Learning Life with Jon Tota

Happy New Year! Here's what you can look forward to in 2020.   www.learninglifeshow.com

Will Feng is an executive coach, speaker, and the Director of Learning and Organizational Development at FabFitFun. FabFitFun is a lifestyle service boosting health, wellness, fitness, and fashion through to it’s million+ members through a box subscription, video streaming service, and online community. Jon and Will sit down to talk about teaching not just in a course setting, but through leadersh...

This week's guest is Steve Sloboda. Steve is a long-time leader in the Insurance industry, working at Progressive, Farmers Insurance, and now as the director of learning and performance at Aetna. Listen to learn about training soft skills and the future of customer service. Steve teaches us the concept of “cross-walking,” learning two sides of a business and walking back and forth between them, to...

[et_pb_section][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text]This week, Jon sits down with author, speaker, fellow podcast host, and CEO Chas Wilson. Chas is cofounder and CEO of Master Networks, a chapter-based business education organization for entrepreneurs and business leaders. Chas built Master Networks with emphasis on high quality learning and a people-first focus, he wants to create rea...

A second Jon comes to Learning Life! Jonathan Raymond, the CEO and founder of Refound, speaks with Jon (Tota) about how his company helps remote teams and managers of fast-growing companies. Refound is a leadership development firm that trains managers on how to give high-quality feedback and perform effective one-on-one meetings with employees. Raymond explains their company strategy of “more Yod...

This week, Jon sits down with Uber L&D manager, James Watt. Watt has built up Uber’s online learning library from practically nothing to over 200 courses. While online training has the expectation of being universal, he has found that regional differences can be an advantage, allowing for local customization for certain training. Watt explains his history and role at Uber and peeks at the futu...

This week, Jon welcomes Andre Haykal Jr. to Learning Life. Haykal is the founder and co-host of Real Talk University Podcast, author of a book; "What They Won't Teach You," and CEO of marketing agency Xpand Ur Brand... all while a full-time student at Binghampton University! Andre sits down with Jon to talk about the importance of time management, the changing value of a college education, and get...

Every successful business has unforeseen challenges, and Tristan Wright is here to help guide you up the mountain. This week, Jon sits down with Tristan Wright; a fellow podcaster and Business Sherpa. For him, your business serves to allow the lifestyle of your choice. Since selling his successful cycling clothing company, he has worked as a part-coach, part-consultant, helping entrepreneurs scale...

In this week's episode, Jon chats with Faith Jones. Lawyer, TEDx speaker, and entrepreneur coach, Jones has developed business frameworks for women to develop and take control of their business and remains an avid advocate for self-learning. Along with her sales mind-reading techniques, Jones recounts her career and successes. Want to learn more about Faith Jones? Find her on her website or social...

A middle school teacher, a TEDx speaker, and a Rabbi walk into a bar… Bad joke, but all three describe this weeks excellent guest: Rabbi Elchanan Poupko. Teaching in New York City, Rabbi Poupko has written and spoken at TEDx on the topic of political polarization, and its ever growing threat to our culture. In this episode, Poupko talks about education and reminds us that individuals from diverse...

She was the director of online learning for a non-profit, ran a language school for five years, and the leader of one of the largest TEDx events on the east coast. She even ran a clothing company that supported low-income women along the way. Dolores Hirschmann helped pioneer online learning during the early 2000s when computers were just entering classrooms, and applied the concept of gamificatio...

When it comes to ethics, what you don’t know can hurt you. In today’s episode, Jon sits down with J Kevin Foster to talk common ethical traps that can bring people and companies down the wrong path, and how to prevent failures of integrity through training, seminars, and consulting. Hear the journey of a real estate executive turned-convict turned-ethics expert, who formed a plan to end the slippe...

A professional ballet dancer takes on a new challenge: he became a police officer. Trading ballet shoes for a gun belt sounds like something out of a movie - but meet our guest this week and he'll tell you it's a true story!  In Learning Life’s 50th episode, Jon has a conversation with the inspired Christopher Fairbank. From professional ballet dancer to police officer, Fairbank has always striven...

