We interview business leaders and people of influence in Metro Detroit to discuss their journey to a position of influence in their industries. The times where they had to draw on their reserves of self belief and the solutions they found are investigated with them. Overall, you will get to know our guests on a human level and understand the individual qualities they have that helped shape their behavior and choices on their journey.
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Awenate speaks about what made him leave a great role at the Whitehouse to come to Detroit with the Pistons initially before taking a role with the Bedrock Manufacturing group where he became CEO and is heading up the Shinola brand. His journey is one of always demanding more from himself and never accepting staying 'comfortable' whether that was i…
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Cam Crowder - How to venture into the world of Venture Capitalism
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Cam shares his candid insights from leaving college early to help run his familys Tim Hortons franchises. While there he found more efficient ways to serve customers in the drive through and he also started considering other food related technologies that could increase efficiency. During COVID the decision was made to sell the franchises and Cam w…
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Connie Smith - From growing up in foster care, to becoming a foster parent.......and running a PR firm
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59:20
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Hear Connie not only talk about her career but about what it was like growing up in foster care. At 10 years old she had to make a mature decision about her living arrangements and ever since Connie has been decisive in her choices and with her strong work ethic and drive she progressed in the news and TV industry. During COVID, she was home with h…
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Terry McCarthy - Successfully working with your spouse while growing multi location animal clinics
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Hear Terry talk about how he and his wife Theresa decided to work together but in separate roles. Theresa is a vet and Terry runs the business side and that formula has seen them grow successfully over the past 30 plus years to where they now run; Dandy Acres in South Lyon Easthaven in Ann Arbor Shelter Bay in Novi If you want to run your own busin…
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Colleen Budde - Franchise owner of Office Evolution of Troy
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Hear Colleen talk about the decision by her and her husband for her to leave the corporate world of being an engineer and decide to invest in a franchise. Hear how they chose and researched the franchise and came to the decision to go for it even though they had busy lives with a young daughter at home. Not only that but COVID hit shortly after the…
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Dr Tony Capone - World Renowned Pediatric Eye Surgeon
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Dr. Capone is an internationally recognized clinician, surgeon and educator. He has authored or co-authored over 200 publications in peer-reviewed medical journals, book chapters, and publications from clinical trials. He is currently a Professor of Biomedical Sciences at Oakland University, and Professor at the European School for Advanced Studies…
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Chris Swanson - Sheriff of Genessee County
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1:15:56
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Listen to this fascinating and uplifting conversation with Sheriff Swanson where we talk about his personal story but also about the challenges facing police officers today and how he and his department are facing them. We also discuss issues affecting the community such as drugs, mental health, guns and jails. It is in the jails that Chris is cham…
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Kathy Skubik - Owner of Irene's Myomassology Institue in Southfield
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Kathy and her mother Irene opened this nationally acclaimed massage school in 1987 after so many people were requesting for Irene to teach them her specialized methods. Hear how Kathy and Irene had very defined roles and worked together as a great team to develop and hold extremely high standards. Standards that mean some spas will only hire massag…
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Darryl Woods - Founder of "Fightin' the Good Fight" and "Better Together"
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Imagine being 18 years old with children aged 18 and six months old and hearing the sentence of life without parole, or death while incarcerated as Darryl calls it, being announced by the judge for a crime you didn't commit. If that did not test Darryl's self belief sufficiently, 7 years in to his sentence the original judge said his conviction sho…
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Dr Sarah Kirsch - Owner of Balanced Wellness in Berkley MI. Focusing on wellness and business even when you are going through a health crisis.
