Today we’re taking a no BS look at the world of customer insights, leadership and business visioning with the President of software company Zappi, the ever-passionate and transparent leader, Ryan Barry.

Having led Zappi for over four years, Ryan shares his no holds barred take on company leadership and people leadership, and it’s all anchored on authenticity. Years ago, Ryan says, he was called out by his wife on having a ‘work voice’ and realized he shouldn’t be wearing 50 different masks depending on who he’s speaking with. He says this new transparent approach to dealing with people and stakeholders alike makes his life easier, and ensures his leadership style is more human.

Ryan is also committed to communication, or even over-communication, dropping casual and informal voice messages and videos as news evolves in his company regularly, to ensure no one has to second guess what is happening, and that business updates are intentional and impactful.

To negate a possible consequence of this – dominance and over-assertion - Ryan says he leans into curiosity, asking questions openly on things he is not knowledgeable about and deferring to the experts. “Your job sometimes is just to listen,” he says.

Jo and Ryan also discuss the future of the workplace, particularly as more remote, flexible and virtual working styles are implemented, and spontaneous moments to ‘break bread with people’ in a physical office become fewer. Nearly 70% of Ryan’s staff are on the other side of the planet to him. He’s cognizant of the necessity to build and nurture relationships and believes that cannot be replaced by physically being in the same place together. Trust, collaboration and understanding are best built in real life, Ryan says, as are new ideas generated from sporadic and unplanned moments ‘bumping into’ people. Whatever new technological automation and outsourcing the future holds for the workplace, this ability to connect, human to human, won’t be replaced.

Holding a personal brand of his own, supported by his podcast Inside Insights and newsletter Ryan’s Rants, Ryan regularly shares reflections on the industry he operates in and where customer strategies go wrong. More and more companies are driven by two polarized objectives: short term earnings vs long term goals, awards and accolades vs ads that actually drive sales, political stances vs internal policies. Ryan highlights the importance of being frank with yourself on why business decisions are made, of taking input from your staff (whether you like what they say or not), of building principles that create consistency for future scenarios, and of ensuring your business actions match what you say. “People’s bullshit meter is way up”, and Ryan says that’s a good thing.

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To look outside, Ryan goes outside to get lost in nature and mountains, usually with his dog. Getting out from the physical reality he's surrounded by allows him to tap into another level of ideas in his subconscious.

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Ryan Barry oversees Zappi's global business operation leading the companies growth and impact internally and externally and serves as a member of the firm's executive leadership team. Prior to Zappi, Ryan worked for GMI, an online survey solution provider which was eventually acquired by Kantar and also started a dog care company which was sold in 2015 and a non profit aimed at raising money for less fortunate children.

In addition to his work at Zappi, Ryan serves on Michigan State’s advisory board for their MR program. Ryan lives outside of Boston with his wife, two sons, daughter and his two hound dogs and loves the great outdoors and Boston sports.

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In this episode, we’re taking a look outside the very familiar food industry and a closer look at the emerging sector of plant-based food, with food activist, entrepreneur, and CEO and Co-Founder of Heura, Marc Coloma.

Marc’s mission to transform the food industry starts with his own company, which acts as a symbol for what is possible; investing in food innovation to solve not just taste and nutrition challenges, but also ones related to social issues.

Social activism is something Marc has been passionate about since he was a ‘rebellious’ child. His life and career were shaped by a drive to ask 'why?' and a desire to transform anger at what is imperfect in the world into a vehicle for positive change. As a ‘good rebel’, Marc is determined to shape his work around things that matter to him personally.

In many ways, Marc’s ambition (and success) in this foray represents a modern shift in business; where people recognize a friction that exists between values and behaviors and work to close that gap. Marc calls it the 21st century way of doing business: companies already do make people’s lives better by providing solutions to existing problems, but now they can also make “multiplied impact in the value chain”.

While shifts to address environmental, social and nutritional challenges need to take place across many sectors, for Marc, the focus started with the food industry, where many of the issues arise from modern day lifestyles. We are good at scaling solutions quickly in the food industry, he says, but equally at scaling their consequences. This is part of the impetus for the plant-based movement towards alternative solutions, or as Marc and his team call them, ‘successors’ of the current food system.

Plant-based food are under a tremendous amount of scrutiny today, not just from the media but from frustrated customers and disappointed food retailers. Marc says a part of the declining performance is the fact that the industry was scaled too fast in a bid to tap into (warranted) enthusiasm to transform the food sector. But here speed came at the cost of a great customer experience, and most importantly, great taste. Marc says with transforming the food sector in sight, we forgot about the most critical target to win over – the customer.

