Leadmore Podcast

Leaders can take the world by surprise. Fomeno founder and CEO Brigit Blote is certainly one of them. She’s a 21-year-old D1 athlete who plays in the symphony, and she’s building a company. In episode 47, Brigit joins host John T. Meyer to discuss her company’s origin story, how she met her co-founders, and how they beat the competition in 121 countries to earn $100,000 in seed funding from the Hu...

When it comes to milestone decisions such as accepting a promotion, selling your company, and starting a new company, Aaron Weiche is an expert. He’s done it a few times over the past decade. In this episode, Aaron and host John T. Meyer distill lessons from Aaron’s ascent to leadership, his story of selling a bootstrapped SaaS startup, and his newest role as Co-founder and CEO of Leadferno. Aaron...

How do we make a successful transition in leadership? In this episode, David Whitesock, founder of Commonly Well, and host John T. Meyer look to the nation’s transitions of power and apply historical context to the transitions we make in our careers. The origin of the idea of a peaceful transition of power [03:34]How much of this is timing? [14:18]Good leaders look beyond the target [18:39]You hav...

Leaders may be familiar with the terms diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as they dominated corporate talking points and headlines following the events of 2020. But where does the rubber meet the road and how do we push the needle in DEI efforts? As the Director of Employee Development and Engagement at Olive, Chase McCants says it begins with acceptance. He'd be the first to tell you he's not...

Leaders often give everything they have to their team and their cause. But who takes care of the leaders? That’s exactly what the Reverend Jen Bailey and her team at Faith Matters Network are working to do. Jen is an accomplished leader with a lot of wisdom to offer. In this episode, Jen shares her insights about what leaders need most, what faith looks like after the pandemic, and reflections nea...

Wes Eisenhauer loves to create. He's a photographer, musician, chef, and entrepreneur—a true modern-day creator. While Wes makes his living creating things, that's not why he does it. He creates out of a need to explore and a passion for making things. His work has been featured in National Geographic, on the front page of Reddit, and with NASA. In this episode, John talks with Wes about how Wes c...

In sickness and in health, through good times and bad… We make these vows on our wedding day, but you can never really know how extreme the good and bad might be. Chris Maxwell and Molly Weisgram have been together through truly tough challenges during Chris’s battle with Guillain–Barré syndrome. At its worst, Chris was paralyzed to the point that he couldn’t blink. What impact does this have on a...

What’s going on inside the brain of a leader? What makes leaders want to lead? Dr. Sarah Bridges is searching for those answers. Sarah is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, former Fortune 500 executive, and mother of four. In this episode, John and Sarah discuss the neuropsychology of leadership, whether leaders are born or made, and the importance of adopting a growth mindset.-----Connect with Joh...

Natalie Eisenberg never planned to become CEO of Click Rain, but she remembers the exact moment she realized it would become part of her leadership journey. After three years of leading the 40-person digital marketing agency, she now faces a new challenge: integrating the team at Lemonly (that’s us!), which Click Rain recently acquired. In this episode, John and Natalie unpack the entire acquisiti...

The world’s top athletes optimize every area of their life—diet, exercise, recovery, and even sleep—so why shouldn’t leaders? In this episode, John talks with Nick Seguin from Rise Science, a company using the science of sleep to help high-performing professionals, salespeople, leaders, and people of all kinds unlock their full potential. Nick explains the power of sleep, factors that make the dif...

Alex Guggenberger keeps a note in his wallet as a daily reminder of his next big goal. That drive and focus helped him start a company from his college dorm room. Now a few years into his career, Alex has realized he can learn more inside a company than by building his own from scratch. He made the transition from founder to employee and has relished every moment of it. Young leaders looking to di...

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a catalyst for change in nearly every industry, and higher education is no exception. In this episode recorded live on Clubhouse, John sits down with his brother and original “bro-founder,” Scott Meyer, who co-founded their first company in 2009. Scott is the executive director of North Dakota State University’s NICE Center for entrepreneurship. The Meyer brothers ta...

