User experience, or UX, refers to the collective ways an end user interacts with a brand or a product. Most of the time, UX gets discussed in terms of design. Though that might imply for many the idea of visual design, it's really only a fragment of the full strategic picture.

We sat down with Kyle Rezac-Dennis of the Kansas City digital agency Useagility to learn a little bit more about what goes into getting UX right.

Kyle Dennis is a User Experience Design Researcher and Managing Director at Useagility, Kansas City's most user-focused digital agency. They specialize in using mixed method (primarily qualitative) research techniques to complete discovery and idea validation user research projects.

Articles Cited:

• Watch Out: 4 Companies Fall Short Every Earnings Season

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©2022. DailyDACTM, LLC d/b/a/ Financial PoiseTM.

Welcome back! This week, the Financial Poise Weekly Podcast takes you to the streets of the Renegade Crafts Fair. A long-running Chicago tradition, the fair attracts creative entrepreneurs and eager patrons from throughout the region who share a passion for unique wares offered by small businesses. We talked to dozens of vendors on the scene, all of whom had valuable insights for others running a business today or hoping to tomorrow.

Key Moments:

• The State of Street Fairs and the Renegade Craft Fairs Story (5:42)
• COVID and a Multi-Colored Coat of Motivation (9:33)
• Expanding, Branding, and All About Sales (14:36)
• Rain on the Parade with a Silver Lining (25:11)

Don't miss a single episode! Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review today.

A huge thank you to our participants:

• Mat Daly of Renegade Craft Fair
• Furkan Keskin Amonett of The Mulberry Treehouse
• Ximena Gonzalez of Epic Pets
• Claire Shadomy of Salad Days
• Liz Mortensen of Laila Plant-Dyed Textiles
• Luke Hobbs of Luke Hobbs Designs
• Kirsten Monroe of Brown Fox Collective
• Artist Garrett Luczak
• Artist Tony Fitzpatrick

Learn more about these entrepreneurs, the articles cited in today's episode, the Financial Poise webinar series for startups, and more by clicking here: https://www.financialpoise.com/episode-renegade-entrepreneurship/

Interested in being a guest on the Financial Poise Weekly Rundown Podcast? Drop us a line at podcast@financialpoise.com for more information.

©2022. DailyDACTM, LLC d/b/a/ Financial PoiseTM.

We're back at it! Financial Poise is proud to introduce a new format that will continue to bring you the expertise and insights you've come to expect from us. Whether you're an investor, entrepreneur, or just someone hungry to learn, we've got you covered.

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In Episode 85, we speak with Todd Ryden, CEO of FNEX, a growing on-line alternative investor marketplace. FNEX brings accredited investors together with curated sellers of private placement equity interests, managed futures, secondary private securities, and interests in hedge funds and private equity funds.

You can learn more about Todd Ryden and FNEX here.

Or you can find them here:

Twitter: @InvestFNEX & @FNEXTodd

Facebook

LinkedIn: FNEX & Todd Ryden

YouTube

About Todd Ryden

Mr. Ryden is an experienced entrepreneur and manager, having founded and sold several enterprises. After practicing law, Mr. Ryden co-founded StarCom Broadband, a cable and high-speed data provider. StarCom was sold in 2001 to Comcast®. Mr. Ryden co-founded Cole Marketing, a bottled water brand-marketing group, acquired in 2006 by a New York based venture capital group. Mr. Ryden co-founded Caldera Development, a real estate development company that has participated in the development of over 430,000sf of retail and office space. Mr. Ryden was a co-founder of ViaStar Energy, Inc. which provided utility management services nationwide. ViaStar's Automated Meter Reading technology was acquired by Motorola® in 2007 and its utility services division was acquired in 2008 by NWP Services Corp. ®. Mr. Ryden is the Managing Director of The Applied Group, a private equity firm. Prior to entering the business world, Mr. Ryden's legal career included litigating at the Indiana Supreme Court, and representing the State of Indiana in the tobacco litigation. Mr. Ryden obtained his Juris Doctorate from Indiana University School of Law in Indianapolis, has a certificate in International Contract Law from Tulane University, Paris, France, and obtained his B.A. from Purdue University. He has been a member of the American and Indiana Bar Associations, serves as President of the Board of Directors of Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Central Indiana, is a Board Member of Christel House's Drop Out Recovery School and has been a guest lecturer at Purdue University, Ball State University and the University of Indianapolis.

In Episode 84, Jason Stevens, investment executive and natural resource specialist for Sprott Global Resource Investments, discusses the potential benefits of investing in the equity of high-quality "Real" Asset agricultural, mining, or energy companies with host, Chris Cahill. That's right, energy companies, even today: the key to garnering inflation protection plus return for such investment is the quality of the companies.

Learn more about Jason Stevens and Sprott Global here.

Or you can find them here:

LinkedIn

Twitter: @js_sprottglobal

About Jason Stevens

Jason Stevens is a natural resource specialist and Investment Executive for Sprott Global Resource Investments. He is dedicated to helping accredited investors create personalized investment portfolios focused on natural resources.

Jason has spent the last 12 years working closely with mining and petroleum engineers, influential industry executives, and economic geologists. A dedicated self-starter, Jason started his career with Sprott on the equity trading desk where he honed his understanding of domestic and foreign equity, commodity and currency markets.

Jason has been a featured contributor to industry sites such as Resource Investing News, Financial Survival Network, and The Contrarian Investor Podcast.

Jason is a supporter and promoter of the Austrian School of Economics and spends his free time instructing Krav Maga, the official self-defense system of Israel Defense Force.

Sprott Global Resource Investments is a boutique investment firm specializing in natural resource investments including precious metals, base metals, oil & gas, agriculture, water, and alternative energy. Sprott Global's clients include small and large individual and institutional investors who want a portion of their portfolio invested in natural resource sectors, especially in junior exploration companies.

