionals, and other professional services practitioners.

John is the national bestselling author of The Generosity Mindset: A Journey to Business Success by Raising Your Confidence, Value, and Prices.

Tagged With: business communication, communications, Connect and Captivate, effective speaking, John Ray, North Fulton Business Radio, Pamela DeRitis, speeches, storytelling

Stephanie Parra with ALL in Education and Gaby Cardenas with Colibri Collective

September 21, 2023 by Karen

Stephanie-Parra-with-ALL-in-Education-and-Gaby-Cardenas-with-Colibri-Collective-feature
Phoenix Business Radio
Stephanie Parra with ALL in Education and Gaby Cardenas with Colibri Collective
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Stephanie Parra with ALL in Education and Gaby Cardenas with Colibri Collective

LONG-ALL-IN-ED-LOGO

ALL in Education exists to ensure that individuals from the communities most impacted by education inequities are the ones making decisions for all students.

ALL in Education is building an Arizona WHERE ALL COMMUNITIES HAVE ACCESS TO OPPORTUNITY AND JUSTICE.

ALL in Education’s key strategic Pillars are: EQUITY, LEADERSHIP, POWER, INFLUENCE, & POLICY.

Steph-Parra-Phoenix-Business-RadioStephanie Parra is the Executive Director of ALL In Education, a non-profit organization that aims to ensure that the communities most impacted by education inequities are the ones making decisions for ALL students.

Established to close the gap and achieve better representation on the state’s education policy-making bodies, ALL In Education aims to increase the number of Latino members on education boards that directly impact policy.

Stephanie is a first-generation American originally from Yuma, Arizona. As one of the first in her family to attend college, Parra saw first-hand the importance of education and the wonders it can do to develop a child’s life and future. She holds a Bachelor’s in Justice Studies and Psychology, and a Master’s in Higher and Postsecondary Education.

Her passion for education led her to past roles at Teach For America, Arizona State University, T.W. Lewis Foundation, and the Arizona Education Association. Parra currently serves on the Governing Board of the Phoenix Union High School District, representing Ward 3.

She is passionate about ensuring every student in Arizona receives an excellent education and is adequately prepared to succeed in college, career, and life.

Connect with Stephanie on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.

TCCOfficialLogoUpdated

The Colibri Collective is an award-winning full-service marketing agency providing a collective of talent with experience and expertise in all things marketing. Serving a wide range of clients varying from the political, non-profit and education sectors, our focus is to deliver elevated strategies that ignite emotion and most importantly results.

They bring visions to life by providing the passion necessary to ensure your campaigns are driven by three key metrics: data, skill, and emotion. Their partnerships are the cornerstone of our success, we seamlessly integrate their team with your business.

Gaby-Cardenas-Phoenix-Business-RadioGaby Cardenas is an award-winning marketer and entrepreneur with more than 22 years of experience in marketing, advertising, and strategic communications. She was raised in a family of entrepreneurs, honing her business acumen at a young age as she helped with the family’s small business.

After rising through the ranks of corporate America, in 2017 Gaby founded The Colibri Collective: the first Latina-owned digital marketing firm in Phoenix, Arizona. Since then, she has taken her agency to new heights, winning campaigns that mobilize and engage diverse audiences with data, skill, and emotion across a national footprint.

In 2022, after 5+ years of remarkable growth, The Colibri Collective opened a new division based in Los Angeles to expand the company’s footprint. This new division of The Colibri Collective focuses on political and advocacy client work and has already yielded exciting new partnerships.

Gaby prides herself in delivering each project for her clients with a high level of quality and aesthetic. Driving campaigns from the ground up, Gaby leads with a precise understanding of what mobilizes and engages audiences to bring campaigns to life. In her role as The Colibri Collective’s CEO, she partners with clients that align with her values to create meaningful change.

Both Gaby and The Colibri Collective have received multiple national awards and repeated recognition for excellence in marketing and digital strategy. Gaby has been awarded by Independent Voting and named a Women Achiever of Arizona by the Arizona Capitol Times. She was also recognized with the coveted 40 Under 40 Hispanic Leaders award and is an Athena Award nominee.

Her work for The Colibri Collective has also been nationally recognized with the 2021 USPS Best of Best for Direct Mail, a 2021 CampaignTech Award for Innovation in Voter Contact, and has received multiple Reed and AAPC Pollie Awards for innovative work. The agency has also been recognized as the best in the industry for several years in a row for Spanish language websites.

In addition to her entrepreneurship, she has demonstrated a deep commitment to volunteering and mentorship to uplift the local community. She is a board member of both the International Women’s Forum Arizona, Arizona Donors Alliance and ALL in Education.

Connect with Gaby on LinkedIn and Instagram.

Tagged With: Arizona education, Arizona where ALL communities have access to opportunity and justice, communications, Creative, digital marketing, Education Advocacy, Latino Leaders In Education, Latino students, marketing, multicultural agency

Tara Heaton, En Pointe Communications

February 21, 2023 by John Ray

Tara Heaton, En Pointe Communications
North Fulton Business Radio
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Tara Heaton, En Pointe Communications

Tara Heaton, En Pointe Communications (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 610)

On this edition of North Fulton Business Radio, Tara Heaton, Founder of En Pointe Communications, joined host John Ray to discuss how her daughter’s traumatic brain injury led to her current work. Tara discussed how neuroscience can guide us in more effective communication, the power of stories and telling better stories, how to engage listeners in the stories we tell, success stories from her work, and much more.

North Fulton Business Radio is broadcast from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

TRANSCRIPT

Intro: [00:00:04] Live from the Business RadioX Studio inside Renasant Bank, the bank that specializes in understanding you, it’s time for North Fulton Business Radio.

