Sage Advice Podcast

For over three decades, Neil Rogers has built a successful career in sales and marketing, working with clients in a wide range of verticals, including pharmaceutical, biomedical, manufacturing, logistics, financial services, and government defense contractors. He is the  Owner and VP of Marketing and Sales at Rogers Marketing, winner of several Million Dollar Sales awards, the Velocity Award for growth, and the Heavy Hitter Awards for large accounts. Neil and his wife Lori are the creators/owners of the Positive Activity 11-Step Process, using scientifically proven activities to increase the quality of life and business through creativity, optimism, and positivity. Bar Tips is his first published book, drawing on the lessons learned during his years as a bartender that Neil has applied for success in sales. Neil started the non-profit PASE (Parents Assisting Special Educators) and PASE After 21 for special needs adults. Discover more at: https://www.positiveactivity.net/ Check out Neil's book at https://www.p

The Future Accountant  A mini-series with Matt Lescault of L-W Consulting discussing the impending disruption in the accounting industry. We will help you assess if your organization is at risk and cover actionable steps you can take right now to protect and prepare your business. Part 1: The Retirement Revolution A brief overview of the great retirement of accountants and the lack of new talent entering the field. Click here for a free assessment tool. Summary The retirement revolution and the future of accounting The problem with the number of accounting graduates How do we build institutional knowledge around accounting? How do you make the job more efficient? Having a working policies and procedures document What can you do to help facilitate this process?

Robin Hall is the driving force behind VARC Solutions. She is a sought-after instructor and speaker for venues such as Scaling New Heights and CNN Radio. Robin developed VARC Solutions’ signature product using Quickbase, NAN Practice Manager, a CRM designed specifically for CPAs and other accounting professional. She was named one of the 25 Most Influential Women in Accounting by CPA Practice Advisor for 2016. Summary Why accounting burdens should be lifted for business owners to focus on their passion. Starting a business and offering accounting services. Business growth and hiring employees. Hiring, onboarding, and learning from mistakes in a business. The importance of clients and their impact on personal growth.

Charles Lubar is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School and holds a Master’s Degree in taxation from Georgetown Law. For two-and-a-half years he worked in the Chief Counsel’s Office of the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, D.C. He spent thirty-four years as a partner for the global law firm Morgan Lewis. Lubar most recently served as a Senior Counsel at McDermott Will & Emery. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Lubar spent two years as an entrepreneur in Nairobi, Kenya, and has been a resident of London, England since 1971. Over fifty-plus years of international tax practice in London, he has represented a substantial number of well-known entertainers with respect to their international tax and often other issues including Michael Jackson, the Muppets, and several contributors to the James Bond films. Summary Introduction to Charles. Why did you go to Nairobi, Kenya?  An improbable journey into the world of money and law. Working with the Muppets. Who’s a hero and why are they a her

Three words that encompass Cassie: Authentic, Determined, and Optimistic. Her passion has always been people and making a difference in their day with a simple interaction. Cultivating and building relationships, while adding value to the client experience adds fuel to the fire that drives her. Cassie's daily focus includes implementing innovative processes to reduce churn and collaborating with other teams to increase efficiency and productivity.  Summary Why do you do what you do? The importance of removing the bottleneck. Why change is scary? Cassie's hero.  

Julie Wilkinson has over 12 years of experience delivering financial expertise to a variety of companies from smaller SMEs to large corporate firms. Julie’s entrepreneurial journey began when she started Wilkinson Accounting Solutions, within 2.5 years she grew to a team of 14 people and her passion is to help other business owners build sustainable growth that will allow them to build a business that runs without them, to maximize the value,  allowing them to live the life they want while running their business. Julie also has several other business ventures including building her own property portfolio, and business acquisitions, and is also a finance coach and mentor, helping others believe in themselves, and supporting their personal development goals. Outline Julie shares her background and her passion. Why do you do what you do? Working with companies wanting to be acquired or want to acquire What can a business do to make itself more attractive? Getting ready to acquire other businesses. Who is a hero

Blake Oliver is a CPA specializing in accounting technology and co-hosts The Accounting Podcast, the most popular podcast for accountants and bookkeepers. He has been honored to be named twice to CPA Practice Advisor's “40 Under 40” list and Accounting Today’s “Top 100 Most Influential People” list. He founded Earmark CPE so listeners can earn continuing professional education credits for listening to my shows and many more accounting and tax podcasts.

