Personal Branding for the LGBTQ Professional (general)

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Syndication

Storytelling with Valerie Clark of the Greater Boston Business Council and Tsipora Consulting
Plymouth, MA
Links mentioned in the show:

Sadler Financial
Greater Boston Business Council
3 Reasons you should never say Homosexual blog post

Books Mentioned:

Sheryl Sandberg's book Lean In
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It
Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
The Essential Drucker: The Best of Sixty Years of Peter Drucker's Essential Writings on Management
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Listen to the episode by clicking the play button below!

Would you prefer to read the transcript than listen to the episode? No problem! Read the transcript below.
AUDIO TITLE:  30 Days, 30 Voices – Valerie Clark
Jenn T Grace:
Welcome to 30 Days, 30 Voices: Stories from America's LGBT business leaders.
Intro:
You are listening to a special edition of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Tune in for the next thirty days as we interview one business leader per day, each day in June to celebrate LGBT Pride Month. That's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride month. You'll learn insights around business and marketing from those who know it best. And now your host. She's an entrepreneur, a marketing maven and an advocate for the LGBT business community. Jenn, with two N's, T Grace.
Jenn T Grace:
Hello and welcome. Thank you for tuning into this special Pride Month episode of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Information about today's guest and links mentioned in the show will be available on the website at www.JennTGrace.com/30days30voices. If you like what you hear in this interview, please be sure to tell a friend. And now, without further ado, let's dive into the interview.

I am excited to be talking to Valerie Clark today, she has a long history of working in the financial field as the owner of several start-ups. Most recently she is an investment professional with Sadler Financial Group based in Plymouth, Massachusetts. In addition to this, she is the President of the Greater Boston Business Council, which is Boston's LGBT Chamber of Commerce. Val, I have given the listeners a brief overview of who you are, but why don't you tell us a little bit more about yourself and your business, and what your path looked like that led you to where you are today.
Valerie Clark:
Sure. You know I think like a lot of people, my path was not- definitely not one that was straight or well-defined. I kind of stumbled into my profession. I'd thought that I would be a teacher when I was in college, and I have a degree in history and modern languages. Then I found out how much teachers actually make, versus how much money I owed the government for my degree. And I decided that you know, I simply- I couldn't, as passionate as I was about the opportunity, I just couldn't live on $25,000 a year. So I had been in the restaurant business probably since I was about fourteen, and one day was actually in a restaurant waiting on tables when I was recruited right off the floor.
Jenn T Grace:
Wow.
Valerie Clark:
Yeah. So it was- totally took me by surprise but literally inside of a month, you know I had my securities licenses and I was sitting behind the desk ready to do all sorts of damage. And you know, it's sort of the cliché within the financial services profession is that these kids when they recruit them, they're just so full of energy and ready to go, but the truth of the matter is they just don't even know what they don't know.
Jenn T Grace:
Yeah, absolutely.
Valerie Clark:
So I, you know I was with a major bank at the time and had a successful career from let's say- I want to say early 2000 on until 2006 when I left sort of pre-crazy housing market bubbl...

Direct download: GBM_062013_ValerieClark.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:05am EDT

Storytelling with Dennis Velco, Owner of LinkedIn’s largest LGBT Group
Columbus, Ohio
Links mentioned in the show:

Human Rights Campaign 
Dennis Velco’s Artwork
LGBT-GLBT Networking Group on LinkedIn

Books Mentioned:

Becoming a Category of One: How Extraordinary Companies Transcend Commodity and Defy Comparison

You can get in touch with Dennis here:

dennisvelco.com
dcvelco.com
twitter.com/DennisVelco
linkedin.com/in/dvelco

Listen to the episode by clicking the play button below!

Would you prefer to read the transcript than listen to the episode? No problem! Read the transcript below. (Coming soon!)
 

Want to see who else is being interviewed for this Pride month project? Check it out here – 30 days – 30 voices – Stories from America’s LGBT Business Leaders

This podcast episode originally aired in June 2013.

The post Storytelling with Dennis Velco for "30 Days – 30 Voices – Stories from America’s LGBT Business Leaders" [Podcast] appeared first on Jenn T. Grace.

Direct download: GBM_061913_DennisVelco.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:05am EDT

Storytelling with Robin McHaelen of True Colors
Hartford, Connecticut
Links mentioned in the show:

True Colors 
Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG)
Gay-Straight Alliance Network
Public Allies
Bienestar – LGBT Youth
Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
Give Out Day 
Gill Foundation 
The Overbrook Foundation 

Books mentioned:

How to Talk So Teens Will Listen and Listen So Teens Will Talk

You can get in touch with Robin here:

Facebook/ourtruecolors
twitter.com/TrueColorsCT 

Listen to the episode by clicking the play button below.

