Office Hours with David Meltzer

Frederick Fisher Frederick Fisher, J.D., CCP, is a distinguished authority in Professional Liability with over five decades of experience advancing client financial security. A founding member and Past President of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS) and recipient of its 2019 Founders Award, he has shaped industry standards through leadership, education, and advocacy. Beyond ser...

Michael J. Barbarita Michael J. Barbarita Jr. is a seasoned entrepreneur, award-winning speaker, and co-author with over 40 years of experience across retail, manufacturing, and service industries. After starting as a financial analyst, he led Ski Town USA, growing its revenue from $2.5 million to $8 million in under five years, before founding Next Step CFO in 2007 to help business owners achieve...

Grant Elliott Grant Elliott, Doctor of Chiropractic, is a clinician and entrepreneur known for his focus on rehabilitation and movement-based health. Before graduating, he built a social media following of over 100,000 that helped launch his #1 online low back program, now used worldwide. Within two years of finishing school, he scaled his practice from a solo operation to a 15-person team, combin...

Michael Tchong Tchong is a pioneering entrepreneur, futurist, and five-time founder recognized by The Daily Telegraph as “America’s most influential trendspotter.” An adjunct professor of innovation at the University of San Francisco, he has delivered over 500 talks worldwide and advised global brands such as Apple, Accor Hotels, and Johnson & Johnson. His ventures—including MacWEEK, ICONOCAST...

Jeff Umbro Jeff Umbro is the founder and CEO of The Podglomerate, an award-winning podcast company that produces, distributes, and monetizes shows. What began as a bootstrapped venture has grown into a network of more than 70 podcasts with over 30 million monthly downloads. Jeff’s insights on media and podcasting have been featured in outlets such as Bloomberg, Morning Brew, Adweek, Quartz, Hot Po...

Bhavandeep Singh Bhavandeep Singh has been instrumental in building the team and is deeply passionate about speaking on mindset and re-writing the stories people tell themselves. He has addressed audiences of more than 5,000, sharing his journey and strategies for overcoming negative, self-defeating thoughts. Braxton Kilgo Braxton Kilgo is an entrepreneur and visionary best known as the founder of...

Brett Hoogeveen Brett Hoogeveen is the co-founder of BetterCulture, a leadership development and technology firm serving clients from startups to Fortune 500 companies. Over the past decade, he has trained thousands of leaders and partnered with hundreds of organizations to build stronger businesses through better leadership, high-performing teams, and energized workplace cultures. A trained engin...

Daniel Blake Daniel Blake, Founder and General Manager of One 11 Brands, is building innovative functional beverage brands rooted in resilience and renewal, starting with its debut brand PHX, inspired by his own journey through adversity. Before launching One 11, he spent over a decade at Anheuser-Busch leading iconic brands like Bud Light, Budweiser, and Busch Light, where he drove top-selling in...

Alexa DePaolo Alexa DePaolo is a nationally recognized mortgage broker, business strategist, and keynote speaker known for her authentic, no-fluff approach to growth. Rising from poverty and single motherhood, she built a thriving 16-year career in lending and has become a sought-after voice in real estate and business. She empowers professionals, entrepreneurs, and sales teams to master their min...

Zach Shefska Zach Shefska is the Co-Founder and CEO of CarEdge, a platform he built with his father, Ray, to simplify and transform the car-buying experience. Through tools, market insights, and resources like the CarEdge Research Center, Rankings, Reviews, and a robust library of YouTube content, CarEdge helps consumers research, negotiate, and purchase vehicles with greater transparency and conf...

Helen Ye Plehn Helen Ye Plehn, founder of Helen Creates Beauty and creator of the Aura Color Wheel, is a visionary educator, author, and spiritual guide dedicated to helping people discover their soul’s purpose. Her new book, The Aura Color Wheel: What Your Soul Aura Reveals About Your Soul Gifts, Wounds, and Lessons (Hay House Publishing), expands on her system, which readers can explore further...

Rodger Mort Rodger Mort is the Chief Operating Officer and partner at Packaging And Crating Technologies (PACT), a global leader in sustainable corrugated packaging for commercial, industrial, and military use. With 40 years of experience, he rose from hourly employee to COO, specializing in cost-effective, patented solutions like LiftVans, PleatWrap, and custom packaging for industries from aeros...

Valerie Greenberg Valerie Greenberg is a national lifestyle expert, pop culture personality, and television host who inspires confidence and authenticity through her brand, #YouveBeenVALidated. A University of Florida graduate, she has appeared on Good Morning America, E! News, Extra!, Inside Edition, and more, while also serving as a spokesperson for leading lifestyle brands. Her experience spans...

