Play Your Position With Mary Lou Kayser

Happy summer, Team PYP! I hope you are enjoying some outside time if you live in the Northern Hemisphere. If you hail from south of the equator, getting outside into the cooler, shorter days has magic, too.   In today's episode, I share with you details about a recent volunteer experience I had working with high school students who are interested in business, leadership, and entrepreneurship. The organization I volunteered with is called Young Entrepreneurs Business Week and you can learn more about them here. I also review four books for your reading consideration this summer and why they matter. Educated by Tara Westover The Dip by Seth Godin The Entrepreneurial Imperative by Carl J. Schramm Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield   = = = = =   Get more out of PYP with these links: Show notes Find Your Football Newsletter Nominate a Guest for the Show We always appreciate your rating and review on iTunes!

Tracy Timm is a born and raised Texas girl who has a very specific goal: to make life simple again. She does that as a quarter-life career coach and human capital advisor. Her program, The Nth Degree™ Academy, helps high-potential professionals discover their career “sweet spot” through a mix of self-discovery, tactical training, and some much-needed tough love. Tracy has a degree in behavioral psychology from Yale, a severely bruised ego from working on Wall Street, and has logged one trip around the entire globe. She believes that our unique purpose in life can be realized through our careers, and wants to help people come alive at work once again.   Tracy Timm’s MVP player Stats:   Tracy’s early career life started in the typical 9 to 5 with benefits and stability. After making some decisions to change up her profession, she started her own business as a career coach. After about two years, Tracy found a similar pattern in the needs of the people she spoke with and that led to the creation of The Nth Degre

Bob Paskins is a speaker, trainer, and consultant who looks to inspire people and companies to their full potential. He lives in Oregon with his wife Danielle, and three boys under the age of 12. Yes, he drives a Minivan.   For 20 years Bob worked in the financial services space as a commercial insurance broker. His two primary goals were to increase his sales base by attracting new customers and to lead a customer service team in keeping his current clientele happy. Bob built his business from scratch. Along the way, he gained hundreds of clients, forged relationships with key vendors and brokers, and won several sales competitions. He was promoted to sales manager and then became a principal owner in a large commercial insurance brokerage. His customer base included distributors, wholesalers, contractors, non-profits and a Bay Area company called Yahoo!   Now Bob speaks to businesses around the country using storytelling, and humor as well as providing tangible takeaways. He also consults with companies loo

What's the connection between effective leadership and feedback? Turns out, plenty. That's why I've devoted an entire bonus audible to this topic so how you can tap into this powerful source of accelerated growth!   Thanks so much for listening. :-)   Get more out of PYP with these links: Learn about the Confluence Women's Leadership Conference at Skamania Lodge Show notes Find Your Football Newsletter Nominate a Guest for the Show We always appreciate your rating and review on iTunes!

Tim Bratz is the CEO and founder of CLE Turnkey Real Estate, a real estate investment company that acquires and transforms distressed commercial and apartment buildings into high-performance investment assets. Tim began his real estate career in 2007 as a commercial broker in the competitive NYC real estate market, where he saw the true potential of real estate to transform lives. He spent time reading, attending workshops, and networking with accomplished entrepreneurs, and found that being resourceful was a cornerstone to becoming successful. Tim’s resourcefulness helped him build his first real estate company in 2009 in Charleston, SC, when he used a credit card to acquire his first property. Tim transformed a rundown duplex all on his own and turned a profit on his first deal. He reinvested those proceeds, meanwhile seeking private capital to expand his growing company. Today Tim still uses this formula for success, which all starts with being resourceful and having the right mindset. Working in real esta

You have to be living under a rock not to notice the massive changes going on around us every day. Cranes are silhouetted against city skylines; technology roars forward.  I recently returned to the states after spending two weeks in the United Kingdom and Ireland and witnessed massive change everywhere I went. From the political and economic struggles surrounding Brexit to the opportunities the digital revolution is offering us to transform our lives, the world is in flux on a much bigger scale than in previous decades. As more of us choose to deepen our leadership practices as business owners, creatives, parents, and active global citizens, I believe we need to consider adopting the attitude around change and evolution that the late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld had. I recently watched a documentary about him called “Lagerfeld Confidential” (French with English subtitles) which taught me a lot about a man I knew nothing about, to be completely honest. He epitomizes the spirit of PYP and stood for stayin

Tracy Imm has been doing the corporate dance for decades and has more degrees and certificates than you’ll ever need from top rated schools and professional associations. She won’t bore you with all of it but if you want to know more about those details, visit her LinkedIn profile. Tracy is here to train women to be better leaders. She has been leading people since she was the President of her Girl Scout Troop at age 11. She knows what it takes to motivate and inspire people to show up and do their best work. Obsessed with learning as much as she can about the topics of leadership and influence, she is humbled and grateful to have been named one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women in 2017 and again in 2019 by The Daily Record for her body of work in the world. Tracy is also a writer with two self-published books available on Amazon. Her podcast, Brave Girls with Tracy Imm, launched in 2018 after 2 full years of planning. She wanted to bring more positivity into the world and create a platform to showcase female leade

