Profiles in Leadership

Julie Huffaker is a breathe of fresh air bringing passion and hope to leadership and life.  She is a social scientist fascinated by how people come together in groups and outperform themselves.   She has more than 25 years' experience helping organizations deliberately evolve leadership, culture, strategy and capacity.  She has a PhD in Organizational Leadership and Change, a MA in Human Developme...

This is the second episode of reviewing "Pearls of Wisdom" from interviews over the last couple of months.  This will be released one month into the COVID 19 Pandemic crisis we are in  not only as a nation but as part of the world.  Businesses are struggling, many are closed and people are getting anxious and frustrated with being at home to support the Stay at Home and Shelter in Place the nation...

Imagine being the first at something?  Dr. Darlene Iskra was the first woman Commander of a ship in the US Navy!  She served in the US Navy for 21 years..  She was also one of the first woman officers to serve as a Diving Officer and she served on four different ships before taking command of the Rescue and Savage ship USS Opportune during Operation Desert Shield/Storm in December 1990. She has a...

Covid 19 pandemic has brought businesses to crisis mode.  Leadership has never been more important.  This episode brings 6 different people from the trenches with boots on the ground navigating this uncharted territory day by day.  People need to hear facts and know the truth as everyone tries to figure out how to manage the next few weeks and likely months.  No one knows the answer but Leaders ha...

Tyler Ott is the long snapper for the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL.  He has played for the team for 3 years and has a contract through the 2022 season.  He is a graduate of Harvard University where he won two Ivy League Championships and graduated with a degree in Economics and a minor in Environmental Science and Public Policy.   He shares his theory on leadership and has experience with 5 differe...

Michele Heffron has over 30 years experience as an executive leader most recently in philanthropic non-profit organizations.  Currently she is the executive director in the Pacific Northwest for One Love Foundation.  One Love is the nation's leading educator of young people on the topic of healthy and unhealthy relationships.  She also serves on the National Leadership Team for the One Love Founda...

Cherie Baker was the Deputy Chief of Police of Bellevue, Washington. She was a member of the police department from 1978-2013. Her position in leadership was to lead a department of 224 employees. She begun her career as a patrol officer and moved up to become a Police Lieutenant, then a police Captain, a Police Major, and eventually a Deputy Chief of Police. She has been a hostage negotiator for...

Isabelle Nussli is a seasoned senior executive who lives in Switzerland.  She is the current Chairperson at Responsible Leadership AG.  She is a leadership and life coach and the author of "Cockfighting: Solving the Mystery of Unconscious Sabotage at the Top of the Corporate Pyramid." She has an executive Masters in Coaching and International Business Law.  She also holds an MBA degree from the Ke...

Marc Berejka is the government affairs Director and community affairs Director at REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.)  REI is a national outdoor retail cooperative with over 16 million members and annual sales exceeding $2.5 billion.  The co-op's mission is to "inspire, educate and outfit people for a lifetime of outdoor adventure and stewardship."   He has worked as an executive at Microsoft, was a...

Pearls of Wisdom summaries will be released as episodes periodically to highlight insightful points made by guests of Profiles in Leadership.  The goal is to choose impactful themes and use exerts from the interviews to dig deeper into leadership strategies and philosophies.  This is the first such episode with more to follow. 

Nancy Reese is an advocate for infusing leadership training into Physical Therapy education.  These students have had be such achievers their whole lives to be qualified to get into school and now that they have made it they struggle to change their mindset from achieving steps to success to long term leadership and clinical development through practice, failure and learning over a long period of...

Ed (Eddie) Anderson was a professional baseball player in the 1950's. He graduated from the University of Montana as one of the most decorated and talented athletes in its history. He is in the University of Montana Grizzly Hall of Fame. Ed was signed by the New York Yankees. After his first year as a professional he was given a high draft notice which forced him into enlisting in the Air Force. H...

Kelly Starrett is an innovator, status quo disruptor, and movement expert.  He has worked with the elite forces of the military, Olympic athletes, Tour de France cyclists, athletes from the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB.  He also works with police departments, school districts, Silicon Valley companies and everyday people.  Through movement we can improve our lives both physically and mentally and live ha...

David McHenry is a physical therapist and strength coach for NIKE.  He has trained Mo Farah, Galen Rupp and Matthew Centrowitz just name a few.  He has worked with the most elite runners in the world who have had multiple Olympic and World Championship medals.  David is a Shareholder and Director in Therapeutic Associates the largest privately owned physical therapy company in the nation.  He live...

Nicole Stout is a nationally and internationally know advocate and leader in Oncology Rehabilitation and disease management. Just feel the passion and tenacity when she describes what he passion is and how she hopes her legacy makes a difference in how we view cancer and how we fight for cures and treatments that enables positive productive lives for survivors. As a scientist and a clinical physic...

T. R. Reid has become one of the nation's best-known reporters through his books and articles, his documentary films, his reporting for the Washington Post, and his light-hearted commentaries on NPR's Morning Edition. T. R. Reid majored in Classics at Princeton University and subsequently worked as a Naval officer during the Vietnam War, a lawyer, a teacher, and assorted other jobs. At The Washing...

Pepper Burruss spent 42 1/2 years in the NFL as a Physical Therapist/Athletic Trainer. He has 2 Super Bowl rings and decades of stories and memories with some of the most acclaimed athletes in professional football history. He shares insights on his journey and lessons in leadership and how he views his career now that he is retired as of July 2019.

Dave Chase has been called a Hope Merchant. He has taken his experience of a high level Microsoft Executive and an CEO of a startup he sold to WebMD and has been on a crusade to expose how broken the US healthcare system is. He feels it has all but crippled the middle class in America and if we don't get it under control it will consume over 50% of the income of Millennials and future generations....

Larry Benz is the President and CEO of Confluent Health. He has over 35 years experience in growing physical therapy and healthcare companies with a focus on developing the best clinicians and leaders in the profession. Larry served in the US Army as a Captain in the Army Medical Specialists Corps and received the Meritorious Service Medal. He was in the mountains of Colorado in a cabin in the woo...

Image you have reached most of your professional goals, you've done most things right and you are ready to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Then a routine MD visit delivers you news that will change your life. Stage IV pancreatic cancer is a devastating challenge to overcome and conquer, yet you must stay positive and not only fight the fight but support those who love you. Listen to how this loved...

Every profession needs innovators. Those who have ideas and have been told they that can't do that they forge on and create new ways of doing things. Mike Eisenhart looks at the physical therapy profession from a 30,000 foot visionary view and sees PT's contributing so much more than just injury rehab. He feels physical therapy is positioned perfectly to change the lives of the greater population...

Most agree we learn more from our failures than our successes. What if your failure is so catastrophic that you lose the 150 year old family business worth $2.25 Billion! This is exactly what happened to Warwick Fairfax at age 29! How do you recover from that and find meaning and purpose in the ashes left behind. Listen to this fascinating story of growing up with wealth and celebrity and losing i...

Mia Gonzales Dean is a healthcare executive and a physical therapist. She has lead a division in the Penn Medicine system that was the size of a company on its own. This department had a budget of $67 Million and 700+ employees. She now is an executive with Sodexo. Hear her journey through healthcare and her people first style of leadership.

Dr. Anthony Delitto is the Dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. He has co-authored over 120 peer-reviewed research papers and is an icon in the research and orthopedic sections in APTA.

Lisa Saladin is an impressive leader who has risen to the position of Provost at the Medical University of South Carolina. She is regarded by many in the American Physical Therapy Association as one of the best leaders in the organizations history. She is the epitome of class and a leader to celebrate and emulate.