August 16, 2025 • 35 mins
The moment Aaron Plush was pulled from his second-grade classroom to test early Macintosh computers, his path in technology was set. This formative experience sparked a journey that would lead him through global program management roles and transformational leadership positions at major corporations like Citrix.
Aaron brings a refreshingly authentic approach to the complex world of project management and organizational transformation. His methodology begins with something surprisingly simple yet often overlooked: listening. "There's no bigger mistake any leader can make than implementing change without understanding the organization's landscape," he explains. This people-centric philosophy has become his hallmark in an industry often dominated by technical solutions seeking problems.
What makes Aaron's approach particularly powerful is his integrated leadership style that seamlessly blends faith, discipline, and business acumen. When managing high-stakes initiatives, he maintains perspective through methodical execution: "We don't take the entire plate and throw it in our face. We do it bite-sized pieces." This calm, measured approach, combined with radical accountability, has proven effective across Fortune 500 companies and complex technology implementations.
His perspective on emerging technologies like AI is equally thoughtful. Rather than focusing on the technology itself, Aaron emphasizes understanding the problem first, then leveraging AI as an enhancement tool. "It's about using technology for the purposes of what you need it for," he advises, encouraging adoption without fear.
Perhaps most compelling is Aaron's commitment to developing others. When asked what qualities he looks for in mentees, his answer is striking: "I don't." Anyone expressing a desire to grow receives his support, regardless of their current position or potential. This generosity of spirit extends to his view of success itself—"my journey is about bringing others along with me."
Connect with Aaron at www.aaronrplush.com or through his Authentic Realness podcast to learn more about his approach to leadership, technology, and personal development. His story reminds us that even in our increasingly digital world, authentic human connection remains the foundation of meaningful transformation.
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Follow The Brand! We hope you enjoyed learning about the latest marketing trends and strategies in Personal Branding, Business and Career Development, Financial Empowerment, Technology Innovation, and Executive Presence. To keep up with the latest insights and updates from us, be sure to follow us at 5starbdm.com. See you next time on Follow The Brand!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome everybody to the Final Brand Podcast.
This is your host, grantMcGaugh, and I get an
opportunity to interview a very,very interesting individual who
I met down there in the Miami,fort Lauderdale area not too
long ago and I found himintriguing because of his world.
His world and my world kind ofintersect in the world in
(00:25):
technology and he's been doing alot in program project
management.
I mean, anytime you getinvolved with high tech, people
don't realize this, but they seethe outcome.
But the internal thing that youhave to get done a lot of I's
have to be dotted, a lot of T'shave to be crossed.
There's a lot of coordinationand orchestration in the
background that has to be dotted.
A lot of T's have to be crossed.
There's a lot of coordinationand orchestration in the
(00:47):
background that has to be doneby individuals such as Aaron.
I'm going to let Aaron introducehimself and we're going to
really get into this because Idon't see a lot of conversations
around these areas and reallyshowcase his expertise in what
he does.
So, aaron, you'd like tointroduce yourself?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Absolutely.
Thank you, grant, for theopportunity to be here on your
podcast.
Always welcome the opportunityto share in a good dialogue and
looking forward to thediscussion.
To the point of what Grantmentioned, I am Aaron Plush and
I live here in South Florida.
I have been here roughly eightyears, originally from South
Carolina, and I've lived aroundthe globe.
Certainly I can tell you, grant, as you've kind of set me up,
(01:30):
that IT really found me, thatone of the most significant
stories that I have is Iremember and I don't want to age
myself because I am only 21,but I remember being pulled out
of a classroom in the secondgrade and was really used as a
tester Didn't realize it at thatpoint for some of the first
(01:52):
Macintosh computers andliterally our librarian at the
time she had taken an affinityin me.
Her name was Mrs Hubbard.
I remember her very well, justa lovely woman, and in hindsight
I recognize that that's wheremy affinity for computers came
about and have been chuggingalong ever since.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Well, I tell you that's how I got my start in
technology.
It was definitely in highschool and I had the opportunity
to attend the DeVry Instituteof Technology school and had the
opportunity to attend the DeVryInstitute of Technology.
But those are the things thatyou know by chance and we think
it's by chance.
But it gives an opportunity,right, I think, with everybody
where you get an opportunity,it's a matter of how you're
going to take it forward.
Now, first question I want toask you and this is curiosity
(02:41):
for me and probably the audienceas well is that you have worked
at the intersection ofoperations and also people
leadership, which is veryimportant.
I would understand.
When you enter a neworganization, yes, what is your
process for quickly diagnosingwhere transformation, or those
those gaps, is needed?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
most.
Yes, I tell you, Grant, in verycertain terms that's a great
question and for me my mindsetis one of a consultant, so I'm a
big listener that one of thekey things and I say this to all
leaders the first thing thatyou want to do is you want to go
on that listening tour.
You truly want to understandwhat's happening.
There's no bigger mistake thatany leader can make than going
(03:24):
in implementing change with noregard to an understanding of
the landscape of theorganization that they're going
into.
The reason why that's sodangerous is because so often
you'll find some of these greatand amazing and wonderful ideas
that you think that you'rehaving they've already been
tried and, for whatever reasonwithin this organization, they
didn't work.
So, to answer your questionvery specifically, after going
(03:46):
on that listening tour, it'sabout truly understanding from
the individuals who've beenthere as to what things have
been working, what things aren'tworking, what gaps are there,
and then in turn, we cancollectively look at how
transformation can happen.
Because what I think abouttransformation, it's not about
being the smartest guy in theroom all the time.
It's about how do wecollaborate as a cohesive unit.
(04:10):
How do we go about looking at apeople-centric approach that so
many of us say that we have.
But we have to questionourselves and ask is that truly
what drives us?
I practice what I preach, and Ipractice what I preach because
I love God and I love God first.
So in turn, I have to honor himin all things that I do, be it
(04:30):
work, be it personally, be itwherever.
So with that, that's what myapproach is is that listening
tour?
It's going in and understandingwhat has worked, what isn't
working, what will work, whatisn't working, what will work,
and then, together, taking thatpeople-centric approach, is how
we go about charging forward andidentifying what transformation
needs to happen and how do weget there.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
I love the viewpoint, I love the authenticity in
bringing your true self to thetable and being who you are and
allowing others to be who theyare.
I think it's so, so important,absolutely.
You were at Citrix.
Yes, when you were at Citrix,you helped establish supplier
management and contingentworkforce programs that became
(05:17):
some industry standards.
If you don't mind, I'd like foryou to let us know what
specific principles made thoseparticular programs so enduring
and scalable.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Yeah, great question and I have a great story.
The story around me, evenlanding in South Florida, was
because of Citrix Systems Inc.
That specifically, I came intoCitrix to be the global
contingent labor manager and, toyour point, what separated me
from all of the other applicantswas that I was the only one who
(05:51):
had the global experience.
Citrix at the time identifiedthat it wanted to look at how it
could bring some managementstructure to its contingent
labor program and because I hadthat global experience to allow
the company to bring thatin-house where I created what
was called the Flexworks officeat that time and it was amazing
to be able to build somethingfrom the ground up based upon my
(06:13):
experiences with several othercompanies.
