Going Deep with Aaron Watson

Ever wondered what the path to being an Amazon #1 bestseller looks like? Meet Taylor Pearson.   Taylor taught himself Portuguese while working as a freelance Spanish interpreter, then bought a one-way plane ticket to Brazil to teach English. Between teaching classes, he played semi-pro football and built a profitable publishing business selling advertising to kitchen furniture manufacturers.   He...

Dick Zhang is President and CEO of Pittsburgh, PA based Identified Technologies. Dick leads his rapidly growing team’s efforts to deliver real-time job site updates to industrial companies around the world using robotic aerial drones.   Prior to founding Identified Technologies, his previous work included corporate finance at Goldman Sachs and project management at Bristol-Myers Squibb. A technolo...

  Matt Zieger moved to Pittsburgh to join The Forbes Funds in August of 2014 as the Executive-in-Residence for Social Innovation. As a former foundation CEO, small business owner, and long-time economic policy leader Matt has fifteen years of experience bringing together Governors, CEOs, civic leaders, philanthropies, and global innovators to build and advance transformative investments in public...

Sean McComb's rise to thought leadership in the realm of education started decades ago. Growing up outside of Philadelphia, what began as a comfortable childhood was later torn apart by strife. Facing chaos and despair at home, he turned to school as his sanctuary and found inspiration in extraordinary teachers. His experiences compelled him to go into education, and pay forward the gifts that he...

Bobby is the CEO and cofounder of Thrill Mill, Pittsburgh's premier early-stage incubator/accelerator for entrepreneurs looking to turn that great idea into the next big thing. Thrill Mill, a non-profit organization, accepts applications annually, awarding a minimum of $5,000 per startup in exchange for 1% equity. Startups, which come from all industries and all growth models (including non-profit...

Tim DeByl started the Madison Radicals franchise in the AUDL in 2012 and has coached the team to the championship game of the AUDL playoffs twice. He has leveraged his experience running a marketing and design company for  over a decade to make the Radicals one of the marquee teams in professional ultimate.   In episode thirty-nine, Tim and Aaron discuss the expansion of the league, wearing multip...

Dan McCoy was born with Spina Bifida, a birth defect caused by the incomplete formation of vertebrae, and hydrocephalus, a medical condition in which there is an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the brain. He’s never let those conditions stop him from becoming an athlete, though, as he started playing sled hockey at age five and even served as goalie for his high school’s junior varsity lacrosse...

Jennifer is the owner and founder of Blue Ridge Hiking Company. The speed-hiker set a new overall thru-hike record on the 2,181-mile Appalachian Trail by completing it in 46 days, 11 hours, and 20 minutes. It was the quickest recorded completion of the iconic East Coast trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine. Davis began her journey from Mount Katahdin in Maine, the trail’s northern terminus...

Sophia is the CEO and co-founder of Trusst Lingerie, a company that has reengineered the bra for larger-busted women. She left her job as a product manager in August of 2014 to co-found her company and enter the AlphaLab Gear accelerator in Pittsburgh.   Sophia comes on the show and discusses launching her first product, running a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised $80k with just a $25k g...

Barry L. Ritholtz is the founder and chief investment officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management. Launched in 2013, RWM is a financial planning and asset management firm, with over $175 million in assets. The firm offers a variety of services to the investing public, including LiftOff — a low cost online-only investment site.   In addition to running a wealth management and financial planning firm, Rit...

Want to learn about the photography business? What about a creative foundation aimed at empowering women and sharing impactful stories? Meet John Craig.   John has been a photographer for over 25 years and has photographed everything from weddings and portraits to landscape photography and corporate gigs. John likes to keep tons of side projects going to keep the machine oiled and as such has an i...

Scott Wolovich started New Sun Rising to help incubate social enterprises and artists in the greater Pittsburgh area. The organization’s mission is to empower creative projects in the Pittsburgh region through fiscal sponsorship, mentoring, and community building. New Sun Rising ignites, launches, and grows impact throughout the social innovation ecosystem. Their programs operate at the intersecti...

Mark is a partner at a public relations and advertising agency based in Pittsburgh. He helps clients achieve results in a multitude of difficult environments. In episode 30, he talks about running a boutique advertising and public affairs firm that specializes in political campaigns and issue advocacy.   His company was named to on of Inc.’s 1000 fastest growing companies in the country by helping...