John Ray: [00:00:19] And hello again, everyone. Welcome to another edition of North Fulton Business Radio. I’m John Ray. And we are broadcasting from inside Renasant Bank in beautiful Alpharetta.

John Ray: [00:00:30] And if you are looking for a bank that is so highly rated by their customers that they have won multiple awards from national organizations, like Time Magazine’s money.com and Forbes, well, I’m sitting in that bank, Renasant Bank. They’ve won Best Bank in Georgia, Best Bank in the Southeast, Best Bank in the United States, actually even, in the surveys. And so, if you want to know why they’ve made such a difference in the lives of their customers – I’ve certainly found it out myself – go to renasantbank.com and find one of their local offices and give them a call. And I think you’ll be glad you did. Renasant Bank. Understanding you. Member FDIC.

John Ray: [00:01:17] And now, I want to welcome Tara Heaton. Tara is with En Pointe Communication. Tara, welcome.

Tara Heaton: [00:01:22] Thanks so much for having me, John.

John Ray: [00:01:23] It’s great to have you. So, let’s talk about you and how you’re serving folks out there. How are you serving folks at En Pointe Communication?

Tara Heaton: [00:01:31] Well, it’s just exactly as it sounds, En Pointe Communication helps people to communicate more effectively. And I have a platform called Talk to the Brain, and everything that I teach and coach is founded in neuroscience, which I’ve been studying now for over 18 years. So, I share a little bit of the science and then we go deep into story. So, I’m helping speakers, leaders, sales people, teens to communicate more authentically and to understand how to communicate so that their message lands more compelling, more memorable, and helps them to get the results they desire.

John Ray: [00:02:08] Wow. So, what is it that we’re missing in? I know this is a big question and we could go on a long time on your answer. But what are we missing with communication that neuroscience helps us solve, that knowledge of neuroscience helps us solve?

Tara Heaton: [00:02:29] Oh, wow. That’s a great question. And there’s, I think, several components to that. But I think I will switch it around and think how I’m helping people and why the science proves that. And I’ll start with stories. Because everybody knows that there’s so much power, and most people know, that stories, there’s scientific proof about why they help us to remember and how they touch us.

Tara Heaton: [00:02:53] People don’t see that a story is a moment in time. It’s a transformational moment in time. It is different than a journey. So, you and I, John, our life is decorated with hundreds of stories. And when we learn to tell those in a compelling way, it shoots up dopamine in the minds of the listeners. And, today, we are more addicted to dopamine than ever before. When we learn to tell a compelling story, it shoots up that dopamine which pleasures the brain.

Tara Heaton: [00:03:23] Also, when we use a vulnerable story that shares a relatable emotion, it fires up our serotonin and oxytocin in the mind of the listener that builds trust, that builds connection. And when people learn this and they experience examples of it, it automatically improves their confidence and their ability to communicate more effectively.

John Ray: [00:03:46] Oh, wow. There’s a lot to that I want to get to. But before we dive deeper there, let’s talk about your journey. Because you’ve got some specific aspects to your journey that led you into this interest in neuroscience and how it affects communications.

Tara Heaton: [00:04:05] Absolutely. And I would be remiss if I didn’t share this part of my story because I forever will. I’ve always been an analytical minded person. I’ll sit out, I will analyze our conversation – I can assure you – and ask myself how I could have done better, what went right, what could have been improved. And I’ve always been that way.

Tara Heaton: [00:04:26] I was a sales leader. I was running a sales team. I had a very successful business. I’d had built success really from pretty much nothing, and, so to speak, three healthy children, a beautiful marriage. As they say, living the dream.

Tara Heaton: [00:04:40] And my middle daughter was 12 at the time that everything changed for us. She contracted a virus that is still documented, interestingly, as a virus of unknown etiology. The virus traveled to her brain, caused her to have something called encephalitis, which is simply inflammation of the brain. She went into a coma. And when she came out of the coma, she couldn’t hold a hairbrush, she didn’t know who we were, she couldn’t walk. But interesting, I mean, it was considered a traumatic brain injury, she could talk.

Tara Heaton: [00:05:13] So, through much, much, much therapy, she’d relearn to do pretty much everything and most of her memory came back. And we thought the worst is behind us. You know, our prayers have been answered and Caroline’s going to be okay.

Tara Heaton: [00:05:27] But the encephalitis left her with epilepsy. And so, I became, as you might imagine, as any mother would, her warrior. And I started searching for ways to stop these seizures. Most people with epilepsy, their seizures are controlled with medication. But the medication has terrible side effects.

Tara Heaton: [00:05:45] So, about a year into this journey, I sat with her neurologist and I was at Emory Clinic – I’ll never forget this – and I said, “Dr. Weissman, look at my little girl.” And she looked over at Caroline and she was looking down, shoulders slumped, looking down at her untied little converse tennis shoe. And I said, “She was energetic, she was social, she was athletic. This is our Caroline today. Can we please just take her off these drugs and try to manage the seizures?” And Dr. Weissman said, “No. Because Caroline’s seizures travel right through her hippocampus, and with every seizure, her brain is being damaged.”

Tara Heaton: [00:06:22] And that day, John, sent me on a journey of just being obsessed with understanding the brain, what was going on with her mind, how I could help her. And I continued to, literally, travel the country over looking for answers. And I’m sorry to say that the seizures have never, ever stopped. And today, Caroline is very, very cognitively challenged due to just years and years of seizures.

Tara Heaton: [00:06:48] But the study just started to inform my work. And as I was running across the country, learning, investigating, trying any type of therapy, natural or not, I continued to learn about specifically neurotransmitters, how we remember, what sparks our attention, our imagination. And it started to inform my work as a sales leader and as a speaker and as someone who provided a lot of workshops.

