The Reboot Chronicles with Dean DeBiase

One of the most important topics I teach at the Kellogg School is corporate governance. Coming out of the pandemic and with heightened awareness of the impact of corporations on the future of the planet, I welcomed onto The Reboot Chronicles Ravi Chaudhry. His book, Quest for Exceptional Leadership: Mirage to Reality has been acclaimed as a discerning analysis of the leadership vacuum that pervade...

Paul Mangiamele, CEO, Legendary Restaurant Group I have been a “turn-around guy” for the last 20 years and rarely do I encounter someone like Paul Mangiamele, who swooped in to fix long-standing fast casual brands Bennigan’s and Steak & Ale. He not only wanted to set  these brands on a better course, he put his money where his mouth was and bought the franchise. Once he had them back on t...

The Reboot Chronicles is about organizational and personal transformations, and my guest on this episode,   Michael Rubenstein , Co-Founder of OpenStore may likely not be known to you yet. But, the work he has done over the years has radically changed advertising and ecommerce. He is someone whose work likely touches everyone in business who does any kind of advertising and is currently helpi...

When you hear the name “Boeing” you may think of airplanes and defense, but there is a huge division devoted to keeping that hardware running smoothly through technology. I recently interviewed Ted Colbert, the CEO of their Global Services division, which operates in 400 locations and over 70 countries servicing not just Boeing hardware, but also their competitors.  Ted was just awarded the 2...

Best-Selling Author, ex- Coke CMO and Marketing Visionary Sergio Zyman spoke with The Reboot Chronicles about what was said to be an epic fail in marketing (remember the introduction of New Coke?). As the first person to EVER hold the title of Chief Marketing Officer, he should know! Lots of good nuggets in this episode, from his thoughts on pandemic marketing to why marketers are still focusing w...

Long before the rise of Kim Kardashian or Jeffree Star, there were veritable armies of direct sales people going door to door selling their wares by telling stories and using their personal passion for the products. What happened to that model in the age of the influencer and with a pandemic that seems to never end? To understand direct sales today in health, beauty and wellness, I spoke with Tyle...

Heart to Beat: What A Cardiac Surgeon’s Experience Says About Leadership Dr. Brian Lima At the Reboot Chronicles, we most often talk to business executives about their challenges and triumphs. I met Dr. Brian Lima speaking at a conference and decided to up our ante to life or death issues. Dr. Brian Lima is a cardiothoracic surgeon and bestselling author of an inspirational autobiography, Heart to...

If, like me, you have found yourself at large conferences wondering where the diversity is, you would have been surprised and delighted to see Shelley Zalis leading groups of like-minded women across the giant trade halls of CES, the esplanades of Cannes Lion or the conference rooms of the World Economic Forum.. Shelley, who built her career in market research, responded to a need for connection,...

We now welcome onto The Reboot Chronicles Tom Deierlein. Bronze Star and Purple Heart Recipient and serial entrepreneur.  On this Veterans Day, we are honored to have Tom, a 1989 graduate of West Point, who is also an Airborne Ranger, Wounded Warrior and angel investor. Tom was recently named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of The Year, Greater Washington and is the co-founder and current CEO...

I recently sat down with Christopher Gavigan , the founder of Honest Company , (which had a wildly successful IPO this year) to talk about Prima , his latest venture. With this company he is boldly going into the premium CBD space, separating the “woo woo” from science, and in the process bringing pain and sleep relief to a Covid weary world. Chris started thinking about CBD products before he tea...

Keep learning, even at home The COVID-19 pandemic closed offices and schools around the world last year. 1.6 billion students around the world had their schools closed in April 2020 or 90% of all students. My partner is an assistant principal at a K-12 school in Colorado, and I have witnessed first-hand the new challenges that she and all educators and learners have had to navigate. On the Reboot...

There is more content available to consumers than ever before. Content that stimulates almost all our senses -- streaming video, podcasts, short social clips, blogs and much more. With so many content options, creators have to produce high quality content to be rewarded. And the more that quality content is rewarded, the more incentive there is for brands and creators to elevate the content they a...

Many challenges that companies face stem from a disconnect between sales and marketing teams. Finger pointing between the two departments, who ultimately have the same end-goal, can infect an organization. Next to reputational damage, it is a CEO’s worst nightmare. I recently welcomed back a great leader and friend to the Reboot Chronicles podcast, Scott Miller , best-selling author, fellow podcas...