So that's what led me intoCitrix to be able to manage all
non-employees of the companyglobally and to have a system
where we could manage themthrough a vendor management
system that allowed us at realtime to be able to see how many
consultants and contractors thatwe had, what was our spend with
(06:34):
them, to really be able to havesome true usage of that
intersection, as you mentioned,of the operational piece of
managing that, but usingtechnology to be how we're
managing it.
So that intersection wasamazing.
The second component of that wasI moved on from that contingent
labor space to managing allsuppliers, and that was the
(06:58):
supplier value optimizationprogram All suppliers within the
organization.
I worked to ensure that we hadsupplier inclusion, to ensure
that we had supplier inclusionto ensure that diverse suppliers
were getting opportunities withthis large corporation in the
tech space, also ensuring thatwe were managing our suppliers
in a way that they felt thatthey were truly partners and
truly having that connection ofwe were all working together.
(07:21):
And then, lastly, the piecethat you did not mention is that
I left Citrix as the chief ofstaff of HR, working directly
with our C-suite under our chiefpeople officer, which afforded
me the opportunity to be thatvault for Donna Kimmel at the
time, as well as to guide anddrive the strategic guides of
Citrix specific to HR as well asthe overall corporation.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I think all this is important to note that your
experience speaks for itself andbecause of that experience,
that global experience, peoplelike to tap you for your
knowledge, your expertise andyour intelligence.
Now you've managed some prettylarge and complex projects for a
lot of fortune 500s, evenoutside of Citrix, absolutely
(08:10):
Some other niche clients alike.
But what?
What is your approach tokeeping high stakes initiatives
on track?
Cause I see these things getaway from people all the time,
especially when they'rechallenging and there are other
competing priorities.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
I tell you the key thing, Grant, is remaining calm,
cool and collected that whatyou will find in very certain
terms is that, yes, this work isimportant, but a dear friend
said to me years ago, the workthat I do is not cancer research
.
No one is going to live or diebased upon the work that I'm
doing.
So being able to understandthat, yes, it's important, but
(08:50):
it's not the do all be all thattomorrow will still get come in
that.
That allows my program projectmanagement mind to come to play,
which says to me in verycertain terms it's piece by
piece, bit by bit, lookingoverarching, seeing big picture.
But when we sit down to eat aplate of food, what do we do?
(09:13):
We get our fork, we get ourknife and we do it bite-sized
pieces.
We don't take the entire plateand throw it in our face and try
to eat it all at one time.
Use the same example.
To be at high file clients Doesnot matter.
The approach is always the same.
Objective is to go from A to Z,letter by letter.
(09:37):
Any skipping letters, anythingof that nature, is going to put
us in a position that we don'twant to be in.
So it's that very methodical,piece by piece, using that
program, project managementmindset, but also understanding
and certainty that tomorrow willstill yet come.
There may be those times that wehave to take steps backwards.
(09:58):
There may be times that we evenmake some mistakes on them,
because accountability is one ofthose things that is paramount
in the success that I've seenKnowing for certain things that
fail.
Raising my hand yes, me, AaronClush, that's on me.
Now.
How do we work together to fixthat?
Not as Grant's fault, not asthe supplier's fault.
(10:20):
It's mine, I own it.
Now let's work together to fixit and get to that point where
we need to be, because that's asignificant lesson learned.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Accountability is king, especially in the work
that you're doing.
You have to have accountabilityand the stakeholders in the
room have to be accountable,right, no doubt?
All that together and, as youmentioned, your career has
spanned being the chief of staff, yes, and program direction
consulting.
The question I want to know isand you've got a story, a story
(10:56):
career over a long period oftime Absolutely, I want to
understand which role hasstretched you the most and what
did you take from it that shapeshow you lead, even today?
Speaker 2 (11:11):
I'll reframe your question because it's less about
an individual role and it's myentire career and the way that I
look at my career.
It's been building blocks thatgoing back to that affinity with
God and understanding that Isaw clearly career at second
grade.
Not many people can have thatexact moment where they're
saying, hey, I can pinpoint myprofessional career back to the
(11:33):
second grade, sitting in frontof a Macintosh computer, knowing
that that was going to be thedirection I was going to go.
I have that vantage point.
So those building blocks of mycareer has allowed me, piece by
piece, block by block, to buildin a way where every role,
technically, was a stretch,because there were so many
(11:54):
uncertainties within each role.
However, being blessed with amethodical mind, being one who
operates from the spirit ofexcellence in all things if I'm
walking to the store I'm goingto walk to the store with the
spirit of excellence Translatingthat to being stretched
afforded me the opportunity that, although I didn't always have
(12:15):
the answers, sometimes I didn'thave a clue, but I also knew the
importance of tapping into myresources, tapping into those
people who did know, tappinginto that collective experience
of what we all could learntogether and then using that to
gain success.
So you go second grade to whereI am today, serving as a
(12:38):
consultant, and I do have to putthe plug in for my own podcast,
which is the Authentic Realnesspodcast, because you mentioned
authenticity, because that's atthe core of who I am.
I don't know how to be anyoneelse other than Aaron R Plush,
because that's who God createdme to be.
So, in knowing that I'm one ofone, it affords me the
opportunity to know that I willcontinue to be stretched, grant
(13:01):
that I know, for certain terms,that there are going to be
future roles as long as God sosees fit for me to be here on
his green earth, that I'm goingto be stretched each and every
time.
But what I do have is theability to look back that every
time that I was stretched, evensecond grade, I was able to
(13:22):
overcome.
So, just as I'm sitting herewith you right now and being
able to have this conversationwhen I had that next stretch
moment, I am certain in faithnow that I'm going to be OK on
the other side, because I'vegotten through every time before
and I will get through thistime as well.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Absolutely.
There's a pivot point ineveryone's life.
Sometimes we don't like toacknowledge that.
You may be comfortable in yourparticular role and what you're
doing from a career, businessstandpoint, but a pivot always
comes, absolutely.
It comes without knowledge, butthe smart person knows that he
has to prepare himself orherself for potential change.
(14:05):
Yes, it happens to the best ofus.
One thing I love about you isthat you understand the power of
presence.
You've developed your brand.
You have a great LinkedInpresence.
You have your own website.
You've got a podcast If anyonewants to know more about you,
(14:25):
your philosophy, how you think,how you interact, the kind of
company that you keep.
You've got a library ofknowledge out there for people
to tap into.
So by the time that you come tothe table, let's say for an
interview or a businessopportunity, you can already
almost cut to the chase, likeokay, we understand what you're
(14:46):
about.
We don't need to ask thepreliminary questions.
We need to know how you'regoing to interact with the
current situation.
How did you begin to cultivatethat type of brand for yourself?
Speaker 2 (14:58):
It's one of those ones where I just know the
importance Grant of how I viewothers.
So I use my worldview to beable to define the standard of
how I'm going to live my life.
And, in turn, I look at thosebrands of organizations that are
branded really well and we canname them.
You go to this particular brand, you know what you're going to
(15:20):
get.
It was paramount for me, as Italked about that whole spirit
of excellence, that in allthings that I do be it LinkedIn,
be it my podcast, be it mywebsite it all had to be aligned
with who I am am.
