On Your Mic

Collins Victory Odabi

On Your Mic is a conversation-driven podcast about ideas, perspectives, and real-world thinking across tech, business, culture, and personal growth.

  1. 1d ago

    Why More Data Doesn't Mean Better Decisions: Building Data Products People Trust | Jenessa Stieglitz

    Businesses today have more data than ever before — more dashboards, more reports, more analytics, and increasingly more AI. Yet having access to information does not necessarily make an organisation better at making decisions. In many cases, it simply gives people more numbers to look at without helping them understand what actually matters. Jenessa Stieglitz has spent more than a decade working at the intersection of data, product thinking, and analytics, focused on making enterprise data usable for the people who ultimately have to act on it. In this episode, Collins Victory Odabi sits down with Jenessa to explore why organisations struggle to turn data into insights, what product thinking changes about the way enterprise data is built, and how leaders can avoid creating sophisticated data systems that nobody actually uses. What You'll Learn Data, reports, and insights are three different things, and conflating them is where organisations go wrong. Data is simply rows and columns; a report — a dashboard, a visualisation — is built from that data; but neither one is an insight. An insight is something a business leader can actually act on to generate value, and being precise about which one you're building determines whether a data product will ever be used. A shared semantic layer only works if the governance behind it is both strong and agile. Getting everyone across an organisation to operate from the same numbers and KPIs matters, but Jenessa's retail experience showed how regional regulations — different rules in the US, Europe, and across Asian and Latin American markets — dictate who can access what. Data governance has to accommodate that complexity without blocking the product from reaching users. Fragmented internal systems quietly sabotage data quality. At a hospitality company Jenessa worked with, what should have functioned like an ERP had instead been built from disconnected "Frankenstein" modules that didn't communicate with each other. Blending that data into anything consistent required data teams and internal software tooling teams to start actively collaborating rather than working in isolation. AI accelerates analysis, but it still needs a human who understands the business. Jenessa partners with analysts to run fast, rough analyses using tools like Cursor, but she still relies on their judgement to catch things a model would miss — like a headline 300% sales increase that turns out to be a data error rather than real growth. Speed without that context just produces faster wrong answers. Being "data-driven" is often a phrase without real meaning. Jenessa points out that the term can describe pushing for more data or pushing for less, which means it isn't a strategy at all. The organisations that genuinely benefit from data are the ones where the right person can understand, trust, and act on the information in front of them — not the ones that simply produce more of it. About Jenessa Stieglitz Jenessa Stieglitz is a product management leader with more than a decade of experience making enterprise data more usable, working across the intersection of data, product thinking, and analytics to help organisations turn information into action. 🔗 linkedin.com/in/jstiegz Timestamps [0:00] Introduction and episode framing [2:39] When does a data product stop being useful? [5:54] Determining what information different users actually need [9:05] A real example: fragmented systems and poor data quality [11:51] Where AI should support versus where humans should own decisions [15:32] What "data-driven" really means — and why it's often just fluff [18:10] Final thoughts and how to connect with Jenessa Connect with Collins LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/collins-odabi-266620380 Guest enquiries: podmatch.com/member/onyourmic Until next time, stay sharp, and keep showing up

    Why More Data Doesn't Mean Better Decisions: Building Data Products People Trust | Jenessa Stieglitz

  2. 2d ago

    Why AI Adoption Fails Without Trust and the TRAILS Framework for Leading Disruption | AJ Bubb

