The Corporate Couch: Work Stories I Only Tell My Friends

I was honored to chat with Mindy Corporon (see her bio below), a leader, author, and advocate for empathy in the workplace. Mindy’s journey is one of profound loss (losing both her father and oldest son when a white supremacist killed them), resilience, and transformation—from her successful career in wealth management to her mission-driven work with SevenDays® and Workplace Healing. In our conver...

Join me as I chat with Marci Weisler (see her bio below), a tech strategist and fierce advocate for female founders, about navigating career challenges, overcoming bad bosses, and staying ahead of the curve in emerging technology. Marci shares her incredible journey—from navigating toxic leadership and making bold career moves to helping businesses leverage emerging technologies before they hit th...

Resilience, Reinvention, and the Power of Taking Control with Deb Coviello In this episode I chat with Deb Coviello (see her bio below), also known as The Drop In CEO™, to discuss leadership, resilience, and her journey from corporate executive to entrepreneur, speaker, and author. Deb and I share remarkably similar career paths—both coming from corporate backgrounds, navigating unexpected exits,...

Welcome to a short-form Special Edition of The Corporate Couch (it's more of a loveseat episode:-)! I sit down with longtime sports broadcaster, speaker, podcaster, and author Joel Goldberg (see his bio below) to dive into the lessons from his second book, Small Ball, Big Dreams. Drawing from his years covering championship teams and business leaders, Joel shares how small, consistent actions lead...

Join me as I sit down with Grant Gooding (see his bio below), founder and CEO of Proof Positioning, to discuss how emotional data is transforming market research and business strategy. With a background in mergers and acquisitions, Grant saw firsthand why so many deals fail—leading him to pioneer a groundbreaking way to measure what truly drives customer decisions. We cover: - The surprising reaso...

In this episode, I chat with the inimitable Michael Mackie (see his bio below), a multi-talented storyteller, Emmy-award-winning host, entertainment journalist, and travel writer. With his signature wit and humor, Michael takes us through his fascinating career, from his early days in Des Moines TV to interviewing A-list celebrities and even hosting his own PBS travel show, "Get Lost!". We dive in...

From Mucking Stables to Shaping Leaders: Linda Endecott’s Path of Purpose​ - In this heartfelt episode, I sit down with Linda Endecott​ (see her bio below), Managing Director of the Executive MBA program at Rockhurst University’s Helzberg School of Management. With an extraordinary career spanning education, nonprofit/corporate leadership, and executive development, Linda shares the lessons, laugh...

Welcome to a short-form Special Edition of The Corporate Couch! Today, my co-host is Shawn Kinkade ( linkedin.com/in/shawnkinkade ). We break down James Clear’s Atomic Habits. Spoiler alert: this book is life-changing—but also responsible for Shawn flossing regularly and me questioning my peanut M&M consumption. We dive into Clear’s genius strategies, like: Turning "just go to the gym" into an...

What the hell is Web3? In this episode (the first in my collaboration with Startland News -  Website ), I chat with Randy Wasinger—entrepreneur, NFT pioneer, and founder/CEO of CryptoSlam (see his bio below). With over 20 years of experience in high-growth businesses and a track record as an innovator in SEO, affiliate marketing, and big data, Randy shares how his early passion for baseball cards...

In this episode, I sit down with Jon McGraw (see his bio below)—former NFL safety, co-founder of Vision Pursue, and performance mindset expert. From walking on at Kansas State to playing 10 seasons in the NFL, Jon shares his incredible journey, the leadership lessons he learned from legendary coaches (including the legendary Kansas State University coach Bill Snyder), and the physical, emotional,...

In this episode of The Corporate Couch, I chat with Joel Zeff (see his bio below), a nationally renowned speaker, work culture expert, author, and humorist who has captivated audiences for over 25 years. Known for his hilarious improvisational comedy and insightful messages on leadership, collaboration, and change, Joel brings his unique energy to the podcast. We explore Joel’s fascinating career...

In this episode, I sit down with the vibrant and insightful Susie Tomenchok, author, executive coach, TEDx speaker, and negotiation expert (see her bio below). From being a telecom pioneer at Comcast to leading an international company of over 1000 employees to becoming a mentor and coach, Susie shares her inspiring journey and practical advice for professionals at every stage of their careers (in...

