Business Journey Unlocked

Joe Conley is the CEO of Royce Security Services and Metro Safety and Security, and founder of American Standard Holding. He got into the security business in 1995 with no law enforcement background, no military experience, and no industry contacts. He needed a job that kept him home with his two young kids. What followed was 30 years of building a regional security operation that competes on qual...

Mohammed Shehzad is the Managing Director of Atriod, a physical and electronic security consulting firm he founded in 2006. Over 20 years, he has built a practice that serves airports, pharmaceutical plants, government facilities, corporate headquarters, and financial institutions, doing the opposite of what most security firms do: no vendor relationships, no product commissions, no cookie-cutter...

Brad Burns is the founder of Burns Holdings, a portfolio of six ventures spanning commercial contracting, branding, pools and outdoors, seafood distribution, and franchise development. Starting with Wynn Contracting in 2014 after the 2008 real estate collapse ended his finance career before it started, Brad has built each company from scratch using a shared services model one consolidated back off...

Derek Tolley is the owner of Safe Haven Avian Group and Wildlife Removal, the largest nationwide wildlife removal company in the United States. Starting in 2013 from a residential operation, Derek identified a gap that the entire pest control industry had failed to solve for 75 years — humanely removing birds from inside commercial facilities — and built a proprietary methodology, proven across ov...

Joe Messinger is the founder and CEO of Capstone College Partners, co-founder of College Aid Pro, and partner and director of college planning at Capstone Wealth Partners. Over 16 years, he has built three interconnected businesses around one of the most emotionally charged and financially consequential decisions families face — how to fund college without destroying retirement or saddling graduat...

Christine Healey is the founder of Healy Pre-IPO, a concierge brokerage helping high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and funds access private tech stocks before they go public. She has closed over $600 million in pre-IPO transactions across companies including SpaceX, OpenAI, Stripe, and xAI — and walked away from a senior role at a much larger firm to build it her way, boutique and intenti...

Eliyahu Rosenblum is Founder of FR Conversions and CEO of Omnesoft, an ERP platform designed to eliminate real-time friction in manufacturing. After starting in EMS as a medic and launching a commercial ambulance service, Eliyahu built FR Conversions into an industry leader in automotive manufacturing (wheelchair vans and ambulances), scaling from 1,200 square feet to hundreds of thousands of squa...

Caroline Ramsey-Hamilton is CEO of Risk & Security LLC, working with hospitals, federal agencies, schools, and critical infrastructure to prevent active shooter attacks and workplace violence. After starting in IT security and realizing physical security gaps made IT protections useless, Caroline has spent decades conducting security risk assessments, working with federal agencies like NSA, Co...

Stephanie Furgang Adwar at Adwar Ivko, an entertainment and intellectual property law firm launched in 2024. After practicing entertainment and IP law for 33 years alongside her father, Philip Furgang, Stephanie partnered with Polina Ivko to build a boutique firm representing artists, brands, and creative businesses navigating copyright, trademark, and IP protection. She's been named a Super Lawye...

Phillip Gomez is one of the leaders behind Entry Shield Security, working with schools, government facilities, and community organizations to secure entry points where every second matters. Entry Shield holds a patent for mobile notifications on walkthrough metal detection systems, solving a critical problem: the high cost of staffing weapons detection systems all day. In this episode, we discuss...

Gregory Mark Hill is managing partner of GCH Partners and author of "Samsara and Its Impact on the Entrepreneur's Dreams." Working with family offices, founders, and entrepreneurial companies navigating cross-border growth, Gregory helps capital flow into high-growth opportunities. After decades in heavy industrial investment banking and Silicon Valley tech startups, he launched GCH Partners in 20...

Nils Welin is CEO of ProGuard Security Services, a Bay Area security company serving Class A commercial buildings, biotech companies, and high-tech firms with 800 employees across three branches. After turning around a failing security company post-9/11 and growing it to 1,000 employees, Nils launched ProGuard in 2015 with a white sheet of paper and a year of planning before going live. His approa...

Kinjal Shah is founder of GlobalMavin, a product development firm helping engineering leaders, project teams, and operators make decisions around technical architecture, embedded systems, AI, and data infrastructure. Coming from an engineering background and family business, Kinjal launched Global Maven during COVID to solve a gap she saw: industries lacked clarity on how data could improve operat...

