Doing it Right: The Stories that Make Us

John Kinzer – the ultimate Entrepreneur in one of the most difficult industries – RESTAURANTS! According to the National Restaurant Association, as of January 2021, there was a 65.91% year-on-year decline in consumers dining in restaurants in the U.S. as result of Covid-19 pandemic. Yet, John’s establishments survived and even thrived! Why? Learn his secrets to success from a private equity execut...

Do to or not to do! That’s the question our Town Hall panelists discussed. Four prestigious senior leaders from four industries weighed in. We asked these questions: -How are you flexing your return-to-work policy now with this Delta variant exploding? -What kind of conversations are you having at the senior level and with your employees? -What innovative ways are you attracting and keeping talent...

- Leadership Lessons You Can’t Afford to Miss - Meet David Cottrell— founder & CEO of Cornerstone Leadership—one of the nation’s largest publishers of management and leadership resources. Having written over 30 books himself, David holds a bold yet simple philosophy: “Leadership is about influence. It exists throughout the organization – not just in executives, managers and supervisors.” His n...

- How to Start Your Business by Giving Away a Book - Jeff quit his lucrative, award winning career as a television reporter to become an entrepreneur! Just like that—in his home. Never did he imagine that 13 years later he’d have 8,000 sq. feet of offices running 90 tv shows a month supported by a staff of 20. Tune in to hear how Jeff uses his #1 mantra to grow his company – “Let’s make us a Thank...

- VALUES-BASED CULTURE DESIGNED BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE - Darrin D’Agostino, Provost / Chief Academic Officer-Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center & Steve Sosland, Vice Chancellor for Leader & Culture Development – Texas Tech System. Texas Tech is implementing a values-based culture providing leader development throughout the system’s five universities beginning with Texas Te...

Tina Jacobson is a gemologist, turned PR Professional, turned missionary. We explored together every fascinating “facet” of her journey. From their first business trip to Jaipur, India, Tina and her husband recognized a need for nutritious food to feed a nearby leper colony. As Jaipur being the gemstone capitol of the world, Tina saw a funding opportunity by selling jewelry she creates in Jaipur a...

- How Her Basement Business became a $40M Company - Sherry Deutschmann is quick to tell you, “If you have that entrepreneurial bone, it just can’t be denied!” She defied denial and made it big. Her story is about HOW she did this as a single mom with no formal education, no skills, and no money. Sherry was determined to make a life for herself and her baby girl. Unafraid to follow her dream to sin...

Southwest Airlines Executive Learns She is Adopted Jennifer Paine, Sr. Director of Technology at Southwest Airlines, demonstrates the company’s values in every aspect of her life. A warrior spirit – a servant’s heart – a fun-luving attitude. That’s Jenn in a “NUTSHELL.” As a leader in Southwest’s Technology department, Jenn’s natural inclination is to mentor others – just as she was mentored by no...

-From Cotton Farm to Worldwide Coach Training- As President of The Academies for Coach Training, Susan Britton is an expert in brain-based coaching. As she grew up working in her family’s large cotton farm, Susan learned the ethics it took to work 24/7. She says, “I was born to work hard, to show up and to be an entrepreneur like my family.” Aligning her love of music and sensitivity for people, S...

The Only Black Woman in Her Newsroom! Crystal Berger began her media career as a sports intern with CBS affiliate and went on to work as a national feature reporter and senior booking producer for the Fox News Channel in NY. Now she calls herself a Journalist turned Innovator. With awards gazoo (including NAACP Freedom Fighter Award, a Social Media Ambassador for the United Nations Foundation, ano...

Quadriplegia at 17 to MD, Anesthesiologist/Critical Care Physician One week before graduating from high school Jaffer Odeh was in a car accident leaving him with Quadriplegia. Determined to become a physician, Jaffer was released from the hospital into a wheelchair and out to class at University of Michigan. “Nothing would stop me,” he said. The willpower that returned him to class that day carrie...

LEADERSHIP AGILITY & RESILIENCY If you are a leader of leaders, who do you go to? What are your greatest leadership challenges you’re facing differently now? What support do you need balancing family pressures while working from home? How can you continue to be stable during so many external fluctuations? How do you maintain hope? As Founder & CEO of Christian Life Institute and a practici...