After over 100 episodes, Paige Pelaccio Meyer (see her bio below) is my favorite guest so far (I am biased since she is my daughter :-). While she knew she wanted to be a nurse, Paige had a unique career strategy that deviated from the typical nurse's first job. She bought the business she worked at for 5 years when she was 27. Two and half months after taking ownership, Paige was forced to shut d...

In this special edition episode of 'The Corporate Couch,' host Jeff P​elaccio interviews Joni Wickham​ the author of "The Thin Line Between Cupcake and B*tch: Taking Action, Driving Change, and Getting​ Results". ​She also co-founded the public affairs firm Wickham James Strategies and Solutions. They discuss leadership in corporate America, the influence of the November 5th, 2024 election on lead...

Anna Murray (see her bio below) is the CEO and founder of emedia the longest-running woman-owned web and digital transformation agency in the US. In this fascinating conversation, we talk about how she found her company by accident, her journey from English teacher to TV journalist, to tech founder, her stories of misogyny in broadcast news, why journalists make great hires, her thoughts on why pl...

In this special edition of The Corporate Couch, I welcome back the insightful and inspiring Mary Messner, who first joined us on October 2, 2023, to discuss her remarkable career. Today, we dive deep into a topic close to our hearts: workplace creativity. Mary, founder of Highline Creative Group, shares her expanded definition of creativity—beyond the arts and crafts—to include innovative thinking...

In this episode, I have the privilege of interviewing Paul Hatch (see his bio below), a distinguished leader with an extraordinary career spanning the US Navy, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and beyond. From his early days as a Naval officer (and advising two US presidents on Middle East policy) to becoming Vice Chairman of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, Paul’s journey is marked by innovation, leadership...

In this compelling episode," Jeff sits down with Bill Brandmeyer (see his bio below), a visionary leader who has transformed organizational development, marketing, and social impact over four decades. Bill shares insights from his remarkable journey, from working with Fortune 500 companies to founding ShareWaves, a nonprofit revolutionizing youth sports access. Listeners will discover how Bill's p...

This episode is a beautiful example of how a person's life/career journey evolves. Sandra Wiley (see her bio below) grew up in a small rural town in Kansas and got married at 19 with aspirations of being a housewife and a mother. She is now a company president and one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting (10 years running and she does not have an accounting degree :-). Sandra and I...

In this insightful episode, we sit down with Mark Hamberlin (see his bio below), the first Chief People Officer to appear on "The Corporate Couch" podcast. As the executive responsible for human resources strategy and operations at Clark Construction Group, Mark shares his expertise in attracting, retaining, and engaging top talent to drive business success. With decades of experience spanning rol...

In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Fr. Justin Mathews, a Kansas City native whose journey from musician/audio engineer to Orthodox priest and social entrepreneur exemplifies the intersection of faith, innovation, and community transformation. Fr. Justin shares his remarkable story of leading Reconciliation Services (RS) at Kansas City's historic racial and economic divide, growing it from...

In this powerful episode, I sit down with Ken Bramble (see his bio below), an employee benefits consultant turned mental health advocate whose raw honesty about his personal struggles has resonated with audiences nationwide. Ken opens up about his journey wrestling with imposter syndrome while building a successful 25-year career in the employee benefits space. He candidly shares how anxiety crept...

In this illuminating episode, Jeff sits down with marketing legend and bestselling author Seth Godin to discuss his new book "This is Strategy" and explore the evolving landscape of college, work, and decision-making. Episode Highlights: Seth reflects on his entrepreneurial journey, from his college days to founding successful ventures The genesis of "This is Strategy" and why strategy is crucial...

You will enjoy this conversation with Andrew Marquardt (see his bio below) the general counsel, co-founder, and CEO of Advantage Tech. Andrew and I discuss the life-changing events in his early teen years that changed his life, how his legal career led him to start an IT company (it also included a legal decision that went against Microsoft), how he never thought he could become an attorney (and h...

Please enjoy this conversation with Jenna Washnieski (see her bio below). Jenna has great energy and we discussed how she was born to be a leader, how a letter she wrote to herself at seventeen predicted her career, why she journals (she has a closet full of them representing the last 20 years), what it's like to be the youngest executive at your company, the beauty of trying different things in y...