Ascending Change

The popular mobile app Slice had already been helping small businesses survive by giving them access to digital tools that only larger chains had the money to develop for themselves. But when COVID-19 hit, Slice’s commitment to local restaurants helped them not only survive but actually thrive when everyone needed them most.

Jacqueline Meyer, the CPO at Slice, joins the Survive & Thrive podcast. She discusses her journey with the company, how they’ve managed to adjust to life during the coronavirus pandemic, and how Slice has helped small businesses and communities through new initiatives.

Jacqueline Meyer introduction (1:07)

Jennifer introduces Jacqueline and talks about how they met at Accenture.

Versatility (2:23)

Working in human resources, Jacqueline has been able to help people navigate major changes.

What is Slice (3:10)

Jacqueline talks about how Slice helps small restaurants stay relevant in a digital age by giving them access to online tools larger brands have built for themselves.

Starting at Slice (5:13)

Jacqueline began working at Slice early in 2020 before the pandemic officially became a pandemic. She talks about her role in the company and how both she and the company were impacted by COVID-19.

The difficulties of international business (7:14)

Though Slice’s customer base is in the United States, they have offices throughout Macedonia. The scattered offices presented some unique challenges for Jacqueline as Slice began working from home.

A commitment to small businesses (9:28)

One thing Jacqueline loves about Slice and is working to retain is the company’s drive to help small businesses thrive. From the product itself to the workers both in the United States and Macedonia, Slice as a company is helping small businesses meet the growing demand for takeout.

Re-investing (11:37)

One of Slice’s newest initiatives is an accelerate program that allows small businesses to apply for a $15,000 investment to get access to digital tools to improve their companies.

Thriving through partnership (12:34)

Shops that partner with Slice have seen massive increases in order value and re-order rates, helping small businesses survive. Slice is continuing that by partnering with some shops to help them with marketing, logistics, and more so they can grow even larger and thrive.

Helping front-line workers (15:02)

Jacqueline discusses Slice’s creative campaign called “Pizza vs. Pandemic” to help small businesses connect with front-line workers. Through user donations, local businesses could deliver pizza to the country’s front-line workers to help during the pandemic.

How can they adapt (17:57)

Jacqueline believes it’s through a sense of purpose that Slice is able to so quickly pivot and adapt to help those in need.

Reflecting back (19:48)

With the sudden halt in the norms of daily life throughout the pandemic, there has been an opportunity for introspection. Jacqueline notes that reflecting back has allowed her to identify her motivation and inspiration triggers in order to better use them now.

Surprises and staying resilient (21:42)

For a person who has been a part of quick pivots and handled crises throughout her career, the pandemic has offered some surprises according to Jacqueline. She opens up about the things that have shocked her, including the resiliency of people.

How to become and remain resilient throughout crisis (24:24)

Jacqueline provides some examples of things people can do to help become and stay resilient throughout a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic -- From taking the time to take walks and have virtual coffee dates to giving people a forum to share feedback freely. Jacqueline also talks about how she believes these difficulties will spawn new innovations in both business and personal life.

Personal hurdles (27:07)

Wrapping up the interview, Jacqueline explains some of her own personal hurdles she’s had to battle throughout the pandemic.

Jacqueline Meyer - LinkedIn

Slice’s Pizza vs. Pandemic - Website

Ilir Sela - Twitter

Ilir Sela - Instagram

In order for an organization to successfully enact change, it has to lean on its leaders to guide the way. A successful leader will be able to overcome their own unique challenges while managing to align all parties towards the common goal, handle resistance to change, and build good change effort. That’s a lot easier said than done.

That’s why we’re proud to welcome Janet Ramey to this episode of the Survive & Thrive podcast. Janet is a Principal at Sourcing Change where she helps drive transformation by designing, counseling, sourcing, and connecting the talent necessary to drive that change.

Change management for leaders:

Introducing Janet Ramey (1:03)

Jennifer introduces Janet to the podcast, giving her background.

