Business Mic

226: Kae Wagner- From Blank Page to Bestseller: How to Market Your Book Like a Pro

You've written a great book. You've poured your heart into it. But no one knows it exists. This is the silent tragedy Kae Wagner sees over and over again. In this episode, she breaks down the most common patterns that hold authors back: relying on fleeting inspiration instead of building reliable systems, fearing rejection so much that they never talk about their own work, and mistakenly believing that a traditional publisher will handle all the marketing for them. Kae explains why a simple mindset shift—seeing opportunities everywhere instead of obstacles—can transform an author's entire trajectory. She also introduces her free weekly community, the Bold Authors Network, where writers from around the world gather every Monday to learn concrete marketing tactics, share their wins, ask tough questions, and find the support they desperately need. If you're tired of your book sitting in silence, this episode will show you exactly where to start.

225: Kpunsa Mbinkar - The Future of Customer & Citizen Experience in Africa

Kpunsa Mbinkar is a customer experience leader and Forum Director of the Africa Customer Experience Leaders Forum, where he is helping shape a more structured, people-centered CX ecosystem across the continent. With roots in frontline banking and over a decade of experience in CX advocacy and practice, Kpunsa has emerged as a strong voice for elevating customer and citizen experience in Africa. In this episode, Kpunsa explains why Africa's greatest CX strength, its natural hospitality and human warmth, has not yet been fully translated into consistent corporate and public-sector experiences. He highlights the absence of shared standards, governance, and professional reference points as a key challenge, and contrasts this with more mature professions that benefit from clear structures and accountability. The conversation also takes listeners behind the vision of the Africa Customer Experience Leaders Forum, including the Kigali gathering that united consultants, CX associations, and corporate leaders from across the continent. Kpunsa shares how commissions, country CX champions, and a growing knowledge base are laying the foundation for a common CX standard tailored to African realities.

224: Shay Thieberg - The Science Behind LinkedIn Success: Behavior, Content, and Credibility

Shay Thieberg is a LinkedIn-certified expert, psychologist, and co-founder of MAIA Digital, where he helps professionals and organizations harness LinkedIn as a strategic engine for visibility, authority, and business growth. With a foundation in behavioral science and years of hands-on experience guiding leaders and brands, Shay brings a rare blend of analytical depth and practical execution to the world of digital thought leadership. In this episode, Shay breaks down why so many professionals underutilize LinkedIn and how a more intentional, psychology-informed approach can dramatically increase reach and influence. He explains the difference between posting content and establishing true thought leadership, emphasizing the importance of consistency, clarity of expertise, and human-centered storytelling. Drawing from MAIA Digital's work with hundreds of clients — as well as his collaborations with LinkedIn's internal teams — Shay shares what the platform's algorithm is rewarding right now, including the rising value of video, strategic commenting, and relationship-based engagement. Shay also offers a forward-looking view of LinkedIn's evolution, highlighting the growing role of AI-assisted workflows, enhanced integrations with tools like Canva and Calendly, and the platform's shift toward richer community interaction rather than passive scrolling. Throughout the conversation, he provides practical, grounded guidance for leaders who want to strengthen their digital presence in a way that builds credibility, trust, and genuine connection. This episode is a must-listen for professionals seeking to elevate their leadership brand, amplify their organization's voice, or leverage LinkedIn as a long-term strategic asset for growth and opportunity.

223: Mark Murphy - The Five Roles of Great Teams and How Leaders Activate Them

Mark Murphy is a leadership researcher, author, and founder of Leadership IQ, a company dedicated to studying why some leaders and teams consistently outperform others. His work focuses on using data-driven insights to help leaders build effective, motivated, and high-performing teams. In this episode, he breaks down the difference between leadership success driven by skill and success driven by circumstance, emphasizing that true leadership effectiveness must also be measured by culture, growth, retention, engagement, and contribution — not just outcomes. Mark introduces a compelling framework built around five critical team roles: Director, Achiever, Stabilizer, Harmonizer, and Trailblazer. Through extensive research, he explains that the best teams are not made up of identical individuals, but of diverse contributors who each bring unique strengths. The episode explores how leaders can identify, assign, and balance these roles to create high-functioning teams, avoid power struggles, improve accountability, enhance innovation, and resolve conflict more effectively. Mark also discusses how modern leaders must adapt based on context, recognizing when to lead from the front and when to empower others based on their strengths — a principle he refers to as adaptive hierarchy. Whether hiring, assembling project groups, or leading executive teams, he stresses the importance of intentionally designing role-based collaboration rather than relying on personality similarity or conventional hierarchy.

222: Peter Swimm - Building Responsible Automation Through Context, Care, and Human Insight

Peter Swimm, owner and consultant at Toilville, joined The Business Mic to explore how organizations can adopt AI and automation in ways that enhance — not erase — human expertise. With years of experience building conversational systems and workplace automation for major global companies, Peter now focuses on helping small and midsize organizations implement AI responsibly while preserving the value of human judgment, context, and organizational knowledge. Peter explains that while many businesses rush toward AI to reduce workload or increase efficiency, they often overlook the human layer that determines whether automation succeeds or fails. He highlights the common assumption that frequently asked questions lead to uniform answers — when in reality, customer needs are often unique and require thoughtful handoffs between automation and human support. Effective systems, he stresses, must be designed with exit paths, context sharing, and safeguards that ensure customers feel understood rather than processed. The conversation further explores modern AI implementation, from natural language interfaces to the shift away from rigid scripts, and the crucial role of domain experts in training and validating systems. Peter emphasizes that organizations should invest not only in technology, but also in curation, governance, and truth management — ensuring their internal knowledge base is accurate, up-to-date, and aligned with user needs. Ultimately, his perspective reinforces that meaningful AI transformation is not about replacing people — it's about enabling them to work smarter, deepen value, and elevate the customer experience.