Growing with Purpose

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with our very first father-son duo. Tony Maione Sr. (henceforth called Senior) is Co-founder and Executive Senior Consultant of Core America , a janitorial and environmental services consulting and software company. Tony Maione, his son, is currently President of Core America, as well as an alum of the Small Giants Le...

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Jean Pitzo, CEO of Ace Metal Crafts , a stainless steel fabrication company. Jean is also a mentor in the Small Giants Sounding Board program.   In the 1980s, Jean’s entrepreneurial father bought a metal fabricating business. And even though her brothers had no interest in joining the family business, Jean leapt...

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Heidi Baumgart, COO of Skidmore Studio , a 65-year-old branding firm.    As an only child growing up in rural Ohio, Heidi observed generations of her family work hard to build their businesses, be it a dairy farm or a home renovation business. She took these values with her through her academic career, and into h...

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Eric Jones, co-owner of Adamantine Spine Moving , a local and long-distance moving company based in Iowa.    Eric didn’t always dream of owning his own moving business. In fact, for a long time he didn’t know where he wanted his career to take him. His prior path stretched from coast to coast of the US, and invol...

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Andrew Barry, founder and CEO of Curious Lion .   Andrew got his start on the accounting side of business at KPMG. But as his passion for learning grew, he embraced his own courage by moving from his home country of South Africa to the United States, where he started his own training services business. Even thoug...

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Jason Fried, co-founder and CEO of 37 Signals , as well as the co-author of several books such as Shape Up and It Doesn’t Have to be Crazy at Work.   As soon as Jason was old enough to work at the age of 13, his parents encouraged him to do so. From a young age, he was able to observe – and learn from – various m...

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Beck Sydow, the Founder of HumanKind Business Leaders , and former CEO of StickerGiant .    Beck’s passion is bringing people-hearted and business-minded leadership beliefs to individuals, teams, and organizations. A self-proclaimed “business geek” as well as a longtime mindfulness practitioner, Beck’s aim is to...

On this mailbag episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Corey Rosen to answer listener questions about the world of employee ownership. Corey is the founder of the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO), a nonprofit membership and research organization that is an authoritative source on broad-based employee ownership plans.    Corey founded NCEO in 1981...

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Carl Erickson, the recently retired Executive Chairman of Atomic Object , a design and development software consultancy he co-founded in 2001. Previously a tenured professor at Grand Valley State University, he enjoyed teaching, but didn’t so much appreciate the affinity in academia for sticking to the status quo...

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Lauren Adams, the Director of Operations at the Center for Financial Planning , a privately held wealth management firm. Lauren has always had a strong work ethic that combines with a passion for working towards a greater good. Even as she pursued education, and then a career, in financials, she wasn’t interested...

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Taylor Vanden Hoek, a delivery lead at Atomic Object , a custom software consultancy. Along with one of her colleagues, Taylor is currently working towards opening and managing Atomic Object’s fourth office, which will be located in Raleigh, NC.  From a young age, Taylor had a love for art, largely thanks to her...

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Devyn Bachman, Vice President of Research at John Burns Real Estate Consulting .  Devyn grew up surrounded by the entrepreneurial spirit. While her parents ran a 20-seat hair salon in Colorado, Devyn grew to love the idea of creating something on your own, but also to respect the relentless hard work that it take...

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Lauren Eckhardt, founder and CEO of Burning Soul Collective .  Lauren grew up in rural Missouri with plenty of space to let her imagination roam. She took a detour from her creativity in college, and began her career in Human Resources roles. And while she enjoyed certain aspects of HR, like identifying and celeb...

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Aaron Montgomery, the CEO of Montgomery Development Group, Co-Founder of CarLotz and author of Suspend Your Disbelief: Short Stories That Are Long On Wisdom .  Aaron grew up in Detroit, raised by his mother, as well as her large family. From them, he learned the value of education and stories, and even got a life...

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Hai Nguyen, Co-Founder and Head of Product at Text-Em-All , an automated call and text company.  For a man with such a calm, even presence, Hai’s life began with a lot of turbulence. When he was very young, and with the fall of Saigon, he and his family fled Vietnam. It was a dangerous journey to get to America,...

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Massimo Backus, Chief Coaching Officer of Massimo Backus Leadership.    Massimo’s path to leadership was not a straightforward one, and was heavily influenced by his struggles with dyslexia growing up. As he says, “that challenge both motivated me and put a chip on my shoulder.”   Despite having a supportive fami...

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Valerie Webster, President of HealthWorks , a Cincinnati based health and well-being company.    When Valerie first stepped into the role of president in a new company, she took it upon herself to meet with every employee for a one-to-one conversation within the first 30 days. For her, trust is one of the most imp...

On this episode of the Growing With Purpose podcast, Paul Spiegelman talks to Eric Rieger, founder and CEO of WEBIT Services , a people-focused IT strategy, service, and support company based in Naperville, IL.    After working for other software companies with poor culture, Eric decided to take matters into his own hands and start his own company. 25 years later, WEBIT Services is a Better Busine...

On this episode of the Growing With Purpose podcast, Paul Spiegelman talks with Andy Fowler, CEO of Nutshell, an all-in-one CRM and email marketing platform based in Ann Arbor, MI.   “My trajectory in life was never to start a business, or even to lead a business,” says Andy. “I was always motivated by my own curiosity and making things, that’s what always made me tick.” This curiosity for learnin...

On this episode of the Growing With Purpose podcast, Paul Spiegelman talks with Kate McCrea, CEO and “Chief Caramel Visionary” of McCrea’s , a quality candy confectioner. Kate is also a longstanding member of the Small Giants Community.  At a glance, Kate’s road may be a very windy one. From being an avid dancer as a child, to training as a scientist and living in places like remote Alaska to cond...

On this episode of the Growing With Purpose podcast, Paul Spiegelman talks with Angela Barbash, CEO of Revalue Investing , a values-based investment advisory firm.  She is also a current participant in the Small Giants Leadership Academy as well as a recipient of our inaugural LIFT scholarship. For Angela, all roads lead to making an impact. Growing up, she observed how her separated parents both...

On this episode of the Growing With Purpose podcast, Paul Spiegelman talks with Mel Gravely, majority owner and CEO of TriVersity Construction. He is also the author of nine books, including his most recent, Dear White Friend . As a self-proclaimed product of Affirmative Action, from an early age Mel understood not only that his presence as a black man in professional settings was met with negativ...

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Conni Reed, founder and CEO of Consuela. Starting with a computer science degree, Conni had a steady career in the corporate tech world. But she was feeling uninspired, unhappy, and, in her own words, “I was pretty much just un.” After a self-proclaimed “early mid-life crisis at 35,” she left her job to start her...

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Drew Patrick, owner and CEO of Skidmore Studio in Detroit, Michigan. In March 2020, Drew also founded Michigan Fields , an online specialty market that delivers the best of Michigan food and beverage directly to Metro Detroit homes.   Drew's story is one of passion, resilience, and a feeling that all entrepreneurs...

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Sabrina White, Head of People & Customer Experience at Text-Em-All , and Leslie DeMent, Managing Director at Tailwind . Sabrina and Leslie are graduates of the Small Giants Leadership Academy who found lifelong friendship in one another and with the other leaders in their class.   On this episode, Paul sits down w...