Neil A. Carousso produces NewsNation original “Kurt’s Country” – a celebration of country music and a slice of Americana with host Kurt Bardella.
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New York Back in Sight with Steve Schirripa
Produced by Neil A. Carousso, Carousso Enterprises, LLC
NEW YORK — This Fall, celebrate New York’s reopening with us!
Join The Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration and our host Steve Schirripa, from The Sopranos and Blue Bloods, as he takes us on a virtual tour of the quintessential New York experiences we’ve been missing.
Whet your appetite for our city’s unparalleled food scene with award-winning Chef Dan Kluger of Loring Place.
Fix yourself a classic New York cocktail with master mixologist Erin Davey from the Tao Group.
And, return to Broadway as Come From Away playwrights David Hein and Irene Sankoff share their favorite scenes from this joyous musical.
Register here to watch this virtual New York experience from Thursday, October 14, 2021.
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VIDEO: Why Barbara Corcoran Believes Best Investments are in People
By Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Barbara Corcoran, the self-made “queen of New York real estate,” has always put her customers and her workers, first. That mantra is guiding her businesses out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I don’t buy businesses. I buy people,” Corcoran told Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso on the latest WCBS Small Business Spotlight, sponsored by Dime Community Bank.
“The reason I was able to build such a large company is because I adored my employees and would do anything for them at any time – anything for them – they came first,” she said. “You have to have that attitude toward employees if you want to do well with them.”
A tight labor market has left many job postings unfilled. The “Shark Tank” star said the businesses that have survived the pandemic are growing, but their biggest challenge is hiring and retaining workers.
“It’s not just at your local restaurants, it’s at your dry cleaners, it’s at your technology companies. Everyone across the board is having a hard time attracting employees,” she said.
Corcoran noted one way to limit turnover is to pay more competitive salaries. She explained many customers are willing to support small businesses in their communities.
“They’re very amiable to helping small businesses if they think they’re helping a good business get ahead. So, you can pass on a lot of those costs, but you have to pay people more,” said Corcoran.
Barbara Corcoran listens to a pitch on ABC’s “Shark Tank.” (Photo Credit: ABC) She told WCBS 880 businesses must be more flexible with remote work, too.
“You have to give them the latitude and the freedom to work different hours, which now, people have been spoiled by because of COVID. Anybody who’s dictating that you must be here 9 to 5, come every day of the week, is not getting the employees because employees have other choices. They just move on and get a better boss so you have to be a phenomenally good boss and do everything you can to help that employee and that’s how you get them,” Corcoran said.
She describes “good bosses” as those who put the needs of their customers and employees before their own. She believes that’s the primary reason that The Corcoran Group blossomed into a $5 billion company when she sold it in 2001.
Corcoran called companies that are still not embracing remote work “stupid.”
“If you’re not budging, you’re stupid because you’re not doing what is the basic, core essence of all business: it’s called change,” she said, noting the seismic shifts businesses have been forced to adapt to over the past 19 months. “Let me tell you, if you don’t acknowledge the change that happens, you don’t stay in business.”
The famous entrepreneur said on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight that the job of the business owner is to spot trends early and direct their team “on which ways to run.” That’s how, she said, small businesses become big businesses.
“You know, the great advantage I saw early in my business when I looked around and saw my big competitors was I picked up on their attitude. They were big shots. The minute I saw everyone playing ‘big shot,’ I knew I had a shot,” said Corcoran, adding, “Most big businesses think they’re competing with other big businesses. They’re not. That’s not the enemy. The enemy is the little business that’s going to come up from behind and bite you in the butt.”
She said she tells companies like Ernst & Young in corporate speeches to think small. As for small businesses, Corcoran advises to learn everything about operating the business; those that are hungry will win the race.
Corcoran turned a $1,000 loan from a boyfriend in 1973 into a multi-billion dollar real estate empire. She told Connolly and Carousso that she budgeted every cent and hustled for every sale to keep her little business alive in the early days. That’s what she’s seeing new entrepreneurs doing today in season 13 of ABC’s “Shark Tank.”
