The Changeup

This week we welcome the CEO and Co-Founder of Quantified, Noah Zandan.  Quantified is the leading firm in combining behavioral science, AI, and experiential learning technology to help people enhance their impact, improve their interactions and establish a greater human connection.  We talk about how a former Wall Street guy got into behavioral science, what it’s like to prepare for and give a Te...

This week we welcome my friend and my mentor, Andy Wiedlin.  Andy is the founder of the VERY creatively titled Andy Wiedlin Consulting, an advisor to many startups and publishers, and the host of the marketing podcast, Backstage with the Brand.  We talk about what it takes to be a great sales leader, the differences in the advertising world now versus when he started and I try to get him to be the...

Phluid launched initially as a physical and online store that makes gender-free, non-binary apparel and accessories. It has grown into a movement committed to challenging the dated practices that inhibit freedom and self-expression.  We talk about building a community by being a listener and always learning, creating a place where people can freely express themselves and how he bucked the “don’t q...

This week we welcome the CEO and Founder of SquadLocker, Gary Goldberg. SquadLocker is innovating the athletic apparel market by making it easier for coaches and league administrators to manage purchasing for sports teams.  We talked about the thousands of hours he had in the textile business, how he applied that to build his own company and the real-time moment when he saw how his customers were...

This week we welcome Winnie Sabbat, Managing Partner of Sabacica Capital.  Sabacica Capital is a women-led venture fund that focuses on exceptional women and people of color-led startups.  We talked about how they are changing the game with funding, their unique approach to partnering with startups, and her passion for global travel. 

This week's guest is Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of ExecOnline, Julia Alexander. ExecOnline is a premier provider of online leadership development experiences that are democratizing access to high-quality leadership training and creating a diverse pipeline of future-ready leaders. We talk about the value of finding mentors outside your field of work, building a mission-driven company...

This week's guest is  Co-Founder at Imagen Insights, Cat Agostinho. Imagen Insights is a company that helps agencies and brands get direct crowd-sourced ideas and insights from the Gen Z community.  We talk about the differences between this upcoming generation and the ones before,  the spark that got the company going, and how to be prepared to hire people who think wildly different than you...

This week’s guest is Founder and CEO of Playmaker, Brandon Harris  Playmaker is a next-generation sports media and athlete management brand.  We talk about the early lessons learned building his own media company, his refreshing take on the power of sports gambling, and why we both agree that having a chip on your shoulder leads to success. 

This week’s guest is the founder and CEO of Hype Dance Community, Liza Brody.   Hype Dance Community is a virtual and outdoor dance lesson company for all kids of all abilities.  We talk about her decision to leave the advertising events world to start her own business during the pandemic, why movement is so important for everyone, and why the focus of her company is on having fun, not technique. 

This week’s guest is CoFounder and CEO of Squared Away, Michelle Penczak. Squared Away is a team of trusted assistants who span across the nation. They help businesses and people scale by offering virtual assistance to get busy executives organized. They also have a really compelling hook: they are all military spouses.  We talk about the origination of the concept, her journey from executive assi...

This week’s guest is Co-Founder and CEO of Tumble Media, Lindsay Patterson.  Tumble Media is an educational children’s audio company that has been a pioneer in the kids’ podcast space since 2015. Their mission is to inspire curiosity and discovery through accessible storytelling. We talk about how Lindsay’s part-time project turned into a full-time business, the educational benefits for children i...

This week’s guest is Founder and CEO of Wave Sports and Entertainment, Brian Verne.  We talk about the expansion and evolution of WSE and their move into sports personality driven content, how Brian’s leadership style allows others to thrive and how he has grown the team from a handful of people in a San Francisco loft to a global sports + media phenomena. 

This week’s guest is CoFounder of Mondo Brewing Company, Todd Matteson. Mondo Brewing Company is one of the most celebrated craft breweries in London.  We talk about his decision to leave advertising sales and pursue a life in brewing, the cultural differences in the craft scene between the UK and the United States and what style of beer every brewer tastes to judge a new brewery.  One additional...

