10 Ways to Optimize Productivity and Innovation with a Remote Workforce

COVID-19 has disrupted work as we know it, forcing many businesses to transition to a remote workforce.  Telework adoption was increasing prior to the pandemic, but most organizations and employees weren’t prepared or interested in shifting to a largely virtual workforce, especially overnight.  But whether we like it or not, virtual work isn’t going anywhere.

Effectively managing a virtual workforce and being a productive virtual employee require different operating practices, habits and behaviors than we typically employ in the office.  Consequently, many organizations and employees are currently struggling to maintain productivity and make space for creative thinking and innovation while working from home.  For those who didn’t choose the work-from-home life, it can feel solitary, uninspiring, depressing and stressful.

Trust is the Foundation

I’ve worked remotely full-time for the last five years.  I’m intimately familiar with the shifts that need to occur to both remotely manage and engage employees effectively, and to be a productive, high-functioning remote team member.  For all organizations and employees, trust is the foundation for any successful virtual working relationship. 

• Managers and leaders need to trust that their employees will get their work done and won’t take advantage of the lack of in-person accountability

• Employees need to trust that their managers and leaders are transparent about their expectations and company strategy

This mutual trust facilitates workplace efficiency and enhances performance.  Without it, managers can quickly turn into bean-counting taskmasters and employees can become disengaged and insecure.  Such mistrust stifles adaptability, open communication, creativity and innovation – qualities that are increasingly important in today’s uncertain times.

Fortunately, organizations can build a culture of trust and this should be the goal.  However, there will always be managers and employees that don’t have the temperament to thrive in virtual working environments.  Knowing when to cut ties with these individuals is important as well, and further demonstrates an organization’s commitment to building a culture of trust.

Interestingly, remote managers and employees can build trust by engaging in seemingly opposite behaviors.  Remote managers can engender more trust with employees by relaxing the reigns a bit, while remote employees can create trust by operating with more structure and intention.

 Rethinking the Eight-Hour Work Day

Re-examining the structure of a typical workday can also promote better performance and results from remote teams.  Most organizations adhere to the typical eight-hour workday, which was conceived during the Industrial Revolution, when most work was manual labor.  This model no longer makes sense, nor does it really foster a culture a trust.

Today’s remote workers are largely dedicated to cognitive tasks, rather than physical labor. Cognitive work requires focus and strategic, analytical and creative thinking.  Not only is it hard to focus for eight hours straight, but innovative ideas are rarely formed sitting at a computer from 8:30 am and 5:30 pm, Monday through Friday.

I’m not advocating for working fewer hours (although I’m not opposed to that), but I’m in favor of greater flexibility in how and when we work remotely.  The focus should be on output and outcomes, not the number of hours worked.  Relaxing some of these antiquated notions of work creates potential for more engaged, productive and creative remote teams and employees.

10 Practices to Thrive With a Remote Workforce

Remote managers and employees can adopt a number of flexible practices, habits and behaviors to foster trust and unlock greater productivity and creativity.  

For Managers

1. Give employees autonomy – Don’t micromanage your team; trust that they will accomplish what they have agreed to accomplish.  Give them space to think creatively and don’t expect them to be on call 24/7 or respond to email immediately, just because they are at home.

2. Clearly define expectations and goals – Communicate ground rules, clear lines of accountability, milestones, deadlines and how you want to be informed of progress.  Schedule regular check-ins and let employees know if there are standard hours they should be available (i.e., a customer- or market-facing role may require set hours, other roles may not).

3. Communicate your company and team strategy – Be transparent about business practices and strategies and generously share the context for decisions.  Withholding information, intentionally or not, often breeds mistrust.

4. Be available and show your humanity – Without frequent in-person interactions, it can be harder to know how remote team members are doing. Let your team know they can always reach out to you and be there to support them. Show an interest in getting to know each team member on a personal level.

5. Invest in communication and collaboration tools, but don’t overuse them – Communication is more important and more challenging when everyone is remote.  Tools like Zoom, Slack and Trello can help, but teams can burn out on hours of videoconferencing each day and Slack can make employees feel obligated to engage 24/7. Picking up the phone and sending emails to communicate still work well.

For Employees

1. Create a routine, plan for the week and structure your day – Start and end work around the same time most days and let your team know your general availability. Go into each week with a high-level plan for each day that you can modify as needed, in order to stay disciplined and accountable for following through on what you committed to accomplish. To do lists are helpful.

2. Set boundaries – It’s easy to slip into working all the time when you’re working from home. This is why routine and structure are critical. Know what you plan to accomplish each day and have a stopping point where you don’t respond to emails or do more work.  Communicate your boundaries to your team members.

3. Take breaks and get outside – Working at home all day can be rough on your body and your mood if you don’t take breaks. Set aside time for a midday walk or workout to get your blood flowing and to give your mind a break.  Often, your most creative ideas occur during these breaks.

4. Bring your whole self to work and incorporate this into your brand – Give team members a glimpse of who you are outside of the office - it’s ok if they occasionally hear your child calling for you or your dog barks. Enhance your brand by bringing more of who you are and your personality into your work.

5. Invest in self-care – Working from home can quickly devolve into a life of living in your PJs, eating takeout and never leaving the house.  Get dressed every day (even if you’re changing out of PJs and into sweats), keep healthy food at home and build in time for social interactions.

