IAM1304 – How This CEO and Media Consultant Helps Contribute to the Media by Pushing an Effective Health & Wellness Agenda

Dr. Alexis Moreno is a consulting psychologist and founder of Wit & Reason. Passionate about the interplay between media, culture, and human behavior, she has decided to dedicate her consulting services to enhancing media corporations and the creative workforce.

• CEO Story: Alexis started her business as a media consulting psychologist, seeing that our media continues to struggle and how it impacts the individual and society. Special practice in media consulting did not exist and so she created one.
• Business Service: Offering training and seminars that are customized. Workplace functional assessments to see how the workplace is functioning. Develop and review client programs.
• Secret Sauce: Experts in the psychology of groups, leadership, cognitive functioning, emotions, and human behavior.
• CEO Hacks: The League of Women Instagram: @theleaguewomen,  Startup Creative Instagram: @startupcreative, Freakonomics Podcast – The Secret Life of CEOs: http://freakonomics.com/ceos/
• CEO Nugget: Highly respect everyone in the organization
• CEO Defined: The foundation of the company and completely invested in the company.

Instagram @witandreason
Instagram @dr.a.moreno
Twitter @witandreason
LinkedIn: dralexismoreno
LinkedIn: witandreason

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Transcription

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00:02 – Intro 

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, start-ups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

00:26 – Gresham Harkless 

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast, and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Alexis Moreno from Wit & Reason. Alexis, it's all awesome to have you on the show.

00:43 – Dr. Alexis Moreno 

Thank you.

00:44 – Gresham Harkless 

No problem. Doctor Alexis Moreno is a Consulting Psychologist and Founder of Wit & Reason. She's passionate about the interplay between Media, Culture, and Human Behavior, and she has decided to dedicate her consulting services to enhancing media corporations and the creative work workforce. So Alexis, are you ready to talk to the I AM CEO Community?

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01:08 – Dr. Alexis Moreno 

Definitely.

01:09 –  Gresham Harkless 

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, what I wanted to do was just ask you the first question just to introduce yourself to us. Tell us your CEO story, your background, and what led you to start your business.

01:19 – Dr. Alexis Moreno 

Okay. Well, as you mentioned, I'm a Psychologist. As Psychologist, we see thoughts, emotions, and cognitive functioning, present in everyday life. To us, psychology is invaluable to functioning, working through life's challenges, and celebrating life's successes. And it still surprises me how little attention psychology is given to every aspect of our daily lives. So I started my business as a Media Consulting Psychologist because our media continues to struggle. My ideas of media and media psychology go back to me as a kid. Some of my earliest memories are, of watching cartoons with my little sister that were insanely violent. And I remember wondering, why in the hell are the adults letting her watch this stuff?

Since then, I've been acutely aware of media messaging, how it impacts our individual perceptions of the world, and how it shapes our society. It distorts our perceptions sometimes and informs and enlightens us other times, and I just knew at a very young age that I wanted to help and contribute to the media in whatever way that I could. I'm a terrible actor. I am way too opinionated to be a journalist, but consulting and pushing an effective health and wellness agenda, both internally and through the media is my niche. A specialized Media Consulting Psychology practice didn't exist, so I created it.

02:53 – Gresham Harkless 

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, no. It's very perceptive of you to be able to see that, especially at a young age, and be able to not only see that but understand that you wanted to do something to solve that. So, definitely kudos to you for that. So could you tell us, like, ask a little bit more about the services that you provide for Wit & Reason?

03:13 – Dr. Alexis Moreno 

Definitely. I mean, all the details for our services are available online at www.witandreason.com. We offer training and seminars that are customized. We do workplace functional, assessments to see how the workplace is functioning and, how the dynamics within the workplace are doing. And those assessments inform what type of interventions we implement within the company. So if it is some kind of training or seminar, then it's customized specifically to the company's needs.

We also do development and review of whatever kind of programs they have going on or even, like, communication materials, and we offer subject matter experts on anything human-related because psychology isn't everything that we do. And as far as the media is concerned, we work with organizations to help them create and promote characters that model positive functioning and psychology. And if they're looking for a little bit more drama, then we could help them create, storylines that promote what kind of everyday challenges that people experience that are relatable and how a character can then build resiliency for something like that.

