Gritty Leadership

Joe Myers is the president and partner at Lighthouse Transportation Services, an asset-based freight brokerage headquartered in Covington, Kentucky that has been in business since 1987. Joe grew up in a trucking family, and though he never planned on entering the industry himself, he fell into a dispatcher role through his brother-in-law and never looked back. He spent his first five years out in...

Mike Bangasser is the owner of Best Technology, a Minnesota-based company that designs and manufactures fully custom surface finishing equipment and chemicals for highly regulated industries like medical devices and aerospace. His background in mechanical engineering, including early career work at Boston Scientific designing laser processes for pacemakers and stents, gave him a front-row seat to...

Steven Adams is the kind of leader who makes you want to quit your job and go work for him. As President and CEO of MKS Pipe and Valve, a Kansas City industrial distribution powerhouse that's been running since 1946, Steve took a leap of faith in 2010, trading the corporate finance world for a family business and never looked back. Under his watch, MKS has grown, evolved, and recently expanded wit...

“From World Record Speed to Next-Gen Drones: The Gritty Journey of Damjan Zabovnik” What do you get when you cross a speed-obsessed world record cyclist, a love for hands-on engineering, and a bold vision for the future of aviation? Meet Damjan Zabovnik: Slovenian-born inventor, record-setting cyclist, and now the CEO and co-founder of Eivie Corporation, a Silicon Valley startup taking on the vert...

From escaping the former Soviet Union to helping build an 80-person clean energy company, Les Bosnich brings a rare mix of grit, brilliance, and humanity to leadership. In this episode, Les shares how his immigrant story fuels his entrepreneurial spirit, why culture beats perks, and how "growing into bankruptcy" nearly crushed his last venture. We talk about hiring for potential (not perfection),...

Bill Gleason, third-generation owner of Gleason Printing, joins us to talk about running a modern print shop in a digital world. From offset presses to personalized mailers, Bill breaks down what it takes to stay relevant, competitive, and profitable in a traditionally gritty industry. He shares lessons in leadership, smart risk-taking, why “staying in your lane” is a survival strategy, and how pr...

Christine Frank doesn’t just lead in a gritty industry—she owns one. In this episode, Christine shares her unconventional journey from fluid power tech to engineer and business owner, navigating global industrial automation, cybersecurity, and the challenge of being a woman in steel-toed industries. We talk about the importance of building trust, showing up, asking good questions—and yes, how not...