Would you prefer to read the transcript than listen to the episode? No problem! Read the transcript below. (Coming soon!)
 

Want to see who else is being interviewed for this Pride month project? Check it out here – 30 days -30 voices – Stories from America’s LGBT Business Leaders

This podcast episode originally aired in June 2013.

The post Storytelling with Robin McHaelen for "30 Days – 30 Voices – Stories from America’s LGBT Business Leaders" [Podcast] appeared first on Jenn T. Grace.

Direct download: GBM_061813_RobinMcHaelen.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:05am EDT

Storytelling with Matt Skallerud of Pink Banana Media
New York City, New York

Links mentioned in the show -

Travel Gay Canada 
California Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce 
National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
International Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce 
Out & Equal Workplace Advocates
Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association 
GayWired.com
SheWired.com
The New Rules of Marketing & PR: How to Use Social Media, Online Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, News Releases, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers Directly

You can get in touch with Matt here -

Pink Banana Media 
Facebook.com/PinkBananaMedia
LinkedIn

Would you prefer to read the transcript than listen to the episode? No problem! Read the transcript below!
AUDIO TITLE: 30 Days, 30 Voices: Matt Skallerud

Welcome to 30 Days, 30 Voices: Stories from America's LGBT Business Leaders

You are listening to a special edition of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Tune in for the next thirty days as we interview one business leader per day each day in June to celebrate LGBT Pride Month. That's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride month. You'll learn insights around business and marketing from those who know it best. And now, your host. She's an entrepreneur, a marketing maven, and an advocate for the LGBT business community - Jenn, with two N's, T. Grace.
Hello and welcome!
Hello and welcome. Thank you for tuning in to this special Pride Month episode of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Information about today's guest and links mentioned in the show will be available on the website at www.JennTGrace.com/30days-30voices. If you like what you hear in this interview, please be sure to tell a friend. And now, without further ado, let's dive into the interview.

Jenn T. Grace: I am pleased to be talking with Matt Skallerud today, who is the president of Pink Banana Media. Matt began his online career in May of 1995 with the launch of the website www.GayWired.com. This website became one of the top three LGBT websites worldwide. He has been helping clients reach the LGBT community for more than eighteen years, and in addition to this he is a current board member for Travel Gay Canada and the interim Executive Director of the California Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. Also he is actively involved with many key national LGBT organizations, which include the International Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and Out & Equal Workplace Advocates just to name a few. So Matt, I've given the listeners a brief overview of who you are, but why don't you tell us a little bit more about yourself and what your path looked like that led you to where you are today.

Matt Skallerud:  Yeah! I always try to simplify things. I've just been very lucky. I went to school, I got my degree in engineering, got really bored with it in about three years and thought to myself, 'I got a degree for this? I don't know if I want to do this for the rest of my life.' And- but I actually went into sales, I was in this kind of high-tech R&D world of lasers and then I went into sales of lasers and the reason I bring all that up is because it was that combination of kind of just being comfortable with technology, and it was a perfect time. It was when computers were just really starting to come out. I used to have a Commodore 64, and then I had some of the first Compaq 286 and all these fun computers but I had the opportunity to really utilize them first for more on the engineering side, but then as things developed more on the sales, and then also very much marketing of products I used to work on in the lab. I basically took all those skills,

Direct download: GBM_061713_MattSkallerud.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:05am EDT

Storytelling with Jim Koury of Diversity Rules Magazine
Oneonta, New York
Links mentioned in the show:

Diversity Rules Magazine
Brokeback Mountain

Books Mentioned:

The Truth of Yesterday

You can get in touch with Jim here:

Website: diversityrulesmagazine.com/
facebook.com/Diversity-Rules-Magazine
twitter.com/DiversityRules
plus.google.com

Listen to the episode by clicking the play button below!

Would you prefer to read the transcript than listen to the episode? No problem! Read the transcript below. (Coming soon!)
 

This podcast episode originally aired in June 2013.

The post Storytelling with Jim Koury for "30 Days – 30 Voices – Stories from America’s LGBT Business Leaders" [Podcast] appeared first on Jenn T. Grace.

