Listen Now!

Business Talk 24-7

Curated Collection Of The Best Interviews From Our Sandy Springs Studio





High Velocity Radio

Uncategorized

Desiree Interviews Matt Hames, Chris Staples and John Brothers Talk About The Future of Banking and Finance

Posted on

Podcast: Download

chris matt and me_Fotor

John Brothers, Finoptima Solutions

John Brothers is the Founder of Finoptima Solutions located in Dayton, Ohio.  He is a graduate of Wright State University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Throughout his career John has had many far-ranging experiences. Beginning his career as an internal auditor for several Fortune 500 Companies, he later served in operations and financial management in several start-up businesses including a land development company which built Country Club of the South in Alpharetta, and a golf course construction company owned by the legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus. Because of these experiences he then served in the consulting practice of a Big 5 National Accounting firm helping startups and emerging businesses with their growth.  After 10 years of operating as a self-employed consultant where he again assisted businesses ranging in size from startups to over $1 Billion in sales he formed Finoptima Solutions to create his brand and expand his presence of helping Companies achieve the optimal financial solutions for their unique business needs beyond Ohio. He has been a finalist for the 2010 Dayton Business Journal CFO of the Year Award. Find John at www.finoptimasolutions.com

Matt Hames, Acru

Matt is CEO of Acru Wealth, LLC, a comprehensive wealth strategy firm headquartered in Woodstock, Georgia. Matt graduated with a Bachelors of Business Administration degree, major in Management, with a specialization in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management, from Kennesaw State University.  Matt holds the professional designation of Certified Trust & Financial Advisor (CTFA), indicating excellence in the areas of fiduciary responsibilities, trust activities, personal finance, insurance, estate planning, tax planning, and investment management.

In May of 2011, Matt led CNT Financial, the bank trust company he opened in 2001, through a redesign of its business model that changed the brand to Acru and meaningfully enhanced the delivery of the brand experience to the public. Opening a retail location that delivers personalized wisdom through a relevant experience while clarifying today and preparing clients for tomorrow, Acru is redefining how financial services are delivered through community based institutions.  Since opening, Acru has been featured in Fast Company Magazine, The Financial Brand and other local, regional and national publications recognizing the breakthrough innovation represented in the Acru brand and delivery model.  In early 2012 the Acru retail location won the Best of the Best Retail Design Award from the International Interior Design Association, their highest honor for retail space design. Find Matt at www.acruwealth.com

Chris Staples, Wealth 360

Chris Staples is more than just your typical investment guy. He’s been in this circus of an industry for more than 20 years and can quickly tell you if the advice you’re getting is good or garbage.

As the Principal owner of a local Financial Planning and Investment Management firm and a Certified Financial Planner, Chris likes to pull back the curtain on the Wizard in the Land of Oz so people can see what’s really going on.

He hasn’t seen everything but he’s seen enough to know that people deserve financial advice that cuts through the muddy jargon and self-serving opinions running rampant in the financial services industry.

Chris feels most anyone with the right advice and enough guts can build a nice chunk of wealth. All it takes is a little know how and a big dose of the right behaviors. Find Chris at www.wealth360advisors.com. Find Chris’ free report “10 Things you can do Today to Get Your Financial House in Order” HERE.

 

Special Edition: Atlanta Telecommunications Professionals

Posted on

Podcast: Download

HVR

Today’s show, guest hosted by Sander Biehn, spotlights the upcoming Atlanta Telecommunications Professionals (ATP) Awards Gala, the  premier event where the who’s who of  communications technology professionals rub elbows and  honor outstanding achievements for the year. This year’s Gala will be held on November 14, 2013, at the Cobb Galleria Centre.

Sander Biehn/Thought Horizon

Sander Biehn owns and runs Thought Horizon, a B2B social selling consultancy based on principles he learned while working for AT&T for the past 17 years. Sander’s proven approach helps B2B sales and marketing teams work together to create content and engagement with target markets and customers. Sander holds a provisional patent in Social Media and is finishing a book on workplace innovation entitled, “The 30 Year Paycheck”. He has spoken at conferences and on the radio about innovation. Sander loves amateur geology and astronomy. He went to Duke University where he holds a degree in Philosophy and Classical Studies. He lives in Atlanta with his wife and two children.

