Gratitude Through Hard Times

Seek the stress. Scale with soul. Embrace your uniqueness. These are just a few of the pearls of wisdom flying fast and furious when Christina Luconi, Chief People Officer at  Rapid7 , visits with Host Chris Schembra on this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times. Her self-awareness, strength and positive vision have not only been central to building out staff for some amazing startup companies (...

Core values take center stage on this heartfelt episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times, featuring a highly successful entrepreneur whose accomplishments reflect his commitment to creating human connection. Rich Balot, CEO at  Victra (the largest authorized retailer of Verizon products in the nation), is all about fostering innovation, collaboration and integrity – at home, on the job and in his c...

Are you all in? Our guest, Valeria Torres, wants to know! As Director of Operations & Strategic Consulting at 8 Figure Firm – a fast-growing Atlanta-based provider of professional services for law firms – she is sharing with Host Chris Schembra the key ingredients for leadership success on this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times. A research maven, Valeria explains the value in personality ass...

We’re shining a light on the difference between luck and blessings when Patty Arvielo, co-founder & CEO of New American Funding, joins host Chris Schembra on this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times. Running the largest Latina-owned mortgage company in the U.S. while nurturing a network of younger women coming up behind her, Patty is all about leaning into humanness. She shares the many ways i...

Are you ready to awaken your greatness? On this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times we learn why Darleen Santore – known affectionately as “Coach Dar” – is all about cultivating self-awareness and clarity – not tomorrow, but today! A bestselling author, she mentors professional athletes at the peak of their careers as well as C-suite leaders across a spectrum of Fortune 500 companies. Host Chr...

Welcome to another insightful episode of 'Gratitude Through Hard Times,' where we explore the profound impact of emotional intelligence in leadership and its role in fostering meaningful connections within the workplace. I'm thrilled to introduce our esteemed guest today, Cinzia Beretta, a true trailblazer in the world of global communications and people operations. With over two decades of experi...

Welcome Back to Gratitude Through Hard Times! You’ll learn on this episode how one of the nation’s insurance leaders is fueled by authenticity and vulnerability, superpowers available to all of us if we’re brave enough to go there. In the case of our guest, Heath Ritenour, a bout with cancer proved an opportunity to drop the corporate mask in favor of prioritizing human connection among the 1,500...

If you haven’t been part of the conversation about Human Resources and its impacts on workplace cultures and society at large, then you need to check out  Hacking HR , a global community of 350k+ members invested in transforming the way we live. Founder Enrique Rubio joins Host Chris Schembra on this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times for a blunt exploration of what it means to demonstrate hu...

Are you tired of constantly comparing yourself to others? Do you feel like you're not measuring up to society's standards of success? In this episode of "Gratitude Through Hard Times," host Chris Schembra interviews Shauna Schwartz, author of "How to Stop Caring What Others Think for Real," about the concept of internal success. Shauna explains how internal success differs from external success fa...

In the world of marketing, customer advocacy has moved in recent years from a piecemeal hit-or-miss effort to a scalable discipline and Ari Hoffman is at the forefront. Vice President of Customer Marketing & Advocacy at Influitive, he shares his powerful framework on this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times with Host Chris Schembra. It’s all about building authentic community and loyalty to yo...

Get ready for fascinating and relevant insights on this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times, featuring Jim Harter, PhD, Gallup’s Chief Scientist of Workplace Management and Wellbeing. He’s sharing with Host Chris Schembra all the eye-opening research and analysis behind his latest book (co-authored with Jim Clifton of the Clifton Strengths Assessment), "Culture Shock: An unstoppable force has...

On this very special episode Gratitude Through Hard Times, Host Chris Schembra and his guest, Drahomíra Mandikova, celebrate meaningful connection and its power to generate profitable solutions not just for shareholders but the world at large. Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Asahi Europe & International, “Drahus” (as she is known to friends) shares with us the unique North Star principles that...

