Success Beneath the Surface

We return to our conversation with Nancie McDonnell Ruder, CEO and founder of Noetic Consulting, to highlight her uplifting perspective on bringing passion and purpose to her work. As Nancie shares, she derives “peace of mind” and “happiness” from leading a company focused on “dynamic positivity” in supporting clients. She explains how Noetic aims to provide both conceptual guidance and practical implementation to drive real change, fueling her motivation.
Nancie’s outlook exemplifies the kind of meaningful impact we seek to create through our conversations - where leaders can connect and learn from each other's experiences in growing thriving, values-driven organizations. Her words are an inspiration for staying centered on what drives us individually while creating value for others.
Listen to her full episode here.
Noetic Consultants is a women-owned marketing and leadership consultancy strengthening brands and the people who build them. Noetic’s work is a unique combination of market research, brand strategy, training, and coaching. Noetic educates, equips, and empowers organizations from within, leading to accelerated growth and organizational transformation. Learn more at NoeticConsultants.com
Links from this episode:
https://noeticconsultants.com/
Nancie's book, "How Senior Marketers Scale Heights"

In this Success Beneath the Surface commentary episode, host Deborah Fell reflects back on her conversation with Brad Waid, a Futurist and AI expert also known as "The Curious Pragmatist." Brad embraces new technologies quickly due to his innate curiosity. He then brings these learnings into his work - originally as a teacher engaging students, and now as a global speaker informing audiences of AI's potential benefits as well as areas needing thoughtful consideration. Deborah and Brad highlight his ability to balance optimism about progress with pragmatism about potential pitfalls. His diverse use cases and emphasis on improved lives and humanity exhibit this dual perspective.
To learn more about Brad's views on augmenting our world through technology, be sure to check out the full interview.
The full episode is here:
EP41: Augmented Worlds Beckon the Curious Pragmatist
Links from today's episode:
Brad Waid on LinkedIn
Website
Chief Outsiders

Do you feel your company's brand lacks purpose and focus? Is your brand failing to connect emotionally with customers? As CEO, you recognize the importance of brand, yet struggle with how to fortify it amid economic uncertainty. This week's Success Beneath The Surface podcast tackles that challenge. Host Deborah Fell interviews Nancie McDonnell Ruder, founder of Noetic Consulting, on the intersection of brand, culture, and growth. With over 20 years of advising executives, Nancie provides tangible advice on how to strengthen brand affinity and awareness.
Learn a framework for brand measurement to benchmark progress. Hear strategies to activate brand throughout your organization for maximum impact. Whether seeking to reinvigorate a tired brand or inject purpose into a new one, this episode delivers actionable insights to drive growth by deepening customer relationships.
 
Noetic Consultants is a women-owned marketing and leadership consultancy strengthening brands and the people who build them. Noetic’s work is a unique combination of market research, brand strategy, training, and coaching. Noetic educates, equips, and empowers organizations from within, leading to accelerated growth and organizational transformation. Learn more at NoeticConsultants.com
Links from this episode:
https://noeticconsultants.com/
Nancie's book, "How Senior Marketers Scale Heights"

What if you could preview the future before it arrives? Our guest today, Brad Waid, provides that sneak peek. As a former third-grade teacher turned AI expert and futurist, Brad has a gift for making complex innovations understandable and relatable. Listen in as Brad paints a vivid picture of how artificial intelligence, virtual worlds, digital twins, and more are poised to transform education, business, healthcare and our daily lives. With contagious optimism and examples that make “someday” feel like today, he leaves us curiously and optimistically imagining the extraordinary possibilities ahead. So tune in and catch a glimpse of the promising future in store through Brad’s unique and accessible lens!
Links from today's episode:
Brad Waid on LinkedIn
Website
Chief Outsiders

There are patterns we see for successful CEOs. The underlying factor for true success, meaning that the company grows, people want to work there and want to give it their all seems to be grounded in gratitude. Deborah is focusing on four successful CEOs in this episode with highlights of the gratitude that was loud and clear in their full episodes. Today she is highlighting Tien Wong, Lena Petrova, Amy Bielski, and Charles Dobens. We hope you enjoy this short commentary, "Gratitude Sets the Tone for Success."
Here are the links to the full episodes with each of these guests:
TIEN WONG EP38: Organic Relationship Building Over Forced Initiatives
LENA PETROVA EP36: AI Ignites a Creative Content Renaissance
AMY BIELSKI EP32 Keep People at the Center and Your Company Will Grow
CHARLES DOBENS EP28: LEGACIES CREATED - Multi-family Triumphs and Reimagining Hotels
 