Karen Finger/iVision

Karen Finger is a senior- level executive in the communications and information technology industry. Currently Karen is Director of Cloud Services for iVision, where she leads the Cloud Services line of business. Prior to her role at iVision, Karen held leadership positions in sales management, service delivery, productization, network design, and software development working with the largest enterprise and service provider clients of companies such as Nortel, Sprint, and CenturyLink/Savvis. Karen is an active leader and “connector” in the Atlanta business community serving as President of ATP, a non-profit communications technology industry association. She has been actively involved with ATP since 2008, and has held various leadership roles on the board including Vice President and Director. Karen has also chaired and led the advancement for the prestigious ATP Awards Gala in 2009-2013, which recognizes and promotes communications technology leadership, innovation, and excellence coming out of Georgia. Karen grew up in Memphis, TN where she graduated from Lausanne (all girls) High School and then went on to the University of Florida where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science and business administration. She has two children, a son, currently at UGA, and a daughter at Walton High School.

Dow Smith/Carousel Industries

Dow Smith leads sales for Carousel Industries in the Southeast. Carousel is a managed solutions provider for datacenter and voice technologies. Prior to his role at Carousel, Dow worked in leadership roles at Siemens, Fujitsu and PWC. He also previously served as the president of an internet marketing firm. Dow went to Penn State and lives in Atlanta.

 

Special Edition: Shark Attack Pitch Week

Posted on

Podcast: Download

HVR

Larry White/The Ritz Group

Larry White is president and CEO of the Atlanta-based Ritz Group networking organization which hosts live “Shark Attack” events.

Candace Mitchell and Jess Watson/Techturized, Inc. FacebookLinkedinTwitter

Candace Mitchell is a computer scientist from Atlanta, GA. She is on a mission to share her gifts with the world through science and technology. Her interest in cosmetology began in her early teens, then transformed into a passion for computing. She graduated from Georgia Tech with a B.S. in Computer Science. After a year in Corporate America, she decided to follow her dreams of becoming an entrepreneur and started the company Techturized, Inc. with 3 phenomenal co-founders. Her vision is to revolutionize the world in a tremendous way by empowering women through the lens of hair & beauty.

Jess Watson is a computer scientist from New York City. Coming from humble beginnings as a first generation Jamaican, her family instilled the importance of hard work, dedication, and that anything is possible. She attended Georgia Tech where she started her entrepreneurial journey and graduated with a B.S. in Computer Science.

Vince Coyner/BrandScanned

Vince Coyner is a serial entrepreneur and has been working with startups for over a decade in areas a varied as finance education, prepaid gasoline, golf products and local marketing. Today he is here discussing BrandScanned, a tool that makes it easy for consumers to participate in marketer’s loyalty programs and various contests.

Adam Houtman/Vault Stem Cell FacebookDave LinkedinTwitter

Adam Houtman has over 10 years of experience owning and operating businesses in medical leads, sales, and multi-channel marketing fields. He grew his previous startups from $0 to $10 Million in revenues while managing 30 call centers in three countries. He purchased a diabetic mail order supply company and grew that business by 7,000% starting from servicing 40 patients to over 3,000. Today, Adam is the founder and CEO of Vault, which represents a revolutionary way to collect and store you or your family’s own adult stem cells. Originally from London, England, Adam is an Oxford graduate, husband and father of two boys.

Steve Bachman/CollectorDASH

Steve is Vice President and COO of CollectorDASH. CollectorDASH provides a community-based ecommerce platform that disrupts the status quo of Ebay and a myriad of fragmented solutions by enabling the community of collectors to buy, sell, manage, value and share their collectibles easier and more affordably. By engaging the collector and forming a lifetime relationship centered on their hobby, CollectorDASH is uniquely able to partner with sellers and manufacturers to deliver more revenue and more loyal customer relationships.

Steve has thirty years’ experience in sales, marketing, operations, and corporate management in the technology industry with startup and fast growth technology products and service companies. Experience includes a successful track record with self-funded and venture capital funded businesses, with multiple successes in creating shareholder value through profitable company growth and sale of businesses to McAfee, NetIQ, Computer Associates, and others.