Heura, the plant-based food company Marc co-founded in 2017 and leads today, is outperforming its European competitors on taste. Marc stresses this is pivotal in changing consumer behavior, while supporting the rituals that people love. Taste will always win, and you may get one shot to prove that to customers.

Marc believes plant-based food is only in the ‘early beginnings of potential’ and that we must expand frontiers of what we thought was possible. Planetary limitations are a reality of the future (put simply: many more people, consuming many more calories) and must be addressed in new ways.

Jo and Marc also discuss how, in the end, it’s easy to blame others for inertia in current food systems, but that blaming an entire industry, sector or category is not helpful, particularly when change starts with us – with individual actions. It’s also not helpful to reject or distrust a growing and emerging industry like the plant-based one, especially one that does not exist to destroy anything but to help maintain the traditions we hold close to our hearts.

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To look outside, Marc learns through others, hearing first hand testimonies from people that spark unique ideas and an interest to learn more deeply about something new. Meanwhile, time in nature, hiking and sports like boxing, and yoga help him stay grounded.

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Marc Coloma is a food activist and CEO at Heura. Born in Barcelona, Marc has been involved in social activism since he was 16 years old. In 2015 he decided to take part in an entrepreneurship

In this episode of Looking Outside, we explore personal and professional growth from the angle of imperfection; not having it all figured out and embracing what you don’t know as a lever for learning. Even if you work for the world’s biggest and best brands. Just like our guest has done, Marco Andre, author of Imperfect Stories and Head of Marketing and Generative AI at Novartis.

Marco shares how his journey from tech to pharma had no master plan, he was simply a geeky guy that liked designing things. A sustainability engineer by training, a jazz drummer by night and an author in his spare time, Marco has embraced adaptability and flexibility throughout his career. All while working for the world’s leading brands, P&G, Google and now Novartis.

Instead of a well-defined ‘life plan’, Marco describes his career journey as a desire to tap into his creativity, particularly as someone with “no shortage of ideas”. Creativity can mean assembling LEGO or writing stories, but it can also be expressed through learning a new topic. For Marco, his curiosity led him to Generative AI which he now heads up for his company, and speaks about on the public stage. He doesn’t call himself an AI guru, however. In fact, Marco approaches AI the same way he advises others to; with acknowledgement of the emotions that surround it (the 5 stages of AI grief), and with proactive experimentation.

Jo and Marco discuss how AI needs to be intentionally and carefully explored, as it’s important to stay close to the changes in the external world instead of living in denial with blinkers on. But that ultimately the way we use it (and when we choose not to) is up to us.

Even though Marco spends a lot of time presenting about AI and other topics, he makes it a point to do so with authenticity. He believes the time of polished and perfected TED Talks is over, and people want to hear more from leaders who have learnt from failure, who don’t know everything and who admit when they are scared. This, Marco says, is the new leadership that people – especially young people entering the workforce – expect. It requires us to think differently about traditional career paths that tied our professional expertise and personal development to one company for most of our lives.

It also requires businesses to adapt to enable and incentivize these types of next generation leaders. It’s important, Marco explains, for companies who are particularly inward focused and disconnected with their customers, to think differently about how they “inject oxygen” into a stale environment by bringing in the outside world.

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To look outside, Marco goes for a walk to clear his mind. And when he’s trying to look differently at a topic, he leverages a small group of trusted people to gain a perspective that differs to his own. Then, taking in theirs and considering his own, he makes up his own mind.

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Marco Andre is the Global Head of Marketing and Generative AI Excellence at Novartis. He is a keynote speaker, AI advisor to executives and a published author.

Marco has worked for 20+ years in companies such as Google, Procter & Gamble and YouTube, where he held local, regional and global roles in Marketing, Sales, Partnerships and Operations. Marco’s achievements include scaling a country marketing operation 4x in two years, managing a $20M brand budget across 18 EMEA countries and advising C-Level executives on digital transformation for brands worth $40B in sales.

Outside of work, Marco is the author of the book - Imperfect Stories, and builds a ton of LEGO. He is a proud owner of 20+ sets, with his favorite one being the Star Wars Millennium Falcon.

• Follow Marco on LinkedIn and...

On this episode of Looking Outside we discuss the evolved art of photography and its role in capturing the state of nature and wildlife as a form of conservation, with nature photographer and conservationist, Derek Nielsen.

A photographer for more than 20 years, Derek’s journey to capture images from across each continent of the world started with curiosity; his passion for global travel prompted him to bring a camera wherever he went. Soon, this became a mission with a sense of responsibility to be an ambassador for the wildlife and nature degradation that can’t speak for itself, through his photos.