Serial CEO and entrepreneur Jeff Hoffman has had his hands in a number of different ventures, including Priceline , a Grammy-winning jazz album, an Emmy Award-winning television show and a best-selling book. On this episode of the Reboot Chronicles, I spoke with Jeff about 1871, the travel industry, helping entrepreneurs, the current financial craze of SPACs and crowdfunding and how to successfull...

Deloitte as it exists today is not your father’s Big Four accounting firm. With over $47 billion in revenue and 330,000 employees spread across 150 countries, Janet Foutty and her Deloitte colleagues work with around 70% of the global Fortune 500 companies. On this episode of the Reboot Chronicles, I spoke with Janet Foutty, the executive chair of the board of Deloitte and chair of the Deloitte Fo...

Within a span of seven years, she went from selling her products at her local flea market to selling it to Unilever in a nine-figure deal. On this episode of the Reboot Chronicles, I spoke with Jamie Schmidt, the founder and former CEO of Schmidt’s Naturals, to learn more about how her products went from humble beginnings, to being sought after by all the major CPGs, to now being on the shelves of...

Stuckey’s Corporation which started as a roadside pecan stand during the Great Depression and grew into 350+ stores by the 1970s, has evolved itself under the leadership of Stephanie Stuckey, who brough the company back into family hands in November 2019. On this episode of the Reboot Chronicles, Stuckey’s CEO Stephanie Stuckey discusses how her unique background translates into her leadership sty...

As a founder of 1871 in Chicago , one of the largest incubators in the world, I'm often on the lookout for hybrid business acceleration platforms, and recently found one that looks like a rollup with an incubator on the side! On this episode of the Reboot Chronicles, I caught up with Chris Hobson , CEO of Rare Beauty Brands , who helps high-growth indie brands scale innovation, product and ch...

With more than $8 billion in revenue and a team of 15,000 employees, Amway has helped entrepreneurs in more than 100 countries see success selling health, beauty, and wellness products through a program called “A Million Entrepreneurs.” According to Fortune magazine, Amway is among the Top 50 privately held family-owned companies in the U.S. Founded in 1959, the company is still headquartered in t...

On this episode of the Reboot Chronicles, I talked with Matthew Putman , CEO Nanotronics,  a dynamic group transforming a broad spectrum of manufacturing and processing industries, through artificial intelligence, science and other cutting-edge stuff. I don't say this often, but if you are involved in the manufacturing space, you should check out what they are doing to bring manufac...

When Heather Wallace joined Revlon as President of Americas just about a year ago, she had a plan— to reboot the iconic brand and help prepare it for the future. Then, before she could even meet her team, the pandemic hit. And as Mike Tyson said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” On this episode of the Reboot Chronicles, I talked with Heather about how she grabbed the whee...

Way before Dermalogica , the world’s top professional-grade skincare brand, was acquired by Unilever in 2015, and even before the company had a product line, it was known as the International Dermal Institute, where innovative cutting-edge skincare treatments were taught. Unlike many indie-brands owned by corporate-motherships, who learn the hard way that tigers eat their young, Dermalogica provid...

In the Amazon fueled ecommerce marketplace wars, with aggressive competitors—from eBay and Google to Walmart and Target — Supermarket Mega-chain Kroger seized the lock-down pandemic era to launch its own marketplace in 2020. In this bold move Kroger’s shifted from its old store-based model into a co-created marketplace that offers tens of thousands of indie and global product brands—from food...

On the heels of Australia’s top 2020 public offering— the largest female-led IPO in that market’s history— Adore Beauty’s CEO, Tennealle O'Shannessy , shares her unique journey of taking a company public in the midst of  a seriously strict Stage Four Lockdown. Already the leading profitable online retailer in their category—with $200 million of fresh IPO powder in the bank, Tennealle provides...

As a co-founding board member at 1871 in Chicago and creator of the Dancing with Startups program , I am always on the lookout for potential global expansion partners, like Founders Factory. They are a very dynamic startup accelerator and venture studio, launched five years ago in London by Brent Hoberman and Henry Lane Fox , on the principles of aiding founders with hands-on resources. On this ep...