Secret Tech Sauce Podcast - A Podcast With Ben Martinez

Ryan Hart is the Director of Product for the background check and drug screening company, Verified First. Verified First is improving the HR Tech industry by making technology integrations better within the recruiting and onboarding process and improving the candidate experience. Ryan met the founder of Verified First (Devon Dickinson) while pursuing his MBA in Entrepreneurship and knew he had to work with him. That was almost four years ago and the company is exploding in growth since then.   Agenda: Ben/Ryan find common ground with coffee and treasure hunts - Ryan still uses cream and sugar in his coffee, but we still accept him. Ryan talks about why working for a background check company can be sexy. Ryan talks about generations in the workplace and the marketing fluff around it. Ryan talks about a trend that will get bigger in the coming years for recruiters, candidates and hiring managers - “Ban the Box” Ryan shares the technology he could not live without. Something many of us share - Amazon. Ryan gift

Erik Kostelnik is the Co-Founder and CEO of TextRecruit, a candidate and employee engagement platform that leverages text, chat and artificial intelligence to help companies hire better people, faster. Prior to TextRecruit, Erik served as the Head of Sales at Wrike from 2014 to 2016 helping it reach #116 in 2015 Deloitte Fastest 500 and ran sales as VP at Identified through its acquisition by Workday in 2014. He acts as an advisor to startups including Eatify.com, Outreach.io and HIRABL, was named an Upstart 50 Inventor by the Silicon Valley Business Journal and lives in San Jose with his wife and three kids.   Agenda: Ben/Erik find common ground with basketball - Erik played power forward in college. Erik talks about his Finance background in college on the east coast and how he made it to Silicon Valley Erik gets tired of making a lot of money for other people as a sales pro. Starts TextRecruit Erik opens up about how recruiters use texting for recruiting. Coming soon - You will soon be able to apply to C

Matt Schwartz started his executive search firm back in 2003. After looking for his next gig working in a search firm he quickly realized that he could go out on his own. Fifteen years later and growing his firm “one logo at a time” his company is known for bringing “Transformative Talent” into companies. His recruiting firm recruits some big players in the executive space who make anywhere from $500K to $2M in total compensation. He gets the work that must go in when recruiting and helping companies transform their talent. He has worked with some of the biggest brands - Pepsi, Fila, American Express and Groupon.   Agenda: Ben/Matt find common ground with coffee, Sumato Coffee of course Matt talks about how he came to start his own business 15 years ago Matt’s background - from formative years to now Importance of employment branding and recruiting Key Trends coming in 2018 - AI, employee engagement, etc. Matt’s friend who gets a bag of Sumato Coffee. Out   Links: Matt’s website - https://www.mjsearch.com/

Lane Sutton started a blog when he was 11 years old and a decade later he is doing more in the employment branding and recruiting space than your entire recruiting and employment branding team on steroids. Lane gets it. He has worked with some of the biggest brands - Hubspot, TripAdvisor, Sprinklr and Walt Disney. Now that he is old enough to drink a beer (I think) we talked on my podcast:   Agenda: Ben/Lane find common ground with coffee, Sumato Coffee of course Lane defines Generation Z vs. Millennials vs. Gen X vs. Boomers Lane’s background - from age 11 to age 21 How to create an employment brand Top technology for recruitment marketing What’s coming in 2018 for employment branding Out   Links: Lane’s website - http://www.lanesutton.com/ Lane on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lanesutton/ Lane on Twitter - https://twitter.com/LaneSutton Lane on Insta - https://www.instagram.com/lanesutton/ Sponsor: www.sumatocoffee.com

