Founders Future

In this episode of Founders Future , host Mishal Saeed sits down with Brad Blazar , founder of Capital School and a global authority on raising capital from high-net-worth investors. Brad shares his journey from building a billion-dollar oil company to launching Capital School, revealing how he identified the critical gap between entrepreneurs’ dreams and their access to funding. With over $2B rai...

In this episode of Founders, Future , host Mishal Saeed sits down with Dr. Michael Abelson , founder and CEO of The Abelson Group , a premier organizational consulting firm specializing in psychological assessments like DISC, motivators, and emotional intelligence. With over 45 years of experience and 650,000+ assessments sold, Dr. Abelson shares his journey from academia to entrepreneurship, deta...

In this episode of Founders, Future , with host Jay Encarnacion, Dr. MaryJo Burchard, founder of Concord Leadership Group, shares her transformative approach to helping leaders navigate chaos with resilience. With a PhD in organizational leadership and a background spanning academia, nonprofits, and crisis response, MaryJo reveals why 70% of organizational changes fail—and how her trauma-informed...

In this episode of Founders, Future , with host Jae Encarnacion, Girard Newkirk, CEO of Genesis Block ILM, shares his visionary blueprint for rebuilding Main Street economies through blockchain and community empowerment. From his roots in rural North Carolina to Silicon Valley leadership, Girard reveals how his "NewKirkonomics" model combines procurement pipelines, entrepreneur training,...

In this episode of Founders Future , with host Mishal Saeed, we meet Jovana Meeks, founder of boutique branding and operations agency Maven and Muse, who reveals how her decade of experience uncovered a critical gap in the market: businesses crumbling under operational chaos despite polished exteriors. Jovana shares her "depth over volume" philosophy, offering 6-month intensive engagemen...

In this episode of Founders, Future , with host Jay Encarnacion, Bryan Gray, founder and CEO of Revenue Path Group, shares his revolutionary approach to sales in the AI era. With over three decades of experience and a neuroscience-backed methodology, Bryan explains how traditional sales strategies are failing in today’s market—where decision-making teams are larger, margins are shrinking, and AI i...

In this episode of Founders, Future , with host Jay Encarnacion, Dax Hamman, CEO and co-founder of FOMO.ai, shares how his company is helping businesses navigate the AI-driven disruption of traditional marketing. With 25 years in digital marketing and ad tech, Dax reveals why AI search (ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc.) is the new battleground for brands—replacing outdated SEO and paid ad strategies—and...

In this episode of Founders Future , with host Mishal Saeed, we welcome Robbin Jorgensen, founder and CEO of Women Igniting Change, who shares her 20-year journey from corporate leadership to pioneering a global movement for women’s empowerment. Robbin reveals how her own experience being "thrown into the deep end" as a female leader inspired her to create experiential, non-traditional t...

In this episode of Founders Future , with host Mishal Saeed, we sit down with Khris Kennedy, founder of Focused Consulting Group, who shares his unconventional journey from pastor to insurance mogul to leadership transformation expert. Khris reveals how scaling one of America’s largest insurance agencies led him to discover his true passion: helping organizations fix their "people problems&qu...

In this episode of Founders Future , with host Mishal Saeed, we sit down with Jamie Crosbie, founder and CEO of Proactivate, who’s redefining talent acquisition with her 20-year-old firm’s unique "fixed fee" model. Jamie shares how her early career at CareerBuilder exposed the flaws in traditional recruiting—especially for sales roles—and inspired her to build a deeply behavioral intervi...

In this episode of Founders Future , with host Mishal Saeed, we dive into the dynamic journey of MacKenzie Morris, founder and CEO of Mackenzie Morris Co. A serial entrepreneur and scaling expert, MacKenzie shares her evolution from launching a childhood food business to building an international wedding brand, and now empowering coaches and service-based entrepreneurs to hit 7 figures through her...

In this episode of Founders, Future , host Jae Encarnacion sits down with Jay Graves , founder and CEO of Leadership Canvas , a leadership development firm revolutionizing how organizations foster psychological safety, diversity, and high performance. Jay shares his remarkable journey from military intelligence officer to corporate VP, where he honed his "CLEAR" methodology—a framework f...

