Peter: Welcome to Episode 30 of Improv is no Joke podcast. Happy holidays and thank you very much for downloading this episode. I can say that 2016 flew by faster than a european swallow, or maybe that’s an African swallow. Well, in any case, on June 27th, this podcast was launched with the intent to help my audience strengthen their communication and leadership skills through improvisation. Friends have been telling me for a long time that I need to have my own podcast and even my mother suggested it too. She said, “son you really need to start your own podcast because I’ve always told you that you have a face for radio.” Now she really didn’t say that – or did she?

I wasn’t sure what I was walking into but I did tell myself that I needed to invest a year’s worth of time to see if this was right for my business and I can answer that question right now with a resounding, “Yes!”

This podcast has been so much fun because I’ve had great guests that provided wonderful advice, along with lots of laughter. This has been a blast and a big Thank You goes out to all of you who have given your time and knowledge to this podcast. Another big thank you goes to Cody Boyce and his team at Podcast Masters for the outstanding behind-the-scenes work to make this podcast a success. Thank you all.

One of the biggest question marks I had about launching a podcast was, “Will anybody listen?” I’m recording this episode on December 17th and to-date there have been over 2,500 downloads reaching 24 countries, including the United States of America. Some of these countries include Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, France and Australia. I am just blown away. Seeing this type of growth helps me with the motivation to keep this podcast moving forward. I’m going to do a short review of the prior 29 episodes, which includes the guest’s name, a summary title for the episode, and my favorite quote from the interview.

Now, if something catches your attention, go to iTunes, Stitcher or Google Play and download the episode. Okay, here we go.

In episode 1, my guest was Clark Price, who is a retired CEO of the Ohio Society of CPAs and his episode is titled “Leadership and Not-For-Profits.” My favorite quote is, “Great leaders have the ability to explain that their path is the right thing to do.”

In episode 2, my guest was Mike Sciortino, who’s the author of Gratitude Marketing. His episode is titled, “Founder & CEO of Gratitude Marketing.” Go figure. Now my favorite quote from this interview was, “I’m about building long-term relationships and you do that by being concerned more with what the customer or client wants than what your agenda might be.”

In episode 3, my guest was Tom Hood, who is the CEO of the Maryland Association of CPAs, and his episode is titled, “Forward Thinking.” My favorite quote is, “The old idea of ‘if we train them they’ll leave’ needs to take a back seat to the more critical message of ‘what if we don’t train them and they stay?’”

In episode 4, my guest was Ed Mendlowitz, who is a partner in the accounting firm of Withum Smith And brown in New Jersey, and his episode is titled “Building Client Relationships,” and my favorite quote was, “Referrals determine if you’re doing a good job or not.”

In episode 5, my guest was my good friend Karl Ahlrichs, who’s a senior consultant at Gregory & Appel Insurance, and his episode is titled, “The Next-Gen Wi-Fi,” and my favorite quote was, “The ability to simplify the complex and communicated will be invaluable in the near future.”

In episode 6, my guest was Steve Sacks, who is the CEO and Founder of Solutions to Results, LLC. His episode is titled, “Leadership and Firms,” and my favorite quote was, “Ask a question, listen to the answer, then deliver on what the client wants.”

In episode 7, my guest was Karen Young, who is the President and Founder of HR Resolutions, LLC, and the author of the book Stop Knocking on My Door: Drama-Free HR and her episode is titled, “Hire Slow and Fire Fast.” My favorite quote was, “Drama occurs in the workplace when we fail to communicate fully with our people.”

In episode 8, my guest was Pam Devine, who’s the Director of Learning and Development at the Maryland Association of CPAs. Her episode is titled, “Learning Environments.” My favorite quote is, “The learning curve is truly the earning curve.”

In episode 9, my guest was John Barlow, who is a principal engineer at Honda R&D Americas Inc, and his episode is titled, “The Yes And Mindset.” My favorite quote was, “Because people are so busy with their lives these days, I think part of that forces the, ‘Yes, but,’ in our culture.”

In episode 10, my guest was an old school friend of mine for many years ago, Kevin Tipton, who’s a professor at sport, health and exercise scientist at the University of Stirling in Scotland, and his episode is titled, “Improvisation in Education.” My favorite quote for this interview was, “If one approaches the challenge with a ‘Yes, and’ attitude, it becomes an opportunity as opposed to something that’s bad.” Well said, my friend.

In episode 11, my guest is my good friend Jennifer Elder, who is the President and Founder of The Sustainable CFO. Her episode is titled, “Millennials in the Workplace” and my favorite quote was “The definition of a professional is someone who does their best work when they don’t want to.”

In episode 12, my guest was Bret Johnson, who is the Director of Channel Management and Development at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and his episode is titled “Developing Partnerships.” My favorite quote was, “There’s a certain amount of fear when it comes to working with partners. You have to trust; you have to take a bit of a leap of faith.”

In episode 13, my guest was Jack Park, who is a certified speaking professional, corporate advisor, football radio commentator, best-selling author and all-around great guy. His episode is titled “Leadership and Football.” My favorite quote was, “With almost no exceptions, the great coaches were great coaches because they were even greater leaders than they were coaches.”

In episode 14, my guest was my neighbor Tami Gaitten, who is the Founder and CEO of Gaitten Wellness, LLC, and her episode is titled “Improve Your Health With Small Changes.” My favorite quote was, “Nature is designed to provide us the foods that we need in the season that we’re in.”

