Building Excellence

Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! 

#141: Bryce Kenny is a professional Monster Jam driver as the Great Clips Mohawk Warrior. Since his 2016 debut, Bryce has earned multiple awards including the 2021 Outreach Award for his work helping those in need and making positive contributions to the community. He travels the country speaking to audiences of all ages about finding the courage to chase your dreams and overcome fear. In 2021, Br...

#140: Don Wenner is the Founder and CEO of DLP Capital, a private real estate investment and financial services firm focused on making an impact on American communities by acquiring, developing, and building relationships, housing, leaders, and organizations. Wenner founded DLP Capital in 2006 and has since spearheaded its meteoric growth, with the firm ranking on the Inc. 5000 list of “Fastest Gr...

#139: Mitch Canham is the Head Baseball Coach at Oregon State University. Coach Canham played at Oregon State where he was a 2007 All-American and guided the Beavers to three trips to Omaha, culminating in National Championships in 2006 and 2007. Following his stellar career at Oregon State, he was selected in the first round, 57th overall, by the San Diego Padres in the 2007 MLB First-Year Player...

#138: Oliver Winterbone is the Vice President & Director of Coaches & Executives at Wasserman. Wasserman proudly represents elite athletes, broadcasters, coaches, sport executives and influencers. As an agent some his clients are coaches such as Billy Donovan of the Chicago Bulls & Mark Daigneault of the Oklahoma City Thunder.  Prior to Wasserman he spent 18 years on the sidelines and...

#137: Andrew Abernathey is the founder and CEO of Abernathey Holdings, a leading real estate holding company driven by a passion for business and inspired by the value investing approach of Warren Buffett and the simplicity approach of Gary Tharaldson. Andrew’s investing journey began at the age of 13, exploring a diverse range of public securities. By the age of 18 he was already a millionaire. E...

#136: Thomas R. Williams is a professional speaker and the author of “Permission to DREAM,” “The Relentless Pursuit of Greatness” and “DIG”. As a professional speaker he is a member of The Jon Gordon Speaking team and communicates with great passion and purpose on “The Energy Bus” and “The Power of Positive Leadership” He impacts his audiences by helping them create a successful vision that leads...

#135: Aaron Ackerman is Partner at HoganTaylor and leads the firm's Financial Management Services practice which includes fractional CFO services, Transaction Advisory Services, and Client Accounting Services. He is a CPA with more than 20 years of experience and leadership in both public accounting and private business.  Over the course of his career, Aaron has served clients in a wide varie...

#134: John Ramstead is the CEO of Beyond Influence and former Navy F-14 tomcat fighter jet pilot. He is also the president of Alpha Principle and host of the Eternal Leadership Podcast. John began his career as an active-duty Navy F-14 combat pilot, serving in Operation Desert Storm during the first Gulf War. He was invited to join the acclaimed Top Gun school in 1994, then served in the Navy rese...

#133: Jacie Hoyt is the Oklahoma State University Women’s Basketball Head Coach.  In her first season as head coach at Oklahoma State she lead the Cowgirls to 21 wins, matching the program's best tally ever under a first-year head coach. OSU’s total marked a 12-win improvement from the previous season and resulted in one of the 10 largest turnarounds in the nation, as well as making it to the...

#132: Lloyd Reeb is a successful real estate developer, owner of retirement housing, Co-Founder of both the Halftime Institute & Ardent Mentoring. He made a mid-life transition, looking for greater meaning, joy and impact in his second half. To his surprise he discovered that he was not alone in this journey and that many talented leaders are longing for midlife renewal. Lloyd has had the priv...

#131: Bob Richey is the head men’s basketball coach at Furman University.  Coach Richey has helped propel the Paladins to national prominence leading Furman to the 2023 Southern Conference regular season title, the program’s first SoCon Tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth since 1980, and its first tournament victory since 1974 against the University of Virginia this past season.  In his six...

#130: Anne Beiler is the founder of Auntie Anne’s Pretzels. Many of you already know of Auntie Anne’s from walking through malls, airports, and stores all over the world where you can smell the amazing scent of their pretzels from a mile away. Auntie Anne’s has over 2,000 locations in 26 different countries. Anne began twisting pretzels in 1987 to support her husbands vision of offering free couns...