Jörgen Sundberg gets employment branding. He runs Link Humans, London’s employment branding agency. In this episode you will learn more about employment branding than any conference can teach you because we touch on metrics, real life examples and then cover areas in Jörgen’s book, Employee Advocacy: The Ultimate Handbook. Jörgen also comes alive on his views about generations in the workplace, books to read, coffee to drink and advice to his younger self.   Agenda: Ben/Jörgen find common ground with coffee, Sumato Coffee of course. Jörgen talks about his morning freshly brewed coffee, running a marathon and Dad life Employer Branding defined at a dinner party Using metrics - What is the Social Employer Branding Index? Employee Advocacy: The Ultimate Handbook - The views behind the book he co-wrote with Microsoft Executive, Ben Donkor Jörgen on generations, music and books Jörgen gives a bag of Sumato Coffee to Lane Sutton at Walt Disney. Good coffee karma. Over and Out.   Links: Jörgen’s book - https://li

Ben Martinez shares an update on Sumato Coffee Co., his plans with his consulting work at Secret Tech Sauce Talent, how guitar changed his views on entrepreneurism and upcoming plans with podcast guests specializing in employment branding.   This episode is part check-in/part advice. Enjoy the show. Links: Website - www.sumatocoffee.com Instagram - Sumato Coffee Co. on Insta Facebook - Sumato Coffee Co. on Facebook Twitter - Sumato Coffee Co. on Twitter

Zach Daggett packed his bags from Arkansas and went to Jalapa, Guatemala to start a specialty coffee shop, La Fabrica. Four years later they have a flourishing business doing small batch coffee roasting, barista training and offering wholesale coffee.   Prior to starting La Fabrica, Zach received his formal barista training through Anacafe (National Association of Coffee Producers in Guatemala), coffee contributor for perfectdailygrind.com and still does import/export work with various different coffee brokers. Enjoy this episode as we cover the following...   Agenda: Ben/Zach find common ground with ties to Arkansas. Zach talks about his morning freshly brewed cup of Pacamara coffee and why it is special - hmm. Zach talks how he first started drinking coffee in college. Zach tells you how a coffee cherry fruit tastes. Zach talks the importance of freshly roasted coffee. Zach gives advice for starting a coffee company. Over and Out.   Links: Website - http://www.lafabrica.coffee/buy/ Zach on Insta - https:

Ben Martinez shares what he is been up to and why you should care if you care about coffee. Ben has been focusing all his time and energy into reimagining coffee in the workplace. In 1952, the phrase "coffee break" came about from a massive ad campaign targeted for workers to take a moment & get their "caffeine jolt" BUT nobody focused on the quality of the coffee in the workplace. In the coming weeks, Ben and his team of coffee slingers are launching Sumato Coffee Co. - Their purpose is to reimagine coffee in the workplace.   Ben shares insight on what fresh coffee is, the benefits and the industry of “third wave coffee”. Enjoy the show.   Links: Website - www.sumatocoffee.com Instagram - Sumato Coffee Co. on Insta Facebook - Sumato Coffee Co. on Facebook Twitter - Sumato Coffee Co. on Twitter

I had the opportunity to meet live at Publik Coffee Roasters with comedian, Steve Soelberg . Steve is a comedian centered on making his audience laugh. He prepares his material without the worry of being politically correct and believes that comedy is the last form of “free speech”.   Being alone on stage with the goal of making hundreds of people laugh and connect with you requires personal power and Steve gets this power with a deep-rooted believe in himself. If you do not believe in yourself, then nobody will. Steve has performed all over America and knows that he needs to believe he is the best before he can think anyone else will think he is the best comedian.     In this episode you will learn: The type of hot beverage Steve and I are sipping – Coffee from the small country of Burundi for Ben & tea for Steve Steve’s background and how he got into comedy The power of believing in yourself Comedy – The last true form of free speech Comedy is not for the thin skinned or politically correct Indie – Com