Because I understand that thosethings are speaking before me
and, in turn, because they'respeaking before I even open my
(15:42):
mouth, I need to make sure thatthey're representing me in the
way that I want to berepresented.
So it goes back to some parentswho always stressed that you're
no better than anyone, butyou're certainly no less.
And in understanding that, inwhatever you do, son, we want
you to do it with the spirit ofexcellence.
(16:05):
One of the things that I'd sharewith you and your audience is
that my brother unfortunatelypassed away on December 12th of
2024.
And there's so many lessonsthat I learned from him, but the
biggest one that I'm reallypulling into my own life is
understanding the need forhaving a level of humility and
humbleness, Like he really wassuch a talented guy but really
(16:26):
always cared so much aboutothers, cared so much about he
didn't need the credit, he justdid things for the sake of doing
it.
And I'm really tapping intothat as I continue to grow and
to be able to now represent bothof us, because it's so
important to align with whatyou're saying.
So I use all of that tocomprehensively say that it goes
(16:48):
right back to those buildingblocks that I know in certain
terms, that the building of mybrand and how I'm represented
has to be aligned with theauthentic truth of who I am,
because I am big on reality isreality, truth is truth.
No perception is reality for me.
Reality is reality, truth istruth.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
So a thing is what it is and in turn, I want to make
sure that Aaron R Plush isrepresented as Aaron R Plush in
all facets of how I presentmyself, be it me or any of those
things that represent me and we, unfortunately we do have that
(17:33):
in common as far as a brotherrecently passing and I totally
get that and that you reallystart to see at least for myself
, start to see that legacy thathe left behind Absolutely you,
(17:56):
at least for me, it changes myperception.
Okay, what's important?
Time is important, because youcan't get that time back.
So spend time wisely withpeople that are worthy of that
type of time.
And then again, you've alreadyput the information out there.
You've got all kinds of contentthat shows what Aaron Plush is
about, so there'll be nosurprises.
A price of reality is reality,and you live in your authentic
(18:21):
self.
I love how you blend philosophywith your faith, your
discipline, your business acumen.
My question would be how doesthat integrated approach give
you an edge in drivingorganizational and cultural?
Speaker 2 (18:39):
change, because I take the same approach that when
I'm working with organizations,it's all about being inclusive
and ensuring that as thatjourney is happening, it goes
back to those listening tours.
That any time that I'm in anysettings or anything, it's all
about having two ears and onemouth and if we more focused on
that and understanding thatthere's just so much more that
(19:00):
we can gain by listening andthen processing and then
governing ourselves accordingly.
I'm all about holding meaccountable, as I said.
So in holding me accountable, Iwould find it complete robbery
for me to go into anorganization and not bring my
authentic self, thosephilosophies and all the
(19:21):
comprehensive pieces of who I am, into the role, which
translates itself into yourquestion.
I look at any type operationalcomponent that's being developed
, that it's important that allof the components are considered
.
It's not let's throw out thesepuzzle pieces because they don't
fit anymore.
It's how does this all fittogether?
(19:42):
How do we make this beautifulpiece of work that we all can be
proud of?
And I don't care anything aboutlevel.
You could be at the C-suite,you could be mopping the floor.
There's something that allbring to the table and being
able to be in a position torecognize that and to be the
(20:04):
voice of everyone just presentsme in a way that I'm able to
really separate myself in whatmy offering is across the board,
in all that I do as aprofessional.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
I love that.
You know you've got a process,you've got a framework in which
you operate and that helps you.
Whatever endeavor that you comeacross, I use the BRAVE
framework across.
I use the BRAVE framework.
You know I feel you've got tohave.
(20:38):
Everybody comes acrosschallenges and situations that
can either create, you know,different fears within yourself
inconsistency, uncertainty,things of that nature.
So I lead from a BRAVEframework and I want to
understand the identity.
I want to do my research.
One thing I love about you Ican already tell before you
involve yourself in a situation,you're going to do extensive
(21:02):
research around that, because ifyou give them your research,
you're going to get resilient,because you know the path
forward.
Even though it might bedifficult, there might be storms
ahead, you understand that thisis the best path forward.
You kind of alluded to thatwhen you said if I go to the
grocery store, I'm going to doit in the most excellent way
that I can, which is veryauthentic.
(21:23):
You have a vision and youexecute.
It's part of the braveframework.
I want to understand alsobecause what you also do, you
give back.
You've mentored manyprofessionals who went on to
lead successfully on their own.
I want to understand.
What qualities do you look forin someone before you invest in
(21:46):
their development?
Speaker 2 (21:47):
That's the thing, grant.
I don't.
If someone raises their handand says that they need help or
that they're looking to grow anddevelop, that's all that I need
.
It's not an assessment, becauseit's not that I'm trying to see
where you are to be able to getyou to where I think you need
to be.
It's you.
You are the one that has toidentify that.
(22:08):
I'd like to see change.
So anyone that I encounter thatthey identify that they are
ready to develop and grow, I'mthere for them and that's at any
level, to your point.
I do have a lot of mentees andthey are on every level, from
the youngest to.
I have some that are even olderthan me.
I do a lot of coaching as well,and understanding that there is
(22:31):
a distinct difference betweenmentees and mentorship and
coaching and consulting.
They blur a lot.
They have similarities but theyare different.
But the beautiful thing is thatGod has been very clear with me
that my journey is aboutbringing others along with me,
that my success is predicatedupon being able to help others.
So that's where my heartstringis, in knowing that any success
(22:54):
that I have, that I must bringothers along with me, that this
is a journey for all of us andthat anything that I know it's
not a secret.
Like those people who box theirsuccess up, and like I am one
who is open to sharing inanything that I know
(23:21):
professionally, because my mindsaid it's not that it's ever a
secret.
A lot of times it's just notyour business.
So those are two totallydifferent things.
But in that holistic approachof your question around that
giving back and that mentorship,that coaching, even pro bono
consulting, all of that comesfrom a place of wanting to see
(23:45):
everyone reach their maximumtotal capacity of being where it
is that they choose to be, andif there's anything that I can
do to help them on that journey,I'm more than happy to do it.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
I love that.
I love that.
I'm going to pivot just alittle bit now and go back to
and this is a business challengeright now for a lot of
organizations.
I know you've been recognizedfor your ability to bring
clarity in order to a complexwork stream.
We've got AI artificialintelligence.
(24:20):
You've got agentic AI.
We've got emerging technologythat is on the table now where
people can no longer wait.
Well, let's see how this worksout.
We've been in an AI worldenabled world now, I think,
probably since 2022, 2023.
It's been about two, threeyears.
Everyone knows that AI is notgoing away.
(24:42):
This is not just a fad.
This is something that, if wedon't AI enable our environment,
we are going to be behind.
What is your secret to creatingalignment among and there's a
lot of stakeholders in what Ijust described, with different
(25:02):
agendas of how we're going toget this done?
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Yeah, I think the key thing there, grant, is
understanding your problem,because certainly we know that
all things that we do ispredicated and based upon a
problem.
So once you know your problemand your problem statement, that
then allows you the ability tounderstand how do I now tackle
this?
