Top Business Leaders Show

Carl Orsbourn and Meredith Sandland are Co-authors of the book Delivering the Digital Restaurant: Your Roadmap to the Future of Food . They're also the Co-founders of Learn. Delivery, a website dedicated to helping food and beverage executives optimize their off-premise businesses and succeed in the digital economy. Carl has extensive global experience implementing product strategies, change, and...

Ben LeDonni is the CEO and Founder of Creative Multimedia Solutions (Creative MMS), a company that grows established B2B solution providers by building authority, trust, and expertise with their audience using data-driven digital marketing. Ben's leadership embodies Kaizen, a Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement around working practices and efficiency — he seeks out the latest tr...

Garrett Clark is the Founder and Visionary of Rolling Monkey, a company that specializes in handcrafted ice cream made by skilled artisans. After starting his career in engineering, Garrett decided to found Rolling Monkey in 2017 with the goal of delivering high-quality products and exciting experiences. In addition to this, he is a Community Catalyst for Georgia Southern University's Business Inn...

Rick Spell is a Private Equity Investor and the Owner of Spell Restaurant Group. In 2004, Rick and his daughter Christy purchased Brookhaven Pub & Grill in Memphis, Tennessee. Since then, they have established both casual and fine dining restaurants in nine locations in Florida, Tennessee, and Mississippi. In addition to this, Rick is a CPA with over 30 years of experience in investment banking. H...

Kassandra Pike is the Founder of Fliptable, the #1 app for finding and posting restaurant jobs. Powered by AI and contactless QR technology, Fliptable is building the largest community of experienced applicants and hiring managers in the industry. Before this, Kassandra held management positions at companies including Heartland, Freestone Digital Media, and Birchstand. In this episode… Since the p...

Jodi Daniels is the Founder and CEO of Red Clover Advisors, a company that helps hundreds of businesses create privacy programs and achieve GDPR, CCPA, and US privacy law compliance. Clients rely on the secure online strategies that Red Clover establishes.  Jodi is a Certified Informational Privacy Professional (CIPP/US) with more than 20 years of experience helping a range of businesses from solo...

David Grossman is the President and CEO of Epic Burger, a Chicago-based restaurant chain focused on crafting "a more mindful burger." An expert in business development, David knows exactly what it takes to grow a successful brand. Throughout his 30-plus years in the restaurant industry, David has led organizations like Subway and Freshii to incredible success, opening more than 150 stores combined...

Aylwin Lewis is a seasoned business leader with decades of experience in the restaurant industry. Before retiring in 2017, Aylwin was the Chief Executive Officer for multiple companies including Potbelly Sandwich Shop, Kmart, and Sears. He also spent four years as the Chief Operating Officer for Yum! Brands, which includes KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell. Additionally, he has served on the board of...

Dr. Jeremy Weisz is the Co-founder of Rise25. He has been involved in podcasting for 11 years and was a Senior Producer for one of the early business podcasts; he assisted in putting all of their systems in place and helped them add volume, feature, and edify various business leaders. Dr. Weisz has also been running his podcast, Inspired Insider , since 2011. He has featured top entrepreneurs, fou...

Chris Yang is the Founder of PopCultivate, a chef-driven culinary group creating cannabis-infused cuisine. Chris is formally trained as an organic chemist with a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from the University of Southern California and a master's degree in management from Chang Gung University in Taiwan. Chris started his career in the pharmaceutical industry, but he soon discovered a passi...

Dan Pool is the Owner and CEO of Pools Restaurant Group. He has owned and opened over 150 restaurants throughout the United States. Pools Restaurant Group currently consists of 30 Gandolfo's Delis and 18 Petro's Chili & Chips. Previously, Dan worked for Chili's and Bennigan's, owned several gourmet food trucks, and was the President of Golden Corral. In this episode… Some people learn through year...

Danijel Velicki is the Founder and CEO of Sqwire and the Founder and Senior Partner of Opus Wealth Strategies LLC. With only $40 in his pocket,  Danijel left Croatia in pursuit of the American Dream. After working his way through college, he became a successful entrepreneur. With decades of experience in personal finance, education, and communication, Danijel and the team at Sqwire help low to mod...

