Influential U

Jillian Formentin's journey to becoming the Australian Professional Engineer of the Year wasn’t just about mastering technical skills—it was about mastering her own narrative. Through intentional career decisions, embracing her strengths, and crafting a compelling story, Jillian has created a career that not only elevates her but inspires others. Jillian’s journey to becoming an influential leader...

As the Personality Diversity Experts chosen to coordinate 10,000 volunteers for the 2017 Super Bowl, Equilibria siblings Laura and David Senior Garcia talk about how studying transactional competence has improved their company's focus and helped bring conscious awareness to a diverse world. Their company works worldwide to help people embrace and leverage diversity to elevate personal, professiona...

Helen Kearney is a sales recruiter for a global software company. Her life's journey and her career specialization allow us to examine the question that we all - at one time or another - find ourselves asking: what is my perfect job (or purpose or life's mission)? As she explains, many people are exceptionally naive about their professional value. They may not understand their involvement in the l...

In this episode, Kristen Moeller, a literary agent, published author, three-time TEDx speaker, and passionate advocate for personal growth, joins John Patterson to explore the challenges and revelations of pursuing success and fulfillment. From her mountain home in Colorado, Kristen shares her journey of transitioning from hopeful and magical thinking to embracing the principles of accurate thinki...

Having more than doubled her income and moving her company's market position from #57 to #1, Kim Corbett is an account executive who considers herself a turnaround agent, turning around the sales of failing or emerging companies. She's a top performer with a proven track record for growing revenues and increasing an organization’s profitability. Always ambitious, she had previously struggled to ge...

Her view of money changed (and she made much more of it) when she began to understand that money is an exchange of help, rather than a necessary evil. Dr. Khush Cooper holds a doctorate in social work and her journey is quite relevant to those in the non-profit sector or anyone who has ever struggled with making a living and wanting to do good. This episode's closing segment is from a membership w...

Having endured an expensive journey to consider a career change, Joanna Burgraf found that to follow your passion was the worst piece of advice she'd ever gotten. Joanna is a Chicago-based senior lead for an award-winning creative services team managing ten brands at Enova International, a company using technology to develop innovative financial products. You'll hear how this fashionable but naive...

Sean Gillespie is a successful artist who creates award-winning abstract sculptures from his one-man studio in Denver, Colorado. His work can be found in exclusive galleries, national juried shows, and in corporate installations across the United States. Influential U's members include business and creative professionals from all over the world; we educate not only executives and entrepreneurs but...

As a property developer, John Baigent lost practically everything in the global financial crisis of 2007-2009, then recovered just in time to lose it all again in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, a quake that caused widespread damage in New Zealand's second-largest urban area. He's not only overcome what would sink most people — he also continues to thrive. In this episode's talk, Co-Founders Joh...

Troy's father's last words are a mantra he's lived by. His business plan autobiography reads like a character who suffered not for being dull, but for being way too smart. He talks about the early days and answers the question: How do you make $30K a month in personal income? In this episode's talk, Co-Founder Kirkland Tibbels outlines the fundamental background that underlies the specialized know...

In this episode of the Influential U podcast, host John Patterson chats with Jenn Oliver, Senior Director of Service for the Academic Division at the University of Virginia's HR Department. Jenn, a self-identified Producer personality, shares her transformative journey from being overextended and burnt out to cultivating balance and alignment in both her personal and professional life. Through her...

Who keeps us from falling off the proverbial cliff? While some are naturally inclined to dream new ideas and others can’t help but build new relationships, there is a segment of society whose entire focus and role are to protect us from our poorly constructed shortcuts. This typically skeptical personality recognizes that nothing around us is a coincidence; things are either poorly designed or bui...

Before embarking on a full-time real estate career, Karina Christensen was part of the personal flight team for American business guru Jack Welch and media proprietor Oprah Winfrey, having the opportunity to travel with them for many years around the world and cultivate within herself what it takes to partner with high-profile clientele successfully. As a specialist now working with Keller William...

