Learning Life with Jon Tota

In 2019, the podcast reigns supreme. An ever-growing number of entrepreneurs are throwing their hat in the ring, and ready to sell the secrets to producing a great podcast. But in this ever-connected social network, how can you also be a valuable guest? Lou Diamond swoops in to decode how to thrive in this medium. Host of the popular "Thrive Loud" podcast and from years of success on both sides of...

Joining Jon in this episode is Dan Greenwald: teacher and consultant. With his company ThirtyTenZero, Greenwald guides individuals and businesses to achieve their goals, along with definable metrics to measure progress towards them. Through the “craft of teaching and business of education” Greenwald brings home the important values of seeking authenticity over approval, finding structure, and crea...

Joe Apfelbaum is a passion powerhouse. One of the first guests of Learning Life, Joe returns to remind listeners about the importance of consistent and passionate content. By beginning with daily posts about his weight loss, Apfelbaum began catering an authentic and regular online presence. Now a professional speaker, Apfelbaum guides professionals to use LinkedIn to its maximum potential and how...

Cal Fussman interviewed legends; Mohammad Ali, Mikhail Gorbachev, Robert De Niro, and Jeff Bezos are only a sample of the greats he spoke with as the Interviewer At Large with Esquire magazine. After writing at Esquire for twenty years, Fussman has now transitioned to a New York Times Bestselling Author, creator of the successful podcast “Big Questions,” and most importantly, he has stepped out fr...

Cindy Solomon speaks to Jon about courageous leadership in the workplace. However, such courageous behavior is not only limited to the extroverts or the naturally daring. Solomon drills home that like any behavior, courage is a muscle that must be built incrementally. CEO of Cindy Solomon and Associates (CSA), Solomon breaks down the role her company plays in revamping the performance of employees...

Have you ever watched a whiteboard animated TED Talk? With her own whiteboard and a pack of markers, graphic facilitator Heather Willems pioneered this form of communication at SXSW 2003. Known as graphic facilitation, Willems synthesizes key points of a presentation or discussion with bold graphics and images to then be shared with a larger group. Along with these topics, Willems sits down with J...

Julia Pimsleur is the founder of Million Dollar Women, helping one million women get to $1M in revenues. Pimsleur became passionate about educating women about scaling up after her own experience building her first business, Little Pim, into a venture-funded, multi-million dollar business. Pimsleur began as a documentary filmmaker with a passion for languages and created Little Pim to help childre...

Entrepreneurial savant Jeffery Hayzlett talks about the importance of company culture and something he calls the “hero factor.” When a company culture centers around core values, rather than the bottom line, the company is stronger for it. Hayzlett has been the Chief Marketing Officer of Eastman Kodak, guest host on Celebrity Apprentice for three seasons, and written a number of bestselling books....

In this episode, Jon sits down with the author of The Sales Bible and The Little Red Book of Selling: Jeffrey Gitomer. Dubbed the “King of Sales,” Gitomer now trains hundreds of thousands of people each year in sales tactics across mediums. Through speaking, multiple books, his podcast “Sell or Die,” his newsletter “Sales Caffeine,” and the Gitomer Online Learning Academy, Jeffrey Gitomer closes t...

Attention all leaders, managers, and sales teams; this episode is for you! Schiefelbein is a coach, speaker, business consultant, and former professor at Arizona State University. Since starting one of the first online learning classes in 2003, she has always been on the cutting edge of communicating to audiences. Jill Schiefelbein is the “Dynamic Communicator.” She sits down with Jon to elaborate...

He holds a world record and inspires audiences from Sri Lanka to the Minnesota Vikings. He competed in fifty Ironman races, in fifty states, in fifty days. And he brought his five kids along for the whole journey (in the car, not the bike). He is James Lawrence: entrepreneur, speaker, endurance athlete, and coach. Before he competed in dozens of endurance races, James hated running. With a couch-t...

David and Jonah Stillman are the generation experts. A father and son duo, the pair inform Jon about their experience consulting for companies like Virgin and the NFL about the generational differences and strengths of Boomers, Gen Xers, Millenials, and Gen The Stillmans share important insight like the forgotten importance of career development for boomers as well as the craved face-to-face commu...