John Ray: [00:07:15] Yeah. Wow. So, you really took what you learned there and applied it in a sales context because that was your legacy, business, right?

Tara Heaton: [00:07:29] That’s right. That’s right.

John Ray: [00:07:29] But you’ve really expanded it beyond just its application to sales teams.

Tara Heaton: [00:07:36] Oh, yes. Absolutely. As a matter of fact, I do help and coach sales people, but the work is so very much focused on building an authentic voice. And what that means is I help people to make better connections, and that might be from a stage as a speaker. But it really helps teams to better connect and better tell stories that relate to their specific business. They get to experience the thrill of sharing vulnerable stories, how to do that, and how it builds trust and connection, which helps teams.

John Ray: [00:08:12] Yeah, for sure. Tara Heaton is with us, folks. She is with En Pointe Communication, her own firm. Tara, you mentioned storytelling. You mentioned that that’s pretty well-known, the power of stories, and I couldn’t agree more. So, maybe we can walk past that to some of the other principles that really became solid beliefs for you in terms of what you take to your clients today out of all this study that you did.

Tara Heaton: [00:08:49] Well, I will say, the reason I continue to focus on stories is because that seems to be the most popular of the workshops. People continue to come to me and say, “You know, I want to teach my team to tell better stories.” And these aren’t sales teams. These are folks who are in negotiations. These are folks who just simply are communicating with customers, customer service, on the phone. We overthink story. And so, that’s why it’s become such, I think, a really popular workshop. But I also help speakers —

John Ray: [00:09:20] Well, let’s stop there just a second, if you don’t mind, because that’s very interesting what you just said, we overthink story. Say more on that.

Tara Heaton: [00:09:27] Oh, yes.

John Ray: [00:09:27] Okay.

Tara Heaton: [00:09:28] Yes. Thank you.

John Ray: [00:09:31] Okay. See, I was going to walk right past storytelling, but now you’ve made me want to dig into it, so let’s do that.

Tara Heaton: [00:09:36] Absolutely. So, I’ll tell you a story to explain it.

John Ray: [00:09:39] Okay. Appropriately enough.

Tara Heaton: [00:09:41] Absolutely. I had a client who came to me and she was looking for a new job. And she’s quite successful and really, really strong in her field. But she said, “I hear you’re a great storyteller, and I understand that telling powerful stories in an interview could really help me.” And here’s what so many people say to me, she said, “I don’t think I really have any stories.”

Tara Heaton: [00:10:10] And after about an hour long – what I’ll call – a discovery session with her, we uncovered unbelievable beauty that decorated her life, some challenges, some trials, some successes, some wins. And each one of those are little, small individual stories that make a point that cause people to remember the point that we’re trying to make.

Tara Heaton: [00:10:34] So, people tend to think my personal story, what I’ve been through with my children and my family is quite tragic. And when people hear it, they think, “Wow. I don’t have a story.” We all have stories. And as natural storytellers, we start to become very sensitive to the fact that we are creating new stories everyday through every experience. And so, when we can share our experiences, things that we’ve been through or things that we’ve witnessed, so that it matters to the listener, so that it makes the listener the hero of that story and not ourselves, it helps us to get better results.

John Ray: [00:11:11] Yeah. I’m glad you mentioned that right there at the end, because sometimes we hear stories that seem like they’re more about – I’ll call them – therapy in public, where people are really kind of working out their own issue as opposed to telling a story for the purpose of reaching other people. Does that make sense?

Tara Heaton: [00:11:34] Oh, yes. So much. As a matter of fact, somebody asked me recently when I was referencing, I said, “Who is the hero of your story?” And she said, “Well, I am.” And I said, “If you’re telling it to anyone, they are the hero. They relate to what you’re sharing. You share relatable emotions that people can relate to that inspires them through your vulnerable story.” So, if we just share a winning moment in our lives without sharing the strife and the struggle and the insecurity that we faced, it will not be nearly as memorable as if we share the vulnerable side of it, because that’s where people relate and they think, “Wow. If he or she could overcome that, I too can do the same.”

John Ray: [00:12:18] Wow. So, how do we tell stories and get out of our own way, I guess this might be the way to put it. How do we know that we’re really putting the listener in the middle? Because this is a human thing, right? We’re all self-absorbed. We all operate from our own perspectives. And so, how do we communicate in such a way that brings the listener into the story we tell?

Tara Heaton: [00:12:52] Well, a lot of the answer to that is timing. So, when is it appropriate to tell a story? And what exactly defines a story? So, I have a framework for stories that I share with my clients we go through. And a lot of times that’s better applied when you’re really preparing for a speech or a very important sales presentation. But to become a natural storyteller, I’ll give you a recent example of just sharing stories when the timing is right, and that’s when the last thing I would want people to do is to have practiced and scripted a story.

Tara Heaton: [00:13:28] I had a gentleman that works closely with me. He came to me recently and he said, “I’m supposed to be at this conference on Monday. I think I need to go to leadership and tell them I can’t go.” And I said, “Why is that?” And he said, “I’ve been gone all week. You know, we have three children. My wife’s pulling her hair out. I mean, dad hadn’t been here. And I want to go to them and just say can you send somebody else to this conference, but I’m really stressed about it. What do you think? What do you think I ought to do?”

Tara Heaton: [00:13:59] And I said, “Mark, may I share something with you?” And he said, “Absolutely.” And I said, “Years ago, I remember coming home late one evening and going upstairs to kiss my daughter, Caroline, goodnight.” She was about seven years old. I walked up the stairs, kissed her goodnight, and she sat up in her bed. She was a dainty little girl and sat up in her little pink pajamas, and she said, “Oh, mom, tomorrow night I want you to help me fix my hair and I want you to help me with my costume because Friday’s the play.”

