Thinking Inside the Box

In today’s episode, I chat with Steve Gordon, the Talahassee-based Founder of Unstoppable CEO Press, an organization supporting abundance-minded entrepreneurs, business owners, and professionals with packaging their best ideas and using them to attract meaningful clients.  Steve’s also a prolific net-worker. We were introduced through a mutual contact, and it quickly became clear that our lives ha...

In today’s episode, I chat with Chris De Santis a Chicago-based organizational behavior consultant, speaker and author, specializing in workplace interventions. Chris recently published his first book, "Why I Find You Irritating: Navigating Generational Friction at Work".  Chris has over 35 years of experience in training and development consulting, including stints as the Director of Tr...

In today's episode, I chat with Peter Shafer. A collaborative, agile, roll-up-your-sleeves sales, marketing and communications leader known for his compelling stories, bias for results, and passion for developing the talents of people around him. He also works as a professional football referee. Peter helps organizations grow, whether through sales training, supporting new product launches, o...

In today’s episode, I chat with Thomas Douglas, the Springfield, Missouri-based Chief Executive Officer of JMARK, an innovative IT solutions provider to various companies and industries. Thomas is an award-winning business leader and an innovator, and his creations have, in part,  led to JMARK’s breakthrough industry growth. His story at JMark is unique - he graduated from employee to CEO - an int...

In today’s episode, I chat with Duncan So, the Toronto-based technologist, clinical practitioner, and burnout expert. Duncan gained his expertise the old-fashioned way, through lived experiences.  He too experienced burnout, the reduction of recovery processes, leaving him drained and unable to perform at his desired level. And he came out of it using the same method that has helped hundreds of co...

In today’s episode, I chat with Tadiwa Muradzikwa, an Ottawa, Canada-based HR professional with experience on 4 continents, including memorable stops in Zimbabwe, Liberia, Malaysia, Germany, the United States and Canada. He holds a Doctor of Social Science degree, a Master of Science degree in HR Management & Training from the University of Leicester, and an MBA from Mancosa in South Africa. ...

In today's episode I chat with Amir Bozorgzadeh, a market researcher, games publisher, and tech writer, currently working at the intersection of frontier tech and social impact. He is also the Co-Founder & CEO of Virtuleap, a Lisbon-based organization that combines neuroscience and virtual reality to help increase attention levels, and address cognitive illnesses, disorders, and learning...

In today’s episode, I chat with Soon Yu, best-selling author and expert on innovation and design. His latest book, Friction, asks businesses to consider adding more friction for their customers and employees in order to create greater engagement, meaning, belonging, rapport, assurance, competence, and exclusivity. Soon most recently served as the Global VP of Innovation and officer at VF Corporati...

In today’s episode, I chat with Steve Prentice - speaker, published author, writer, and university lecturer. Steve’s main areas of focus include: cyber-security, the future of work, technology and people - fertile ground for a rich discussion. We started, as is custom on this podcast, with Steve’s story. One made all the more interesting by his years as a digital nomad & traveling musician. Th...

In today’s episode, I chat with Preeti Adhikary, a NYC-based Consultant with Blue Ivy Ventures, a firm and community of Yale alumni investors, executives, entrepreneurs, and innovation enthusiasts that have raised over $1 billion in funding across 1,000 unique investments.  Preeti and I connected on LinkedIn a few months back. I was knee-deep in networking with individuals in the venture capital s...

In today’s episode, I chat with Bradley Rice, a Salesforce Career Expert based in Tampa, Florida. Bradley has an incredible story. He worked in the Tech Ecosystem for over 10 years and along the way, developed a system that had him earning $225,000 annually, working just 20 hours per week. But this isn’t some get-rich-quick-scheme. Rather, Bradley’s story is one of hard-work, a near-obsession with...

In today’s episode, I chat with Jonathan Shroyer, a San Mateo, CA-based Chief Customer Experience Innovation Officer, at Arise Virtual Solutions Inc., a disruptive technology platform connecting the world’s biggest brands with a previously untapped network of small business owners and their agents. Prior to this, he held roles with Microsoft and Kabam. Jonathan’s mantra as a leader is to dream big...