Did you miss part 1 of this live interview? Listen to it at this link before you listen to part 2! This is Part Two of Learning Life: Live Session with company management maverick Jason Fried. Jason covers more quality strategies on how his company schedules work, eliminates interruptions, and internally communicates effectively and stress-free. Jason questions the merit of quick-to-rise VC backed...

Dr. Rob Williams joins Jon for a chat about his story of yak farming, entrepreneurship, music, and story coaching. Rob has been telling stories for decades, and now offers his services as a “story coach” for businesses looking to find their identity, and how to deliver that story to customers. Further, Rob has been a part of the Vermont Independent, a long time print, now online newspaper since 20...

In this episode, Jon sits down with Joey Davenport, digital content pioneer and co-founder of Hoopis Performance Network: an online content service providing tools to train managers and financial advisors to the highest level. While many similar online content companies compete today, Davenport has kept Hoopis at the forefront through a combination of expressing an explicit company identity and fu...

Learning Life  is proud to present our very first  Learning Life: Live!  with   Jason Fried. Recorded on stage at an EO event in New York one year ago, Jason talks with Jon about how company culture can make or break a business, and how he has achieved an employee-employer nirvana that benefits employees, the company, customers, and the end product. From his experience in co-founding and running B...

Ken Walls, CEO of Client Solution Innovations and author of the best selling book Walls of Wisdom, joins Jon to discuss online presence, engaging your online audience, and branding authenticity. With over two decades of marketing experience, Ken has seen and captured the value of “going live;” this strategy has connected him to industry heavyweights like Mark Cuban, Sean Hannity, and Grant Cardone...

Eric Siu brought back a company on the brink of failure, all while scripting, producing, and editing his own podcast: Growth Everywhere. Now one of the Top Fifteen podcasts to listen to (just behind Oprah!) and close to 900,000 downloads a month, Siu has been creating and marketing hot content for years. As half of the Marketing School podcast (with Neil Patel), host of Growth Everywhere, and CEO...

Brian Edelman chats with Jon about the importance of cybersecurity in the modern workplace. With the consequences of the data breaches of Facebook and Equifax circulating the public conscience, a secure network is more important than ever for your business. From tips on how to best work securely on the go and how to protect your entire network of office computers from hackers, Edelman spells out w...

No matter how flashy the visuals, the story always matters. So says Richard Mulholland: South African speaker, author, and founder of presentation firm Missing Link and 21Tanks, South Africa’s first perspective lab. From a background as a roadie for Def Leppard and Iron Maiden, Mulholland knows how to make the best flashy presentations to dazzle your audience. But, without solid content, any event...

Michael Goldberg is a force to be reckoned with. Speaker, networking consultant, boxer: Michael guides Jon through his world of boxing and his no-fear networking approach. Goldberg knows how to appeal to both the introvert and extrovert in the room, and gives ways to communicate more effectively. He also touches on the effects and best uses of technology in networking. With Goldberg’s effective me...

Crowded house growing up? Think again. Generational speaker and author Anna Liotta is one of nineteen children! Clearly, she was born into the fire of inter-generational dynamics. Anna converses with Jon about some of the data in her latest book Unlocking Generational Codes : a guide on the distinctive behaviors of each generation in the workplace. Each generation has their preferences in work and...

Have you dreamt of never stepping onto another airplane or never speaking at another conference again? As a professional speaker and founder of Building Leaders, Rick Davis is working to make these dreams a reality! On this episode of Learning Life, Rick highlights how putting yourself out of business can actually be profitable and rewarding. He discusses the importance of actively engaging your t...

After pursuing a multifaceted career in the music industry as a drummer, songwriter, and producer, Jason Robert was looking for a career change. He stumbled upon a research paper that outlined blockchains various use cases within the music industry, sparking his interest in the topic. Only a little while later was Hello Sugoi founded, a company that focuses on the use of blockchain within the even...

While leading his freight and logistics business through the recession of the mid-to-late 90s, Howard Mann wished there was someone that he could talk to about his troubles and guide him through those difficult times. After successfully making it through the recession, Howard sold his business and began working toward this goal. Today he is an active blogger, author, and “player-coach.” Howard Man...