04:30 – Gresham Harkless 

That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah. I mean, I can't think we've learned definitely over the last couple of years just how important or how big the media plays in our lives, in our everyday lives. Sometimes we don't even know how much they play. So, again, that's that's super awesome that you're able to see that. But, again, as any entrepreneur or any CEO does, create something to actually help out with that. So what I wanted to ask is what do you feel are the things or maybe one thing that makes your, business and organization unique?

05:02 – Dr. Alexis Moreno 

Well, we are experts in the psychology of groups, leadership, cognitive functioning, emotions, and human behavior, and we're super humble about it. Our company culture is incredibly important to what makes our organization unique. We're both left and right-brained, analytical, and creative, which is an exceptionally rare blend of characteristics defined in a workforce, and Wit & Reasons got it. Our team was fun, quirky, brilliant, passionate, compassionate, and articulate. Not only do we have the knowledge and the insight into what will make other organizations holistically successful, but we are also each sincerely invested in our client's success.

Our philosophy at one reason is that each person in an organization is an expert in their own experience, and each person can provide useful information and critiques about how an organization is functioning. So the challenge is that people within the organization, however, may not be as forthcoming about their knowledge because they may fear impressions or it's just extra work upon what they already have going on in the company.

So a benefit for us as an outside consulting company is that we get to come into an organization and just really actively listen to, everyone involved in a company, learn from the individuals within the organization and dissect what's going well, what needs work, how can things be resolved, and who's the best person to lead the change.

We don't go into companies as some consultants do and just expect, like, we know everything, every little functioning detail about a company and then implement all these changes without asking anybody, we definitely do assessments first and interview the people who would that change would be affecting. Additionally, other consulting services are based on a limited scope of psychology. Our experiences are different of other consulting firms.

We not only understand how a person is functioning in the work environment, but who each employee is as a person, what might be going on at home, in their community, or on the news that could very well be impacting how they're functioning at work. So we don't just implement, like, a standard package. We take extra evidence-based efforts to make our interventions, sound and effective within an organization. We incorporate different levels of learning and engagement into everything we do, and we tailor our interventions specific to people involved in the company and to the company culture as a whole.

07:44 – Gresham Harkless 

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Yeah. You guys do, obviously, a huge amount of stuff to kinda help out people. But I love the fact that you mentioned that you don't actually do something that is kind of like a paintbrush effect, so to speak. Actually have an individual where you look and see exactly, like, what the issue is or how you can help solve whatever might be a pain point for the organization, and you figure out how to do that.

So it's not that you come there with an agenda already. So, one of the big questions that we always try to ask here at on I AM CEO Podcast is just kind of like a CEO hack, which might be like a resource or a book or something or it might be even an app that you feel helps you out as an entrepreneur or business owner. Could you kind of pinpoint maybe one of those things that kind of help you out?

08:30 – Dr. Alexis Moreno 

Just one? Because I have a couple.

08:31 – Gresham Harkless 

Let's do a few then.

08:33 – Dr. Alexis Moreno 

Okay. So I'm frequently on Instagram. So while I'm on there, it's really nice to get, like, CEO motivation or especially, like, entrepreneur motivation. And as a woman-owned company, a League of Extraordinary Women is really helpful. They have great branding, and they just sent out a bunch of, like, positive messages about doing the job and staying committed and just realizing, like, it's not gonna be smooth sailing all the way through. So it's a very realistic yet optimistic kind of Instagram feed. Another one on Instagram is, startup creative, and their reminders are really cute. The latest one was Beyonce wasn't born in a day.

09:17 – Gresham Harkless 

There you go.

09:18 – Dr. Alexis Moreno 

Very helpful as well. And, like, stop saying yes to shit you hate. So also very helpful stuff. They also have a magazine, mentoring program, and, a podcast too. It's a company from Australia. Okay. And then the last one.

09:34 – Gresham Harkless 

Last one.

09:35 – Dr. Alexis Moreno 

I highly recommend is Freakonomics Radio. Have you heard it?

09:39 – Gresham Harkless 

I've heard of the book. I have.

09:41 – Dr. Alexis Moreno 

Okay, so they have a podcast, The Secret Life of CEOs.

09:45 – Gresham Harkless 

Ah, okay. Yes. Okay.

09:47 – Dr. Alexis Moreno 

And so they interview a bunch of, really famous CEOs, and they really get to talk about, like, their process and some of the challenges from a wide range of perspectives. With a wide range of CEOs. So it's also helpful to kinda learn from other people.

