Turning a problem into a business (and transforming wealth transfer in the process)
Posted On November 21, 2023
Sometimes the problems life presents to us lead us to create new solutions. So it was with Martha Underwood, our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston.” Underwood had a family emergency in 2017, when her father fell from a roof while helping a neighbor clear debris after a hurricane and fell unconscious. Living in Birmingham, hundreds of miles away from her parents’ home in Miami, she found that finding and accessing his medical and financial information to make decisions on his behalf was problematic. “With my background, I said there has to be a better… Read More
Categories: Blog, Entrepreneurship, Wealth, What's Working with Cam Marston, Women
How AI can transform the healthcare industry
Posted On November 14, 2023
How will artificial intelligence affect the healthcare industry? By creating and empowering informed patients. So says Dr. Robert Pearl, the former CEO of The Permanente Medical Group and our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston.” Dr. Pearl, who also teaches at Stanford’s medical school and the Stanford Graduate School of Business, envisions a near-future where patients will have the tools to self-diagnose their ailments. While this might initially be alarming to physicians, Dr. Pearl argues that it can actually help them do their jobs better and create better patient outcomes. “It’s not going to replace… Read More
Categories: Blog, What's Working with Cam Marston
So you want to make it in the music business?
Posted On November 7, 2023
Think you can make it in the music industry? Be forewarned: There are more people than ever making music, and it’s tougher than ever to make a living at it. But that hasn’t stopped Kate Teague from making music. Teague, our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” is a singer-songwriter who lives and works in Nashville. But she doesn’t just sing and write songs. She also works as the associate director of development at Nashville Public Radio. “It’s incredibly hard to make a living solely as an artist,” she said. “I’ve come to terms with… Read More
Categories: Blog, What's Working with Cam Marston
Brent Barkin shares the art of thoughtfully switching careers
Posted On October 31, 2023
Ever thought about changing careers? Most of us don’t have the luxury of taking the time to explore what we’d really like to do, and what we’d be good at doing. But what if you did? Brent Barkin found himself in just such a situation. Barkin had been a guest on “What’s Working with Cam Marston” when he was running his family business, Shoe Station. Now that his family has sold that business, and he’s completed a stint working for the company that took it over, he stopped back in to share with us what he’s doing now – and… Read More
Categories: Blog, What's Working with Cam Marston, Work
A new mantra for today’s business world: If it ain’t broke, break it and make it better
Posted On October 23, 2023
Some of the best advice you can give or take in business is simply to begin. Joe Calloway, a Nashville-based business consultant and author, had the word printed on a coffee mug to remind himself of it every day. “I’ve tried a lot of things, but I’m also really good at overthinking,” he said. “But I’m very aware of that and so I work really hard at beginning and moving on with things.” Calloway, our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” acknowledges that beginning is often easier said than done. Fear often gets in the… Read More
Categories: Blog, Entrepreneurship, What's Working with Cam Marston
AI: The next step in the evolution of logistics & supply chain management
Posted On October 17, 2023
Some would say the invention that’s had the greatest impact on logistics and supply chain management is the shipping container. Others might point to UPC bar codes. The advent and ultimate applications of artificial intelligence may add a new contender for the title. Our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” was Shashank Rao, the Jim W. Thompson Professor in the Department of Supply Chain Management at Auburn University’s Harbert College of Business. He says AI presents the next step in streamlining the supply chain. Artificial intelligence is that next iteration that is looking to make… Read More
Categories: Blog, What's Working with Cam Marston, Work
Growing better grass to raise better beef
Posted On October 10, 2023
Joey Mason made his living in erosion control, growing special grasses that naturally protect the soil in which they’re rooted. Growing grass is also an important facet of another industry, however – the beef industry – and Mason has found a way to use his expertise to enter and learn a new business. Mason, our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” owns and operates Mason Hills Farm, a cattle ranch in Grand Bay, Alabama, that produces high-end, premium beef. He says he had no idea what he was doing when he bought the 200-acre farm,… Read More
Categories: Blog, Entrepreneurship, What's Working with Cam Marston
Learning how to craft a business on the fly
Posted On October 4, 2023
When Hastings Read and his wife decided to open a custom woodworking shop in the middle of a recession, they realized that they didn’t know much about the woodworking business. And, aside from kitchen projects, they didn’t really know much about woodworking, either. But that was OK, Read said. “It’s fine not to know anything, as long as you know you don’t know anything,” he said. “So we embarked on a journey of learning.” Read, our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” has used lessons learned in his background as a banker and consultant to… Read More
Categories: Blog, Entrepreneurship, What's Working with Cam Marston
Cold-calling for sales isn’t dead — if it’s done right
Posted On September 26, 2023
Cold-calling for sales is dead, people will tell you. Brian Tanner says that’s hogwash. Tanner, our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” is the Managing Principal at the Birmingham, Alabama, office of EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants, a commercial insurer that is the 15th largest in the nation. And he says cold-calling, when done right, is the best way to drum up new business. How do you do cold-calling right? Tanner has three tips: Always stand up. “If you’re sitting down, they can hear it,” he said. “They know you’re flat. You don’t play sports… Read More
Categories: Blog, What's Working with Cam Marston
Maintaining a workforce in a revolving-door industry
Posted On September 19, 2023
Panini Pete and Cheryl Blohme, the brother and sister team who run a collection of restaurants as the PP Hospitality Group, say that the restaurant industry is a bit like a pet dog. You love it and it loves you unconditionally, but occasionally it’s going to chew up your sneakers. You do what you can to minimize the chaos it creates – such as keeping your sneakers off the floor, but you understand that a certain bit is to be expected. “You shouldn’t freak out,” Pete says, “about a dog being a dog.” So it is with hiring and retaining… Read More
Categories: Blog, Recruiting, What's Working with Cam Marston, Workplace