Paul Allen is the President and Co-founder of Nextbite, a virtual restaurant. Nextbite helps commercial kitchens add innovative, online food delivery concepts to their line-up. Paul has over 25 years of experience spanning technology sales, marketing, and product development. He's worked with teams at Intel, Motorola, Adobe, Autodesk; the states of Connecticut, Colorado, and Ohio; and dozens of te...

Mike Malatesta is an entrepreneur, author, investor, and the Founder of Advanced Waste Services. He is the Leader of ERC Midwest, a holding company formed to purchase and grow other businesses that specialize in solving complex waste problems. Mike is also the author of the forthcoming book, Owner Shift: How Getting Selfish Got Me Unstuck, and host of the How'd It Happen Podcast .    Mike is on a...

John Bonavia is the Founder of The Gateway Advantage, a luxury business club in Baltimore. The Gateway Advantage aims to create a professional network environment for business owners, entrepreneurs, and investors to meet like-minded people and find innovative solutions. John is a sales and marketing guru who uses his skills in problem-solving, ethics, leadership, and creativity to meet sales, prof...

Verne Harnish is the Founder and CEO of Scaling Up, a global executive education and coaching company with over 180 partners on six continents. Verne chairs the annual ScaleUp Summits and serves on several boards, including Chair of The Riordan Clinic, Co-founder and Chair of Geoversity, and Board Member of the Million Dollar Women community. Verne is the Founder of the Entrepreneurs' Organization...

Ben Brown is the Founder and President of TastePro, a self-guided food tour company. With TastePro's tours, participants can try the best foods from multiple restaurants at a fraction of the price. Ben is a seasoned hospitality professional with a fanatical passion for food. He has experience with corporate food and beverage marketing, strategy, and analytics and has worked with companies includin...

Kyle Ewing is the President and Founder of TerraSlate, the leading provider of waterproof and rip-proof printer paper. Founded in 2015, TerraSlate has grown into a multimillion-dollar company that does business in over 85 countries worldwide. Kyle became a full-time entrepreneur in 2014 after leaving the corporate world to build his first company, Guerrilla Tags ID Systems. Since then, he has coll...

Glenn Cybulski is an award-winning executive chef with over 25 years of restaurant experience. He has opened 24 of his own restaurants, consulted for Papa Murphy's take-and-bake pizza, and developed a dough recipe that they purchased from him for $80,000. He's also consulted for Pieology, a restaurant company that has over 150 locations, and has spoken at multiple expos, including the Internationa...

Ivan Barratt is the Founder and CEO of The BAM Companies, which specialize in the acquisition and management of multifamily apartment communities. The BAM Companies consist of BAM Capital, BAM Management, and BAM Construction and have over $593 million in total assets. Ivan's company has been listed three times on the Inc. 5000 list. In addition to his role at The BAM Companies, Ivan is also a Man...

Jeannette Goldman is the Owner of Start Your Restaurant Business, a consultancy that provides one-on-one coaching, e-learning courses, and other helpful resources for first-time restaurant entrepreneurs. Jeannette has been helping people pursue their dreams of owning a food business for over 10 years. Throughout her storied career, she has started several of her own businesses, including cafes, ca...

Michael Boaz is the Founder of Boaz Construction, which offers budget development, vendor and subcontractor management, equipment sourcing, and more.  General Contractors Magazine  has recognized Boaz Construction as one of "The Best Commercial Contractors in Indianapolis, Indiana," "The Best Tenant Improvement Contractors in Indianapolis, Indiana," and "The Best Apartment and Condo Interior Contr...

Among all of the influential leaders they've interviewed, there's a major lesson that sticks out for both Jeremy and John: leaders should constantly be learning, growing, and expanding their skillset. As a business leader, it's vital to strive for improvement for yourself and your employees, business, and community. What other characteristics are key for successful business leaders? In this episod...