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Dr. Sarah Kirsch's journey is an inspiring testament to resilience and determination in the face of adversity. Despite experiencing a sudden health challenge, she didn't let it derail her passion for helping others through her chiropractic and functional medicine practice. Instead, she used her own experience as a patient to enhance her understandi…
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Tom Sheppard - Head of School at University Liggett School in Grosse Pointe MI
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Education has always been forefront in many people's lives from their decision of which school district to live in to their decision of whether to educate their child via private, public or home school. Hear about Toms journey where he details working in a number of prestigious schools in different states in roles such as head of admission, to his …
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Jason Dungjen - Former Olympic figure skater and current coach/manager at Detroit skating club
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What does it take to be an Olympian? You may not think that the answer is to take 2 years away from the sport between 18 and 20 years old but this is a part of Jason's story. Jason shares his story about being adopted when he was a few days old and how he went from ice hockey to figure skating, then almost walking away from the sport when he went t…
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Season 2 wrap up - Lessons from the last 20 minutes
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As we wrap up season 2 we go back through some of our guests this season and take lessons from the thoughts they have shared in the last 20 minutes of each of their episodes. We have found that the first part of the interview sets the stage for their story and that in the last 20 minutes people are fully emersed and comfortable. This can be where r…
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Lee Smith - Senior Executive Vice President and President of Mortgage at Flagstar Bank
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Hear how Lee, who is originally from England, completed an economics degree and then followed opportunities that took him to America and then eventually into banking. This discussion talks about his leadership style and how he bases a lot of it on principles talked about in Jim Collins book, "From Good to Great." Before the interview I had asked Le…
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Victoria Eisenmenger - Owner of From the Heart Dog Services (Dog training in Metro Detroit)
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When is the perfect time to start your own business? I think the general answer I can deduce from many of our guests is, "When it feels right and you can no longer resist the urge to". That moment came for Victoria just after she was married and they were living with her parents for a year while their house was being remodeled. Victoria decided to …
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"If you can fill the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds worth of distance run - yours is the earth and everything that's in it" - Rudyard Kipling Doing the interviews with our guests on the podcast inspires me as I hear how they overcame challenges and moments of self doubt. A main theme between them all is that they took action. They filled the un…
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Mark Rieth - Owner Atwater Brewery (2005-2022). Current owner of Ful Beverage and Detroit Liquid Ventures
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Transitioning from the alcoholic beverage world to the Non-Alcoholic business world. Mark is best known for his role with Atwater Brewery, the company he first invested in and later purchased in its entirety. During his two decades at the helm, Mark leveraged his automotive background to help Atwater grow into the fourth largest (of more than 350) …
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Terry Bean - Keynote speaker, business coach and producer of TedXDetroit
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53:03
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Do you find speaking in front of a few people or even larger groups is out of your comfort zone? Terry shares great tips as he himself sees each day as an adventure to be lived expanding his and others comfort zones. Ultimately, growth doesn't happen by staying comfortable, successful and tangible growth happens when people put themselves in new si…
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What do your social media channels say about you and your company's brand? From thinking she wanted to specialize in fashion PR to starting her own digital marketing company, check out how Jordanna came to fill a need for specially curated content for brands across the US. We discuss practical tips, as well as why it is important to use social medi…
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George Clark - Exonerated after being wrongly imprisoned for 17 years. (accompanied by Valerie Newman)
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It is 9 days in to 2024 - how are you resolutions going? Are you sticking to them and going strong working towards your goals? What if I told you it would take 6,415 days before you would achieve your goal? How would you handle that mentally? George Clark had to deal with the mental anguish, sense of injustice and many other challenges when he was …
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Lee Padgett - Owner of Busted Bra Shops - 6 locations in the Midwest
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"When we opened in Detroit there was a population of 700,00 of which 53% were women. That meant there were more boobs than people!" - Lee Padgett Hear Lee talk about her inspiration for opening a bra shop in downtown Detroit and her growth since to multiple stores and cities. When Lee ran a coffee shop downtown in the early 2000's, a conversation w…
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Tori Cohen - Toritheorganizer.com Professional Organizer.
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Now you have a lot of new gifts in your house, do you have a place to put them? Professional organizing is really about creating new habits that will work for you and your family. Hear how Tori got into the profession and she shares some tips on organizing. Organizing is more than just putting things in places, its about setting yourself up for suc…
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Dave Dwaihy - Co Founder and Co Owner of Detroit City Football Club
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59:29
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The story of DCFC has been well publicized nationally and internationally however Dave, who rarely gives interviews, shares a number of new perspectives on the DCFC journey since himself and Sean Mann started loosely discussing forming a soccer team back at Kalamazoo college, Michigan. Since 2012 DCFC has become emblematic of the city's growth and …
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Ryan Cooley - Co founder of Slows BBQ and owner of O'Connor Real Estate in Corktown, Detroit
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Imagine in 2023 standing on Michigan Avenue in the middle of the day opposite Grand Central station in Corktown Detroit and only seeing about 1 car every 10 minutes. That was the scene 20 years ago. There were no cocktail bars, restaurants and modern condos. Corktown and downtown Detroit was a place many stayed away from. Ryan and his brother Phil …
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Richard Hallowell - Owner of Elivate and Flawless Med Spa in Lake Orion MI
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57:48
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Hear Richard describe his journey into medicine, from working in hospitals where patients had to be there out of necessity, to now owning his wellness and med spa where clients come to him willingly through their choice. He discuss fundamental business challenges he faced as he grew the business such as balancing the professional relationships and …