Fearless since he was a child, Derek has been driven throughout his life by a calling to see things that are less comfortable and unnerving. He describes this as a “free fall of curiosity” that followed his passion for and companionship with nature. And prompted him to do more than just record and observe.

Derek’s describes how photographers are storytellers today, tasked with providing more to their audience than beautiful images or documents of facts, but to move them through stories that they otherwise wouldn’t have the ability to hear.

Derek’s stories incentivize people to do small or big action in support of the conservation cause; whether it’s a monetary donation or simply picking up their trash.

One story Derek shares is in a moment of connection with a baby chimpanzee while he was visiting the Nyungwe National Park in Rwanda. The moving photo that captures the moment they locked eyes helps Derek tell a story of wildlife protection – and therefore inspire future photographers and donations. He says it’s in this way that photographers can play a bigger role in the world than garnering likes on social media.

Having travelled to more than two dozen countries, Derek has seen some haunting things, and explains how important hope and optimism is in not becoming overwhelmed by the deterioration of the world, desensitized to problems, or disconnected from every day life back home. He seeks this out by surrounding himself with people who are kind and with the things that are driving positive change, not just with things to be outraged by.

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To look outside, Derek finds play. Whether it's Ping-Pong with his wife, a dog wrestle, or messing around with his nieces and nephews. Play re-centers him back to family and the things that are important in life. He calls this both instant happiness and a non-negotiable.

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Derek Nielsen is a conservation-driven fine art photographer of nature and wildlife who wants to inspire the world to fall in love with nature. After 20 years behind the lens, Derek's journey to capture, share—and ultimately help preserve—the fragile beauty of our planet has taken him to more than two dozen countries and every continent, from Rwanda’s endangered silverback gorillas to the overfished waters of Antarctica. His images and storytelling educate people about important conservation topics. With an emphasis on what is worth saving, he brings large-format fine art prints of beautiful landscapes or exotic animals to people's homes and offices so they can enjoy the benefits of nature daily.

• Find more at dereknielsen.com
• Follow Derek on LinkedIn, Instagram.

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Looking Outside is a podcast dedicated to exploring fresh perspectives of familiar business topics. The show is...

On this episode of Looking Outside we explore the intersection of creativity with marketing and what it takes to take a good brand to a great brand. Joining us is marketing and strategy leader, Juan Isaza, Chief strategy officer at DDB Latina, and Head of Brand and Social Media Strategy at creative agency 14.

While today Juan is an award winning strategist and experienced marketer, he didn’t start in the field. Ever since he was seven years old, Juan wanted to be a journalist. But having done a stint at a Columbian newspaper, after studying journalism and communications, he saw quickly that his love of uncovering great stories and telling them in a compelling way was better served in the world of advertising.

Juan shares how his journalism background helps him in strategy; particularly in being resourceful and telling engaging stories that hook the audience. But equally in telling better stories about people, by discovering them in unexpected places. Juan says this ability to find the emotive connection with culture is the biggest shift in communication taking place, and is a fruitful space for marketing.

But it’s not necessarily easy. Jo and Juan discuss how brands are operating in emotional battle fields right now within which they can get caught on the "wrong" side or in the middle. Juan’s advice to brands is not to talk unless you have the credentials for it, based on actions already taken. This is the reason consumers are getting tired of brands meddling in political or social issues, Juan says, and just because they don’t want brands to get involved in politics doesn’t mean they don’t want brands to do good things for society. “Your best cause is the thing you’re living inside your company,” Juan stresses.

Juan also shares his personal reflections of culture in the advertising world, where stereotyping still happens and freedoms can be inhibited. He says a lot of work is still to be done, and it needs to start with empathy, understanding and in-room representation. It’s part of the reason why Juan won DEI person of the year from the New York Festival for his work managing DDB Mexico, and it can – as the proof shows – lead to greater creativity.

Juan and Jo discuss the formula for successful campaigns, and the need for brands to leverage the power of creativity in their content, by opening themselves to more experimentation. Juan has seen a positive move over time towards long term brand building, without compromising short term measurement metrics, but stresses that the old school thinking of marketers in trying to control every aspect of their brand and planning every element of how their brand will show up, limits their ability to inject spontaneity into their work – a key element of creative marketing.

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To look outside, Juan looks for ideas in everything he observes. Inspiration for him can come from any place, information, source or conversation. He finds them often in papers from philosophers and sociologists who are analyzing societal shifts at a macro level.