7 Things Badass Professional Women Don't Do

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the privilege to speak with dozens of professional women (and a handful of enlightened men) about the unique challenges and experiences women face in the workplace. 

Much of what I heard echoed my own experiences working in Corporate America for 15 years, running my business for the last 5+ years, and mentoring countless women and entrepreneurs.

Most notably, there are a number of commonalities among successful women – the things they do to get ahead as well as what they intentionally DON'T do.

The latter category includes the toxic behaviors, people and thoughts that can sabotage our momentum and ultimate success.

How can you adopt the practices, habits and mindsets to unleash your inner boss and take command of your career?

You can start by understanding the 7 key behaviors that badass professional women don’t do:

1. Don’t Put Your Head Down and Work Harder

2. Don’t Compare Yourself

3. Don’t Say Yes

4. Don’t Accept the Hand You’re Dealt

5. Don’t Feel Guilty

6. Don’t Be a Tough Guy

7. Don’t Pull All-Nighters

1: Don’t Put Your Head Down and Work Harder

At some point, we’ve all been taught that if we work hard and do a good job, we’ll be rewarded. 

This belief is instilled in us from a young age.

Maybe your parents rewarded you for getting good grades or your high SAT score helped get you into the school of your choice.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way in the professional world. 

You very rarely get noticed for hard work alone. 

Yes, there’s a place for hard work, drive and commitment to excellence, but it’s your relationships and ability to promote yourself that are far more critical to your success in moving up the corporate ladder and achieving recognition.

Too often, women fall into this trap:  We put in long hours at our desk trying to create the most perfect work product, but we miss out on the opportunity to really differentiate ourselves and stand out – by getting out there and showing people who we really are. 

People need to know you, not just your work. 

We all have qualities that fascinate other people.  It’s your responsibility to promote yourself and show people what’s so great about you.

The workplace is not the place to be humble or let others take credit for your accomplishments. 

This doesn’t mean that you need to dominate meetings or brag about your accomplishments. 

Rather, there are a number of strategic ways you can build your profile. 

• Focus on the key relationships that are critical to your growth and success. Think about it like building a board – who are the people you can learn from and can facilitate your growth and success?

• Find sponsors and mentors who will help you gain greater visibility and open doors for you.

• Have lunch with your colleagues. Go to happy hour with them. Even if you don’t want to. :)

Over time you will find that building genuine relationships with the right peers and influencers will make your job easier. 

You won’t have to work so hard because people already know what you bring to the table and they trust you.

2:  Don't Compare Yourself

Comparison is the thief of joy. 

Yet we all do it at some point.  

But unless you’re extremely motivated by seeing someone more successful than you, comparing yourself to others is not likely to serve you at work. 

This is because we each have a unique set of personality traits and competencies that fascinate others. 

For me, my ambition, focus and confidence have often set me apart from my peers. 

If I compared myself to someone with a different mix of advantages, I would be frustrated and probably couldn’t replicate their results.

So what can you do instead?

• Observe others you admire (i.e., watch, don’t judge) and think about what makes them successful.

• Consider your own strengths and weaknesses and how comfortable you are pushing those boundaries.

This last part is key – while it’s great to push yourself out of your comfort zone, it needs to be authentic and realistic.

Take this example:

If you’re trying to emulate the best public speaker in your firm, but you have never given a public talk or you get extreme stage fright…

Then it may not be realistic to think you are going to be an amazing public speaker without some significant time, practice and effort. 

It may look like that skill comes naturally to someone else, but it probably took them years to master. 

But all you see is the polished result. 

This is why comparison can be so dangerous. 

Not only do we lack insight into what it took that person to get there, but we may not even possess the innate natural talents that would facilitate our success in that area.

So we could just be setting ourselves up for disappointment.

Before you compare yourself to someone else, assess your own natural talents and non-talents. 

Consider whether they are well-aligned to your pursuits and if you’re committed to putting in the hard work and time to get there.

3:  Don't Say Yes

By nature, many women are people pleasers. 

We want to make others happy and we want people to like us. 

We want to say yes to our boss’s last minute request to get that report in by Friday.

We want to volunteer for that extra assignment because we will do a great job and it’s a way to get noticed. 

And we also want to mentor the three people who have reached out to us because they admire us and want to learn from us.

Suddenly, we’ve agreed to a ton of extra tasks and we’re overcommitted.

There’s absolutely a time and place in your career for saying yes as much as possible. 

Only you know when that time is right…

For me, I did this early on in my career, when I was younger (and had boundless energy and fewer personal commitments) and hungry for as many new experiences as possible to help me develop my niche and natural talents.

Beyond that, saying no becomes a critical way to set boundaries and protect your creativity and your sanity. 

If you’re any good at what you do, you will undoubtedly have people asking a lot of you. 

You aren’t obligated to say yes to everything. 

You also don’t need to apologize.

Setting boundaries is part of being mature and also allows you to take time for self-care. 

4:  Don't Accept The Hand You're Dealt

Most things in life are negotiable. 

Even if you think they aren’t. 

There’s no reason you have to accept something just because that’s the way it’s always been or if you’re unhappy.  

You always have a choice.

It may not be easy, but the least effective thing you can do is just accept a mediocre situation.

Powerful women play the long game. 

They think about their end goal and the small steps they need to take to get there. 

• They understand the connections and relationships they need to build over time.

• They take up space both mentally and physically – they can’t be ignored.

