Advertise on podcast: Empowering the Future of Work

It's been a year...but we're excited to announce the next season of the Empowering the Future of Work podcast will be back in March 2022.  We will be at Synapse Summit on Thursday, March 17.  Make sure to stop in and see us if you're going to be there.  If you want to go....but don't have a ticket yet, it's not too late.  Send us a message....we have a couple tickets left.

It's important to be constantly learning and changing as things change. Job search is difficult enough without having the whole world shut down. Many people lost their jobs and had to adapt to a new way of job search, purely online. Is networking still important? What help is there for job seekers? We will cover this and many more topics with Suzanne. Suzanne Ricci is the Chief Success Officer at Computer Coach Training Center. Since 2000, Suzanne has helped thousands of individuals achieve their career goals through strategic career planning and customized training and certification strategies. Starting her career as a Web Designer, she now possesses over 25 technical and business certifications and over 20 years of IT and training experience. Suzanne is active in the community encouraging all around her to achieve their defined career success. She is a COVID-19 Hero of Tampa Bay winner, the inaugural Tampa Tech Bridge Builder award winner, and is recognized by Inno as an Inno on Fire recipient for HireUp Florida.   Connect with Suzanne: Connect with and Computer Coach:     Connect with and LinkedIn Local Tampa Bay: Connect with and HireUp Florida: For the weekly job seeker events, and all other special events hosted by Computer Coach, check out their Eventbrite.

Charles "Chuck" Wood has worked in several C-suite roles with full P & L responsibilities for over 30 years. He has worked mostly in financial services and technology manufacturing. He is the Founder and Managing Partner of My-SecureID, LLC, which developed FaultLine ICM and its Help Desk Valet. He currently serves on the board of directors of a mutual insurance company and is the Cybersecurity Committee's chairperson. Charles has an Illinois Life & Health and P & C insurance license and has an MBA from Pepperdine University. Connect with Charles:   Shawn Crawford has worked in the technology field for over 40 years. He has worked mostly in financial services, manufacturing, and defense industries. His work experience includes network engineering, IT operations, cybersecurity teams, and management. Currently, he provides advisory and consulting services to start-ups and small organizations. Crawford has a BS in Computer Science from California State University and is Vice-Chairman of the Jacksonville Section of IEEE Computer Society. Connect with Shawn:   Connect with My Secure ID - FaultLine ICM:   Publications: Bridge To Cyber Security Awareness Employees Becoming Cyber Champs IBM Security Study Finds Employees New to Working from Home Pose Security Risk

Rachel is a world-class business leader and a mentor to female entrepreneurs. She’s sold companies and invested in others, received her MBA from the prestigious Wharton School, survived two cancer diagnoses, and is an aspiring yogini. Rachel has re-entered the startup world as co-founder and CEO of HelloPLATO, an AI-based learning platform built for WhatsApp.    Connect with Rachel: Connect with HelloPlato:     Find out about participating in Rachel's program, Confidence Muscle:

That's a wrap! Season 1 of Empowering The Future Of Work has come to a close with the end of 2020. Skip and Maria Vanessa speak about the wonderful guests we had and what's to come. We have listed all of our Season 1 guests below so you can check them out, but also to go check out the other episodes. Also, follow us on social media and join in on our conversation: What topics or guests would you like to hear from next season? If you'd like to be a guest or know someone who should, send us a comment, DM, or email us and let us know! Season 1 Guests: Jessica Noble, Magnetic Experiences Matt Cowell, quanthub James Ringrose, RCP Learning Ben Pauluhn, Optimus Solar Christi Bowen, Voice Talent Tiffany Ellis, Pods & PR Om Patel, Clearly Agile Ingrid Harb, NOTA Inclusion Lauren Mabra, blubird marketing Johnny Crowder, Cope Notes Join in our conversation on social media. You can email us as well: Skip Marshall Maria Vanessa Moreno