With all the attention of start-ups going in the big cities of San Francisco, Los Angeles or New York City - Colleen Jenkins has found her niche in St. Louis with PluggedIn. She has created a customized technology platform as a service as a software. During her days leading Talent Acquisition for the VC firm, Cultivation Capital, she realized that early stage start ups do not have the time or help finding top talent. Thus, she took her entrepreneur skills to work and started PluggedIn. Entrepreneurship is nothing new to Colleen. In May 2014, she founded and launched CoderGirl, an all-women’s coding meet-up and training program and even started a music company way back in the day called, Coma Gun Music. The point is she has hustle and can ball with the best of them.   In this episode you will learn: Insight into coffee styles and how techies are using coffee Colleen’s background - St. Louis style from high school to graduate school Technology for the productivity minded- Slack to Google docs to SLC, Utah base

We are a few weeks into the New Year and I submit to say you have already failed at your resolution. 41% of Americans make resolutions. Only 9% succeed in making the resolutions and 42% never succeed at their resolutions. These statistics do not mean we should avoid thinking about how to be better.   Resolutions fade away over the year because of our attitudes. Every day we have a choice of what our attitude will be, not just the start of a new year. No matter how little sleep you get the night before, your attitude will carry you through the day and attract the people and work you do. In this episode you will learn: An approach that is better than New Year's Resolutions. Reflection upon my past resolutions since 2013 and how they have helped my life. Insights into my new podcast logo Peak under the covers about my coffee roast profile And much, much more…   Without further ado, please listen to this episode. This podcast is brought to you by Anthology. - Anthology is careers re-imagined. Get better job c

The mic drop is a gesture of intentionally dropping the microphone at the end of a speech or performance to show triumph. While this episode will not be on the level of an Eddie Murphy mic drop from the 1980s, you will get a lesson on what a mic drop is and reflections from past Secret Tech Sauce guests and insight into why I run a podcast.   In this episode you will learn: History of the mic drop - From Eddie Murphy 1983 standup comedy show in the 80s to President Obama’s mic drop on the Late Night Show with Jimmy Fallon in April 2012 to Google’s Gmail feature introduced on April Fool’s day in 2016. Reflections from top guests in 2016 - why you should go back and listen if you missed them Why Ben runs a podcast? Is it for the money, the glory, the what? You will learn why Ben spends his precious time on a podcast. And much, much more…   Without further ado, please listen to this episode. This podcast is brought to you by Anthology. - Anthology is careers reimagined. Get better job candidates using confide

Listen up! Tatiana Kolovou, will give you a lesson on a topic that you can apply in any aspect of your life - high impact listening.   Tatiana is a Senior Lecturer at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, she coaches and works with executives and entrepreneurs with her consulting business and also teaches through Lynda.com. Tatiana will share with you how you can be better at what you do just by being a better listener. Listening is harder than speaking so listen up to this episode and apply what you learned in your day job.   In this episode you will learn: Tatiana’s background - From Athens, Greece to Indiana University as a swimmer to swim and study under the legendary Olympic swim coach - Doc Counsilman   Technology - how it helps and how it hurts us with listening Bad speaking Karma - did you know there was such a thing? High Impact Listening equation = Purpose + Presence - Distractions   How to focus on listening throughout our day and still get things done Listening - it is a dance, no

Nick Symmonds, two-time Olympian and now CEO of Run Gum. Nick’s intensity comes through in a strong way on this episode. Nick’s story to qualify for the 2008 and 2012 Olympics to run the 800 m, the lessons he learned from each of those experiences to transform his focus into being an entrepreneur. Nick will share with you how he turned a professional pain (high sugar performance drinks) into functional chewing gum to maximize his performance. Nick may not have an off switch and I look forward to seeing where Run Gum goes.   In this episode you will learn: Nick’s background - from soccer to running Nick’s first running breakthrough as a rookie professional runner Lessons learned as an Olympian runner in the 2008 (Beijing) Olympics and 2012 (London) Olympics Ability to overcome setbacks - ankle injury Run Gum - how the product and company was created - from energy drinks to chewing gum to maximize performance Nick’s passion about “Voice for Athlete’s Rights” and his unique ability to speak up Perseverance and