“So many of the entrepreneurs that were standing before us either got fired or left their job,” Corcoran said. “They had part-time things they liked to do and they just decided they had time to think about it. They weren’t happy with their life and that was the time to make a big change and they took their part-time gig and they made it a full-time business. And, ironically, those were the strongest businesses we saw.”
See what it takes to make your dreams a reality on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight featuring Barbara Corcoran above.
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Commemorating 9/11: Never Forgotten 20 Years Later
Produced by Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — At some point, everyone has seen or heard the heartbreaking news coverage of 9/11. Because all the reporters were so busy describing what they saw, it’s not often that they get to share what their personal experiences of the event were — until now.
This week, WCBS 880 has assembled four veteran journalists who worked and witnessed the attacks on the World Trade Center from varying angles that day.
Speaking with WCBS 880’s Wayne Cabot, former anchors Pat Carroll and Jeff Kaplan join reporters Sean Adams and Tom Kaminski to share each of their own real-time experiences, as well as their reflections since.
Despite seeing and processing everything differently, nothing was more important than the facts that day.
“All of your broadcast training, every breaking news story you ever covered in your whole life – suddenly you [realized] that it was preparing you for this moment,” Carroll says.
While nothing could ever prepare them for a tragedy of that caliber, Carroll adds, “We just went with it as though we had been preparing for this throughout our careers…[we knew] we were important. We were necessary.”
“It was absolutely impossible to comprehend the enormity of the situation,” Adams added. He was one of the street reporters closest to the towers that day, and witnessed the first building collapse.
He says he couldn’t believe what was happening, “because [it was] so much larger than anything [he’d] ever experienced before.”
He also recalled telling himself, “Do not get killed,” that day because he couldn’t be of any use dead. With so much mayhem at the scene, it wasn’t until the South Tower collapsed that he was able to deliver his first live report.
As crucial as that report was to the people of New York, Adams revealed that the report meant something more to his family because it confirmed to them that he was still alive.
Civilians flee as a tower of the World Trade Center collapses September 11, 2001 after two airplanes slammed into the twin towers in an alleged terrorist attack. Photo credit (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) Up in the sky that morning, Kaminski was just reporting traffic as usual when he saw what he called “the flash and the fireball” on the North Tower.
Even as Carroll patched him in to report what he was seeing, it wasn’t until he his pilot received word from air traffic controllers stating, “The airspace has been sterilized,” that they began to worry.
What scared them the most wasn’t the phrase itself, but rather the fact that as experienced as they were they had never heard it before. That’s when the seriousness of the situation started to settle in.
Kaminski continued to do his job until his helicopter was finally grounded. In fact, he points to one moment in the broadcast, right after the South Tower was struck, where you can hear him start talking about the traffic.
“I just needed to center myself,” he says, after realizing his hands started to shake.
Guatemalan pedestrians watch on TV September 11, 2001 in Guatemala City, Guatemala the moment when a second plane commandeered by unknown hijackers slammed into New York’s World Trade Center. Photo credit (Photo by Andrea Nieto/Getty Images) “And doing traffic, which I had done for all these years, was exactly how I did that,” he continued, “I start talking about traffic on West Street, and on Canal Street, and I talked about vehicles coming down into [that] area from every conceivable direction. That was for me.”Guatemalan pedestrians watch on TV September 11, 2001 in Guatemala City, Guatemala the moment when a second plane commandeered by unknown hijackers slammed into New York’s World Trade Center. Photo credit (Photo by Andrea Nieto/Getty Images)
When he didn’t know what else to do, Kaminski just did his job. Looking back on that day, former 880 anchor Jeff Kaplan agrees that every reporter that day was “on autopilot.”
He recalls watching a random 9/11 special on TV one year where the entire day was synched up to pictures, video, and audio. It wasn’t until he saw people “gathering around somebody’s radio, holding hands [listening to] our voices…listening with tears coming down their faces,” he wasn’t aware of how much 880’s coverage – or any coverage – meant to the average listener that day.
He says that seeing, “the way that people perceived what [they] were doing,” made him lose it.
See WCBS Newsradio 880’s 9/11 anniversary coverage here.