Tara Heaton: [00:14:31] And I said, “Oh, Caroline, I’m not going to be here tomorrow night. I have to work again.” And I was working for a company at the time called Herff Jones. And she sat up and she pulled her little tiny fist back and she punched her pillow. And she said, “I hate Herff Jones. I hate it.” And she punched her pillow again. And every time I think about that story, I feel a punch in my gut.

Tara Heaton: [00:14:56] I didn’t give Mark any advice. I didn’t tell him what I thought he ought to do. I just shared something painful from my past, something that I regret. And he had his answer. That’s the power of story. We also built some trust that day, as you might imagine.

John Ray: [00:15:11] Oh, yeah. Yeah. Wow. So, you teach in your workshops. You mentioned the kind of story you tell. But when you tell a story, talk about the timing angle there.

Tara Heaton: [00:15:33] Well, one of my favorite examples of when to share a story is when someone asks you for advice. It’s so easy to say, “Here’s what I think you should do.” But if you share with them a time when you faced a similar struggle, it’s unforgettable. The power of that is so, so, so very different.

Tara Heaton: [00:15:52] Also, many times I’m helping people with stories when they’re in negotiations or small presentations within a company, like our team has to share their idea. And it’s so easy to get bogged down in the data. And we need data. We need statistics. But we need a story that brings that to life. So, that’s helping people to imagine not a journey, not a long this happened and then this happened, not that. There was a transformational moment in time, kind of that tipping point that helps to bring our data to life. I call it story with stats. So, there’s a way to gain the results that you’re after by using data and bringing it to life with story.

John Ray: [00:16:36] Wow. Great words from Tara Heaton, folks, with En Pointe Communication. So, Tara, you mentioned storytelling, we’ve talked about that. What are some of the other aspects of communication that this journey through neuroscience has led you to?

Tara Heaton: [00:16:56] Well, wow, I don’t even know where to begin. But, you know, I mentioned dopamine. And our society today is more addicted to dopamine than ever before. So, I’ll give a quick tip on dopamine. Because we know that our listeners are addicted to dopamine, what that means is people are going to become more distracted than they used to be. People can’t follow us. So, we’ve got to lead our conversations, our speeches with something that’s highly unpredictable and unusual because that grabs people.

Tara Heaton: [00:17:29] The other thing a lot of people don’t really know about dopamine is it’s not pure just pleasure. Dopamine is that feeling of anticipation. It’s like it’s why we’re addicted to video games and social media and things that make us want more and more. So, if we know that our listeners are searching for something, they’re in anticipation at the beginning of a speech, what we need to do is kind of dangle a carrot. Tell folks, “At the end I’m going to share –” boom, this big gold nugget that keeps people attentive.

Tara Heaton: [00:18:00] I’ll give one other neuroscience tip, and then I won’t continue on with all of them. But I’ll give another fun one that it really helps people in their communication, and it is the understanding of serotonin. And serotonin is the feeling we get when we feel confident and proud, and we feel seen, and we feel validated. So, this especially applies in speaking to audiences and in sales presentations. We need to make sure that our audience feels understood and seen.

Tara Heaton: [00:18:29] Well, how do we do that? In a conversation, we can certainly ask those questions. But there are also always assumed objections. And people tend to hide from assumed objections. Whereas, I say, we need to uncover them and say to people, “I know how you might feel.” You must be thinking that and then fill in the blank. And that always, always helps me. I can visually see an audience lean in when I tell them I find a way to say to them I understand.

Tara Heaton: [00:19:00] And someone asked me once, they said, “Well, if we’re in a sales setting, why would I want to agree with what someone is thinking if I’m trying to sell them something?” And I believe, John, in being always honest and authentic. And the answer to that is this, we may not agree. Agreeing and validating someone’s perspective are two completely different things. We need to seek to understand people with a curious mind, look for wonder, understand why they think the way that they do.

Tara Heaton: [00:19:33] If we could take this into our political conversations in this country, can you imagine how much softer and safer and what might come out of those if we weren’t looking to be right. We were looking to understand the other person. That builds serotonin, which builds connection and makes people want more of us.

John Ray: [00:19:50] Yeah. Absolutely. Because we tend to flatten people out and take that three or four dimensional person, I’ll say that, and turn them into one dimension. They’re a cartoon character.

Tara Heaton: [00:20:09] So true.

John Ray: [00:20:09] Yeah. That then, therefore, we can project our own feelings onto that caricature we’ve drawn.

Tara Heaton: [00:20:19] Absolutely.

John Ray: [00:20:20] So, Tara, I love that point. It makes a lot of sense. But, you know, when you bring in the political, I’m thinking everybody gets that. But we tend to do that to people that are close to us, I mean, in our lives, and in the business world, in our families, that kind of thing. And that may be the unrecognized part of what we often do, right?

Tara Heaton: [00:20:50] Yes, very much so. And I talk about this a lot on the Daily Huddle where I’m a Wednesday host. We talk a lot about relationships and how much we want to strive to be right, and to be heard, and to get our way. And for me, when I find myself communicating in that manner, I know what’s driving it. It’s ego, which causes us to lead with – no. It’s insecurity which causes us to lead with ego.

Tara Heaton: [00:21:18] When someone touches a nerve, we find ourselves in a space where we might feel insecure about any number of topics. We all have insecurities. And when we allow ourselves to lean into those and go into that imposter syndrome state, that’s when we forget to listen, to remain in a sense of wonder, and all, and curiosity. And we want people to hear us.

