People At Pyramid

Listen to the full conversation: https://t-sml.mtrbio.com/public/smartlink/pyramid-club Andrew Bogert spent his Air Force career keeping wounded troops alive on cargo jets. Today he runs a pet and home concierge business and chairs the Pyramid Club LGBTQ+ committee. Andrew joined the Pyramid Club in October 2015. Before that he served in the Air Force Reserve as a flight combat medic, flying into...

Be a guest on People at Pyramid: https://feeds.transistor.fm/people-at-pyramid Five decades of chemical engineering, the plants he was called in to rescue, and why he reads history to understand the AI boom, with our member Joel Shertok. This week on People at Pyramid, we're spotlighting our member Joel Shertok, a chemical engineer and the president of Process Industries Consultants in Newark, Del...

Listen to People at Pyramid wherever you get your podcasts: https://t-sml.mtrbio.com/public/smartlink/pyramid-club Feeding the homeless in Philadelphia started for Darryl Johnson with one bag of sandwiches and a man who knew his name. Our member Darryl Johnson was handing out sandwiches in Center City about twenty years ago when a man pulled back a blanket and said hello by name. They had gone to...

Be a guest on People at Pyramid: https://feeds.transistor.fm/people-at-pyramid Process improvement, Lean Six Sigma, and the planning that decides a project before the work even starts, with our member Elena Varela. This week on People at Pyramid, we're spotlighting our member Elena Varela, a business manager at Drexel University who spends her days making complicated projects run smoothly. If you...

Be a guest on People at Pyramid: https://feeds.transistor.fm/people-at-pyramid A paralegal, a law student, and a property manager all at once, and a plan built around tax law, with our newest member Emerald Vaughan. This week on People at Pyramid, we're spotlighting our newest member, Emerald Vaughan, who joined the Club just two weeks ago and is already running three careers at once. She is a par...

This week we sit down with our member Yola Vital, owner of Recovery Space and founder of Green Girl Era, on how showing up built her business and her community in a brand new city. When Yola moved to Philadelphia, she did not know anyone. She was building a business, but the community was not there yet, and it wore on her. What turned it around was putting herself in the right rooms, the Pyramid C...

What does it take to find purpose once you've already "made it"? This week we sit down with our member Charley Timmins, who has been part of the Pyramid Club for eight years and spends his days helping talented professionals get unstuck and figure out what's next. Charley calls himself the "what's next" guy, and it fits. He works with high achievers who have built careers, companies, and wealth, t...

Leadership is the constant that holds steady through AI, economic shifts, and everything else. This week we sit down with our member Stephen Novak, Client Lead at Aiir Consulting, to talk about what that looks like in practice. Stephen spends his days coaching leaders at companies of every shape and size, and he keeps his definition of the job simple: leadership is the act of realizing a clear and...

Steve Melchiorre went from carrying a gun as a juvenile probation officer to building wealth plans for everyday Philadelphia families. In this member spotlight, host Vince Quinn talks with Steve Melchiorre — financial planner and co-chair of the Pyramid Club's Young Executive Committee — about a career that zigzagged through law enforcement and carpentry before landing in financial planning. Steve...

This week on People At Pyramid, we talk with Deep Parmar, founder and CEO of Caramel Advisors and a longtime Pyramid Club member. Caramel is an outsourced accounting firm that takes bookkeeping, tax, audit, and financial planning off business owners' plates so they can focus on growth. Deep breaks down how he manages a team of nearly 120 people spread across a ten-and-a-half-hour time difference,...

Fred Bender has been a Pyramid Club member for over 15 years and a technologist since the 90s. As CTO of StirData, he specializes in the projects other vendors couldn't finish complex healthcare data systems, custom development for large-scale organizations, and some of the messiest IT problems in the mid-Atlantic. In this episode, Fred and Vince break down how technology touches everything but ra...

Businesses everywhere want to implement AI, but very few are thinking about governance first. Dredeir Roberts brings a rare perspective at the intersection of business law and AI, breaking down how companies can protect themselves while still moving quickly. From employee AI use policies to contract drafting, system optimization, and decision-making risk, this conversation explores what it really...

