Summary:

Heather Whaling was just awarded the 2016 Ohio Valley EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award, falling right behind MailChimp for her respected category, and she’s the President & Founder of Geben Communication. In this episode we talk with Heather about her background, path leading up to starting her first company, Geben Communication, what the first days, weeks, and months were like with starting Geben, what sets them apart in their industry, what her vision looks like for the company, and we even thrown in a few really off-the-wall questions that help you get to know her more as a person. Heather is the real deal, and this episode is packed with information and insights that anyone interested in public relations or entrepreneurship will get a lot of value out of.

Mile Markers:

(00:00:00) Heather Whaling
(00:00:16) Subscribe to Conquering Columbus
(00:00:33) AWH
(00:01:01) The SunDown Group
(00:01:24) Facilities Management eXpress (FMX)
(00:01:52) Want to be a sponsor of Conquering Columbus?
(00:02:05) Survey!
(00:02:20) Conquering Columbus Intro Music
(00:03:22) Intro to Heather
(00:03:50) A typical day in the life
(00:04:10) How big is the Geben team?
(00:04:30) Geben opens an office in Chicago
(00:05:00) Hometown, college, first jobs, etc…
(00:07:10) The start of Geben Communication
(00:07:45) What is PR?
(00:09:00) How does Geben separate itself in the PR world?
(00:12:00) Valuable previous experiences that helped create Geben
(00:15:00) Why start Geben in Columbus?
(00:16:20) “…we help startups grow into bigger brands, and we help bigger brands think and act more like startups…”
(00:17:34) Quick show break because Mike asked the wrong questions
(00:18:45)The first days, weeks, and months of getting Geben off of the ground
(00:20:20) Key connections that helped get Geben started
(00:21:30) Mike’s bad joke, Twitter Chats, and is Twitter dead?
(00:24:50) Go-to sources for the news
(00:25:45) Getting out of bed for The New York Times
(00:27:20) Best biographies Heather has read lately
(00:28:00) Balancing leisure with business & hobbies
(00:28:50) Biggest accomplishments so far with Geben
(00:29:10) Geben Loves Families
(00:30:10) EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award
(00:33:15) Biggest failures so far with Geben
(00:34:10) The hiring process at Geben Communication
(00:34:50) The culture at Geben Communication
(00:36:10) The next 5-10-years with Geben Communication
(00:36:50) The products offered by Geben Communication
(00:38:50) Advice to inspiring entrepreneurs
(00:40:05) Work-life balance
(00:43:10) Live Uncomfortably
(00:44:10) Closing remarks
(00:44:20) Subscribe to Conquering Columbus
(00:44:50) AWH
(00:45:20) The SunDown Group
(00:45:40) Facilities Management eXpress (FMX)
(00:46:10) Want to be a sponsor of Conquering Columbus?
(00:46:20) Survey!
(00:46:35) Conquering Columbus Outro Music

Links:

Conquering Columbus Survey
Heather Whaling | LinkedIn
Geben Communication

http://www.womensfundcentralohio.org/
EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2016 Ohio Valley Award
Facilities Management eXpress (FMX)

The SunDown Group
AWH[subscribe]