Shakin' Hands

Jeff Howard and BJ Bales bring the kind of conversation that feels part comedy set, part Hollywood war story, and part masterclass in creative survival. The two comedians and actors break down how they met through indie films in LA, what it actually takes to stay in the entertainment game, and why talent alone is never enough without proximity, persistence, and the right people around you. They al...

Harvardseye brings a raw, funny, and unique perspective to this conversation, unpacking how comedy became both his outlet and his vehicle. What starts as a conversation about skits and viral content turns into something bigger: a real look at Boston’s cultural divide, the city’s creative ceiling, and his mission to bridge both through humor. He talks about growing up in Dorchester, finding comedy...

Coady Cline sits down with Jack to unpack the mindset behind a life built on sales, access, relationships, and relentless competitiveness. From becoming a force in Boston nightlife through TheVIPHost to building in solar recruiting and premium suite experiences, Coady explains how reading people, handling rejection, and staying in motion became his real unfair advantage. The conversation moves thr...

Brandon Gadles joins Jack for a conversation that goes far beyond hemp. What starts as a raw discussion on accountability and victimhood quickly turns into a sharp breakdown of toxic employees, business lawsuits, leverage, and the kind of mindset it takes to protect what you’re building. Brandon also shares how watching CBD and THC products help his mother through cancer treatment became the catal...

Madi Beumee joins Shakin’ Hands for a conversation that feels just as much about identity and confidence as it does content and business. What makes this episode hit is the way she strips away the shiny side of social media and gets honest about what it really takes to build something with substance, staying power, and intention. There’s a real throughline around visibility — not just being seen o...

In this episode, Jack sits down with Diego Andres of Smart Boston for a conversation centered on money, mindset, and the power of human connection. Diego breaks down how Smart Boston is using street interviews and real conversations to understand how Gen Z thinks about wealth, relationships, confidence, and personal responsibility. He shares why he believes proximity, curiosity, and the willingnes...

Cait Brumme, CEO of MassChallenge, joins Jack for a sharp conversation on what founders actually need beyond funding: grit, customer proximity, the right network, and the ability to commercialize in hard markets. Drawing on her background across impact investing and Harvard Business School, Cait breaks down why MassChallenge is built to help early-stage companies get to real traction, not just bet...

WBZ NewsRadio reporter, producer, and on-camera personality Matt Shearer joins Jack Moran to break down what it takes to turn everyday local moments into stories people actually care about. Matt shares how his early love of radio shaped the way he communicates today, treating the audience like a friend in the passenger seat, not a crowd he has to “perform” for. He unpacks the core storytelling pri...

Jamie McKay, a Massachusetts self-made car dealer who climbed from lot kid to owner by outworking everyone in the building. Jamie shares the moments that forged him, childhood adversity, getting thrown onto the sales floor at 18, and the painful lessons that came with rapid success. He breaks down his non-compete war and why he believes respect matters, but doing what’s right for you matters more....

Ian Cain, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of QUBIC Labs, and former President & former City Councilor for Quincy, Massachusetts, pulls back the curtain on what politics looks like when the cameras are off. Why “public service” often turns into optics, fundraising, and playing a role. You’ll hear what it actually costs to run for office, how ballot access works, and why donors and messaging c...

Investigative author and professional ghostwriter Cillian Dunne unpacks the reporting journey behind his book The Right Hand Man . After a call in October 2023, Cillian traveled in and out of Panama to interview Carlos Whitgreen, Manuel Noriega’s right-hand man, while tracking down long-hidden documents tied to the regime. They break down what it takes to earn trust with a source who can read peop...

Jack sits down in Panama City with four educators, Rick Hengelbrok, Ben Thorwaldson, Stephanie Hengelbrok, and Haley Herold Espino, to explore how the education system is evolving beyond the traditional classroom. Together, they unpack the widening gap between curriculum and reality, and why mentorship, emotional development, and real-world readiness are becoming non-negotiable. The conversation d...

Jack sits down in Panama City with Juan Kong, the co-founder and CEO of Marian Exchange, an investment app built to help Latinos generate long-term wealth by tokenizing real assets and connecting local banking rails with crypto infrastructure. He traces how organizing one of Panama’s first crypto conferences and seeing how many people remain unbanked, pushed him to design tools that make investing...

