Long Shot Leaders with Michael Stein

August Biniaz is the Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of CPI Capital, a real estate private equity firm focused on acquiring and managing multifamily investment properties. In his role, he leads the company's investment strategy, oversees acquisitions and asset management, and works closely with investors to identify opportunities that preserve and grow capital. Through disciplined underwri...

Justin Brennan is the CEO and Founder of The Brennan Pohle Group , a private multifamily real estate investment firm focused on apartment acquisition, underwriting, construction, and development across key U.S. markets. He leads strategic real estate projects designed to maximize long-term cash flow and investor returns by combining disciplined underwriting with value-add execution. With deep root...

Matt Melvin is the author of Bullied Behind Bars and a speaker who shares hard-earned lessons about accountability, resilience, and the human cost of the justice system. Raised feeling like an outsider, Matthew struggled to find belonging from an early age. As a young adult working at a car dealership in Vermont, a single impulsive decision—made while feeling wronged and unheard—led to a criminal...

Eddie Speed is a nationally recognized note-investing educator and the founder of NoteSchool , one of the leading training platforms for buying and selling mortgage notes. With decades of experience in the note business, Eddie has been involved in tens of thousands of note transactions, giving him rare, real-world insight into how the industry actually works. Rather than focusing on theory, his ap...

Dan Sullivan is the founder of MatchShot , a platform designed to simplify and modernize the way athletes connect with coaches and opportunities. With firsthand experience in the challenges of sports recruiting, Dan built Matchshot to remove friction from the process and create clearer pathways for athletes to be seen, evaluated, and matched with the right programs. His work focuses on transparenc...

With a lifetime of experience in the pet industry, Michael is a business executive who is passionate about creating and growing brands that make a positive impact on the lives of pets and their owners. As the CEO & Chairman of EarthWise Pet Franchise, he oversees the development of the corporate vision and the nationwide expansion efforts of all of their EarthWise Pet family of brands. Michael's c...

Rick is an exceptional business coach with a remarkable track record of guiding companies and individuals to unparalleled success. With his extensive and eclectic business experience and coaching expertise, Rick empowers his clients to turn their visions into actionable strategies, propelling them towards their goals and milestones. As a serial entrepreneur, Rick has scaled businesses across vario...

Athena Brownson is redefining what it means to thrive in the real estate industry. A former professional skier who endured nine knee surgeries and two neck operations.   Athena's initial impression of real estate was far from positive, viewing REALTORS as dime-a-dozen salespeople. But a life-changing mentorship and her own unstoppable drive transformed her skepticism into passion.   Over the last...

Pav Lertjitbanjong is the founder of Layoff Ready , a program that helps people prepare for job loss before it happens. She guides professionals in building financial security, confidence, and peace of mind so they can face change without fear.   After experiencing major shifts in her own career and life, Pav saw the importance of being prepared. She turned these lessons into a mission to help oth...

John Dwyer started his career in the retail marketing world, working with major brands and becoming a National Marketing Manager in his twenties. He later launched his own agency, where he built a name for creating bold, direct-response campaigns that delivered serious results. He's now the founder of The Institute of Wow , best known for developing the Wow Strategy, a proven formula that helps bu...

Jack Landry is a former Division I athlete and software engineer turned men's mindset and fitness coach. After working at companies like Fidelity and Amazon, he left the corporate world to pursue a more meaningful path—helping high-achieving men who feel unfulfilled create lives of purpose, discipline, and freedom. ⁣ Drawing from his own transformation through fitness, faith, and personal developm...

Amanda Olusanya is a conscious entrepreneur, speaker, and global traveler originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota, now based in Vietnam. Her journey—from growing up with a single mother to selling everything at 40 and moving to Uganda—reflects a life shaped by curiosity, courage, and a deep desire for meaning. ⁣ With 15+ years of global travel under her belt, Amanda has built and exited multiple bu...

Ricardo Viso is a resilience coach, speaker, and founder of the Joyful Living Lounge, a platform dedicated to helping people cultivate more joy in their daily lives. Born in Denver and raised in Mexico, Viso's life took a transformative turn after the loss of his mother at age 10, and again decades later with a cancer diagnosis. Instead of surrendering to fear, he chose to reframe his challenges i...