How do you produce a robust identity amongst thousands of peers in a large corporate environment? Ron Sprengeler is someone who's done just that. Rather than join the naïve ranks of those whose viewpoint is that the job alone entitles them to a respected identity, Ron's case study demonstrates how to produce a powerful corporate identity in two ways: one, you'll hear how he's become well known and...

After ten years with a nationally recognized financial planning practice, Wesley Pingelton had ambitions to go out on his own. In doing so, he got what he wanted: great success, creative freedom, and the opportunity to work with the right client. But with each complex case, a unique solution produced a massive amount of labor. In a short time, he cringed at the thought of growing his business. You...

Our featured interview is with an outstanding Chicago trial attorney who talks about his critical and analytical judgy-ness and how it has become a great asset. In this episode, Joe McNerney and Co-Founder John Patterson take the time to learn more about the Judge and Inventor personality and how personality, when understood, can help all of us transact more effectively. But Joe also cautions us a...

They got everything they asked for: record deals, international notoriety, playing big arenas (touring with Coldplay, Pink, Bon Jovi, and Rod Stewart), but recording artists Isaac and Thorald Koren (The Kin) hadn't quantified what to wish for or how to transact for it. Naively assuming their talent, passion, and fame would eventuate into their personal and financial satisfaction, they confronted a...

With a long personal experience about the asset and liability of personality traits that offer both extraordinary value and harsh lessons, Ana Athanasiu, who lives in the San Francisco Bay area of California, is an internet pioneer who had a vibrant career in telecommunications and software development. Best known for the work she did on teams at Sun Microsystems in the mid-eighties — they invente...

Tim Guest, Managing Director of Infinite Wealth, helps everyday Australians reach their financial goals. After having first retired at the age of 27 as a self-made multimillionaire, he is now an investor, entrepreneur, financial educator, and motivational speaker and author well known for leading seminars promoting financial literacy and education. Thousands of people each year attend his seminars...

Peter Burgraf, Vice President of Business Development at Q2 Business Capital in Chicago, shares his journey from being overwhelmed by debt to achieving both personal and financial success. Like many, Peter initially bought into the common belief that hard work alone guarantees success. However, faced with mounting debt and the pressure of big goals, he realized he needed a more strategic approach....

Join us for an insightful conversation with Janet Asher Vreeland as she reflects on her transformative journey with Influence Ecology. Starting with her early struggles as a natural "performer" personality type, Janet shares candidly about the challenges she faced in balancing her desire to be liked with the need to engage productively with other personality types. Through her studies, she learned...

Joe & Joni Rocco, a husband-and-wife small business duo from Denver, Colorado, showcase the power of specialization in a highly commoditized industry. Instead of competing on price, they focus on delivering unique value through various key attributes. Once navigating late nights, weekends, high-stress environments, and the challenges of a fatherless family, they’ve now transformed their lives....

Shonit Jagmohan is an optometrist living in Melbourne, Australia. As a health and ambitious business professional, he offers an excellent case study in specialization, authority, and scarcity. In this episode, John and Shonit dive deep into the often-overlooked concept of the Condition of Life "Work" and how personal reflection on what you don’t want can shape a fulfilling career and life. They ex...

Having immigrated to the United States from Brazil, Louisa Da Silva, owner of DS Cleaning and Maid Service, found that her stream of new ideas created 'fires' that her team had to extinguish. Previously overworked, stressed, and unhealthy, she's now planned for and living a balanced and focused life. In this episode's talk, Co-Founder Kirkland Tibbels discusses the naivety and danger of 'Self-Acti...

Tune into this Classics episode of the Influential U podcast, where John Patterson sits down with music industry legend Marcus Bell. Marcus, who began his musical journey at the tender age of two, reveals the work ethic and discipline that have fueled his impressive career. From his early days in a makeshift recording studio to collaborating with major artists like Usher and Britney Spears, Marcus...