Dr. Deborak K. Ekstrom is the president of Salisbury Plastic Surgery in Massachusetts — a very successful clinic and she’s a highly skilled surgeon and has been honing those skills over decades. But success wasn’t easy. It never is Onward Nation. Even if from the outside, it might seem that way.

It takes hard work — it takes commitment — it takes a drive to get over the obstacles and past the naysayers who are attempting to stand in your way. And it takes mentors who can take us under their wing and share their guidance with us. Dr. Ekstrom had people like that in her path — she listened — and she persevered.

And you will also hear about how she has reached a place in her career and life where she wants to not just give back — but to teach, to share, to be a conduit of educational resources...and so I’m excited for her to walk us through the media company her and her team have created called Deluge Beau.

So, Onward Nation — this will be a conversation around grit, tenacity, smarts, and building for the future that I think you are going to find extremely helpful.

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

• How Deborah's early career as a surgeon began, and the challenges she sometimes faced as a female surgeon in a male-dominated time
• Which valuable skills Deborah had to develop to live an extraordinary life, and how her goal is now to help enable others to live their extraordinary life
• Why the ability to teach yourself and continue to learn is a critical skill that any successful business leader needs to develop
• How Deborah began her career without resources and mentors, and why she now works to serve as a teacher and mentor to others and especially women
• Why Deborah created Deluge Beau, and why creating a magazine was well-suited to her skills and interests
• Why Deborah and her team named the magazine Deluge Beau, and why she believes that too many people are afraid of abundance
• What advice Deborah would offer to anyone who struggles to believe that they are deserving of success
• Why abundance is the natural state of the universe and how someone has to actively take self-destructive steps to avoid abundance
• What sort of women Deluge Beau is seeking to serve and welcome into their community, and what hopes Deborah has for the magazine

Additional resources:  

• Website: www.delugebeau.com
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/delugebeau/
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/delugebeau/

Rob Jolles is a sought-after speaker who teaches, entertains, and inspires audiences worldwide. His live programs in and around the world have enabled him to amass a client list of Fortune 500 companies including Toyota, Disney, GE, a dozen universities, and over 50 financial institutions. He is the best-selling author of six books, including his latest release, Why People Don’t Believe You…Building Credibility from the Inside Out. To learn more, visit Jolles.com.

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

• How Rob unconsciously excelled at his job at the New York Life Insurance Company in his first year, at just 22 years old, and why that was a problem
• Why not knowing what he was doing right for his career became a challenge when he started struggling with the burden of success
• How becoming an actor in his spare time became the third piece of Rob’s ultimate career as a corporate trainer
• Why Rob wrote his first book, and why he doesn’t consider himself a writer despite authoring six books
• Why Rob loves processes, and why he believes success isn’t really about processes but comes down to “percentage points”
• Why Rob began teaching people not just what to say, but how to say it authentically and effectively, and how that led to writing his book
• Why Rob’s publisher decided to title his book “Why People Don’t Believe You”, and how it relates to Rob’s observations on life
• Why the secret to sounding authentic is to be honest and absolutely believe the things you are saying
• Why it is important to not make assumptions and tell yourself a made-up narrative about others
• Why Rob believes that we should stop using the phrase “soft skills” and should start calling them “performance skills”

How to contact Rob Jolles:

• Website: www.jolles.com
• Why People Don’t Believe You by Rob Jolles: https://amzn.to/2ElQ8w7

Stephen is the founder and CEO of Predictive ROI, a digital marketing agency, and the host of Onward Nation — a top-rated daily podcast for learning how today’s top business owners think, act and achieve. Onward Nation is listened to in 120 countries around the world.

Stephen is the author of three books, including the #1 best seller, “Profitable Podcasting,” and his digital marketing insights have been featured in Forbes.com, Entrepreneur.com, The Washington Post, and Inc. Magazine.

Sean Casto is the Founder of the premier app marketing agency, PreApps, where he has helped thousands of apps reach millions in downloads. He has worked with many million dollar apps such as Flyp, OverKill 2, Gadget Flow, and even billion dollar apps such as Cheetah Mobile’s Security Master with over 550,000,000 downloads. He is also the Creator of the App Marketing Academy, the world’s best online mobile app marketing program.

Today, Casto is one of the most in-demand experts on mobile app marketing and growth. His clients and associates have expanded to 80 countries, in 24 different app categories to create, launch, and market their app, from nothing to millions of downloads and sales. Casto has been a guest speaker at industry conventions for Microsoft and Samsung and lectured at Universities such as Northeastern and Harvard. He has also appeared on and been featured by The Washington Post, USA Today, The Boston Globe, Entrepreneur Magazine, and The Associated Press.

What you’ll learn about in this episode:

• How Sean found a love of entrepreneurism as a child, and how he learned the ins and outs of app development
• How Sean developed the number one industry-leading app marketing agency, and what services his agency provides to app developers
• Why app development and having an app for your business is appealing to business owners in any industry
• What new business marketing potential and customer interaction possibilities have been created thanks to smartphone apps
• How new technologies like Augmented Reality (AR) can be integrated into an app to differentiate your business from competitors
• What key strategies and “seven pillars” are fundamental to finding success when launching an app
• Why an app should be user-centric, innovative, and address the needs and wants of your customers
• Why it is difficult to cut through the noise and be discovered when there are over 15,000 new apps launching a week, causing 95% of apps to fail
• Why virality is probably an unrealistic goal, and why it is important to track analytics on the use of your app
• Why understanding where customers typically find apps and understanding Apple and Google’s app store algorithms and optimizing for them is key

Additional resources:

• Website: www.preapps.com
• App Secrets by Sean Casto: https://amzn.to/2CuDzgw