Top Voice Podcast with Michael J. López

Michael interviews Mark Cuban about disrupting U.S. healthcare through transparency and direct contracting. Cuban explains how CostPlusDrugs.com sells thousands of medications with disclosed costs and a 15% markup, and how CostPlusWellness.com publishes open-source direct contracts employers can use to contract with providers. He outlines how employer-sponsored and self-insured plans work, why big...

Michael interviews Patrick Cates, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs at USC, Marshall School of Business, about the turbulent “new normal” facing higher education amid political pressures, international student compliance shifts, financial strain, layoffs, leadership turnover, and rapid AI-driven change. Cates argues AI is primarily a culture-change issue, noting universities’ slow, brittle...

Michael welcomes Naphtali Bryant, managing principal consultant at RAC Leadership and former US Marine and chief people officer, to discuss the “curse of competence” and how leaders become bottlenecks by continuing to solve, edit, and rescue instead of building team capability. Naphtali explains that promotions often reward past competence, but leadership requires shifting from having answers to d...

Michael hosts Aditi Joshi, an emergency medicine physician turned digital health leader, to discuss the evolution and adoption challenges of telemedicine and broader healthcare technology. Aditi recounts entering telemedicine in 2013, scaling programs through the pandemic, and now consulting on digital health adoption and scaling. They cover why patients generally like telehealth, why many health...

Michael interviews Doug Milliken, former Clorox VP of Marketing and now partner at Kremer & Milliken, a consultancy focused on helping large companies understand and evolve organizational culture to improve performance. Milliken argues culture—defined as behavior and how work gets done—is a primary driver of operating profit and a capability leaders can intentionally manage. He discusses drivi...

Michael interviews keynote speaker and USA Today bestselling author Simone Knego about her new book, Real Confidence, and why confidence is built like a skill rather than something you’re born with. Simone shares her journey as a mom of six, becoming a grandmother, and a pivotal 2015 decision to climb Mount Kilimanjaro that helped her reframe self-doubt and capability. She explains her REAL method...

Michael hosts a special panel episode of the Top Voice Podcast with Zensai leaders Nina Carøe (Chief Human Success Officer), Robin Daniels (Chief Business Officer, repeat guest), and CEO Rasmus Holst to discuss their book The Human Success Playbook and the future of the human-AI experience at work. They explain why Zensai positions itself around “human success” rather than traditional HR, focusing...

Michael talks with labor economist Sania Khan about interim findings from their joint research on AI pilots and why many are stalling. Sania shares her background from the White House, Capitol Hill, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics to serving as chief economist at a unicorn AI company, and explains why leaders must consider workforce strategy as AI transforms tasks across industries. They discus...

Michael talks with Cherian Koshy about his book Neurogiving and how neuroscience and behavioral science explain generosity and decision-making. Koshy, a longtime nonprofit professional, says the goal isn’t to manufacture generosity but to create conditions that make giving easier, emphasizing choice architecture, identity, belonging, emotion, and trust. He explains why metrics and “the business ca...

Michael interviews keynote speaker and seven-time author Charlene Li about her new book and 12-week program focused on leading AI through leadership and strategy rather than technology explanations. Li and co-author Katia Welsh outline a playbook that starts with existing business strategy and builds an AI roadmap to create value over a rolling 18-month horizon, updating quarterly while keeping st...

On the Top Voice podcast Shawn Gregoire shares his journey from homelessness in Houston after dropping out of Rutgers to finding stability through 14.5 years in the Air Force, teaching himself coding in 2021, and later completing an executive MBA at Brown University and IE Business School. After leaving the service in 2023, moving to the DC area, and taking a Department of the Navy role, Shawn is...

Michael interviews Ehsan Ehtesad, organizational psychologist and co-founder/CEO of Mia Science, about building healthy, high-performance teams by focusing on recharging rather than constant intensity. Drawing on nearly 400 interviews with CEOs, surgeons, and champions, Ehsan contrasts time management with energy management and argues that effective recovery comes from doing the opposite of what d...

Michael interviews Dennis Yu, joined by AI builder engineer Leo Pohlmann, about Google’s recent move to AI results first instead of the traditional “10 blue links,” a shift Dennis says is the biggest in 25 years and has caused many SEO experts to report major traffic losses. Dennis argues the fundamentals of visibility still matter—expertise, credibility, stories, and real experiences—while warnin...