• They don’t sit around feeling sorry for themselves or make excuses about why they are stuck in their current situation.

• They don’t let self-doubt cripple their ability to move forward.

They resist stagnation.

5:  Don't Feel Guilty

We feel bad missing work if we’re sick.

We feel bad leaving early to pick up our kids.

We feel bad asking for too much time off.

We feel bad if we’re too exhausted to stay up all night working on a proposal.  

And we need to stop!

Women are often guilt-ridden, but the most successful professional women don’t let feelings of anguish or remorse hold them back. 

Personally, guilt has been the hardest feeling for me to overcome. 

I never want to let anyone down. 

But sometimes we have to in order to choose ourselves. 

The key is to own our choices and stand behind them. 

Be transparent and upfront about your boundaries. 

No one is perfect, but being clear about your choices means you don’t have to apologize or feel bad when you say no.

6:  Don't Be a Tough Guy

We know that badass professional women set boundaries, negotiate for what they want and don’t feel guilty, but they also do this with finesse and grace. 

They don’t steamroll over people or act like a tough guy. 

And this can be a difficult balance for many women.

Women have to walk a tightrope of being authentic to themselves and embracing their femininity and being assertive enough to command respect.

The most successful women have figured out this balancing act. 

They speak up, are confident and can be forceful. 

But they have put in time building social capital with their colleagues by fostering genuine relationships.

They are likeable and this increases their influence.

7:  Don't Pull All-Nighters

I see plenty of successful women who never seem to sleep.

I am not one of them. 

Sleep has repeatedly been proven to improve your memory and focus, reduce stress and depression, help maintain your weight and increase your overall quality of life. 

Being well-rested helps us keep the composure we need to deal with all the challenging situations and BS we face at work.

Sleep is a game-changer. 

In Conclusion

Eliminating these 7 behaviors from your day-to-day professional life will have a big impact.

And the benefits from these behaviors often compound over time.

I encourage you to start today and embrace the badass professional woman you are.

The BOOST Podcast LivWell Health Series: Modernizing the Delivery of Home and Community-Based Services to Improve the Social Determinants of Health

About LivWell Health

With an aging population that prefers to live independently in the setting of their choice (often their home), the demand for home and community-based service delivery is growing.

LivWell Health is designed to meet this need for patients and their families, care coordinators, social workers and senior living providers.

• Care coordinators and social workers have chosen LivWell Health's workflow-optimized, referral management solutions to easily manage community resources, create a patient-centric "personalized service plan" and streamline patient hand-offs to their preferred network partners.

• Senior living providers enjoy LivWell Health's interactive digital signage systems and tablets to register for social activities, submit service requests, review dining options or just keep up with community news.  This offers one information system to power all of the providers' signage, in-campus TV channel and resident portal solutions. 

Podcast Series

This four-part podcast series dives deeper into the role that LivWell Health and technology in general increasingly play in home and community-based services and care transitions.  The following episodes explore LivWell Health founder Alex Go's personal journey as a caregiver and how it inspired him to create LivWell Health, as well as examples of how several communities and care coordinators have incorporated LivWell Health into their programs with great success.

• Episode 38: One Caregiver’s Journey to Impact 1 Million Lives with Alex Go

• Episode 39: The Role of Technology and Transformation In Senior Living With Denise Rabidoux of EHM Senior Solutions

• Episode 40: Digitizing Tedious Paper-Based Workflows and Referrals in a Large Health Care System with Sharie Torres

• Episode 41: Leveraging Metrics and Personalized Care to Keep Older Adults Healthy and Safe at Home

The BOOST Podcast Episode 37: Creating An Organizational Culture to Serve Older Adults In a Consistent, Caring Way With Tristan White

Today’s featured guest is Tristan White. Tristan is the CEO and founder of The Physio Co, which helps Australian seniors stay mobile, safe, and happy. Onsite physiotherapy is their thing. In 2004, The Physio Co was just one person with a vision to change seniors' healthcare forever. Today, The Physio Co is ranked as Australia’s best place to work, has 100 team members and delivers over 200,000 physiotherapy consultations per year. 

Tristan is a qualified physiotherapist from the University of Melbourne. He has an MBA from Queensland University of Technology and a Masters degree from MIT for their Entrepreneurial Masters Program. Tristan also loves helping other people build strong cultures and be happier at work. He writes a blog called Culture is Everything, which Smart Company lists as one of Australia’s 25 Best Business Blogs and he is also a speaker. In today’s episode we hear all about Tristan’s work with The Physio Co as well as the systems he uses to create successful cultures in his organization and in others.

Listen to the Show:

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• Why Tristan left behind a sexy career helping professional athletes to serve older adults

• The role physiotherapists play in providing social engagement for the seniors they treat

• How a combination of in-person and tele-rehab can be powerful for PT patients

• How to discover and live the core values of your business and create a consistent organizational culture

• How to show employees love and appreciation

• The importance of being flexible on what you deliver but consistent in how you deliver

Featured On The Show:

• Connect with Tristan: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

• Website

• The Physio Co.

• Culture is Everything: The Story And System Of A Start-Up That Became Australia's Best Place To Work

BOOST Bonus: 8 Innovators Targeting the Elder Care Market

The Sponsor For Today’s Episode:

• Mosaic Growth Partners

Enjoy The Show?

• Don't miss an episode, subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher or RSS.