10:04 – Gresham Harkless 

Yeah. Definitely. Definitely. And now that's gonna segway to my next question, which I love the fact that you're able to take whether it be motivation or insight from various successful entrepreneurs and business owners. So what would you give us as a CEO nugget, I call it, which is maybe a word of wisdom that you would give to any entrepreneur business owner?

10:22 – Dr. Alexis Moreno 

As a Psychologist, I have tons of nuggets. I'll try to just limit it to one that I think is just so truly crucial.

10:30 – Gresham Harkless 

Give us the best of the best.

10:32 – Dr. Alexis Moreno 

Yeah. I think this one just kind of, like, encompasses everything. Just highly respect everyone in your organization because it's the humane and healthy way to coexist, and it would just be far more difficult to do anything without them.

10:49 – Gresham Harkless 

I love it. I love it. It's kind of like an extension of the golden rule, so to speak. Treat them as how you wanna be treated.

10:54 – Dr. Alexis Moreno 

Right. Or how they wanna be treated.

10:56 – Gresham Harkless 

How they wanna be treated. Exactly. Exactly. You said it better. Now, we have a range of different entrepreneurs business owners, and CEOs, whether someone who might start a nonprofit organization someone who might be the CEO of a Fortune five hundred company, or someone who's starting an organization may be in their parent's garage. We have different types of CEOs and we're looking to kinda definitely redefine that. So how would you define being CEO? What does that mean to you?

11:21 – Dr. Alexis Moreno 

Yeah. When you first, asked me if I would be interested in joining this podcast, I hadn't really seen myself as a CEO quite yet because I think like a lot of people, I have that stereotype in my head that it's just some older white male running, like, a huge corporation and has to, like, respond to the board of directors and deal with, like billion dollar negotiations or something like that. So I appreciate that you're reaching out to CEOs at every level. And so for me, when I started thinking about it more as a CEO, I was just really reflecting on my experience. And as a CEO, we set the foundation.

We actually kind of become the foundation of our company, especially as an entrepreneur who builds it from nothing. The company's successes and challenges are truly on our shoulders. We are constantly actively creating and maintaining a functioning system all at the same time. So, therefore, I believe or value that it's important for us as CEO to know how every aspect of the company functions. So every area that needs improvement and why, all of its strengths, just the entire ins and outs of the company is important for us as CEO to understand.

And the only way to do this is to be completely invested. So not detached and just focused on the big picture, but knowledgeable curious, and mindful of our employees' well-being and functioning, the operational practices of the corporation, the management practices, and the big picture. And it's not a job for everyone. Not everyone cares about or notices the beautiful intricacies of a functioning organization.

For those who do, it's that fascination and respect for the system that makes them crazy enough to do the job, to take on endless late nights and all of the stress ever. Because at the end of the day, being a CEO means deeply understanding that you're not just making decisions for a company. You're making decisions for the people who work alongside you and for the people who trust and rely on your services.

13:32 – Gresham Harkless 

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Yeah. I love that definition. It definitely encompasses everything that, you know, all of your decisions make and everything that you do. So, Doctor Alexis, I'm super grateful that you were able to take some time out of your schedule to kinda speak with us, and tell us a little bit about your business and your background. What I wanted to do was just kinda give you the floor to see if there's anything additional you wanted to let us know, and then also kinda let us know how best to get a hold of you.

13:55 – Dr. Alexis Moreno 

Yeah. So at Wit & Reason, obviously, I am and we are very passionate about the business world and wellness and health and how people are functioning and how they're doing. We offer both wellness and executive coaching. So if people are out there looking to figure out ways to find more balance in their life or incorporate more ways that they can take care of themselves so that way they can help care of others, then that's definitely something that we like to connect with people on as well.

And we have multiple trainings, like, not just in corporations, but also out in the community too. We like to do a lot of community outreach to make psychological information, and practices accessible to everybody. So we have a few events coming up, so they could go ahead and check out our website to stay posted on everything that's going on.

14:45 – Gresham Harkless 

Sounds good. And we'll make sure to have a link to your website, in the show notes just in case anybody wants to check it out. But, again, Doctor Alexis, I'm truly, appreciative of you taking your time out, and thank you so much.

14:57 – Dr. Alexis Moreno 

Thank you.

15:00 – Outro 

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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