Michael speaks with Jennifer Dulski, founder and CEO of Rising Team, about the hidden costs of untrained teams and how leadership development can be improved. Dulski shares her background across nonprofit work, teaching, and leadership roles at Yahoo, Google, Facebook, and change.org, plus lessons from being a rowing coxswain. They discuss why traditional training often fails to translate into beh...

Michael welcomes Erin Albert, Chief of Pharmacy Relations, Network and Professional Affairs at Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs, to explain why U.S. drug pricing is so opaque and how transparency can lower costs. Albert shares how she joined the company after publishing LinkedIn price comparisons sparked by imatinib pricing, and describes her background as a pharmacist and attorney. She breaks down ho...

Michael interviews Brian Elliott, CEO of Work Forward and former Google and Slack executive, about AI and the future of work through a human-centered lens. Elliott explains how his Future Forum research on workplace flexibility evolved into AI-focused advising, arguing that technology and policies are tools and the real work is alignment, culture, and motivating diverse teams. They discuss researc...

Michael interviews Dr. Jasmine Escalera, founder of the nonprofit Institute for Generational Healing, about recognizing and breaking inherited survival patterns passed through families. Escalera explains generational healing, how cycles can provide strength yet hinder desired lives, and the science behind inherited responses through epigenetics, alongside spirituality, modeling, and conditioning....

Michael welcomes LinkedIn Top Voice, trainer, and author Leslie Hughes to discuss how LinkedIn has evolved from a job-search site into a networking and thought leadership platform, and why many executives underestimate their need for an active presence. Hughes explains that executives are forward-facing brand ambassadors and should engage with their teams, celebrate wins, build quality networks, a...

Michael talks with creator-economy builder Bia Granja about her hot take that the creator economy isn’t dead, but the attention economy that fueled it is ending as reach becomes commoditized and organic reach declines. Bia argues creators must shift from chasing virality and platform-optimized metrics to building repeatable formats, worlds, and durable IP with multiple revenue streams, while ownin...

Michael interviews Christophe “Chris” Zoghbi, founder and CEO of Zaka, about how AI is reshaping education and workplace learning, with a focus on the Middle East. Zoghbi shares his path from software engineering and early machine-learning work in 2014 to building Beirut AI and then Zaka to make AI accessible through training, consulting, development, hiring, and governance. He explains how AI is...

Michael welcomes longtime friend and former coach Tom Melvin, current Kansas City Chiefs tight ends coach and three-time Super Bowl champion, to discuss Melvin’s coaching journey from small college football to 14 seasons with Andy Reid in Philadelphia and nearly 14 in Kansas City. Melvin explains how organizational stability, preparation, and managing information overload shape NFL coaching, and w...

Michael interviews LinkedIn expert Sandra Long about building a global personal brand. Long shares how she moved from B2B sales to helping individuals and organizations leverage LinkedIn, and explains why global reach is easier post-2020 but requires intentional positioning through your profile, network, and content. They discuss defining “local” vs. “global,” the difference between audience and r...

Michael welcomes project and strategy leader Fola Alabi to discuss stereotypes about project managers and PMOs and why many are seen as process-heavy status reporters rather than value creators. Fola shares her 20+ year career across government, finance, energy, and other sectors, emphasizing the persistent gap between strategy and execution and the need for project leaders to build business acume...

Michael welcomes economist, data scientist, and Pipeline CEO Katica Roy to discuss why bias and inequity “sub-optimize” the economy, citing women earning nearly 60% of degrees while being promoted 21% slower and the large GDP and fiscal impacts of pay and opportunity gaps. Roy shares her family’s refugee story and connects equity to economic returns, national debt service, Social Security solvency...

Michael speaks with Colin Levy, General Counsel at Malbek and adjunct professor at Albany Law School, about how AI is disrupting the legal profession and what Levy calls the “judgment gap.” They discuss AI’s growing role in performing tasks formerly done by lawyers, the need to verify AI outputs that can be plausible but inaccurate, and how legal advice is shifting toward more complex, solution-or...