• Leave us a review in iTunes

• Join the conversation by leaving a comment below!

The BOOST Podcast Episode 34: How Balance Training Keeps You Healthy and Young with Jim Klopman

Today’s featured guest is Jim Klopman. Jim is a lifelong innovator who has always been one of those people who thinks differently. He was born with brain damage, ADHD, and dyslexia and used athletics to overcome these challenges. After years of being an athlete and unsure of his purpose in life, Jim found his purpose and developed his own business called The SlackBow Balance Training System. 

After five years of development, Jim believes that with the right neural whole-body training to optimize the human balance system, everyone can improve physically and mentally, and can even live longer and feel younger. Prior to starting SlackBow, Jim worked as a VP of Marketing at Intera Corporation and at Russell Athletic as a Management Turnaround Specialist and Product Developer. Today Jim is here to share more about balance training and what the SlackBow System is all about.

Listen to the Show:

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• The three things everyone should know about balance and the SlackBow System.

• The Klopman Balance Index and how it is designed to categorize balance.

• Why we live in a world that is designed to degrade our balance system.

• Everyday tips and strategies for improving your balance.

• The complexity of the balance system, and how it involves every aspect of your body.

• Recovering from balance issues and the role it plays on our mental health and quality of life.

• The importance of perseverance and having an absolute belief in what you do.

• Why timing is everything when it comes to adopting new innovations in the market.

• As an innovator, why taking action on your ideas is absolutely crucial.

Featured On The Show:

• Connect with Jim: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook

• Website

• Jim’s book, Balance is Power

• National Institutes of Health (NIH)

BOOST Bonus: 8 Ways to Improve Your Balance

The Sponsor For Today’s Episode:

• Mosaic Growth Partners

Enjoy The Show?

• Don't miss an episode, subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher or RSS.

• Leave us a review in iTunes

• Join the conversation by leaving a comment below!

The BOOST Podcast Episode 32: Building a Competitive Business in the Healthy Beverage Industry With John S. Lee

Today’s featured guest is John Lee. John is the co-founder of Capital Kombucha, which is Washington D.C.’s first kombucha brewery. He founded the company with two classmates from GW’s business school in 2012. Prior to business school, John worked as a structural engineer, which was a far cry from the world of healthy beverages. John and his co-founders identified a market in D.C. for the fermented sweetened tea drink that’s believed to support a healthy gut and strong immune system. 

Unlike the West Coast, which is saturated with these types of health and wellness beverages, D.C. was pretty low on kombucha offerings, yet had a very active, health-conscious population. So Capital Kombucha was born and they began selling their drinks at local markets before expanding to larger retail outlets, like Whole Foods and Safeway. Today they distribute to hundreds of locations from Virginia to New York, all along the mid-Atlantic. 

Listen to the Show:

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• The three things everyone should know about kombucha and building a business in the beverage industry.

• The costs and challenges faced when you have a product that is not shelf-stable.

• How to be competitive in the beverage industry and have your product stand out.

• Implementing a just-in-time inventory system when you do not yet have baseline data.

• Future trends in the beverage industry and how to leverage partnerships.

• How to avoid burnout by taking a step back from your business to get a new perspective.

Featured On The Show:

• Connect with John: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook

• Website

• Capital Kombucha on Twitter

BOOST Bonus: 5 Facts That Will Convince You To Actually Care About Your Gut Bacteria

The Sponsor For Today’s Episode:

• Mosaic Growth Partners

Enjoy The Show?

• Don't miss an episode, subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher or RSS.

• Leave us a review in iTunes

• Join the conversation by leaving a comment below!

The BOOST Podcast Episode 27: Harnessing the Power of Creative Disruption With Josh Linkner

Today’s featured guest is Josh Linkner. Josh has spent his career harnessing the power of creative disruption. His journey has been non-traditional at every step. As the founder and CEO of five tech companies, Josh built his businesses from a blank page into a combined value of over $200 million. As a hyper-growth CEO of over 20 years, he’s used innovative approaches to topple competitors, fight through adversity, and achieve at the highest levels. 

In addition to his own startups, Josh has been involved with the launch, growth or financing of over 100 other companies. He’e helped raise over $150 million of venture capital and has mentored leaders and entrepreneurs through the struggles of explosive growth. He is the founding partner of Detroit Venture Partners, which invests in tech startups as a platform to help rebuild his beloved hometown of Detroit, Michigan. He’s also the founder and CEO of ePrize where Josh built the largest digital promotion agency in the world, serving 74 of the top 100 brands. 

Working with many of the most progressive CMO’s in the world, he’s a pioneer in digital marketing, winning dozens of awards for groundbreaking innovation at the intersection of technology and advertising. Josh is also an internationally recognized thought leader and a top-rated keynote speaker on innovation, creativity, reinvention, and hyper-growth leadership. His keynotes are focused not only on inspiring audiences but also sharing actionable strategies to drive meaningful outcomes. He is also a two-time New York Times best-selling author of three books, he’s a weekly contributor to Inc. Magazine, Forbes, and the Detroit Free Press, and a professional jazz guitarist. He has twice been named the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and is a President Obama Champion of Change Award recipient. 

Listen to the Show:

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• The three things to know about creative disruption and how to implement it in our lives.

• How to unlock your creative capacity by simply recognizing that it is a learned skill.