After growing one of his first PPC clients from 25 to 250 employees, today’s starting quarterback Jake Baadsgaard realized he had a gift for using pay-per-click marketing to drive dramatic business results. To help more companies succeed online, Jake founded Disruptive Advertising, a PPC and CRO management agency that has helped hundreds of companies realize unprecedented growth and profitability from the online advertising space. In the four years since its founding, Disruptive Advertising has grown from two employees working in Jake’ s basement to a flourishing agency with more than 120 employees and a run rate of over $18 million- putting it at #145 on the 2017 Inc 500 list! Jake's ability to assess and clearly explain complicated issues has made him a favorite in a variety of forums. Jake is a regular contributor on a variety of blogs-- including notable publications like Entrepreneur, Forbes and SearchEngine Land-- where his wit and ability to make even tedious topics engaging elicits rave reviews from h

As president and CEO of On the Same Page Consulting, Michael Alan Tate works with successful executives, entrepreneurs, and technical professionals who are seeking a simple action-focused plan to effectively manage career transitions, keep teams on the same page, and prepare for positive leadership succession. With over 20 years’ experience as an executive coach, consultant, and strategist, Mike knows that successful people want to navigate the murky waters of career transition as quickly and effectively as possible. Drawing on his own experience, Mike developed a unique consulting strategy, in which he helps each of his clients create a powerful and succinct strategic plan, incorporating prioritized actions and accountabilities set in a whole-life perspective -- all in just 24 hours.   Michael Alan Tate’s MVP player Stats:   After going through a crisis of depression and being sick, Michael quit his job and went to his career counselor who would give him a personality test and suggested he be in HR. After se

Forget sales & net income; focus instead on gross profit & cash flow… and here’s why. Today’s starting QB Terry Lammers grew up watching his parents run their own company in the fuel & lubricants industry, and eventually came on as a full-time employee in the early 90’s and took over as president of the company. In just 18 years, TriCounty Petroleum had purchased 11 different companies, growing Terry’s family business from $750,000 annual sales to over $40 million when the company was sold in 2010. Today, as co-founder and managing member of Innovative Business Advisors, Terry taps into his financial expertise and hands-on business experience to advise and guide prospective business owners who are interested in buying, as well as current business owners looking to sell their enterprises. In his new book, You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know, Terry provides an in-depth examination of the process of buying, growing, and eventually selling a business. Through Terry’s guidance, business owners and aspir

Ari Meisel is an author, speaker, coach and the creator of Less Doing, More Living, a set of practices and principles designed to help the overwhelmed become more effective. These practices were born out of Ari's battle with Crohn's disease. As his illness progressed, he began to optimize, automate, and outsource everything in his life so that he could completely focus on healing his body. Inspired to help entrepreneurs and companies Ari now teaches them how to offload the majority of their activities so they can grow, prosper and spend more time doing the things that truly matter most. Ari Meisel’s MVP player Stats:   At age 23, Ari found himself in $3 million of personal debt and diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. Despite all odds, Ari turned things around, overcoming his illness and eventually competing in the Iron Man.   Ari realized a big part of his illness was based on stress. This realization influenced him to create a new system of productivity which is Less Doing, More Living. The goal of Ari's system

A former punter in both the NFL and European football league, today’s starting quarterback on PYP is Nick J. Murphy who has reinvented himself several times since kicking a pigskin to earn a living. Today Nick is a StoryBrand Certified Guide and sought after expert in the world of work. His career highlights include award-winning tenures at CareerBuilder, Monster and Indeed where he worked to optimize the effectiveness of F500 National Accounts across industries. His candid insights have been featured in national media like USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Fox News, Inc., Reader’s Digest and more. He is the author of the recent book, Unboxed: An Unfiltered Guide to Creating a Career on Your Terms. Nick divides his time between Omaha NE and Scottsdale AZ with his wife and five children.   Nick J. Murphy’s MVP player Stats:   Nick’s position and main focus is all about integration, balance, and showing up for the people in his life that need him. It’s most important for Nick that he is a good father, hu

Looking for a dynamic, interesting, insightful, creative, and fun speaker for your next leadership training or event? Get in touch here to learn about how I can help you run your leadership ball into the End Zone!    = = = = =   Hey Team!   Today I am celebrating the 200th episode of the Play Your Position Podcast with an audible about Tiger Woods winning the Masters yesterday in Atlanta, Georgia. In it, I share my thoughts about this accomplishment, what Tiger Woods represents for Americans and some larger questions about leadership.   Enjoy, and thank you Team PYP for hanging in there with me for 200 episodes! You guys are seriously the best podcast listeners out there!   :-)   = = = = =   Get more out of PYP with these links: Show notes Find Your Football Newsletter Nominate a Guest for the Show We always appreciate your rating and review on iTunes!  