All too often, organizations shy away from discussing mental health.  Supporting workplace wellbeing is now more important than ever.  Join us as we discuss mental health and workplace wellbeing with Johnny Crowder, CEO of Cope Notes.  Hear why he thinks it's important to not shy away from discussing mental health and what leaders can do to better support workplace wellbeing. Johnny Crowder is a suicide/abuse survivor, touring musician, comedian, writer, and the founder & CEO of Cope Notes.  Johnny studied psychology at the University of Central Florida and also does mental health advocacy through the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Connect with Johnny: Connect with Cope Notes:      Podcast TEDx Talk CARES funding   Mental health awareness month is May   “When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary.” - Fred Rogers, RIP 1928-2003

Connecting with customers has become even more challenging with remote work and social distancing requirements.  Where organizations could once leverage personal meetings, social events, and conferences, organizations must now rely on video conferences and social media as their primary means of connection. Join us as Lauren Mabra from Blubird Marketing discusses how marketing has evolved and what organizations can do to stay connected. ----more---- Lauren is the founder and CEO of Blubird Marketing. Lauren took the initiative to start her own marketing company at a young age and during a world pandemic. She uses her skills and knowledge to help better small companies better their marketing approach and reach their clients in a new and more consistent way. Connect with Lauren: Connect with Blubird:    Articles: Marketing Consistency Marketing Lessons

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) have become front of mind for many organizations as they deal with many of the social challenges facing society. It's not enough to acknowledge that something needs to be done. Companies need to be active participants in the conversation. They need to make DEI a key component of their culture. Join me as I talk with Ingrid Harb from None of the Above (NOTA) as we discuss what leaders and organizations can do to make DEI a differentiator for them. Ingrid founded Women Ambassadors Forum in 2015 with the goal of building a platform for women to collaborate globally and have access to the tools that will enable them to reach their full potential. In 2019 she founded Align Creative Agency, and in August 2020 started developing "a process to define DEI standards, unbiasedly assess company culture, and collaboratively deploy an internal solution" being the CEO of NOTA, or None Of The Above. Connect with Ingrid Connect with NOTA Connect with Women Ambassadors Forum   

Success for organizations is often a result of how responsive and adaptive they can be to the changing market demands.  The future of work will demand even great organizational agility and digital dexterity.  Join us as we discuss how organizations can be more agile with Om Patel from ClearlyAgile. Om is an Enterprise Agile Transformation Coach for ClearlyAgile. He is passionate about helping organizations along their journey to embracing greater agility. His extensive experience includes helping IBM, atex, Disney, EY, and PwC in their quest toward business agility. He is a pragmatist and a lifelong learner. Reach out to Om to partner with him for your team, organizational, and executive coaching needs. Connect with Om: Connect with and ClearlyAgile:

Tiffany Ellis is the creator of Pods & PR and Owner of Perennial Resolutions. She's been a leader for over a decade for a number of Fortune 500 organizations before stepping out to build Pods & PR and most recently, The Virtual Connection. She is a mental health advocate and is now a Certified Life Coach. Connect with Tiffany: "LIKE A BOOK CLUB, BUT WITH PODCASTS" Connect with and follow Pods & PR: Connect with and follow The Virtual Connection:

Sharpening your leadership skills is something anyone in a leadership role should be continuously working on.  But what are the most important skills?  Numerous skills make up a good leader.  How do you decide where to focus?  Join us as Skip shares his thoughts on the essential skill for leaders in the #futureofwork.   "I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it." Maya Angelou   Question for you: What (do you think) is the essential skill for future leaders? ----more---- Article referenced: Five reasons empathy is the most important leadership skill See the video version here: https://intechideas.com/critical-leaderships-skills-for-the-future-of-work/   Connect with InTech Ideas and join the conversation:        For more information on and to connect with mmhmm:   

AI and automation are dramatically shifting the nature of work.  Voice narration has long been an area targeted for automation.  Using computer voices is seen as an easy way to reducing timing and costs associated with the narration of content.  However, there is a distinct difference in both the quality and efficacy of human voice talent across many applications.  Christi Bowen, Voice Actor, joins us to discuss the implications of AI and automation on voice talent as an industry.  Christi also shares her insights on the value of human voice talent and the innate characteristics that simply can't be automated. ----more---- "I don't think we can ever necessarily be replaced because to create that AI, that automated voice, it has to start with a real human voice."   Connect with Christi: