Empowering Industry Podcast - A Production of Empowering Pumps & Equipment

This week Charli has double the Chris on the pod to talk. Chris Karasch and Chris Davis of Roto Pumps sit down to talk about the evolution of Roto Pumps into what the company has become today in the Progressive Cavity Pump world. These two have been a team for over a decade and have brought that dynamic with them. Contact Chris Karasch:  Chris@rotopumps.us Read up at EmpoweringPumps.com and stay t...

Special Bonus Episode! Charlie has The McNeil Team from the Colorado School of Mines, this year's EPIC location, on to get to know them bit more.   The McNeil Team Sid Hanna Saleh, Ph. D. – McNeil Center Director and Associate Professor As the Director of the McNeil Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Dr. Sid Saleh plays a pivotal role in upholding our mission to cultivate a campus-ce...

Getting to know your partners is an important part of any industry. This week Charli invites Cody Kaufmann from Sepco on the pod to get to know him and our amazing partner Sepco a little bit better. Cody Kaufmann is the Business Development Manager for Sealing Equipment Products Co., Inc. (SEPCO). He has nearly 20 years of experience in plastics manufacturing and sealing technology specializing in...

A special bonus episode treat as Kelly Franko joins Charli on the mic today! Kelly Franko began her career in healthcare, where she cultivated a deep understanding of patient needs and the importance of compassionate care. Her passion for supporting women led her to work with a medical equipment company, where she successfully launched three post-mastectomy boutiques. This venture inspired Kelly t...

Enrico Aloi joins Charli on the pod this week. Enrico Aloi is a seasoned professional with a robust background in sales and engineering leadership. As the Director of Sales and Marketing at Metallized Carbon Corporation (METCAR), he has demonstrated exceptional skill in driving revenue growth, managing diverse teams, and forging strategic industry partnerships. Under his leadership, METCAR saw a 2...

BONUS TIME!  Charli has Allison Smith on for a quick chat about social media marketing. Allison Smith is the found of Allison Olivia Social. She started tinkering in social media marketing in 2013 but it wasn't until the pandemic that she made a career out of it.  She has always enjoyed social media and learning about the science behind it, how people interact with content and brands and how...

Charli has Tiffany Vandemark on this week and the energy is contagious! Tiffany is a renowned figure known for her motivaitonal and inspiring message, particularly in the arena of personal growth and development. She a is a multifaceted powerhouse who can call herself a Personal Brand Coach, Speaker, and Author, with her most notable work being her memoir, Inside The Ring.  Her journey into person...

Charli invites Kristina McMillan on this bonus episode to talk about Crew Collaborative. Kristina is a motivational construction and engineering industry thought leader with over 20 years of experience in team leading, marketing strategy, workforce development, and operations know-how. She is a strong collaborator with a successful track record of forming powerful relationships, capitalizing on op...

Ciji Masser joins Charli this week to talk Leadership. With a robust background in both human resources and operations, Ciji Masser excels at creating synergies between departments, ensuring seamless workflows, and enhancing employee engagement. She is known for her ability to lead diverse teams through periods of change and growth, always with a focus on people-centric leadership and operational...

Bill Woodburn joins Charli today to talk about how he is literally Engineering Tomorrow, take a listen to learn just how Bill is Founder and Chairman of the Board at Engineering Tomorrow, a public charity dedicated to inspiring high school students to pursue a path in engineering. He is a Founding Partner of Global Infrastructure Partners—a private equity fund focused on energy and transportation...

Kicking off July, Roger Wakefield brings his story to the podcast with Charli leading this awesome and fascinating conversation. Roger Wakefield is a Texas Master Plumber and inspiring entrepreneur, with over 40 years of plumbing expertise and every Texas state endorsement. He's on a mission to showcase the trades as a lucrative and rewarding career. As a successful YouTube content creator, s...

It's BONUS EPISODE TIME! Charli sits down with Justin Hatfield in this special bonus episode of the Empowering Industry Podcast Justin T. Hatfield is the President of HECO out of Kalamazoo, MI. He is a 20 year veteran on the electro-mechanical service space and has been involved with predictive maintenance since 2013. He serves as Chairman of EASA’s Emerging Technologies Committee and a membe...