Bryan and Shannon Miles are determined to help you grow your business with the help of bringing freelancers on board to achieve your goals. Bryan and Shannon Miles are determined to help you grow your business with the help of bringing freelancers on board to achieve your goals. This power husband and wife team are today's starting QB and wide receiver and they will prove that the way we work today is just plain different than it was ten years ago.   Bryan Miles can’t sit still. He is an entrepreneur, backpacker, mountain climber, writer, husband, and father. In addition, he’s the CEO and Co-Founder of BELAY, a premium staffing company serving businesses all over the U.S. He and his wife, Shannon, are proud co-owners. Creating and fostering a healthy culture has always been close to Bryan’s heart. He has written about it for years and has put all of his thoughts into his second book, Virtual Culture: The Way We Work Doesn’t Work Anymore. Bryan loves to mentor other entrepreneurs and small business owners to

Life is good today but that wasn’t always the case for today's guest, Josh McLean. Over the past decade, Josh has overcome the crippling effect of fear and a brain injury resulting from a car accident. His success proves small actions and a strong mindset can spark powerful transformation; eliminating the feeling of being drained, conflicted, confused, and hopeless. Josh has spent 15 years in Finance and Strategy, managing highly engaged teams and holding management positions across iconic brands including Nike, KinderCare Education, and Ameriprise Financial. His recent book Catalyst: Ignite Your Spark Within To Achieve Powerful Transformation, brings his signature blend of humor, passion, candor, & poignant personal experiences directly to the lives of restless achieves looking to create a more fulfilling life. Josh McLean’s MVP player Stats:   Josh’s day job is Finance Strategy at Nike, but he is also on a speaking authorship journey serving his mission to share his voice and give his audiences hope abo

Today’s starting quarterback is Lee Caharer, the founder and CEO of Double Forte PR and Digital Marketing that works with beloved and up and coming consumer technology and wine brands. Lee is known for practical solutions to big problems. She is the author of two books Millennials and Management The Essential Guide to Making It Work at Work and the Boomerang Principle Inspiring Lifetime Loyalty from Employees. Her big laugh and sense of humor have gotten her out of a lot of trouble and she splits time between San Francisco and New York City where she puts her degree in medieval history to work every single day.     Lee Caharer’s MVP player Stats:   Lee is in the digital marketing and national public relations world. She and her team provide companies with the tools they need to improve performance in intergenerational relationships, communication, and leadership.   In this episode, Lee talks about the changes in PR and digital marketing and how the industry has evolved from the ways we once communicated wit

All right, Team! This month's pick for my book review is The Million-Dollar One-Person Business: Make Great Money. Work the Way You Like. Have the Life You Want. by Elaine Pofeldt.   If you or someone you know is curious about whether or not starting and building a business with one person at the helm is worth it -- meaning is it possible to generate a million dollars in revenue without hiring a bunch of employees -- then this is a great book to add to your personal library.   I put it in the growing category of the new world of work -- how many of us are choosing to show up and earn our livings today is profiled nicely in this book. It is well-written and a fast read. I got through it in one afternoon and that included lots of underlining and dog-earing!   Generating real money while keeping a business lean isn't a pipe dream anymore. Listen to the episode and leave your 5-star review of PYP in iTunes if you haven't already! I appreciate and read every single one. Get more out of PYP with these links: Show

Today’s starting quarterback is Oscar Trimboli, a coach, supervisor, speaker and author of several books including Deep Listening: Impact beyond Words, The 125/400 Rule: The Art and Science of Listening and Breakthroughs: How to Confront Your Assumptions. Through his work with chairs, boards of directors and executive teams in local, regional and global organizations, Oscar has experienced firsthand the transformational impact leaders and organizations can have when they listen beyond the words. He consults with organizations including Cisco, Google, HSBC, News Corp, PayPal, Qantas, and TripAdvisor, helping executives and their teams listen to what’s unsaid by the customers and employees. Oscar lives in Sydney, Australia with his wife Jennie where he helps first-time runners and ocean swimmers conquer their fears. He also contributes to the cure for cancer as part of Can Too, a cancer research charity.   Oscar Trimboli MVP player Stats:   Oscar is fiercely devoted to teaching people the importance and signif

Andrew currently works with a non-profit called Young Entrepreneurs Business Week (YEBW), a liaison program for schools, companies, and students around Oregon. They teach business and professional skills to high schools students on a college campus over the summer, and their goal is to build the next generation of leaders and educate them, teaching things such as how to run a multimillion-dollar company, how to make their own business, invention skills, job interview skills, etiquette skills, and to make sure they have more opportunity with their future. Andrew’s job is to spread awareness of the program and to maintain relationships with the community.   Andrew also runs his business as a public speaking coach. He regularly coaches people who want to overcome their fear of presentations and figure out how they can engage more audiences when they present. Andrew is also the author of Tucan Play at This Game and his passion is helping people become better leaders with powerful presentation skills. Not to menti

In this week’s bonus audible, I share with you my candid review of two films I recently watched on Netflix. One is a series and the other is a documentary. Coincidentally, both have to do with the fashion industry. I also have a couple of fun announcements and a preview of who is on the roster for March. You guys are gonna love my guests this month and into April. Things are rocking and rolling here at the Play Your Position Podcast.   Thanks for suiting up and showing up to play with us!   Get more out of PYP with these links: Show notes Find Your Football Newsletter Nominate a Guest for the Show We always appreciate your rating and review on iTunes! Write your damn book already! (You won't regret it.)