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‘Hope, Resiliency, and Strength:’ Lasting Message of WTC Site 20 Years after 9/11
By Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — The World Trade Center site is a living, breathing memorial of the people lost in the September 11 terrorist attacks, a bustling business district and architectural wonder that stands tall as a sign of freedom and New York’s resilience in recovering from the fateful tragedy.
“I think there is a responsibility that whatever sadness and tragedy has befallen a place, at the end, there needs to be a message of hope, resilience and strength,” said architect Daniel Libeskind on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight, sponsored by Dime Community Bank.
The tear-jerking reflecting pools, the breathtaking Freedom Tower, and the awe-inspiring Oculus Transportation Hub were all part of Libeskind’s master plan to revitalize the site after 9/11.
“That’s what the spirit of humanity is. It’s not just to give in to the irretrievable and irreversible past. It’s to show that we can overcome it; we will not forget it,” he said.
Libeskind is a world-famous architect whose designs include the Jewish Museum Berlin and hundreds of modern buildings enjoyed by millions around the world from the United States to Europe and beyond. He was born and raised in Poland to Holocaust survivors and was among the last to immigrate to New York by boat into Ellis Island.
“You have to be a lucky man to be living in New York to be able to take the subway or walk somewhere into a corner of New York that is maybe 10 blocks away from you but it’s a different New York,” he said, continuing, “That’s the beauty of New York. You move a few blocks and you’re in a different neighborhood. New York is really a kaleidoscope of diversity.”
Libeskind told Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso that exploring and experiencing the city is a quintessential act for himself as an architect, but said it can be inspiring for anyone. Attracted to the energy of New York City, he is confident the offices at the World Trade Center will be at full capacity again after the COVID-19 pandemic, because while working from home is convenient, he believes the collaborative and creative work that can be achieved in the social space of the office is unmatched.
“There’s no doubt that offices will continue to play a key role and I really know it from my own office, which is in Lower Manhattan, that it’s so inspiring to have people back in the office, seeing each other, working together. It’s irreplaceable. You can never do it from your home that way,” Libeskind said.
He noted many offices are being reconstructed to meet the new pandemic demands of distance and ventilation and supports converting empty offices into residential buildings.
“When we were building Ground Zero, many of the great office buildings, which were already modern office buildings, were being converted to residential buildings and that has brought a lot of life to Lower Manhattan,” said Libeskind, hopeful that doing so now will improve the city’s affordability.
He told WCBS 880 he has been working on designing modern New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) buildings for elderly residents in Brooklyn and Long Island City and believes introducing quality architecture and greater living space will attract new, talented people to live and work in New York.
Watch Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso’s conversation with world-famous architect Daniel Libeskind for a reflection on the World Trade Center revitalization and discussion about New York City’s post-pandemic future on the WCBS Small Business Spotlight video above.
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WCBS Virtual Business Breakfast: New Creative Sales Methods to Rise from the Pandemic
Presented by First National Bank LI. Member FDIC.
By Joe Connolly and Neil A. Carousso
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Small businesses are facing unprecedented challenges and barriers to growth upon the reopening from the COVID-19 pandemic, but this panel of business leaders offered optimism and concrete solutions for a recovery.
Nomad Health Founder Dr. Alexi G. Nazem, Shoptiques Chief Marketing Officer Lindsay Lightman, and MadCreek, LLC Founder and Creative Director Andi Jennings shared their approaches and experiences with Business Reporter Joe Connolly on the WCBS Virtual Business Breakfast, presented by First National Bank LI. Member FDIC.
Lightman said her company’s mission is to “help small get smarter,” explaining that the pandemic accelerated the shift to digital as consumers were forced online amid the shutdown in March 2020 and subsequent COVID-19 restrictions, which provided an opportunity for them to grow their digital services previously resisted by some boutique owners on Shoptiques’ online marketplace.
“On the front-end of our business, we have our marketplace where we’re selling to consumers but on the back-end, we’re really just a services and technology company supplying boutiques and small business owners with everything they need to be successful digitally,” she said, continuing, “So, they were all of a sudden, challenging our online tech, forcing us to innovate quickly, innovate faster, innovate more, give them more tools, give them more access, give them more customers, and in a great way, it forced us to really think outside of the box and grow.”