What is going to be my approach?
Tackle this, what is going tobe my approach To your point
(25:29):
when it comes to AI and, being atechnology guy, I had been a
very early adopter that Iunderstand and I see how AI in a
very simple terms of stuff likethis, where we're able to now
have a full transcript that'sgenerated that gives you and I
both a quick recap of everythingthat we've talked about in this
particular discussion.
You think about how much timebefore it took with us taking
(25:50):
notes or having someone that wasspecifically here just to take
notes and those type things.
That's now something that isenhanced, that provides us the
opportunity to spend less timeon tracking and more time on
well, here are the things basedupon this session that you and I
both agreed that we would doafter the session.
That's an amazing thing.
So that's at a very baseline,simple level of using AI, but
(26:14):
there are definitely morecomplex things that you can do
in your business operations.
The build out of your projectplan that typically would take
some people weeks to do can nowbe done in a matter of a couple
of seconds based upon usingcertain technology.
So it's more so about theleveraging of AI and the
technology for the purposes ofwhat you need it for, that
(26:38):
there's nothing to be afraid of,that there's nothing that
you're going to break and, inturn, embracing and identifying
how it can work best for you.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
We've got to take that food to heart, because this
is important.
We are at a critical juncturefor a lot of different people or
organizations of where they'regoing to move forward, where
they're going to double down on.
You know, that's very importantand I think it goes back to
some of the things that youtalked about earlier.
(27:10):
What do you really stand for?
What is your true brand?
And what you're saying is and Italk to people all the time
about technology and I think itdoes two things super well and
that is communication and speed,and if you can communicate very
, very quickly, that's a bigthing.
But you're applying that to anoperation or a business that you
(27:33):
have.
Think refinement, right, andthink amplification.
What business application doyou have that needs to be
amplified to really, really showthe world what you do and what
you do best when it comes todeploying something like an AI?
Now, as I said in the very, very, very, very beginning of this
(27:56):
podcast, is that you work onsuper complex infrastructures,
projects that have a lot ofmoving parts that are not easily
integrated.
Sometimes you have competingdepartments that have to use the
same platforms, and then how doyou get them to all work
together?
You've got to be that voice inthe room, that voice of reason,
(28:22):
that voice of clarity, thatvoice of clarity which I think
you have a very good ability ofdoing that in a complex
situation.
If I were to hire you today todo a job for me at a corporation
and a department that we needto implement a very, very highly
(28:45):
visible project, why would Iwant to hire you?
Speaker 2 (28:50):
It's real simple, grant, and it starts with what
I've been saying almost as abroken record.
Being people centric is at thecore of who I am, and I
understand that.
How small, how large or howcomplex of the problem or the
project is totally irrelevant.
What is important isunderstanding that there will
(29:14):
always be people at the core ofthese projects.
So for me, the first step is inunderstanding the people.
It's the understanding of thedynamics of the team and who's
at the table.
Then that allows us theopportunity to find a middle
ground of how we all can worktogether, because there's
(29:37):
nothing worse than having abroken team, a fragmented team,
but yet in a day and age wherethere are not everyone who's
authentic.
We're playing that, we're allholding hands and singing
Kumbaya, but we're technicallynot.
So the separator in workingwith me is not to repair the
(30:00):
wounds, not to say that we'regoing to have a perfect
situation, not to say that wecan't have differing opinions,
but it's going in with apeople-centric approach and
letting everyone know that youare at the table as a valuable
member of the table and we'relooking for everyone to be
contributors, and then fromthere I'm able to tackle the
(30:22):
complex situation with them,because now we have that level
playing field where we all getback to that innate ability that
all humans yearn for, andthat's a need to feel special
and knowing for certain that myvoice is being heard.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
I love that.
That human to human interactionis not going to go away.
It's not.
And the AI components and I tryto help people to understand
that it's like a vehicle.
It's like a car.
It can get you there faster,but it doesn't have the impetus
and the understanding of what ishappening.
(31:01):
It's not a state of right.
So the only state ofconsciousness out there that
will that we really uh, interactwith a lot of times is another
human to human interaction.
That's correct.
You're dealing with ideas andyou're dealing with um agendas
and you're dealing with um.
What what others feel is is theright direction.
(31:23):
You know if we're not all goingin the right direction.
If you know, if you're in aship or a boat or something like
that, it doesn't go very far orgo in a lot of circles, so
you're not moving it forward.
I want to ask you this becauseI've been asking this of a lot
of my guests here of late,especially toward the end of the
podcast.
It's a very, very easy questionfrom my perspective.
(31:43):
You've done a lot of podcasts.
You question, from myperspective You've done a lot of
podcasts.
You have your own podcast.
Now you've gone through theFollow Brand Podcast with myself
, grant McGaugh, how'd you feelabout this interview?
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Went exceptionally well and I thank you for the
opportunity, grant, to be ableto speak about me, because one
of the things about my ownpodcast is that I reflect a lot
on stories and situations andexamples of things that I've
experienced, but seldom is it aplatform and an opportunity for
me to really share my story inthe way that others are
(32:17):
consuming it, Whereas I'm usedto being on the side of the
table where you are in askingthe questions and taking the
journey and having the conceptof where we want to go for the
episode.
So it definitely feels good tobe on the other side and it
gives me an appreciation for myguests and the things that I
take them through as we gothrough each of those episodes.
(32:37):
But I tell you, this has goneexceptionally well.
I'd say to your listeners Ihope that they have learned
something through this processand, by all means, anyone who'd
like to reach out to me, I'dlove to hear from them.
All my information is on mywebsite.
That's the best place to reachme and that's wwwaaronrplushcom,
and everything's there.
(32:57):
So looking forward to engagingwith your audience and thanking
you for the opportunity to havethis conversation with you.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
I love it.
I love it.
Aaron, and I have got to tellpeople because we have a mutual
friend and she would be upset ifwe did not mention her
Absolutely.
Erica, I met Aaron.
We went to the Janet Jacksonconcert about a year or two ago
over in Hollywood and you know,I hadn't met Aaron before that
(33:28):
and we just came together likeall of us all of a sudden were
old friends.
I mean, I'm talking about fromthe very, very beginning of
meeting him.
And then I had my friend Ericawith me and we all got together,
we all enjoyed it.
I mean, and hey, Aaron, you gota lot of snow.
How big of a Janet Jackson fanare you?
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Well, those people that know me, they know Like I
can't even tell you how manytimes that I have seen Janet.
I even say to folks you know,from an affectionate, funny
laughter perspective, that Janetis my wife.
So it's just that series for me.
But no, I've just alwaysenjoyed the career of the
Jackson family in general.
I've just always enjoyed thecareer of the Jackson family in
general.
And then specifically, janet iswho I follow the most.
(34:09):
But I will say that even fromher being a musical artist, I
tap into that from aprofessional perspective because
so much of who she is as anartist is about that spirit of
excellence in all things thatshe does.
So I can take something fromevery life situation.
And yes, I do agree with you,it felt as if the three of us
(34:30):
had known each other forever.
We had a great time.
I met Erica through a very goodfriend of mine, ingrid, and in
turn it just turned into justgreat collaboration which led to
this opportunity for me to behere on your podcast.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
And just for the record, I've been after Aaron
for a while to get on.
