Maven Minds: Trailblazers of Modern Business Laura Crossley

There are never ending hurdles to overcome as you build a business for yourself, but one of the biggest challenges is learning to truly believe in yourself.


Christine Nelson, the founder and CEO of AnnMann Designs, is the definition of heart and soul in small business. AnnMann Designs is a jewelry brand that creates pieces inspired by natural and architectural elements. Her entrepreneurial journey has been nothing short of incredible and by taking a chance on herself, she was commissioned to create the crown featured in the new series, Bel-Air, now streaming on Peacock. Although there has been many lessons learned, it has been an important reminder of how YOU can create amazing opportunities when you put yourself out there.


“I decided to put it on myself to do things that I hadn’t done before” – Christine Nelson
 
In this episode, Christine discusses:
The brand discovery process and how important it is to the businessLessons learned from understanding and negotiating contracts with large corporationsThe evolution of new entrepreneur to savvy business owner 
 
Thought starters: How can I apply this thinking to my business?


What is the personality of your business?
How is your brand communicating that personality to your ideal customer? What does your brand say about your business? What does it say about you? How are you reflected in the brand? How is your brand telling a story and inviting people in? Is the audience you're inviting in the right customer fit? Are there things you could be changing to have better residents with your target customer? 


How are your contracts supporting your business?
Are they allowing and considering the amount of work that’s going to go into a project? Are they setting the right price and the right expectation for you and the other party within the agreement? Is it time to take a critical look at your contracts or your contract structure to see if anything is missing? Is there something that needs to be enhanced, added, or rephrased in your contract? 


What inspires you?
What are you taking from the world and using to influence your next step? If you are a technical executor or developer, what inspired you? What creates that fire? What keeps you going and how do you pursue more of that? How do you infuse that into the work that you’re doing every day? 
Key themes


BrandingBusiness EvolutionInspiration Contracts



For extended show notes, resources, and ways to connect, learn more at: mavenminds.com/season-1-trailblazers 


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Podcast Editor and Strategist: @episodeready

Rob Ellerman of The Rob Ellerman Team has the #1 real estate group in both Missouri and Kansas with over $3.5 billion in career sales, over 12,000 homes sold, and 26 years of consecutive growth. 


Behind the years of success has been a lot of hard work, dedication, and trust for his team. Caring for and providing the best possible support for the agents has been a main focus for the Ellerman Team since its inception. Although the upward momentum hasn’t come without its own set of challenges. In an industry that’s easily accessible, they are constantly challenged to compete with a massive lack of consumer education, making it a critical mission to build strong client relationships and to educate them on finding the right support for such large investments. 
 
“With everything that I do, I really try to make sure that the agents are thought of first and foremost. What can I do to help them? What can I do to help their clients?” – Rob Ellerman
 
In this episode, Rob discusses:
Focusing on retention and ensuring that his team is set up for success The importance of consumer education and qualifying your supportContinuously improving your skill set and staying open-minded to new opportunities 
 
Thought starters: How can I apply this thinking to my business?


How are you helping retention in your own business?
Does your business acknowledge the individuals within your organization as individuals? Does it cater to them or are you structuring for the masses? Does a blanket approach apply to those who don’t get the same value from what is being offered? 


Are you taking a diversified approach in your business?
Are you siloed into approaches that are really inside a clear path and funnel? What about when it comes to innovation and new opportunities or ways to evolve with that the market is demanding? Are you exploring new avenues in facets of your business that allow you to continue growth or to capitalize on new opportunities when they arise?


What are you doing to be the expert in your industry?
Are you seeking out new information to continuously build upon your skills? Are you adding to that institutional knowledge or adding to a skill set that’s already valuable? How does that differentiate you? Do you talk about that often? Are you using that in your marketing? Does it give you an edge? Is it something completely unheard of in the space that you’re in? 
 
Key themes


Employee RetentionConsumer EducationTraining & ResourcesClient Relationships



For extended show notes, resources, and ways to connect, learn more at: mavenminds.com/season-1-trailblazers 


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Podcast Editor and Strategist: @episodeready

The rapid growth of AllTrails has required them to explore what it means to hire and build a team of individuals who all share a common purpose; connecting people with the outdoors. CEO, Ron Schneidermann, shares how they’re making hiking trails all around the world accessible for everyone while also handling the demand for improvements due to the app’s rise in popularity. He shares more about how their focus on the foundation within is what makes all the difference.   


“You start with the stuff that doesn’t scale. Sometimes you need to do that. And then from there, you can build up momentum and build off of it.” – Ron Schneidermann
 
In this episode, Ron discusses:
Hiring candidates that are the right cultural fit for the businessStaying true to the mission and values of the company Embracing change, empowering team members, and communicating with proactive intentionality
 
Thought starters: How can I apply this thinking to my business?


What are you doing to establish the culture in your business?
Do you have guideposts in place to make sure that you are staying true to the spirit of your company and what you’re trying to do? Are you building a place that is a magnet for the people that you want to have employed there? 


How you are improving communication within your own walls?
How are you helping your team to be proactive about red flags that they might see, or problems that they perceive, or sharing new ideas? Do they feel empowered to share those? Is there a space to share those?


How are you setting an intention for that communication?
Are you scheduling meetings without any purpose? How do you set that intention in advance? How do you make sure that everyone is on the same page coming in and is ready to act, ready to talk, and ready to collaborate? How do you creat those spaces for more natural collaboration? 


