Business RadioX ®

  • Home
  • Business RadioX ® Communities
    • Southeast
      • Alabama
        • Birmingham
      • Florida
        • Orlando
        • Pensacola
        • South Florida
        • Tampa
        • Tallahassee
      • Georgia
        • Atlanta
        • Cherokee
        • Forsyth
        • Greater Perimeter
        • Gwinnett
        • North Fulton
        • North Georgia
        • Northeast Georgia
        • Rome
        • Savannah
      • Louisiana
        • New Orleans
      • North Carolina
        • Charlotte
        • Raleigh
      • Tennessee
        • Chattanooga
        • Nashville
      • Virginia
        • Richmond
    • South Central
      • Arkansas
        • Northwest Arkansas
    • Midwest
      • Illinois
        • Chicago
      • Michigan
        • Detroit
      • Minnesota
        • Minneapolis St. Paul
      • Missouri
        • St. Louis
      • Ohio
        • Cleveland
        • Columbus
        • Dayton
    • Southwest
      • Arizona
        • Phoenix
        • Tucson
        • Valley
      • Texas
        • Austin
        • Dallas
        • Houston
    • West
      • California
        • Bay Area
        • LA
        • Pasadena
      • Colorado
        • Denver
      • Hawaii
        • Oahu
  • FAQs
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Our Audience
    • Why It Works
    • What People Are Saying
    • BRX in the News
  • Resources
    • BRX Pro Tips
    • B2B Marketing: The 4Rs
    • High Velocity Selling Habits
    • Why Most B2B Media Strategies Fail
    • 9 Reasons To Sponsor A Business RadioX ® Show
  • Partner With Us
  • Veteran Business RadioX ®

Eric Holtzclaw, Liger Partners, and Maxwell Bentley, Bentley Media

March 17, 2023 by John Ray

Eric Holtzclaw, Liger and Maxwell Bentley, Bentley Media
Family Business Radio
Eric Holtzclaw, Liger Partners, and Maxwell Bentley, Bentley Media
Loading
00:00 /
RSS Feed
Share
Link
Embed

Download file

Eric Holtzclaw, Liger and Maxwell Bentley, Bentley Media

Eric Holtzclaw, Liger Partners, and Maxwell Bentley, Bentley Media (Family Business Radio, Episode 42)

On this episode of Family Business Radio, host Anthony Chen welcomed business leaders Eric Holtzclaw and Maxwell Bentley. Eric Holtzclaw shared Liger’s work in B2B marketing, why most B2B marketing is boring and therefore indistinguishable, how a company’s marketing strategy should be affected by its succession plans, and much more. Maxwell Bentley discussed his early love of video, what inspired him to start his video agency, some of the most powerful case studies for video, and much more. Anthony closed the show with a commentary on being consistent and investing in oneself. 

Family Business Radio is underwritten and brought to you by Anthony Chen with Lighthouse Financial Network.

Liger Partners

Liger Partners is a hybrid marketing firm, the lovechild of a brand strategy consultancy and a production house that offers the full range of content and creative services. Liger will be your entire marketing department or your entire marketing department’s favorite people to work with.

Liger saves the world from boring, broken marketing by putting businesses in brand therapy so they can express their most authentic, memorable selves. They believe a brand’s story, what makes it unique, is what makes it great.

They use this truth to build a solid marketing foundation, and then they’re ready to share a healthy brand with the world. Combining an understanding of the business, the brand, and the current climate, they make relevant, bold work so a brand can really be known.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter

Eric Holtzclaw, Partner and Chief Strategist, Liger Partners

Eric Holtzclaw, Partner / Chief Strategist, Liger

Eric V. Holtzclaw is a visionary, “idea guy,” and serial entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience whose tech background and experience founding and scaling businesses led him to be a sought-after expert to Fortune 500, Global 2000, and mid-sized companies for applying the best technology and techniques to support overall marketing goals. Today, Eric is a Co-Founding Partner and Chief Strategist for the full-service marketing firm, Liger, combining his three loves: business, technology, and people.

