Conquering Columbus Podcast

Summary: Judy Mobley is the CEO of Children’s Hunger Alliance, a local non-profit with the mission of ensuring that children without access receive healthy food, education, and physical activity. In Ohio, 1 in 5 children are unsure of where their next meal will come from. However, because every region faces its own unique barriers for …

Summary: Ed Porter is the former Chief Revenue Officer at Smart Harbor, as well as a Sales Leader in the Columbus Community. He’s also the Chapter President of the AA-ISP, a global inside sales organization dedicated to the advancement of the inside sales profession. Finally, Ed is launching his own consulting firm in July and …

Summary: Krista Powell is the Brand Manager for Aileron, as well as a leadership coach and a co-founder of Christopher and Mae Design Company – Aileron is a consulting firm with the mission of helping small business leaders unleash the potential of private business through professional management. In her role as Brand Manager, Krista is …

Summary: Michelle Murcia is the Founder and CEO of book+street — Specializing in private, venture-backed and pre-IPO companies, Book+Street provides comprehensive finance and administration services that make it easy for start-ups to start off right, right from the start. Book+Street is your outsourced finance and administration team, with fractional CFO, controllership, bookkeeping, talent...

Summary: Mark Sellers is the founder and CEO of Breakthrough Sales Performance, LLC – a sales consulting firm headquartered here in Columbus, OH. Mark has helped over 120 sales teams around the world implement his proprietary “buying journey,” sales funnel model, the BuyCycle Funnel. Milestones: (00:00:00) Opening remarks (00:00:44) Small Biz Cares (00:01:19) The SunDown …

Summary: Brittany Dixon is the Founder and Director of Operations at Brittany and Co., a consulting firm with a focus on systems, efficiency, and automation for startups and entrepreneurs. She helps them free up their time so that they can focus on big goals and sustain long term growth. Milestones: (00:00:00) Opening remarks (00:00:43) Small …

Summary: The School Performance Institute (SPI) launched as the learning and improvement arm of the Columbus non-profit United Schools Network (USN) on July 1, 2017, with start-up grant funding support from the W.G. and Patricia M. Jurgensen Fund of The Columbus Foundation, The Columbus Foundation, and the AEP Foundation. SPI’s core purpose is to seek …

Summary: Brooke Yoakam is an Upper Arlington High School junior, actively involved in student council, Spanish honors society, and is the captain of her school’s soccer team. Brooke is also the CEO and Founder of GiftPocket, a mobile app designed to help teens easily store, manage, use, and exchange all of their gift cards. When …

Summary: Angela Rucci is the CEO and a Co-founder of Tego, a personal safety application that allows someone to send updates to their friends when walking by yourself. Angela thought of the idea after being assaulted while shopping at a local grocery store, and she pitched the idea at the OSU Hack-a-Thon in 2018, where …

Summary: Jack Tzagournis, President of Fortress Real Estate Companies, has over 23 years of experience in the real estate industry as Vice President of Development for Continental Real Estate Companies and Vice President of Sales at Dietz Commercial, prior to starting Fortress. He was responsible for site selection and development activities for Giant Eagle’s entry …

Summary: Jeff Terwin is the Associate Head of School and Head of the Upper School at the Wellington School. The Wellington School is private Pre K-12 school here in Columbus, with a mission of discovering and cultivating the unique potential in every student. Before Wellington, Jeff spent time working at several other private schools, and …

Summary: The Ohio State University’s Business Builders Club (BBC) is a group of passionate students who collaborate with the Columbus Community and organizations around the world to foster entrepreneurship. The BBC recruits, educates, and funds talented students at Ohio State, and their members are excited by the challenges and opportunities provided by entrepreneurship. Milestones: (00:00:00) &#8...

