07-01-24 The Conversation: Paula Parker and Nick Sternberg
Twenty-Third Episode: In a fairly recent LinkedIn conversation Paula M. Parker and Nick Sternberg had this exchange:
Nick: When I was younger, $3.35 an hour wasn’t enough to live on. Later, $16k a year wasn’t enough to live on. So, I found a cheap flat in a rough area and ate ramen.
Paula: I had a financial slap upside the head. I clawed my way out of it. I developed the tools, knowledge, and self-esteem to know I can get through anything life throws at me.
Nick: I like the notion of becoming less fragile by realizing the material is inferior to the mindset.
Paula: Your responses are nothing short of brilliant. Mindset isn’t the only thing — it’s everything. And boy, could we talk.
Ad, so, I invited them to come on The Anxious Voyage to Talk.
Paula M. Parker Bio:
Paula’s spent most of her life building things — structure, foundation, systems, and processes to generate recurring wealth. Assuming responsibility, leadership roles, and all things building started when her sixth-grade teacher, Miss Carmola, asked her to fill the weekly orders from the Teacher’s Supply Cabinet. Fast forward to a Global Consultancy firm for the Architecture and Engineering industries. The CEO would say, “Here’s the client, the contract, and $25k in seed money. Make it happen.” Then he’d vanish for months. Paula generated $33 million in revenue with eight percent annual growth for 15 years running and an 84 percent client retention rate. Decades later, she quit and established an advisory practice to turn ideas into reality, to make things happen, and to build wealth for businesses. And when she’s not doing those things, she’s making the best meatballs east of the Mississippi.
Nick Sternberg Bio:
Nick’s had a long career as a Creative Director and design educator. He’s been given all kinds of dubious titles like technologist, strategist, visionary, and polemicist. But they’re all irrelevant. Somehow all his clients find their way to the same basic description: He may seem overly analytical at first, but he finds the important stuff that’s true and helps you focus. He calms you down and helps you discover what you already know about yourself and your goals. Often mistaken for a tough-love therapist, he’s a miner. Nick is currently CEO of Hope and Change, an agency working to prototype the future of American corporate identity by writing and producing 21st century design fiction for big brands and finding what’s uniquely American about the little ones. He’s also a God-fearing father, husband, and family man.
Video Version: https://www.youtube.com/live/w1ZpK0Ebw1s?si=9O_iNR5uhRw0V9OG
Learn more about Mark here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4cXoftnMYJ7bREYG-K9eng
https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-anxious-voyage/about/?viewAsMember=true
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095313165139
https://www.linkedin.com/in/markobrien/
https://www.facebook.com/MarkNelsonOBrien
https://www.facebook.com/MartinTheMarlin/
mark@obriencg.com
