FLIP THE SWITCH

Hosted by EngageMint's Managing Partner, David Millay. We sit down with leaders in customer & employee experience to tease out new mindsets, core principles and best practices. Built specifically for leaders in sports & entertainment.

Flip the Switch

115: How the Savannah Bananas Create the ‘Greatest Show Possible’ w/ Jesse Cole

Our first three-peat on the show, we welcome back Jesse Cole, owner of the Savannah Bananas. In previous episodes, David and Jesse have jammed and brainstormed, but in this show, we unpack the Bananas’ 5-E-Framework that has propelled their Fans First model into a global phenomenon. What the Bananas lack in detailed processes and metrics, they make up for in intentionality, in-depth knowledge of their product and fans and the impression they leave through every step of the in-person and virtual experience.

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Flip the Switch

114: Creating a More Captivating Customer Service Training w/ David Millay and Katie Rudy

Customer service training shouldn’t be something you have to do, but something you get to do, to empower the event staffs that serve your fans and represent your brand.

In this episode, David Millay and Katie Rudy break down the the key components, resources and best practices to running a more captivating training.

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Flip the Switch

113: The Building Blocks of LEGO’s Content & Fandom Strategy w/ James Gregson

Similar to the passion fans have for Disney, young kids and adults alike have deep emotional connections with LEGO. In this week’s episode, James Gregson, creative director for LEGO Group’s internal creative agency, breaks down the content strategies that elicits that fandom and helps “inspire the builders of tomorrow.”

The conversation covers the product partnerships and user-generated content that LEGO utilizes to strengthen relationships and bring new fans into the ecosystem and the creative process James’ team employs to build campaigns.

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Flip the Switch

112: How to Become Customer-Centric vs. Customer-Focused w/ Annette Franz

The terms “customer-focused” and “customer-centric” are often used interchangeably, but there are distinct differences from how an organization is culturally structured to how they serve their customers. In this week’s episode, Annette Franz joins David Millay to discuss her latest book, “Built to Win: Designing a Customer-Centric Culture that Drives Value for Your Business” and the 10 principles to become a more customer-centric organization.

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Flip the Switch

111: Driving Deeper Engagement Through Digital Activations (Part Two) w/ Nick Lawson

Nick Lawson, Co-Founder and CEO of SQWAD rejoins the podcast to discuss the current state of the digital space, sponsorship activations and fan engagement. With much to cover, we split this conversation into two episodes. Listen to the first episode here. In part two, we jump back into the conversation with David Millay and Nick discussing the problems with sponsorship and the deep dive that SQWAD has done to solve them. This episode features strategies and tactics to help organizations and sponsors develop successful campaigns that meet the four steps of awareness, engagement, action and retargeting.

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Flip the Switch

110: Driving Deeper Engagement Through Digital Activations (Part One) w/ Nick Lawson

Nick Lawson, Co-Founder and CEO of SQWAD, joined David Millay on Flip the Switch on March 1, 2020 to discuss the role of digital activations in sports sponsorship. Just two weeks after, that episode became a playbook, as sports leagues and teams turned to digital and virtual platforms to engage brands and fans throughout the pandemic.

Two years later, we invited Nick back to discuss the current state of the digital space, sponsorship activations and fan engagement. With much to cover, we split this conversation into two episodes.

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Flip the Switch

109: Aligning Strategy, Culture and Leadership w/ Len Perna

In today’s episode, David is joined by Len Perna, Chairman and CEO of TurnkeyZRG. Having managed more than 1,400 executive searches, from coaches to middle management to executive leaders, Len shares how his talent advisory firm aligns clients on strategy and cultural fit with the current marketplace, the key attributes they look for in leaders and the “Moneyball” methodology they use to evaluate candidates.

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Flip the Switch

108: The Core Principles Driving Employee Motivation w/ Dr. Scott Rigby

Salary increases and rewards have their place, but to inspire connection and tenure with your employees requires more. In this episode, David Millay and Dr. Scott Rigby, Founder and CEO of Immersyve and MotivationWorks, dive into self-determination theory, employees’ three basic needs and the obstacles employers must overcome to motivate their teams long-term.

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Flip the Switch

107: Harnessing the True Power of Community in Your Fanbase w/ Christina Garnett

The power of community emerges when companies embrace the directional relationship members form not just with their brand, but with other members. In this episode, Christina Garnett, senior marketing manager for offline community and advocacy at HubSpot, joins David to talk about the magic of tapping into common passions and making your fans the hero of the story.

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Flip the Switch

106: Forging a Non-Traditional Career Path w/ Paul Millerd

In the last two years, individuals have challenged the traditional scripts of career paths, a factor contributing to the Great Resignation. On today’s episode, we sit down with Paul Millerd, a solopreneur and author of “The Pathless Path: Imagining a New Story for Work and Life.” Since leaving his corporate consulting career, Paul has studied the concepts behind burnout, work-life balance and the economic impact on the current job market. This episode provides insight to employees willing to leave full-time jobs to explore and experiment and how you might be able to retain them and increase their value to your organization.

