Success Beneath the Surface

John D. Smith has led turnarounds across nine industries, from consumer retail to Caesars Entertainment, where he moved from retail executive to resort CEO in under five months. Raised in the Philadelphia projects and later a Harvard Business School graduate, Smith joins Deborah Fell to trace how football discipline, McKinsey training, and firsthand experience on factory floors and casino floors s...

Ravi Venkatesan took Cantaloupe from nearly $400 million in accumulated losses to profitability in three years, grew the stock from $2.75 to $11.20, and is now completing a take-private exit. Before all of that, he tried to make it as a cruise ship chef and spent four years playing guitar in jazz bands — which, it turns out, says everything about how he thinks. On this episode of Success Beneath t...

Nancy and Ron Bogart have been married since 1989, started their first business together in 1992, and somewhere along the way figured out something most business owners spend decades chasing: how to build something real and keep it going. Nancy is the founder and CEO of Jordan Essentials, a 26-year-old direct sales company based in Nixa, Missouri, that manufactures and ships non-toxic personal car...

Brian Garish started at 16, stocking shelves and mopping floors at a Walgreens in Indianapolis. He was not thinking about a career. He just wanted financial independence from his parents. Decades later, he is the Global Chief Client Officer for Mars Veterinary Health, overseeing more than 3,000 hospitals and 70,000 associates across the globe. The through line from then to now is not a title or an...

Gene Holtzman didn't start out in staffing. He started in the South Bronx, working with drug addicts and unemployed people in the late 1970s, building nonprofits and figuring out how to help people find work. When Reagan-era budget cuts pulled the rug out in 1982, he had a decision to make. He was 31 years old with two kids, and he chose to bet on himself. That bet became Mitchell Martin, a techno...

What does it take to build a fintech company from five people to 2,000 — entirely from scratch, then through strategic acquisition — without ever making excuses for the macro environment? David Johnson, CEO and Founder of Vervent, sat down with Deborah Fell to answer exactly that. David’s path wasn’t linear: he dropped out of high school at 16, found his way to UC Berkeley and Stanford, cut his te...

Kevin Stevick, CEO of RH Shepard, shares hard-won wisdom from 40 years in manufacturing: your people aren't a cost center—they're your competitive advantage. In this conversation with Deborah Fell, Kevin breaks down why the most successful private equity leaders treat workforce investment exactly like capital equipment purchases. Clean up the shop floor. Improve benefits. Increase wages. These are...

Dan Hou didn't plan to become an AI consultant by accident. After getting "professionally bamboozled" by the iPhone launch while working at Motorola, he made himself a promise: catch the next technology wave, but this time, own the outcome. That decision led to Eskridge, an AI consultancy built specifically for mid-market companies—the ones competing in the same arenas as enterprise but without Mc...

Michael Poisel left a successful venture capital career in the United States to become Executive Director of the Melbourne Entrepreneurial Centre. His mission is transforming Australia's economy through innovation and company creation. After launching 285 companies at the University of Pennsylvania, Michael brought his venture studio model to Melbourne. He helps researchers commercialize their wor...

Thomas Jensen didn't leave university research to make more money. He left because he wanted to make a real difference for cancer patients. After 20+ years in oncology and biotech, he's doing exactly that as CEO and co-founder of Allarity Therapeutics. The company he built centers on a radical idea: every patient's cancer is unique, so every treatment should be unique too. Using a proprietary plat...

When surgeons stop your heart during surgery, who keeps you alive? That's where Chet Czaplicka comes in. This Detroit native went from ICU nurse to building the world's largest perfusion company—but not the way you'd think. After seeing post-op cardiac patients in the ICU, Chet asked one simple question: "What exactly do you guys do?" That curiosity launched a 42-year career. Perfusionists are the...

What if the very challenges dividing our society could become the force that brings us together? In a thought-provoking episode of Success Beneath the Surface, Brett Howroyd, President of ActOne Group, shares a counterintuitive perspective on how economic pressures are creating unexpected unity across generations in the workplace. As the leader of a 65-year family-run staffing organization, Brett...