    Technology has never been the hardest part of transformation. Organisations can buy software, hire consultants, and invest millions in innovation, yet many digital transformation projects still fail — not because the technology wasn't capable, but because people struggle to adapt to the pace, uncertainty, and organisational change that comes with it. In this episode, Collins Victory Odabi sits down with AJ Bubb, founder of MXP Studio, a fractional AI strategy consultancy helping mid-market companies adopt AI with clarity rather than hype. Over 15 years across Accenture, AWS, and multiple startups, AJ has helped launch over 100 products and prototypes that collectively generated around $2 billion in revenue. He's also building Convia, a startup exploring authentic storytelling in an AI-driven world, and hosts the Facing Disruption podcast. What You'll Learn Most AI initiatives fail because they're not tied to strategy. Leaders often adopt AI out of FOMO rather than a clear outcome, which leaves experimentation directionless and impossible to measure — so the tool gets blamed for a problem that was never defined. Customers don't care about AI — they care about being served well. Leaders need to stay anchored to the "durable customer need" (a concept AJ credits to Amazon) rather than chasing the latest tool, since AI is a means to solving a problem, not the goal itself. Moving fast with AI starts with trust, not tools. People aren't afraid of change — they're afraid of instability, insecurity, and ambiguity. Leaders who reward small risks and remove fear of penalty create teams that can adopt new tools quickly. Leaders should build and experiment themselves, not just delegate to experts. Staying close to the customer and testing assumptions directly — as AJ does with Convia — lets leaders make faster, better-informed decisions instead of relying solely on secondhand insight. AJ's TRAILS framework guides AI adoption: Trust, Reveal, Act, Inspire, Learn, Scale — a six-step approach to building innovation capability without creating confusion or unnecessary complexity. About AJ Bubb AJ Bubb is the founder of MXP Studio, a fractional AI strategy consultancy helping mid-market companies adopt AI with clarity. He also hosts the Facing Disruption podcast, contributes to the Forbes Technology Council, and is building Convia (conviapro.com), a startup exploring authentic storytelling in an AI-driven world. 🌐 ajbubb.com conviapro.com Timestamps [0:00] Introduction and episode framing [3:00] Why AI initiatives fail before they even begin [7:14] Facing disruption vs. reacting to it [15:18] Protecting teams from burnout and change fatigue [19:33] Why leaders should build and experiment, not just advise [26:07] The TRAILS framework for practical AI adoption [29:01] Continued: proving out the framework and winning buy-in [1:35] Final thoughts and where to find Convia Connect with Collins LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/collins-odabi-266620380/ Guest enquiries: podmatch.com/member/onyourmic Until next time, stay sharp, and keep showing up.

    Why AI Adoption Fails Without Trust and the TRAILS Framework for Leading Disruption | AJ Bubb

  3. 2d ago

    Building a Business and a Life Around What You Can Do, Not What You Can't | Katherine Klimitas

    Society has a habit of defining people by what they cannot do. Physical disability is often viewed through the lens of limitation and dependency rather than capability and contribution. Some of the most compelling stories challenge that framework — not by denying hardship, but by showing that purpose is rarely determined by circumstance. Katherine Klimitas has lived with osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease) since birth, experiencing over 500 broken bones by age ten. Yet neither she nor her family let her condition define her life's narrative. Through KAK Art and Designs, she built a career as an artist, graphic designer, entrepreneur, author, and motivational speaker — becoming an advocate for disability awareness and inclusive education. In this episode, Collins Victory Odabi sits down with Katherine to explore how growing up with extraordinary physical challenges shaped her identity, why entrepreneurship became her path to independence, what society still misunderstands about inclusion, and why creativity has remained the constant thread through every stage of her journey. What You'll Learn Inclusion, not protection, built her confidence. Her parents held her to the same academic and social expectations as anyone else. Where full inclusion wasn't physically possible, her family found equivalent alternatives rather than leaving her out.Her business began by accident. As a child accompanying her veterinarian parents to work, Katherine drew pets in the waiting room out of boredom. Strangers began offering her $10–$20 for the drawings — and watching her parents build businesses from nothing gave her the model to turn a pastime into income at just ten years old.A fine art degree wasn't practical, so she paired art with business. Recognizing that pure fine art rarely pays the bills, she pursued graphic design instead — allowing her to do branding and web work for clients while painting pet portraits and wildlife art on the side.Society's core mistake is focusing on what people can't do. Katherine argues capability has little to do with disability status: plenty of able-bodied people can't paint, just as she can't stock shelves. The fix isn't lowering expectations — it's the same advice for everyone: find your actual strength and build around it.Opportunity favors people willing to put themselves out there. Chances like working for musician Rod Stewart came from actively showing up. Her advice: keep trying things outside your comfort zone, because you can't discover your strength without testing it. About Katherine Klimitas Katherine Klimitas is an artist, graphic designer, entrepreneur, author, and motivational speaker who has lived with osteogenesis imperfecta since birth. Through KAK Art and Designs and her public speaking, she advocates for disability awareness, inclusive education, and the idea that meaningful contribution is available to everyone. 🌐 www.kakartnola.com Timestamps [0:00] Introduction and episode framing [2:25] How Katherine's parents chose inclusion over protection [6:24] From childhood hobby to a paying business at age ten [11:24] Rethinking disability: what society still gets wrong [14:35] Advice for building a future not defined by circumstances [17:35] Final thoughts and how to connect with Katherine Connect with Collins X: @0xOVCollins | LinkedIn: Collins Odabi Guest enquiries: podmatch.com/member/onyourmic Until next time, stay sharp, and keep showing up.

