Andrew Coplon is the Founder of Craft Beer Professionals, a national network dedicated to the growth and betterment of the Craft Beer industry and Founder of Secret Hopper, a mystery shopping and consulting company for craft beer businesses. Andrew joins Access Your Leadership to talk about his journey that’s led him to developing a community of over 17,000 craft beer industry professionals. He shares his take on the current state of the industry, what experiences he’s had and created for his craft beer peers and how leadership plays into any and all careers in this industry. For instance, what’s different about conferences/workshops that CBP organizes and hosts? What kinds of things are attendees initially hungry for and then saying about CBP events that they’ve attended? Why is connecting and building new relationships such an important part of business and leadership? What were the early years like when first launching Secret Hopper and then CBP? From where or why did you have the idea to create such a community and how receptive were people at the start? While the craft beer industry is an industry of passionate people, how does a company culture contribute to a vibe and who does that impact? How important is it to love what you do when you’re starting something new? What are ways that leaders in this industry, or any industry, can motivate and inspire their team members and employees? How do you utilize data in your leadership and decision-making process and is that the most valuable tool in leadership? What’s the difference between entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship? What were some of the learnings taken from working in food services and then leading a craft beer professionals community? How does curiosity play into the way people connect, build relationships and lead? So much of what is discussed about the craft beer industry, can be applied to any leader or professional in any industry. Enjoy the episode and if you’re in the industry and not connected to Andrew or CBP, I encourage you connect!

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You can connect with Andrew on LinkedIn

Click here to connect with Andrew and learn more about Craft Beer Professionals (CBP)

Click here to check out the CBP Facebook community

You can also connect directly with Andrew at andrew@craftbeerprofessionals.org

Click here to learn more and/or purchase your tickets to the Inaugural Virginia Brewers Conference, Sept. 16-18, 2024 in Richmond, VA.

Did this podcast spark something in you or get you to take action in some way? I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback on our conversation. You can hit me up on Instagram @lakhdar_coaching, LinkedIn: /hakimlakhdar, Twitter @LakhdarCoaching, and Facebook/LakhdarCoaching

I’m always looking to connect with people who are passionate about leadership as well as companies who value and support strong leaders in their own organization. If that’s you or you know someone then drop me a line at hakim@lakhdarcoaching.com

Check out previous episodes of Access Your Leadership on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Kathleen E.R. Murphy, an Executive Sports Coach and CEO of her company Market Me Too out of Boston, Massachusetts, joins Access Your Leadership to talk about her transition from corporate to coaching. Kathy shares how throughout her career she had a feeling that there was more she could be doing to align with her purpose. She initially explored providing coaching in a business/leadership context and later blended her experience and passion into working with sports teams and their coaching staff. Kathy has worked with athletes and teams at all levels of sport and has researched and written extensively about her findings. Kathy addresses questions such as what is executive (or leadership) presence and why is it so highly desirable by clients at a certain point in their career? What is the real economic impact of retention and why is it so important to invest heavily in culture and setting employees up for success early on? What led to the decision to leave corporate and start the coaching journey? How did you leverage transferable skills at this transition point in your career? What/Who inspired you to explore sports leadership with athletes and their coaches? How are the corporate coaching and sports leadership coaching similar and different? Are people all motivated the same way and if not, why? What are Gallup Strengths and how do you incorporate those into your coaching? Where does writing fit into the work you do? What’s the secret ingredient to championship teams and who can find out what that might be? Kathy shares a ton of insight and explains in detail the work she does and the value it creates for her corporate clients and sports teams and athletes. Enjoy!

Feedback (I/we want to hear from you):

You can connect with Kathleen E.R. Murphy on LinkedIn

Click here to connect with Kathy and learn more about Market Me Too

Click here to check out Kathy’s YouTube Show, Murf+Me Unfiltered

Click here to check out our episode together on Murf+Me Unfiltered

Did this podcast spark something in you or get you to take action in some way? I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback on our conversation. You can hit me up on Instagram @lakhdar_coaching, LinkedIn: /hakimlakhdar, Twitter @LakhdarCoaching, and Facebook/LakhdarCoaching

I’m always looking to connect with people who are passionate about leadership as well as companies who value and support strong leaders in their own organization. If that’s you or you know someone then drop me a line at hakim@lakhdarcoaching.com

Check out previous episodes of Access Your Leadership on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Dr. Heidi K. Gardner, an old friend and Harvard colleague, joins Access Your Leadership to share her incredible journey around the world, leading her to being an expert in the area of collaboration. Dr. Gardner is a Distinguished Fellow and Lecturer at Harvard Law School, a Co-founder of Smarter Collaboration International and CEO of Gardner & Co., a research and consulting firm that provides collaboration focused solutions with boards and senior leadership teams to transform their organizations. From her early years of growing up in/near Amish Country Pennsylvania, Heidi later ventured out to make her mark on the world. In this episode, Heidi shares a bit about the ways in which she chose to expand her horizons, perspectives, education and experience. She talks about her experience working for several elite organizations and institutions, where in the world those opportunities took her and how she managed herself and her decision-making through those various twists and turns. How important is it to work with purpose-driven organizations and how does that align with how you lead your own organization and team? In what ways do passion, diversity and authenticity impact what we choose to do in our role as leaders? Is positivity and surrounding ourselves with positive people necessary to be successful or simply a “nice-to-have?” How is managing oneself through challenging situations as a leader also so beneficial to those you lead? What did having supportive parents and family allow for you to see for yourself as you started your academic and professional career? Why was it so important to not only visit but live and work in other parts of the world and what did that reveal about you? Did you ever feel pressure to take a certain path and what was your process for managing that? How have you learned to relate to your inner critic and what role has your support network played in that? Why has gratitude and never forgetting where you came from been so important in your journey? What perspective of the world, the people around you and yourself in the world have you maintained that has served you best? From Japan, to Germany, South Africa, the U.K. and then back to the U.S., Heidi has engaged with and impacted so many throughout her years as a professional and continues to do so as she builds her businesses. This conversation is a reminder of what is possible for a leader when they follow their heart, their passion and their purpose. Enjoy the episode!

Feedback (I/we want to hear from you):

You can connect directly with Dr. Heidi K. Gardner on LinkedIn

Click here to learn more about Gardner & Co.

Click here to purchase Smart Collaboration or Smarter Collaboration

Click here to learn more about Smarter Collaboration International

Did this podcast spark something in you or get you to take action in some way? I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback on our conversation. You can hit me up on Instagram @lakhdar_coaching, LinkedIn: /hakimlakhdar, Twitter @LakhdarCoaching, and Facebook/LakhdarCoaching

I’m always looking to connect with people who are passionate about leadership as well as companies who value and support strong leaders in their own organization. If that’s you or you know someone then drop me a line at hakim@lakhdarcoaching.com

Check out previous episodes of Access Your Leadership on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.