CEOs Speak

Elly Perets is the Chief Executive Officer at Utilis. He has 20 years of experience in executive management, enterprise software sales, marketing, business development, and OEM.

Mychal Manolatos is Vice President of SOLitude Lake Management, a nationwide environmental firm specializing in the sustainable management of lakes, stormwater ponds, wetlands, fisheries, and drinking water reservoirs. He is responsible for driving the overall direction and strategy of the business while upholding the company’s mission to provide premium, accessible environmental solutions. Mychal earned his Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Hospitality Management from Michigan State University and began his professional career in 1999. He has led various teams and businesses across multiple industries, including two Fortune 500 Companies.

Manley Hopkinson is the founder of renowned leadership consultancy Manley Talks LTD and The Compassionate Leadership Academy, author of Compassionate Leadership, and a sought-after keynote speaker.

Jim Grundy is the CEO/Founder of multiple oil and gas service companies based out of Dallas/Fort Worth. With an MBA from the University of Texas, Arlington, Mr. Grundy has spent the better part of his working life optimizing various PML platforms for numerous Fortune 500 companies and is now the founder/CEO of Sisu Energy LLC. Since 2018, Mr. Grundy has generated more than $100 million dollars of revenue without financially leveraging a single company-owned asset. Utilizing smart technologies and implementing his PPP (Praise, Promote and Pay) initiatives, Mr. Grundy represents the ‘new breed’ of entrepreneurs providing Supply Chain solutions that optimize business strategies while at the same time creating a financial model that is both responsible, yet sustainable.

Known as the “world’s smartest coach,” Cynthia Davis is an authority on transcendent leadership and cultivating potential in maverick innovators. She is the CEO of Radiant Blue and the founder of the Incremental Monumental Change community, two separate but related endeavors that foster excellence in extreme pioneering.Before striking out on her own, Cynthia led a publicly held consulting company as its first female CEO, served as a VP of International Business Development, a VP of Global Operations, an Executive VP, and a Management Consultant at some of the world’s most prestigious corporations including Raytheon Corporation, Lockheed Martin, Bausch & Lomb, and General Electric. During her tenure at these legendary Fortune 50 companies, she learned what it takes to achieve massive success on both the individual and corporate level, and felt compelled to share that hard-won wisdom.

For more than 20 years Eric Strafel, former CEO and Fortune 500 executive, has dedicated himself to building forward-thinking teams and scaling innovation to create transformational organizations that thrive in an increasingly entrepreneurial and purpose-driven world. His recent corporate leadership roles include Vice President of Strategy and Market Development for Boeing Global Services and President/CEO of Aviall, where he led the creation of the framework for Aviall’s 20/20 vision for future growth. Strafel is passionate about helping small and midsize companies grow profits and scale, which motivated him in 2019 to launch SUMMi7, an EdTech platform featuring a series of pursuits focused on improving business and society by creating opportunities for underrepresented communities. He is on a mission to share collaborative leadership strategies and create opportunities for a more human-centric and inclusive planet.

Jamie Straz has over 6 years of experience with both public and private sector projects. He has served as Project Architect, Manager, and Designer for both large and small scale projects through the schematic and design development stage, construction documents, permitting, and construction administration for various types of projects and clients. He has a diverse design background that he integrates into his Architectural work whether it is through Art, Sculpture, Journalism, Marketing, or Graphic Design. Understanding what the client wants and working with them to create a design that reflects their dreams into a reality, good design does not come at a cost and Mr. Straz strives to incorporate this philosophy into his work regardless of the type of project. 

Erdin Beshimov is an entrepreneur and educator at MIT. He believes that the mission of education is to help humanity escape the Paradox of Progress. He also predicts that the best universities of the 22nd century will be different from the best universities today.

Rob Weinhold, a crisis leadership expert , is the Chief Executive of the Fallston Group, which he launched in 2009 to help organizations manage their reputations during life’s most critical times. As an executive serving various organizations in the public and private sectors, including the Baltimore Police Department, the U.S. Department of Justice, and Ripken Baseball, Rob developed deep experience in crisis leadership, innovation, business growth, marketing, and public affairs. In all these roles, Rob also served as chief strategist and has appeared on CNN, FOX, MSNBC, BBC and many other media outlets. He holds a Master of Science in Marketing degree from Johns Hopkins University.

Larry Oberly brings 26 years of franchise experience from the foodservice, real estate, and large-format printing industries. Before joining SpeedPro in November of 2017, he served for 17 years as Vice President of U.S. and Global Operations at RE/MAX LLC, where he headed growth, development, technology, and training for more than 100 countries and territories, 3,850 offices, and 54,000 agents.Prior to RE/MAX, Larry was a successful multi-unit Baskin-Robbins franchisee with full P&L accountability for marketing and sales, quality customer service, team development, purchasing, and accounting. After six years, he built and sold his businesses at a substantial profit and was elected to serve on the Baskin-Robbins National Marketing Committee.Larry has three main roles as the President and CEO of SpeedPro: setting the vision of the company, growing existing studio sales and profits, and awarding and supporting new studios.Larry’s wife owns a Medical Training company and they are parents to one son. Larry loves traveling, running, and hosting parties at their home. He has run seven marathons and eight half-marathons. He is also a guest lecturer at the University of Colorado and Georgetown University. He holds a BBA from Kent State University, an MBA from California State University, a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, and is a member of the Entrepreneurship Advisory Board of the University of Colorado-Denver, IFA International Committee and Convention Committee.