Corey Moore/Pro Networker

Kimberly Smith/Omega Learning

 

 

LinkedIn

 

S. Anthony Iannarino, Barbara Giamanco and Sander Biehn Talk Social Sales

Posted on

Podcast: Download

barb-sander-and-me

S. Anthony Iannarino

Anthony Iannarino is an author, an international speaker, and entrepreneur.

Anthony is the Managing Director of B2B Sales Coach & Consultancy, and the President and Chief Sales Officer of Solutions Staffing. He also teaches Professional Selling, Persuasive Marketing, and Social Media Marketing at Capital University’s School of Management and Leadership.

Anthony is internationally recognized as a thought leader in sales, with his award winning The Sales Blog being read by 45,000 people each month.

Anthony was named one the 50 most influential people in sales by Top Sales World, as well as being named on of the 25 most influential people in sales by Open View Partners.

In addition to writing daily at The Sales Blog, Anthony is also a contributing editor at SUCCESS Magazine and ThinkSales Magazine. He also writes a bi-weekly column for Salesforce.com. You can find him on Twitter @iannarino.


Barbara Giamanco

President and Social Selling Advisor at Social Centered Selling.

Barb heads up Social Centered Selling. She’s the co-author of The New Handshake: Sales Meets Social Media – the first book published on social selling. She is the author of the Harvard Business Review article Tweet Me, Friend Me, Make Me Buy published in the July 2012. Her first of its kind research report: Social Media and Sales Quota  proves the measurable return-on-investment when using social media to sell.

Barb has been evangelizing social selling since 2006 and is known internationally as a Social Selling Thought Leader. She is a sought after Sales and Social Media Advisor, Speaker and Coach.

Barb is a contributing writer and blogger for Top Sales World, Social Selling University, Harvard Business Review and the Sales Thought Leader Blog. She is recognized by InsideView as one of the Top 25 Influential Leaders in Sales, a Top 25 Sales Influencer on Twitter, one of Top Sales World’s 2013 Top 50 Sales and Marketing Influencers and her LinkedIn profile ranks in the Top 1% of profiles viewed.

Barb has a proven, 30-year track record in generating sales and capped a corporate career at Microsoft, where she led sales teams. Throughout her sales career, Barb has sold $1B in products and services.

Her site lives at scs-connect.com and you can find her on Twitter @barbaragiamanco.

 

Sander Biehn

Sander is a  salesman and social media evangelist for AT&T.

He has worked in a variety of sales and sales management roles both in the US and abroad over the past 15 years. These days he lives in Atlanta and on any given day can be found coaching teams on how to accelerate sales using social media, writing blogs on corporate innovation or just interacting with his network learning about new trends and ideas. Sander holds a patent in social media and is a charter member of the steering committed at AT&T evaluating social media initiatives for B2B sales. Sander is married and has two kids. He enjoys field geology and astronomy and has recently written a feature length screenplay based on the life of the poet Percy Shelley.

Find Sander’s blog at http://networkingexchangeblog.att.com/author/sander-biehn/

Find him on Twitter @sanderbiehn

Bryan Miles with eaHELP, John Webb with A Day In The Life Photography, and Lisa Smith with Andere Seminars

Posted on

Podcast: Download

HVR

Bryan Miles/eaHELP FacebookLinkedinTwitter

Bryan Miles is CEO & co-founder of Miles Advisory Group, Inc., which is the parent company of eaHELP, the leading executive virtual assistant provider, and MAG Bookkeeping, a virtual bookkeeper serving churches. Miles Advisory Group was founded in late 2010 with eaHELP and MAG Bookkeeping quickly developing into distinct brands. Miles oversees the organization in partnership with his wife and co-founder Shannon Miles, who serves as COO.

eaHELP is the virtual assistant brand of Miles Advisory Group. Since its inception, eaHELP has experienced triple digit growth in each fiscal year through its work of matching busy leaders with US-based, high-caliber executive virtual assistants. eaHELP works with an increasing range of clients and industries that serve Fortune 500 executives, small-to-medium business executives, business owners, pastors, executive directors, physicians, attorneys and other equivalent leadership roles.