Direct download: GBM_061613_JimKoury.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:05am EDT

Storytelling with Sara Calabro who is a Content Strategist
Portland, Oregon
Links mentioned in the show:

AHA!
AcuTake
Think Traffic website

Books Mentioned:

But You Don’t Look Gay…
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich (Expanded and Updated)
The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future
What Should I Do with My Life?: The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question

You can get in touch with Sara here:

saracalabro.com
linkedin.com/in/saracalabro

Listen to the episode by clicking the play button below!

Would you prefer to read the transcript than listen to the episode? No problem! Read the transcript below. (Coming soon!)
 

Want to see who else is being interviewed for this Pride month project? Check it out here – 30 days – 30 voices – Stories from America’s LGBT Business Leaders

 

This podcast episode originally aired in June 2013.

The post Storytelling with Sara Calabro for "30 Days – 30 Voices – Stories from America’s LGBT Business Leaders" [Podcast] appeared first on Jenn T. Grace.

Direct download: GBM_061513_SaraCalabro.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:05am EDT

Storytelling with Trung Tieu of PepsiCo
Chicago, Illinois
Links mentioned in the show:

The Chicago Area Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce 
CABO – CT’s LGBT Chamber of Commerce
A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future
twitter.com/PepsiCoTrung
linkedin.com/trungtieu

 
Listen to the episode by clicking the play button below!

Would you prefer to read the transcript than listen to the episode? No problem! Read the transcript below. (Coming soon!)
 

 

Want to see who else is being interviewed for this Pride month project? Check it out here – 30 days – 30 voices – Stories from America’s LGBT Business Leaders

This podcast episode originally aired in June 2013

The post Storytelling with Trung Tieu for "30 Days – 30 Voices – Stories from America’s LGBT Business Leaders" [Podcast] appeared first on Jenn T. Grace.

Direct download: GBM_061413_TrungTieu.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:05am EDT

Storytelling with Meghan Freed of Freed Marcroft Law
Hartford, Connecticut 
Links mentioned in the show:

The Colin McEnroe Show, WNPR: Divorce In 2013. Gay people face complications, and cases of collaborative divorce are rising.
Steve Jobs Biography
Freed Marcroft

You can get in touch with Meghan here:

Facebook page:
Twitter:

Listen to the episode by clicking the play button below!

Would you prefer to read the transcript than listen to the episode? No problem. Read the transcript below!
AUDIO TITLE:  30 Days, 30 Voices – Meghan Freed
Jenn T Grace:
Welcome to 30 Days, 30 Voices: Stories from America's LGBT business leaders.
Intro:
You are listening to a special edition of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Tune in for the next thirty days as we interview one business leader per day each day in June to celebrate LGBT Pride Month. That's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride month. You'll learn insights around business and marketing from those who know it best. And now, your host. She's an entrepreneur, a marketing maven, and an advocate for the LGBT business community - Jenn, with two N's, T. Grace.
Jenn T Grace:
Hello and welcome. Thank you for tuning in to this special Pride Month episode of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Information about today's guest and links mentioned in the show will be available on the website at www.JennTGrace.com/30days-30voices. If you like what you hear in this interview, please be sure to tell a friend. And now, without further ado, let's dive into the interview.

I am excited to be talking to Meghan Freed, founding member of Freed McKeen which is a law firm located in Hartford Connecticut. In addition to many of her accomplishments, she is especially proud of her estate planning, family and small business legal practice within the LGBT community. Also, her name appears in the Connecticut Supreme Court's ground-breaking decision on marriage equality which was Kerrigan versus the Commissioner of Public Health. Meghan, I have given the listeners a brief overview of who you are, but why don't you tell us a little bit more about yourself and your business, and what your path looked like that led you to where you are today.
Meghan Freed:
Sure, hi Jenn. First of all thank you so much for having me; I love your podcast, and I love your website, and I love your Facebook page. So I'm thrilled to be a part of it.
Jenn T Grace:
Thank you.
Meghan Freed:
I went to law school back in 2000, and after I graduated I went to a firm here in Hartford, Connecticut, Shipman & Goodwin, and then I worked at a much larger international firm called Bingham McCutchen. And then after that I was in-house council for a number of years at a wonderful company, Hartford Steam Boiler. At a certain point in my career I wasn't sure what to do next. And practicing law has been really a wonderful thing for me but I was ready to sort of take a new path, and work more with individual folks than with the companies I had been working for as clients prior. So I started talking about the concept of beginning my own law firm and a friend of mine from law school, Ryan McKeen, was sort of at the same place and came to me with the idea of forming a firm together. And my initial thought was, 'Ugh, wouldn't that be nice? I would really love to do this. But I also have this wonderful biweekly paycheck, and I love the people I work with, and I love the work I do. Am I really ready to take this risk?' I was sitting on a plane one day with my partner Kristen Marcroft, and we were talking about how I wish I could go into practice for myself and she at the time was looking at graduating from law school herself in a few months. And so she said, 'Well really why not? What is the risk?' And we went through everything and thought about our lives and our finances...