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Thomas Willis - Author of 'The Great Engagement' - Creating cultures that foster dramatic personal and organizational growth
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56:15
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"Many times the leader doesn't realize what frustrates them about their culture are the things they are doing unconsciously" Tom discusses how leaders and leadership teams can break plateaus by acknowledging their own behaviors and self limiting beliefs and then using tools to effectively move past them. Moving from a place of fear to a place of co…
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Andy Appleby - Owner of United Shore Professional Baseball League (USPBL) and former chairman & owner of Derby County Football Club
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54:27
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A lot of people who own sports teams have that role passed on to them from family. That is not the case with Andy Appleby. Andy arrived in MI in the 80s and started working for the Pistons as they were about to move into The Palace of Auburn Hills. Andy hustled, becoming a top salesperson and he built strong relationships with all his customers. An…
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The first 20 minutes have nothing to do with video creation but are about how Justin unknowingly homed his communication skills by working as a teacher in Brooklyn at a 'last chance' school. By learning how to effectively deliver a message to people by connecting with them as individuals within a collective, Justin was realizing that effective stor…
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Its not a bad first job out of college when you work directly with a president for 4 years. That was the role Ethan got working with President Reagan the last 4 years of his life that set him on a trajectory of public service. You will hear about some of the lessons learnt by working on a daily basis with President and Mrs Reagan and how the ideas …
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Frank Lanzkron-Tamarazo - Owner Chazzano Coffee Roasters
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How do you know when to make the leap of leaving your job/career to go follow a different passion? Frank grew up studying opera in NY and then used his musical talents to grow a career as a cantor. Outside of his work he started roasting his own coffee at home in the garage and he became deeply passionate about it. Finally after 10 years of doing t…
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Ken Lear - Owner 2313 Inc. A direct sales and marketing company
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How do you keep growing and developing your business when life gets in the way? On 2/3/2013 Kens first child, Brady, was born which in itself, can be exciting and a lot to deal with at the same time. However the day before Brady was born, Kens father passed away and 3 months earlier in November 2012 Kens mother had passed away. Ken got his head dow…
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Lessons learned from our guests so far and an update introducing Jordanna, our new Co-Host
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I wanted to take a moment and thank everyone that has helped us achieve hundreds of downloads in our first 5 weeks. Here we take a look back at the episodes so far and some of the main themes discussed by our guests. I am excited to announce that Jordanna Cheifetz, who owns JAC Digital, has joined the podcast as our new co-host. Jordanna specialize…
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Jen Litomisky - CEO of the Ronald McDonald House Charity of Detroit
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47:27
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Today more than ever people want a higher purpose attached to their work or job and running a charity that positively impacts many lives when people are going through hard times fits that description. However, what does it actually take to successfully manage a lead a non profit? This conversation with Jen covers many areas such as being in a posit…
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Amy Peterson - Owner of Rebel Nell Jewelry in Detroit
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1:05:00
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Traditional thinking indicates that you find a great product/service/idea and then you build a business around it. Traditional thinking was not for Amy, whether that was in her passion for women's rugby or her determination since the age of 14 to break into MLB at the executive level. When Amy achieved her dream role in her 20's, after a few years …
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Mike Palmer - Owner of multi location Premier Pet Supply retail stores
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44:23
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"Sell me 50% of your store and I promise you will make more owning 50% than you are currently owning 100% of it" This was the offer Mike made to his uncle when he was 24 and wanted to take on more responsibility after having worked in the only location of premier Pet Supply for a few years. Mike talks about the challenge of being a leader in your 2…
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Valerie Newman - Director of the Conviction Integrity Unit of Wayne County's prosecutors office
1:30:48
1:30:48
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This is our longest podcast but I promise you that you will wish it was longer. Valerie Newman is a titan on the Detroit legal scene and was honored in 2019 by being inducted into Wayne States Hall of Fame. This honor acknowledges graduates whose extraordinary professional success and contributions, profound positive influence on Wayne Law, and hig…
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David Lawrence - Owner of MECA - Michigan Elite Conditioning for Athletes
42:49
42:49
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"We all have to go through hard things, and thats OK" David talks about how he started his business 10 years ago with minimal funds and a small loan at a 32% interest rate. You will hear how he built MECA to where now he has multiple locations and over 60 staff. Just because the business has grown, it doesn't mean the struggles have gone away and D…
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Mamba Hamissi - Owner Baobob Fare in Detroit
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55:58
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Mamba and his wife Nadia, came to America seeking asylum from Burundi. Their story of how they have solved the many problems that were placed in front of them on their way to running a successful restaurant in Detroit is inspiring. You will hear Mamba open up about his passion for developing a supportive community around and through his business th…
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Thad Szott Part 1 - Owner Szott Car Dealerships
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Thad grew up in the car business with his dad being a close associate of Roger Penske. However this is no tale of someone being handed the keys to the store, rather of someone who has forged his way to the top and earned the respect of Metro Detroit's car dealers. Thad is passionate about developing a culture that permeates through every aspect of …
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Thad Szott Part 2 - The Detroit Auto Show
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In this episode Thad focuses on the future of the car industry in the next 10 years and discusses how that is being incorporated into this years Detroit Auto Show that he is the president of. As president he was tasked with getting all the board members, who own companies in the car industry themselves, to move in one direction with energy and enth…
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