The Ascent Podcast with Joe Burgess

Joel Malick is a financial advisor and co-author of the book Afterwork.   In Joel's professional experience, he found many retirees were ill-prepared to experience a meaningful and satisfying retirement.   In our interview, Joel breaks down what he calls the "retirement lie".   From there, he addresses the paradigm shifts and disciplines involved in making retirement the most rewarding stage of a...

Tim is the owner of Mucci's Italian and Saint Dinette restaurants, located in St. Paul, MN.    In addition, started a frozen food business about five years ago.    We talk about Tim's roots, growing up in Jamestown, NY.   We learn about his amazing experiences around food while traveling Europe, and the process and passion it takes to run restaurants in a post pandemic era. 

Kristin is an industry leader in financial services.   In her relatively short 12 year career, she has won numerous awards and is regularly asked to give presentations to a national audience.   She also happens to be Joe's business partner at Moxie Wealth Management.  Kristin shares what it was like growing up with modest means.   She also explains how she found a way to finance her own college an...

Jaime shares how her career path led her from a large fortune 500 company to shift mid-career to build her own firm, Keystone Group International, a business and leadership consulting company.  In this episode, we discuss how leaders can help or hinder the growth of an organization. We also hear about her transformative perspective change as a result of a recent trip to Tanzania.  

Courtney Godfrey is a TV reporter for Minneapolis Fox affiliate KMSP. In 2017, while water skiing with her family, she was involved in a tragic accident resulting in having to amputate part of her leg. We learn how she and her family mentally deal with the loss and how the accident has sparked a better version of herself. We also learn more about Courtney's approach toward chasing success. 

Join us for a chat with Christi Krautbauer, President of Marketing Essentials, a company that specializes in employee incentive and reward packages. Not only is Christi an expert in her field, but she also serves as chair of a nonprofit called Diaper Bank of Minnesota. She has also started personal coaching, team consulting, and speaking engagements focused on women's leadership and effectiveness....

In this episode, I interviewed two amazing and resilient people, Andrea Wagner and her daughter Megan.  A little over four years ago, when she was eight years old, Megan was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer.   Since then, she's had to become the ultimate fighter, going through two rounds of chemo, and as a result, a heart transplant.   In my interview, we learn about Megan's proc...

Chris is the Founder and President of AssetHR, a human resource, payroll, and benefits company.  He hails from New York City.   His first professional career was managing fine dining restaurants in Manhattan.   We learn how he found his way to Minnesota and started a business in an entirely different industry.   Further, Chris tells us about his relationship first mentality and his focus on family...

Joe explains the history behind Baby Grand, which started with his parents in 1985.   Further, he discusses how he got involved with the business after college, the experience of developing his own store with his wife, and the serendipity involved in merging all their stores into a historic West Side location.   Joe went on to discuss lessons learned as a business owner and how his views on risk h...

Keith and his wife, Tricia, started Bubbly Paws in 2011.   Since that time, they have experienced signicant growth and have begun franchising their business. In this episode, Keith talks about how they transitioned from their prior careers to becoming business owners.  He shares how they position the Bubbly Paws service and experience to be different than other dog washing companies.  In addition,...

Annamarie's daughter, Eve, was born with a critical congential heart defect (CCHD) that presented no symptoms.   By chance, the doctor screened her while still in the hospital and it ended up saving her life.   That experience inspired Annamarie to create the Newborn Foundation, which focused on making initial CCHD screening (pulse oximetry) a standard of care in the United States.  Further, she d...

For almost 30 years, Brian Oake has been a radio host.   Based in Minneapolis, he has become known as a legendary curator for local and national music.   His sweet, deep voice and musings about the evolution of sound and musicians who create them, has guided a generation of listeners.    In this episode, Brian shares how radio and music found him,  the origins of the historic Studio C acoustic per...

Howie Zales is an Emmy Award-winning Camera Operator who turned his passion for broadcasting into several entrepreneurial endeavors. He is the founder of HJZ Productions, a multi-million dollar nationwide provider of top talent in the broadcasting field.   In addition, during the pandemic, he pivoted and created a high-quality live-streaming service called Viridity Entertainment Services.  Howie s...

Jake talks about the origins of "Give to the Max Day" for GiveMN, how RaiseMN eventually developed to support smaller non-profits, and lastly, we learn how the Jewish concept of Tikun Olam shapes Jake's view of public service.  

This is the second part of a two-part episode with Joe Cavanaugh.   On part 1, we explored some of the character and mental health issues that kids are having today and how well-intented parents are often contributing to the problem.  On this episode, we discuss framework that parents can use to help improve the outcomes for their children.   Joe likes to explain his concepts in "3's".  You'll lea...

On this episode, we welcome back Joe Cavanaugh to the podcast.   For 35 years, Youth Frontiers has been teaching character to teenage kids.   Over the last handful of years, their programs have expanded to different audiences.   Most recently, they have developed a Parent Academy.   The focus is to give parents the tools to add stability for their children in an increasingly unstable world.  We un...

This is one of our most downloaded episodes from a few years ago.   Leah talks about her rapid rise to become a major market news anchor by the age of 27.   As life evolved, she realized she needed to make some major changes, both personally and professionally.    Leah talks about having the courage to change her life path and the freedom and confidence she gained from her decisions. 

David is a visionary and entrepreneurial executive leader who founded waste management companies TUBS and Bagster Dumpster in a Bag.   In addition, with his wife Sara, founded an angel financing network called Gopher Angels.   He shares the origins of his entrepreneurial spirit and how his companies developed and evolved.   It hasn't all been success.  David also reveals what he feels is his bigge...

This is a replay of one of our most popular episodes.   At the time, Corie was CFO of Best Buy.   She has now moved on to be the CEO.  We learn about her upbringing, being a woman in the business world, and her authentic leadership style.

In October 2015, Michael suffered a traumatic brain injury falling off his long board.   He learned how vulnerable he was during his recovery process and how much support he needed from others.   It sparked an idea to help homeless youth who have no one to turn to in a time of need. Eventually, Michael and his business partner Sam Harper founded Hippy Feet.   On our podcast, we learn about their m...

Mark is a pioneer in Minnesota brewing.   Summit Brewing began in 1986 out of St. Paul--well before microbreweries were able to sell their beer from a taproom. As of 2020, they are the 21 st largest craft brewery in terms of sales volume in the United States. Mark talks about how he got started, some guerilla marketing he did early on, and the power of relationships and making a difference in your...

Henry hosts an evening sports talk show, at WCCO radio in Minneapolis, called Lake Night.  Henry shares how he got started in talk radio, the value of having a voice as an African American in a major market, and his focus on giving back to others.

Mandi founded her own non-profit, Simon Says Give, at the age of seven.   She shares her inspiration, how it developed, and ulitmately how her organization broke a Guiness World Record.

Steve is finishing up a seven year run hosting Twin Cities Live, a show focused on food, fashion and fun in the Minneapolis St. Paul area.  Steve talks about his serendipitous path to success, including getting really comfortable with the word "no" and believing in what he calls "divine disappointment".    In addition, we hear how his perseverance eventually landed him guest spots on Live with Kel...

J. explains how his time in the Navy influenced how he leads others. He also shares how he helps Fortune 500 companies with employee retention and engagement. And lastly, we learn the three guiding principles, that he refers to as "buckets", that he uses to help transform business.