Heather Spilsbury Heather Spilsbury is the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Marketing Officer of 50/50 Women on Boards, where she leads global brand strategy and oversees operations to drive the campaign’s growth. A seasoned marketing strategist and business development leader, she specializes in creating multichannel campaigns that turn audiences into advocates, raise capital, and drive acquisit...

Ben Kvalo Ben is a seasoned leader in the gaming and entertainment industry with over 100 published titles to his name. His career spans major roles at Netflix, 2K, and Blizzard, where he contributed to blockbuster films like Bird Box and Extraction as well as iconic game franchises including NBA2K, Borderlands, and BioShock. Originally from Wisconsin and a graduate of UW–Green Bay, he is also the...

Tony Smith Tony Smith is the CEO and Co-founder of Restaurant365, a fast-growing SaaS company transforming the restaurant industry with its all-in-one, cloud-based platform for accounting, store operations, and workforce management. From the early days, Tony played a hands-on role in designing and creating the product to address industry challenges, and today he leads the company’s vision, culture...

Zane Stoddard Zane Stoddard launched the NBA’s Los Angeles office with the backing of Commissioners David Stern and Adam Silver, and has since built a 30+ year career at the intersection of sports, business, and media. He has held leadership roles with the NBA, Nike, NASCAR, and an NBA team front office, while managing both the NBA and NASCAR’s LA offices for nearly two decades. Featured in USA To...

Ross Buhrdorf Ross Buhrdorf is the co-founder and CEO of ZenBusiness which offers business products and services that help business owners in starting, running, and growing a business. The company has raised over $70 million from top-tier investors, drawn backing from investors like Mark Cuban, and grown to help more than 850,000 business owners. Prior to ZenBusiness, Ross was the founding CTO of...

Erica Groussman TRUBAR, founded by Erica Groussman, has rapidly grown from a startup into a category leader in the protein bar industry, generating over $50 million in revenue in 2024 and expanding into 18,000+ retail locations including Costco, Whole Foods, Target, Walmart, Erewhon, and Amazon. Known for its indulgent, clean, plant-based bars free of gluten, dairy, soy, sugar alcohols, and harmfu...

Pankaj Patel Pankaj Patel, a former Cisco executive and network engineer, is the founder of Nile, a company focused on simplifying networking for mid-size enterprises—often the most vulnerable to cyberattacks. With nearly three decades of experience in networking and a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin, Pankaj brings deep technical expertise to solving one of the industry’s most pre...

Fiona Simmonds Fiona Simmonds is the co-founder of Pinkie, the first period care brand designed specifically for young girls, offering non-toxic, perfectly sized pads and thoughtful features like noise-free disposal baggies to support tweens and teens with comfort and confidence. Founded in 2022, Pinkie fills a major gap in the market where products were traditionally sized for adults. Fiona, a Va...

Shaun Anthony McMichael Shaun Anthony McMichael is the Pushcart-nominated author of the forthcoming novel Whistle Punk Falls (Alternative Book Press), along with the short story collection The Wild Familiar and the poetry collection Jack of All…. Since 2007, he has taught writing in classrooms, juvenile detention halls, mental health treatment centers, and homeless youth drop-ins, while editing tw...

Marcy Syms Marcy Syms is a social entrepreneur, former CEO of Syms Corp, and the youngest woman to lead a NYSE-listed company, where she built the nation’s first off-price retail chain. A longtime advocate for education, justice, and the arts, she serves on boards including Columbia Law School’s ERA Project, CUNY’s Macaulay Honors College, the Sy Syms School of Business, and NPR. As past Chair of...

Dr. Kid Parchariyanon Dr. Kid Parchariyanon, a former medical doctor turned entrepreneur and investor, is the founding partner of SeaX Ventures, a $100M venture capital firm investing in deep tech and climate innovation across Southeast Asia. Based in Thailand, he focuses on early-stage startups that can both cut global carbon emissions and drive economic growth, with investments spanning lab-grow...

Christina Deering Christina Deering is a globally recognized Shaman, Business Intuitive, and host of the top 10% podcast You Unlimited. Featured in Forbes and Goss Manifest, she is a pioneer in wealth energetics and emotional mastery, known for clearing more trauma in a single session than decades of traditional therapy. Christina helps spiritual entrepreneurs overcome limiting beliefs, unlock the...