Lightman, who is overseeing the company’s digital expansion and customer acquisition, told the WCBS Virtual Business Breakfast that online sales are picking up for boutiques on her platform this spring. She said customers are now spending about 20 percent more per order than a year ago.
“They’re now buying outfits to go out and accessories and home goods and gifts for people,” she said.
Managing Fast Growth So You Don’t Grow Out of Business:
New York-based Nomad Health has been growing exponentially. They digitize the healthcare hiring process to help connect providers with clinicians worldwide to combat staffing shortages and provide competitive career opportunities for doctors and nurses.
“There has been this war for talent in the technical field and what that has caused us to do is broaden our horizons and start hiring people all across the United States,” he said, noting they are not only competing with other healthcare companies, but also technology firms that have disrupted traditional industries.
A number of businesses are struggling to hire workers amid a labor shortage while the enhanced unemployment benefits exceed wages in some cases.
“We’re starting people at higher rates than we used to,” contributed Michael Aboff, third-generation owner of Aboff’s Paints which has 32 locations on Long Island. Aboff’s home improvement business has flourished the last 15 months.
Nazem, a Yale and Harvard-trained doctor and businessman, agreed with Connolly that fast growth requires him to be selective and focus on his business objectives.
“There are so many shiny objects and you have to resist the temptation to pick all of them. You have to succeed somewhere before you can succeed everywhere,” he said.
Nazem added he communicates Nomad Health’s detailed growth strategy with its employees on a regular basis so they can focus on providing exceptional service to their clients and meet company goals.
Finding New Customers In The Post-Pandemic Economy:
New Jersey-based MadCreek has an impressive portfolio of clients for design and marketing, including Union Catholic High School, Rutgers University Libraries and Seton Hall Athletics. Many of their customers were forced to pivot to remote work last spring, but Jennings’ team of mostly mothers had already been working from home for years, and thus, became local experts in the virtual space.
“What we decided to do with our customers or our clients to attract new customers was explain to them that, ‘While your business is maybe slow or while you’re figuring things out, really try to think of other things you’ve always wanted to do with your business.
And, what are those things? And, how can we help you?'” the creative marketer said.Jennings has become more of a “trusted consultant” for her clients in the pandemic, using virtual whiteboards and other collaboration tools internally and externally, which she demonstrated on the WCBS Virtual Business Breakfast.
“If they come to us with a very unique problem or a service that we don’t necessarily provide, chances are we’re going to research what type of service they need, find the greatest professional in that industry and provide them with all the tools they need,” she said.
Lightman told Connolly she loves when boutique owners present her and her team with big ideas. She said Shoptiques will try just about anything.
“When you stop learning, you stop living,” said Lightman.
Nazem agreed with that mantra.
“You have to be willing to try different stuff and fail fast so that you can learn that, ‘Okay, this is an area that probably isn’t right for me.’ But, you have to try multiple things,” he said.
“Try selling to them in a different way, try hosting events, try anything you can, but thinking digitally first is really important,” said Lightman, adding, “Customers are not going to go back to just shopping in stores.”
One of the lessons from the WCBS Virtual Business Breakfast is ensuring products are diversified. Another is to be diverse in ranks so that workers’ skills complement each other.
“I think you have to look out of the box and learn and be creative and it really helps to have young people on your team – next generations that know the world of what’s going on today with Instagram and Facebook and TikTok and all those mediums that help you to sell,” said Candy Udell, president of London Jewelers.
Several retail owners have asked Connolly and WCBS Business Producer Neil A. Carousso about finding new customers online now that their stores are not as busy compared to before the pandemic as some consumer behaviors have changed. Carousso asked the panel about acquiring customers.
“We actually rely really heavily on affiliate marketing,” Lightman responded. “It’s a really big channel for us. You only pay for what you get. There’s little risk in it. So, it’s a really great source.”
The Shoptiques CMO said they shy away from social media because it’s an overcrowded space and hard to compete against large corporations that have sizable digital marketing budgets.