In this episode of Founders, Future , host Jae Encarnacion sits down with Aaron Hovivian , Project Lead at The Collab Team , an operations powerhouse helping visionary entrepreneurs scale without crumbling under their own growth. Aaron shares his 11-year journey from fixing "redheaded stepchild" problems for clients like Pete Vargas and Pedro Adao to building a 22-person team that acts a...

In this episode of Founders, Future , host Ammar Elm sits down with Marc Lesser , founder of ZBA Associates LLC and renowned executive coach who bridges Zen wisdom with modern leadership. Marc shares his unconventional journey from a 10-year stay at San Francisco Zen Center to running a mindfulness-based publishing company (working with icons like the Dalai Lama) and eventually developing Google&a...

In this episode of Founders Future , with host Ammar Elm, we dive into the inspiring journey of Cate Stillman, founder of Club Thrive Global, Wellness Pro Academy, and Yogahealer.com. Cate shares her 25-year evolution from environmental activism to pioneering Ayurveda and yoga-based wellness businesses, blending ancient wisdom with modern business strategies. She discusses the power of habit-drive...

In this episode of Founders, Future, with host Ammar Elm, we sit down with Dr. Liza Nicholson, Founder & CEO of Avail Management Services, a healthcare consulting firm transforming how hospitals, nonprofits, and government agencies deliver care. Dr. Nicholson shares her journey from identifying critical gaps in healthcare efficiency to building a global consultancy that now serves clients acro...

In this episode of Founders, Future, with host Ammar Elm, we sit down with Brent E. Long, Founder of Long on Life LLC, a veteran sales coach with 30+ years of transforming underperforming teams into high-achieving leaders. Brent shares his unconventional journey—from a career-ending spinal injury that derailed his football dreams to coaching under Hall of Fame mentors and developing a "servan...

In this episode of Founders, Future , host Jae Encarnacion sits down with Kelly Meerbott , Principal and Trusted Advisor at YOU: Loud and Clear , to explore her incredible entrepreneurial journey. Kelly shares how a sudden corporate layoff led her to discover her passion for coaching, ultimately building a thriving leadership development business. She dives into her core offerings—one-on-one execu...

In this episode of Founders, Future , host Jae Encarnacion sits down with Andrea Lewis , founder and CEO of Human Capital Services , a woman-owned HR consulting firm revolutionizing how small to mid-sized businesses value their employees. Andrea shares her inspiring journey from losing her job to building a thriving business over nearly a decade, emphasizing the importance of vulnerability, adapta...

In this episode of Founders, Future , host Jae Encarnacion sits down with Steve Pirt , co-founder and CEO of Flexwork Fitness , a game-changing platform revolutionizing the fitness industry as the "Airbnb of fitness." Steve shares his 24-year journey from personal trainer to franchise operations leader at UFC Gym, revealing how his frustration with the industry’s limitations for independ...

In this episode of Founders, Future, with host Mishal Saeed, we dive into the inspiring journey of Melanie Koerperich, Founder & CEO of Milrich Virtual Professionals LLC. With over 35 years of experience in business and leadership, Melanie shares how she built a US-based virtual assistance firm that empowers small businesses by handling everything from scheduling to marketing—while also creati...

I n this episode of Founders, Future , with host Mishal Saeed, we dive into the real-world culinary journey of Chef Deb, uncovering how she transformed her passion for food into a thriving multi-venture business. Over two decades, Deb built everything from restaurants and catering companies to a personal chef service and a juice brand. Today, she leverages those hard-earned lessons to coach other...

In this episode of Founders Future , with host Ammar Elm, we sit down with Dhanesh Shelat , Founder and CEO of Leads Champs , a results-driven B2B lead generation and sales automation company. Dhanesh shares his journey from working at global brands like Citibank and L’Oréal to launching his own digital growth agency, blending his expertise in SEO, PPC, and web automation. He discusses the challen...

In this episode of Founders Future , with host Ammar Elm, we sit down with Don Lazzari , President of Delivering Value LLC , a sales performance consulting firm that helps B2B companies scale through disciplined, value-driven strategies. Don shares his remarkable journey from leading a team that grew a company from $250K to $22.5M in just 3.5 years to launching his own boutique consultancy after a...

In this episode of Founders Future , with host Ammar Elm, we sit down with Josh Taylor, Founder and CEO of Product EVO —a product development and sourcing agency that helps entrepreneurs transform ideas into market-ready products. Josh shares his unconventional journey from finance and art to becoming a product development expert, revealing how his blend of analytical and creative skills led him t...