The Inspired Stories Podcast

🎙️ From Istanbul Front Desk to Global Hotel Strategist: Deniz Dorbek's Journey Founding Regulus Collective Deniz Dorbek, Founder and CEO of Regulus Collective, shares her journey from starting at a landmark Istanbul hotel fresh out of college, through 25 years leading commercial teams across seven countries for Hilton, Accor, Kempinski, Hyatt, and Wyndham, to walking away from every corporate...

🎙️ From KPMG Consultant to CFO: Craig Cooper's Journey Leading Chef Tim Love's Hospitality Empire Craig Cooper, CFO of Love Management, Inc., shares his path from financial services consulting to leading the financial strategy behind one of Fort Worth's most celebrated hospitality groups—and how a framework developed through his daughter's congenital heart surgeries shapes his appr...

🎙️ From Concrete Cutting Crews to President of an 85-Year Deli Brand: Deric Rosenbaum's Journey at Groucho's Deric Rosenbaum, President and resident CTO of Groucho's Deli, shares his journey from running commercial construction crews in his 20s, to living across the street from the third-generation owner of an 85-year-old South Carolina deli institution, to building its entire franchise infrastruc...

🎙️ From Fortune 500 Supply Chain to Hospitality Consultant: Dave Nitzel's Journey Across Barmetrix, Stinger Compliance, and Three Books Dave Nitzel, co-founder of Dave and Dave Hospitality, fractional Chief Strategy Officer of Stinger Compliance, and multi-franchise Barmetrix, owner, shares his journey from a 38-year corporate career at UPS, Office Depot, and Advance Auto Parts, through losing...

🎙️ From Dishwasher to Restaurant Consultant: Danny Bendas's 35-Year Journey Building Synergy Restaurant Consultants Danny Bendas, Managing Partner at Synergy Restaurant Consultants, shares his journey from washing dishes at 14 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, through the Culinary Institute of America's first Hyde Park class, into kitchens and operations leadership at brands like Houlihan's...

🎙️ From Catering High Society Events to Founding One of America's Top Food Halls: Patty Wall's Malcolm Yards Story Patty Wall, Owner and Founder of The Market at Malcolm Yards in Minneapolis, shares her journey from a journalism and culinary arts double degree at the CIA, through seven years catering high-end events for celebrities and dignitaries at Dayton Hudson, to meeting her husband w...

From McDonald's at 14 to the Restaurant Whisperer: Jason Schofield's Journey Building Hive V.O.C Jason Schofield, CEO of Hive V.O.C, shares his journey from chasing happy childhood memories at Tampa restaurants, through 10,000 hours mastering every station in a kitchen, running a multi-concept restaurant group, filing bankruptcy after a costly personal guarantee, and ultimately building Hi...

🎙️ From Manhattan to New Smyrna Beach: Tim Smith's Journey Building a 230-Unit Vacation Rental Operation at Casago Tim Smith, Owner and Operator of Casago New Smyrna Beach and Casago Daytona, shares his journey from a Manhattan apartment he bought in March 2020 that he never returned to, through COVID-era acquisitions of a beachside rental management company he had no prior experience running,...

🎙️ From High School Dropout to COO and Partner: Layla Ebersole's Journey Building On Call Restaurant Accounting Layla Ebersole, Partner and COO at On Call Restaurant Accounting in Denver, shares her journey from a rough upbringing that led her to drop out of high school at 16 and start working full time, through a Craigslist data entry job at a restaurant accounting firm she almost overlooked,...

🎙️ From Morgan Stanley to Bowtie Brad: E. Brad Scoffin's Journey Building Advanced Business Brokers Brad Scoffin, Principal at Advanced Business Brokers, shares his path from financial advisor and insurance sales veteran to business brokerage pioneer helping Midwest owners navigate exits, valuations, and the emotional weight of letting go of what they built. ✨ Key Insights You'll Learn: C...

🎙️ From Arrogant Sales Rep to Managing Partner: David Hoffman's Journey Scaling Furniture Industries David Hoffman, Managing Partner at Furniture Industries, shares his journey from a high-performing but self-absorbed sales rep whose own consultants refused to work his deals, through two decades building expertise across litigation technology, process management, and consultative selling, to j...

🎙️ From Private Equity Buyer to Founder Champion: Kirk Michie's Mission to Level the Playing Field for Entrepreneurs Selling Their Businesses Kirk Michie, founder and managing partner of Candor Advisors, shares his journey from Merrill Lynch operations to private equity buyouts to walking away from seven figures in carried interest because the work no longer aligned with his values, ultimately...

