In the last episode of season one, Jay speaks with Eric Eichmann, CEO of ESW, and long time friend. They talk about Eric's illustrious career in technology, the art of seizing opportunities, creating the best teams, and the critical elements of driving business value and innovation.

Eric:

“What's also interesting about the CEO job that I thought of is, you know, you have to be quote unquote decisive or provide a strong direction that everybody understands and everybody is sort of going towards, but at the same time, you have to be humble enough to listen to everybody. And know that you don't have all the answers, you coming up with your best answer at the time that you're doing it. But if you're humble enough to listen to others, even though you're setting a direction, you're willing to consider, hey, maybe this direction that we took on now based on these new facts and the thoughts that Jay brought to the table or whoever else. Might not be the best. Maybe we should be sort of recalibrating and going to another area. And I think, you know, that's, you mentally, you have to be strong and provide direction and feel pretty, you know, sure of yourself. But you you also have to know that you don't really know often, and you have to be willing to change and be flexible.”

Top(pers) Take:

1. Be decisive but humble.
2. Don’t take yourself too seriously; take the business seriously.
3. Raise your hand first and figure out logistics later.

Links & Resources:

Connect with Jay

Connect with Eric

Learn more about fabric

Learn more about ESW

In this episode, Jay sits down with Karen Beebe, CTO at Bealls, Inc. They talk about Karen’s vast experience in retail, the power of learning something new every day, and how relationships are vital no matter your role or years of experience.

Karen:

“ Relationships are key. You need to establish trust and you need to be trustworthy and you need to build those relationships at all different levels and throughout your career…So being around people that can help you make things happen, and being inspired by those around you, and exposing yourself to new things that you may be fearful of, but just going out there again and taking that risk. And, if you can do those things, I think that it rises you up to a method of leadership that you really start to appreciate.”

Top(pers) Take:

1. Speed-to-market: In a connected commerce world, thinking of how to go faster is critical.

2. The right foundation: Get your basics right before adding new technology.

3. Configuration over customization: Give power to your end users.

Links & Resources:

Connect with Jay

Connect with Karen

Learn more about fabric

Learn more about Bealls, Inc.

In this episode, Jay has an enlightening and unique conversation with Rich Lyons, CEO and Founder of Life is Sales. They have an insightful conversation about leadership, emotional intelligence, and the importance of customer centricity and what it truly means. They discuss how personal development, trust, kindness, and self-care play pivotal roles in creating a successful business and fostering meaningful human connections. Rich also shares stories and lessons learned from his extensive career, emphasizing the power of awareness and the impact of bringing one's best self to work each day.

Rich:

“All the customer wants is to hear you to say, as I hear you. I'm going to look into it and I will get back to you as soon as I can…They could be losing their job. They could be losing hundreds of thousands of dollars every minute that website is down during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This is real-life stuff…so, I think the important part was, for me, and it gave me an opportunity to get in front of my company, to train people, to share what I had learned. It created a really great culture for us. I mean, we were real, I don't know how else to put it.”

Top(pers) Take:

1. Awareness: The more aware you are, the more choices you have.
2. Continuous learning: Learn from everyone around you.
3. Openness: Let people know who you are and let people in.

Links & Resources:

Connect with Jay

Connect with Rich

Learn more about fabric

Learn more about Life is Sales