Holtzclaw has contributed to magazines and online publications and wrote the book “Laddering: Unlocking the Potential of Consumer Behavior.” He’s also a host of The Claw podcast where he interviews business owners and entrepreneurs, allowing them to share their insights and marketing expertise.

Out of all the ideas he’s brought to life, Eric says his daughter is his greatest one.

LinkedIn | Twitter

Bentley Media LLC

Bentley Media is a video marketing agency that produces nonprofit fundraising films and brand marketing videos for clients across the globe. Their “done-with-you” approach has created authentic, powerful videos for clients of all sizes.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram 

Maxwell Bentley, Founder and Chief Storyteller, Bentley Media

Maxwell Bentley, Founder & Chief Storyteller, Bentley Media

Maxwell Bentley is a video producer known for launching high-performing video marketing strategies for brands across the globe. He has partnered with Roblox, Hyundai, Quantum Bank, and an extensive clientele of nonprofits and small businesses. He is the Founder & Executive Producer at the Bentley Media Group, a video marketing agency that was named a finalist for Forsyth County Business of the Year in 2018 and 2019. His agency has generated over 100,000,000 trackable video impressions that have translated to millions of dollars in sales revenue for his clients since 2015.

In 2022, he produced a donor appeal film for Meals By Grace, a Georgia nonprofit dedicated to feeding hungry children, that helped raise over $187,000 for the organization. He was subsequently named to the University of North Georgia’s inaugural 20 Under 40 Alumni class. In 2017, he produced a trailer for the Xbox title Super Bomb Survival and served as the lead editor for the Roblox app trailer.

He serves on multiple advisory boards and has partnered with area schools to help prepare rising talent for the demands of the Georgia film and video production industry. He exists to form meaningful relationships where his clients and his staff feel successful.

LinkedIn

Anthony Chen, Host of Family Business Radio

Anthony Chen, Lighthouse Financial, and Host of “Family Business Radio”

This show is sponsored and brought to you by Anthony Chen with Lighthouse Financial Network. Securities and advisory services are offered through Royal Alliance Associates, Inc. (RAA), member FINRA/SIPC. RAA is separately owned and other entities and/or marketing names, products, or services referenced here are independent of RAA. The main office address is 575 Broadhollow Rd. Melville, NY 11747. You can reach Anthony at 631-465-9090 ext 5075 or by email at anthonychen@lfnllc.com.

Anthony Chen started his career in financial services with MetLife in Buffalo, NY in 2008. Born and raised in Elmhurst, Queens, he considers himself a full-blooded New Yorker while now enjoying his Atlanta, GA home. Specializing in family businesses and their owners, Anthony works to protect what is most important to them. From preserving to creating wealth, Anthony partners with CPAs and attorneys to help address all the concerns and help clients achieve their goals. By using a combination of financial products ranging from life, disability, and long-term care insurance to many investment options through Royal Alliance. Anthony looks to be the eyes and ears for his client’s financial foundation. In his spare time, Anthony is an avid long-distance runner.

The complete show archive of “Family Business Radio” can be found at familybusinessradioshow.com.

Tagged With: Anthony Chen, Bentley Media, Bentley Media LLC, digital marketing, Eric Holtzclaw, Family Business, Family Business Radio, financial goals, financial risks, Liger, Lighthouse Financial, Lighthouse Financial Network, marketing, Maxwell Bentley, nonprofit marketing, story-telling, succession planniing, video marketing

Tara Heaton, En Pointe Communications

February 21, 2023 by John Ray

Tara Heaton, En Pointe Communications
North Fulton Business Radio
Tara Heaton, En Pointe Communications
Loading
00:00 /
RSS Feed
Share
Link
Embed

Download file

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

Telling Your Story in a Pandemic, with Mark Hayes, Mark Hayes Consulting

May 5, 2020 by John Ray

telling your story in a pandemic
North Fulton Business Radio
Telling Your Story in a Pandemic, with Mark Hayes, Mark Hayes Consulting
Loading
00:00 /
RSS Feed
Share
Link
Embed