What happens when personal tragedy becomes professional purpose? In this powerful episode, Christine Verini, CEO of CancerCare, shares her extraordinary 30-year journey from mixing chemotherapy as a pharmacist to leading one of the nation's most impactful cancer support organizations. Sparked by her sister's inflammatory breast cancer diagnosis at 28, Christine has dedicated her entire career to h...

This conversation  will challenge everything you think you know about leadership identity.  Deborah Fell sits down with powerhouse CEO Ticki Favaroth, a faith-driven leader who has mastered the art of showing up authentically while building multiple successful enterprises. Ticki doesn't mince words: "People don't get to choose my life" - and in this raw, transformative conversation, she explains e...

What if I told you the most successful CEOs I've interviewed this quarter share one counterintuitive trait? They don't try to be the smartest person in the room. From architecture to military leadership to digital transformation, the pattern is unmistakable.  Looking back at this quarter's most listened-to episodes—featuring Jonathan Moody (Moody Nolan), Rear Admiral Brian Luther (Navy Mutual), Ry...

In this powerful commentary episode, Deborah Fell reflects on her recent conversation with Jeff Grass and the stark reality facing mid-market businesses today. Drawing from hundreds of CEO conversations, she reveals why some companies thrive during crisis while others struggle for years—or don't survive at all. The Three Types of Companies in Crisis: Those that thrive (like Jeff's Hungry Marketpla...

Deborah Fell sits down with Jeff Grass, CEO and co-founder of Hungry Marketplace, to explore how exceptional leadership and company culture can turn a 95% revenue loss into a thriving business. Jeff shares the remarkable story of how Hungry Marketplace—a food tech platform connecting local chefs with corporate clients—not only survived the COVID-19 pandemic but emerged stronger than ever. When off...

There's a fundamental difference between being busy and being effective. You can have a team that hits every activity metric and checks off every box—but if revenue isn't growing, are they really succeeding? This week's commentary explores a powerful shift: moving from loyalty-based cultures to accountability-based ones. It's the difference between rewarding people for showing up versus rewarding...

Twenty years ago, when Carolyn Lagarmasini launched her association management company as fully virtual, industry veterans said it was impossible. Today, her company spans 13 states with 26 employees, and COVID proved she was decades ahead. "I once had a coach who said, the minute you start to shrink, you die," Carolyn reflects. Her story embodies this philosophy: jumping off cliffs without knowin...

Deborah Fell reflects on one of the most powerful leadership insights from her conversation with Jonathan Moody: the radical humility of a CEO who built his success by recognizing he didn't need to be the central force driving everything. When Jonathan became CEO of Moody Nolan in January 2020, just before the pandemic, he made a crucial decision to create an executive team structure rather than t...

Jonathan Moody, CEO of Moody Nolan—recognized by Fast Company as one of the world's most innovative architecture firms—reveals the decade-long succession journey that positioned him to lead just before the pandemic struck. "More time is better," Jonathan reflects on the gradual handoff from his father—a process filled with strategic "sink or swim" moments and culminating in a smooth transition of...

In this week's commentary, Deborah Fell explores the wisdom from her conversation with Rear Admiral Brian "Lex" Luther on leading through change. "The balance of leadership is hard," Deborah notes, "with internal issues, external forces, and human complexity creating cloudy challenges." Yet Lex's transformation of Navy Mutual reveals a fundamental truth: you can't lead if no one follows. He priori...

Deborah Fell sits down with Brian "Lex" Luther, whose distinguished naval career equipped him with the unique perspective that revolutionized Navy Mutual. "The principles that guide a naval officer—discipline, strategic thinking, and unwavering commitment to mission—translate remarkably well to corporate leadership," shares Luther. "At Navy Mutual, we didn't just implement changes; we navigated a...

In last week's conversation with Ryan Frederick, Principal of Transform Labs, we explored the delicate balance between expertise and humility. Ryan shares how the companies that failed in his experience often stumbled due to assumption-driven leadership rather than curiosity-driven validation. "I think there's a lot to be said in approaching things in a humble manner where you don't assume that yo...

Deborah Fell connects with Ryan Frederick of Transform Labs about strategic technology implementation. Ryan positions his firm as independent advisors rather than product reps, ensuring "our advice to clients is in the best interest of the client." Ryan captures the uncertainty many CEOs face with a compelling metaphor: "It's almost like being in the woods on a foggy trail... you're not sure if yo...