With my fascination for international travel and business, my current focus is on global Business Coaching, Design Thinking, and speaking on marketing topics. Here’s what I’m up to:

REMOTE BUSINESS COACH/COURSE FACILITATOR

For the past few years I’ve enjoyed being a part of the teaching team for the LEAD certificate program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.  I’m working with executives from around the world in Design Thinking and Innovation Implementation.  My virtual teams have included students from Bulgaria, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Austria, Japan, Australia, among other countries, as well as many parts of the United States.  The students work on Design Thinking projects, and I provide weekly feedback on  the process.

This involves a lot of time wearing my headset and microphone, tuned into various online collaboration applications — Adobe Connect, Blue Jeans, Zoom and Skype. I’ve become very sensitive to the various time zone differences and work styles. As a Business Coach/Course Facilitator, I lead executives through the Design Thinking process and help them solve thorny business problems. It’s fascinating to learn about so many issues in a wide variety of businesses around the globe. The students are very diverse and the solutions are often very innovative.

COACH – African Leadership Academy School of Business

In 2017, Ed and I were Coaches for the Entrepreneurship & Innovation class at the African Leadership University School of Business based in Kigali, Rwanda.  We remotely coached over 50 students—most of them on teams of one (!)—on their Business Plans and Business Pitches.  Since this was the initial offering of this course, we also provided input and feedback to the teaching team during weekly meetings.  Our students, from Nigeria, Morocco, Rwanda, and many other countries created plans ranging from organic dried fruits in Ethiopia to guilt-free mineral extraction in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We were glad to provide input and mentorship to such a diverse group of students throughout Africa.

AGEP MENTOR – VIÑA DEL MAR, Chile

I am delighted to work with women business owners in Viña Del Mar, Chile, who are members of AGEP-V “Asociación Gremial de Empresarias y Profesionales”. With colleagues from Sausalito, CA, I mentor them in Design Thinking and Marketing Strategy. Recently I’ve joined the Strategic Advisory Council to help our program thrive.  It all started when I visited each of the women at their offices to provide individualized marketing consulting in 2014. In October 2015, I traveled to Chile, to present a Design Thinking classes and mentor women in this organization. You can see a report of my trip at partnersinadventure.com.

In Spring 2017, a group of women visited Sausalito, CA for seven days of business coaching and learning. I presented a seminar on Competitive Analysis and enjoyed coaching the gals on their individual businesses. We also visited local businesses that were run by women entrepreneurs. It was a terrific group of young women who are changing the traditional male-oriented landscape of Chilean businesses.

In October 2018, I again joined a delegation from Sausalito to Viña Del Mar to continue mentoring this group. We visited many of the women’s businesses to understand the issues they are facing and provide mentoring. From artisan crafts to sophisticated printing and graphic design to video production and real estate sales, these entrepreneurs are breaking new ground in Viña Del Mar.

This time I lead a lively bilingual session on the Value Proposition and Brainstorming!  The group came up with lots of new ideas for one of the women’s printing business. I joined a panel of other business women from Northern California who shared their business expertise.

In 2019, a group of six women visited Sausalito and the team provided mentoring.  Each entrepreneur explored business opportunities and one of the Chilean artists sold her work at the Sausalito Art Festival.

In 2021 wth COVID, we had to morph our program to an online version.  We successfully innovated and came up with different ways to connect on Zoom.  Our programs included instruction on Selling on Etsy, a penpal program, and a cross cultural bookgroup.

Our 2021 innovations were recognized by the International Sister City Organization.  We won an award for ‘BEST Innovation in Business, Trade, and Professional Exchange’.  Well Done!

The Chilean women are very inspirational and it’s truly a two-way street in terms of sharing friendship and business ideas. I’m honored to have visited with this group on many different occasions.

STARTUP Chile – Santiago, Chile

In 2014, Ed and I founded a social enterprise, RahRah4Good, and developed it as part of the Startup Chile business incubator in Santiago, Chile. Funded by the Chilean government, our enterprise created African jewelry in the colors of global sports teams. The goal was to increase sales for women in Uganda, by creating new channels of distribution. Through this process, I gained enormous respect for the tenacity of the jewelry-making women and learned a great deal about entrepreneurship, social media, and other aspects of running a social enterprise.  I was also able to lead Design Thinking workshops and mentor other entrepreneurs.

SEED Volunteer Business Coach – West Africa

In 2013, Ed and I spent six months in Accra, Ghana as Business Coaches for the Stanford Institute on Innovation in Developing Economies (SEED) program. As part of the inaugural coaching team, I worked with six different companies in six industries in three countries – Ghana, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire. Our goal was to transform these African companies so they could hire more people and bring more people out of poverty. It was a fascinating experience that was rich with cultural nuance, growth for the companies, and personal growth for me. Also in Ghana, I worked with women entrepreneurs as part of the US Embassy’s AWEP (African Women’s Entrepreneurs Program), which is sponsored by the US Department of State to promote small women-owned businesses.

Marketing Instructor and Presenter

I’ve delivered a wide range of marketing presentations, including a “Consumer Marketing” class at College of Southern Idaho, a “Marketing Mix” presentation for the Capital Communicators in Boise Idaho, a “Values Based Marketing” presentation for an AIESEC convention for Student Leaders outside of Shanghai, China, and a “Competitive Analysis” seminar for Chilean women. I create customized presentations for each audience and look forward to developing future speaking engagements, both domestically and internationally.

Presentation Coach

I’ve mentored student entrepreneurs in Johannesburg South Africa, as they prepared to present their ideas for a Startup competition. After receiving my help, one of my “mentees” won this competition with her presentation on using the neem plant as a natural pesticide against the boll weevil, which was impacting the maize crops in her Kenyan village.

BUSINESS EXPERIENCE

My marketing experience ranges from consumer packaged goods to children’s learning products to business software. In every case, I strive to take initiative, lead teams, and deliver marketing savvy. My favorite accomplishments include developing and marketing the Hooked on Phonics brand that made the process of learning to read fun and engaging for children and parents and winning an Addy Award from the San Francisco Ad Council for a comprehensive mixed-media ad campaign for a niche entertainment product.

I founded Swanberg Associates in 1987, when our youngest child was one. My consulting practice over the past 30+ years has offered a fascinating ride through new technologies and new marketing approaches. I’ve successfully completed engagement with a wide variety of Silicon Valley companies, including Apple, HP, Xerox, Silicon Graphics, The Learning Company, Microsoft, Viacom, Leapfrog, Paramount Interactive, and others.

Before starting my consulting practice, I spent five years in Product Management at WordStar, where I managed the launch of the best-selling word processing software, and three years at Crown Zellerbach, where I was trained in Consumer Package Goods (CPG) marketing by alumni of General Foods and General Mills.

PERSONAL

I have an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA in Communication from Stanford University. I frequently collaborate with my husband, Ed Forman, who is my “partner in adventure”. I invite you to read our blog, partnersinadventure. I enjoy cycling, long walks with our golden retriever, working with social entrepreneurs, and international adventure travel. Trip Advisor says that my reviews (swannygal) have  over 265,000 readers!

CONTACT ME

I look forward to expanding my contact base around the world and invite you to contact me via email: jan [at] swanberg [dot] com. I look forward to hearing from you!