• How you can overcome the stagnation of brainstorming with "role-storming".

• Why Josh looks at hacking as a tool that can also be used for good.

• The mindset of compasses over maps to empower ourselves to carve the best route.

• How to put yourself out of business by constantly being in a state of reinvention.

• Josh’s parting piece of wisdom to focus on creating your own art and possibilities in the world.

Featured On The Show:

• Connect with Josh: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

• Website

• Josh’s Blog

• Hacking Innovation: The New Growth Model from the Sinister World of Hackers

• Disciplined Dreaming: A Proven System to Drive Breakthrough Creativity

• The Road to Reinvention: How to Drive Disruption and Accelerate Transformation

• Leaning Forward: Surviving/Winning in the Future of Interactive Marketing

BOOST Bonus: 7 Daily Habits That Can Unlock Your Creativity, According to Science

The Sponsor For Today’s Episode:

• Mosaic Growth Partners

Enjoy The Show?

• Don't miss an episode, subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher or RSS.

• Leave us a review in iTunes

• Join the conversation by leaving a comment below!

The BOOST Podcast Episode 26: How to Advise Start-ups and Find Your Product/Market Fit with Ben Foster

Today’s featured guest is Ben Foster. Ben is a full-time product advisor who’s currently working with over a dozen start-ups up and down the East Coast, through his firm, Foster Innovation. He has a top notch reputation amongst entrepreneurs and venture capitalists who are eager to get his guidance as they scale their companies.

Previously, Ben was the VP of Product Management and User Experience at OPower, a company he helped lead to a $1 billion IPO and was later bought by Oracle. Ben started his career in the first big Internet boom and rose through the ranks at eBay in the early 2000’s and he hasn’t looked back since.

Listen to the Show:

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:  

• The three things to know about working as an advisor to start-ups.

• Why Ben coaches his clients to be product-driven rather than services-driven.

• A good business model for working with early-stage start-up companies.

• How Ben has built his business based mostly on referral and word-of-mouth.

• Start-up do's and don'ts.

• Why it's critical to understand what your business is good at and how it really functions.

• How Ben has separated himself from other advisors and sets professional boundaries to ensure quality work and enough personal time.

Featured On The Show:

• Connect with Ben: LinkedIn | Twitter

• Foster Innovation

• Ben’s Blog

• Other podcasts and publications featuring Ben:

  • This is Product Management

  • The Hack Entrepreneur

  • Rocketship.fm

  • What’s Working in Washington

  • DC Inno Article

  • Business Insider Article

  • TEDx Talk

• Whoop

BOOST Bonus: Product/Market Fit: What it Really Means, How to Measure it, and Where to Find It

The Sponsor For Today’s Episode:

• Mosaic Growth Partners

Enjoy The Show?

• Don't miss an episode, subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher or RSS.

• Leave us a review in iTunes

• Join the conversation by leaving a comment below!

The BOOST Podcast Episode 23: Learning How to Listen With Bob London

Today’s featured guest is Bob London, the founder and CEO of Chief Listening Officers, which helps mid-sized B2B tech and professional services firms in the software, SaaS, data, financial services, and healthcare sectors really listen to their customers and develop marketing strategies that speak to them. Bob is a 20-year marketing leader who pioneered the outsourced chief marketing officer concept in 2003 when he founded London, Ink., a B2B marketing consultancy. He’s worked with, advised, and mentored dozens of small and mid-sized companies on their marketing strategy and execution, serving as an interim or part-time CMO. 

Bob wears a number of other hats as well, including serving as an Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Maryland’s Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship. He’s mentors and advises numerous startup companies, he speaks at a ton of events, and he publishes the DriveTime Marketing video blog, as well as Bobservations, a blog series that looks at the often humorous intersection of business and life. 

Listen to the Show: 

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• The three things everyone should know about what it takes to be a chief listening officer.

• The “12 magical questions” every business should ask their audience.

• What the “elevator rant” is and how it can help you gain insight into the minds of your customers.

• How Bob teaches companies to embrace the culture of good listening.

• Why the ideal time for organizations to listen to their customers is when things are going well.

• Why a face-to-face meeting is much more effective than a customer survey.

• How Bob had to learn how to market himself in order to grow his business.

Featured on the Show:

• Connect with Bob: Email — | Website | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

• Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship

• Bobservations Blog

• Book Yourself Solid by Michael Port

BOOST Bonus: 12 Provocative Customer Re-Discovery Questions and How to Ask Them 

The Sponsor For Today's Episode:

• Mosaic Growth Partners

Enjoy The Show?

• Don't miss an episode, subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher or RSS.

• Leave us a review in iTunes

• Join the conversation by leaving a comment below!

The BOOST Podcast Episode 19: Disrupting the Hearing Aid Industry with Patrick Freuler

Today’s featured guest is Patrick Freuler, the founder, and CEO of Audicus, which offers high-tech, affordable hearing aids by selling them straight to consumers, online. Audicus is changing the way hearing loss is diagnosed and treated by providing remote hearing test solutions, which they do by offering free hearing test apps on desktops and iOS. This unique model is truly disrupting the hearing aid industry. In fact, it is so disruptive that Audicus has become the leading eCommerce retailer of hearing aids and has saved consumers more than $30 million to date.  