I said, aaron, you got to geton my show, you got to get on my
show.
And here we are.
We finally got an opportunityto do that because, again, I
have been in technology for along time, he's been in
technology a long time andcoming together.
I feel this is so important.
There's so many other peoplethat are in the community that
(35:07):
feel they've got to have acertain skill set or a certain.
You know, I can't get into AI,I can't get into technology.
No, that's too big.
You just kind of gave us aframework of how we can consume
this type of intelligence andunderstanding and skill set one
bite at a time.
That is the formula for success.
(35:28):
I want to thank you again forbeing on the Follow Brand
Podcast, and you and your entireaudience can see all the
episodes of Follow Brand and 5Star BDM.
That is the number five, that'sstar S-T-E-R BDM, b for brand,
b for development and formasterscom.
I want to thank you again somuch, aaron, for being on the
show.
Thank you, grant, you're.
Welcome everybody to the Final Brand Podcast.
This is your host, grantMcGaugh, and I get an
opportunity to interview a very,very interesting individual who
I met down there in the Miami,fort Lauderdale area not too
long ago and I found himintriguing because of his world.
His world and my world kind ofintersect in the world in
(00:25):
technology and he's been doing alot in program project
management.
I mean, anytime you getinvolved with high tech, people
don't realize this, but they seethe outcome.
But the internal thing that youhave to get done a lot of I's
have to be dotted, a lot of T'shave to be crossed.
There's a lot of coordinationand orchestration in the
background that has to be dotted.
A lot of T's have to be crossed.
There's a lot of coordinationand orchestration in the
(00:47):
background that has to be doneby individuals such as Aaron.
I'm going to let Aaron introducehimself and we're going to
really get into this because Idon't see a lot of conversations
around these areas and reallyshowcase his expertise in what
he does.
So, aaron, you'd like tointroduce yourself?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Absolutely.
Thank you, grant, for theopportunity to be here on your
podcast.
Always welcome the opportunityto share in a good dialogue and
looking forward to thediscussion.
To the point of what Grantmentioned, I am Aaron Plush and
I live here in South Florida.
I have been here roughly eightyears, originally from South
Carolina, and I've lived aroundthe globe.
Certainly I can tell you, grant, as you've kind of set me up,
(01:30):
that IT really found me, thatone of the most significant
stories that I have is Iremember and I don't want to age
myself because I am only 21,but I remember being pulled out
of a classroom in the secondgrade and was really used as a
tester Didn't realize it at thatpoint for some of the first
(01:52):
Macintosh computers andliterally our librarian at the
time she had taken an affinityin me.
Her name was Mrs Hubbard.
I remember her very well, justa lovely woman, and in hindsight
I recognize that that's wheremy affinity for computers came
about and have been chuggingalong ever since.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Well, I tell you that's how I got my start in
technology.
It was definitely in highschool and I had the opportunity
to attend the DeVry Instituteof Technology school and had the
opportunity to attend the DeVryInstitute of Technology.
But those are the things thatyou know by chance and we think
it's by chance.
But it gives an opportunity,right, I think, with everybody
where you get an opportunity,it's a matter of how you're
going to take it forward.
Now, first question I want toask you and this is curiosity
(02:41):
for me and probably the audienceas well is that you have worked
at the intersection ofoperations and also people
leadership, which is veryimportant.
I would understand.
When you enter a neworganization, yes, what is your
process for quickly diagnosingwhere transformation, or those
those gaps, is needed?
Speaker 2 (03:02):
most.
Yes, I tell you, Grant, in verycertain terms that's a great
question and for me my mindsetis one of a consultant, so I'm a
big listener that one of thekey things and I say this to all
leaders the first thing thatyou want to do is you want to go
on that listening tour.
You truly want to understandwhat's happening.
There's no bigger mistake thatany leader can make than going
(03:24):
in implementing change with noregard to an understanding of
the landscape of theorganization that they're going
into.
The reason why that's sodangerous is because so often
you'll find some of these greatand amazing and wonderful ideas
that you think that you'rehaving they've already been
tried and, for whatever reasonwithin this organization, they
didn't work.
So, to answer your questionvery specifically, after going
(03:46):
on that listening tour, it'sabout truly understanding from
the individuals who've beenthere as to what things have
been working, what things aren'tworking, what gaps are there,
and then in turn, we cancollectively look at how
transformation can happen.
Because what I think abouttransformation, it's not about
being the smartest guy in theroom all the time.
It's about how do wecollaborate as a cohesive unit.
(04:10):
How do we go about looking at apeople-centric approach that so
many of us say that we have.
But we have to questionourselves and ask is that truly
what drives us?
I practice what I preach, and Ipractice what I preach because
I love God and I love God first.
So in turn, I have to honor himin all things that I do, be it
(04:30):
work, be it personally, be itwherever.
So with that, that's what myapproach is is that listening
tour?
It's going in and understandingwhat has worked, what isn't
working, what will work, whatisn't working, what will work,
and then, together, taking thatpeople-centric approach, is how
we go about charging forward andidentifying what transformation
needs to happen and how do weget there.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
I love the viewpoint, I love the authenticity in
bringing your true self to thetable and being who you are and
allowing others to be who theyare.
I think it's so, so important,absolutely.
You were at Citrix.
Yes, when you were at Citrix,you helped establish supplier
management and contingentworkforce programs that became
(05:17):
some industry standards.
If you don't mind, I'd like foryou to let us know what
specific principles made thoseparticular programs so enduring
and scalable.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Yeah, great question and I have a great story.
The story around me, evenlanding in South Florida, was
because of Citrix Systems Inc.
That specifically, I came intoCitrix to be the global
contingent labor manager and, toyour point, what separated me
from all of the other applicantswas that I was the only one who
(05:51):
had the global experience.
Citrix at the time identifiedthat it wanted to look at how it
could bring some managementstructure to its contingent
labor program and because I hadthat global experience to allow
the company to bring thatin-house where I created what
was called the Flexworks officeat that time and it was amazing
to be able to build somethingfrom the ground up based upon my
(06:13):
experiences with several othercompanies.
So that's what led me intoCitrix to be able to manage all
non-employees of the companyglobally and to have a system
where we could manage themthrough a vendor management
system that allowed us at realtime to be able to see how many
consultants and contractors thatwe had, what was our spend with
(06:34):
them, to really be able to havesome true usage of that
intersection, as you mentioned,of the operational piece of
managing that, but usingtechnology to be how we're
managing it.
So that intersection wasamazing.
The second component of that wasI moved on from that contingent
labor space to managing allsuppliers, and that was the
(06:58):
supplier value optimizationprogram All suppliers within the
organization.
I worked to ensure that we hadsupplier inclusion, to ensure
that we had supplier inclusionto ensure that diverse suppliers
were getting opportunities withthis large corporation in the
tech space, also ensuring thatwe were managing our suppliers
in a way that they felt thatthey were truly partners and
truly having that connection ofwe were all working together.