Every year, Juan publishes a trend report, which started as a personal exercise, motivated by curiosity and led by a simple desired out come to discovery key topics emerging for brands. For this, Juan takes a few months towards the end of the year to create a mind map,, then synthesizes it at the quiet last week of the year.

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Juan Isaza is the Chief Strategy Officer at DDB Latina and leads the global Strategy and Social Media at 14, the DDB agency for SEAT and CUPRA brands (Volkswagen Group). He has worked in regional and global projects for major international brands such as Volkswagen, McDonald’s, Telefónica, BBVA, Bridgestone, Mars, and Clorox.

He led the team that was the first in Latin...

Today we’re speaking of all things sweet in life, with French trained pastry chef, and Group Head Pastry Chef at Black Star Pastry, Arnaud Vodounou.

Arnaud describes how his six year long training in Paris, covering all the basics of pastry making, gave him the foundation to be confident, flexible and creative in his craft today. A kind of intensive training that is rarely seen today.

Despite his extensive training, Arnaud hesitated when offered his first opportunity as head pastry chef, initially turning it down from fear of letting others down. (A type of humility that is arguably also missing today.) Jo and Arnaud discuss how others' confidence in our potential can push us into places we didn't think possible for ourselves.

Now a confident expert in his field, Arnaud speaks to the importance of continuing to look for creative inspiration for innovation, not just in coming up with new products but in improving the technical processes that form the foundation of pastry making. He describes this kind of creativity as the ability to improve with modern techniques but without a quality compromise. Chefs around the world are doing this and sharing new methods with each other today, which Arnaud says is a critical part of innovation for a traditional field that benefits from open collaboration.

Having worked as pastry chef - including at 2 Michelin star Parisian restaurant Taillevent - across France, Switzerland, Vietnam and Australia, Arnaud also speaks to diversity of experience he has lived, alongside personal learnings of adapting his approach as a leader. Pastry making after all is a precise art, but like everything in life, knowledge is gained through living and learning through failure.

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To look outside, Arnaud travels, either physically or online. Pastry is always in his head and anything can spark his curiosity to create something new and "sensational". But to do this Arnaud says it's important to be observational, to keep your head up and look out, because travel gives you access to different products and techniques no matter where you are.

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Arnaud Vodounou is Group head Pastry Chef for Black Star Pastry, based in Sydney Australia.

With over 16 years of global experience in the culinary arts, Arnaud has cultivated exquisite desserts across many prestigious establishments worldwide. Originating from France, his started his career in Paris, where Arnaud was quickly appointed the Head Pastry Chef at the famous Le Taillevent, a 3 Michelin star restaurant at the age of 24. Arnaud went on to work as the Executive Pastry Chef at the Grand Hotel Kempinski in Geneva, then taking a role as the Executive Pastry Chef at Aman Resorts in Vietnam. His career took him to Melbourne Australia in 2014 where he worked as the Executive Head Pastry Chef at local icon Chez Dre and Bibelot. Arnaud then took a pivotal role as the Group Executive Pastry Chef at George Calombaris’ Made Establishment, across multiple locations.

Arnaud's next venture took him to Sydney Australia where he currently oversees Blackstar Pastry, managing all pastry operations for multiple boutique stores across Australia, including Black Star Pastry's iconic Strawberry Watermelon Cake, acclaimed as the world's most Instagrammed cake.

Driven by the pursuit of perfection, Arnaud remains dedicated to elevating the pastry experience and continuous innovation. With a wealth of experience and an unwavering commitment to excellence, he continues to redefine the boundaries of pastry craftsmanship.

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Data Scholar Michael Clark joins Looking Outside to discuss the value behind the data we collect and how the definition of data is changing.

Michael is a futurist focused on data, a digital payment and open banking and Vice President of Global Digital Transformation at Mastercard. His interest in the interconnection of data to other aspects of our lives has led him to become a leading voice in this space and to write a book on the topic. To explore the topic, he starts quite simply by defining what data even is. Speaking to how data’s origin as a gift, quite literally the meaning of the word being datum or gift, has changed over time, Michael contextualizes not just what the concept of data is but how our relationship with it has changed.

There is a difference between holding data as a highly valuable thing, which captures people’s unique memories and stories, with viewing data as a byproduct of a transaction or a statistic. This changing idea or re-evaluation of data has meant we have lost sight of what the value behind that data is, or as Michael puts it, quite literally giving our ‘gift’ away.

In observing the signals of change in the world, Michael says this is not what the future holds for data. Rethink the concept of data means economies may change based on the value that’s ascribed to data, greater granularity may be ascribed to the true ‘cost’ of things and we may be able to even measure what is today unmeasurable.