On top of that, Patrick recently pitched to Sir Richard Branson on Necker Island alongside only a handful of companies in the Extreme Tech Challenge. Patrick was born in Switzerland but he was raised in and went to school in Brazil and Amsterdam. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from MIT and before Audicus he worked as a private equity healthcare investor at Bain Capital and also as a Strategy Consultant at McKinsey.

Patrick joins us today to talk about the three things that everyone should know about Audicus, including how they are streamlining the hearing aid acquisition process with a consumer- centric focus. He shares how Audicus is revolutionizing the hearing aid industry by taking a completely new approach and offering consumers an alternative to purchasing hearing aids. Patrick outlines exactly how they were able to grow Audicus by tapping into the tech- enabled, younger consumer segment with their unique business model. The press and word of mouth that the company received from this approach was what really put Audicus on the map.

Ultimately, Audicus is all about bringing people together by taking a consumer-based focus to their branding. Patrick also shares how they aim to educate their consumers to take healthcare decisions into their own hands to have a drastic improvement in their quality of life.

Listen to the Full Episode: 

Read the Transcript

Episode 19 Transcript: Disrupting the Hearing Aid Industry with Patrick Freuler

What You’ll Learn From This Episode:

• The three takeaways that everyone should know about Patrick’s company, Audicus.

• How Patrick is steering Audicus to disrupt the hearing aid industry by providing consumers with an alternative channel to purchase.

• The strategies Patrick used to grow Audicus, competing in two different customer segments and bypassing audiologists.

• How to identify your ideal customer segments and how to uniquely market to each one.

• What motivated Patrick to leave his prestigious positions in Corporate America and start his own company.

• How Patrick finds balance within his work and personal life.

Featured on the Show:

• Connect with Patrick: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

• Audicus | Audicus on Twitter | Audicus on Facebook

• Extreme Tech Challenge

BOOST Bonus: 5 Ways to Disrupt a Dying Industry

The Sponsor For Today's Episode:

• Mosaic Growth Partners

Enjoy The Show?

• Don't miss an episode, subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher or RSS.

• Leave us a review in iTunes

• Join the conversation by leaving a comment below!

The BOOST Podcast Episode 16: Breaking Into a Dope Industry (Literally) with Justin Lee

Our featured guest today is a big name in one of the toughest industries in the country: the production and sale of marijuana.

Justin Lee is the founder of The Honey Cellar, a leading recreational dispensary in Boulder, Colorado. While he had a long road to entrepreneurship, Justin has become incredibly passionate about the ins and outs of running his own business and promoting greater education about cannabis products.

Justin joins us to talk about some of the biggest challenges he faces as a business owner in such a tightly-regulated industry. He shares some of the mistakes he sees fellow entrepreneurs making in Colorado and across the country as the market for legal marijuana widens, and discusses the many intricacies of growing and selling cannabis. 

As a chronic pain sufferer himself, Justin has become most passionate about exploring medical applications of marijuana. He works with other former athletes, including former Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer, to build awareness of products that manage pain with lower risk of addiction (as often happens with opiates). Justin also talks about how to get creative with advertising a product that's largely illegal to market and how he's embedded himself in the cannabis culture.

Listen To The Full Episode:

What You'll Learn From This Episode:

• The toughest challenges of being in the legal marijuana business and Justin's entrepreneurial advice.

• How lobbying by other industries affects Justin's business.

• How legal marijuana could be a revolutionary treatment for those dealing with chronic pain, and how Justin's business aims to support this work.

• The future of the cannabis industry.

• Three of Justin's most important and successful tactics for growing his business in a highly-regulated, competitive market.

Featured On The Show:

• Connect with Justin: The Honey Cellar | ReStalk | ReStalk on Instagram

• Marijuana Dispensary Live Stream

• Justin in HERB MAGAZINE: featured with former NFL quarterback, Jake Plummer

• Justin on Jake Plummer's Snake's Takes Podcast

• Former Broncos QB Jake Plummer Continues Crusade for Cannbis Products from Denverite, featuring Jake Plummer & Justin Lee

• Madrone Cannabis Club and Madrone Farms on Facebook

• Justin doing MMA!

• Tweed - Canadian Cannabis

• DNA Genetics

• Digipath

• Cannabis Cup

• Action Bronson on Viceland

BOOST Bonus: 5 Ways To Break Into a Highly Regulated Industry

The Sponsor For Today's Episode:

• Mosaic Growth Partners

Enjoy The Show?

• Don't miss an episode, subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher or RSS.

• Leave us a review in iTunes

• Join the conversation by leaving a comment below!

The BOOST Podcast Episode 14: Taking the Leap to Start Your Business with Adam Kaplan

It's scary to take the leap of faith and start your own business, no matter how excited you are to pursue your passion. Our guest, Adam Kaplan, left a comfortable job at his father's company to do just that - so today he's sharing that journey.

Adam Kaplan is the founder and CEO of Solera Senior Living, a platform for the development and operation of luxury communities for seniors. Adam joins us to talk about his strategies at Solera, the importance of networking and strategic partnerships, and why he left his father's company to build his own. 

Solera focuses on building innovative, luxury communities that seniors truly want to live in - complete with food service, transportation, and engaging resident programs. Adam talks about why Solera's emphasis on retaining great talent within the company produces a better experience for employees and senior residents alike.

Adam and I also talk about the more technical aspects of his business, including his three-part approach to rapid growth. Adam also talks about the tenacity required by young entrepreneurs to overcome obstacles, and why meeting other professionals is essential to his strategy. We also touch on how he maintains balance among all the busyness in order to be a well-rounded father, CEO, and person. 