(07:21):
And then, lastly, the piecethat you did not mention is that
I left Citrix as the chief ofstaff of HR, working directly
with our C-suite under our chiefpeople officer, which afforded
me the opportunity to be thatvault for Donna Kimmel at the
time, as well as to guide anddrive the strategic guides of
Citrix specific to HR as well asthe overall corporation.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
I think all this is important to note that your
experience speaks for itself andbecause of that experience,
that global experience, peoplelike to tap you for your
knowledge, your expertise andyour intelligence.
Now you've managed some prettylarge and complex projects for a
lot of fortune 500s, evenoutside of Citrix, absolutely
(08:10):
Some other niche clients alike.
But what?
What is your approach tokeeping high stakes initiatives
on track?
Cause I see these things getaway from people all the time,
especially when they'rechallenging and there are other
competing priorities.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
I tell you the key thing, Grant, is remaining calm,
cool and collected that whatyou will find in very certain
terms is that, yes, this work isimportant, but a dear friend
said to me years ago, the workthat I do is not cancer research
.
No one is going to live or diebased upon the work that I'm
doing.
So being able to understandthat, yes, it's important, but
(08:50):
it's not the do all be all thattomorrow will still get come in
that.
That allows my program projectmanagement mind to come to play,
which says to me in verycertain terms it's piece by
piece, bit by bit, lookingoverarching, seeing big picture.
But when we sit down to eat aplate of food, what do we do?
(09:13):
We get our fork, we get ourknife and we do it bite-sized
pieces.
We don't take the entire plateand throw it in our face and try
to eat it all at one time.
Use the same example.
To be at high file clients Doesnot matter.
The approach is always the same.
Objective is to go from A to Z,letter by letter.
(09:37):
Any skipping letters, anythingof that nature, is going to put
us in a position that we don'twant to be in.
So it's that very methodical,piece by piece, using that
program, project managementmindset, but also understanding
and certainty that tomorrow willstill yet come.
There may be those times that wehave to take steps backwards.
(09:58):
There may be times that we evenmake some mistakes on them,
because accountability is one ofthose things that is paramount
in the success that I've seenKnowing for certain things that
fail.
Raising my hand yes, me, AaronClush, that's on me.
Now.
How do we work together to fixthat?
Not as Grant's fault, not asthe supplier's fault.
(10:20):
It's mine, I own it.
Now let's work together to fixit and get to that point where
we need to be, because that's asignificant lesson learned.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
Accountability is king, especially in the work
that you're doing.
You have to have accountabilityand the stakeholders in the
room have to be accountable,right, no doubt?
All that together and, as youmentioned, your career has
spanned being the chief of staff, yes, and program direction
consulting.
The question I want to know isand you've got a story, a story
(10:56):
career over a long period oftime Absolutely, I want to
understand which role hasstretched you the most and what
did you take from it that shapeshow you lead, even today?
Speaker 2 (11:11):
I'll reframe your question because it's less about
an individual role and it's myentire career and the way that I
look at my career.
It's been building blocks thatgoing back to that affinity with
God and understanding that Isaw clearly career at second
grade.
Not many people can have thatexact moment where they're
saying, hey, I can pinpoint myprofessional career back to the
(11:33):
second grade, sitting in frontof a Macintosh computer, knowing
that that was going to be thedirection I was going to go.
I have that vantage point.
So those building blocks of mycareer has allowed me, piece by
piece, block by block, to buildin a way where every role,
technically, was a stretch,because there were so many
(11:54):
uncertainties within each role.
However, being blessed with amethodical mind, being one who
operates from the spirit ofexcellence in all things if I'm
walking to the store I'm goingto walk to the store with the
spirit of excellence Translatingthat to being stretched
afforded me the opportunity that, although I didn't always have
(12:15):
the answers, sometimes I didn'thave a clue, but I also knew the
importance of tapping into myresources, tapping into those
people who did know, tappinginto that collective experience
of what we all could learntogether and then using that to
gain success.
So you go second grade to whereI am today, serving as a
(12:38):
consultant, and I do have to putthe plug in for my own podcast,
which is the Authentic Realnesspodcast, because you mentioned
authenticity, because that's atthe core of who I am.
I don't know how to be anyoneelse other than Aaron R Plush,
because that's who God createdme to be.
So, in knowing that I'm one ofone, it affords me the
opportunity to know that I willcontinue to be stretched, grant
(13:01):
that I know, for certain terms,that there are going to be
future roles as long as God sosees fit for me to be here on
his green earth, that I'm goingto be stretched each and every
time.
But what I do have is theability to look back that every
time that I was stretched, evensecond grade, I was able to
(13:22):
overcome.
So, just as I'm sitting herewith you right now and being
able to have this conversationwhen I had that next stretch
moment, I am certain in faithnow that I'm going to be OK on
the other side, because I'vegotten through every time before
and I will get through thistime as well.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Absolutely.
There's a pivot point ineveryone's life.
Sometimes we don't like toacknowledge that.
You may be comfortable in yourparticular role and what you're
doing from a career, businessstandpoint, but a pivot always
comes, absolutely.
It comes without knowledge, butthe smart person knows that he
has to prepare himself orherself for potential change.
(14:05):
Yes, it happens to the best ofus.
One thing I love about you isthat you understand the power of
presence.
You've developed your brand.
You have a great LinkedInpresence.
You have your own website.
You've got a podcast If anyonewants to know more about you,
(14:25):
your philosophy, how you think,how you interact, the kind of
company that you keep.
You've got a library ofknowledge out there for people
to tap into.
So by the time that you come tothe table, let's say for an
interview or a businessopportunity, you can already
almost cut to the chase, likeokay, we understand what you're
(14:46):
about.
We don't need to ask thepreliminary questions.
We need to know how you'regoing to interact with the
current situation.
How did you begin to cultivatethat type of brand for yourself?
Speaker 2 (14:58):
It's one of those ones where I just know the
importance Grant of how I viewothers.
So I use my worldview to beable to define the standard of
how I'm going to live my life.
And, in turn, I look at thosebrands of organizations that are
branded really well and we canname them.
You go to this particular brand, you know what you're going to
(15:20):
get.
It was paramount for me, as Italked about that whole spirit
of excellence, that in allthings that I do be it LinkedIn,
be it my podcast, be it mywebsite it all had to be aligned
with who I am am.
Because I understand that thosethings are speaking before me
and, in turn, because they'respeaking before I even open my
(15:42):
mouth, I need to make sure thatthey're representing me in the
way that I want to berepresented.
So it goes back to some parentswho always stressed that you're
no better than anyone, butyou're certainly no less.
And in understanding that, inwhatever you do, son, we want
you to do it with the spirit ofexcellence.
(16:05):
One of the things that I'd sharewith you and your audience is
that my brother unfortunatelypassed away on December 12th of
2024.
And there's so many lessonsthat I learned from him, but the
biggest one that I'm reallypulling into my own life is
understanding the need forhaving a level of humility and
humbleness, Like he really wassuch a talented guy but really
(16:26):
always cared so much aboutothers, cared so much about he
didn't need the credit, he justdid things for the sake of doing
it.
And I'm really tapping intothat as I continue to grow and
to be able to now represent bothof us, because it's so
important to align with whatyou're saying.