Summary: Andrew is the Founder & CEO of United Schools Network, which started with just 57 students and one school. The organization has now grown to over 850 students, and their goal is to provide an excellent education to students that normally lack these opportunities so that they can be prepared for college and life …

Summary: Marc Hawk is the CEO/Co-Founder of RevLocal, a digital marketing company with a focus on revolutionizing the local digital marketing industry. Since the company’s inception in 2010, RevLocal has grown quickly – they were on INC 500’s list of fastest growing companies multiple years in a row, and they have been named to numerous, …

Summary: Rita Soronen is the President & CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption; a national, non-profit public charity dedicated exclusively to finding permanent homes and loving families for the nearly 155,000 children waiting in North America’s foster care systems. Created by Wendy’s® founder Dave Thomas who was adopted, the Foundation implements evidence-based, results-driven &#8230...

Summary: Kenny is the President and CEO of Columbus 2020, which is the economic development organization for the 11 county Columbus region. They work in partnership with state and local entities to generate opportunity and build capacity for economic growth. Prior to Columbus 2020, Kenny accumulated over 20 years of regional economic development and management …

Summary: Dwayne Steward is the Director of Prevention at Equitas Health. Established in 1984, Equitas Health (formerly AIDS Resource Center Ohio), is a regional not-for-profit community-based healthcare system and federally qualified community health center look-alike. Its expanded mission has made it one of the nation’s largest HIV/AIDS, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning...

Summary: Ruth Milligan is the founder and Managing Director of Articulation. Ruth founded Articulation after producing the first TEDxColumbus event in 2009 – She was looking for speaking and presentation coaches to help train the next group of speakers, and after coming up dry, she decided to create Articulation. She and her team run seminars …

Summary: Chris & Becca Apfelstadt are husband and wife entrepreneurs with two kids. Becca is the Co-Founder and CEO at treetree, The Agency of Special Projects, and Chris is the owner of Light Up Columbus, a company dedicated to installing, maintaining, removing, and storing holiday lighting and decorations for home owners, business owners, and municipalities. …

Summary: Jill Raderstorf is a Partner at Ohio Innovation Fund, which provides venture capital and expertise to enable early-stage Ohio companies to grow and prosper. They’re committed to retaining the best and brightest in Ohio and supporting the creation of the next generation of groundbreaking technologies, companies, and industries. Milestones: (00:00:00) Opening remarks (00:00:40) Facilities &...

Summary: Will is the Founding Partner and CEO of Nikola Labs, Inc, a wireless power company with an advantaged far-field technology that converts radio frequency (RF) energy into usable direct current (DC) power. Milestones: (00:00:00) Opening remarks (00:00:39) Facilities Management eXpress (FMX) (00:01:09) The SunDown Group (00:01:32) SmallBiz Cares (00:02:09) The Conquering Columbus Startup Pac...

Summary: Michelle Reese is the VP, Chief Talent Innovator and Nathan Vega is the Chief Commercial Executive at the Columbus Collaboratory. The Columbus Collaboratory is an analytics and cyber innovation center, funded by seven of the Columbus’ largest firms (AEP, Battelle, Nationwide, OhioHealth, Cardinal Health, Limited Brands, and Huntington Bank). Milestones: (00:00:00) Opening remarks (0...

Summary: The AFCPE, short for Association for Finanical Counseling and Planning Education) is the nationally recognized leader in financial counseling, coaching, and education. They support professionals by providing career advancement and professional development opportunities, including exceptional financial education trainings, the Journal for Financial Counseling & Planning and the Annual...

Summary: Linda is the Co-Founder of Pyramid Community Development Corporation (CDC). Pyramid CDC is a non-profit organization created with the goal of lifting individuals out of poverty by providing advanced technology training, workforce development courses, financial literacy, virtual banking, self-development courses, STEM, robotics, and technology programming for youth; along with connecting t...

Summary: Kyle O’Keefe is the Director of Innovation and Programs for the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio (SWACO). Kyle’s role at SWACO focuses on creating community supported waste reduction and diversion programs that help to build stronger and more resilient communities in central Ohio through environmental, social, and economic stewardship. Milestones: (00:00:00) Opening remarks …