If The Public Only Knew- Behind Every Success, a Story Worth Telling

Is your leadership built for a sprint or for a rock-tumbler world that never slows down? In this episode, Tony Loyd breaks down how to endure as a leader when your health, marriage, and career all get stress-tested at once. In this episode, Gary and Tony Loyd discuss: Early career in nuclear health physics and radiation protection Pivot from technical expertise to learning, development, and human...

What if your real superpower isn’t your resume, but the way you connect people? Composer‑turned‑super‑connector David Homan reveals how he turned a life in music into a global network that runs on trust, empathy, and radical intentionality. In this episode, Gary and David Homan discuss: Early musical influences and creative process Visualizing music, emotion, and narrative in composition From comp...

In this episode, Gary and Doug Brown discuss: Early entrepreneurial lessons and leverage in selling Military discipline, resilience, and leadership applied to business Identifying and pursuing the “ideal right-fit buyer.” Fixing broken sales models in financial services and advisory practices Relationship-based selling, follow-up systems, and mindset “thermostat.” Key Takeaways: Long-term success...

In this episode, Gary and Morag Barrett discuss: Nonlinear career path from banking to executive coaching The missing “who” in business success Building intentional leadership habits that stick Founder-to-CEO transition and letting go of control The power of allies and friendships at work Key Takeaways: Technical brilliance and a great business idea are never enough; the real differentiator is who...

In this episode, Gary and Patrick Thean discuss: Patrick’s career journey Decision-making and career inflection points Entrepreneurship and building software companies Execution, leadership, and helping CEOs succeed Succession, roles, and designing a sustainable leadership life Key Takeaways: Choose people over positions. Major career decisions were made based on the people involved and the joy of...

About Steve Preda: Steve Preda was born and raised in Hungary, where his early curiosity for business and leadership inspired him to build his first company—an investment banking firm that he later grew and successfully sold. Seeking new challenges, he moved with his family to the United States, where he began coaching Vistage CEO peer groups and discovered his passion for guiding entrepreneurs. H...

About Jim Bishop: Jim Bishop is the founder of Conjunction Leadership and an executive coach for founders, CEOs, and senior leaders in tech, ag-tech, biotech, and the life sciences. With a bachelor’s and master’s degree in science—his master’s in physiology and behavior—Jim blends a deep understanding of the nervous and endocrine systems with practical leadership development. After starting his ca...

About Derek Fredrickson: With over 16 years of experience as Chief Operating Officer at Boldheart and other six—and seven-figure businesses, Derek witnessed firsthand how transformative a robust operational strategy can be for entrepreneurs who are ready to scale but feel overwhelmed. Running a business often means getting bogged down in the day-to-day tasks, becoming the bottleneck, and losing si...

About Doug Thorpe: Doug Thorpe is an executive coach, leadership advisor, and founder of a highly regarded leadership and management development firm serving both Fortune 500 companies and growth-focused entrepreneurs. Shaped early by watching his single mother build an interior design business from scratch, Doug learned firsthand the realities of risk, responsibility, and resilience. Over the cou...

About Dean Mathews: Dean Mathews is the founder and CEO of OnTheClock, a time‑tracking and payroll platform serving over 18,000 businesses with tools for employee time tracking, scheduling, payroll, and PTO. A self‑taught developer who started by building custom software for local companies, Dean grew OnTheClock from a kitchen‑table side project into a scalable SMB solution known for being easy, r...

About Anders Jones: Anders Jones is the co-founder and CEO of Facet Wealth, a financial planning firm built to serve the massively underserved mass affluent market with affordable, subscription-based advice from dedicated CFP professionals. Prior to Facet, Anders was a founding partner of Argyle Ventures. Argyle invests in emerging startup markets, with a focus on advertising, technology, financia...

About Geoff Thatcher: Geoff Thatcher is an experienced designer, author, and founder of Creative Principals, a studio that translates stories into immersive physical experiences for brands, museums, and attractions. Throughout his career—from amusement parks and journalism to leadership development and experience design, he’s consistently chosen opportunity over certainty, learning through experim...

