The Pick Now Podcast with Jeff Munn

What if retirement isn't the goal at all? In this episode of The Pick Now Podcast, Jeff Munn sits down with wealth advisor, entrepreneur, and author Phil Palumbo, founder of Palumbo Wealth Management and author of Live Well and Never Worry About Money Again, for a conversation about financial freedom, entrepreneurship, purpose, and building a life that gives you more choices. Phil shares his journ...

What if the thing creating the most stress in your life is the belief that you're supposed to control it? In this episode of The Pick Now Podcast, Jeff Munn sits down with Karthik Ganesh, CEO of OnMed, for a conversation about leadership, purpose, resilience, freedom, and what it means to let go of the outcomes you can't control. Karthik shares his journey through healthcare leadership, entreprene...

What if the biggest factor influencing your success isn't your skills, experience, or strategy—but the invisible dynamics shaping every conversation you have? In this episode of The Pick Now Podcast, Jeff Munn sits down with entrepreneur, investor, and author Jonny Staker, founder of Vanquish Consulting Group and co-author of The Frame: The Unspoken Laws of Power, Status, and Influence, for a conv...

What if the biggest thing holding you back in leadership is not what you say, but the hidden story behind why you say it? In this episode of The Pick Now Podcast, Jeff Munn sits down with Chuck Wisner, founder of Wisner Consulting and author of The Art of Conscious Conversations, for a thoughtful conversation about leadership, communication, creativity, and the patterns that shape how we show up i...

What if the biggest breakthrough in your career comes from following a person, not a plan? In this episode, Jeff Munn sits down with Chris Younger, founder and CEO of Class 6 Partners, to explore a journey that began in law, wound through Silicon Valley acquisitions, and ultimately led to building a relationship-driven investment banking firm. Along the way, Chris shares lessons from extraordinary...

What happens when the business you built becomes your identity? In this episode, Jeff Munn sits down with Elizabeth Ledoux, founder and CEO of The Transition Strategists, to unpack the emotional, financial, and deeply personal realities of succession planning for entrepreneurs and family businesses. From leaving her career as a petroleum engineer to helping founders navigate life after leadership,...

What happens when loyalty disappears from the workplace and nobody knows what success actually looks like anymore? In this episode of The Pick Now Podcast, Jeff Munn sits down with Barry Wolfe, President and CEO of Argos HR Solutions and author of It's All in Your Head, for a fascinating conversation about leadership, employee engagement, and why modern workplace systems are failing both managers...

What happens when you lose your job in a new country with no money, no network, and no backup plan? On this episode of The Pick Now Podcast, Jeff Munn sits down with entrepreneur and author Shashank Shekhar to unpack the remarkable journey from immigrant startup employee to award-winning FinTech founder. After his company collapsed during the 2008 mortgage crisis, Shashank turned uncertainty into...

He went from 320 pounds and rock bottom to building and selling a $400 million company. In this episode, Mike Fata shares how a personal health crisis led him to discover hemp, build Manitoba Harvest from scratch, and navigate two decades of uncertainty, setbacks, and breakthrough growth. From dropping out of high school to becoming a $100M+ CEO, Mike breaks down the mindset shifts that fueled his...

What if one hard conversation today could save your family years of chaos tomorrow? In this powerful episode of The Pick Now Podcast, Jeff Munn sits down with founder Elke Rubach to unpack how childhood loss, legal training, entrepreneurship, and personal reinvention shaped her mission to normalize money conversations. From wills and wealth planning to identity, trust, burnout, and family values,...

What if you're just one yes away from changing your entire life? In this episode, Jeff Munn sits down with serial entrepreneur Bryan Lord to unpack the messy, unfiltered reality of building something from nothing. From feeling out of place in college to raising capital off a 14-page deck, Bryan shares how persistence, irrational belief, and a willingness to hear "no" over and over again shaped his...

What if the rise of AI isn't about replacing us… but revealing who we really are? In this episode, Yen Anderson shares her journey from defense tech to becoming one of the earliest voices inside Microsoft advocating for AI adoption. From experimenting with ChatGPT on day one to influencing thousands globally, Yen explains why AI isn't just a tool. It's a turning point for human identity. Together...

