What is Innovation?

Roger L. Firestien, PhD , president of the Innovation Resources, Inc., and author of several popular book on business, innovation, and creativity, discusses the symbiotic relationship between creativity and innovation in solving real problems. This episode also unpacks the reality and practicality of asking creative questions. More about our guest: Roger L. Firestien, PhD has trained more people t...

Carolina Duque Chopitea, Director of Technology and Product at Reciqlo , a Circular Economy company that builds solutions for glass recycling, and Co-founder of Brandformers , a digital marketing and consultancy company that helps brands with their digital transition, discusses why it's important to see innovation as a way of looking at the future, and they unpack the ingredients of innovation tha...

Hussain Almossawi,  author of   The Innovator's Handbook: A Short Guide to Unleashing Your Creative Mindset and founder of Mossawi Studios talks on how innovation can spring from small ideas compounding into one great big implementation.  More about our guest: Hussain Almossawi is also renowned designer and innovator who has worked across industries around the world creating and consulting for com...

David Cutler, founder and CEO of The Puzzler Company , facilitator of the leading immersive 'GAME of Innovation' talks about how gamifying innovation works, the many ways that innovation is not always what is seems to be, and why music and innovation naturally work together.  More about our guest: David Cutler, facilitates the leading immersive "GAME of Innovation' where these powerful, team-based...

Todd Skidmore is Sr. Director of Digital Marketing, eCommerce and Analytics at Mohawk Industries , the largest flooring manufacturer in the world.  More about our guest: Todd leads a team of talented digital marketers, eCommerce managers and analytics professionals to drive growth and create best-in-class experiences across all of Mohawk’s digital platforms including B2C, B2B and B2B2C. Prior to M...

Ralf Specht is a visionary business leader, highly sought-after speaker, and creator of the Soul System™, a framework that aligns value-creating employee action with broader corporate strategy through shared understanding & shared purpose. More about our guest: Ralf Specht is a founding partner of Spark44, he was the architect of an innovative, industry-first joint-venture with Jaguar Land Rov...

Chris Skinner is a bestselling author, independent commentator, and globally sought-after expert on financial markets and technology through his critically acclaimed website, The Finanser. More about our guest: Chris has been voted one of the most influential people in financial technology by the Wall Street Journal’s Financial News, and has been an advisor to the White House, the World Bank, the...

Geneva Pritchard, Move92' s Executive Director, curates relationships between grant makers (donors) and grassroots organizations around the world in a way that is rooted in the core philosophies of trust-based philanthropy. More about our guest: Relationship-building is at the center of everything Geneva does. Her devotion to connecting real people to real solutions has been the heartbeat of her w...

Nathan Stuck , is the creator of B Local Georgia , a Georgia based nonprofit that focuses on helping companies get B-Corp certified, and use their business as a force for good.  More about our guest: Nathan is an award winning leader in the B Corp community. In addition to his role as the Director of Corporate Culture & Strategic Impact at Ad Victoriam Solution , a certified B Corp, he founded...

Whitney Parnell is a Black millennial activist, singer, and the Founder and CEO of Service Never Sleeps , a nonprofit that empowers individuals and communities to catalyze social justice through service and Allyship. She is also a musician and has released a social justice album called "What Will You Do," with the goal of using empathy through song to ignite action. More about our guest: Whitney's...

Keagan Russo , is Fleetcor's President for North America Local, a company that provides fuel cards and workforce payment products and services.  More about our guest: Keagan leads the North America Local Fleet Card line of business, which has ~50,000 businesses under the Fuelman and Comdata Mastercard brands. He joined FLEETCOR in 2019. Before his current role, Keagan lead go-to-market strategy an...

Andy Binns, is the co-founder of Change Logic, a Boston-based strategic advisory firm.   More about our guest: Andy works with CEOs, boards, and senior teams as they lead significant business change. His goal is to help organizations liberate their potential to excite the world with innovation. He has 25 years of consulting experience as both an external and internal consultant for McKinsey &...