Leading change (2:49)

Having lived and worked across the globe, Janet explains what it’s been like for her to lead change and help leaders do the same.

Challenges leaders face (4:53)

Janet talks about the challenges leaders -- in particular -- face and how they can overcome them.

Successfully leading through change:

Leading through resistance (6:56)

Change can be scary and humans will often have a kneejerk reaction to it, leading to resistance. Janet shares how leaders can help guide their team through that resistance.

Successful leadership (9:49)

Janet tells Jennifer about the times leaders have successfully led their teams through change to a positive outcome.

Getting aligned (12:05)

As Janet notes, you need to have alignment in order for a change to happen, no matter how detailed or effective the plan is on paper. She further explains how you can build that alignment within the organization.

Developing successful change:

Good change effort (14:22)

We’ve heard about the things leaders should and shouldn’t do to guide their teams through change but what does a good change effort actually look like? Janet shares a story to explain.

Stakeholder careabouts (18:33)

Janet explains how she defines the term “stakeholder careabouts” and how it fits into change management.

Identifying and reftifying negative impacts (19:42)

Janet shares her advice on how to recognize and rectify impacts that may be disrupting your team in some way.

Tracking readiness (21:41)

Just because an organization can go through a planned change doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ready for it. Janet provides her thoughts on tracking metrics for a company’s readiness.

Thriving:

How to thrive (25:04)

Janet gives her three pieces of advice for leaders and organizations that want to not just survive but thrive in change.

Final thoughts (28:14)

Janet shares her final thoughts on thriving through change.

Workers want a hybrid work model, which means how you establish and maintain your organization’s culture is evolving. On this episode of the Survive & Thrive podcast, join host Jennifer Ayres as she looks at how you can foster an inclusive culture in a hybrid work model.

Jennifer looks at the most recent data and surveys that point to this workplace evolution. She details how things like empathy, dedication, creativity, and a sense of belonging should factor into your organization’s culture. From the hiring process to building community groups, this episode will teach you how you can improve your organization’s culture regardless of where your people work.

To succeed as an entrepreneur, you must put effort into your work - and yourself. Symptoms of poor mental health like burnout and stress can cause harmful effects in other areas of life, like their physical health, relationships, and even business pursuits. Leaders and team members alike rely on their mental well-being to support them and their overall progression through life. So, how can people maintain their mental health to support their entrepreneurial success?

On this episode of the Survive & Thrive podcast, host Jennifer Ayres is joined by guest Lance Knaub. Lance is currently the leader and business coach at Denali Consulting. He is a founder and partner at Breakthrough Physical Therapy and Fitness and even wrote a best-selling book called "The 4% Breakthrough" to help others reach entrepreneurial success. Together, Jen and Lance talk about cultivating and maintaining a mindset for success.

How Can Mental Health Affect Your Entrepreneurial Pursuits?

Introducing Lance Knaub (1:41)

Jen introduces her special guest Lance Knaub of Denali Consulting. In addition to being a founder and partner at Breakthrough Physical Therapy and Fitness, Lance is an adjunct assistant professor at Rutgers University and has a best-selling book, "The 4% Breakthrough". Lance shares a little about your journey and how it's led him to his profession as an entrepreneur in the physical therapy business.

Taking the Entrepreneurial Leap (3:14)

Soon after graduating from physical therapy school, Lance and his wife Jody, also a physical therapist, were looking for a change in how they could deliver care to their patients. He explains what it was like for them to take the entrepreneurial leap, a business decision that would allow them to offer their preferred therapy practices. From then, he shares how he fell in love with entrepreneurship, grew his company, and used his knowledge and experience to help other entrepreneurs.

Health Neglect and Burnout (5:10)

While taking on the new challenges to support other entrepreneurs, Lance found himself with a problem that affects many entrepreneurs - burnout. He shares how his mental health struggles began to affect other areas of his life. Fortunately, he improved by engaging in personal development and learned how to help other entrepreneurs prevent burning out and stay healthy while scaling their businesses.