Is your business in a stage of rapid growth?
What things are fueling that? What outside influences are fueling that? What inside things are fueling that growth? Is there something that you can be doing to any of those spaces to impact what is fueling that growth? Can you make it more efficient? More effective? Are you just standing back and watching it happen? Can you be learning from the process or documenting anything related? 
Key themes


Rapid GrowthCompany CultureInternal CommunicationEmpowering Team



For extended show notes, resources, and ways to connect, learn more at: mavenminds.com/season-1-trailblazers 


–
Podcast Editor and Strategist: @episodeready

With such a fantastic lineup for the first 7 episodes of Maven Minds, we wanted to take a moment to pause and reflect on all the amazing insights and strategic concepts that our guests have shared with us so far. 
Listen to the ideas, thought processes, and lessons learned behind these stories and see how they can be applied to your business. It could be the answer to your next big breakthrough! 


“Innovation can be analysis driven. You can be looking at the data and the information in front of you and make decisions accordingly. It can also be completely creatively driven.” – Laura Crossley


What can you do today to: 
Prioritize your content and better communication about your product or serviceConnect with your audience and build communityThink beyond the boxTake advantage of the resources, team, and opportunities around you

Key themes


Content CreationCommunityInnovationTeam

For extended show notes, resources, and ways to connect, learn more at: mavenminds.com/season-1-trailblazers 
–
Podcast Editor and Strategist: @episodeready

To stand out among competitors you have to create a memorable brand which is exactly what Garmin International is doing through the Women of Adventure campaign. Associate Creative Director Rebecca Sommers shares some insight on the mission behind this incredible campaign and why they feel so passionately about the stories their sharing. Through this campaign, Garmin has focused on sharing and celebrating the amazing athletic adventures and unbelievable feats that women are experiencing, to motivate and inspire others to do the same. 


“It’s not really about our product. They’re using our product, but it’s not our story, it’s yours.” – Rebecca Sommers
 
In this episode, Rebecca discusses:
Creating meaningful connections with their audience through authentic storytellingKey components that make an authentic story so captivatingThe impactful life lessons behind these stories and the challenges they’ve faced to capture themEmbracing new creative opportunities with the development of a children’s book

Thought starters: How can I apply this thinking to my business?


What are you doing to tell authentic stories about your brand?
What are those stories? Do they come from the customer? Do they come from work the brand is doing? How do they reflect your product or service? What kind of tone do they set? What does the customer receive from them? What do they feel? How are they impacted?


What are the creative opportunities ahead for your business?
What are the unique situations in which you could find yourself creating a children’s book, going on a trip, or hosting an event? What is something out of the box that you haven’t tried that just might work?


What are the challenges that your business is facing?
What are you doing to take the next step to overcoming them? What’s the next small step you can take today that will get you close to overcoming that hurdle? 

Key themes
Authentic StorytellingBrand AffinityCustomer ConnectionOvercoming Adversity


For extended show notes, resources, and ways to connect, learn more at: mavenminds.com/season-1-trailblazers 
–
Podcast Editor and Strategist: @episodeready

As the head of marketing, Nathan Ellering and the rest of the team at CoSchedule have soared to new heights since their inception in 2013. Growing from a plug-in for WordPress to a full-fledged web-based management software for marketers, in just a few short years. CoSchedule is able to cater to businesses of all sizes, helping them to organize and schedule their content marketing in the most efficient way. Nathan and his team are continuously working to break down barriers in the marketplace, making it easier for marketers to optimize their messaging for the best exposure.


“I think of marketing as an experience. No matter what stage you are in the customer journey, marketers are there trying to influence profitable customer action by delivering the right message to the right person at the right time.” – Nathan Ellering
 
In this episode, Nathan Ellering of CoSchedule discusses:
Widespread adoption of content marketing Utilizing team collaboration and customer feedback for product developmentPositioning and staying ahead of the marketRealigning vision and mission with product evolution

Thought starters: How can I apply this thinking to my business?


What are you doing in your business to gather feedback?
Do you have a form, a survey, an email address that can be used to collect information? Are you just asking people directly? Do you have a way to document and share that information within your organization? Do you have a way of bringing that feedback back to the people that are developing your product? Do you have a way of making that feedback impactful to your business?


What are you doing in your business to get content out there in front of people?
Are you marketing in other ways? Would content be able to make your strategy a bit more well-rounded? Would it get you in front of more people? Do you need a blog or a podcast? Do you need scheduled posts, interactions and engagements with your customers?


How are you championing collaboration in your own organization?
How are you breaking down silos and barriers between teams? Are you allowing for that communication to happen in multiple avenues? How are you making sure that what the customer says to your customer success team or what the product engineering team thinks is indeed the right next move? How do you pull all of that together and move your product forward? Are you offering avenues for collaboration in your organization? Are there meetings scheduled intent on creating collaboration? Are there spaces in your organization that allow for multiple groups to gather together?
 
Key themes


Customer FeedbackContent MarketingTeam CollaborationArtificial IntelligenceSoftware as a Service


For extended show notes, resources, and ways to connect, learn more at: mavenminds.com/season-1-trailblazers 
–
Podcast Editor and Strategist: @episodeready