John Ray: [00:21:41] Yeah. For sure. So, I want to switch gears and talk about how you work with people now. So, you talked about your previous work with sales teams, you still do some of that work. But you just mentioned relationships, that’s an entirely different matter. So, talk about some of the types of clients that you work with. Do you work with groups, one-on-one?

Tara Heaton: [00:22:12] So, I provide workshops where I have people from different industries to come. But, really, probably my sweet spot right now is working with small to medium-sized businesses who are growing fast and they want to nurture their team. They want to help them to grow their confidence and their ability to find their voice, tell their own stories, and really build on an authentic voice that makes them feel empowered and comfortable. So, that helps culture, which is relationships, right? What defines culture in any company? It’s the relationships. It is the environment. So, I work with small teams to elevate that.

Tara Heaton: [00:22:49] And then, I love still working with speakers. Most recently, I helped a pretty well-known speaker with a talk she was giving. And we worked so hard on her stories. We crafted every word. She rehearsed it and rehearsed it. And as a matter of fact, she said, “You know what? I think I might read this. I just don’t want to miss a word.” And she she knew it quite well, so she wasn’t staring down, but she chose to read the speech. And she called me and she said, “First standing ovation of my life.” So, that’s great joy for me to help speakers.

John Ray: [00:23:27] Oh, wow. Yeah.

Tara Heaton: [00:23:27] So, I do speakers and sales people, small teams, the woman I just mentioned, anyone who’s trying to communicate more effectively. But teamwork, building relationships, helping folks to tell better stories, and find a confident voice, that’s the sweet spot right now.

John Ray: [00:23:46] I’m just curious about the bottom line of all this. Let’s talk about the value that comes out of doing the work that you lead people through and what they get out of that, that maybe they don’t recognize when they hear you talk about what you’re able to do.

Tara Heaton: [00:24:09] Thank you for asking that. It actually makes me light up. Because you could take neuroscience, John, and all that I’ve learned about the brain, and you could use it to manipulate in a sales setting. And the purpose of my work is the opposite of that. The purpose of my work is so that if I understand your mind, that gives me the ability to honor you, to get to know you, to connect with you. And when we make deeper connections with people, for me, I think that’s the greatest gift that we have at our disposal.

Tara Heaton: [00:24:44] So, the bottom line, the truest value of my work is that it helps people to grow their confidence in building relationships. Absolutely, that applies to business. But it goes home, it goes into friendships, it goes into family. So, when we feel more confident in being able to articulate our heart and our experiences, that’s the bottom line value of my work.

John Ray: [00:25:08] Yeah. That’s terrific. So, Tara, you’ve talked about how this journey that you’ve been on with your daughter, all the research you’ve done, all the reading and insights that you’ve had over time, the clients you’ve worked with has really saved your spirit.

Tara Heaton: [00:25:34] Yes. And I didn’t realize it probably until maybe just several years into the work. It was always focused on communication. But, you know, my family went through a lot of trauma. It started with Caroline’s illness, but it absolutely did not stop there. I have three children who have all suffered as a result of a family just living in what felt like constant trauma, watching someone’s brain deteriorate, watching her be bullied, watch her to continue to crash down, her mom falling apart in tears. It was not a safe space, our home, for a long, long time.

Tara Heaton: [00:26:14] And I look back and I’ve learned more than just using what I’ve studied to apply to communication. It applies to our habits and our self-talk. And when I understand why my body might be low on serotonin or dopamine or need oxytocin, I know what to do about it. I know that I don’t have to go to find some sort of addictive habit that’s not healthy to help me. And so, I’ve really taken the science and I’ve applied it to life habits, and to how I spend my time, how I communicate with people, which truly, truly has saved my soul.

Tara Heaton: [00:26:54] Because here’s what I know, the way our brain functions and all of the things that it is able to synthesize, a lot of it’s starting, interestingly, from our gut, all of that is energy. And that energy, we have the ability to repurpose and take it out into the world in any way that we want to.

Tara Heaton: [00:27:16] The last two days before I came here with you today, I’ve been sitting in the hospital with two people in my family who are ill. And maybe without my study, I would have called you and said, “I don’t have it in me today.” But I tell you what I know, that I could take all of that struggle, all the pain that I’ve faced over the past two days, and I can repurpose that into love and I can share it out in such a way that touches other people. And I’ve continued to do that over and over again throughout my life. And that’s because of my study and my sweet Caroline.

John Ray: [00:27:53] Wow. What a beautiful story. Thank you for all that. Thank you for sharing that. What great work. Tara Heaton with En Pointe Communication.

John Ray: [00:28:05] Tara, I’d be remiss, I think, at this point if I didn’t ask, you’ve talked about your own story, your own journey, but maybe you could share a success story of someone you’ve worked with. You mentioned a couple around storytelling, but maybe share one more. Someone who’s had real transformation in their lives, in their work because of your intervention.

Tara Heaton: [00:28:29] Well, let’s see. One comes to mind. A very simple one is that I helped someone to craft a TED Talk proposal, and it was accepted. So, that was very exciting.

John Ray: [00:28:39] That’s a good one.

Tara Heaton: [00:28:39] Several speaker stories, I mean, that’s beautiful work. I also write for people. I write for some artists and help people to tell their story on their About page. And that is just so rewarding that people realize that we all have beautiful stories to tell.

Tara Heaton: [00:28:58] And then, I worked with a small business recently. And as a matter of fact, I just heard from their manager recently and she’s like, “You cannot believe how my team is transformed.” And that’s so touching. She said, “I knew that we needed to build trust and connection and I was trying to force it. Now, they’re going after it and I just sit back and I’m a part of it.” And you know what that says to me, John? That people are enjoying their work more because of my work and nothing can make me more happy.