“It’s ironic, but for us, our customer base responds really well to SMS and email marketing, still. They really love us putting forth trends and being like a thought provider as to what they should shop and that’s where we see the best results,” said Lightman.
How To Handle Competitors Undercutting Your Prices:
One challenge all three panelists have faced is competitors driving their costs down.
“A lot of times, they’re going to find cheaper online outlets with people that don’t know their business, that don’t care about their business, but they’re just running out there because they need a logo or they need a landing page,” said Jennings. “So, the money that they’re spending out there on these one-shot deals really does not help them grow foundationally.”
She told Connolly it happens frequently among her smaller clients working on tight budgets, but more often than not, they return because MadCreek is invested in the success of their business.
Nazem commented that people will pay for higher quality work and personal service as Jennings described, but he’s concerned technology companies are disrupting hard-hit industries and driving prices lower for small businesses that are operating on tight profit margins.
See solutions, fresh growth strategies and innovative ideas to jump-start sales on the WCBS Virtual Business Breakfast, presented by First National Bank LI. Member FDIC. Watch the free one-hour program above or on our YouTube page.
MEET THE PANELISTS
About Alexi Nazem, Co-Founder & CEO of Nomad Health:
Alexi Gharib Nazem, MD, MBA, is the co-founder and CEO of Nomad Health, the first online marketplace for freelance clinical jobs. In addition to leading Nomad, he is also a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell in New York.
Previously, he led field operations for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s successful 100,000 Lives Campaign.
Alexi trained in internal medicine at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston after receiving an MD from Yale and an MBA from Harvard. He also holds a BS in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale.
About Lindsay Lightman, Chief Marketing Officer of Shoptiques, Inc.
As Chief Marketing Officer of Shoptiques inc., Lindsay is responsible for developing and managing the companies B2B and B2C marketing strategies; as well as identifying and negotiating strategic partnerships. This includes overseeing the Shoptiques.com marketplace customer acquisition, marketing, merchandising, and support; developing and growing Shoptiques Managed Marketing Services for luxury boutiques; and building the Shoptiques SaaS offerings designed for small business owners, focused on helping small get smarter.
Lindsay joined the company in 2018, as Head of Support & Business Development, bringing her over 7 years of experience in global marketing and relationships. In this role, Lindsay helped bring to market Shoptiques first tech product, SPOS; was tasked with bringing new business into the portfolio; and developed account management and technical support for Shoptiques VIP boutique partners.
Prior to joining the organization, Lindsay served as Director of Global Strategic Market
Development & Chief of Staff to CRO at True Fit. During her tenure at True Fit, she nurtured long-lead retail relationships with enterprise retailers like Nordstrom, Kate Spade, Ralph Lauren. Lindsay managed the global events strategy, PR and communications, and social media marketing, developed a client success program and marketing strategies for retailers to grow customer adoption of True Fit, and facilitated the onboarding of new retail brands onto the True Fit SaaS Platform.
Lindsay received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, and Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish Linguistics from Occidental College in California.
About Andi Jennings, Founder & Creative Director of MadCreek, LLC:
Andi Jennings has spent 25 years in the advertising and design industry with the majority of her career leading MadCreek, LLC as founder and creative director.
With an award-winning design portfolio, and a history of diversity and longevity in the MadCreek client roster, their extensive, brand management experience, top-line creative direction expertise, and strategic digital and social management, allows them to stand the test of time and keep their clients current.
MadCreek’s clients include the athletic programs at Rutgers University and Seton Hall University, Union Catholic High School, AAA, Hoboken Cultural Affairs and JustinTime Foundation.
They are guided by a strong belief that their job is to function as a problem-solving tool and find ways to turn any idea into reality.
Andi recently realized that her lust for creativity and problem-solving had no boundaries. She dove into multiple labors of love, creating art societies and town-wide ‘art walks,’ managing fine artists, and co-writing children’s books. She tackled interior design projects, taught software applications, and has even written short stories and memoir essays.
Her newest adventure is co-founding “Project CheerUP!”, a positivity movement, uniting cheerleaders to “CheerUP!” the world, literally.
The WCBS Business Breakfast series with Joe Connolly is produced by Neil A. Carousso.
