"Success is helping others realize their potential and creating positive change."
Chad started Motivate Multimedia in 2019. His vision was born by a long-standing desire to motivate and inspire people at all stages of life and from diverse backgrounds.
His journey began in the late 90s after creating an internet-based radio station, transitioning to terrestrial radio, but then ultimately serving in the United States Navy for 6 years. After almost 20 years in the aviation/manufacturing industry, his desire to return to his passion began.
Motivate Multimedia is a full-service media company bringing like-minded professionals together with a desire to make positive change. “What’s Your Passion?”, is a show hosted by Chad Senkowski, examining the passions of everyday people. Additionally, the show regularly has a “Food Edition” with reviews of some of the most popular eateries in the U.S.
Chad strives daily to bring new insight and value to the customers of Motivate Multimedia in order to build lifelong relationships and people.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Chad Senkowski: I started my journey in 1998, shortly after graduating high school. At the beginning of the internet boom, I created and ran an internet-based radio station which then led me to work for a local terrestrial radio station. However, shortly after broadcasting live on September 11, 2001, I felt a need to join the U.S. Navy and serve my country.
This new journey made me grow even more as an individual while deploying to South East Asia and then Europe after my honorable discharge from the military. After working almost 20 years in the aviation industry, I came full circle to return to my passion; media and people.
I founded Motivate Multimedia to bring ideas, media and people together. Whether it is producing the show “What’s Your Passion? creating voiceovers for customer projects or creating a full video production for commercials and promos, the creative process is at work.
Each customer brings a new level of diversity and the ability to use the creative process.
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curveballs into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple of years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Chad Senkowski: Each business is a little different depending on their industry, however, it is necessary to understand that being innovative and having a contingency plan is always a good idea. When a business normally operates with a forward-thinking process, it makes it that much easier when curveballs are thrown.
I have learned that technology is our friend today and increasing more as we experience changes to our global landscape. It is just as easy to take a meeting today using internet conferencing versus an in-person meeting; much faster too, which proves highly effective in today’s fast-paced culture.
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Chad Senkowski: Watch for trends with regard to problems that can be solved, especially in your industry. There will be a great opportunity to help others and gain high levels of business when other companies fail to shift appropriately. There should also be an increased focus on empathy and the proper handling of people with an increased honing of soft skills. If you master soft skills such as communication, problem-solving, conflict resolution, or teamwork, the other skills will follow.
How has the pandemic changed your industry, and how have you adapted?
Chad Senkowski: The pandemic has changed my industry for the better. A shift in online training, education and social media use has created an increase in the need for recorded media and video production. Being able to see this shift before many other companies have proved to be a great benefit. This is once again an advantage of being ready to shift and staying innovative no matter how well you think you are doing.
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started, and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Chad Senkowski: I wish I would have known it was going to last as long as it has been. Improvements for 2022 are to strategically plan customer acquisition both on the video production side of the show or the customer pipeline for voice over/video production for commercial/promo work.
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Chad Senkowski: Expectations for 2022 will be an even more increasing surge in online business. We cannot go back to “normal” or pre-pandemic states. Companies and people have realized the advantages of online commerce, business, and meetings and would be almost impossible to leave it. A great example would be like giving up a cell phone and going back to the home phone; it’s just not going to happen.
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Chad Senkowski: Because business is being conducted almost entirely online, I spend at least 15 hours in front of a screen.
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Chad Senkowski: In order to show the importance of communication I oftentimes share examples of my times overseas. During my aviation career, I spent 1 year living in Turkey. I immersed myself in the culture and language. I believe language is the key to understanding each other. I felt it necessary to teach myself Turkish so that I could better equip myself with the skills to ensure I could effectively communicate. Without this, I think communication can break down, and misunderstanding is the root of many problems; if you can prevent it, take the high road and educate.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Chad Senkowski: Some of the biggest challenges right now is helping people. We are all subject to rejection and self-doubt. Through the pandemic, depression and many other negative problems have arisen in people. My personal challenge is making sure people believe in themselves and ensuring they feel they are bringing value to the team. If you can help shift the mindset of people in a positive direction, there is nothing that can stop you.
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Chad Senkowski: Online marketing is the most interesting skill to learn for myself. I believe it can constantly change with technology and how social media is being used and being consumed therefore you have to constantly educate yourself. Marketing helps us promote our ideas sell our products, and build our network. Networking is by far the biggest advantage for any company; it all comes back to creating strong relationships. With that process come strong companies and collaborative work.
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job in 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Chad Senkowski: Yes, unfortunately, most people think it is not them. However, even before the Great Resignation, people leave bosses and not companies. Bosses cause their employees to leave because they fail to have good soft skills. They rule like a boss and not a leader. Most leaders lack a sense of “total ownership”, and will find ways to blame the workers or other people. It is my belief that management is always the problem; if employees are not performing within an organization it is because management failed to address the employee with more education, more attention, or a plan for success to name a few. Leaders need to see people as people and nothing less.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Chad Senkowski: I would pick the superpower of building a business quickly. With that superpower, I would build a business and then pass it along to someone who could manage and build the business bigger to help others.
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Chad Senkowski: Success for me is to build my show, What’s Your Passion?, to an even higher level where I can be more mobile and bring content from around the country. This includes interviews with thought leaders, athletes, entrepreneurs, etc. to inspire and motivate people of all age levels and stages of their life. Success is helping others realize their potential and creating positive change.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Chad Senkowski for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Chad Senkowski or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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