April brought an eclectic mix of guests on the Unstuck podcast as we heard from a startup fanatic, an agency and brand veteran, a public service marketeer, and an improvisational comedy guru! Virtually all our favourite topics were covered as we heard about building businesses from the ground up, managing a global agency network, swapping agency life for brand marketing, creating a brand for a city, and how to use comedy techniques to improve daily life!
If you want to see what happened last month on the podcast, then don’t forget to read through our Unstuck highlights for March. Keep an eye on Screendragon’s social channels for new episode and guest updates and make sure you subscribe in your favourite podcast app!
‘The Process Playbook’
Chris Ronzio, Founder at Trainual
Chris Ronzio is a serial entrepreneur that caught the business bug as early as kindergarten and set up his first successful business at 14 years of age when he built and subsequently sold a video production company.
After selling his video company, Chris tried his hand at several different entrepreneurial ventures which delivered varying degrees of success. In January of 2018, Chris set up Trainual – an employee onboarding and development platform. The company now employs 85 people and supports more than 6,000 small businesses in over 170 countries. Among Trainual’s unique employee retention policies is to offer new hires $5,000 to leave once they’ve completed two weeks in the firm. To date, no one has taken Chris and Trainual up on their offer – listen to the full episode below to find out why!
‘Fun at the Forefront’
Cristina Kenz, Chief Growth and Sustainability Officer at Kraft Heinz
Cristina Kenz is the perfect guest for a company like Screendragon. She has scaled the agency world to lead global networks like Grey and BBDO before fearlessly swapping agency life for senior roles in Pepsi Co, Danone, and now Kraft Heinz.
Her career in marketing and advertising has spanned three continents and four decades but Cristina’s ambition has always remained the same – to be a happy and whole person. This means work needs to be a place of enjoyment for Cristina and this puts teamwork and play at the top of her leadership policy. Tune in below to hear how this marketing and agency veteran is keeping things simple after all these years!
‘Improvised Confidence’
Kelly Leonard, Executive Director at The Second City
Kelly Leonard is a staple of the Chicago comedy scene as a 35-year veteran of famed improv hub, The Second City. Kelly is the author of the amazing ‘Yes, and’ book which intertwines improvisational comedy and a self-help guide. Kelly believes that humans are prone to say no when confronted with choices which results in many opportunities for fun or development being missed. ‘Yes, and’ is a gentle nudge to say ‘yes’ more often and see where that path brings you. Too often we approach the world with ‘humble curiosity’ which can close doors and suppress personalities.
In addition to comedy and writing, The Second City offer coaching and development for teams wherein improv techniques are used to guide people towards unlocking their true talents and abilities. Kelly explains how he uses improv techniques to guide him throughout many facets of his day – even handling busy roads and traffic! Kelly’s episode is a unique opportunity to find new tactics and approaches that can help both your work and daily life.
‘A World-Class City’
Michael Fassnacht, CMO at City of Chicago & CEO, World Business Chicago
Born in Germany but made in Chicago seems an appropriate depiction for Michael Fassnacht, the CMO of the City of Chicago and CEO of World Business Chicago. In both roles, Michael is tasked with telling the story of Chicago and promoting the city on a domestic and international plain.
Having spent many years working in the agency world, Michael is experienced in building brands and delivering business. He’s now using these skills to sell Chicago as a melting pot of educated workers, talent, diversity, and ecological benefits. The city’s business sector is booming after a record year for VC investment – listen below to find out how Michael Fassnacht is packaging a ‘world class city’!.
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