Nerv with Ryan Williams

I was excited to have Troy Carter on the podcast.  He is the founder of Atom Factory, and the conversation was inspiring to say the least.

Troy and I talked about hip-hop, entrepreneurship, life, failure, success and finding passion around your work.  Troy used to work with Bigee Smalls and Puff Daddy back in the day and we started talking about the paralelles of technology entrepreneurs and hip hop music artists.  And the conversation turned into so much more afterwards.  

A great quote from Troy: "In life in general, there are no guarantees.  Failures are a part of life.  As cliche as it may sound, the way I look at it as there are no rewards without taking risks.  We take a risk every time we step out the door, every single day.  Life is full of risks and failures, but at the same time life is full of triumphs and hapiness."  

 

Direct download: TroyCarter.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 5:32pm PDT

In this episode I talk with Willie Geist, co-host of the TODAY Show and Morning Joe, and a multiple time NY Times best-selling author.  Willie is an old friend from Vanderbilt and I enjoyed interviewing at his office in NYC a few weeks ago.

Willie chats about his book Good Talk, Dad:  The Birds and The Bees…and Other Versions We Forgot to Have  that he co-authored with his father Bill Geist.  Good Talk, Dad became a NY times best-seller, without having any orders pre-sold through Amazon. This is a big deal, because the bulk of book orders in this modern day come from pre-ordering on Amazon’s website.  Willie details why and his Dad wrote the book together, and how they marketed it to their audiences around Father's Day. 

Additionally, we dive into various chapters of the book. This includes reminiscing about the famed Big Sky Basketball Tournament @ Vanderbilt University that we both played in back in college. And a funny chapter he wrote about taking his daughter to a Harvard/Columbia football game. 

Willie also talks about how what it’s like crossing over to other shows like Andy Cohen’s Bravo Show, Joel McHale’s The Soup, and working with The Olympics with Brian Williams and Michelle Beadle. Andy Cohen and other friends were instrumental in helping to market “Good Talk. Dad,” helping it reach best-seller status.

Buy Willie and Bill Geist’s book “Good Talk, Dad”: http://www.amazon.com/Good-Talk-Dad-Conversations-Forgot-ebook/dp/B00EXTVSMI

Follow Willie Geist on Twitter: https://twitter.com/williegeist

Watch Willie on the Today Show: http://www.today.com/

 

Direct download: Willie_Geist_2.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 8:29pm PDT

Lance Ulanoff is Chief Correspondent and Editor-at-Large at Mashable.  He joined the Stories From the Influencer Economy, to detail his work as a journalist, and discuss how the journalism industry is evolving in the era of social media.

We also discussed how journalists can build their personal brands on platforms like Twitter & Vine.  Lance has covered Apple since his days writing PC Mag, through the current job at Mashable.  He also has makes regular appearances to talk tech and products on shows like Fox News, the Today Show, and Good Morning America. 

I had Lance on the show to discuss: 

  • How journalists can market themselves, and find their POV
  • What type of content journalists can create to stand-out in the media world
  • What’s it like covering Apple event in 2014, vs. 1990

 

Follow Lance on Vine: 

 

What you’ll get out from this episode (Show notes):

 

  • How Lance uses Vine animations to tell stories via journalism 
  • The importance of having a personal brand in social media 
  • How Lance went from writing a column for PC Mag, to creating social media stories at Mashable 
  • How social media creates real-time news at Mashable
  • The differences between news rooms in the late 1990’s to today
  • What its like covering the Apple iPhone launch events
  • What it was like writing 20 page features on technology compared to his work today in journalism
  • How he connects with Levarr Burton, William Shatner and other influencers via social media
  • Lance’s advice to journalism students for “how to get into writing for a living”
  • What’s next for Mashsable 
Direct download: LanceUlanoff_.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 8:45pm PDT

This episode is supported by https://www.trumaker.com

Justin Jackson joins the Influencer Economy for Episode #25.  Justin a product manager by day, and does a million other things in his spare time. He details how he hosts his Product People podcast, works his day job as a product manager, and finds time to blog and write his email newsletter. Justin talks at length about the important of "shipping" your ideas and building products.  So often people focus on big ideas, and Justin talks how the virtues in building smaller ideas, that can turn into bigger ones.  This episode also dives into how to interview and reach important people as well as how building side projects can help re-define your career.

 

Product People:  A podcast focused on great products and the people who make them  http://productpeople.tv

Justin's website:  http://justinjackson.ca

Justin on Twitter:  https://twitter.com/mijustin

Direct download: ProductPeople_Justin.mp3
Category:careers -- posted at: 10:17am PDT

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