Direct download: GBM_061313_MeghanFreed.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:05am EDT

Storytelling with Stan Kimer of Total Engagement Consulting
Raleigh, North Carolina
Links mentioned in the show:

5 things never to say to gay people blog post
Business of Change website
The Gill Foundation
Out & Equal Workplace Advocates
NGLCC Trade Missions
Raleigh Business & Professional Network
Trade Press Article on Stan’s innovative career mapping methodology
LGBT at IBM Facebook Page
The Kimer-Kamba Community Center Stan is funding in Mtito Andei, Kenya

Books Mentioned:

StrengthsFinder 2.0
Million Dollar Consulting

Listen to the episode by clicking the play button below!

Would you prefer to read the transcript than listen to the episode? No problem! Read transcript below. (Coming soon!)
 

Want to see who else is being interviewed for this Pride month project? Check it out here – 30 days – 30 voices – Stories from America’s LGBT Business Leaders

This podcast episode originally aired in June 2013

The post Storytelling with Stan Kimer for "30 Days – 30 Voices – Stories from America’s LGBT Business Leaders" [Podcast] appeared first on Jenn T. Grace.

Direct download: GBM_061213_StanKimer.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:05am EDT

Links mentioned in today's episode:

Corporate Equality Index
Buying for Workplace Equality 2013
The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
Human Rights Campaign

Listen to the episode by clicking the play button below!

Would you prefer to read the transcript rather than listen to the episode? No problem! Read the transcript below!
AUDIO TITLE:  Liz Cooper Interview for “30 Days – 30 Voices – Stories from America’s LGBT Business Leaders”
Jenn T Grace:
Welcome to 30 Days, 30 Voices: Stories from America's LGBT business leaders.
Intro:
You are listening to a special edition of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Tune in for the next thirty days as we interview one business leader per day each day in June to celebrate LGBT Pride Month. That's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pride month. You'll learn insights around business and marketing from those who know it best. And now, your host. She's an entrepreneur, a marketing maven, and an advocate for the LGBT business community - Jenn, with two N's, T. Grace.
Jenn T Grace:
Hello and welcome. Thank you for tuning in to this special Pride Month episode of the Gay Business and Marketing Made Easy Podcast. Information about today's guest and links mentioned in the show will be available on the website at www.JennTGrace.com/30days-30voices. If you like what you hear in this interview, please be sure to tell a friend. And now, without further ado, let's dive into the interview.

I am delighted to be talking with Liz Cooper today, who is the manager of Corporate Programs for the Workplace Project at the Human Rights Campaign. She is the go-to gal for all things regarding the Corporate Equality Index which does come up a great deal on this podcast. So Liz, I've given the listeners just a really high-level highlight of your most recent work, but why don't you tell the audience a little bit more about yourself and what your path looked like that led you to where you are today.
Liz Cooper:
Absolutely, so thanks so much for having me. I'm Liz Cooper as Jenn mentioned, manager at Corporate Programs at the Human Rights Campaign. I've been here just about three years now and so for folks who are not familiar with the Human Rights Campaign, we're the organization that goes along the blue and yellow equal sign. We're the largest civil rights organization working for LGBT equality in the US and I've been with HRC just about three years. And the project that I work on, the Workplace Project, deals with how companies are ensuring the safety, inclusive policies, benefits, protections for their LGBT employees. And as Jenn mentioned, the main mechanism that we measure and evaluate, the status of LGBT equality in the workplace, is through the Corporate Equality Index. So the CEI has been around for over ten years now, and it was really- and not to be too corny but an honor to inherit such a well-established and respected project when I came along on board with the team. So the CEI is a very objective measure of LGBT equality in the workplace. It doesn't account for employee surveys or their perception of their own personal experience with the company. It really is, 'Do you have these inclusive policies in place or do you not? Do you have these benefits for your LGBT employees or do you not?' So it's a really great objective measure and while it's also reporting out on the status of LGBT equality in these major US employers, our main focus is for those employers with 500 or more full-time employees; so we're talking about the big guys. But it's not just a report out, it's also a roadmap for folks who might now be scoring that well, might not have the most inclusive policies on the books. But we're here to help folks get there. We don't want to shame companies or make them feel bad about not being the best they can be,

Direct download: 061113_LizCooper.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:05am EDT