John Ray: [00:29:29] That’s wonderful. So, Tara, I know you also do – I want to get this in – some public speaking keynotes. Talk about the kind of groups that would benefit from having you in to speak.

Tara Heaton: [00:29:43] Oh, thank you. Yes. As a matter of fact, I’m really trying to elevate this aspect of my work because each time I provide a keynote, I’ll have people to call me weeks and months later and tell me that they’re still referencing the talk. So, I just have finally said to myself, “You know what, Tara, you better get out there and do more of this.”

Tara Heaton: [00:30:03] So, I really have two tracks when it comes to speaking. And one is very inspirational. One is, I go a lot deeper into the story of our family, which does not stop with just Caroline. It also goes into my son who was highly addicted to dopamine and adrenaline, and what that has caused in his life, and how he’s come out of it. So, there’s certainly an inspirational talk that I give. And that is to any team or any organization that says we want to hear a story about suffering and triumph. And I’m pretty raw and open about it.

Tara Heaton: [00:30:36] And then, also, I give mini-talk to the brain talks. And those are to help people to communicate more clearly with better strategy and absolutely more authentically helping them to get better results within relationships, within sales, and within speaking.

John Ray: [00:30:52] Wow. Terrific work. Tara Heaton, folks, with En Pointe Communication. This has been terrific, Tara. I wish we could keep going, but we got to let you get back to your work and what you do for others. But before we let you go, let’s give directions on how folks can find you.

Tara Heaton: [00:31:12] Oh, thank you very much. I’m kind of weak on social media, I will say. But the best place to find me is just to go to my website. And the easiest way to do that is to go to talktothebrain.net, and that will roll over into En Pointe Global. So, again, I’m on Facebook, Tara Caldwell Heaton. I’m certainly on LinkedIn, Tara Heaton. But easiest way talktothebrain.net, and a little pop up box will come and we can be in touch.

John Ray: [00:31:39] That’s terrific. Tara Heaton, folks, with En Pointe Communication. Tara, thank you so much for coming in.

Tara Heaton: [00:31:45] It’s been a joy, John. Thank you.

John Ray: [00:31:46] Thank you so much.

John Ray: [00:31:49] Hey, folks, just a quick thought for you. If you’ve got an administrative task or bookkeeping or other marketing issues, maybe presentations that need to be done that are weighing you down and you’re not able to spend time with your clients and with your prospective clients, I’ve got a suggestion for you. Office Angels. Essie Escobedo has a whole team of angels that do fantastic work. I know this myself because I use their services. They fly in, get the job done, and then they fly out. And they do it on an ongoing or as needed basis, depending on your project and your need.

John Ray: [00:32:30] So, give Essie a call, 770-442-9246. Tell her I sent you. Or go to officeangels.us to learn more. But I think you’ll be glad you did. And Essie has been around since 2000 with this business, so she’s well-established and does great work. And, again, I use her services. So, you’ll be glad that you entrusted your business to her.

John Ray: [00:32:59] And, folks, just a quick reminder, North Fulton Business Radio, we’re coming up on our seventh year anniversary. We’ve been around for seven years and we’re excited about that. And we’ve gotten over 600 shows. And the reason we’ve been around this long is because of your support. We are grateful for you because what you have done is continue to share the show with others that you think might be interested in particular guests. I can’t imagine you haven’t heard some reason to share this show with someone else who needs to hear the message that Tara has given. But you’ve done that on all our shows and we’re excited about that. And we are excited about your support and you make us keep going as the voice of business in North Fulton. So, thank you. Thank you, thank you for that support. We are grateful.

John Ray: [00:33:53] So, for my guest, Tara Heaton, I’m John Ray. Join us next time here on North Fulton Business Radio.

En Pointe Communications

En Pointe Communications collaborates with you to build custom strategies, employing unique assets and abilities. Whether your audience is a single prospect or a thousand fans, we focus on your core purpose to ignite momentum, empowering you to grow your business and impact lives.

Website | Facebook

Tara Heaton, Founder, En Pointe Communications

Tara Heaton, Founder, En Pointe Communications

Tara helps leaders, speakers, and salespeople craft and deliver messages that move people. She empowers businesses to define their distinction and turn networking and prospecting into revenue.

With years of neuroscience research and success in competitive sales as a foundation, En Pointe Communications has discovered how to employ science, art and sport to close sales, open minds and generate action.

They work with individuals in a remote coaching setting that delivers results!

LinkedIn

 

North Fulton Business Radio is hosted by John Ray and broadcast and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

RenasantBank

 

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

Since 2000, Office Angels® has been restoring joy to the life of small business owners, enabling them to focus on what they do best. At the same time, we honor and support at-home experts who wish to continue working on an as-needed basis. Not a temp firm or a placement service, Office Angels matches a business owner’s support needs with Angels who have the talent and experience necessary to handle work that is essential to creating and maintaining a successful small business. Need help with administrative tasks, bookkeeping, marketing, presentations, workshops, speaking engagements, and more? Visit us at https://officeangels.us/.

 

Tagged With: communications, En Point Communications, John Ray, neuroscience, North Fulton Business Radio X, Office Angels, renasant bank, stories, story, story-telling, Tara Heaton, trauma

LIVE from the GNFCC 2022 Women in Leadership Summit: Tara Heaton, En Pointe Communications

November 14, 2022 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio
North Fulton Business Radio
LIVE from the GNFCC 2022 Women in Leadership Summit: Tara Heaton, En Pointe Communications
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LIVE from the GNFCC 2022 Women in Leadership Summit: Tara Heaton, En Pointe Communications

LIVE from the GNFCC 2022 Women in Leadership Summit: Tara Heaton, En Pointe Communications (North Fulton Business Radio, Episode 563)

Tara Heaton, Founder of En Pointe Communications joined host John Ray LIVE from the GNFCC 2022 Women in Leadership Summit. They discussed En Pointe Communications, authentic leadership, workplace culture, the Women in Leadership Summit, and much more.