    Building a Business and a Life Around What You Can Do, Not What You Can't | Katherine Klimitas

  4. 4d ago

    Trust, Delegation, and the Art of Building a Business That Doesn't Trap You | Anna Brambilla

    Franchising is often presented as a numbers game — more leads, more locations, faster expansion. But behind every successful franchise business is a far more human process. People are making one of the biggest financial and professional decisions of their lives, and those decisions are rarely driven by sales presentations alone. In this episode, Collins Victory Odabi sits down with Anna to explore why trust outperforms pressure-based selling, why delegation is the hardest thing entrepreneurs face, and what it actually takes to build a business that scales without losing the relationships that created its success. What You'll Learn The difference between someone ready for business ownership and someone who just likes the idea of it comes down to motivation. Anna's first question to every prospective franchise owner was simply: why are we even talking? Getting to the real answer — escape from corporate, financial pressure, genuine entrepreneurial drive — changes everything about how the conversation unfolds and whether the relationship is worth building. Saying no is a revenue strategy. Anna estimates she has generated several hundred thousand dollars over her career by telling people she was not the right fit for them. The result was not lost business — it was referrals, recommendations, and clients who came back later with far higher trust than they would have had otherwise. Delegation is the unlock most entrepreneurs resist too long. Anna hired her first virtual assistant a year into her brokerage business and immediately reclaimed 10 to 20 hours per week, ultimately doubling and then tripling her revenue. The work she was doing — the admin, the CRM updates, the follow-up emails — was someone else's zone of genius. Holding onto it was costing her the work only she could do. Go back to your why. When franchise brokers hit frustration, burnout, or stagnation, Anna's starting point is always the same question: why did you choose this path? That anchor is what separates people who course-correct from those who keep grinding in the wrong direction. Stay in your comfort zone — and expand it. Anna's deliberately counterintuitive closing argument: the goal is not to constantly push outside what you do well. It is to identify the things only you can do, stay there, and find people for whom everything else is their comfort zone. That is where sustainable growth actually lives. About Anna BrambillaFounder of Your Franchise Pros and franchise growth strategist with nearly 25 years across recruiting, coaching, entrepreneurship, and franchise development. After building a seven-figure franchise brokerage, Anna now helps brokers grow through stronger systems, better client experiences, and relationship-driven leadership. 🌐 yourfranchisepros.com Timestamps[0:05] Introduction and episode framing[3:17] How to tell who is genuinely ready for franchise ownership[7:33] Why trust consistently outperforms traditional sales tactics[10:47] Why delegation is so difficult — and what changes when you get it right[14:49] What separates sustainable franchise brokers from those chasing rapid growth[18:32] How to build a business that scales without trapping you inside it[20:46] Final thoughts — stay in your comfort zone and expand it Connect with CollinsX: @0xOVCollins | LinkedIn: Collins OdabiGuest enquiries: podmatch.com/member/onyourmic Until next time, stay sharp, and keep showing up.