Prior to starting Miles Advisory Group, Miles worked for companies in the tech and construction industries including his role as vice president of consulting for Cogun, a national church construction company. Miles obtained his Bachelor of Arts in business from Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Mount Vernon, Ohio.

Bryan, Shannon and their two children attend church at the Browns Bridge campus of North Point Community Church and live in metro Atlanta. In addition to playing Legos, building forts, drawing and coloring with his kids, and hanging out at the beach with his family, Bryan also enjoys backpacking, mountain climbing, writing, reading old history about Mount Everest climbs, and watching episodes of “Goldrush” on Discovery.

John Webb/A Day in the Life Photography FacebookLinkedin

Lisa Smith/Andere Seminars, LLC FacebookTwitter

Lisa Smith is a fast talking, bubbly, enthusiastic seminar leader, corporate trainer, and content developer. Originally from Amarillo, TX, Lisa brings her West Texas accent and sense of humor to every class she teaches. Her love of play and laughter fits very well with the topics she loves to teach and discuss regarding the area of Applied Improvisation in Business.

Lisa became involved in improvisational theatre at the young age of 18 and eventually went on to work with the professional troupe Comedy Sportz in Austin, TX in the late 1980s. In the 1990s Lisa entertained the troops during Desert Storm in Europe with an improve troupe and also held a position as an infommercial style presenter for Bose Corp. and Sony Europa, all the while holding the position of chairman of the volunteer program for the American Red Cross on Spangdahlem AFB in Germany.

After moving back to the USA, Lisa dove back into management and consulting in the private sector and brought her improv skills into everything she taught, even when very few people were talking about such benefits. Over the last 15 years, Lisa has appreciated watching the increase in awareness applied improvisation in business.

After 27 years in management, consulting, and training Lisa is finally releasing her first book in October on the topic of conflict resolution called “D.A.N.C.E. it Out!” She is also releasing a line of informational CDs containing documents and webinars on the topics of OSHA for Medical and Dental Practices, Payroll Law, and Collections called Smart Bait for Professionals. Lisa has a wonderfully supportive husband Rick, three wonderful grown children and their amazing spouses, and a funny little French Bulldog named Cledus.

Steve Hudson/Omnilink

 

 

 

 

LinkedIn

An Interview with Desiree Young and Michel Guillet with Desiree Scales

Posted on

Podcast: Download

michel-and-desiree

Michel Guillet, Juice Analytics

Michel has spent the past 15 years leading the design and implementation of client facing data and reporting solutions.  His experience includes working with structured and unstructured data across consumer goods, telecommunications and government clients.   Currently, Michel leads Juice’s product development efforts to turn its data visualization and design best practices into a Software as a Service (SaaS) product offering that helps clients create compelling data presentations.

Find Juice Analytics @juiceanalytics

www.juiceanalytics.com

Desiree Young, Venture Walk

Désirée H. Young has over 15 years of professional experience in project management, marketing strategy and business development. She’s the founder of VentureWalk Business Partners, LLC; a New Orleans-based small business and entrepreneur development company that uses a proprietary 8M process to grow businesses by creating compelling communications, marketing their messages, solidifying success systems and developing profitable plans.

Since 2004, Désirée has worked with companies in over 27 different industries that have boasted record increases in sales, nation-wide product placement, pitch contest wins and an overall sense of control over how to sustain, grow and expand their businesses. Clients have included organizations like Capital One Bank, the National Basketball Association and Fonkoze along with countless local-based small businesses and non-profits.

Désirée earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University and an M.B.A. with concentrations in marketing and entrepreneurial strategy from Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business. She also studied international marketing at E.S.A.D.E. in Barcelona, Spain.

As a sought-after speaker and trainer, Désirée has been featured for her management advice in publications including Home Business and Black Enterprise magazines.

Désirée is an advocate for entrepreneurship and sustainability in the country of Haiti and other underserved parts of the Caribbean. She has a particular interest in how business growth and entrepreneurship affects economic development and financial independence in developing communities in the U.S. and around the world.