Marvin Stickel, Director of Recruiting at Pandora- a music streaming company focused on enriching lives by delivering music enjoyment and discovery. If you haven’t heard of Pandora then you probably would not listen to my podcast, with all due respect. Marvin will take you on a journey from his early days of recruiting at Google to making a switch to Pandora to mentoring, inclusion and Fatherhood.   In this episode you will learn: An approach on recruiting diverse talent from his Google days The importance of diversity when designing technology products Marvin’s background in relation to diversity and his musical background Insight into a career at Pandora and how the company values music Sourcing talent - Art + Science Marvin’s passion around inclusiveness and his willingness to push the boundaries Fatherhood, mentors and books And much, much more…   Without further ado, please enjoy this highly musically endorsed episode.   This podcast is brought to you by Anthology. - Anthology is careers re-imagined. G

Daniel Gogolin, Co-Founder of Joda Creative - a content marketing agency based in Vancouver, Canada focused on telling stories. Daniel will take you on a journey from his early days of being a student in Vancouver Film School to finding a company - Joda Creative. In this episode you will learn: Advice on going beyond content to focus on engaging and audience Use of other distribution channels to promote your brand or message Hacks on getting sales leads when you are a smaller shop Advice for managing a big brand Daniel’s thoughts on the television series Mad Man in relation to advertising Daniel’s other side hustle - his fashion line - Markus Amadeo And much, much more…   Without further ado, please enjoy this highly caffeinated episode. This podcast is brought to you by Anthology. - Anthology is careers reimagined. Get better job candidates using confidential data. They will do an anonymous job search to find passive candidates or connect passive candidates with employers.

Kolby Kolibas, Founder of The Healthy Primate - Kolby Kay has been around. Kolby shares the different versions of his career from his early days of working with the 2002 Olympics to being an overweight sales executive at big companies like Dell and Insight. Kolby was making money but not happy because his health was bad. Through his journeys Kolby realized the importance of health and how health can impact your ability to be productive.   In this episode, I cover the following with Kolby: The crooked moves pharmaceutical companies do to sell you their drugs His daily routine - it will weed out any fakers in the hustle and entrepreneur world The community and people he has created with The Healthy Primate Incredible books and advice on philosophies in life Much more…   Enough of my rambles - enjoy the show. This podcast is brought to you by Anthology. - Anthology is careers reimagined. Get better job candidates using confidential data. They will do an anonymous job search to find passive candidates or conne

Founder of The Millennial Entrepreneur and Giske business - Arne Giske - has created a community of entrepreneurs who share their ideas and stories about their entrepreneurial journey. No matter if they fail or succeed Arne wants to talk about it and share people’s stories with everyone to help people succeed. He is not about big egos or overly money hungry entrepreneurs. Arne practices what he preaches with his Facebook group - The Millennial Entrepreneur Community and his podcast - The Millennial Entrepreneur. You will find Arne to be authentic and a hard working pro at his trade who wants to help you share your story to grow your business or brand.

Founder & CEO of Never Eat Alone - Marie Schneegans- a company who was founded because Marie learned from her experiences at a big company that eating alone or with the same people stifles communication. Never Eat Alone’s mission is to create connections outside of the same circles that exist within companies. Many people go to work and rarely venture outside their department to meet other people and collaborate. Marie founded a company that opens the doors to new people and ideas. In this episode, we learn how Marie started her company, her use of meditation and how she is passionate about creating community in all aspects of her life. Never Eat Alone is experiencing big success in France and New York City and will be coming to a city near you soon. Learn more about the importance of being tied to a cause and mission to launch a company.

Co-founder & CEO of LeadIQ - Mei Siauw - a company who was founded by serendipity that helps sales people build prospect lists, enrich leads with social profiles and prevents salespeople from sending spam emails by enriching their leads with social profiles and company information. In this episode, we learn how Mei started in Indonesia then to Singapore and came to the United States for college and launched her career in a big company (Oracle) then later started her own company, LeadIQ. We also cover Mei’s experiences on how she got funding and started her company to how she balances married life and being the mother of two kids. Learn more about the hustle of being a working pro while also running a family.