About Jan Rutherford: Jan Rutherford is a former U.S. Army Green Beret, leadership development expert, executive coach, author, and podcast host. His career spans Special Forces service, healthcare and pharmaceutical leadership, entrepreneurship, academia, and executive coaching. Drawing from his experiences as a Green Beret medic, instructor, corporate executive, and CEO, Jan helps senior leaders...

About Laurie Battaglia: Laurie Battaglia is the CEO of Aligned at Work and a leadership coach known for helping organizations dismantle unhealthy hierarchies and build cultures where people and performance can thrive. With decades of experience in organizational development, her work centers on trust, accountability, and authentic leadership that drives measurable results. She holds a Master of Sc...

About George Pesansky: George Pesansky is a leadership expert, educator, and founder of MyBlendedLearning.com , a training and development firm focused on deliberate improvement, risk management, and building high-performing teams. Drawing from experience across the military, manufacturing, and corporate consulting, his work helps individuals and organizations unlock sustainable performance throug...

About Myles Powell: Myles is a business leader and problem solver with 10+ years of experience scaling companies, managing multimillion-dollar projects, and coaching entrepreneurs. As Founder & CEO of Myles Comfort Foods, he built a national brand distributed in 700+ retail locations and raised over $1M in capital. His background also spans utility project management, financial services as a m...

About David Carter: David Carter is a serial entrepreneur, longtime CEO mentor, and founder of The Truth Contract, a platform created to challenge mainstream narratives and investigate the systems shaping our health, freedoms, and future. He began his career in high finance in the late ’70s and ’80s, working on leveraged buyouts and private equity across the US, Europe, and the Middle East before...

About Lamell McMorris: Dr. Lamell McMorris is a nationally recognized leader at the intersection of business, justice, and social impact, and the best-selling author of The Power to Persist: 8 Simple Habits to Build Lifelong Resilience. His work draws from his South Side Chicago roots to offer a practical, inspiring framework for turning challenges into purpose and momentum. Building on the book’s...

About Rob Cromer: Rob Cromer is the CEO of Aisle3, an Amazon-first agency built for founder-led brands that want real scale without losing their identity. He calls Amazon the Third Aisle of commerce, the place where volume lives, competition is real, and the details decide who grows. His background runs from capital markets to ad tech to performance marketing, which shapes how he thinks, part oper...

About Wombi Rose: Wombi Rose is the Co-Founder and CEO of LovePop, the innovative consumer brand creating intricately engineered 3D pop-up greeting cards designed to spark “magical moments” between people. A former naval architect turned entrepreneur, Wombi blends technical precision with emotional storytelling—building a product loved by millions worldwide. Originally trained in ship design at th...

About Jim Martin: As founder and managing partner of ACM and an internationally recognized turnaround expert, James “Jim” Martin has created and restored more than $1 billion in value to private companies. In addition, Martin has raised half a billion dollars in capital and bought and sold companies in excess of $500 million. Mr. Martin specializes in turnaround advisory and has vast experience in...

About Priya Nalkur: Priya Nalkur, Ed. D., a psychologist with a genuine and authentic approach, has earned her educational stripes from Harvard and Yale. She is the heart and soul of the RoundTable Institute, a pioneering force in inclusive leadership and professional coaching. Her recent book, Stumbling Towards Inclusion: Finding Grace in Imperfect Leadership, offers an engaging and human narrati...

About Patrick Donohue: Patrick Donohue is the Founder and CEO of Hill Capital Corporation, an investment firm that reimagines the relationship between capital and entrepreneurship. A Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with roots in investment banking and private equity, Patrick brings a unique perspective to supporting vision-driven founders. Through Hill Capital, he has developed an innovative inv...

About Mark Rampolla: Mark Rampolla is a visionary entrepreneur, investor, writer, and coach who inspires mission-driven leaders to build businesses that matter. As Co-Founder and Co-Managing Partner of GroundForce Capital, he helps bold founders scale companies rooted in purpose and impact. Previously, Mark founded ZICO Coconut Water, pioneering the multibillion-dollar coconut water category and s...

About Candice Ammori: Climate Vine brings together Founder Candice Ammori’s 10 years of experience and learnings in community strategy building. After reading the 2018 IPCC report, Ammori realized the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration in addressing climate change. She made a career transition from ethics of AI to climate, starting On Deck Climate Tech to help diverse experts meet, con...