This week’s guest is Co-Founder of Think Now, Mario X Carrasco.  ThinkNow is the research company for the America we live in today - a multicultural, nuanced landscape. Through their diverse research panel set, ThinkNow helps brands better understand and communicate with their audiences.  We talk about growing up aware of the two cultures in his life - Mexican and American, being a mentor to the n...

This week we sit down with the Founder of PositiveHire, Michele Heyward. PositiveHire is a tech company which helps to recruit and retain experienced Latina, Black and indigenous women STEM professionals into management positions. Our software assists these women in finding the best fit employer for them to advance their careers. This in turn helps employers retain diverse STEM talent longer. We t...

This week’s guest is founder and CEO of IV Bioholdings, Marty Keiser. IV Bioholdings is on a quest to radically improve the detection, diagnosis and treatment of disease. Listen as I try to keep up with Marty as he shares their bold innovations that are radically improving patients ability to detect diseases like cancer earlier and potentially save lives. 

This week’s guest is the host of Off the Cuff, Christian Palma.  We go deep into manifesting your dreams, reflecting on what matters most when making really tough career choices, giving people their flowers and how his grandmother was the inspiration for him to start his own podcast, Off The Cuff. 

This week’s guest is the founder of Evergreen Strategic Communications, Emily Heck. Evergreen is a marketing agency specializing in nonprofit, education and small business services. We talk about her decision to leave the corporate side of academia and non profits to strike out on her own, what it means to be an accidental entrepreneur and the healthy startup community she has been able to cultiva...

This week’s guest is Founder and CEO of Team Friday, Michelle O’Grady Caballero.  Team Friday works at the intersection of communications, culture and community helping brands deploy new strategies to reach diverse audiences.  We talk about her decision to leave the corporate marketing world to venture out on her own, how she uses her company’s insights to change brand behavior and a real talk on...

This week’s guests are Jackie Hernandez, Co-founder of New Majority Ready and Jack Rico, Managing Partner of New Majority Storytelling.  New Majority Ready helps businesses and brands connect with the increasingly multicultural world. We have a frank discussion about the continued lack of diversity in executive leadership, media and entertainment. And we talk about what companies can do to be more...

The purchasing power of the Latinx community has grown substantially in the past 30 years, from $213 billion in 1990 to over $1.9 trillion in 2020. Yet, venture capital funding for businesses started by Latinx founders still sits below 2% year over year.  Brittany Chavez is here to change that. She built Shop Latinx to create a shopping experience around all the passionate, talented Latinx creativ...

This week on The Changeup, we sit down with the CEO and Founder of Atlas Solutions, Ansley Fender. Atlas Solutions is a software as a service (SaaS) company that streamlines grant management. We talk about the limitations of a typical 9 to 5 job, how the "American Dream" concept is perfect for those that are more entrepreneurial-minded, and she shares her thoughts on failure and entrepre...

This week we sat down with Partner and CEO of Open Seat Direct, Michael Collazo.  Open Seat Direct empowers anyone to organize events easily, get paid instantly and connect with customers directly. We talk about Michael's growing up in the live event space, from Minor League baseball to the NHL, and how that helped him formulate the idea for Open Seat Direct.  We learn about his growing up in...

C.J. Toledano is the Founder of Follow Through Studio, a creative sports studio is at the intersection of sports and comedy. We worked together at Bleacher Report, where he was pivotal in building and scaling the Social Moments team that fueled B/R's social growth and then was the creative director for House of Highlights.  We talk about why pop culture, comedy and fashion are so integral to...

Brian Morrissey has been fascinated with how sustainable media businesses scale for quite some time. Amidst the pandemic, he left Digiday Media, moved to Miami and started to build a newsletter and podcast called The Rebooting to examine what makes a modern media company hum.  As a big fan of Brian's works, especially his interviews, it was extremely fun to have him on the other side of the m...