Last week on Success Beneath the Surface, host Deborah Fell spoke with Tien Wong about the power of connections. Wong started ConnectPreneur over a decade ago to facilitate more regular forums for investors, entrepreneurs, and professionals in the DC/Mid-Atlantic area to connect and collaborate. A key insight Wong shared is that an engaged, diverse network structured for open interaction has emergent value - it can catalyze growth beyond what any individual could design. ConnectPreneur has enabled over 500 companies to receive funding through its community. As Wong emphasized, leveraging networks is not about personal gain, but enabling collective growth. Thriving innovation ecosystems arise from diverse people coming together, not closed circles.
Links from this episode:
Full episode
CONNECTPreneur
Tien Wong on LinkedIn
Deborah Fell on LinkedIn
Chief Outsiders

What's the secret sauce behind winning over employees and customers for the long haul? Our guest today, seasoned entrepreneur Tien Wong, believes it comes down to community.
Having built several companies from the ground up, Tien shares how human connections and nurturing an interconnected community have been his competitive edge time and again. Whether it's obsessive customer experience or organic relationship building, he provides invaluable insights for leaders seeking to foster belonging in the modern workplace.
Tien shares how he builds thriving communities across ventures as diverse as startups and pickleball. You’ll hear unconventional strategies like shared interests, value creation over extraction, and an emphasis on human connections that technology can’t replace.
The episode provides valuable insights for leaders seeking to boost loyalty by moving from transactions to relationships. Tien stresses that community requires constant nurturing, not one-off initiatives. Join us for this episode: INSPIRING - Organic Relationship Building Over Forced Initiatives.
Links from this episode:
CONNECTPreneur
Tien Wong on LinkedIn
PSuite
Deborah Fell on LinkedIn
Chief Outsiders
 
 
 

Change is inevitable like the changing colors of autumn leaves that draw visitors to admire their brilliance before they fall. But it's not the change itself that matters most, it's what we do in response - our creativity, courage and vision to move forward.
Join me as we listen to key points Lena Petrova made when she spoke with Deborah Fell last week. Petrova believes that while artificial intelligence is transforming our tools, it can never replace the human heart and mind. Our emotions, creativity and vision remain uniquely our own. She urges us not to resist change but to align it with what we believe in - to run our lives and companies with both financial and social purpose. As Petrova says, it's not about the change, it's about the change we create.
Join me for a specific listen to the points Lena Petrova made in the full episode last week.
You can listen to the full episode here.
About Deborah's guest in her own words:
My role as Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ad Astra, a comprehensive communication company, was born from my passion for promoting cultural understanding.  
I began my career providing spoken language interpretation and instruction services to high-level diplomats, schools, the Zenit soccer team, media organizations, and others in Russia. I served in various language services management and business development roles when I moved to the United States. My intimate experience in all aspects of the industry inspired me to create Ad Astra. I wanted to ensure equal access to information for all. 
Language access facilitates communication among different people in all activities of their lives. Each day, I work harder to ensure Ad Astra’s services reflect the very best offerings and current industry standards to serve the needs of organizations of all kinds—e.g., businesses, medical facilities, government agencies, educational institutions—and individuals. 
I have built Ad Astra with a diverse team of professionals who, like me, also profoundly care about people and communities across the nation and the globe and find ultimate satisfaction in creating stronger connections among disparate communities. My employees and I are deeply involved in many pro bono initiatives that provide communication services and language access to nonprofits and the community. 
And I always seek to learn through professional development and travel. In my free time, you can find me exploring locales across the globe, immersing myself in new cultures and languages, and making friends. 
About Ad Astra:
Ad Astra is a woman-owned business established in 2010. We have extensive, proven experience providing comprehensive communication and language access services in more than 200+ languages as well Deaf/ HOH services to industries that include healthcare/medical, government, marketing, judicial/legal, education, consumer electronics, environmental, human resources, finance, pharmaceutical, technology, and many others. 
Ad Astra’s mission is to provide culturally competent and linguistically appropriate services in diverse environments, and we are sensitive to the broad range of cultural and linguistic issues connected to the cross-cultural communication services field. We provide communication with a human touch in the age of AI. Our company’s philosophy is focused on cultural awareness and sensitivity to transfer communication between parties from diverse cultures and abilities.   