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Flip the Switch

105: Storytelling and Personifying a Brand Voice w/ Amie Kiehn

In this episode, we are joined by Amie Kiehn, Social Leader and Head of Community for Gondola. During Amie’s time with the Carolina Panthers, she cultivated a brand personality across their social media platforms with a voice known for its wit and snark. Rather than just focusing on events, Amie and her team connected with fans by listening to the community and experimenting with creative content and comments on other viral posts. We cover everything from brand personas, content calendars (or lack thereof), understanding the creative process and “work-life balance.”

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Flip the Switch

104: Moving to a 32-Hour Work Week w/ Josh Foreman

It’s not every day we are turning to global debt collection companies for inspiration. Today’s episode features InDebted CEO Josh Foreman. Josh had a vision for creating a customer-centric debt collection agency and the organization has more than 2,000 5-star reviews on Google. While we dig into some of the strategies and tactics that led to those reviews, this conversation largely focuses on the employee experience. In September 2021, InDebted moved to a 4-day, 32-hour work week. We provide a full roadmap for implementing the asynchronous work schedule in your organization.

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Flip the Switch

103: Learning to Lead Like Amazon w/ John Rossman

To become the digital leader and business disruptor Amazon is today, the company has firmly operated on 14 leadership principles. First and foremost, they are driven by customer obsession.

This week, we are joined by John Rossman, managing partner of Rossman Partners, author and keynote speaker. John spent nearly four years as an Amazon executive, responsible for launching and scaling the merchant integration team and Amazon Marketplace business, which accounts for more than 50% of all units sold on Amazon.com. Since leaving, he has helped organizations understand the strategies and core principles that propelled Amazon to success.

Before you think “this isn’t applicable, I don’t have Amazon’s staff or budget”, the tangible tactics can be applied to help businesses of all sizes excel.

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Flip the Switch

102: The Best Lessons We Learned in 100 Podcasts w/ David Millay and Katie Rudy

Recently, we hit 100 episodes of Flip the Switch. In this bonus edition, David Millay and Katie Rudy issue superlative awards to their favorite takeaways and break down the trends, experiments, and leadership lessons that have influenced their work with EngageMint.

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Flip the Switch

101: Evoking Emotional Connections with Fans Through Content w/ Zhanee Anderson

When we think about the fan experience today, it’s not just about their experience at a live event but how they interact directly and indirectly, how they engage and connect with your brand emotionally 24/7. This episode, we are joined by rising star Zhanee Anderson, from the University of Texas creative team. Throughout the conversation, David and Zhanee touch on creating for different brands and audiences, developing emotional engaging stories and infusing personal styles into content.

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Flip the Switch

100: Coaching to Success from the Boardroom to the Football Field w/ Joe Moglia

A perfect fit for our 100th episode, guest Joe Moglia brings best practices and leadership insights from a unique career in football and the private sector. Joe spent 16 years as a coach, became a business leader for Merrill Lynch and TD Ameritrade and served as CEO of TD Ameritrade for 7 years, before heading back to the football field to be head coach at Coastal Carolina. He currently holds the titles of Chairman of the Board for TD Ameritrade and Chair of Athletics and Executive Director for Football for Coastal Carolina. This episode covers his “BAM” leadership philosophy, the current state of college athletics and how it can better align with the business world.

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Flip the Switch

99: Turning Ordinary Game Days Into Extraordinary Experiences w/ David Millay and Katie Rudy

It’s Super Bowl week and 70,000 fans will fill SoFi Stadium for that “bucket list” experience. The average sports fan may not witness a World Series, College Football Playoff or Super Bowl in person. In this episode, David Millay and Katie Rudy discuss some of their favorite sporting events and how a focus on hospitality, premium spaces, concessions offerings and pregame shows can turn an ordinary game into an extraordinary one.

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Flip the Switch

98: College Leaders | Leveraging Real-Time Data to Enhance Fan Experiences w/ Paris Buchanan

This College Leaders segment of Flip the Switch features Paris Buchanan, Assistant AD for Marketing and Fan Experience for Ole Miss Athletics. Through one football season with minimal crowds, Ole Miss realized not only how much they value their home field advantage, but how to connect with Rebel fans that aren’t viewing the games in person. Paris, David Millay and Katie Rudy dive into the data driving their digital activations, in-season changes and planning for future seasons.

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Flip the Switch

97: The Basics for Better Brainstorms w/ David Millay and Katie Rudy

In this episode, David Millay and Katie Rudy share some of their favorite resources and best practices to conduct an effective individual or team brainstorm session.

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Flip the Switch

96: How to Curb the Great Resignation in Your Organization

The Great Resignation is affecting every industry and every organization. In collaboration with our partners at Penn State, the EngageMint team recently led a management retreat to discuss the trends and solutions to turn the “Great Attrition” into the “Great Attraction”.

A more unorthodox episode, David Millay and Katie Rudy host a round table discussion with Christina Gatehouse, Assistant AD for Human Resources at Penn State to share key takeaways from the retreat.

We break down the most surprising data trends in our research, the impressionable action steps from the retreat and how you could conduct a similar session in your organization.

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