What if the thing that looked like failure was actually the moment everything changed? In this episode, Jeff Munn sits down with Scott Millson to unpack a career shaped by risk, reinvention, and powerful relationships. From launching a startup during the dot-com boom to building and selling his own company, Scott shares how "failures" became the foundation for everything that followed. They dive i...

What happens when the career you thought was "up and to the right" suddenly isn't? In this episode, Jeff sits down with Chris Michalak, Executive Chairman of Personify and former CEO of multiple organizations, to unpack the real decisions behind a nonlinear leadership journey.  They dig into the moment many leaders avoid talking about: failure at the top. Chris walks through what it felt like to l...

What happens when you "win" the corporate game but still feel stuck? On today's episode of The Pick Now Podcast with Jeff Munn, Eric Togneri shares how he spent 15 years climbing the ladder only to realize he was building someone else's dream. From promotions and prestige to walking away and starting over, Eric breaks down the mindset shift that changed everything. He also reveals how nearly losin...

What if the way you open every conversation is costing you the deal? In this episode, Jeff Munn sits down with Jake Stahl, sales trainer, entrepreneur, and author of Own the Room, to break down why most sales conversations fail before they even begin. From rebuilding his life after addiction to becoming a top-performing sales trainer, Jake shares how mastering communication and presence transforme...

This week, Jeff sits down with former Major League Baseball pitcher Jacob Turner to explore the difficult decisions that shape both athletes and entrepreneurs. Jacob's career took him from being drafted straight out of high school to pitching in the majors at just 20 years old. But like many professional athletes, his journey was filled with uncertainty, failure, and the constant pressure of knowi...

Entrepreneurs rarely start with perfect information. More often, the journey begins with a frustrating problem, a gut instinct, and a decision to move anyway. In this episode, Jeff talks with Steve Neeleman, founder of HealthEquity, about the moment that exposed how powerless healthcare consumers really were and how it led him to build a company focused on putting control back in their hands.  Thi...

What happens when the identity that's defined you your entire life disappears? This week, Jeff sits down with spiritual entrepreneur Kyle Jason Leitzke to explore the hidden cost of achievement and what comes after the grind.  They talk about grief, identity collapse, people-pleasing, burnout, and the moment when you realize: no one is coming to lay you off from the life you've built. If something...

What if the side project you start at night becomes the platform that reshapes an entire industry? On this episode of The Pick Now Podcast, Jeff Munn sits down with Scott Becker, partner at McGuireWoods and founder of Becker's Healthcare, to unpack the entrepreneurial journey he built alongside a demanding legal career. From launching a niche healthcare newsletter to scaling conferences, podcasts,...

In this episode, Jeff sits down with four-time entrepreneur Manny Menendez to talk about the choices that shape a career and the moments when you have to leap without perfect information.   Manny's path moves from the structure of large consulting firms to the chaos of early-stage startups. Along the way, he learned what changes when the infrastructure disappears, how to listen your way to product...

In this episode, Jeff sits down with Ronald Diamond, founder and chairman of Diamond Wealth, to unpack the pivotal choices that shaped his journey from the fall of Drexel to building a $250 million hedge fund and a syndicate of over 100 family offices.   Ronald opens up about the tough decision to sell at the top, why most family offices fail, and why being a successful entrepreneur is more about...

This week, Jeff sits down with Marc Cabrera to unpack a career journey that spans Wall Street, burnout, entrepreneurship, and ultimately, a more intentional way of living and working. They explore the hidden tradeoffs of traditional success, the generational shift in how people think about careers, and why many high achievers feel stuck even after they've "made it."  This conversation is about mor...

What started as a one-way ticket to Oaxaca turned into a global business built on trust, curiosity, and human connection.   This week, Jeff sits down with Zach Smith, founder of Anywhere, to unpack how a passion for immersive travel evolved into a purpose-driven company operating across more than 25 countries.   Jeff and Zach explore what it really means to build something slowly and intentionally...

Ashok Subramanian shares the real story behind leaving McKinsey, building Liazon from nothing, nearly running out of payroll multiple times, and ultimately selling the company in a lightning-fast acquisition that changed everything. Along the way, he reveals how founders misjudge risk, why most "great ideas" are actually wrong, and what it really takes to build something that lasts inside a broken...