Adedeji Adebayo is changing the way people think about life insurance. In this conversation, he breaks down how it can support wealth preservation, long-term planning, and smarter financial strategy, while sharing the career journey that brought him from IT and banking into the business of helping others plan ahead. Beyond the office, Deji talks about the things that keep him grounded: the gym, sw...

Cassandra “Cass” Philips, Pyramid Club’s Member Experience Director and the person who helps “make the magic happen.” Cass breaks down what member experience really means, what kinds of ideas she can bring to life (think happy hours, nonprofit spotlights, and more), and how Pyramid Club creates so many different ways to connect.   You’ll also hear Cass’s path to Pyramid, from member-focused roles...

Catherine Chadwick is nurse with more than 40 years of experience and founder of Catherine Chadwick Consulting and The Art of Self-Craftsmanship. Catherine explains how our thoughts, emotions, and daily environments influence our health and habits, and why awareness is the first step to real change.   You’ll learn a simple way to pause and reflect without judgment, how new habits connect to new ne...

You are already networking. The question is, are you doing it online? Zac Shull, Founder of ConnectMe and Pyramid Club member, shares why short-form video has become one of the most powerful tools for business growth. From Instagram to LinkedIn, the way professionals build trust has changed, and video is leading the shift. Zac explains the psychology behind parasocial relationships and how consist...

What if the best sales strategy isn’t selling at all?   In this episode of People at Pyramid, Pyramid Club member John Reed shares a powerful shift in mindset from decades in corporate sales leadership to launching his own firm, Pinnacle Consulting. His philosophy is simple but transformative: the role of sales is to enable your client to buy by helping them understand their challenges, clarifying...

Nikki Kuhn is on a mission to make the digital world more inclusive, one accessible design at a time. As the founder of Sca11ywag and co-chair of the Technology Roundtable, Nikki helps businesses rethink how they build websites, apps, and user experiences that work for everyone. In this episode, she shares how accessibility improves user trust, boosts retention, and opens up new markets. We also e...

In this conversation, Robbie talks about what it looks like when you treat your event like a sales funnel, being a student of business, and more.    Interested in being featured on People at Pyramid? Register here: https://sbxproductions.com/people-at-pyramid/ Want help with your podcast? E-mail Vince Quinn at  vq@sbxproductions.com Want to learn about Pyramid Club Membership?  Click here. Hosted...

After a career in aerospace engineering, Frann Shore is stepping into a new season of life—one centered on connection, curiosity, and community. Recently retired from Boeing, where she managed complex avionics systems for military aircraft, Frann is now exploring what comes next. She shares reflections on her time in the industry, the challenges of transitioning out of a demanding career, and how...

Bob Zecca has spent his career showing that effective leadership starts with letting go. As co-founder of Covert Leadership Training and the organizer of the Pyramid Club’s C-suite Roundtable, Bob helps professionals create environments where people feel trusted, empowered, and equipped to lead. Drawing from years of executive experience, he shares how intentional delegation, emotional intelligenc...

Wedding DJ strategy is more than a playlist. Jon “Sugar Bomb” Ardito breaks down how professionals engineer a dance floor, read a room, and balance requests with momentum so the night never flatlines. From beatmatching and key selection to MC tone, client preferences, and venue variables, Jon explains the real craft behind unforgettable receptions.     We also dig into building Sugar Bomb Entertai...

In this episode of People at Pyramid , board-certified nurse coach and Clarify Wellness founder Seth Rotman shares how he helps high-performing professionals navigate the invisible challenges of ADHD and neurodiversity. From breaking free of masking behaviors to reshaping how we talk to ourselves (goodbye “shoulds” and “justs”), Seth offers a fresh, honest take on mental health, leadership, and cr...

In this episode of People at Pyramid, we sit down with Vern Williams, founder of The Space Erasers, to explore how a junk removal business became a trusted lifeline for realtors, contractors, and communities across the region. From clearing out hoarder houses to offering free trash pickup during a citywide strike, Vern shares how leading with generosity and hustle built his reputation—and his busi...

In this episode of People at Pyramid , David shares what it really takes to plan and execute a successful business exit. From navigating key-person risk and customer concentration to crafting honest, hard-hitting valuations, David pulls back the curtain on how mergers and acquisitions really work. He also explains why honesty (and a little poker strategy) go a long way in dealmaking. Beyond busine...