Carlos Vaz had $300 in his pocket when he arrived in the USA from Brazil to take a non-paying internship. With 4 jobs and night school, this grateful immigrant aspired for a better life in America. And wasn’t afraid to work for it. One of 9 kids Carlos understood what work meant. Early to rise, his dad knocked on each door ONCE. “Let’s get to work” was the chant. Coming from loving parents who rai...

What would you do if you suddenly contracted a rare disease that had no cure? Dr. David Fajgenbaum developed Castleman’s Disease during his 3rd year of Med School. Just prior he could bench press 375 lbs.—a healthy former football star and promising doctor. The disease almost killed him not once, not twice—but five times. That’s when David decided to experiment on his own body in hopes of finding...

Wendy Whiteman of Wendy Whiteman Law evolved her legal career as a prosecutor to navigating the needs of elder care. As she began her decade long journey caring for her mom, (“Ms. A”), Wendy was inspired to write her book as a practical guide for those with aging parents. It provides encouragement and lessens the fear for those families with similar challenges. Wendy enlightens us on: *How do you...

COVID-19 Vaccine Questions and Answers Dr. Kevin Wheelan answers our questions about the Covid-19 vaccine. * Should I take the vaccine? * Which one? * How long will it last? * Will I have to take it every year? Dr. Wheelan is a cardiovascular expert heavily involved in COVID 19 research. Now that the vaccine is becoming increasingly more available to segments of the population, it can be confusing...

Now celebrating its 75th Anniversary, TDIndustries, Inc. mechanical construction and facilities services company has made the list of Best Places to Work every year since the awards inception in 1998. TD was the first company to embrace Servant Leadership! And what exactly IS Servant Leadership? You’ll hear Jack and I talk heart-to-heart about the tidbits of his life as a leader, husband and fathe...

Valerie Sokolosky revisits and reflects on her 99 segments – what she’s learned from amazing guests across the US. All her featured guests have Made Their Mark & Make It Count! With coffee in hand, she’ll candidly talk with YOU, answer YOUR questions, and show YOU the 4 “best of the best” shows. * One that inspired her * One that made her tear * One that was pure fun * One when she learned som...

Kate Weiser, owner of Kate Weiser Chocolate, discusses how she switched from being a chef to her fascination with making chocolates, and how she rose in 6 years to being on the coveted Oprah’s Favorite Things list as a Top 10 Chocolatier in North America. Kate almost lost her business during the 2020 Covid pandemic. She was forced to downsize her 35 person staff to 2, start over doing everything h...

Sitting beside her musically talented grandmother whose right arm had been amputated due to cancer, Carol played the right-hand piano notes for her. It became obvious Carol was gifted with the ability to play piano by ear. That influence led her career traveling around the world playing and singing at concerts with a variety of themes that flowed from the phases of her life. Today Carol has been n...

Sandra Joseph spent a decade in the Broadway production, Phantom of the Opera playing Christine Daa’e. As a keynote speaker she talks about the masks we wear in life and business and how they block us from creating the authentic connections we need to thrive. Now, here we are in a time when mask-wearing has taken on a whole new meaning. We are asked to cover our faces to take good care of each oth...

Best-Selling Amazon children’s author, Sandra Magsamen has written 60+ books that have sold over 5 million to date. As a featured columnist on Oprah.com, Sandra’s signature lifestyle book—Living Artfully—was accompanied by the television special, “Living Artfully with Sandra Magsamen.” Moms know Sandra by her soft, huggable children’s books including Looky, Looky and YOU. Tune in to hear us talk a...

No, I didn’t misspell this! Tongue Fu is one of Sam Horn’s best-selling books that amplified her astonishing career as a Communications Expert. She was pursued by TED Fellows to advise them on how to clearly communicate their projects. NASA hired Sam to media-train their senior scientists. And LINKEDIN engaged her to design and deliver the video-training “Preparing for Successful Communication.” W...

The first voice of SIRI…and Susan Bennett had no idea! Not until a friend told her! How that happened is intriguing. Susan was a favored IVR talent (interactive voice recording) who had recorded many virtual assistant and GPS voices. We talked about how HER voice was selected as the SIRI persona. You’ll hear the “behind the scenes” of what it takes to do these recordings. Who knew she would be doi...

When a woman tries to crack the male dominated medical industry – it’s never easy. Dr. Kathryn Waldrep and her partner Kim Vernon did what any determined, highly accomplished women would do. They started their own practice, went head to head and never looked back. Now they can boast as being the first female OB/GYN practice in Dallas. As an aside – when Dr. Waldrep entered the studio as my guest,...