In today’s episode, I chat with Rob Theriault, President Canadian Chapter of Immersive Learning Research Network, author, innovator, researcher, and speaker. Rob is also the Immersive Technology Manager at Georgian College.  Located just outside of Toronto, Ontario, Georgian College is a world leader in XR exploration and integration, with pilot initiatives running across multiple disciplines.  Ro...

In today’s episode, I chat with Dr. Heidi Gardner, a Boston, MA-based Distinguished Fellow at Harvard Law School and Faculty Chair of the school’s Accelerated Leadership Program, Smart Collaboration Masterclass and other programs. Previously, she was a professor at Harvard Business School and continues to teach executive education there and at other Harvard graduate schools.  The author of more th...

In today’s episode, I chat with Matt Abrahams, a Lecturer in Organizational Behaviour, at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, where he teaches Strategic Communication courses and workshops that help future business leaders to be more authentic, confident and compelling communicators. Matt’s also Host of the Think Fast, Talk Smart: The Podcast, where he sits down with experts across...

In today’s episode, I chat with Carol Schultz, the Denver-based Founder & CEO of Vertical Elevation, a consulting and executive coaching firm specializing in career coaching, leadership development, and strategic business planning.  She’s also Host of the Authentically Successful Podcast, covering topics ranging from business challenges, leadership, culture, with a strong emphasis on hiring th...

Paul McCarthy creates the conditions for leaders to have courageous and honest conversations. Having operated in the management and leadership consulting space for almost 25 years, Paul has strong opinions regarding leadership in future workplaces.  His clients have included BP, PepsiCo, and Deloitte. And he’s worked extensively with governments in the UK and Canada. His breadth of experiences res...

In today’s episode, I chat with Ava Naeini, the Founder of Pulse Operations. Ava loves building at scale. She’s currently developing a tool for monitoring and supporting devOps wellness. Her story is unique, and it’s worth hearing. So is her message regarding burnout. We blended the topics; discussing her entrepreneurship journey, the lessons learned along the way, and their impact on workplaces o...

In today’s episode, I chat with Rob Salafia. What happens when you combine a successful career in the performing arts with over 2 decades as a top leadership development executive?  You get Rob, who early in his career, travelled the globe as a performing artist offering his one person show in theatres, festivals and select street venues. He used storytelling, tap dancing, comic characters and wir...

In today’s episode, I chat with Nishika de Rosairo, a serial entrepreneur and business leader who has spent the last 18 years focused on two key things – people and impact, supporting organizations like Deloitte, Apple, and Salesforce.  She’s on a mission to unlock the human potential of the world, and founded HumanQ to address the pain points felt by both individuals and organizations in having a...

In today’s episode, I chat with Navjeet Chhina, the Vancouver-based Founder & CEO of Genius Ventures Inc, an international leader in the Metaverse / XR business solutions industry. He was also one of my partners in the 2020 Global HR Summit conference - the largest ever business enterprise conference presented entirely in virtual reality.  We of course, get into that, alongside Nav’s other gre...

In today’s episode, I chat with Nada Lena, the Las Vegas-based Founder & CEO of Rise Up For You. Nada is also a #1 Best Selling Author, Leadership and Career Confidence Coach, and 2x TEDx Motivational Speaker. With over 10 years’ experience as a college professor and former top executive for an education corporation, Nada understands the importance of fusing education, empowerment, and leaders...

In today’s episode, I chat with Massimo Backus, a Seattle, Washington-based Executive Coach. Massimo helps Leaders lead authentically, navigate their career intentionally, and grow high performing teams successfully.  His philosophy is that of leadership without judgment. To not judge oneself, others, or the process (the context of any situation.) It is from this judgment-free place that Massimo b...

In today’s episode, I chat with Lona Alia, the venture backed Y Combinator Founder @StyleLend, Head of Revenue @SafetyWing & an advisor to the EU for innovation.  Lona is a Miami-based remote work advocate, an expert at building remote teams, and a digital nomad who has herself visited 80+ countries.  That makes her uniquely qualified to discuss a range of topics, from conscious life design, t...

In today’s episode, I chat with Mark Romig, the Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer of New Orleans & Company, the New Orleans tourism industry’s destination marketing and sales organization.  Mark’s public relations career has spanned more than four decades. From teaching in college classrooms, to the 1984 Louisiana World’s Fair. From working as a Staff Assistant to U.S. Dept....