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

 
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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.

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!

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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...

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

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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.

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

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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,

Storytelling with Brad Sears of The Williams Institute at the UCLA, School of Law
Los Angeles, California
Links mentioned in the show:

The William’s Institute, UCLA School of Law
Lambda Legal
About Brad Sears

Listen to the episode by clicking the play button below!

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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 Brad Sears for "30 Days – 30 Voices – Stories from America’s LGBT Business Leaders" [Podcast] appeared first on Jenn T. Grace.

Expert Interview with Jill Nelson of the INUS Group
Portland, OR | Vancouver, WA
Links mentioned in the show:

Portland Area Business Association
The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It
Evolutionaries: Transformational Leadership: The Missing Link in Your Organizational Chart

You can get in touch with Jill here:

Website: http://www.INUSGroup.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/inusgroup
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jilllnelson
By e-mail at: jill.nelson@paba.com or j.nelson@inusgroup.com

Listen to the episode by clicking the play button below!

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AUDIO TITLE:  30 Days, 30 Voices – Jill Nelson
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.

Okay let's get started. I am excited to be talking with Jill Nelson today, founder of the INUS Group which works with individuals, teams and organizations to create powerful lives and dynamic relationships. She is also a community leader actively working towards LGBT equality issues through business, marriage equality and youth issues. She also spent over a decade as an ordained minister serving congregations in three different states. Jill, I have given the listeners a brief overview of who you are but why don't you tell us a little bit more about your business and what your path looked like that led you to where you are today.
Jill Nelson:
Well I'd love to do that Jenn. I have what many might consider a very convoluted path. I started out many, many, many, many years ago- I'm not even going to elaborate how long ago because then you'd know how old I am. But my undergraduate degree was in Accounting, I started out with, and it didn't take me long to realize I really didn't enjoy Accounting and switched to business management. And over the course of the next fifteen or twenty years, I got an opportunity to really experience retail management, business consulting, working several different industries. Eventually reached the point where I felt as though business work was two dimensional. I didn't feel as though I was really doing everything I wanted to make the world a better place, and that kind of led me into the ministry. I spent, you know as you noted in my introduction, a good ten or twelve years working with congregations wanting to help people really in touch with their whole life experience, not just their work experience. And help people then realize their full potential. But after twelve years in ministry I discovered that I missed business. I missed creating things. There were pieces of ministry that just didn't resonate well for me, and I met someone who was a couple's coach. Met them through a church group that I was co-facilitating for couples. And I discovered the world of coaching. And that opened up just an amazing,

Storytelling with Danie Fineman of Keller Williams Realty
Hartford, Connecticut
Links mentioned in the show:

The ONE Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results

Listen to the episode by clicking the play button below!

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AUDIO TITLE:  30 Days, 30 Voices – Danie Fineman
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 pleased to be talking today with Danie Fineman, who has spent eight years in the US army. She earned two Bachelor's degrees from the University of Connecticut, and is now a realtor with Keller Williams Realty. She is located in the great state of Connecticut next to me, so I am pleased to have her on as my guest today. So Danie, I've given the listeners a really high level overview of who you are, but why don't you just tell us a little bit more about yourself, and what your path looked like that led you to where you are today?
Danie Fineman:
Well thanks Jenn for having me, this is a nice surprise to be asked to be doing something like this. You know I tend to have the world view that I'm just a tiny, tiny person in such a large world. So for you to ask me to do something like this is really quite an honor, so thank you first and foremost for that.
Jenn T Grace:
You are very welcome.
Danie Fineman:
You know I need a little shot to my self-esteem every now and then so this is great.
Jenn T Grace:
Absolutely.
Danie Fineman:
So I'll just start from the beginning. I do like to tell people that I sort of came from a suburban neighborhood with a large Italian family, and did the typical things growing up; playing on soccer teams, and had a very typical childhood. But I grew up in a family where you know, resources were stretched a bit, so when it came time for me and my four siblings to go off and do our own individual adult things as children do go to college, get jobs and move out of the house, I was sort of left with the decision of do I not go to college because my parents really can't afford it because they already sent somebody before me who has sort of drained the bank accounts? Or do I take sort of matters into my own hands and I was being offered a scholarship to a very, very small school in Pennsylvania to play softball for them. And as all good lesbians, we all play softball, so I actually toyed with the idea. And so I actually ended up taking matters into my own hands and as a very independent eighteen year old, met with a recruiter and decided to join the US Army; without my parents' permission and without even their knowledge. And I don't regret it one bit, it was actually a very freeing and liberating decision, and I got to grow up in the military. I spent sort of my formative years in the military, and I feel like that's sort of where I grew up,

Storytelling with Matt Luginbuhl from the Office of Diversity & Inclusion at Aetna
Hartford, Connecticut
Links mentioned in the show:

Aetna
Out & Equal Connecticut
Community Marketing Inc. LGBT data points
National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC)
The Williams Institute, UCLA Law School

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AUDIO TITLE:  30 Days, 30 Voices: Matt Luginbuhl
Jenn T Grace:
Welcome to Thirty Days, Thirty 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.