Download file

telling your story in a pandemic
Mark Hayes, Mark Hayes Consulting

Telling Your Story in a Pandemic, with Mark Hayes, Mark Hayes Consulting (“North Fulton Business Radio,” Episode 228)

How do you go about telling your story in a pandemic if you’re a business owner? Former journalist Mark Hayes of Mark Hayes Consulting joins host John Ray to discuss this question and much more. “North Fulton Business Radio” is produced virtually by the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® in Alpharetta.

Mark Hayes, Mark Hayes Consulting

Mark Hayes is the President and CEO of Mark Hayes Consulting. The firm’s mission is to help everyone from CEOs to small business owners make the most of their opportunity for media exposure. Providing media training and placement consulting, Mark’s firm helps businesses and brands find media placements and create content to build and enhance their brand. The firm also provides media training and communication skills workshops and seminars. Mark is a Certified Jack Canfield Trainer.

Mark is scheduled to appear on the TEDx stage in Woodstock in November.

Mark Hayes has spent nearly three decades bringing news viewers in major cities across the country their news and information of the day.  Some of his stops include major markets like Dallas, Denver, Detroit and Baltimore.  His proudest accomplishments, however, came during his tenure in the great city of Atlanta, GA.  For more than a decade, Mark was a staple of early morning television on Good Day Atlanta on Fox 5 Atlanta.  He believes his most noteworthy achievement, was the nearly 20 hours he spent on air during the Fulton County Courthouse shootings and the subsequent capture of Brian Nichols. He has been recognized nationally with two Emmy nominations and recognition for spot news coverage from the National Press Photographers Association.

For more information, go to https://markhayesconsulting.com/ or call Mark directly at 678-829-4632.

Questions and Topics in this Interview:

  • Mark’s background in journalism and how he works with business owners
  • community impact
  • credibility and reputation in story-telling
  • social media management
  • branding and personal branding
  • media relations
  • digital media

North Fulton Business Radio” is produced virtually from the North Fulton studio of Business RadioX® 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, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, TuneIn, and others.

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.

 

Tagged With: Branding, credibility, digital media, John Ray, Mark Hayes, Mark Hayes Consulting, Media Relations, North Fulton Business Radio, pandemic, personal branding, reputation, Social Media, social media management, story-telling, TEDx

Jason Moccia, OneSpring LLC

April 9, 2019 by John Ray

North Fulton Business Radio
North Fulton Business Radio
Jason Moccia, OneSpring LLC
Loading
00:00 /
RSS Feed
Share
Link
Embed

Download file

Jason Moccia, CEO of OneSpring LLC, and John Ray, Host of “North Fulton Business Radio”

Jason Moccia, OneSpring LLC

Jason Moccia, OneSpring LLC

Jason Moccia has over 20 years of experience in the digital strategy and software fields and is the founder and CEO of OneSpring LLC. Jason has worked with numerous Fortune 1000 companies and Federal Agencies including but not limited to Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Ernst & Young, General Electric, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), SAIC, Florida Power & Light, InterContinental Hotels, Deloitte, Veteran Affairs (VA) and SunTrust.

OneSpring is an Alpharetta-based experience design firm focused on helping companies and government agencies understand how design thinking can solve their most complex problems.  Their team is well versed in Human-Centered Design and Customer Experience which they utilize to streamline the way in which software is designed, validated, and launched to market.

“North Fulton Business Radio”

John Ray, Host of “North Fulton Business Radio,” interviews Jason Moccia, OneSpring LLC

Each week, host John Ray interviews the area’s top business leaders, spotlighting companies and entrepreneurs from across the region. Tune in each week, live at 11:30 EST, to hear the live broadcast. An archive of past shows can be found here.

