There are still some human qualities and tasks that technology can’t replace
Posted On January 2, 2019
Advances in technology are affecting, and in many cases disrupting, pretty much every industry. We all rely on computers now in some form or other, and digital tools and automation are transforming the way we do business while performing many jobs once held by humans. What about nursing? We always hear that it is one of the few professions where demand is constant. Could robots or artificial intelligence ever replace the tasks performed by a nurse? Lisa Mestas thinks not. Mestas, Chief Nursing Officer at University of South Alabama Health System and our guest in the latest episode of “What’s… Read More
Categories: Blog, What's Working with Cam Marston
Are tariffs a good idea? One economist’s take
Posted On December 26, 2018
We all want to see the economy grow and create jobs. A favored method in the current U.S. administration’s efforts to accomplish this has been to use or threaten to use tariffs against foreign countries to level the playing field for American businesses. We’ve been told they will save American jobs, but our guest in this episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” economist Peter Ricchiuti of Tulane University’s Freeman School of Business, begs to differ. “I think tariffs are insane,” he said. “They’re a prosperity killer. … I think these things sound good on a political stump, but they… Read More
Categories: Entrepreneurship, Recession Economy, What's Working with Cam Marston
Yes, you can make a living selling popsicles. But it’s not easy.
Posted On December 12, 2018
So you want to be an entrepreneur, but don’t have that big, original idea that no one else has done? What about taking something that’s been done and putting your own twist on it, or simply doing it better? That’s what Octavio and Shannon Arzola did. Some people may have thought our guests in this episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” were crazy when they decided to open a gourmet popsicle stand in Gulfport, Miss. But in updating an old favorite, the popsicle, using fresh, all-natural ingredients, and going all-in to make their vision a reality, the Arzolas’ business has… Read More
Categories: Entrepreneurship, What's Working with Cam Marston
Co-Working Spaces – Where we Work vs. Where we Want to Work
Posted On December 9, 2018
What will the office of the future look like? Will it feature the open-concept floor plans that are the current rage? Are cubicles gone for good? Or will we even work in offices at all? The future isn’t easy to predict – if it was, sports books and insurance companies would go out of business. But the trends we see in today’s workplaces may give us a good idea of what’s to come. Our guest in a recent episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” Mobile-based developer Taylor Atchison, shares his thoughts about current trends in workspaces and what they… Read More
Categories: What's Working with Cam Marston, Workplace
Papa Grows Funk, but what can a musician teach us about growing a business?
Posted On December 6, 2018
In past posts on this blog, we have examined lessons that people from various backgrounds, from military officers to football coaches, can teach us about running a business. But stay with us on this next one: What about musicians? Our guest in this week’s episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” is John “Papa” Gros, a longtime New Orleans musician who toured the world with his band, Papa Grows Funk, but often found himself dealing with issues that might seem familiar to managers in many different lines of business. Papa Grows Funk came together organically, Gros says – they knew… Read More
Categories: Blog, Podcast, What's Working with Cam Marston
Try and hire: Temporary staffing in a run of low unemployment
Posted On November 14, 2018
We have addressed, in previous blogs, how the current low level of unemployment is affecting companies looking to hire new staff. But what about companies whose job it is to provide staff, or recommend new hires, to other companies – temporary staffing agencies? Our guest in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” is Liz Freeman, president of Long’s Human Resources, who shares with us how the current economy has affected her temporary staffing business. Freeman says her firm is working a lot more of late with permanent direct placements, where her agency acts as a headhunter of… Read More
Categories: Podcast, What's Working with Cam Marston, Workplace
Are we on the verge of a retirement crisis?
Posted On November 4, 2018
Are we on the verge of a retirement crisis? It depends on who you ask. Conflicting reports abound on the state of American retirement plans. Some say we, on average, are looking OK. Others say we aren’t even close to being ready. Wesley Carpenter, a financial planner with Merrill Lynch, offers his take in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston.” Corporate America has shifted from pensions toward 401k plans – fewer than 20 percent of private sector employers still offer a pension plan, Carpenter says, down from over 60 percent in the early 1980s. That shifts the… Read More
Categories: Retirement, What's Working with Cam Marston
Unproductive meetings are a sign of an unproductive workplace
Posted On October 22, 2018
Who likes going to meetings? Not many of us would raise our hands in response to that question. Most of us see meetings as time that would be better spent actually getting some work done. But workplace consultant and executive coach Michael Nash says it doesn’t have to be that way. Nash, who joins us again for another episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston,” says it really isn’t the meetings themselves we hate, it’s that they aren’t being conducted effectively. Meetings actually serve important functions, Nash says. They allow employees to have face time with their supervisors, and they… Read More
Categories: Podcast, What's Working with Cam Marston, Work, Workplace
Lessons from a Green Beret: In the military or in business, building relationships is the key
Posted On October 14, 2018
We often use military metaphors when describing other things. We might call a hard-fought football game a “war,” or refer to a tough sale as a “battle.” But is there anything that the military can teach us about how we do business? Our guest in the latest episode of “What’s Working with Cam Marston” is uniquely qualified to answer that question. Brad Israel is a U.S. Army Green Beret and Afghanistan veteran who is now the Chief Leadership Officer of 68 Ventures, a real estate holding company based in Baldwin County. Israel says there are several lessons he’s taken with… Read More
Categories: Podcast, What's Working with Cam Marston, Work, Workplace
Reports of print media’s demise may be greatly exaggerated
Posted On October 4, 2018
Is print media dead? Rumors of its demise abound. Distrust of media in general is high. Readers can find content free on the internet. And Craigslist has killed off the cash cow of classified ads. Many once-thriving dailies have slashed their staffs, reduced their editions and turned their focus to the web. But look beyond the headlines and you’ll find smaller, independent weeklies still serving their communities with the news of the day in good, old-fashioned newsprint, and some are even thriving. One such independent paper here in Mobile, Alabama, is Lagniappe. Joining us for this episode of “What’s Working… Read More
Categories: Podcast, What's Working with Cam Marston