In episode 15, my guest was Hayden Williams, who is a CFO and former VP of Education at the Washington Society of CPAs, and his episode is titled “The Future of CPE.” My favorite quote was, “We have to start thinking about how we embrace our audience. How do we create that experience for that audience member?”

In episode 16, my guest was Kristen Rampe, who is the founder and CEO of Kristen Rampe Consulting, and her episode is titled “The Value of Soft Skills in Public Accounting.” My favorite quote was, “It’s time for accountants to get out from behind our desks. Talk to your clients and learn more about their business.”

In episode 17, my guest was a friend of mine Dan Swartwout, who is a stand-up comedian, councilman and attorney. His episode is titled “Public Speaking Skills.” My favorite quote was, “The great speaker and a good speaker are both prepared and ready and on top of what they’re going to do. The great speaker, however, doesn’t appear to be over-prepared.”

In episode 18, my guest was Mark Wyssbrod, who’s a CPA, local capitalist, and President of Small Business CFO, Inc, and his episode is titled “Entrepreneurship.” My favorite quote was, “Stop saying What If and start saying Yes And.”

In episode 19, my guest was Judy Carter, who is a keynote speaker, coach and author of The Message of You. Her episode is titled “Find Your Message.” My favorite quote was, “Take command of your life story. Take command of The Message of You and find your message now. Find that message now. Find it, and use it to become an influencer in the world.”

In episode 20, my guest was Lisa Anderson, who is a tax partner at Morse & Company in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and her episode is titled “Divorce, Taxes and Opportunities.” My favorite quote was, “I have knowledge and I have a skill set that I want to share with people. If I’m not presenting it, it’s not getting out there. So it’s worth having that fear initially.”

In episode 21, my guest was Greg Kozera, a writer and speaker with extensive knowledge of valuable subjects from leadership skills to the science behind fracking, and his episode is titled “Leadership to Fracking.” My favorite quote was, “Leaders know where they are going.”

In episode 22, my guest was Greg Lainas, who’s a Senior Vice President and Division Director of Robert Half Management Resources, and his episode is titled “Power of Networking.” My favorite quote was, “If I can network my way into a book, you should be able to network your way into a job.”

In episode 23, my guests for Claudia and Tom Trusty, the crack marketing duo at Trusty & Company, and their episode is titled “Optimize Your Marketing.” My favorite quote was, “The bottom line is, if you’re not on page one on Google, you’re nowhere.”

In episode 24, my guest was Brette Rowley, who is the career coach to the Millennials, and her episode is titled “Marketing Your Job Search.” My favorite quote was, “In the job search process, you’re ultimately marketing yourself.”

In episode 25, my guest was Bill Sheridan, who is the Chief Communications Officer at the Maryland Association of CPAs, and his episode is titled “Changes in Technology and its Impact.” My favorite quote was, “If we can get there first, if we can figure out how to become a little bit more future ready and then show our clients and customers how to do that as well, then our role as trusted business advisors just gets stronger.”

In episode 26, my guest was a former accounting student of mine, Ashley Matthews, who is now a Senior Tax Manager Rea & Associates in Dublin, Ohio. Her episode is titled “Adaptability in Public Accounting.” My favorite quote was, “I found that you have to be stern and you have to mean what you say in order to be taken seriously. People have a tendency to pile on and see how much you’ll take, and so pushing back is always appropriate.”

In episode 27, my guest is my dear friend Janis Cohen, who’s the author of the book The Intuitive Therapist, and her episode is titled “Using Your Intuition.” My favorite quote was, “I have no problem with people not believing. I know that I don’t need to convince anybody of anything. I understand the skepticism really only comes from a place of being unaware.”

In episode 28, my guest is a good friend of mine Jamie Richardson, who’s the VP of Government and Shareholder Relations at White Castle Systems, Inc, and his episode is titled “Making a Difference.” My favorite quote was, “The greatest part of networking is about friendships and part of that friendship is being a good listener.”

Finally, In episode 29, my guest is another good friend of mine, Dr. Jay Young, who is the founder of College Bound Advantage. His episode is titled “You need a trail map when selecting a college.” My favorite quote is, “I do what college consultants don’t do and I do what high school counselors don’t do. I know colleges in Ohio and I know their academic programs. I know their co-curricular programs and I know the trade-offs that result from connections between those.”

In thinking about these past 29 episodes, I’ve come up with my top five quotes, and they are:

Coming in at number Five was Jamie Richardson: “The greatest part of networking is about friendships and part of that friendship is being a good listener.”

Number 4 is Jennifer Elder: “The definition of a professional is someone who does their best work when they don’t want to.”

Coming in at number three was Tom Hood: “The old idea of ‘if we train them they’ll leave’ needs to take a back seat to the more critical message of ‘what if we don’t train them and they stay?’

Coming in at number two was Mark Wyssbrod: “Stop saying What If and start saying Yes And.”

And the number one top quote was Greg Lainas: “If I can network my way into a book, you should be able to network your way into a job.” The book he networked his way into is called Flashback by Gary Braver and he’s actually on page 115, if you want to check it out.

I hope you enjoyed this podcast and will continue to download them in 2017. If you think a friend, colleague or family member will get value from the podcast, then please share it with them. If you’d like to be a guest on my podcast, please send me an email at Peter (at) PeterMargaritis.com.

We kick off 2017 with episode 31 and my guest is Bob Dean, who’s the CEO of Dean Learning and Talent Advisors, LLC.

Once again, thank you all for downloading and taking time to listen and have a safe and happy new year.