This show was originally broadcast live from the GNFCC 2022 Women in Leadership Summit held at The Commons at Phase in Alpharetta, Georgia.

North Fulton Business Radio is produced and broadcast by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta.

Tara Heaton, Founder, En Pointe Communications

Tara Heaton, Founder, En Pointe Communications

Tara helps leaders, speakers, and salespeople craft and deliver messages that move people. She empowers businesses to define their distinction and turn networking and prospecting into revenue.

With years of neuroscience research and success in competitive sales as a foundation, En Pointe Communications has discovered how to employ science, art and sport to close sales, open minds and generate action.

They work with individuals in a remote coaching setting that delivers results!

Website | Facebook | Tara’s LinkedIn

GNFCC 2022 Women in Leadership Summit, presented by the Women INfluencing Business Committee

The 2022 Women in Leadership Summit, organized by the Women INfluencing Business Committee of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce, was held on November 2, 2022, at the Commons at Phase in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Powered by the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce (GNFCC), the Women INfluencing Business Committee strives to engage female leaders and enhance the standing of professional women within the community. Its annual awards program recognizes women with exceptional vision who have implemented innovative ideas in both the workplace and community and who inspire others.

Website

Questions and Topics in the Interview

  • En Pointe Communications
  • Authentic Leadership
  • Workplace Culture
  • Women in Leadership Summit

North Fulton Business Radio is hosted by John Ray and broadcast and produced from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® inside Renasant Bank in Alpharetta. You can find the full archive of shows by following this link. The show is available on all the major podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Amazon, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

RenasantBank

 

Renasant Bank has humble roots, starting in 1904 as a $100,000 bank in a Lee County, Mississippi, bakery. Since then, Renasant has grown to become one of the Southeast’s strongest financial institutions with over $13 billion in assets and more than 190 banking, lending, wealth management and financial services offices in Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. All of Renasant’s success stems from each of their banker’s commitment to investing in their communities as a way of better understanding the people they serve. At Renasant Bank, they understand you because they work and live alongside you every day.

 

Since 2000, Office Angels® has been restoring joy to the life of small business owners, enabling them to focus on what they do best. At the same time, we honor and support at-home experts who wish to continue working on an as-needed basis. Not a temp firm or a placement service, Office Angels matches a business owner’s support needs with Angels who have the talent and experience necessary to handle work that is essential to creating and maintaining a successful small business. Need help with administrative tasks, bookkeeping, marketing, presentations, workshops, speaking engagements, and more? Visit us at https://officeangels.us/.

Tagged With: authentic leadership, communications, En Pointe Communications, Leadership, neuroscience, North Fulton Business Radio, Phase Commons, Tara Heaton, trust, Women in Leadership, Women In Leadership Summit 2022, Women Influencing Business, workplace culture

Exploring Community Collaborations E26

November 8, 2022 by Karen

Exploring-Community-Collaborations-feature
Phoenix Business Radio
Exploring Community Collaborations E26
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Exploring-Community-Collaborations

Exploring Community Collaborations E26

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Cox Communications is committed to creating more moments of real human connection. We bring people closer to family and friends through technology that’s inspired by a culture that puts people first, and we’re always working to improve life in the communities we serve.

Our world-class broadband applications and services are helping create smart homes and smart cities that will bring more comfort, convenience, security, entertainment and connectivity to the lives of the people we serve.

Our company is full of dreamers and doers; people who make plans and who make things happen. And, of course, people who have fun doing it.

Jeannine-Watanabe-STEM-UnpluggedJeannine Watanabe is a result driven leader with deep expertise in technical solutions, strategic planning, finance, and project management. Her engaging leadership style is bolstered by exceptional relationship and communication skills.

Joining Cox in 2006, Jeannine Watanabe has held several positions including Director of Network Operations, Director of Infrastructure, Senior Manager of Application Development and Project Manager. Currently Jeannine is responsible for 27 Network Engineering Facilities and a team of 80 people that deliver Cox Business and Residential Services to their customers.

She is adept at leveraging numbers to drive business decisions, while creating a culture of accountability. She won a Synergy Award for her Leadership in 2016. Prior to Cox, Jeannine worked for Sprint as Program Manager working on billing systems and prior to that was an Oracle DBA working on Linux building retail websites.

Jeannine is passionate about community service and serves on the Board of the Children’s Cancer Network, where she leads the Governance Committee. The organization serves children and their families who have been impacted by cancer by providing support services with the intention to ensure each family realizes that they are not alone in their fight against cancer.

She has also joined the board of Junior Achievement to help achieve their mission to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy, as well as the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce DEI Committee.

Connect with Jeannine on LinkedIn.

About Our Sponsor

SciTech Institute™ was established as the Arizona Technology Council Foundation as the conduit for collaboration among STEM industry, academia, civic, and non-profit organizations in Arizona. Now, rebranded and named the SciTech Institute™ the goal centers around aligning assets and resources to motivate individuals to pursue STEM-related educational and career paths or find a passion while engaged in community events during the SciTech Festival.SciTech-Institute-LOGO-COLOR-png

The Chief Science Officer program highlights the 6th-12th graders that have been selected as leaders in their schools and communities to receive training to build a world-class community of diverse STEM-literate workers and knowledgeable, engaged citizens. Science For All allows for tax credit donations to provide engaging experiences for students while RAIN (Rural Activation Innovation Network) focuses on resources for the rural areas of Arizona.

