Getting someone to scroll past your ad isn’t the same as getting their attention. So what makes people stop and care? Ben Moore, US Managing Director at BeReal, joins Tessa Burg on Leader Generation to explore how brands can build meaningful connections with Gen Z. Drawing on his experience at BeReal and TikTok, Ben explains why the moments people choose to show up for can matter more than the time they spend on a platform. You’ll hear how screen fatigue and AI-generated content are shaping what people want from social media, why trust matters for advertising, and where AI can help without losing the human touch. Ben also shares what brands should consider when creating content for BeReal, including why a polished campaign from another platform may miss the mark. Listen for a fresh perspective on earning attention and making your brand part of a moment people care about.
John D. Smith has led turnarounds across nine industries, from consumer retail to Caesars Entertainment, where he moved from retail executive to resort CEO in under five months. Raised in the Philadelphia projects and later a Harvard Business School graduate, Smith joins Deborah Fell to trace how football discipline, McKinsey training, and firsthand experience on factory floors and casino floors shaped his leadership approach. Smith breaks down his three-to-five-year transformation model: diagnose how the business generates cash, right-size the infrastructure, then rebuild trust with frontline teams before any strategy sticks. His core belief is that organizations only transform once their people do, and leadership is a behavior, not a position. This conversation covers what it really means to show up as a leader, why he treats every employee like a volunteer, and the discipline required to do the unglamorous work no one is watching.
A client opened an email from his church asking for help. He clicked the link, filled out a form, and reset his password. Ten minutes later, a second email warned him it was fake. In this solo episode, Susan Finch walks through what happened next, what could have happened, and the one setup decision that kept it from reaching the rest of his firm. She talks about why church, school, shopping, and subscription sign-ups don’t belong in a business inbox, why forwarding work email to a personal account causes trouble, and why outdated email programs need to go. She also makes the case for a written email policy that staff talk through, sign, and revisit once or twice a year. Listeners can download a free starter policy template with discussion questions built in.
Today’s episode explores the transformation of a legacy business in the fire protection industry, a sector that is highly regulated, fiercely competitive, and faces ongoing price pressure and low barriers to entry. Perhaps some of you can relate. This is also an industry where many companies experience long periods of stagnant growth or workflow. It’s not because demand disappears, but because differentiation erodes and internal complexity quietly increases. Our conversation is with Shawn Mullen, President and Chief Energy Officer at Protex Control. The company has been serving mission-critical facilities for 60 years. When Shawn took the helm in 2017, the company’s revenue trajectory was flat. Essentially, a parked car in an industry where standing still means falling behind. What’s especially interesting is that the market itself was growing; yet Protex Central wasn’t. That gap between market opportunity and company performance became the catalyst for change.
Keith McHenry started Food Not Bombs in 1980, and today it shares free meals in more than 1,000 cities in over 70 countries with no paid staff and no headquarters. Susan Finch and Keith talk about why that works. He explains how keeping it local and built around a task brings people together, and how the people in line include mechanics, electricians, and workers who still can’t rent an apartment. Susan shares how Binky Patrol runs with nobody paid, why she meets every new chapter leader on Zoom, and what the chapters have learned from 30 years of trying things. They also talk about volunteer burnout, rotating roles so one person isn’t doing everything, and a Bink-a-Thon in Temecula where blankets went flying down the street. If you’ve wanted to help but didn’t know where to start, start with your neighbors.
This week, Jill Freeman, Author of The Unboring of Benefits: A Blueprint for Real Life Benefits Communication benefits leader and author, joins Sally on The Granite List. Live to dive into the crucial role that effective benefits communication plays in member utilization and ultimately member wellness. After years of experience on the employer-side of benefits, Jill witnessed first-hand the disconnect between benefits offerings and utilization. Identifying effective benefits communication as the missing, critical piece to make benefits understandable and accessible, Jill outlines the need for a consumer-like experience in benefits.
This world isn’t just a backdrop against which human salvation takes place and is then abandoned. We’re not saved out of the world; we’re saved with the world. Part of our stewardship and vocation, then, as baptized members of Christ, is to love and engage the world — so that, working through us, God’s grace might bring salvation for all of His creatures. But when the environment in which we live is out of sight, it quickly becomes out of mind. We’re much less motivated to notice environmental decline or to make personal sacrifices for something we don’t love — or even notice. So get outside and notice the world around you. Go for a walk, take it all in, and give thanks to God.
We hope you enjoy this playlist of our favorite episodes of the week!
