GlobalEdgeTalk

Your Brand Isn’t A Robot, So Stop Marketing Like One

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1491268/open_sms] What happens when a Division I athlete turns a gaming refuge into a playbook for inclusive growth and human-centered marketing? We sit down with Erin Ashley Simon to trace her path from family-fueled passion to industry leadership and explore what truly earns trust in a noisy digital world. Erin shares how her time at the University of Kentucky sharpened her storytelling instincts, why she helped create a scholarship that treats gaming as education, and how access—hardware, broadband, mobile—still defines who gets to compete. We discuss Gen Z and Gen Alpha’s shifting habits: a preference for real faces over faceless brands, skepticism born of privacy breaches, and a growing return to minimalism and offline connection. For marketers, it means community first, content second. Emotional storytelling beats polish; generosity builds trust. AI shows up as both accelerator and caution—it streamlines work but can’t replace intuition or soul. Erin explains how creators can stay authentic while using AI wisely, including her own pivot helping a local comic shop triple profits through grounded storytelling. If you care about esports inclusion, youth culture, and the next era of brand trust, this conversation points the way forward. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1491268/support]

Your Insulin Pump Wants A Cybersecurity Update

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1491268/open_sms] Healthcare breaches aren’t news anymore—they’re routine. I sat down with IEEE’s Maria Palombini to unpack how connected devices multiply risk, where vulnerabilities hide, and how “security by design” can harden medical tech without slowing innovation. From pharma operations to launching a blockchain media venture to leading healthcare and life sciences at the IEEE Standards Association, Maria brings a rare 360° view of how to build safe, interoperable digital health. We trace the data journey from a wearable on your wrist through networks and the cloud into hospital systems. Along the way, the usual culprits appear: unpatched software, weak passwords, and products that add security too late. Maria explains how consensus-based standards give manufacturers a blueprint to embed cybersecurity at design, smooth regulatory approval, and cut rework—just as Wi-Fi’s 802.11 standard once unlocked smartphones, telehealth, and remote monitoring. We also explore how IEEE standards are built: market-driven, inclusive of engineers, clinicians, regulators, and patients. That collaboration strengthens rigor and adoption. Looking toward 2030, Maria sees a more inquisitive, patient-driven system—one that expects connected care to be secure by default and interoperable by design. If you work on medical devices, compliance, or digital health strategy, this conversation delivers clear, usable insights. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1491268/support]

From Wall Street To AI: Building Products That Actually Solve Problems

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1491268/open_sms] What if the fastest way to innovate is to protect what matters most — people, trust, and purpose? That’s the thread in our conversation with product leader Josette Simon, who moved from global finance to a high-velocity AI startup to build tools that solve real customer pain and deliver measurable impact. We explore how large enterprises can modernize without losing their soul, and why the idea that “AI remembers what humans forget” captures the true power of augmentation. Josette shares how to cut weeks of busywork into hours while preserving the expertise that makes organizations distinct. The payoff isn’t fewer people — it’s faster cycles, higher quality, and more creative space for meaningful problem-solving. Education and ethics take center stage as we discuss AI literacy, diverse learning styles, and the value of rewarding curiosity over rote memorization. Josette makes the case for innovation with conscience: building guardrails, anticipating impact, and treating society as a stakeholder. Responsible design and transparent data practices don’t slow growth — they earn lasting trust. For intrapreneurs and startup founders alike,Josette offers a practical playbook: read the culture, map stakeholders, secure buy-in, and tie every idea to real outcomes — revenue, cost, risk, and speed. Her closing advice is blunt and inspiring: make your own seat, pair empathy with edge, and turn “no” into “not yet.” Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1491268/support]

From Layoff to Legacy: Building a Personal Brand That Pays

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1491268/open_sms] Stop waiting for a title to validate your value. Alex sits down with internationally recognized mentor and TEDx speaker Katrena Friel to map a 90-day path from layoff anxiety and plateaus to a market-ready expert brand. A painful early misstep forged her resilience and her done-for-you, book-first method: codify your philosophy in a short, publishable book; use that rigor to drive your brand, website, keynote, and premium signature program. We unpack the psychology most pros skip. Self-doubt doesn’t vanish; it becomes a signal. Confidence is domain-specific, which is why speaking feels scary until your ideas have structure. Write the book, then turn it into a keynote, and fear flips into readiness. Katrina also outlines seven revenue streams — author, speaker, trainer, coach, mentor, facilitator, consultant — to stabilize income across cycles. You’ll get no-fluff strategies by life stage: proof and stripes in your 20s; a dual track for Gen X; and for boomers, packaging wisdom as paid expertise. Saturation is solved by story — your lived patterns and language. If this resonates, follow, share, and leave a quick review so more people build brands that outlast job titles. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1491268/support]

From Tariffs to Checkout: Navigating Trade, Logistics, E‑commerce, and AI

Send us a text [https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1491268/open_sms] Prices climb, promises hold, and the rules keep shifting—so how do we still deliver value? We bring together a tariff and compliance leader, a logistics operator, an e-commerce veteran, and an AI strategist to decode a market where volatility is normal and optionality wins. The discussion starts with the real pain points: retaliatory tariffs that wreck forecasts, currency swings that distort landed costs, and audit-ready compliance that separates resilient operators from the rest. Then we follow the ripple through the supply chain—fuel spikes, chokepoint surcharges, and labor strain pushing shippers to regionalize, slow down where it saves money, and invest in visibility from factory to shelf. On the e-commerce front, customer acquisition costs rise and privacy rules tighten while shoppers expect both value and speed. We explore data as a strategic asset: how a strong product information backbone drives discovery, reduces returns, enables cross-border readiness, and lets B2B deliver consumer-grade experiences. Finally, we get candid about AI. It’s not a magic bullet, but when used with care, it becomes the connective tissue—powering demand sensing, delay alerts, dynamic routing, governance monitoring, and smarter catalog operations. We share why AI POCs fail, how to design for measurable ROI, and where human judgment must stay in the loop. By the end, you’ll have a clear playbook: treat compliance as competitive, build redundancy into sourcing and routing, clean and structure your data for speed, and deploy AI where the signal is strong and the stakes are high. We close with a call for price transparency and a fresh look at the customer journey—because trust and clarity still convert, even when costs rise. Support the show [https://www.buzzsprout.com/1491268/support]