From Chaos to Clarity: A 3 Step System to Organize Your Business with Debi: Guest: Debi Davis
Feeling scattered trying to manage and grow your business? Plagued with impulsive ideas but little follow-through? Do distractions keep you from moving forward effectively? My friend and business coach Debi Davis shares hard-won wisdom for overcoming chaos and dysfunction. If you lead or own a small or mid-size B2B company, listen in as Debi and I discuss bringing order to operations, planning, and execution. Learn a simple yet [...]
Checklist Before You Finalize Your New Logo
I've been working with a large group of real estate brokers who have successful businesses. Many have recently premiered their new logos. They are sharing them with me to be used in some printed materials. Most are outstanding! A few have had some issues which prompted this post. I will not post their samples because I don't want to embarrass them. They wish they had run it by [...]
Customer Intelligence Fuels Growth – The Overlooked Metrics: Guest: Laura Patterson
CEOs, are your metrics telling the whole story of your company’s health? Susan Finch poses this vital question to her guest, customer intelligence expert Laura Patterson, in this episode. Laura spotlights critical yet overlooked metrics beyond sales and profit — brand equity and customer value. These interlinked measures provide unparalleled visibility into your company’s ability to attract, retain, and expand customer relationships over time. According to Patterson, savvy [...]
I’d love your card more if I could read it.
Recently, I attended a wonderful storytelling competition. I haven't been networking much in person, and this was such a warm group at the National Speakers Association Oregon Chapter. What an inspiring group of speakers. I was so happy to be invited. It was such a spontaneous event I failed to grab my cards in case anyone asked. I was happy to meet several people I want to interview [...]
Runway to Lift-Off: Rapid Product Launch: Guest: Sushee Perumal
Do you have a revolutionary business idea but struggle with bringing it to market? Have you invested significant time and money into a product with no traction? As an entrepreneur and inventor at heart, Sushee Perumal has been in your shoes. After exiting his prior role, he was inspired to launch Flight Level 180 to provide startups and founders the capabilities in technology, marketing, and sales required to [...]
Stories Forge Trust, Vulnerability Connects People: Guest: Matt Heinz
Communication skills are invaluable yet often overlooked. In this episode, Susan sits down with Matt Heinz, President of Heinz Marketing Inc. He's an established podcaster and marketing leader. They discuss practical ways we can become better communicators by creating and sharing our stories. They explore how opening up builds connection and trust—when we lead with vulnerability, we grant others permission to do the same. The resulting environment fosters [...]
The Digital Handoff: Digital Asset Transitions for Your Organization
Have you ever volunteered your time to lead a professional organization or community group, only to face a tangled transition handing everything over to your successor? Between forgotten passwords, outdated contact lists, and confusing file permissions, it's enough digital chaos to make you want to resign on the spot! Well, take a deep breath and lean in. In this episode, we'll untangle the mystery of smooth leadership transitions [...]
Marketing In Your Community – A Santa Booth
Growing up in a large Catholic Mexican family in Southern California, we had big traditions. Good Mexican food was not one of them, but my most memorable was each Christmas Eve, the entire extended family - up to 75 at our peak - would gather at my mom's house, which became my brother's house. The Santa of the Year (this rotated) would bang on the door promptly [...]
Invest the Money in a Porcelain Shower
When my husband became disabled due to an amputation in 2012, we had to make adjustments to the layout of our bathroom and have a can of hallway touch-up paint at the ready. Our front bathroom has a yellow porcelain tub circa 1968 with a matching sink. No matter what weird shampoos our daughter is currently using for bluing, purpling, etc., we can clean it up and remove [...]
Career Conversations That Drive Engagement and Success: Guest: Russell Kern
What if we viewed every employee as having untapped potential waiting to be uncovered? Russell Kern joins Susan in this episode to discuss how shifting to strength-based coaching can profoundly transform organizations and lives. Through focusing regular conversations on nurturing strengths, managers become empowering partners in their employees' career journeys. Employees feel recognized for their unique abilities and supported to grow as individuals. Imagine the ripple effects across [...]
Client Gifts That Can Change the World
As we are heading into the holiday season, businesses are planning ways to thank clients, vendors, and staff members for a year of work well done, trust appreciated, and great teamwork. We are heading out for our last camping trip of the season, and I'm reminded that not everyone has access to a forest. Some have lost their forests due to many disasters. A vendor had given me [...]
Templates are great but remember to change the properties
In Adobe Acrobat, PowerPoint, and other programs, we are frequently inspired by others and do a save-as of a previous document created by someone else, or perhaps download a free template. There is nothing wrong with this if you have permission to use someone else's work. The biggest problem is that there are typically a few missed steps to ensure the document has your information and not that [...]