So I use all of that tocomprehensively say that it goes
(16:48):
right back to those buildingblocks that I know in certain
terms, that the building of mybrand and how I'm represented
has to be aligned with theauthentic truth of who I am,
because I am big on reality isreality, truth is truth.
No perception is reality for me.
Reality is reality, truth istruth.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
So a thing is what it is and in turn, I want to make
sure that Aaron R Plush isrepresented as Aaron R Plush in
all facets of how I presentmyself, be it me or any of those
things that represent me and we, unfortunately we do have that
(17:33):
in common as far as a brotherrecently passing and I totally
get that and that you reallystart to see at least for myself
, start to see that legacy thathe left behind Absolutely you,
(17:56):
at least for me, it changes myperception.
Okay, what's important?
Time is important, because youcan't get that time back.
So spend time wisely withpeople that are worthy of that
type of time.
And then again, you've alreadyput the information out there.
You've got all kinds of contentthat shows what Aaron Plush is
about, so there'll be nosurprises.
A price of reality is reality,and you live in your authentic
(18:21):
self.
I love how you blend philosophywith your faith, your
discipline, your business acumen.
My question would be how doesthat integrated approach give
you an edge in drivingorganizational and cultural?
Speaker 2 (18:39):
change, because I take the same approach that when
I'm working with organizations,it's all about being inclusive
and ensuring that as thatjourney is happening, it goes
back to those listening tours.
That any time that I'm in anysettings or anything, it's all
about having two ears and onemouth and if we more focused on
that and understanding thatthere's just so much more that
(19:00):
we can gain by listening andthen processing and then
governing ourselves accordingly.
I'm all about holding meaccountable, as I said.
So in holding me accountable, Iwould find it complete robbery
for me to go into anorganization and not bring my
authentic self, thosephilosophies and all the
(19:21):
comprehensive pieces of who I am, into the role, which
translates itself into yourquestion.
I look at any type operationalcomponent that's being developed
, that it's important that allof the components are considered
.
It's not let's throw out thesepuzzle pieces because they don't
fit anymore.
It's how does this all fittogether?
(19:42):
How do we make this beautifulpiece of work that we all can be
proud of?
And I don't care anything aboutlevel.
You could be at the C-suite,you could be mopping the floor.
There's something that allbring to the table and being
able to be in a position torecognize that and to be the
(20:04):
voice of everyone just presentsme in a way that I'm able to
really separate myself in whatmy offering is across the board,
in all that I do as aprofessional.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
I love that.
You know you've got a process,you've got a framework in which
you operate and that helps you.
Whatever endeavor that you comeacross, I use the BRAVE
framework across.
I use the BRAVE framework.
You know I feel you've got tohave.
(20:38):
Everybody comes acrosschallenges and situations that
can either create, you know,different fears within yourself
inconsistency, uncertainty,things of that nature.
So I lead from a BRAVEframework and I want to
understand the identity.
I want to do my research.
One thing I love about you Ican already tell before you
involve yourself in a situation,you're going to do extensive
(21:02):
research around that, because ifyou give them your research,
you're going to get resilient,because you know the path
forward.
Even though it might bedifficult, there might be storms
ahead, you understand that thisis the best path forward.
You kind of alluded to thatwhen you said if I go to the
grocery store, I'm going to doit in the most excellent way
that I can, which is veryauthentic.
(21:23):
You have a vision and youexecute.
It's part of the braveframework.
I want to understand alsobecause what you also do, you
give back.
You've mentored manyprofessionals who went on to
lead successfully on their own.
I want to understand.
What qualities do you look forin someone before you invest in
(21:46):
their development?
Speaker 2 (21:47):
That's the thing, grant.
I don't.
If someone raises their handand says that they need help or
that they're looking to grow anddevelop, that's all that I need
.
It's not an assessment, becauseit's not that I'm trying to see
where you are to be able to getyou to where I think you need
to be.
It's you.
You are the one that has toidentify that.
(22:08):
I'd like to see change.
So anyone that I encounter thatthey identify that they are
ready to develop and grow, I'mthere for them and that's at any
level, to your point.
I do have a lot of mentees andthey are on every level, from
the youngest to.
I have some that are even olderthan me.
I do a lot of coaching as well,and understanding that there is
(22:31):
a distinct difference betweenmentees and mentorship and
coaching and consulting.
They blur a lot.
They have similarities but theyare different.
But the beautiful thing is thatGod has been very clear with me
that my journey is aboutbringing others along with me,
that my success is predicatedupon being able to help others.
So that's where my heartstringis, in knowing that any success
(22:54):
that I have, that I must bringothers along with me, that this
is a journey for all of us andthat anything that I know it's
not a secret.
Like those people who box theirsuccess up, and like I am one
who is open to sharing inanything that I know
(23:21):
professionally, because my mindsaid it's not that it's ever a
secret.
A lot of times it's just notyour business.
So those are two totallydifferent things.
But in that holistic approachof your question around that
giving back and that mentorship,that coaching, even pro bono
consulting, all of that comesfrom a place of wanting to see
(23:45):
everyone reach their maximumtotal capacity of being where it
is that they choose to be, andif there's anything that I can
do to help them on that journey,I'm more than happy to do it.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
I love that.
I love that.
I'm going to pivot just alittle bit now and go back to
and this is a business challengeright now for a lot of
organizations.
I know you've been recognizedfor your ability to bring
clarity in order to a complexwork stream.
We've got AI artificialintelligence.
(24:20):
You've got agentic AI.
We've got emerging technologythat is on the table now where
people can no longer wait.
Well, let's see how this worksout.
We've been in an AI worldenabled world now, I think,
probably since 2022, 2023.
It's been about two, threeyears.
Everyone knows that AI is notgoing away.
(24:42):
This is not just a fad.
This is something that, if wedon't AI enable our environment,
we are going to be behind.
What is your secret to creatingalignment among and there's a
lot of stakeholders in what Ijust described, with different
(25:02):
agendas of how we're going toget this done?
Speaker 2 (25:06):
Yeah, I think the key thing there, grant, is
understanding your problem,because certainly we know that
all things that we do ispredicated and based upon a
problem.
So once you know your problemand your problem statement, that
then allows you the ability tounderstand how do I now tackle
this?
What is going to be my approach?
Tackle this, what is going tobe my approach To your point
(25:29):
when it comes to AI and, being atechnology guy, I had been a
very early adopter that Iunderstand and I see how AI in a
very simple terms of stuff likethis, where we're able to now
have a full transcript that'sgenerated that gives you and I
both a quick recap of everythingthat we've talked about in this
particular discussion.
You think about how much timebefore it took with us taking
(25:50):
notes or having someone that wasspecifically here just to take
notes and those type things.
That's now something that isenhanced, that provides us the
opportunity to spend less timeon tracking and more time on
well, here are the things basedupon this session that you and I
both agreed that we would doafter the session.
That's an amazing thing.
So that's at a very baseline,simple level of using AI, but
(26:14):
there are definitely morecomplex things that you can do
in your business operations.
The build out of your projectplan that typically would take
some people weeks to do can nowbe done in a matter of a couple
of seconds based upon usingcertain technology.