 

 

Tagged With: Culture, customer experience, customer experience at Avalon, customer journey, CX, design standards, human-centered design, north fulton business, north fulton business community, North Fulton Business Radio, OneSpring, organizational culture, prototype, software, software applications, software blueprints, software consulting, software design, software functions, software testing, story-telling

Life University and Solution Road

March 16, 2016 by angishields

Midtown Business Radio
Midtown Business Radio
Life University and Solution Road
Loading
00:00 /
RSS Feed
Share
Link
Embed

Download file

Life University
Sarah K. Smith and Teresa Roth of Solution Road

Life University and Solution Road

We continue our series with Dr. Gilles LaMarche of Life University, focusing on business leaders with integrity.  I had the pleasure of featuring my publicist, Sarah Smith, Founder of Solution Road, and her creative director, Teresa Roth.  Having gotten to know Sarah over the past year I can readily say she fits the theme of integrity in personal and professional life.

Her consultancy, Solution Road, brings clients expertise in branding and message, fund raising/development, a speakers bureau, advocacy, and more.  The company has worked with clients in biotechnology, health sciences, and the business sector, among others.

We talked about how important integrity is in branding and message, along with the importance of presenting useful information via social media platforms.  Peruse any marketing-related sites these days and it’s quickly clear that providing high-quality, engaging content that informs your customer with insights they can use is necessary to succeed in today’s digital world.

Special Guests:

Sarah K. Smith, CEO/Founder, of Solution Road  linkedin_small1  facebook_logo_small3  twitter_logo_small  feed logo

Solution Road

  • Masters Degree, English, University of Essex
  • Previous Director, Corporate Marketing, Emory University
  • Former Vice President, The Emmy Awards Foundation
  • Previous Director, Special Projects, TEDx Peachtree

Teresa Roth, Creative Director, Solution Road  linkedin_small1

life university

  • BA, Communications, University of Arkansas
  • Previous Executive Producer, WSB-TV Channel 2 Atlanta
  • Founder, Teresa Roth Productions

Dr. Gilles LaMarche, DC, VP of Professional Relations at Life University  youtube logo linkedin_small1  twitter_logo_small-e1403698475314  facebook_logo_small3  smugmug LOGO

Life University

  • Doctor of Chiropractic, Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College
  • Author, The ART of Responsibility, Insight Publishing 2012
  • Certified Six Advisors Coach, Six Advisors Coaching Academy
  • Previous Vice President, Parker College of Chiropractic

Tagged With: CW Hall, development, Fundraising, Gilles Lamarche, Life University, Sarah K. Smith, Social Media, Solution Road, story-telling, Teresa Roth

Robotic Hair Restoration and ShareWIK – Top Docs Radio

October 15, 2014 by angishields

Top Docs Radio
Top Docs Radio
Robotic Hair Restoration and ShareWIK - Top Docs Radio
Loading
00:00 /
RSS Feed
Share
Link
Embed

Download file

TopDocsRADIO
Sara Kovak, Diana Keough, Jonathon Williamson, Dr. Ken Anderson

Robotic Hair Restoration

and

ShareWIK

This week I sat down with Dr. Kenneth Anderson, Atlanta’s only robotic hair restoration specialist, and Diana Keough, CEO/Founder of ShareWIK (What I Know).  Dr. Anderson brought along Sara Kovac, his Patient Advocate who meets with prospective patients inquiring about available treatments for hair loss, and Jonathon Williamson, a satisfied patient of his.  We learned how Anderson Hair Sciences Center places much emphasis on patient experience when they consult with the practice.  Dr. Anderson personally meets with every patient and schedules only one procedure per day to allow for a thorough, unhurried approach to every patient.  Patient Jonathon brought a before photo with him to allow for comparison with his now-full head of hair.  It is virtually impossible to see where his procedure was conducted.  He talked about how other hair restoration groups had him meet with a sales person rather than a physician and showed photos of results obtained by a procedure but the patients shown weren’t work done by that practice’s provider.  Reasons for selecting their practice focused on discounted pricing rather than clinical qualifications and outcomes.  We talked about the value of Dr. Anderson’s training (including board certification) in plastic surgery and how it contributes to the artistic component of achieving a natural-looking hairline for his patients.