As a STEM Learning Ecosystem, SciTech Institute™ focuses on collaboration and connecting individuals with opportunities! STEM Professionals are encouraged to engage with the future workforce by serving as a mentor, leadership coach, panelist, keynote and session trainer during a variety of conferences hosted or sponsored by SciTech Institute™ and The Arizona Technology Council.

Teachers and Administrators are invited to connect with the resources available while activating a large network of STEM champions for student projects, judges at events, volunteers, exhibitors and more. SciTech Festival Event Coordinators are supported during the planning and execution of community STEM events around the state by the SciTech STREET Team Members and the growing network of volunteers. The possibilities are endless! SciTech Institute™ looks forward to connecting with you today. Visit SciTechInstitute.org today for more information.

Follow SciTech Institute on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About Your STEM Unplugged Hosts

After grow up in rural New York and joining the United States Army, Kelly Greene learned quickly to adapt to her surroundings to be successful. She attended Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio to earn her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education.

She also enlisted in the United States Army and after graduating from training, Kelly traveled the world with the military. While stationed in Misawa, Japan, she fell in love with learning about cultures around the world. Even as a deployed Soldier during Operation Iraqi Freedom for two tours, she found opportunities to connect with the local children to form the Victory Base Council Girl Scouts with her fellow servicemen.

In 2013, she was deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and traveled the country by air. During this deployment, she had the opportunity to utilize the most advanced technologies available to the tactical HUMINT operations in theater. Upon return from combat, she retired with 21 years of service and began teaching. From 6th grade Math to 7th grade STEM, Kelly used her enthusiastic nature combined with her strong classroom management to design curriculum based on the Engineering Design Process!

Now, as the Chief Operating Officer at SciTech Institute, Kelly is excited to serve the communities in Arizona and beyond to share their interest in STEM!

Connect with Kelly on LinkedIn.

Claire-ConwayClaire Conway serves as the Arizona STEM Ecosystem Programs Manager at SciTech Institute. In her role, she collaborates with STEM partners in industry, education, nonprofit, government, and community organizations across Arizona to develop regional STEM hubs that connect and align efforts in our local communities.

She also coordinates statewide working groups on the future STEM workforce and STEM programming in Arizona libraries. As a facilitator of the Arizona STEM Ecosystem, she is a connection point between students such as the Chief Science Officers, educators, out-of-school programs, workforce opportunities, and industry experts.

Claire holds a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Southern California, where she conducted research in biomaterials and nanomedicine and coordinated volunteer programming for the university. An Arizona native and lifelong STEM enthusiast, she is passionate about fostering a STEM community where ALL students are able to chase their passions and access the many
opportunities our state has to offer.

Connect with Claire on LinkedIn.

Tagged With: communications, Cox Communications, Inclusion Diversity and Equity, Telecommunication provider, Women in STEM

Mike Neumeier with Arketi Group

June 1, 2020 by angishields

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Atlanta Business Radio
Mike Neumeier with Arketi Group
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Mike-Neumeier-Arketi-GroupMike Neumeier, APR, is CEO of Arketi Group, a public relations and digital marketing agency serving a wide range of B2B technology clients that include well-known brands as well as up-and-coming tech challengers. Under Mike’s leadership, Atlanta-based Arketi, which he co-founded, helps these companies apply intelligent strategy, messaging, PR, and digital marketing to generate revenue and accelerate growth. The firm’s track record prompted the TechnologyAssociation of Georgia (TAG) to name Arketi Group its DigitalMarketing Agency of the Year. The agency has also been repeatedly recognized by Chief Marketer magazine as one of the nation’s “B2B Top Shops” and is a fixture on the “ChiefMarketer 200” list.

For the past 25 years, Mike has pushed the limits of B2B marketing – inciting clients and colleagues to challenge, innovate, and drive for measurable results. Named PRSA’s Technology PR Professional of the Year in 2013, Mike counsels clients on smart strategies that get their message across to markets and media influencers. He has an enviable track record of creating and executing communication plans that help clients build the bottom line. In 2019 he was inducted into the PRSA Georgia The Order of the Phoenix and the Georgia PRSAHall of Fame.

Mike serves on several boards, including FinTech Atlanta, TAG, TAG’s executive committee, and the Advisory Council of the College of Charleston Department of Communication. He is past chair of PRSA’sCounselors Academy, past president of the Georgia PRSA chapter, past chair of the University of Florida’s Public Relations Advisory Board, a founding member of the National Advisory Board for Kennesaw State University’s Department ofCommunication, a founding member of the Atlanta PR Interfaith PrayerBreakfast, and executive committee member of HealthMPowers’Board of Directors. A 2010 inductee of the National PRSSA Hall of Famer, Mike graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science degree in public relations.

Connect with Mike on LinkedIn and follow Arketi Group on Facebook and Twitter.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • How communications professionals can get involved in developing recovery readiness strategies their organizations will need in the coming weeks.
  • The four critical areas that communications professionals need to be thinking about – and leading discussions about within their organization.
  • 4 I’s: INSIGHTS, INTERNAL, IN MARKET, IMPACT (I’ve included an attachment on this too.)
  • How HR and communications leaders should work together to put in place a successful return-to-work framework.

About Our Sponsor

OnPay’sOnPay-Dots payroll services and HR software give you more time to focus on what’s most important. Rated “Excellent” by PC Magazine, we make it easy to pay employees fast, we automate all payroll taxes, and we even keep all your HR and benefits organized and compliant.

Our award-winning customer service includes an accuracy guarantee, deep integrations with popular accounting software, and we’ll even enter all your employee information for you — whether you have five employees or 500. Take a closer look to see all the ways we can save you time and money in the back office.

Follow OnPay on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

 

Tagged With: business consulting, communications, marketing

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