The Tangram Table

Tangram CMO, Paul Smith, sat down with the CEO of PLBY Group, Ben Kohn, to discuss what it was like to take one of the world's most famous brands through a new iteration. The two talk about how the PLBY Group has evolved over the last 70 years, taking the company public and how the culture has changed after enduring a global pandemic. Ben also touches on what he believes will be the future of work at PLBY Group and what he hopes the future holds for this dynamic company.

In this episode, Andra Kaleps, Business Partnerships Leader for Tangram, sits down with Tiffany Chelsvig, VP of People Operations for DISQO, to discuss her experience of being the hired as the head of people in a time (June 2020) when she couldn't physically meet any people. The two also talk through, DISQO's approach to real estate pre and post pandemic, how they've worked to retain employees the past year and a half and the importance of cultivating cultural opportunities. 

Andra Kaleps, Business Partnerships Lead for Tangram, sits down with Erik Huberman, CEO and Co-Founder of Hawke Media, a full-service outsourced marketing company based in Santa Monica. In this episode, Andra and Erik discuss how Hawke Media actually grew during the pandemic, some of the amazingly innovative ideas their team has executed the last year and a half, and how Erik and his business partner's infamous apocalyptic jokes were not so funny in March of 2020. Plus, throughout this compelling conversation, Erik admits he was wrong in his mentality about remote work - disclosing that Hawke Media has gone from operating in four states to 34 states in the past year.

With 1,600 employees located all over the world, Digital Room had no choice but to get creative to keep their business up and running during the pandemic. In this episode, host Andra Kaleps, Business Partnerships Leader for Tangram, sits down with Karlee Budge, Tangram Sales Executive and Brett Zane, President and CFO of Digital Room. Brett tells sticky stories about resiliency and sacrifice made by highly dedicated people (including employees sleeping in the office for 30-60 days at a time), discusses Digital Room's plan for a hybrid workplace and how exactly signing a new lease in early 2020 (uh oh) and building out a new space happened successfully during a global crisis. 

Lindsey Sage, VP of Business Development for Tangram, and Mary Valdez, Workplace Consultant for Steelcase, are joined by Mitch Viner, Senior Vice President of Legal, Facilities and People Teams for Core Digital Media. Mitch shares lessons learned from becoming untethered to the office during this past year and how those lessons have led to policies he and his team plan to implement going forward to ensure that Core Digital creates an equitable space for both in-person and remote employees. Stating that the office is vital to "culture and innovation", Mitch shares what he's most excited about as Core Digital begins the return to the office later this year.

Mitchel Zelinger, EVP of Business Development for Tangram, sits down with Ben de Rubertis, Principal at Flad Architects based in Seattle, to get to know Ben a little better. The two discuss lessons learned from basketball, the process of understanding how to run with the skills you're good at and let go of the ones you're not and last, but certainly not least, the precious gift of life and expressing gratitude for the seemingly little things. 

In this episode, Mitchel Zelinger, EVP of Business Development at Tangram, sits down with two industry veterans, Matt Prince of Steelcase Finance and award-winning Tangram CFO, Nick Greenko. Mitchel asks common finance questions for Matt and Nick to answer and the three of them dive into the different types of financing available and the benefits of taking advantage of the current market in uncertain times. Listen to the end for a touching Brene Brown moment with the guys.

Mark Coxon, Tangram Technology Director, sits down with Dr. Josiah Way (aka Joe), Director of Learning Environments at USC and leader of the AV Awards 2020 Service Team of the Year. These two friends have a charismatic conversation about creating a team with synergy, how creativity can also equal vulnerability, Joe’s out-of-the-box approach to creating learning environments that actually work, and last but not least, their love for fried chicken. 

Paul Smith, Tangram's CMO, sits down with Justin Salters of Salters Associates, a new marketing firm out of Bakersfield, CA. After working with Fortune 500 companies and high-level political campaigns, Justin decided to launch his own company March 2020, approximately two weeks before the world shut down. In this episode, Paul and Justin discuss navigating 2020 as an entrepreneur, how small and medium sized businesses can build their brands for the future, and why the good people of Bakersfield probably won't be watching Tonight Show reruns anytime soon. 

Where is the digitization of the construction industry headed? What do you do when the talent pool is shallow? Is ‘change orders’ a dirty phrase? Join us as JR Purnell and Mitchel Zelinger sit down with Greg O’Connor, trade veteran of GCX Interiors and co-founder of Spackle and discuss the current climate of the construction industry and possibilities for the future.

Relying on technology to teach is new for many teachers, but not this one. Mark Coxon, Director for Tangram Technology, sits down with Saddleback Valley Unified School District 7th grade teacher, Ann Diabeti who has been utilizing The Flipped Classroom since way before COVID was a household name. Now, in the current environment, she's better equipped than most to handle the challenges COVID-19 has created in the classroom. Learn about platforms she utilizes and insights Ms. Diabeti has to offer throughout her compelling conversation with Mark.

Lindsey Sage, Director of Business Development and Mitchel Zelinger, VP of Business Development for Tangram, sit down with Becky Porter, Senior VP, Global Head of Talent Development for Capital Group, to discuss how Capital Group is taking a stand against racial inequity in the workplace and beyond.