How has predicting the weather changed? Learn from the "most accurate man in weather” as he was named by The New York Times. Dr. Joel N. Myers is considered the “father of modern commercial meteorology” and the nation’s most respected authority on the business of meteorology. Founder and Chief Executive Officer of AccuWeather, he has been recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurs book as one of the greatest entrepreneurs in American history. He is a proven visionary leader, founding the company in 1962 and successfully establishing AccuWeather as the largest and fastest-growing weather media company as well as a global leader in weather-related big data, business, and predictive analytics. Dr. Myers continues to champion global business growth at AccuWeather while helping others.

Alexandre Douzet is the CEO of Pumpkin Pet Insurance.Alexandre has an MBA in general management, an MS in direct marketing, and a BS in economics and business administration. Prior to Pumpkin, he was founder and CEO of Ollie, and before that TheLadders.com. He is also a competitive athlete and has completed several Ironman competitions.

Nancy Leavitt is the woman behind the award-winning Nancy Leavitt Agency, LLC, a woman-owned business through American Family Insurance in Bellingham, WA, which has provided auto, home, business, life, and other insurance in the Pacific Northwest for almost twelve years. In that time, she’s developed thousands of policies, serviced hundreds of claims, and touched the lives of thousands of residents in her community.

In this second podcast with Gary Schoeniger of The Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative, Gary digs deeper into a discussion of his "entrepreneurial mindset theory."  To explain this theory, he shares that he "wanted to understand how people with no particular advantage in their life, managed to rise above their situation, to create some modicum of meaning and prosperity in their life. "

Dr. Kennette Thigpen, or Dr. K as many have come to call her, is a Corporate Mental Health Consultant and Speaker. She has spent the last 15+ years helping hundreds of companies of all sizes, in multiple industries, from around the globe develop, implement and integrate mental health strategies by developing tailored initiatives, delivering training, and speaking. In doing so, she is able to help companies experience a more resilient, productive, and engaged workforce.Her innovative methodology when working with companies has awarded her the IChange Nations award for Women Who Add Value and as a Distinguished Leader. She is an International Psychologist and Licensed Clinical Social Worker who graduated from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and East Carolina University.

Brian Harris is the CEO and co-founder of MedRhythms, a digital therapeutics company that uses sensors, music, and software to build evidence-based, neurologic interventions to measure and improve walking.

In a multi-billion-dollar law enforcement organization, Jonni Redick oversaw large-scale civil disturbance, natural disaster response coordination, and oversight, and managed thousands of personnel within daily operations. A 29-year veteran, rising through the ranks of the California Highway Patrol (CHP) from county clerical worker to breaking through the “less-than-one-percent” ceiling for women of color in executive leadership in law enforcement.Her progression from front-line police work to executive leadership generated her passion for cultivating trust and legitimacy in organizational cultures. She now builds 21st Century leaders as the founder and CEO of JLConsulting Solutions (JLCS) where she works with police executives in law enforcement and public safety, CEOs in corporate, government, and nonprofit businesses.She is a thought leader in law enforcement and educates public safety and law enforcement leaders across the country. Jonni Redick is also the author of “Survival Guide” to Law Enforcement Promotional Preparation and the forthcoming book “Black, White & Blue: Surviving the Sifting.”

Ryan Novak is the 32-year-old owner of Chocolate Pizza Company, Central New York’s largest chocolate maker that has grown from a small-town chocolate shop into an emerging national brand. The company’s signature, products Chocolate Pizza® and Peanut Butter Wings® are gourmet chocolate gifts for business or personal occasions made with the highest quality Swiss-style chocolate. They have been enjoyed by A-list celebrities, hall of fame athletes, music legends, top political and business executives, and chocolate lovers from 6 continents. In 2016, Chocolate Pizza Company was named “Business of the Year” (less than 50 employees) by Centerstate CEO, the area’s largest business development association covering 12 counties in Upstate New York. Ryan has a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship from Syracuse University where he also played college football. He is a 40 Under Forty awardee and was honored as “Young Alumnus of the Year” by SU’s Whitman School of Management. Ryan is married and resides in his hometown of Marcellus, New York.

Gary Schoeniger is the founder of the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative (ELI) and co-author of Who Owns the Ice House? Eight Life Lessons from an Unlikely Entrepreneur. He led the development of the Ice House Entrepreneurship Program and has presented about re-defining entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial thinking at numerous keynotes, workshops, and training programs throughout the U.S. and abroad.

Stephen King is the CEO and founder of GrowthForce. From startups to working with Fortune 500 executives, Stephen brings a unique combination of vision, foresight, and experience to help small businesses run better, grow faster, and make more money. Regarded as one of the accounting industry’s top thought leaders, he’s currently serving as President and CEO of GrowthForce, one of the nation’s largest cloud-based accounting service providers.A highly energetic and motivational business leader, entrepreneur, and speaker, Steve has a passion for helping businesses and nonprofits reach their growth potential. His ability to visualize the future of accounting and assemble a highly qualified and motivated team has led GrowthForce to become one of the nation’s largest cloud-based bookkeeping, accounting, and controller service providers.