John Todd joins Charli on this weeks episode. John has 30+ years of business and technical experience in the Project Management, Process development/improvement, Quality/ISO/CMMI Management, Technical Training, Reliability Engineering, Maintenance, Application development, Risk Management, & Enterprise Asset Management fields. His experience includes work as a Reliability Engineer & RCM im...

 Janette Luviano joins Charli this week for an insightful conversation about her journey through the field of media Janette Luviano is a multilingual international journalist with over 25 years of experience in media, including radio, TV, and print.  For most of her career, she has worked in broadcast media, starting with Univision, then on Telemundo, and NBCUniversal, where her last job was as th...

This week is certainly going to be a treat, Charli has Brandon Myers on to talk about his second career in education in the largest school system in Georgia  Brandon Myers is the manufacturing instructor at Maxwell High School of Technology in Lawrenceville, Georgia. Myers is a graduate of Lanier Technical College in Gainesville, Ga. In 2004, Myers joined Panoz Auto Development, a specialty vehicl...

Charli has treat for you this week listeners as Heather Cykoski joins the pod.  Heather Cykoski, Senior Vice President, Industrial and Process Automation, Member of the Executive Leadership Team, leads the Industrial Automation business in North America to be our customer’s digital and automation partner for sustainability and resiliency.  A passionate global business leader with 25 years of inter...

Awesome episode coming at you this week as Charli has Tunji Asiwaju on to talk. Tunji is the Global Manager of Building Lifecycle Performance Services at Armstrong Fluid Technology. In this role, he is globally responsible for the after market services and parts business unit including the connected services and performance management suite of offerings.   Read up at EmpoweringPumps.com and stay t...

Charli is coming at you with not one but two guest this week!  Chris Jackson is a Commercial Manager for Flexible Disc Couplings at Regal Rexnord. He studied mechanical engineering at Texas A&M University. His first role at Regal Rexnord was as an application engineer for disc couplings. Since then, he’s focused on helping customers find the right disc coupling for their applications. Don Daly...

Charli has veteran of the pump industry  Gene Vogel on this week to talk.   Before joining EASA as Pump & Vibration Specialist in 2009, Gene Vogel operated his own business, General Maintenance Equipment/Engineering, Inc. (GME), a marketing, service and training organization for industrial maintenance and related technologies. Among other courses, he taught a "Pumps and Pump Systems"...

Charli is back with a bit of a double interview with Brad and Arjun Brad Hitselberger graduated from East Carolina University with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering with a concentration in Industrial and Systems Engineering. He has been working in some capacity with pumps for 6 years in various roles. He started out working in the wastewater side focusing on collection systems and pumps for a l...

This week Charli is taking a step outside the pump industry to talk to Ikram Guerd.    Ikram Guerd is VP of Global Marketing – Managing Director US for the innovative FemTech, ASPIVIX, whose mission is to modernize gynecology with gentle in mind. She leads the US corporation and the global marketing strategy to raise awareness around innovative solutions to reduce pain for women in gynecology. As...

Charli is taking the podcast international this week with Riccardo Zecchel. Venite e godetevi l'episodio! Riccardo Zecchel, business development at Peroni Pompe, currently holds the role of CEO at Jetech. He is deeply committed to addressing customers' technological challenges, particularly in the realm of high-pressure fluid pumping. With prior experience as an international strategy ma...

 This week Charli has lifelong pump industry veteran Greg Case on to talk leadership. Greg is the Chief Innovation Officer at Taco Comfort Solutions, a global leader in hydronic-based heating and cooling solutions. He has over 30 years of experience in engineering, HVAC, and new product development, and holds an Executive Certificate in Strategy and Innovation from MIT Sloan School of Management a...

 This week Charli has Amy Teal on for some coffee talk Amy Teal, the CEO and co-founder of ShopFloor Coffee, is at the forefront of revolutionizing coffee for the manufacturing industry. Alongside her team, Amy is dedicated not only to supplying superb coffee but also to giving back to manufacturing communities. They donate a portion of every sale of ShopFloor Coffee to manufacturing workforce dev...

This week Charli has friend of the pod, Joe Boylan on to talk. Joe Boylan has worked in the tribology arena for well over three decades.  His experiences range from basic functional friction and wear property evaluation of oxide and non-oxide materials, through the materials development, supply chain and manufacturing processes to enable the production of bespoke components for demanding applicati...