Listen To The Full Episode:

What You'll Learn From This Episode:

• The three pieces of Solera's business plan that have propelled its rapid growth.

• Why Adam thinks finding, developing, and engaging talent is one of the keys to success.

• How reaching out to other professionals and widening his circle helps Adam refine his ideas.

• The strategy Adam used when confronted with potentially hurtful comments about his youth or inexperience.

• Why you shouldn't wait for "the right time" to launch your business.

Featured On The Show:

• Connect with Adam: LinkedIn

• Find out more about Solera: Facebook | Twitter

• Senior Lifestyle

• Merrill Lynch

• Harry Kraemer - Kellogg School of Management

BOOST Bonus: 18 Tricks to Make New Habits Stick

The Sponsor For Today's Episode:

• Mosaic Growth Partners

Enjoy The Show?

• Don't miss an episode, subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher or RSS.

• Leave us a review in iTunes

• Join the conversation by leaving a comment below!

The BOOST Podcast Episode 11: Running a Successful Mission-Driven Startup with Scott Moody

Today on The BOOST Podcast, I get to chat with serial entrepreneur Scott Moody! Scott has enjoyed an illustrious career as a tech genius in the startup world. Now, he’s combining his skills with a heart for serving an overlooked demographic as the CEO of K4Connect.

Scott was the CEO and Co-founder of AuthenTec, a leading provider of fingerprint sensor and security solutions. AuthenTec was eventually acquired by Apple. After swearing off startups, he took the plunge again by creating a mission-driven tech startup that focused on the needs of older adults and people living with disabilities. He recognized that technology solutions which help this population live an independent lifestyle were severely limited.

We talk about his approach to creating an encore career and why he felt compelled to return to the startup world after an inspiring encounter in Rwanda. Running a startup is a team effort and Scott shares his approach to finding the right team and cultivating an environment that produces results. Scott has a wealth of knowledge to share and a great perspective on how to help make the world a better place through mission-driven entrepreneurship. 

Listen To The Full Episode:

What You'll Learn From This Episode:

• The three things Scott wants us to know about K4Connect.

• How both of his startup experiences compare, even though their target audiences and missions are completely different.

• Why he decided to go back into the startup world after selling AuthenTec to Apple.

• How to hire the right team and give them the space to use their strengths.

• Why he decided to focus on serving the demographics of senior citizens and people living with disabilities.

Featured On The Show:

• Connect with Scott: K4Connect | LinkedIn

• 23 Things These Successful Executives Do Every Day, No Matter What

• Intel Capital invests $38 million in 12 tech startups

• Up Start Biz Journal

• K4Connect Follows Series A with Expansion in Raleigh

• #STEMTalks 9.30.16 - F. Scott Moody - K4Connect

• 1 Million Cups

BOOST Bonus: 5 Key Principles of Servant Leadership

Enjoy The Show?

• Don't miss an episode, subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher or RSS.

• Leave us a review in iTunes

• Join the conversation by leaving a comment below!

The BOOST Podcast Episode 6: Owning Your Own Care with Kym Martin

I am thrilled to welcome my guest, Kym Martin, to The BOOST Podcast this week! Kym is a keynote speaker and founder of 360 Degree Insights, a strategic healthcare consulting firm.

Kym is also a 4-time cancer survivor. Having been diagnosed with cancer in her teens, twenties, thirties, and forties, it was important for Kym to turn her experience into a meaningful contribution to the healthcare industry. Armed with personal knowledge of patient psyche at the varying degrees of engagement, she works to help the industry better understand the needs of the patients.

This is a truly inspirational story of turning hardship into service to the world and I know you will join me in gratitude for Kym's work and inspiration for your own. 

Listen To The Full Episode:

What You'll Learn From This Episode:

• The different stages of patient engagement that Kym went through with each cancer diagnosis.

• How taking control of her medical experience inspired Kym to start her own business.

• The quality she learned as a cancer survivor that helps her as an entrepreneur.

• Why saying yes to the "wrong" things early on is an important step in refining your message and brand.

• Kym's best advice for other entrepreneurs.

Featured On The Show:

• Connect with Kym: Email | LinkedIn

• 360 Degree Insights

BOOST Bonus: Kym's recommended reading list for personal and professional development:

• The Naked Presenter

• Quiet. The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking

• One Person/Multiple Careers: The Original Guide to the Slash Career

• The Perfect Close: The Secret To Closing Sales

• Leadersh*t. Rethinking the True Path to Great Leadership

• Bonus Read: The Easy GL Diet Handbook: Lose Weight with the Revolutionary Glycemic Load Program

Enjoy The Show?

• Don't miss an episode, subscribe via iTunes, Stitcher or RSS.

• Leave us a review in iTunes

• Join the conversation by leaving a comment below!

The Perils of Making Healthcare Too Personal

Healthcare is deeply personal. We all know that.  And projects and ventures that arise from personal experience are often accompanied by great passion, which can be wonderful.  However, that intimate relationship with the healthcare system can produce some blind spots.