Rick Walker is an experienced founder, leader, and thinker across a variety of domains. He scaled his first company to 400 employees when he was 26, and simultaneously, as Chairman, grew a 53-country international nonprofit from 800 to 2,100 team members, while helping his hometown of Houston attract over $5 Billion in job-creation investments. Rick’s volunteer service also includes stints as a Director of a college in the Middle East and Chairman of a $250 Million charitable foundation. His 3:30 AM wake-up call helps fit everything in.  Summary Introduction to Rick Walker How to approach life like a servant The correlation between learning and business strategy The story of the entrepreneur Leadership and mentorship in music Shane Batty, the glue guy Who is a hero and why are they heroes?

Emily Cosgrove began her career winning Young business person of the year for her first business, The High Tide Café, at 24 years old. Six years later she trained with Cardiff University’s Learning and Development Unit, and partnered with them on widening participation mentoring programs for almost 20 years. After retraining as a professional coach-mentor in 2007, Emily began supporting global organizations and cutting-edge start-ups to create award winning mentoring schemes, and people at all levels to strengthen their human connection at work through their conversations.  In 2014 she co-founded The Conversation Space with business partner Sara Hope where they co-created the framework and idea of their book, Conversational Wisdom: Strengthening Human Connection Through the Power of Conversation. Summary Introduction to Emily Cosgrove Why do you do what you do? What Is conversational wisdom? Moving away from transactional to transformational. Being upfront and transparent about intent. Who is a hero of hers?

Matt Lescault founded Lescault & Walderman in 2006, his vision was to build a business with a reputation as a leading name in outsourced accounting, bookkeeping, and CFO services. Since then they have grown from a simple, small business to an enterprise-level service provider with diverse business offerings. Matt's passion is to partner with his clients to leverage the power of automation, integration, and high-level strategy to help them transform their disjointed, manual accounting processes into automated assets that drive every business decision for the future. Summary Why do you do what you do? The importance of having a good why. How well does the accounting profession do at storytelling? Why do accountants struggle with telling stories? Understanding who you’re putting in who’s putting in what seat. Matt’s hero

Across two episodes, Jeff Richards and David Beard from the Sage CRM team talk with Charles "Chuck" Kuczynski,  Executive Vice President at Keystone Precision Solutions, one of the most successful construction and survey equipment sales companies, based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the northeastern United States.  In this episode, Chuck tells us about the lessons he learned from talking to other companies about using CRM, using the tool to move away from emotional decision-making, and how their partner continues to help them evolve their system usage despite a few changes in the path they have chosen over the 11 years of Sage CRM usage. 

Andrew Schulkind leads Andigo, a website and content marketing agency that focuses on helping B2B clients generate audience engagement through solid information architecture, great user experience, and compelling content. And, a dash of common sense doesn’t hurt, either. The Andigo team is experienced in working in a range of industries and is particularly passionate about working with mission-driven businesses. Andrew engages in a range of community volunteer work and is an avid guitar player, bread baker, and cyclist. He also loves collecting meaningless trivia and once broke INTO prison.  Summary Introduction Why it's important to align marketing with customer experience? Sincerity and authenticity Jargon in taglines Be aspirational even if you think your audience doesn’t know Who is a hero and why are they a hero? How to contact Andrew

Jeff Richards is the Head of Training Program Development at Sage CRM, joining the team in 2001. He possesses a deep understanding of the challenges faced by business partners during implementations and regularly shares his expertise through writing and presentations on Sage CRM development. Jeff collaborates with global and local partner advisory councils to shape the Sage CRM Roadmap. In this episode, Jeff will discuss the AI features introduced in Sage CRM 2023 R1.  He will explain what those are, and why they matter to accounting system owners.  Summary Introduction to Jeff The state of the CRM market space The Company Narrative Generative AI vs. deterministic AI Who is a hero and why are they a hero?

