The BD Catalyst

Alexandra DeFelice, Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer at Jeffer Mangels & Mitchell LLP, joins the podcast to share how she turned a wave of unexpected turnover into an opportunity to elevate her team's roles and educate her firm's attorneys to see the BDM team as trusted and valued partners. The conversation is a masterclass in building talent and fostering trust. By coaching co...

In Episode 9 of The BD Catalyst, Kristo sits down with Laura Gutierrez, Director of Referral Partnerships at JD Supra, for a conversation about what it's like to grow up inside law firms, literally. Laura's mother worked at a Minneapolis firm for thirty years, and Laura was in the office by age eight, long before she ever considered a career in legal marketing. Laura shares the moment that changed...

In this episode of the BD Catalyst, Kristo sits down with Amanda Bekric, MBA, Marketing Manager at Dady & Gardner, P.A., for a conversation about the "old-fashioned" secret sauce behind her firm's success: genuine, deeply human relationships built on trust and authenticity, in a national franchise law practice. Amanda shares how she channels David Kelly's "fail faster, succeed sooner" ethos in...

This week on the BD Catalyst, Kristo sits down with Lisa Jones, Senior Practice Development Manager at Miller & Martin, for a practical, grounded conversation about what it actually looks like to move the needle on business development inside a law firm, sometimes one attorney at a time. Lisa shares how pairing consistent coaching with real accountability has helped one of her attorneys go fro...

In Episode 6 of The BD Catalyst podcast, Kristo sits down with Kaley Green, Director of Marketing and Business Development at Fogler, Rubinoff LLP, for a conversation that ranges from what it takes to build and inspire BD culture at a regional mid-market firm, to what happens when two law firm BDM professionals (who also happen to be Irish dance parents) walk into a podcast. Kaley shares a robust...

In this episode Kristo sits down with Eldin Johnston, Marketing Director at Elsberg Baker & Maruri PLLC for a candid and moving conversation about authenticity in all relationships. We discuss music, motorcycles and those famous gold shoes from LMA 2026. Eldin shares his coaching philosophy of "freeing people up" by replacing the guilt of missed assignments with open-ended brainstorming that c...

In this episode of The BD Catalyst, host Kristo Sween sits down with Thomas Keller, Business Development Director at Kerr Russell, for a wide-ranging conversation about the overlap between improv comedy and the art of attorney business development coaching and opportunity spotting. Tom reveals how he spent years quietly using improv as a "secret ninja skill" in his legal marketing career. From usi...

BD Catalyst host Kristo Sween sits down with Emmad Awaad, MBA, Business Development Associate at Bodman PLC, for a conversation about what it really takes to build a culture of business development inside a law firm. Emmad shares how leaning into an attorney's passions can unlock unexpected BD wins. From the simple but powerful act of picking up the phone to rekindle dormant client relationships,...

In this episode of The BD Catalyst, Kristo sits down with Adam Brown, Director of Marketing at Fafinski Mark & Johnson, for a candid conversation about what it really takes to help lawyers grow their practices. Adam draws on his background as a practicing attorney, a professional development leader and a legal marketing director, including his work teaching law students, to share what works an...

Today I sit down with Ralph Cooper, Jr., Business Development Manager at Benesch in Chicago. Ralph shares success stories and insights he brings to coaching lawyers from his experience as an athlete and coach of youth sports.