Okay, let's get started. I am pleased to be talking with Matt Luginbuhl today who is currently the Senior Diversity Business Specialist at Aetna, and he also manages the enterprise-wide diversity and inclusion communications strategy. In his previous roles at Aetna, he also managed fifteen Employee Resource Groups, with 100 chapters nationwide. Matt is also the cofounder of Out and Equal Connecticut. Matt, I have given the listeners a brief overview of who you are, but why don't you tell us a little bit more about your business and what your path looked like that led you to where you are today?
Matt Luginbuhl:
Thanks very much Jenn, thanks for having me. So I work you know in a Fortune 500 healthcare benefits provider, and we're really focused on empowering people to live healthier lives. During this time of healthcare reform, we really are at a pivotal moment in terms of how healthcare is affecting all of us, how we're all paying for healthcare, and how we're creating innovative solutions to solve the economic problems that are stemming from healthcare. Specifically at Aetna I work in the office of diversity and inclusion, and we're really focused on creating a diverse and inclusive work environment at Aetna. That's important both so that we are able to better understand our customers, it's really important that we look like our customers, that we have the perspectives of our customers, that we have the experiences of our customers. And it's also important that internally we have diversity in our workforce so that as we are creating those innovative ideas we have- or innovative solutions rather, we have the diverse perspectives at the table to make sure that we are creating a diverse solution. So I actually studied Industrial Organizational Psychology at Quinnipiac, the university as well as classical voice. How I got here, you know I worked at Aetna and through school I worked actually on the healthcare side of the business working with our members, and helping them manage their chronic conditions as they worked with nurses here on the telephone. And having studied Industrial Organizational Psychology, which really is the psychology of the workplace, a lot more related to HR, diversity had certainly come up and I had been involved with our Employee Resource Groups here at Aetna.

Storytelling with Dawn Ackerman of Out Smart Office Solutions
San Francisco, California/Seattle, Washington
Links mentioned in the show:

Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (LAGLCC)
Golden Gate Business Association (GGBA)
EcoToner
Office Depot Tier One Supplier Diversity Partner
10th Annual NGLCC National Business & Leadership Conference
Greater Seattle Business Association
What is an LGBT Chamber of Commerce?
But You Don’t Look Gay… book
Empire of the Ants

You can get in touch with Dawn here:

Out Smart Office Solutions
https://www.facebook.com/outsmartoffice
https://twitter.com/outsmartoffice
https://twitter.com/outsmartdawn

Listen to the episode by clicking the play button below!

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AUDIO TITLE:  30 Days, 30 Voices – Dawn Ackerman
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 with Dawn Ackerman today. Dawn is the president and CFO of the west-coast based company Outsmart Office Solutions. Prior to this, she was the CEO and founder of EcoToner. In 2012 Dawn and her business partner George were awarded with the Supplier of the Year Award from the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. Additionally she has spent six years on the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, including two terms as the president. And she is currently serving as the vice president of the Golden Gate Business Association, which is San Francisco's LGBT Chamber of Commerce. Dawn, 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.
Dawn Ackerman:
Thanks Jenn. Well that was a pretty good introduction. I have basically been a business owner and entrepreneur since I was about 24 years old. So my path has been every day just trying to build business and building a business that can really do something for the LGBT community. So Outsmart Office Solutions is an office furniture, office interior design and space planning company. We are also the first LGBT tier one partner of Office Depot, which allows us to be able to see office supplies as a certified LGBT company to any company with the support of a company the size of Office Depot. So we have a very large catalog of supplies and a distribution capability that is national because of our partnership with them. We also donate a large portion of our proceeds back to LGBT and environmental non-profits every year. So really Outsmart was formed because of our- my understanding of the LGBT certification. The first time I ever went to an NGLCC Conference, I realized that some opportunities were going to be out there for certified LGBT businesses,

Storytelling with Richard Oceguera of Richard Oceguera Coaching
New York City, New York
Links mentioned in the show:

Convert your Community to Cash: Monetize your Connections
National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce New York
Merchant Mart USA
Greater New York Steering Committee – Human Rights Campaign
The Landmark Forum
Relationship Building Requires a Strategy: How to get the LGBT community to know, like and trust you

You can get in touch with Richard here:

Sign up for your complimentary Business Breakthrough Call
Richard Oceguera Coaching
His Facebook Page
Richard Oceguera Coaching Facebook Page 
LinkedIn
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 – Richard Oceguera
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.

Okay let's get started. I am pleased to be talking with Richard Oceguera of Richard Oceguera Coaching. He is a transformational business coach, a speaker, a thought leader, and a community advocate. In addition he is the author of a new book called 'Convert your Community to Cash, Monetize your Connection.' Richard has played a key role in the startup of several organizations, most notably as the founding president of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, New York. Richard, 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 what your path looked like that led you to where you are today.
Richard Oceguera:
Yes, well Jenn thank you. First I just want to say thank you for having me participate in this honor, it's really an honor to be able to spend some time with you talking about business and LGBT business. Yeah, so wow where to start. Well this is really great timing because I recently launched my new company, Richard Oceguera Coaching, as you mentioned, and it's exciting for me because it's an opportunity to bring together 29 years of experience in sales, marketing, business development and personal development, and really translate that to the clients that I'm working with. And specifically I work with entrepreneurs, business owners, as well as people who are in business development or sales capacities. And it's really wonderful to have the opportunity to take this experience and have it make a difference for other people as they're building out their businesses. So that's a little bit about what I'm doing now. But you asked about the path that led me to where I'm at today, and I think that's a very interesting question. And you know my path has not been clear cut. I've done many different things over the years and certainly if I mapped it out it would be quite a zigzag of different experiences.