Nicole Davis is a principle at Butler Davis. She is a highly-energetic focused accounting professional and business strategist with over 18 years of relevant experience. Her personal and professional motto is "Make It Happen."​ Leaving nothing to chance, Nicole strives to be the trusted advisor of small and medium-sized businesses throughout metro Atlanta and the United States. Spending most of her career in private industry, she knows the intricacies of business operations and accounting for businesses of all sizes. Summary Why do you do what you do? Building a team and passing on knowledge Setting expectations for onboarding Autonomy is the key Who is a hero and why are they a hero?

Kimberly Deobald is the Chief Revenue Officer at Avalara. She is a Global Sales Leader with 20+ years of technology industry experience managing go-to-market strategies, B2B sales, product development, operational excellence, and business development. Kimberly has  Built, mentored, and empowered Many high performance teams. She is a Passionate proven leader of leaders and is Focused on driving Customer Experience and value to maximize revenue performance.   Summary Introduction to Kimberly.  Why is tax compliance getting harder for businesses?  The evolution of taxation in America. Businesses are the collectors but not the payers of tax. Kimberly’s mission to give to the women in STEM community.  Kimberly's heroes: Three women who changed the world. 

Jennifer Warawa is the President of Quickfee, North America which offers online payment solutions that help professionals re-think their payment process and deliver a better client experience. Jennifer is an experienced technology executive with demonstrated experience and success in Partner Management and Programs, Channel Sales, Product Marketing, Business Transformation, Strategic Alliances, Sales, Go-to-Market, Executive Leadership, and Management. With a strong accounting and consulting background, she effectively leads the development of the overall business strategy and drives it through to execution, delivering strong commercial results and successful outcomes. In addition, Jennifer is a frequent top-rated keynote speaker at industry events and business conferences around the globe. Summary Why Jennifer does what she does Navigating through the tech stack How to be specific and targeted about technology. Automation is not a secret. Jennifer’s definition of a sorority or fraternity.

Across two episodes, Jeff Richards and David Beard from the Sage CRM team talk with Charles "Chuck" Kuczynski,  Executive Vice President at Keystone Precision Solutions, one of the most successful construction and survey equipment sales companies, based in Allentown, Pennsylvania, in the northeastern United States.  In this episode, we talk to Chuck about the company's background and how Sage CRM has helped them evolve their business processes to remain competitive & deliver the service their customers expect.

Finding the WHY between humans and brands is Julius Geis's passion. The Founder and CEO of MUA, Julius is driven by his vision to navigate people and businesses to their fulfillment, and he's been sharing that vision as a branding expert for almost two decades, working with teams of all sizes, from boutique brands to international companies. Julius is fascinated by the resonant impact that beliefs, thoughts and actions have on people’s lives and decisions, and successfully challenges ideas that are regarded as impossible. In 2008 he built the foundation for "identity-built branding," an approach that rests on his personal transformation and a strategy that he practices with his clients today.   Summary Intro to the podcast. How to ask for your own why in life?  Building emotional intelligence elements into software. How did you feel about a meeting? Managing your emotional capacity vs. time capacity. Who is a hero of yours?

Dominic Ashley-Timms is a performance improvement specialist who works directly with Leaders and Managers to bring about permanent changes in leadership and management style. As a graduate Ergonomist with an EMBA  and after years spent in Change Management consulting, Dominic now applies his passion for human-centered design to learning and behavior change. He is the CEO and founder of performance improvement consultancy Notion, the creator of the multi-award-winning and academically proven STAR® Manager programme, and the co-author of the bestselling new book The Answer Is a Question.   Summary Dominic introduces himself. Why do you do what you do? As we progress through our careers, we gain experience, and as we become more senior, the style of questioning tends to be more diagnostic in nature. When we start to think that way, something very powerful happens. We resist stepping into every problem. Are there any characteristics of successful effective questions? His current hero is Steve Bartlett

Laurent Charpentier received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from INSA Lyon. Prior to joining Yooz, Laurent served as Solution Lead Architect and Security Lead Consultant for Accenture, and was Business Analyst for Dell Inc. Since 2016, he has been Yooz Northe American COO and CIO and became Yooz CEO in 2022 to lead the next growth momentum.   Summary Laurent's background.  What is Cloud P2P automation?  What are some of the use cases that have come out of this?  It’s not about getting rid of people, it is about changing the tasks that people do.  Are we hitting a peak in the AI trend?  Who is a hero of yours, and why?