What is the most cost-effective way to train your workforce? Do you really need to create training on basic programs? No way! Matt Ragan is the Director of Training for iPipeline, a cloud-based software solution for the life insurance and financial services industries.   In today's episode, Jon chats with Matt Ragan, the Director of Training and Development at iPipeline. Ragan’s eclectic backgroun...

Lisa Patrick is the CEO of the online education company XTRAcredits, one of the leaders in edge learning. In her background in law enforcement and business, Patrick saw inefficiencies and missed training opportunities everywhere she looked. Today she chats with Jon about the merits of online learning and its roll in higher education and corporate businesses.   Want to keep up with Lisa Patrick?  F...

We're on vacation this week but that doesn't mean you have to be. Check out this replay from our first season. Anna Liotta was episode 17 of Learning Life (as you may be able to tell from the audio quality) but that doesn't change the importance of her research!    Crowded house growing up? Think again. Generational speaker and author Anna Liotta is one of nineteen children! Clearly, she was born...

Today Jon connects with Brandon Webb, former Navy SEAL, entrepreneur, and author. From training Navy SEAL snipers to writing a New York Times Bestseller, Webb has taught valuable lessons to those interested in his military background. Webb discusses the cutting edge required for businesses to stay afloat in a sea of ever-changing trends. Webb also touches on the future (or demise) of big-box retai...

Do you communicate with every employee the same way? You may want to rethink that strategy. As experts in workplace personality theory, founders of Rose Group Int'l Meg Manke and Dr. Rachel Headley use their Culture Types and Kurtz Change Transition Model to help company culture and efficiency. Through their training, workplace members are analyzed with an XY axis: Chaos vs. Order, Team vs. Self....

In today’s episode, Jon sits down with an e-learning pioneer: Andrew Scivally. His company, eLearning Brothers has been on the Inc 5000 List five times over! As the co-founder and CEO, Scivally pushed against industry naysayers in the early days of the supposed “e-learning fad” to become one of today’s major industry players. As the lines blur between educational and entertainment content, Scivall...

As the sales and training manager of Allyoop (a sales agency that creates revenue growth through lead generation and sales team development), Andy Duwe leads the way as part of a leading sales agency in the industry. The twists and turns that have led Duwe to where he is have deeply impacted the way he trains employees. Duwe knows sales development can be expensive and risky for newer startups and...

Peter Winick helps clients turn their personal knowledge and intellectual property into valuable online learning content. With no two businesses or learners alike, Winick emphasizes the importance of individual styles of communication and learning. With small to medium businesses, authors, speakers, and thought leaders among his favorite clients, Peter Winick tells Jon how to best develop and prop...

Jon welcomes Dan Griesemer and Ben Haenning of Ohio National to discuss their unique collaboration. The VP of product marketing and the manager of training and development respectively, Dan and Ben intertwine storytelling and learning across departments. These gentlemen release online learning products that are utilized by advisors and employees across their field. The key to their cross-departmen...

This week’s theme of inspiration brings Adam Rosendahl, artist and CEO. With his company Late Nite Art, Rosendahl has helped companies like Southwest Airlines, Google, LinkedIn, Pandora and Clif Bar maintain their famous positive company cultures. However, Late Nite Art is neither about the art nor at night. It is rather a two-hour workshop catered to the company’s culture with the purpose of brea...

This week, Jon sits down with Ron Karr to learn how to ask the right questions and get to the point of a sales pitch: the sale itself! Karr is the author of the popular"Lead, Sell, or Get Out of the Way: The 7 Traits of Great Sellers" and has been teaching company sales teams how to succeed for thirty years. With his branded “Velocity Mindset,” Karr lets Jon in on tricks and tactics to reduce stre...

David Schnurman makes an impact. The current president of EO (Entrepreneurs Organization) New York, Schnurman seeks opportunity in every moment in his personal and business life. His key to his success: never labeling a situation as bad or good. This outlook has allowed Schnurman to take action and reduce anxiety no matter the arena, rather than be hindered by his assumed fears.   If you work with...