You’ve got the business, the car, the boat, the house. You’re blessed with a great family, friends, access to more than your wildest dreams. But something is missing. Something is gnawing at you. If this sounds familiar, you may be in need of “soul fulfillment,” which is what Host Chris Schembra’s guest on this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times has provided thousands of people. At his Rythmi...

These are bumpy times economically and for many of us it’s a period of professional redefinition. What path are we on and is it the career we truly desire? How can we best showcase our skill sets and the value-add we bring? Host Chris Schembra’s guest on this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times has a methodology that focuses on these questions and much more. Loren Greiff, Founder & President a...

This episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times issues an unmistakable call to action: Join the crusade for workplace openness and compassion! Host Chris Schembra’s guest, Geoff McDonald, is explaining the business and moral case for making mental health integral to our corporate cultures. Why? Because beyond fostering top performance and competitive advantage, it saves lives. As a keynote speaker an...

Have you transcended the transactional? Host Chris Schembra’s guest on this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times embodies the abundance that flows from giving without the constant expectation of receiving in return. Galen Hair, a highly successful plaintiff’s attorney, speaker, author and podcaster, has built his practice around a purpose-driven approach to both law and service. The outcome? Pr...

Do you know your four key quadrants and how to bring them into balance? On this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times, Host Chris Schembra welcomes back best-selling author Robert Glazer, who is taking us inside his Elevate framework. As the founder of Acceleration Partners, he and his team provide clients a unique framework through which to optimize the core capacities foundational for healthy,...

Dear You! On this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times an immigration activist and legal powerhouse teaches us how to write letters to the selves we intend to become. Hillary Walsh, President and Founder of New Frontier Immigration Law, explains how this simple tool can help us determine – and then manifest – the things we want to be, do and have. It starts with articulating a vision – then ide...

What is it about building wealth that is so fraught? As we learn on this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times, our relationships with money are deeply rooted in narratives that map back to our childhoods and often are mired in confusion or trauma. Lifting the veil on our complex dance with financial planning, respected industry leader Jamie Hopkins, Managing Partner of Wealth Solutions at the ...

As Host Chris Schembra reminds us at the close of this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times, it’s never too late to learn something new – IF we’re willing to take a pause, step back and offer ourselves grace. And few people embody this practice more vividly than his guest, Allison Hare, who is redefining what it looks like to be a so-called late bloomer. As the host of “Late Learner,” a popular...

Passionate. Smart. Honest. Nice. These may not be your typically hard-charging business terms but for Chris Jackson, President at Stream Realty, they are bywords for long-term growth and success. As Host Chris Schembra’s guest on this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times explains, the commercial real estate powerhouse has long prioritized a human-centric approach – with amazing results! Chris s...

As Chris Schembra’s guest on this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times demonstrates every day, bringing an attitude of gratitude to the sales process fosters the kinds of quality relationships that are foundational to long-term success. Alex Ridder, VP for Global Accounts at The Adecco Group in Switzerland, has helped make the $20 billion-a-year global recruitment company the powerhouse that it...

What if everyone’s overarching go-to-market strategy were kindness? Well, for Host Chris Schembra’s guest on this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times, it’s a concept that has been central to building a $200 million company. CEO Sam Jacobs launched Pavilion, his membership-based leadership community, after coming to a deep understanding of something very basic: We start to gain when we learn to...

This episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times features Josh Golden, CMO at the marketing powerhouse Quad, who is unpacking his special brand of digital marketing and communications magic. It’s no coincidence that he has blazed a trail by making transformational inroads at legacy companies like Xerox, Ad Age and NBC Universal. As he explains to Host Chris Schembra, Josh believes “when you connect pe...

Even though he ran the sprint as a member of the track team at Cornell, Chris Schembra’s guest on this episode of Gratitude Through Hard Times looks at life as a marathon. Steven Izen, the hugely successful entrepreneur behind Lokai bracelets with meaning and plant-powered Elements Drinks, shares insights into how he has taken a personal obstacle (dyslexia) and leveraged it as a superpower and why...