Erik Kulick is the owner, founder and chief instructor of the True North Wilderness Survival School. He drew upon his passion for the outdoors and his almost thirty years of teaching experience to found True North in 2011. Growing up as a backpacker and paddler, Erik has taught for regional and national outdoor programs, including the L.L. Bean Outdoor Discovery School. He has spent the last ten y...

Kate and Emily founded Propelle in 2011, with the mission of bringing together the amazing female entrepreneurs in their community and to provide the tools and resources necessary to help women grow and evolve, both personally and professionally. Their business has grown to include a robust newsletter, in-person networking events , a members-only Facebook community , and a monthly Mastermind group...

Henry Thorne serves as a Mentor at AlphaLab Gear. He founded Aethon Inc. in 1997 and served as its President. He co-founded Thorley Industries LLC in 2005 and serves as its Chief Technology Officer. Henry is a mechanical engineer, electrical engineer, graphic user interface designer and computer scientist. He received BS degree in 1982 and MS degree in 1984 from Carnegie-Mellon University. Upon gr...

Evan Lepler is the AUDL’s lead play-by-play announcer for ESPN3. He also calls games for USA Ultimate’s Triple Crown Tour and College Championships. His goal is to introduce more casual sports fans to ultimate, and getting league games broadcast on ESPN3 is a good first step.   Lepler stumbled into ultimate in his first year at Wake Forest University. In his first week on campus, he spotted a flye...

As Director of Research, Michael Batnick spends much of his time reading research publications and keeping abreast of the latest trends in the industry. He assists Barry Ritholtz and Joshua Brown with portfolio management and data analytics and works closely with Kris Venne on the implementation and maintenance of client investments. Michael talks with prospective and current clients about the RWM...

Nathan Chan is the Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Foundr, a digital magazine for entrepreneurs. He launched the magazine in 2013 on Apple Newsstand and the Google Play Store and quickly built it into a 6-figure business. He has interviewed top modern entrepreneurs and business leaders including Sir Richard Branson (Founder of Virgin Group), Barbara Corcoran (Shark Tank) and Tim Ferriss (Author,...

Qxhna Titcomb was born the youngest sibling of a family that loves the sport of ultimate. In 2006, she and her siblings created the ultimate frisbee apparel company Five Ultimate . The company’s mission? To “serve the sport of ultimate”. Over the next decade, Qxhna learned about business, event planning and the culture of her sport while traveling around the world playing ultimate and working at t...

Josh is the founder of Work Hard Pittsburgh formerly The Hardware Store. He is dedicated to making entrepreneurial opportunities available to underserved populations and demographics. Before starting the Work Hard Pittsburgh, Josh ran several startups including Crowdasaurus and AsOne. Josh also taught high school chemistry for over a decade.   Josh’s Challenge; Go to a neighborhood that you don’t...

Episode twenty recaps the launch of the show and the lessons I have learned along the way. Thank you so much for listening! Many more episodes to come.   What I’ve learned Just Do It One of the hardest parts was getting started, I waited weeks to release my first episode after I had completed it Ask the person who your are afraid to contact, they will probably say yes, and if they don’t, you’ll ge...

Ken began playing Ultimate in the summer of 2007 and found leadership opportunity in organizing his high school ultimate club. Attending Kettering University in 2009, Ken quickly worked on establishing a team, pursuing varsity status and full funding granted 2.5 years later. Ken went on to serve as a college regional director, then developmental division director for USA Ultimate and director of o...

Melissa is an NCSA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist  who, through her online business The Ultimate Athlete Project, is on a mission to improve the training techniques of folks in the ultimate frisbee community. With a background degrees in Chemistry and Kinesiology, she is uniquely suited to sort through the sea of available research to find what’s most important, effective, and appl...

Isaac is currently an editor at A Plus, a digital media company co-founded by Ashton Kutcher. The site features stories that make a difference and create positive change that, in less than a year, has reached an audience of approximately 50 million monthly visitors by highlighting social issues, sharing breaking news, and creating original, entertaining content. Isaac and I were teammates on the P...