    Trust, Delegation, and the Art of Building a Business That Doesn't Trap You | Anna Brambilla

  5. 4d ago

    Why More Tools Are Killing Your Creativity — and How Constraints Set You Free | Arthur Caillot

    We live in an age where almost every creative problem seems to have a commercial solution. Another plugin. Another sample pack. Another course. More has become the default answer — yet despite unprecedented access to tools and technology, many creators are finishing less than ever. They collect tools instead of producing work and mistake preparation for progress. In this episode, Collins Victory Odabi sits down with Arthur to explore why abundance is often the enemy of creativity, how constraints help artists discover their own voice, and what entrepreneurs can learn from the discipline required to create consistently. What You'll Learn The real problem is not a lack of resources — it is too many of them. Arthur's diagnosis is precise: creators who jump between sample packs, free training courses, and new plugins are not solving a creative problem. They are avoiding one. The signal that someone is drowning in abundance is that they cannot talk about their work without talking about everything around it. The path back to creativity starts with finishing one thing. Arthur's coaching process begins with a single objective — help the artist complete one track, including production, mixing, and mastering. Confidence is not rebuilt through inspiration. It is rebuilt through completion. Consistency follows from there. Do only what is necessary, and delegate the rest. Arthur runs a podcast, a web radio, a coaching practice, and his own music — not by doing everything himself, but by identifying which tasks grow the business and which can be handed off. His rule is simple: if it does not need his face or his judgement, it gets delegated. Test everything manually before automating it. Arthur uses AI across his workflow — podcast editing, email marketing, guest sourcing — but only after he has done each task by hand first. The principle is that you cannot responsibly automate what you do not yet understand. Find the one channel bringing most of your clients and double down on it. For entrepreneurs feeling overwhelmed by endless marketing options, Arthur's practical entry point is an audit: which channel is actually generating clients? Cut the noise and focus resources there before adding anything new. About Arthur Caillot Host of the Inside the Electronic Music podcast, coach for independent electronic music producers, and creative entrepreneur. Arthur helps artists simplify their creative process, build consistency, and release work rather than endlessly prepare to make it. 🌐 arthurcaillot.com Youtube: Arthur Caillot Instagram: arthur.caillot Timestamps [0:06] Introduction and episode framing [3:54] Why abundance — not lack — is the biggest obstacle for creators [5:41] How to tell if someone is drowning in choices rather than facing a skill gap [8:52] How creators rebuild their identity and start trusting their instincts [11:26] How Arthur manages multiple projects without losing focus [16:07] How and when to bring AI into your workflow responsibly [19:21] The first practical step for overwhelmed entrepreneurs and creators [23:22] Final thoughts Connect with Collins X: @0xOVCollins | LinkedIn: Collins Odabi Guest enquiries: podmatch.com/member/onyourmic Until next time, stay sharp, and keep showing up.

    Why More Tools Are Killing Your Creativity — and How Constraints Set You Free | Arthur Caillot

  6. 5d ago

    Why Founders Should Stop Avoiding Regulated Industries — and What Drone Delivery Reveals About the Future of Physical AI | Beth Flippo