#129: Steve Irby is the founder and CEO of KICKER/Stillwater Designs.  In 1973, KICKER's Livin' Loud legacy began as a two-man operation, hand-building professional-speaker systems in a narrow one-car garage. With very few resources and an intense love for music Steve invented the mobile-stereo enclosure market from his Stillwater, Oklahoma community, when he developed the Original KICKE...

#128: Michelle “MACE” Curran led an impressive career as a Fighter Pilot during her 13 years in the United States Air Force. From 2019-2021, she flew as the only female pilot for the Air Force Thunderbirds and performed for millions across the country and internationally. Upon joining this high performing team, she rapidly discovered the best part was not the flying, but the opportunity to inspire...

#127: Phillip Fulmer is the College Football Hall of Fame former Head Coach & Athletic Director at the University of Tennessee. Coach Fulmer lead Tennessee to a National Championship Title in 1998, 2 SEC Championships, 152 wins, Coach of the Year, & many other accolades. He has coached players from Peyton Manning, Eric Berry, Jason Whitten, & many other great players. However, aside fr...

#126: Bob Beaudine is the President and CEO of Eastman & Beaudine. He is one of the nation's most respected search executives having conducted 100's of searches for Fortune 500 companies, entertainment entities, professional sports organizations, non-profits, olympic bodies, and universities, among many others. Bob placed people like Deion Sanders at Colorado, Bud Selig as the commis...

#125: Niko Medved is the head coach of the Colorado State University Men’s Basketball program. Recently, he guided Colorado State to their highest ever seeding in the NCAA tournament. Coach Medved has helped build and establish successful programs every place he has been. As head coach of Furman University he turned the program from one of the worst programs in the country to one of the best. He a...

#124: Mike Linch is the Senior Pastor of Northstar Church in Kennesaw, Georgia. He is also the host of the Linch with a Leader Podcast. Mike grew up in Georgia and played baseball at Liberty University under legendary New York Yankee great Bobby Richardson. After college he felt called to step into full time vocational ministry. However that didn’t stop his love for athletics. He serves as the pit...

#123: Anson Dorrance is a 21x National Champion Coach for the University of North Carolina’s Women's Soccer Program & led the United States Women’s National Team to their first World Cup title in 1991, where he served as the head coach from 1986-1994. In 2008 he was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. He has one of the most successful records in all of sports with 1,093 games...

#122: Dr. David Burkus’ is one of the world’s leading business thinkers. His forward-thinking ideas and bestselling books are helping leaders build their best team ever. He is the bestselling author of five books about business and leadership. His books have won multiple awards and have been translated into dozens of languages. Since 2017, David has been ranked multiple times as one of the world’s...

#121: Pat Williams is the co-founder of the Orlando Magic and a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. He has also been the former GM of the Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic, and the Philadelphia 76ers, where he helped lead to the NBA title in1983. He has drafted players like Shaquille O’Neil, Charles Barkley, & Penny Hardaway and built rosters with players like Julis Erving, Mauric...

#120: Omar Ahmadieh is a partner & financial advisor with JM Brown Financial Partners, as well as an entrepreneur with multiple businesses across different sectors. Omar grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but his story is anything but normal. An entrepreneur at heart, he was always findings ways to sell things and start little ventures when he was in elementary school. Unfortunately, while in early h...

#119: Swen Nater is a former NBA & ABA player. He is a two time NCAA national champion and played under legendary Coach John Wooden at UCLA. As a man of many talents he has been a championship player and coach, author, speaker, poet, and businessman.  Swen was born in the Netherlands and immigrated to the US after living in an orphanage for 5 years. Through a series of events he was reunited w...

#118: Steve Whitaker is CEO & Senior Pastor of John 3:16 Mission. He has served and led at the mission since 1989 and is a 10th generation minister.  Since 1952 John 3:16 Mission has been focused on reclaiming lives and restoring hope serving Tulsa’s homeless and at risk men, women, and children as it ministers to their physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs. Just in the last month a...