Dr. Julie Wilson is a family physician and visionary healthcare entrepreneur based in British Columbia. Originally focused on building a small, traditional clinic, she was propelled into large-scale innovation during the COVID-19 pandemic. ⁣ Faced with soaring patient demand and systemic challenges, Julie transformed her practice by prioritizing workplace culture, doctor autonomy, and people-cente...

Mitchell Osmond is a leadership coach, speaker, and host of The Dad Nation Podcast (34K monthly listeners), helping high-performing men win at home, in health, and in mindset—without sacrificing career success. ⁣ With over 15 years in senior leadership, he equips executives and entrepreneurs with the tools to lead powerfully in both business and family life. ⁣ Through coaching, speaking, and cours...

Jason Norris is the founder of YCAA, a boutique talent agency known for its hands-on, mentorship-driven approach to actor representation. Originally from Montreal and now based in Toronto, Jason began his career in advertising, crafting TV commercials for major brands. ⁣ Inspired by his daughter's brief foray into acting and disillusioned by the impersonal nature of traditional talent agencies, he...

Al Kushner is a LinkedIn strategist and AI enthusiast with a background in sales, marketing, and entrepreneurship. Originally from Coney Island, Brooklyn, he studied at the High School of Art and Design and NYU before starting his career in telephone sales. ⁣ Al has been an early adopter of digital tools, leveraging LinkedIn since 2005 to build meaningful professional connections, especially withi...

Chris Mirabile's journey into health and longevity began with a preteen's desire to impress girls during school fitness tests—but quickly evolved into something deeper. By age 12, Chris was reading Men's Health, refining his diet, and obsessing over performance, though he later realized much of his early approach to health was misguided. At 16, his life took a dramatic turn when he suffered a seiz...

G. Michael Hopf is a USA Today bestselling author and Marine Corps veteran whose diverse life experiences—ranging from combat service to work as a bodyguard and commercial diver—fuel his gripping post-apocalyptic and Western fiction. ⁣ Best known for The New World series, Hopf draws on themes of survival, resilience, and human nature, crafting stories that both entertain and inspire. ⁣ Now based i...

Joseph Steinberg is a leading cybersecurity expert who has worked in the field since its early days, tracing his journey back to the pre-commercial internet of the 1980s and 90s. With a strong technical foundation and a master's degree from NYU, he began his career in the mid-1990s, integrating security systems for financial institutions before moving into startups, writing, consulting, and eventu...

Bert Terhart is an adventurer, sailor, and lifelong explorer who currently resides on a smaller island off Vancouver Island, Canada, a place with a surprisingly large population of 750,000. Originally from the prairies of Canada near Fargo, North Dakota, Bert grew up in a small, hardworking oil town, shaped by cold landscapes and a strong sense of community. His Dutch heritage, with a family backg...

Matt Leta is a Polish-born entrepreneur, digital artist, and AI innovator. A gifted but rebellious student, he discovered his passion for coding at age 10 and later explored architecture and music. At 19, he founded Dropper, a mobile-first platform for artists, which grew to 250,000 users before securing seven-figure funding and moving to California. ⁣ Anticipating the remote work revolution, Matt...

Robert Jordan, raised in a small village in Upstate New York, grew up in a hardworking, blue-collar family with strong community ties. After high school, he farmed cattle for nine years before earning a degree from SUNY Albany. Inspired by the 1993 World Trade Center attack, he joined the Navy at age 34, intending to serve briefly before law school but instead committed to a long military career....

Amanda Pichardo is a beauty entrepreneur and inspiring storyteller who has transformed adversity into success. Overcoming a childhood marked by severe abuse in New York, she was removed from her home at age eight and later emancipated at 18, forcing her to navigate adulthood on her own. ⁣ Determined to build a better future, she worked various jobs before dedicating herself to the beauty industry,...

Jay Conner is a real estate investor, speaker, and author specializing in private money lending. Raised in Eastern North Carolina, he grew up in the mobile home industry, working alongside his father, who was once the largest mobile home retailer in the U.S. After the market collapsed in the early 2000s, Jay pivoted to flipping single-family homes, eventually averaging two to three deals per month...