Through his research for the book he’s writing, “Data Revolution”, Michael provides a glimpse of the future of data, where it is more representative of your identity, where open and democratized systems provide greater sharing of economic rewards and where holders of data are required to operate more ethically as a cost of doing business.

Jo and Michael also discuss the role of private organizations in evaluating what data they even need to collect in the first place, as they look to build first party data loyalty programs. If an individual is re-evaluating how their data is used and the previously hidden value in it, how should companies be thinking about the future customer and the relationship they have with customer data?

Michael stresses the point of asking hard questions when it comes to data, particularly as the systems around it – like GDP driven by limited data capture, or even capitalism itself – are coming into question. It’s what Michael says will help us better understand the interconnected nature of technology to every other system that maintains our livelihoods. As well as the role of experts in democratizing knowledge on the topic; as Michael says, “When you know stuff you have a duty of care to give back, to work with governments and regulators to help them understand it”.

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To look outside, Michael gets outside, literally - out of his own head, into fresh air. This not only helps him get outside himself, but the forced push to stop what he's doing helps him to come back to it better focused. Michael says it's important to be comfortable stopping and simply doing nothing.

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Michael Clark is a data scholar, seasoned industry advisor, and innovation evangelist with over two decades of experience in cutting-edge technology solutions. Leading the data charge, Michael is redefining value and preparing institutions and governments for a future they haven’t even envisioned. His upcoming book, Data Revolution: The New Currency of You, is a roadmap that will decode the world of data and prepare you for the data revolution.

Part of the Digital Labs leadership team at Mastercard, Michael leads Global Digital Transformation with a mandate to drive Disruptive Innovation, Agile Principles, and execution of Mastercard’s Digital vision, whilst also accelerating our client’s digital...

Today we welcome Elena Doms, climate tech leader and head of Earth Plus, on Looking Outside to discuss the progress and positive action taking place in the field of climate tech.

Having spent 11 years at Mastercard on the corporate side, and now in the entrepreneur space in a start up, Elena brings with her a pragmatic and motivating perspective to driving impact in the climate space through partnership with companies big and small.

Elena speaks to how she approaches climate change topics through an optimistic lens, despite the fact that the climate crisis is escalating and is riddled with anxiety and delayed by hardship. She says not despite this but because of it, climate innovation is becoming easier, because it’s no longer an issue that can be ignored but justifies a change in behavior and accelerates investment.

Called a speaker who delivers ‘goosebumps’ with her talks, Elena shares how her stories about climate change are intentionally personal, recalling her time growing up in the Arctic (now classified a zone of risk) and calling to personal stories she finds interesting in the climate innovation space that resonate with people. While the data and facts are important, she says what every one wants is a story with hope at the end. And for that to be told by someone whose values are visible and relatable. Elena says public platforms of communication help to enable this - especially for young people, or people who want to be taken more seriously.

Elena also recounts how the idea for her start up, Earth Plus, an organization designed to clean the planet from pollutants using nature based solutions, began, inspired by tragically true research on forever chemicals in Belgium and their impact on people’s health. She says she has developed tremendous respect for people who run their own start ups as the expectation of progress and pace of innovation is at a level she hadn’t experienced in the big corporate world.

On the big corporates, Jo and Elena discuss the pointlessness of pointing fingers, particularly at people in big corporations, as these businesses are full of funding and resourcing needed to help collaborate to scale climate innovation. Elena also stresses these organizations are full of people who want to make a difference. The challenge, she highlights, is in creating a compelling case for investment with every stakeholder’s interest in mind. As she puts it, making climate investment ‘the candy everyone wants’.

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To look outside, Elena follows people in the climate space that she can learn from. She calls it a dynamic fast developing area and reminds herself not to be arrogant enough to not think she knows everything. She also reads books in different and unconnected areas and considers how to connect them into the climate space to enable unique ideas from contrasting topics.

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Elena Doms was born and raised in the Arctic. She spent 18 years there, surrounded by ice and boreal forests, witnessing climate change happen right in front of her.

Throughout her career Elena led an NGO, focusing on social impact. Worked as a Director at Mastercard, merging digital and sustainable transformations. Led teams up to 500 people and became a LinkedIn influencer with a video series “What’s new in Sustainability this week in 1 min”.

Seeing her childhood home melt away and becoming a mother inspired Elena to quit her corporate job in search for real impact. In partnership with C-biotech, she launched Earth Plus, a start-up with a crazy bold mission: To create the largest soil & CO2 cleanup in history with nature. Earth Plus team collaborates with scientists to clean soils from chemical pollution and capture CO2 with plants. These plants are then turned into local circular construction materials that help decarbonize our...