S3 - EP1: Empathy - Interpersonal, Organizational, End-User

18 Coffees (https://18coffees.com/) is building the backbone of the mission economy through consulting, content, and community. Caleb Gardner joins us from his walk-in closet to discuss how his team is helping pair creatives and business leaders with clients to provide mission-driven companies a stronger strategic footing.

Caleb’s career has spanned from consulting with Fortune 100 CEOs to running President Obama’s Twitter account, including respected companies such as Bain & Company, Edelman, and OFA. As a thought leader in digital innovation, Caleb has been a featured speaker at Social Innovation Summit, SXSW, INBOUND Marketing Summit, among others, and he has been quoted in WIRED, Strategy Magazine, NBC News, BBC Radio, and others.

Joining us from Cyprus, Dr Theano Kalavana is an author and professional development and leadership coach. She discusses the differences between cognitive and affective empathy and how they apply to leadership and team communication. To learn more about Dr Kalavana check out her website at http://mindthreading.com.

Author of The Empathy Edge and Founder at Red Slice, Maria Ross join us to talk about her 3-year journey in researching the data behind making empathy actionable. "If we want to create a more empathetic world, why not start in the place where we spend the bulk of our time: our work.” She talks about how to build an empathetic brand, leadership, culture and how to effectively start delivering it. 

"Organizations that champion empathy will be the leaders in every category". We kick off season 3 of Bytes Over Bagels introducing this season's theme: Empathy. Don Bora, John Ostler, and Steve Polacek join us from Eight Bit Studios to discuss how their 10-year journey in the website and mobile consulting space went from why they started: to create a great studio for collaboration and work-life balance, to today, why does Eight Bit exist? They discuss their team's approach to empathy, the different approaches to the research, and the reasons behind pivoting this very podcast, Bytes Over Bagels into helping to answer those and more questions. 

Who knew driving data could be so useful? Gary Hallgren shares how Arity is changing the insurance game with data. Right out of college, Gary's been in transportation, starting at the DOT of Minneapolis. Join us to hear how he's now helping Arity improve driving for all of us.

Kaben Clauson, Founder of True Public, slid right into entrepreneurship wanting to find a better way for companies to get real, accurate data. As he points out, there had to be a better way to get authentic data from a population. Join us as he shares his insights and tells us how he learned to build a power surveying tool.

Joel Pollick, Founder of Percent Pledge, shares how a simple phone call with his father turned into a solution that makes donating to charity fool-proof. Join us as we talk about how he researched the market before he even drafted a solution, how he learned as he went, and how Percent Pledge has evolved to meet user needs.

Coming to you live from the Chicago Inno State of Innovation: The Future of Cannabis event in downtown Chicago hosted at WeWork on September 25th, 2019.  In this 2-part series, you’ll get to hear from some impressive Chicago companies in the cannabis space and from Cresco Lab’s Entrepreneur in Residence, Zach Marburger.

Part 1: Fireside chat with Zach Marburger, Entrepreneur in Residence at Cresco Labs

Part 2: Up and Coming Companies:

Tom Gavin - Vice Chairman and CEO of CannTrac Technology, Inc
Kurt Akers Co-founder / CEO of Kannatopia
James Yi Founder / CEO of Leaf Trade
Aristotle Loumis Co-founder of Fyllo

Coming to you live from the Chicago Inno State of Innovation: The Future of Cannabis event in downtown Chicago hosted at WeWork on September 25th, 2019.  In this 2-part series, you’ll get to hear from some impressive Chicago companies in the cannabis space and from Cresco Lab’s Entrepreneur in Residence, Zach Marburger.

Part 1: Fireside chat with Zach Marburger, Entrepreneur in Residence at Cresco Labs

Part 2: Up and Coming Companies
Tom Gavin - Vice Chairman and CEO of CannTrac Technology, Inc
Kurt Akers Co-founder / CEO of Kannatopia
James Yi Founder / CEO of Leaf Trade
Aristotle Loumis Co-founder of Fyllo

20 years ago, i.c.stars formed to transform individuals and communities through a program that combined hard skills training with a broader perspective on community impact. The program gives under-served individuals the necessary skills and habits to find success in the tech field. The program continues today with their “bigger than you” sense of accountability for the adults in their program, providing companies and communities with skilled employees both in soft and hard skills. Join us as Miguel Guerrero, a recent grad and now at Discover Financial, shares how he leveraged this opportunity to redirect his life and provide real value to companies and his community. Also with us is Amanda Moore, Director of Corporate Partnerships to share some insight on how the program works and what makes it so successful for both grads and the employers who hire them. Oh, and hear about the upcoming Techie Prom being held by i.c.stars. https://www.icstars.org/event/20th-anniversary-gala-the-tech-prom/