    Innovation is often presented as a story of breakthrough ideas and rapid growth. What receives far less attention is the work required to build something the existing system was never designed to accommodate — where progress depends as much on patience and long-term thinking as it does on the technology itself. In this episode, Collins Victory Odabi sits down with Beth — a former Goldman Sachs and Department of Defence professional turned embedded engineer and aviation entrepreneur — to explore what leadership looks like when innovation moves faster than regulation, why fear is actually a signal worth following, and how autonomous delivery could reshape how local businesses compete. What You'll Learn Regulation is a roadmap, not a barrier. Beth made a deliberate decision to pursue one of the most heavily regulated industries in the country because she understood that certification would solve the hardest problem in robotics: public trust. When DEXA tells a customer their aircraft is FAA-certified, the conversation changes immediately. That trust cannot be shortcut. The certification process built a better product. The aircraft DEXA started with and the one that earned FAA certification were entirely different. Every component required full traceability. Every vendor needed a quality system. That level of rigour produced something competitors starting from scratch will take years to replicate. DEXA is not building drones — they are building certified aircraft. Physical AI is the next shift, and it will arrive faster than expected. AI tells you what to do. Autonomy does it for you. Beth's argument is that the gap between those two things will close rapidly, and business leaders who are not preparing for a world where physical systems act on AI decisions are already behind. Autonomous delivery levels the playing field for small businesses. The reason local stores lose to large chains is not quality — it is access. Amazon taught consumers to trade quality for speed. Autonomous delivery removes that trade-off. Beth envisions an entirely new category of small businesses that will emerge once delivery is no longer a barrier to entry. If you feel fear building something, you are probably onto something. Fear is not a signal to stop — it is a signal that you are building something genuinely unknown. The founders who learn to move through that fear rather than away from it are the ones who stay in the game long enough for the vision to materialise. About Beth Flippo Founder and CEO of DEXA, the first female CEO of an unmanned aviation company in the United States. Background spanning Goldman Sachs, the Department of Defence, and embedded software engineering. DEXA is one of only a handful of FAA-certified drone carriers in the country. 🌐 flydexa.com 📱 Instagram: @flydexa | @beth.flippo 🔗 LinkedIn: Flydexa Timestamps [0:04] Introduction and episode framing [3:20] Why Beth chose one of the most regulated industries in the country [6:00] What earning FAA certification actually required [8:34] Physical AI and autonomy — the next major technology shift [10:41] How autonomous delivery empowers local businesses [14:17] The mindset shift founders need when success feels distant [17:33] Final thoughts and how to connect with Beth Connect with Collins X: @0xOVCollins | LinkedIn: Collins Odabi Guest enquiries: podmatch.com/member/onyourmic Until next time, stay sharp, and keep showing up.

    Why Founders Should Stop Avoiding Regulated Industries — and What Drone Delivery Reveals About the Future of Physical AI | Beth Flippo

  7. Aug 7

    Why Introverts Are Misread as Lacking Confidence — and What Authentic Leadership Actually Looks Like | Serena Low

    For decades, professional success has been associated with being outspoken, highly visible, and constantly available. The people who speak the most are assumed to be the leaders. The people who network the hardest are expected to create the biggest opportunities. But what if we have mistaken personality for capability? In this episode, Collins Victory Odabi sits down with Serena Low to explore why so many professionals confuse visibility with volume, how trauma and introversion become entangled, and what authentic leadership actually looks like for people who were never meant to perform extroversion. What You'll Learn Introversion is not a confidence problem — it is a processing difference. When an introvert goes quiet in a meeting, they are not disengaged. They are listening, observing, analysing, and weighing nuance before speaking. That work is invisible to outsiders, which is why it gets misread as passivity. When introverts do speak, the output reflects everything they were doing in the silence. Not all quiet behaviour is personality. Serena draws a clear line between introversion and protective silence shaped by past experiences. When someone was humiliated, dismissed, or punished for standing out early in life, they learn to blend in as a survival strategy. Over time, that adaptation becomes indistinguishable from identity — and that is what trauma-informed coaching is designed to untangle. Organisations consistently overvalue communication volume and undervalue thinking depth. The extrovert gets promoted because they talk a lot, which creates the appearance of competence. The introvert gets passed over because they under-communicate, even when they are doing the heavier analytical work. Serena's argument is not that one style is better — it is that organisations are measuring the wrong thing. The most practical shift for a quiet achiever is documentation. Introverts tend to deliver results and move on without recording them. By the time a performance review arrives, they cannot recall what they accomplished. Keeping a running log of achievements, positive feedback, and solved problems means walking into high-stakes conversations with evidence rather than scrambling for memory. Influence is not measured by how much space you occupy in a conversation. It is measured by the trust you build, the decisions you shape, and the confidence you give others. Authentic leadership begins not when you imitate the loudest person in the room, but when you learn to use your own strengths intentionally. About Serena Low Trauma-informed coach, host of the Quiet Warrior podcast, and advocate for introverts and quiet achievers. Serena helps professionals build influence, confidence, and visibility without performing extroversion. 🌐 serenalow.com.au Timestamps [0:00] Introduction and episode framing [3:11] Why introverts are misread as lacking confidence [6:53] How to tell the difference between introversion and trauma-shaped silence [12:26] Identity, reinvention, and the cost of over-dependence on others' approval [18:28] What organisations overvalue — and the introvert strength they consistently miss [21:49] One practical shift quiet achievers can make today [25:46] Final thoughts for introverted listeners Connect with Collins X: @0xOVCollins | LinkedIn: Collins Odabi Guest enquiries: podmatch.com/member/onyourmic Until next time, stay sharp, and keep showing up.