Many of our most treasured memories are made around the dinner table. From the highs of a birthday party to the lows of a funeral, food builds community. Mike Haskett sought to create that type of community when he opened his restaurant, M.B. Haskett’s Delicatessen. He’s passionate about food and its role in our society. In this episode, Mike shares the impact food has had on his own life, the cha...

We’re nearly a month into 2021, and it’s clear the craziness of 2020 isn’t going anywhere soon. During times of uncertainty, we need bold leaders to rise to the occasion—to be strong beacons of hope, resilience, and resolve to accomplish great things in the face of great challenges. In this solo episode, John breaks down the four most important traits every leader needs in 2021.-----Connect with J...

Ben Hanten has never been concerned with being comfortable. He dropped out of college and walked away from a top academic scholarship. At 19, he started a free newspaper in a state he’d never lived in. At 23, he opened a beer- and wine-only bar. Today, Ben has even bigger ambitions for both his business and his town, Yankton, South Dakota. Ben has been focused on building community in all his proj...

Heather Zweifel loves doing hard work. While in college, she worked full-time to help pay her bills, which led to a leadership role where she was in charge of an underperforming team with low expectations. Her career has brought her through the tech and finance industries, and she now works as a consultant helping to maximize your team’s potential. In this episode, we discuss how leaders can motiv...

Jennifer Jacobs will always tell it to you straight. As a college volleyball coach, she’s created a culture of open communication and transparency with her team that has translated to success on and off the court. In this episode, Coach Jacobs shares what it’s like to lead a team through a pandemic, her thoughts on children specializing in one sport, and how the Black Lives Matter movement inspire...

What have we learned from 2020? How will we use this knowledge to become better leaders in 2021 and beyond? In the last episode of 2020, we ask several past guests of the Leadmore Podcast one question: What is your hope for leaders in 2021? Hear replies from several great leaders as well John’s hopes for the year ahead. We'll toast goodbye to 2020 and look forward to inspiring leaders in 2021.---C...

The idea of home was always evolving for Benya Kraus. She grew up in Bangkok and rural Minnesota, and after attending school on the east coast, realized the big city wasn’t where she belonged. Benya knew there was work to be done back in rural Minnesota, and today, she is a co-founder of Lead for America, a nonprofit working to inspire dynamic, diverse leaders to return home and tackle small commu...

Dr. Ben Meyerink started his career as a physician in the middle of a global pandemic. After completing his residency at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, Ben moved home to South Dakota to work as a family physician at Avera Health. Dr. Ben cares deeply about his patients and the role of doctors in their communities. In this episode, Ben describes what a day looks like at a hospital during the COVID-1...

Sarah Carnes moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to become a partner in a digital marketing startup. A few years later, the two co-founders were gone, and she became CEO, leading a team of 14 employees. In this episode, Sarah discusses how to keep the best parts of an organization alive while making your own mark, the importance of setting expectations with your team and clients, and how growing u...

There are many ways to build a business, and Matt Paulson has always done it his own way. Marketbeat began as an email newsletter while Matt was in college and today is a $10 million financial news media company with only nine employees. Matt learned in college what kind of job he wanted—and which kind he didn’t—so he started a small business in his dorm room. Now, he has his sights set on becomin...

In the first solo episode of Leadmore, host John T. Meyer describes the 5 senses of leadership. He shares a personal story for each sense (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch) as they relate to the leadership journey. Throughout this episode, John reflects on insights shared in the first 24 episodes of the Leadmore podcast. This is a special gratitude edition of the Leadmore Podcast— we hope you enj...

Jen Ford Reedy described herself as a “do-gooder” from early childhood, but she never knew where to focus her desire to help. Today she spends her time thinking about how to merge the worlds of philanthropy, business, and government as president of the Bush Foundation. In this episode, Jen shares the origin story of the Bush Foundation, her take on whether foundations should be ongoing or terminal...

Brandon Zhang will never stop learning. In just the past six months, he’s launched a podcast, grown his Twitter following to nearly 10K, and landed a high-profile apprenticeship—all during his first semester at Columbia. Brandon is just 19, but he has plenty of lessons to share with leaders young and old. In this episode, we discuss what it means to have a student mindset, what it’s like going to...