Find Désirée on Twitter @desireeyoung

www.venturewalk.com

Stacey Key and Thomas Dortch with the Spirit of Alliance Awards

Posted on

Podcast: Download

HVR

Stacey Key/Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council

Thomas Dortch/TWD, Inc.

On the eve of the Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council’s (GMSDC’s) 31st Annual Spirit of Alliance Awards, 2013 Blue Legend award winner and prominent community leader Thomas W. Dortch, Jr. and GMSDC President and CEO Stacey Key talk about the prestige and history of the awards gala, as well as the overarching impact of their supplier diversity efforts in Georgia and around the Southeast. Learn about the bottom-line benefits of supplier diversity and its impact on the American economy, from leaders in the small business development community.

 

 

LinkedIn

 

Desiree Scales Interviews Dave Sherman from Infusionsoft

Posted on

Podcast: Download

dave-sherman-and-desiree-scales

Dave Sherman, Infusionsoft

Dave, who flew all the way in from Chandler, AZ, talks about Lifecycle Marketing, a new way to marketing your business through automation online and the seven steps to follow to attract and retain clients, upsell and ask for referrals.

Since 1998, Dave Sherman has been a professional speaker, trainer and best-selling author, specializing in training and coaching companies and individuals how to find and land more new customers by mastering the art of networking and public speaking.

Dave is also the partner development manager at Infusionsoft, an amazing software company that has created the #1 all-in-one sales and marketing software in the world.

Dave is the father to Lyndsi and Mathew and has been engaged to Heidi for the past three years.  He lives in beautiful Scottsdale, AZ, loves golf, any kind of travel, all types of movies and his only real vices these days are Diet Mountain Dew, a good bottle of red wine and a great cigar.

You can find more information about Infusionsoft HERE.

Special Edition: Sandy Springs/Perimeter Chamber of Commerce

Posted on

Podcast: Download

HVR

Christine Heller/Sandy Springs|Perimeter Chamber of Commerce 

Steve Grossman/Steve’s Live Music FacebookTwitter

Maggie Taylor/Act3 Productions FacebookLinkedinTwitter

Maggie Taylor attended Samford University in Birmingham, AL and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance. Recently returned from studying acting and voice in New York City with Dr. Bruce Kolb, she now works both sides of the curtain at Act3 Playhouse in Sandy Springs, GA: she is a two-time *Metropolitan Atlanta Theater Award winner for Best Leading Actress in a Musical as well as Act3’s youth artistic director and community liaison, dedicated to developing the future of the arts through her work with children and Sandy Springs residents.

Through her work with Act3 and Musical Theatre Workshop (MTW) over the past two years, Maggie has produced and directed kids/junior musicals such as Annie (Act3), Beauty and the Beast (Act3), Dear Edwina (MTW), Honk (MTW), Winnie the Pooh (Act3) and The Little Mermaid (Act3). In addition to shows, intensive workshops and summer camps, she also works to develop and expand Act3’s Arts Academy, which opens its doors to over 50 children each week.

Maggie was recently hired to work at Walton High School as the choral assistant to Dr. Jana Williams. She looks forward to her extensive involvement in the Cobb County School System this year through her work at Walton, Sope Creek Elementary (MTW) and Timber Ridge Elementary (MTW).

In her spare time, Maggie continues to perform around the southeast. She performed “et incarnatus est” from Mozart’s C-Minor Mass as a guest soloist with the Southeastern Chamber Orchestra and, with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, debuted an original choral work commissioned in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Some of her most memorable roles include Kathy (Company), Amahl (Amahl and the Night Visitors), Anne (The Merry Wives of Windsor), Dorothy Brown (Thoroughly Modern Millie), Daisy Hilton (Side Show), Timoune* (Once on This Island), Brooke (Noises Off), Clio/Kira* (Xanadu), Shelby (Steel Magnolias), Elle (Legally Blonde the Musical) and Mary Jo (A Piece of My Heart). Maggie also enjoys shooting industrial videos and webisodes for companies like Sylvane, Inc. and Okabashi.

 

 

LinkedIn