So it's more so about theleveraging of AI and the
technology for the purposes ofwhat you need it for, that
(26:38):
there's nothing to be afraid of,that there's nothing that
you're going to break and, inturn, embracing and identifying
how it can work best for you.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
We've got to take that food to heart, because this
is important.
We are at a critical juncturefor a lot of different people or
organizations of where they'regoing to move forward, where
they're going to double down on.
You know, that's very importantand I think it goes back to
some of the things that youtalked about earlier.
(27:10):
What do you really stand for?
What is your true brand?
And what you're saying is and Italk to people all the time
about technology and I think itdoes two things super well and
that is communication and speed,and if you can communicate very
, very quickly, that's a bigthing.
But you're applying that to anoperation or a business that you
(27:33):
have.
Think refinement, right, andthink amplification.
What business application doyou have that needs to be
amplified to really, really showthe world what you do and what
you do best when it comes todeploying something like an AI?
Now, as I said in the very, very, very, very beginning of this
(27:56):
podcast, is that you work onsuper complex infrastructures,
projects that have a lot ofmoving parts that are not easily
integrated.
Sometimes you have competingdepartments that have to use the
same platforms, and then how doyou get them to all work
together?
You've got to be that voice inthe room, that voice of reason,
(28:22):
that voice of clarity, thatvoice of clarity which I think
you have a very good ability ofdoing that in a complex
situation.
If I were to hire you today todo a job for me at a corporation
and a department that we needto implement a very, very highly
(28:45):
visible project, why would Iwant to hire you?
Speaker 2 (28:50):
It's real simple, grant, and it starts with what
I've been saying almost as abroken record.
Being people centric is at thecore of who I am, and I
understand that.
How small, how large or howcomplex of the problem or the
project is totally irrelevant.
What is important isunderstanding that there will
(29:14):
always be people at the core ofthese projects.
So for me, the first step is inunderstanding the people.
It's the understanding of thedynamics of the team and who's
at the table.
Then that allows us theopportunity to find a middle
ground of how we all can worktogether, because there's
(29:37):
nothing worse than having abroken team, a fragmented team,
but yet in a day and age wherethere are not everyone who's
authentic.
We're playing that, we're allholding hands and singing
Kumbaya, but we're technicallynot.
So the separator in workingwith me is not to repair the
(30:00):
wounds, not to say that we'regoing to have a perfect
situation, not to say that wecan't have differing opinions,
but it's going in with apeople-centric approach and
letting everyone know that youare at the table as a valuable
member of the table and we'relooking for everyone to be
contributors, and then fromthere I'm able to tackle the
(30:22):
complex situation with them,because now we have that level
playing field where we all getback to that innate ability that
all humans yearn for, andthat's a need to feel special
and knowing for certain that myvoice is being heard.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
I love that.
That human to human interactionis not going to go away.
It's not.
And the AI components and I tryto help people to understand
that it's like a vehicle.
It's like a car.
It can get you there faster,but it doesn't have the impetus
and the understanding of what ishappening.
(31:01):
It's not a state of right.
So the only state ofconsciousness out there that
will that we really uh, interactwith a lot of times is another
human to human interaction.
That's correct.
You're dealing with ideas andyou're dealing with um agendas
and you're dealing with um.
What what others feel is is theright direction.
(31:23):
You know if we're not all goingin the right direction.
If you know, if you're in aship or a boat or something like
that, it doesn't go very far orgo in a lot of circles, so
you're not moving it forward.
I want to ask you this becauseI've been asking this of a lot
of my guests here of late,especially toward the end of the
podcast.
It's a very, very easy questionfrom my perspective.
(31:43):
You've done a lot of podcasts.
You question, from myperspective You've done a lot of
podcasts.
You have your own podcast.
Now you've gone through theFollow Brand Podcast with myself
, grant McGaugh, how'd you feelabout this interview?
Speaker 2 (31:54):
Went exceptionally well and I thank you for the
opportunity, grant, to be ableto speak about me, because one
of the things about my ownpodcast is that I reflect a lot
on stories and situations andexamples of things that I've
experienced, but seldom is it aplatform and an opportunity for
me to really share my story inthe way that others are
(32:17):
consuming it, Whereas I'm usedto being on the side of the
table where you are in askingthe questions and taking the
journey and having the conceptof where we want to go for the
episode.
So it definitely feels good tobe on the other side and it
gives me an appreciation for myguests and the things that I
take them through as we gothrough each of those episodes.
(32:37):
But I tell you, this has goneexceptionally well.
I'd say to your listeners Ihope that they have learned
something through this processand, by all means, anyone who'd
like to reach out to me, I'dlove to hear from them.
All my information is on mywebsite.
That's the best place to reachme and that's wwwaaronrplushcom,
and everything's there.
(32:57):
So looking forward to engagingwith your audience and thanking
you for the opportunity to havethis conversation with you.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
I love it.
I love it.
Aaron, and I have got to tellpeople because we have a mutual
friend and she would be upset ifwe did not mention her
Absolutely.
Erica, I met Aaron.
We went to the Janet Jacksonconcert about a year or two ago
over in Hollywood and you know,I hadn't met Aaron before that
(33:28):
and we just came together likeall of us all of a sudden were
old friends.
I mean, I'm talking about fromthe very, very beginning of
meeting him.
And then I had my friend Ericawith me and we all got together,
we all enjoyed it.
I mean, and hey, Aaron, you gota lot of snow.
How big of a Janet Jackson fanare you?
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Well, those people that know me, they know Like I
can't even tell you how manytimes that I have seen Janet.
I even say to folks you know,from an affectionate, funny
laughter perspective, that Janetis my wife.
So it's just that series for me.
But no, I've just alwaysenjoyed the career of the
Jackson family in general.
I've just always enjoyed thecareer of the Jackson family in
general.
And then specifically, janet iswho I follow the most.
(34:09):
But I will say that even fromher being a musical artist, I
tap into that from aprofessional perspective because
so much of who she is as anartist is about that spirit of
excellence in all things thatshe does.
So I can take something fromevery life situation.
And yes, I do agree with you,it felt as if the three of us
(34:30):
had known each other forever.
We had a great time.
I met Erica through a very goodfriend of mine, ingrid, and in
turn it just turned into justgreat collaboration which led to
this opportunity for me to behere on your podcast.
Speaker 1 (34:46):
And just for the record, I've been after Aaron
for a while to get on.
I said, aaron, you got to geton my show, you got to get on my
show.
And here we are.
We finally got an opportunityto do that because, again, I
have been in technology for along time, he's been in
technology a long time andcoming together.
I feel this is so important.
There's so many other peoplethat are in the community that
(35:07):
feel they've got to have acertain skill set or a certain.
You know, I can't get into AI,I can't get into technology.
No, that's too big.
You just kind of gave us aframework of how we can consume
this type of intelligence andunderstanding and skill set one
bite at a time.
That is the formula for success.
(35:28):
I want to thank you again forbeing on the Follow Brand
Podcast, and you and your entireaudience can see all the
episodes of Follow Brand and 5Star BDM.
That is the number five, that'sstar S-T-E-R BDM, b for brand,
b for development and formasterscom.
I want to thank you again somuch, aaron, for being on the
show.
Thank you, grant, you're.
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