Episode 7: Solo Parenting, Stranger Kindness, and Start-up Dreams
Bright Ideas with Desiree B. Sharpe
Release Date: 10/07/2025
Episode 13.5: From Zoo Trips to Tech Builds: A Glimpse Into My World Right Now
Bright Ideas with Desiree B. Sharpe
In this Bright Bite episode of Bright Ideas, host Desiree B. Sharpe reflects on a transformative season of growth, faith, and entrepreneurship. She shares her experience inside the Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative, an Atlanta-based accelerator helping women founders access leadership training, strategic partnerships, and capital. From securing investor meetings at Venture Atlanta to refining her leadership mindset in the program’s labs, Desiree offers an authentic look at what it takes to evolve from founder to CEO. She also opens up about launching Savix, her AI-powered vendor...
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Episode 13: The Truth Advantage: The Leadership Strategy Most Companies Avoid
Bright Ideas with Desiree B. Sharpe
In this episode of Bright Ideas, Desiree sits down with Kathleen Lucente, founder and CEO of Red Fan Communications, for a deep dive into building a thriving agency culture rooted in transparency, values, and trust. Kathleen shares how her global career in corporate communications shaped her approach to leadership and why courageous conversations, financial transparency, and empowering teams are non-negotiables in today’s PR landscape. She also explores how AI and evolving SEO trends are reshaping communications strategy and what leaders must do to stay ahead. You’ll come away with...
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Episode 12: No Clock-Ins, No Excuses: Building a Culture of Ownership with Paxton Gray
Bright Ideas with Desiree B. Sharpe
In this episode of the Bright Ideas Podcast, host Desiree B. Sharpe sits down with Paxton Gray, CEO of digital marketing agency 97th Floor, to discuss how embracing a results-only work environment (ROWE) has reshaped their culture and performance. Paxton shares what it’s really like to lead a 90-person team where flexibility isn’t tied to hours but to outcomes, and how this shift has improved retention, autonomy, and innovation, especially through times of uncertainty like the pandemic. They dive into the importance of clear KPIs, redefining leadership during rapid growth, and how to build...
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Episode 11: How One CEO Rewrote the Rules for Working Motherhood
Bright Ideas with Desiree B. Sharpe
In this Bright Ideas episode, host Desiree Booker-Sharpe talks with Promo Shop president Kate Alavez about authentic leadership, people strategy, and building high-performing teams that scale without losing culture. Kate shares her nontraditional path to the C-suite, how empathy shapes decision-making, and how cross-functional collaboration made an ERP transition stick. She breaks down the metrics that drive resilient growth—response time, NPS, order accuracy, returns—and where AI and automation remove rote tasks so people can focus on innovation. This is the episode to listen to if you...
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Episode 10: How Two Lifelong Friends Built a Thriving Business on Trust
Bright Ideas with Desiree B. Sharpe
On this episode of the Bright Ideas Podcast, host Desiree B. Sharpe sits down with Blue 7 Content co-founders Alan Watson and Victoria Lozano to talk about scaling a company without losing culture. They trace their co-founder story and share how transparency, strong communication, and smart talent development helped them remove editing bottlenecks and raise quality. In a post-AI landscape, they explain why research-driven, human-written SEO content still wins in legal content marketing, and how discernment and mental health make for better leadership. If you’re a founder, people leader,...
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Episode 9: It's Not Too Late: Building Culture-First Startups and Reinventing Yourself
Bright Ideas with Desiree B. Sharpe
In this episode of Bright Ideas, host Desiree B. Sharpe sits down with Rachel Sutherland, Vice President of People and Operations at Respondology, for a conversation on scaling with culture at the center. Rachel explains why Respondology made the rare choice to bring on a people leader early and how that decision has shaped everything from core values to employee experience. She shares how values like “ownership without ego” and “whistle while you work” come to life in day-to-day operations, and why they matter in a fast-growing startup. Rachel also opens up about her unconventional...
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Episode 8: Bullets Before Cannonballs: How Smart Testing Saved Smart Panda Labs
Bright Ideas with Desiree B. Sharpe
In this episode of Bright Ideas, Desiree sits down with Shamir Duverseau, Managing Director of Smart Panda Labs, to explore how a people-first approach can fuel business growth and resilience. Shamir shares the hard pivots his agency made—from letting go of mismatched hires to niching down on the post-click experience—and why those decisions ultimately strengthened their culture and client relationships. He also opens up about the challenges of competing for talent as a small business, what it means to truly lead with “life first,” and how continuous learning has shaped his leadership...
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Episode 7: Solo Parenting, Stranger Kindness, and Start-up Dreams
Bright Ideas with Desiree B. Sharpe
In this Bright Bite episode of Bright Ideas, our host Desiree B. Sharpe shares a candid look at what’s happening in both her business and personal life. She talks about the tough challenges small businesses are facing in today’s economy, the lessons she learned while traveling solo with her daughter, and her excitement about joining the Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative to launch her first fintech startup. She also invites business owners to share their experiences with vendor relationships and recurring expenses as part of her research. This episode blends small business insights,...
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Episode 6: What Great HR Leadership Looks Like in a Remote Creative Company
Bright Ideas with Desiree B. Sharpe
In this episode of Bright Ideas, Desiree Booker-Sharpe talks with Juliette Dupre, Chief People Officer at OtherSide Entertainment, about how to scale a business while keeping people and culture at the center. Juliette shares her path from law to HR leadership and explains why employee experience, mental health programs, and wellness stipends matter in a remote workplace. She also opens up about the challenges of growth, the resilience leaders need during change, and the importance of clear communication and meaningful metrics like quality of hire and employee sentiment. This conversation...
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Episode 5: Protecting Your Small Business as AI Rises
Bright Ideas with Desiree B. Sharpe
In this Bright Bite episode of the Bright Ideas Podcast, host Desiree Booker-Sharpe takes a candid look at what it really means to protect your small business in the age of AI. Building on part one of this two-part series, which explored career protection for corporate leaders, Desiree now shifts her focus to entrepreneurs and small business owners who are running lean teams and navigating an uncertain economy. She acknowledges the real struggles—rising costs, constant pivots, and the overwhelming pace of AI adoption—while offering clear strategies to help you stay resilient. You’ll...
info_outlineIn this Bright Bite episode of Bright Ideas, our host Desiree B. Sharpe shares a candid look at what’s happening in both her business and personal life. She talks about the tough challenges small businesses are facing in today’s economy, the lessons she learned while traveling solo with her daughter, and her excitement about joining the Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative to launch her first fintech startup. She also invites business owners to share their experiences with vendor relationships and recurring expenses as part of her research. This episode blends small business insights, personal growth, and the founder journey—perfect for anyone navigating entrepreneurship while balancing real life.
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