Live From The Festival of Books - April 26, 2010 - Segment Four

Live From The Festival of Books – Betsy and Renee visit with writer Bruce Dundore, who also serves as Creative Director at Fraser Communications, about working with Daryl Wizelman on his book Heart Leader: A Personal Journey To The Heart of Business and Life. Bruce collaborated with Daryl as his writing partner to create what would eventually become Heart Leader. Bruce notes that writing partnerships are good for business owners who feel the task of writing is too daunting. Bringing in a writer as a partner who loves and lives to write suddenly makes the thought of writing—and compiling and sorting through countless notes and memories—less scary, and makes the process of writing far more productive and constructive. Bruce also notes that the publishing business is taking on fewer and fewer writers these days, similar to the movie business relying on “tentpole” movies to bring in their profits and taking less chances on scripts and ideas that are “unfamiliar.” The silver lining these kinds of changes bring to both industries, Bruce observes, is they leave a lot of room open for independent players to get involved, especially for writers who decide to go the self-publishing route.

2Minutes&More with Betsy Berkhemer and Renee Fraser airs every Sunday at 1pm on KFWB NEWS TALK 980. Tune in for a full hour of tips for business success.

Show Me The Money - CEO Interview - California Inspector General Laura Chick - February 21, 2010 - Segment Three

Show Me The Money - Interview with California State Inspector General Laura Chick.  Betsy and Renee speak with the only state level Inspector General Laura Chick about the stimulus dollars coming into California from the Federal Recovery Act.

Shortly after President Obama signed the Federal Recovery Act, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger turned to Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick. He tapped her to be the first-in-the-nation Inspector General to oversee the more than $50 Billion in economic stimulus dollars that California is receiving.

“Laura’s impressive track record as a watchdog and public servant makes her uniquely qualified to ensure this funding is used as it was intended-to create jobs and help our state through this difficult economic time,” said Governor Schwarzenegger.

The Sacramento Bee heralded Chick’s arrival in the Capitol with the headline, “MISUSE STIMULUS CASH, YOU’LL ANSWER TO HER.”

A trained social worker, Laura received her Bachelors Degree in History from UCLA and a Masters in Social Work from USC. Her experience includes managing a family-owned retail business. Laura first entered elected office in 1993 when she defeated a 16 year incumbent for a seat on the Los Angeles City Council in the West San Fernando Valley. Seven months after taking office her district was devastated by the Northridge Earthquake. Chick went into action working around the clock, an ever present figure in the toppled neighborhoods. Laura used the crisis as an opportunity to rebuild in a smarter and better way, creating what is now a thriving redevelopment zone with shops, cafes and a legitimate theater converted from an X-rated movie house.

In 2001 Laura was overwhelmingly elected City Controller, becoming the first woman to hold citywide office in Los Angeles. As Controller, she was the Chief Auditor and Chief Accountant of the City working to ensure its fiscal health. In her nearly eight years in this office, Laura released over 170 audits and reports exposing a wide range of problems throughout city government. As the taxpayers’ watchdog she rooted out waste and fraud and championed innovation and new ideas to challenge the status-quo.

A Los Angeles Business Journal feature said, “Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick has emerged as a central voice in the ongoing debate over how the city handles its contracts.” As the Los Angeles Magazine stated, “Where others couch and evade, she is Ms. Blunt.”

One of her last audits to be released exposed a backlog of thousands of untested DNA rape kits at the Los Angeles Police Department. Laura’s report brought a national spotlight to an intolerable situation. This resulted in City officials finally making the problem a priority. Her work recently won her the prestigious ProPublica Prize for Investigative Governance. Laura is now energetically taking up the state’s challenge of overseeing the massive expenditure of American Recovery funds. “My job as Inspector General is to deter, detect and disclose waste and fraud. I’m putting everyone on notice that I am watching and if there is something wrong we will find it,” said Chick.

Laura Chick is the proud mother of two grown daughters-Katherine, a public school teacher in Los Angeles, and Care, a psychologist in northern California. She is also the beaming grandmother of Morgan.

2Minutes&More with Betsy Berkhemer and Renee Fraser airs every Sunday at 1pm on KFWB NEWS TALK 980. Tune in for a full hour of tips for business success.

Good Bosses and Bad Bosses - January 17, 2010 - Segment One

Good Bosses and Bad Bosses - Which kind are you? Listen in for inspiring stories of great leaders and some nightmare stories of bosses who were dreadful. If you want to stay in business you have to become an inspirational leader - the old fashioned way of ruling by force and intimidation will just not work in today’s business environment. Betsy and Renee discuss having an “open door policy,” “walk around management,” transparency of the company and living the values of your company.

2Minutes&More with Betsy Berkhemer and Renee Fraser airs every Sunday at 1pm on KFWB NEWS TALK 980. Tune in for a full hour of tips for business success.

The Underdog - December 6, 2009 - Segment Two

The Underdog - Caller - Lisa Greer Quateman of Quateman, LLP, a boutique law firm. She started her own law firm and from the beginning enlisted the help of a marketing coach. Many talented individuals are not comfortable with “selling” their services. A marketing coach can help.

Volunteering for Non-Profits - November 29, 2009 - Segment Two

Non-Profits - Caller - Susan Galeas, VP - Central Region, Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles. The Girl Scouts are more than just great cookies (even though the cookie program is the leading financial literacy program in the country for girls). They are looking for board members, support and volunteers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, Arts and Culture, and business smarts. If you are interested contact them directly! Check out their website at: www.girlscoutsla.org