Unfortunately, I have witnessed first-hand how personal experience with the healthcare system has clouded some of my clients’ judgment and led to costly, if not catastrophic business decisions.  I can’t even count the number of times digital health founders have described their venture to me in this manner:

I had a family member who had [fill in the blank] health issue…So I knew this was a problem and I had to find a solution.  I hired some developers and we put together a Minimum Viable Product and with your help, we can get a pilot going in the next 3 months. 

This usually leads me to ask a series of questions:

• Have you talked to other prospective customers?

• Did they validate that they had the same experiences and problems that you observed/experienced?

• Have you examined the market to make sure no one else is already doing this and/or are you aware of other companies who may have tried and failed?

• I assume you have strong pre-existing relationships with your prospective pilot partners?

Shockingly, too many times, the answer to all four of these questions has been NO.  And that is a huge red flag to me.  Any founder that starts a business based solely on their own experience with one part of the healthcare system is taking on an inordinate amount of risk, far more than one should ever incur in any start-up venture.

While it’s great to be familiar and passionate about your solution, it’s even more important to do your due diligence.  This includes the key activities of customer discovery and product/market fit.

Customer Discovery

Customer discovery is the process of identifying the customer that you are building a solution for.  To do this effectively, you need to have a deep understanding of the problems this customer has and build your solution around solving their problems, not yours.  You shouldn’t go out and build a solution and then look for a customer with a problem to sell it to. 

During this phase, you should get to know your customers well enough to be able to develop detailed personas for each customer segment.  These personas can have names and should include illustrative details that describe what they think, see, feel and do.

You can take the personas one step further and develop customer journey maps that illustrate a customer’s interaction from beginning to end for a certain experience.  For example, a 65-year old with Type 2 diabetes may have a very different journey than a 15-year old recently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.  Each of these customers require their own personas; understanding their unique journeys will help you create messaging, a solution and an experience that really resonates with each of them.

Your own experience with the healthcare system should still be an input in this customer discovery period, but it should not bias what you learn.  If you don’t approach customer discovery with an open mind, ready to listen, then it is a wasted exercise.  This exercise may validate your personal experience, but it may reveal that your experience is representative of just one of many customer segments.  As a result, you need to understand which segments have the most pressing problems you can solve and how to prioritize the value you bring to the market.

Product/Market Fit Assessment

Another critical part of taking your experience with the healthcare system one step further is to learn about the broader market.  In addition to considering your own experience, you need to understand how different stakeholders in the healthcare system work together and the interdependencies that cause decisions and actions to result a certain way. 

I also recommend doing a market scan of your top 10-15 competitors in the space, so you understand exactly what they are offering, their business model, their footprint in the market, etc.  This knowledge will help you identify any gaps in the market with existing offerings and help you craft a value proposition that is differentiated from the competitors.

Your personal experience with the healthcare system can undoubtedly be an asset when developing a digital health solution.  But the individual lens through which we view something as personal as healthcare can quickly become a liability if it clouds our ability to execute an objective customer discovery process and product/market fit assessment.

Part Four in the PCAST Series: Technologies that Support Age-Related Cognitive and Physical Changes

Perhaps the most obvious changes that occur as we age are the physical and cognitive ones, the ones that keep us from doing things the way we always did in the past.

The PCAST report identifies the following technologies to help aging adults continue to live independently and safely despite age-related cognitive and physical changes:

• Monitoring systems to record activities and identify falls

• Anti-fraud technologies to protect against financial exploitation

• Cognitive enhancement or assistance systems like “brain games”

• Product and home design changes that consider the dexterity and needs of older adults who want to age in place

• Telehealth to improve access to care for both physical and mental health

Taken together, these technologies can have a tremendous impact on older adults’ ability to age in their home, while receiving quality care.  While the private sector has a large role in advancing these technologies, the role of the government is equally important.  The government can support private sector innovations by defining privacy and security standards, passing regulations to ensure that products and services actually provide their advertised benefits, and improving access to these technologies via payment reforms and other regulatory actions.

Most notably, the report makes the following recommendations for the government:

• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the private sector should develop guidance on privacy and security issues around monitoring.

• The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) should support interdisciplinary and translational research including robotics, advanced mobility technologies, communications technology with special emphasis on emergency situations, cognitive training, and home monitoring.

• There should be ongoing reauthorization of the Older Americans Act to ensure access to online services and protection from scams and fraud, tailored to the learning needs of older adults.

• The federal government should encourage the banking and financial services sector to offer monitoring services to protect assets from fraud and exploitation.

• The Federal Trade Commission should continue to enforce regulatory review and guidelines for commercial cognitive training products.

• To spur telehealth adoption, HHS should convene the Federation of State Medical Boards and the National Governors Association to accelerate reciprocal state licensure policies and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) should use the full capacity of the Innovation Center to advance payment policies that support innovation in telehealth.

• HHS should work with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on regulations and payment policies around home accessibility standards, particularly for retirement communities.

• The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) should work with AARP and other relevant groups to accelerate better design guidelines for senior-friendly packaging, especially of technology and essential products like food and medical supplies.

• CMS should examine Medicare payment policies for wheelchairs and other mobility-related technologies that inhibit access and market innovation.

Much of the innovation and product development that supports aging in place takes place in the private sector.  However, without government involvement it’s much harder to ensure that these technological innovations will actually provide meaningful enhancements to older adults’ quality of life as they age in place and their physical and cognitive abilities change.  As a new administration takes over this January, it will be interesting to watch how and if the recommendations from the PCAST Report under President Obama are carried forth. Stay tuned…