🎙️ From 4 Boats to World Record: Gary Moeller's 35 Years at Ballard's Resort Gary Moeller spent 35 years transforming Ballard's Resort on Lake of the Woods, Minnesota from a 4-boat operation barely making ends meet into the world's leading walleye fishing destination—running over 2,000 charter trips in a single summer season. When an early ice-out threatened the business, Gary hit...

From 23-Year-Old General Manager to Building a Leadership Legacy: Lindsy Wnorowski's 27-Year Marriott Journey and Bold Leap into Entrepreneurship In this inspiring episode, Lindsy Wnorowski, Founder and Managing Director of Executive Leadership Consulting, shares her journey from opening a 90-room Courtyard Marriott while in college to becoming a general manager at just 23—walking into rooms w...

🎙️ From Arthur Anderson's Collapse to CEO: Jeff Call's Journey Building Bennett Thrasher Into a $125 Million Accounting Firm Jeff Call, Managing Partner and CEO of Bennett Thrasher LLP, shares his path from watching his Big Four firm implode during the Enron scandal with a newborn at home to leading one of Atlanta's most respected mid-market accounting and consulting firms from $8 mill...

🎙️ From Dishwasher to Franchise CEO: John Gelastopoulos's Journey Building Broken Yolk Cafe Across Five States John Gelastopoulos, CEO of Broken Yolk Cafe, shares his journey from arriving in San Diego from Greece at 17 with nothing to growing a single beachside breakfast spot into a 40-location franchise doing $2.7 million average unit volume, powered by people-first leadership, relentless po...

🎙️ From Engineering Careers to Pizza Empire: Matt Stanfield's Bold Journey Building Mattenga's Pizzeria In this inspiring episode, Matt Stanfield, co-founder of Mattenga's Pizzeria, shares his remarkable journey from civil engineering to building a seven-location pizza empire across San Antonio. Through candid stories about buying a failing restaurant with fraudulent financials, living...

🎙️ From High School Host to Seven Restaurant Empire: Haley Nutter-Sitek's Crown Restaurant Group Journey Haley Nutter-Sitek, owner and director of hospitality at Crown Restaurant Group, shares her journey from high school host to launching Crown Republic Gastropub in 2018 at 28 with her husband Anthony. After Anthony fell asleep driving home from a 16-hour shift and Haley found out she was pre...

🎙️ From IIT Bombay Engineering to AI Hospitality Revolution: Akash Goel's Journey Building Atica Global Akash Goel, co-founder and CEO of Atica Global, shares his journey from IIT Bombay to building and selling two startups before launching his AI-powered hotel sales platform. After Handy Home (home services e-commerce across 150 Indian cities, acquired by Urban Company) and Able Plus (IoT sen...

🎙️ From Marine Corps Boot Camp Honor Man to Buffalo River Icon: Mike Mills' Wilderness Resort Journey In this inspiring episode, Mike Mills, founder of Buffalo Outdoor Center in Ponca, Arkansas, shares his remarkable journey from growing up on a farm with limited time with his father (except one week a year camping on rivers), serving as Marine Corps series honor man out of 350 recruits throug...

🎙️ From Selling Her First Car at Age Five to Building Community at Staybridge Suites: Ashley Chapman's Journey in Hospitality Sales Ashley Chapman, Director of Sales at Staybridge Suites Indianapolis Carmel, shares her journey from growing up as a used car salesman's daughter in Nashville who closed her first sale at five years old, through a divorce that pushed her from stay-at-home mom i...

🎙️ From For-Profit Executive to Nonprofit Turnaround Leader: John Hoey's 19-Year Journey Building The Y in Central Maryland John Hoey, President and CEO of The Y in Central Maryland, shares his journey from running a division of a public education company as a single dad to accepting what he thought would be a two-year nonprofit turnaround role in 2006, tripling revenue, rebranding from YMCA t...

From Inner City Chicago Survival to $430M Captive Leadership: Larissa Akrawi's 27-Year Insurance Journey Larissa Akrawi, senior vice president and captive executive at Captive Resources, shares her journey from inner-city Chicago toxic volatile environment where 12-year-old realized only way out was working (babysitting then waitressing 16, out on own 17 taking bus job to job), through answeri...

 From Margarine Tastings to Culinary Empire: Rick Smilow's Journey Building Institute of Culinary Education In this inspiring episode, Rick Smilow, CEO and Chairman of the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE), shares his journey from Kellogg MBA to culinary education pioneer. After magazine ad sales and product management at Nabisco Brands, he launched Wagging Tail Limited, a pet snack ventur...

🎙️ From Career Crisis to Life Sciences Impact: Sean Cumiskey's Journey Through Personal Adversity to Biotech Venture Capital Leadership In this deeply inspiring episode, Sean Cumiskey, Head of Investor Relations at Omega Fund Management, shares his remarkable journey from private banking through prestigious hedge funds to leading investor relations at a pioneering life sciences venture capital...