Do you find leadership to be hard?

Do you struggle as a leader?

Audrey Dauvet is an entrepreneur, intellectual property attorney, and host of the Brand & New Podcast by the International Trademark Association.

In this episode she discusses how branding creates an essential differentiator for your creation/business, why the "intangible asset" of IP is invaluable, the difference between international and domestic intellectual property protections, branding and intellectual property protections in China, areas of the world with the worst IP violations, and the cost of protecting your brand in multiple regions of the world.

Michael Zipursky is an author, speaker, and Founder of Consulting Success. He has worked with organizations and leaders in over 30 countries, from service providers to billion dollar multi-national corporations including Panasonic, Dow Jones, Financial Times, Royal Bank and many others.

In this episode, Michael shares some best practices for service providers, why long-term client engagements are better than short-term client engagements, why larger businesses are better clients than small businesses, and why service providers should not offer their services on an hourly basis.

Listeners can connect with Michael on Twitter @MichaelZipursky.

Christopher Gerg is the Chief Information Security Officer and Vice President of Risk Management at Gillware, Data Recovery and Digital Forensics Experts. Gillware started in 2003 as a data recovery company. Today they focus on digital forensics, cybercrime, and incident response.

If you get a hack or a security breach, you call your insurance company and they call Gillware.

Christopher's job is overseeing Gillware's efforts to find ways to prevent attacks and mitigate risks.

In today's episode, Christopher discusses his role at Gillware, shares some cybersecurity stories, and tells us about the biggest cybersecurity threats facing businesses today and how to mitigate those risks.

Also, Christopher discusses the impact of Europe's GDPA legislation and California's new CCPA legislation, including his opinion on their effectiveness and design.

Notable quote from the episode: "A lawyer friend described the CCPA to me as a dumpster fire of legislation."

Chris Tabish is the author of the book Comediology, a professional speaker, stand-up comedian, and Co-Founder of Venture West Group, a management consulting firm in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In this episode, Chris shares how he became fed up with the lack of enjoyment he was experiencing in his career in Silicon Valley. To find his voice and find more fulfillment, he turned to standup comedy.

Mark Haney is a venture capitalist, angel investor, host of The Mark Haney Show, and founder of Haney Business Ventures (HaneyBiz). He has founded or funded a portfolio of 30+ Sacramento-based companies across various industries. He is also President of the Sacramento chapter of the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) and serves on various corporate and non-profit boards, including Allegiant Giving non-profit devoted to helping military veterans.

In this episode he shares his vision for connecting and aiding entrepreneurs in their quest to build their business and serve their customers. After building successful businesses and achieving his business goals, Mark has turned his attention and resources to helping entrepreneurs succeed.

In this episode we talk with Wayne Sleight, COO of 97th Floor, a digital marketing agency headquartered in Utah with a satellite office in San Francisco. Wayne has spoken at marketing conferences across the country and "across the pond" about the agency landscape and the thriving company culture at 97th Floor. He has also been recognized as one of 20 in their 20s by Utah Business.

Today Wayne shares his advice on when to work with a marketing agency and when to hire someone in-house, what type of work should be agency driven or in-house, and how to work with millennials.

Chris Prefontaine is a best-selling author of 2017's Real Estate on Your Terms and this year's The New Rules of Real Estate Investing. He is also the founder of Smart Real Estate Coach, and host of the Smart Real Estate Coach Podcast.

In this episode Chris shares how he used to invest in real estate in an entirely different way, then the recession of 2008 hit the housing market like ton of bricks. Today he and his team invest in a totally different way, and coach people on their methods.

In this episode Luis Alvarez of Alvarez Technology Group shares the story of his introduction to the book Traction and his company's implementation of the Entrepreneurial Operating System, commonly referred to as EOS.

Alvarez TG has been in business for 20 years but they've encountered a radical improvement in their operations by adopting the best practices laid out in EOS.

Bill Coletti is a reputation management expert. In this episode he shares how to manage your personal and business reputation before, during, and after a crisis.

Bill is the author of Critical Moments: The New Mindset of Reputation Management, and the founder and CEO of Kith, a crisis communications and reputation management firm that works with entrepreneurs, corporations, high net-worth individuals, and politicians.

Find yourself struggling with time management? Are you neglecting to complete the most important tasks in your day?

Paul Casey is the founder of Growing Forward Services and time management is one of his passions. In this episode he shares the most important teachings from his coaching practice that help his clients restore sanity to their schedules, focus on what's most important to them, and sustain productivity over the long haul.

At the end of the episode he shared a free resource with our audience: The Control My Calendar Checklist.

Doug Kirkpatrick is an author, TEDx speaker, partner at NuFocus Strategic Group, and the former financial controller at The Morning Star Company, the world's largest tomato processing company.

In this episode Doug discusses the unique situation at Morning Star and how they have no formal leadership hierarchy. The organization is based on the two oldest laws of free association and contractual obligation. The discussion centers around insights from his new book, The No-Limits Enterprise: Organizational Self-Management In The New World Of Work.

David Timms, Ph.D., is the Dean of the School for Christian Leadership at William Jessup University and author of Shape Your World: Transformational Leadership for Everyday Life.

This is the fifth and final segment of the interview in which David shares the fourth pillar of transformational leadership.

David Timms, Ph.D., is the Dean of the School for Christian Leadership at William Jessup University and author of Shape Your World: Transformational Leadership for Everyday Life.

This is the fourth segment of the interview in which David shares the third pillar of transformational leadership.

David Timms, Ph.D., is the Dean of the School for Christian Leadership at William Jessup University and author of Shape Your World: Transformational Leadership for Everyday Life.

This is the third segment of the interview in which David shares the second pillar of transformational leadership.

David Timms, Ph.D., is the Dean of the School for Christian Leadership at William Jessup University and author of Shape Your World: Transformational Leadership for Everyday Life.

In trying a new format, this is the first of five segments discussing David's formula for transformational leadership.

Dr. Angela Lauria is the founder of the Author Incubator and creator of the Difference Process for writing a book that matters. Her work has been recognized by Inc. Magazine and Entrepreneur Magazine, and in 2018 she won the Stevie Award's Coach/Mentor of the Year Award.

In this episode she and David discuss her journey, the goal of The Author Incubator, how writing a book should be done in nine weeks, and the strategies and difficulties of entrepreneurship. Check out https://www.theauthorincubator.com/

Your choices as a business leader have a huge effect on your growth opportunities. Last year David met an entrepreneur at Varnex who said he had been stuck at $1.2 million in revenue for 20 years.

In this episode he contrasts that story with one of our clients, Vertikal6, who have made the right decisions that have led to awesome growth.

Lee Caraher is the founder and CEO of Double Forte PR & Digital Marketing, a national agency that works with up-and-coming brands in a variety of industries. In this episode Lee shares a few stories and insights from her two books on leadership, Millenials & Management: The Essential Guide to Making it Work at Work, and The Boomerang Principle: Inspiring Lifetime Loyalty From Employees (2017).

You can learn more about Lee at www.leecaraher.com/

Previous episodes have discussed how to MAP your meetings, practice Sanctuary time, and use a Weekly WIN.

In this episode David brings it all together and shines a light on the over-arching theme of "focus". He tells a story of working with a client who was having trouble improving his business and shares the advice he gave to the client and would give to others seeking to improve their focus and reduce their workload.