Nate Lee is CEO and Director of Intelligence at RevList Intelligence Group, a private investigation, intelligence, and executive protection company serving executives, legal teams, and high-net-worth individuals. After serving in the Air Force, Nate built RevList around a core principle: hire veterans, refuse to compromise on training, and turn down clients who don't fit the culture. With a 99% ve...

Dr. Thomas Ho is CEO of Thomas Ho Company, providing interest rate risk and regulatory capital solutions for banks, CFOs, and board members. After earning a PhD in mathematics and becoming a tenured professor at NYU, Dr. Ho developed the Ho-Lee Model and Key Rate Durations, two foundational tools still used globally in finance today. He founded Global Advanced Technology in his basement in 1987, w...

Sean Orchison is founder of Breeze Mobility, a micro-mobility fleet management company that started in 2021 trying to compete with Bird and Lime before pivoting to manage their operations instead. After realizing running a 10-scooter fleet wasn't sustainable, Sean shifted to providing fleet management services (rebalancing, battery swapping, charging) for the same companies he tried to compete aga...

Viviane Tschanz is founder of Apollo Consulting, helping FinTech founders and bank executives bridge the gap between strategic vision and operational execution. After 20 years in corporate banking at large institutions, mid-sized digital banks, and regional players, Viviane launched Apollo in 2024 to solve a problem she saw repeatedly: consultants deliver beautiful presentations but don't execute,...

Samuel Morrell runs Axis Response Consulting, providing executive protection for ultra-high-net-worth individuals, executives, and public sector leaders navigating cross-border risk and physical threats. Coming from Europe to the US less than a year ago, Samuel saw a gap in how most companies approach EP work: they skip threat assessments, hire based on appearance over skills, and let clients dict...

Sandor Schoichet runs Meridian Management Consulting, focusing on life sciences, biopharma, and sustainability. After getting laid off when his consulting firm shut down their West Coast life science practice in 2008, Sandor rebuilt his business around facilitation rather than traditional consulting. In this episode, we discuss how he turned client requests for peer conversations into his primary...

Ashi Mitteldorf is founder and CEO of FloorTek, a company specializing in slip and fall prevention for high-traffic environments. Coming from a completely different industry (custom medical equipment), Ashi launched FloorTek to solve a problem most people don't realize has a solution: making wet floors safer without changing their appearance. In this episode, we discuss why he walks away from lucr...

Robert McMillan is founder of Camping Tools, an outdoor recreation app built on a contrarian principle: the software won't manipulate you. With 20+ years in enterprise architecture and cloud migration, Robert launched Camping Tools to solve the fragmentation problem in trip planning and create a platform that connects people without algorithmic manipulation. In this episode, we discuss why he chos...

Aaron Stickney is co-founder of SilverSphere Capital, a real estate development firm specializing in multifamily, data centers, and cold storage facilities nationwide. With 35+ years in construction and development, Aaron went from working as a laborer at 15 to closing on $1.5 billion in ground-up projects. In this episode, we discuss the $18K bonus that became his tipping point to go solo, why he...

Maartje Van Kreken spent two decades leading frontier oil and gas projects across three continents. Now she runs The Chaos Games Consulting, helping leaders navigate business emergencies. She breaks down the transition from multinational executive to solo consultant and why decision-making under chaos became her specialty. Connect with Maartje: Website: https://www.thechaosgamesconsulting.com Podc...

In this episode of Business Journey Unlocked , Brandon Williams , Founder and CEO of The Waveffect Academy , shares how he’s building a youth development organization that goes far beyond basketball. The conversation explores leadership, discipline, mentorship, and what it takes to scale impact without losing purpose. This episode is essential for founders, coaches, parents, and leaders focused on...

In this episode of Business Journey Unlocked , Dan Cox, CEO of EXOS Advisors, shares how business leaders can replace guesswork with clarity through proven leadership and operating systems. The conversation explores hiring with objective data, building predictable sales pipelines, and leading teams with confidence through growth. This episode is essential listening for founders and CEOs focused on...