The Connection Between Health, Personal Development, and Careers (7:49)

According to Lance, health, personal development, and our careers are intrinsically connected. He explains this belief and how integrating your mental and physical health through your business pursuits is crucial to entrepreneurial success. Lance also shares more about his personal development journey and provides recommendations for how listeners can do their own soul searching to identify their priorities and create a solid framework for their health and success.

Mental Health Post COVID-19 (10:23)

Lance and Jen discuss the importance of mental health and how it relates to recent world events. The pandemic tested people mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, and Lance believes that the Great Resignation is a result of people's soul searching. He explains the neuroscience behind mindsets and mental health and why these aspects are so crucial for making positive change.

Lance's Suggestions for Improvement (12:40)

Lance provides his suggestions for the leaders and entrepreneurs looking to improve their mindsets and mental health, which include identifying priorities, planning for success, and activities like meditation to help support brain health and mental well-being. For example, meditation benefits the body and mind, relieving stress. Additionally, purposeful silence can be valuable to your personal health and in managing emotional responses.

The Effects of Improved Mental Health (15:32)

Poor mental health can cause negative impacts on other areas of life. But when we strengthen our mental health, we support the other aspects of our professional and personal lives. Jen and Lance discuss the many ways that entrepreneurs can take care of their minds first to see improvements in other areas of their lives.

Supporting the Well-Being of Yourself and Your Team (17:45)

Entrepreneurs, business owners, and leaders can help support their own well-being and the well-being of their team by putting effort into being good listeners. Lance and Jen discuss the importance of listening and checking in with people to lead successful teams. Affirmations and positive feedback/self-talk can also motivate individuals to create personal development plans to reach their goals and excel in their work.

Leadership Encouragement (21:07)

When implementing a change, how do you know if it’s successful or creating more problems than it’s solving? If you’re smart, you’re using change management metrics to gauge progress, what success looks like, how the change is impacting employees, and finding critical problems before they blow up in your face.

On this episode of the Survive & Thrive podcast, Jennifer Ayers is joined by Jigar Shah to discuss the importance of change management metrics and what organizational leaders should be measuring in the first place. Jigar is a strategic advisor at Concinnity, focusing on helping businesses accelerate growth through analyzing metrics.

Jigar’s introduction (1:42)

Jennifer introduces Jigar and they discuss his background in business.

Business transformation example (4:49)

Jigar talks about a business transformation that didn’t go so well, discussing what went right and what went wrong.

Readiness metrics needed for change (7:09)

While Jigar notes that each transformation will require different metrics, he gives a few examples of things an organization might need to track to determine their readiness for change.

Can you measure the readiness of an organization? (9:43)

The coronavirus pandemic has altered the landscape dramatically but Jigar believes a company’s culture and how they view their employees will determine how ready an organization is for a change.

Metrics included in a change program (12:44)

Jigar believes tracking every metric to see how they change over time and then altering the strategy based on the data is the most important thing an organization can do, regardless of the metric.

Best cases of change management (16:50)

Jennifer and Jigar discuss an example of change management where consistent support from leadership and planning ensured things went smoothly.

Analytics tips to consider (22:27)

When considering a change and thinking about it all the way to completion, Jigar believes the combination of people, process, and technology are essential to drive better business results. If any one of those are off, the entire dynamic gets thrown off.

How to survive and thrive during change (27:00)

According to Jigar, measuring and celebrating success is an important part of not just surviving a change but thriving during it. He believes by highlighting moments of success and the people behind it, it increases faith in the change.

Postface

While not discussed in the podcast itself, right after the call, Jigar pointed out that one of Scott Galloway’s strategies for trillion dollar firms is ‘career accelerant’. That is the ability to attract and retain talent, which is a crucial strategy to compete now more than ever. Companies like Microsoft just spent $200M and gave everyone a $1,500 bonus for their pandemic efforts. This is just one example of what some companies are doing to check the pulse of their people and take action to retain talent that can easily jump ship to one of the other FAANG companies.

Concinnity - Website

Jigar Shah - LinkedIn

The Heart of Business - Book

The Progress Principle - Book