Kapil Kane is the Director of Innovation at Intel China where he co-founded & runs GrowthX- an award-winning corporate-startup accelerator. He is also the creator of the first multi-touch screen at Apple, where went on to lead product design on iPod, MacBook, MacBook Air, iMac & eventually the iPad. More about our guest: Kapil has deep expertise in areas of technology, innovation & ent...

James Quinn is the Executive Managing Director at JLL , a Fortune 500 Company, that is considered the leading Technology Real Estate Advisor globally at the forefront of Technology and Real Estate having intimately worked with many of the largest corporations in the world.  More about our guest: James, who's based in New York, leads a group of Technology and Real Estate professionals that provide...

Matthew 'Matt' Wool is the CEO of Acceleration Partners , an Integrated partnership agency. More about our guest:   After joining the company as its fourth employee in 2012, Matthew 'Matt' Wool served as General Manager and then President of the company before becoming CEO in 2021. During his tenure, Matt has been a driver of Acceleration Partners’ success including the company’s numerous placemen...

Tim Branham , aka Timothy Branham Mr. Branham has served as Chief  Strategy and Growth Officer for a healthcare services firm, Chief Technology Officer for a publicly traded automotive digital marketing company, and global CIO for a global information telecommunication services company. Through these experiences, he's had responsibility for hundreds of staff millions of dollars in P&L and was...

Marge Simmons, aka Virginia Margrete Lawson Simmons, is a retired Garrison Manpower Chief in the Resource Management Office of the US Army. She has led the Fort Rucker 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program and is an active member of the Johns Chapel AME Church in Enterprise since 1975, serving in various ministry leadership capacities including Christian Education Director and Choir Pre...

Mary Ann Jentz , founder of MAJ Consulting, a company aiming to help organizations define and execute strategic goals with a culture-first approach shares how morality and intentionality work (and don't work) in the areas of innovation.  More about our guest: Mary Ann has over 15 years of experience, 10 years as a consultant, and prior to founding MAJ Consulting, she worked at Deloitte as a strate...

Todd Khozein is the founder of the Founder and Co-CEO of SecondMuse , an impact and innovation company building resilient economies by supporting entrepreneurs and the ecosystems around them. More about our guest: The company is a manifestation of Todd’s impassioned belief that economic and social systems can be built inclusively and not at the expense of human dignity and the health of the planet...

Galen Bingham is the founder of Kiln Global Coaching & Consulting. Known as the leadership strategist, he is a leadership trainer, retreat facilitator and certified executive coach with 30 years of experience working with Fortune 500 companies.  More about our guest: Galen Bingham is the founder of Kiln Global Coaching & Consulting. Known as the leadership strategist, he is a leadership tr...

Quinn Osha is the founder of Topmarq, an innovative online platform that allows car owners to get the best price for their used car. Quinn shares how his company applies the aggregator concept common in other industries to transform the private seller experience in the automotive industry. He also discusses the differences among the four types of innovation he sees in the business world. More abou...

Geoff Orazem is the co-founder of Eastern Foundry, an incubator for growing defense oriented technology companies, and Federal Foundry a software and media company for defense contractors. Geoff talks on the $500 billion government contracting market, the federal innovation programs, and how innovation can help provide better touch points for government customer-service. More about our guest: Geof...

William A. Lumpkin is Head of New Products Strategy & Business Development for Alexion, Astra Zeneca Rare Disease Business Unit. Will shares how innovation works within the pharmaceutical industry and how marketing and science differs especially in commercialization. More about our guest: William A. Lumpkin is Head of New Products Strategy & Business Development for Alexion, Astra Zeneca R...

Dr. Ann Kowal Smith is Founder and Executive Director of Reflection Point , which facilitates story-based conversations in workplaces to foster inclusion and collaboration. Dr. Smith shares how creating environments outside of the framework of seniority creates ripples of empathy that drive lifelong learning. More about our guest: Dr. Ann Kowal Smith serves as Founder & Executive Director of R...

Luiz Zorzella , founder and principal of Amquant. Luiz shares on the contrast of Venture Capital and S&P. He also shares more about taking on the leadership role and different perspectives on the financial industry.  More about our guest: Luiz Zorzella, through his company, Amquant, works with banks, insurance companies, investment and other service firms worldwide in the areas of growth, prof...