Kasey Worrell Hatzung is passionate about business – both her own and her clients’. Kasey has an incredible story of Co-founding Fusion Hill with Kerry Sarnoski. A leading designer herself, Hatzung pairs her creative and analytical abilities to create stellar, business-driven outcomes. Kasey’s industry expertise includes health care and financial services. You can see her creative come to life for leading brands like UnitedHealth Group, Wells Fargo, Boston Scientific, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Allianz.

Kasey was named a 2016 Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal’s Women in Business honoree for her acumen and community involvement and was awarded NAWBO Minnesota’s top honor of Woman Business Owner of the Year in 2018. Kasey’s favorite accolade however is 100 Best Companies to Work for which Fusion Hill has won three years in a row based on employee votes.

In this episode:

Laura and Kasey chat in Kasey’s lovely home kitchen about what it takes to keep a business running. We discuss having a clear end in mind when you are visioning out the future of your business and how critical it is to have mentors that keep you grounded, an annual retreat, and a partner you’re in lockstep with.

Highlights you won’t want to miss:

o The day an investor approaches Kasey about starting a new agency (4:10)

o What the name Fusion Hill means and why they have a competitive advantage over others in their space (5:35)

o Secret to doubling in revenue and employee size almost every 5 years (7:06)

o Book that she recommends most to others (23:40)

o A fun fact Kasey shares about what she does in her spare time (24:33)

To learn more about Fusion Hill: https://www.fusionhill.com/

To get in touch with Kasey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaseyhatzung/

To get in touch with Laura: lking@cortalent.com or https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraking1/

Audio Production, Editing, and Sound Design by Botanicus Productions https://botanicusproductions.com

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Meet Kristine Glancy, a first time CEO who joined Insignia Systems in 2016. Kristine joined Insignia during a time when the board was dominated by two activists who owned 40% of the company, much of the team had been with Insignia 15+ years and the business was on a downward trend.

She was tasked with creating a new pathway forward for the company, given for 26 years, revenues fell between $18-$28 million and were unable to develop new innovative solutions for their clients.

Since joining, Kristine has restructured 60% of the organization, turned over 80% of the board, developed 13 new products and successfully grew the company +26% in 2018 while also reversing an operating loss in 2017 by nearly $3.0million in 2018.

Tune in to learn:

• How hiring a team that was “more experienced” than Kristine allowed the company to soar
• How she showed guts at her first Board of Directors meeting
• Why listening is so much more important than setting your own strategy

Highlights you won’t want to miss:

• The first time Kristine had to prove herself in a marketing capacity 4:25
• The story of Kristine overcoming the odds, beating out 25 others for the role as CEO 6:31
• What you miss out on when you only interview with the Board of Directors 8:30
• How Insignia leadership connects with employees (and turned around a culture) 19:28
• Why Kristine studied employee photos at night 25:05
• The biggest ah-ha moment of Kristine’s career to date 30:33

To learn more about Insignia Systems: https://insigniasystems.com/

To get in touch with Kristine: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristine-ditlevson-glancy-87a5592/

Kristine’s book recommendation: https://wonderthebook.com/books/wonder

Audio Production, Editing, and Sound Design by Botanicus Productions (https://botanicusproductions.com

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | RSS | More