In Episode 83, David Drake takes a break from a world tour on behalf of The Soho Loft to talk with Chris Cahill about why debt crowdfunding will gain ground in the US and elsewhere over the rest of 2016, to the extent that some platforms will switch from equity offerings to debt offerings. David gets everywhere and hears from everyone, so his cosmopolitan insights are substantiated. Come join David Drake's world.

Learn more about David Drake, The Soho Loft and LDJ Capital by visiting www.ldjcaptial.com and thesoholoft.com

You can also find him here:

Twitter: @TheSohoLoft

LinkedIn

About David Drake

David Drake is a leading equity expert based in New York. He is the founder and chairman of LDJ Capital, a private equity advisory firm, and of The Soho Loft, an event-driven global financial media company. Mr. Drake is a strong advocate of innovative investing in early-stage equity and the US JOBS Act, for which he lobbied both Congress and the EU Commission. Because of his leading work in this space, he was a US Commerce Department delegate to the EU Commission in Brussels and Rome, and was invited in May 2013 to the White House Champions of Change ceremony in Washington, D.C.

His investment, The Soho Loft, produces and sponsors 150+ global events a year. One such event was produced in April 2013 for the institutional media leader Thomson Reuters, with speakers from Nasdaq, NYSE, KKR and Carlyle Group. He continues to advance innovative investing through his work as an international speaker and regular writer for major publications like Forbes and Thomson Reuters. He has co-authored the book Planet Entrepreneur: The World Entrepreneurship Forum's Guide to Business Success Around the World and is the author of Crowd Fund Economics.His focus today is to take on board advisory positions at companies, angel networks and venture funds, and to guide them on such topics as international regulations, corporate strategy and fund structures, with emphasis on the growing trend of online investment automation for retail and angel investors.Privately, Mr. Drake has hosted the Harvard Business Club of NY at his home, produced Carnegie Hall concerts and raised funds for the charities Trail Blazers and Best Buddies Carnegie Hall for many years. Today he is a board director of the UBS Charity of the Year, London-based ARCHIVE Global, and is co-chair of the Tree Kangaroo Foundation in New York.Born in Sweden and fluent in six languages, Mr. Drake has an MBA in Finance and an MA in International Law and Economics from George Washington University, where he was awarded the Wallenberg Scholarship for academic merit.

In Episode 82, Chris Cahill speaks with Phil DeMuth, author of The Overtaxed Investor: Slash Your Tax Bill & Be a Tax Alpha Dog. The author is as engaging and enthused as his frequent co-author Ben Stein affects not to be. Listen and learn about the benefits of taking a "lifetime perspective on your taxes."

You can learn more about Phil DeMuth here.

Or you can find him here:

Twitter: @PhilDeMuth

LinkedIn

About Phil DeMuth

Phil DeMuth is Managing Director at Conservative Wealth Management, LLC, where he enjoys working with high net worth clients and saving them from the depredations of the financial services industry.

Phil was valedictorian of his class at the University of California at Santa Barbara, then went on for his master's in communication and a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. A psychologist and investment advisor, Phil has written for the Wall Street Journal, Barron's, Forbes, the Journal of Financial Planning, Human Behavior and Psychology Today , and is the author of nine books on investing, most co-authored with his pal, economist Ben Stein. His opinions have been quoted in the New York Times, the Financial Times, Yahoo! Finance, On Wall Street, Fortune, Research Magazine, Investor's Business Daily, Motley Fool, theStreet.com and he has been seen on various TV shows, including CNBC's Worldwide Exchange, On the Money, Squawk Box and Closing Bell, as well as Fox & Friends, Wall Street Week, and Consuelo Mack WealthTrack.

Gap Year: using a year between high school and college in particular ways in order to maximize the value of college. In Episode 81, Chris Cahill talks Gap Year with Ethan Knight, co-founder of the American Gap Association. The AGA serves as a comprehensive resource for those interested in the programmatic Gap Year's instructional, experiential, and adventuresome qualities.

You can find out more about Ethan Knight and the American Gap Association here.

Or you can find them here:

Twitter: @americangap

Facebook

LinkedIn

About Ethan Knight

Ethan Knight has been working within the world of Gap Years since 1996, when he took his own Gap Year to India, Nepal and Tibet. Back in those days the only options to taking an official Gap Year was through the Center for Interim Programs, and that's exactly how he first heard about this strange thing called a Gap Year. After an inspired talk at his high school, he started a conversation with Interim Programs to discuss what would eventually turn into his own sojourn. Ethan graduated from Willamette University - a small Tier 1 private liberal arts university - with majors in English and Philosophy, and a minor in Environmental Sciences. Immediately after graduating he went to work for LEAPNOW as an intern where his passion for education really took firm root. With the help of a few key mentors along the way, primarily Sam Bull, Ethan eventually led programs for groups of Gap Year students through Latin America and Asia, finally working his way up to Assistant Director of the organization.

After seven years at LEAPNOW, Ethan returned home to Portland, Oregon to found Carpe Diem Education. While Carpe Diem began with just three programs, Ethan added five more over the next six years in order to create more options for a wider variety of students. During his tenure at Carpe Diem Education, Ethan also founded the International Carpe Diem Foundation (now Carpe Mundi) - a non-profit dedicated to the inclusion of economically disadvantaged students in Gap Year programs and higher education. It is currently the only non-profit of its kind in Oregon.

Eventually, after 6 years at Carpe Diem he recognized a need for a professional association amongst Gap Year providers. The needs of the industry were demanding a hub for information-sharing, development of best-practices, and objective evaluation. Thus, in 2012 he worked with many in the field to found the American Gap Association.