Diana Keough of ShareWIK shared her story of how she decided to launch her company, having spent the bulk of her career as a healthcare journalist for a Midwest news paper.  She leveraged her experience in healthcare journalism and knowledge of how to effectively tell a patient’s story to begin producing compelling content that shares helpful information that viewers can relate to.  As their website, sharewik.com states, “ShareWIK Media Group produces and distributes health and wellness content that uses the power of personal storytelling to Engage, Educate & Inspire consumers to make better decisions that impact their health.  With hundreds of “MyVoice” in-depth patient videos at the core of its product line, ShareWIK syndicates its content to media outlets and licenses its proprietary educational modules to employers, benefits providers, corporate wellness platforms, and other channels within the healthcare industry.”

Special Guests:

Dr. Kenneth Anderson, MD, of Anderson Hair Sciences Center  google-plus-logo-red-265px  twitter_logo_small  youtube logo facebook_logo_small3  linkedin_small1  flickr

Anderson Hair Restoration Center

  •  Doctor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
  • Residency, General Surgery, University of Michigan
  • Residency, Otolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery, University of Michigan
  • Fellow, Facial and Plastic Reconstructive Surgery, University of Michigan
  • Assist. Clinical Professor of Surgery, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA
  • Hair Restoration Specialist, Emory Facial Center, Dept. of Otolaryngology-Head/Neck Surgery, Emory School of Medicine

Diana Keough, CEO/Founder of ShareWIK.com  facebook_logo_small3  twitter_logo_small  linkedin_small1  Pinterest-logo  google-plus-logo-red-265px  

ShareWIK.com

  • Journalism Instructor/Guest Lecturer, Emory University
  • Member, Koles College of Business Advisory Board, Kennsaw State University
  • Former Front Page Series Writer, The Plain Dealer
  • Former Reporter/Commentator, WKSU
  • Co-author, “Building a Business, Building a Life: The Incredible Life of a Woman Business Owner”

Tagged With: CW Hall, Diana Keough, Dr. Ken Anderson, Dr. Kenneth Anderson, hair loss, hair restoration, Health Care Radio, health radio, healthcare journalism, healthcare radio, inbound marketing, Ken Anderson, Kenneth Anderson, non-surgical treatment of hair loss, production, Robotic Hair Restoration, ShareWIK, ShareWIK.com, story-telling, testimonial content

Business RadioX ® Network


 

Our Most Recent Episode

CONNECT WITH US

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Our Mission

We help local business leaders get the word out about the important work they’re doing to serve their market, their community, and their profession.

We support and celebrate business by sharing positive business stories that traditional media ignores. Some media leans left. Some media leans right. We lean business.

Sponsor a Show

Build Relationships and Grow Your Business. Click here for more details.

Partner With Us

Discover More Here

Terms and Conditions
Privacy Policy

Connect with us

Want to keep up with the latest in pro-business news across the network? Follow us on social media for the latest stories!
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Business RadioX® Headquarters
1000 Abernathy Rd. NE
Building 400, Suite L-10
Sandy Springs, GA 30328

© 2025 Business RadioX ® · Rainmaker Platform

BRXStudioCoversLA

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of LA Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversDENVER

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Denver Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversPENSACOLA

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Pensacola Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversBIRMINGHAM

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Birmingham Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversTALLAHASSEE

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Tallahassee Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversRALEIGH

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Raleigh Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversRICHMONDNoWhite

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Richmond Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversNASHVILLENoWhite

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Nashville Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversDETROIT

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Detroit Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversSTLOUIS

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of St. Louis Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversCOLUMBUS-small

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Columbus Business Radio

Coachthecoach-08-08

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Coach the Coach

BRXStudioCoversBAYAREA

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Bay Area Business Radio

BRXStudioCoversCHICAGO

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Chicago Business Radio

Wait! Don’t Miss an Episode of Atlanta Business Radio