Jack sits down in Panama City with Emilio Chi, the co-founder of Consultores IND, an engineering firm specializing in non-destructive testing and structural diagnostics. They break down how critical maintenance is in a market that loves to build fast but rarely budgets for long-term health. The conversation expands into Panama’s unique advantages, from logistics and finance to a skyline boom that...

Dan Burdman, co-founder of Hauzd, breaks down how interactive 3D and live inventory shorten the path from curiosity to commitment in new-build real estate. He shares franchising wins and scars the importance of documenting everything, aligning incentives, and how those lessons translate to everyday. The conversation shifts toward leadership over control: listen first, set the context, and teach pe...

Jack sits down in Panama City with Johan Castellanos founder of Verifik, to unpack the hard lessons of building, pivoting, and staying honest with the numbers. They explore the realities of operating in LATAM—Panama’s tax advantages, payment-rail gaps, hiring where talent density lives—and why raising capital locally demands extra grit. The through-line is discipline over ego: treat entrepreneursh...

Jack sits down with Grecia Medina of Bloom Innova in Panama City to unpack how companies can bake measurable environmental and social impact into the core business without sacrificing profitability. She lays out a practical roadmap, strategy, partnerships, and concrete activities that help founders unlock grants, risk capital, and impact investment, with real SME wins and a KPI mindset that tracks...

Jack sits down with the co-founder and CTO of Darien Technologies, Norman Coburn, in Panama City to unpack 11 years of building a “software factory” across banking, fintech, and startups. They contrast capital-rich comfort in the U.S. with the scrappy, bootstrapped edge of LATAM, then dig into how AI shifts the craft from deterministic builds to generative experiments, plus when to use each. Beyon...

Jack sits down in Panama City with Andrés Iglesias, founder of Convierte Panamá, a zero-landfill recycling company focused on transforming both waste systems and mindsets. He traces the spark back to traveling the country, witnessing pollution, and deciding to build a service that keeps material out of landfills while educating people to change behavior. The conversation delves into partner select...

Jack Moran sits down with Panamanian entrepreneur and financial educator Juan Hun, co-founder of Fyros and founder of JHG Media, to unpack how he built a thriving business around simplifying money management. Juan shares how he transformed a pandemic-era YouTube hobby into a multi-stream brand, leveraging TikTok consistency, content repurposing, and financial education for Latin America. The conve...

Jack sits down in Panama City with a co-founder of Happy Caapi to unpack why nervous-system regulation, not hustle, is the real unlock for clearer work and calmer relationships. Listeners will hear how he discovered the caapi vine and transformed it into a legal, non-inebriating daily ritual, as well as what it takes to source, produce, and educate responsibly in Panama. The two explore simple pro...

Jack sits down with Paco Vazquez in Panama City for an honest conversation about aligning who you are with what you build, so strategy feels simpler and more sustainable. Together, they explore why service over spectacle fosters genuine trust, how recognizing recurring patterns and embracing reality more quickly leads to better decisions, and how your environment and inputs subtly influence outcom...

In this episode, Jack sits down with Mary Quintero, founder of I Am Undercover, to distill practical, repeatable lessons from building a culture-led product brand. The conversation emphasizes the importance of protecting creative integrity and setting clear, non-negotiable boundaries, including saying no to misaligned capital and partnerships. Operational takeaways include validating demand with p...

This episode follows Rob Gordon, a Charleston real-estate operator who graduated from college, detoured through agency/PE marketing, and rebuilt his path, doubling down on discipline (literally running every day) and networking. He breaks into the investing game by offering value first, taking over project management, scopes, bids, timelines, and finishes for an established flipper, and scales fro...

Cristóbal is a Panama City entrepreneur behind Degusta, a restaurant discovery platform, and he now focuses on a B2B reservation product. He walks through the building from B2C into B2B, explaining why WhatsApp is a real competitor in LatAm, and how treating marketing as a science and prioritizing retention features actually moves the needle for restaurants. The conversation becomes tactical, focu...