    Why Introverts Are Misread as Lacking Confidence — and What Authentic Leadership Actually Looks Like | Serena Low

  8. Jul 21

    Why Most People Quit Music — and What Great Teaching Actually Requires — Luka Petrovic

    Most people who quit learning a musical instrument don't quit because they stopped caring about music. They quit because the gap between where they are and where they want to be stays uncomfortable long enough that stopping becomes easier than continuing — and because nobody around them understood the psychology of that moment well enough to intervene. In this episode, Collins Victory Odabi sits down with Luka to explore why students quit, what separates a great music teacher from a good one, and what building a marketplace from scratch inside a traditional industry reveals about the distance between identifying a real problem and actually solving it. What You'll Learn Quitting music is a psychological event, not a musical one. Luka draws on his background in psychology and neuroscience to explain the two dominant patterns: children whose motivation depends heavily on parental reinforcement, and adults who never place music high enough on their priority list to sustain practice through difficulty. Underneath both is binary thinking — the belief that you either are a musician or you aren't, with no useful middle ground. A great music teacher is primarily a psychologist. The most important skill is not musical knowledge — it is the ability to detect whether a student actually understood something, even when they say they did. Students lie. Adults included. A great teacher reads non-verbals, adapts in real time, and never mistakes compliance for comprehension. Transparency is what the music education market was missing. Parents couldn't find teachers they could evaluate before committing. Sydney Music Lessons was built around solving that trust gap — full teacher profiles with photos, rates, and qualifications visible upfront. Any missing piece of information creates hesitation. Luka removed the missing pieces. Marketing is the most underrated skill for anyone building inside a traditional industry. Not advertising — product market fit. Understanding exactly who you are serving, what gap you are filling, and which channel gets your solution in front of the right people. Luka's SEO and digital marketing background is what turned an idea into a platform with over 100 teachers. Build a painkiller, not a vitamin. Luka's closing argument: the businesses that win are the ones most obsessed with their customers' actual pain, not the ones with the most polished product. Empathy — putting yourself fully in the customer's position — is the design brief that matters most. About Luka Petrovic Founder of Sydney Music Lessons, a platform connecting students with over 100 vetted music teachers across Sydney. Background in psychology, neuroscience, sales, and digital marketing. 🌐 sydneymusiclessons.com.au Timestamps [0:05] Introduction and episode framing [3:16] Why most students quit — and what psychology reveals about that moment [6:33] What separates a great music teacher from a good one [9:03] How the teaching insight became the business insight [10:11] Building Sydney Music Lessons — from gap to functioning platform [14:52] What someone inside a traditional industry needs to understand before they start [19:17] Final thoughts — empathy, painkillers, and what great businesses actually do Connect with CollinsX: @0xOVCollins | LinkedIn: Collins Odabi Guest Enquiries: podmatch.com/member/onyourmic Until next time, stay sharp, and keep showing up.

    Why Most People Quit Music — and What Great Teaching Actually Requires — Luka Petrovic
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About

On Your Mic is a conversation-driven podcast about ideas, perspectives, and real-world thinking across tech, business, culture, and personal growth.

Information

  • Creator
    Collins Victory Odabi
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    21
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Collins Victory Odabi
  • Show Website
    On Your Mic