In this interview with Lena Petrova, Founder and CEO of Ad Astra, we learn how she has built a successful language services company focused on cultural understanding. Lena discusses curating a team around shared principles and vision, seeking people who align with the company's higher purpose. She sees AI as expanding, not replacing, human capabilities and believes creativity and emotions will endure. Ad Astra localizes languages, meeting customers and communities where they are, to drive business results while promoting cultural communication globally. Lena stresses focusing on the value you bring, saying if you believe in the change you are creating, money will follow. Her words inspire founders and leaders seeking to build purpose-driven, sustainable companies. Join us for this episode, AI Ignites a Creative Content Renaissance.
 
About Deborah's guest in her own words:
My role as Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ad Astra, a comprehensive communication company, was born from my passion for promoting cultural understanding.  
I began my career providing spoken language interpretation and instruction services to high-level diplomats, schools, the Zenit soccer team, media organizations, and others in Russia. I served in various language services management and business development roles when I moved to the United States. My intimate experience in all aspects of the industry inspired me to create Ad Astra. I wanted to ensure equal access to information for all. 
Language access facilitates communication among different people in all activities of their lives. Each day, I work harder to ensure Ad Astra’s services reflect the very best offerings and current industry standards to serve the needs of organizations of all kinds—e.g., businesses, medical facilities, government agencies, educational institutions—and individuals. 
I have built Ad Astra with a diverse team of professionals who, like me, also profoundly care about people and communities across the nation and the globe and find ultimate satisfaction in creating stronger connections among disparate communities. My employees and I are deeply involved in many pro bono initiatives that provide communication services and language access to nonprofits and the community. 
And I always seek to learn through professional development and travel. In my free time, you can find me exploring locales across the globe, immersing myself in new cultures and languages, and making friends. 
About Ad Astra:
Ad Astra is a woman-owned business established in 2010. We have extensive, proven experience providing comprehensive communication and language access services in more than 200+ languages as well Deaf/ HOH services to industries that include healthcare/medical, government, marketing, judicial/legal, education, consumer electronics, environmental, human resources, finance, pharmaceutical, technology, and many others. 
Ad Astra’s mission is to provide culturally competent and linguistically appropriate services in diverse environments, and we are sensitive to the broad range of cultural and linguistic issues connected to the cross-cultural communication services field. We provide communication with a human touch in the age of AI. Our company’s philosophy is focused on cultural awareness and sensitivity to transfer communication between parties from diverse cultures and abilities.   

In this week's episode, we explore an insightful conversation about partnerships and adapting business models during economic uncertainty. Host Deborah Fell reflects on key takeaways from her discussion with Keith Scandone, founder of O3, regarding the power of collaborative partnerships. Scandone shares how his company has pivoted to offer smaller, "wedge" offerings that provide value to clients with tighter budgets. He emphasizes being creative, thoughtful and embracing new ways of doing business during turbulent markets. Tune in to glean wisdom on building meaningful partnerships and pragmatic approaches to navigating challenges. This commentary provides practical perspective for leaders seeking to strengthen relationships and position their organizations for growth.
You can listen to the full episode here.
Keith Scandone: O3 Co-FounderAs  O3’s Co-Founder, Keith focuses on the consultancy’s strategic goals and leading the company's venture initiatives. After 18 years as O3’s acting CEO, Keith’s current role enables him to focus on new growth areas and opportunities for the brand to expand its footprint and position in the market. Whether organic growth through O3’s service offerings, or inorganic growth through partnerships and investments, Keith is always looking at strategic ways to continue to differentiate the company. 
Keith thrives on bringing people together and leveraging other’s connections and strengths to help each other, the industry and the community move forward. From spearheading the Forge Conference, Innovation Day, and the 1682 Conference to co-founding the Philadelphia chapter of the Awesome Foundation and Pay It Phorward, these are just some ways in which Keith likes to combine his network with his passion for innovation. His commitment to consistently craft and curate the O3 culture has led the consultancy to be recognized as one of Entrepreneur’s “Top Company Cultures” and “Best Entrepreneurial Companies."
Keith has also sat on several boards and continues to mentor several companies, most notably through the Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies Mentor Connect program. Living in Philadelphia and D.C. has given him a unique network and perspective to grow the O3 brand.