DiscoverLay of The Land
Lay of The Land
Claim Ownership

Lay of The Land

Author: Jeffrey Stern

Subscribed: 5Played: 397
Share

Description

Telling the stories of entrepreneurship and builders in Cleveland and throughout Northeast Ohio. Every Thursday, Jeffrey Stern helps map the Cleveland/NEO business ecosystem by talking to founders, investors, and community builders to learn what makes Cleveland/NEO special.
164 Episodes
Reverse
Nick Dadas — Co-Founder of University Tees, SISU Lifestyle, Acton Academy Lakeside, ISI, and MasterPlan Coach.In 2003, still a sophomore at Miami University, Nick co-founded University Tees after trying to organize a t-shirt order for his business fraternity and becoming frustrated with his experience; so he and his co-founder, Joe, decided there had to be a better way and like all good entrepreneurs, they started their own company. Since then, University Tees has gone on to grow into the premier custom apparel brand for the college market with over 700 campus managers at over 300 colleges nationwide, over 150 full-time employees, and with expanded capabilities for the corporate market where they’ve built a reputation for excellence, servicing large-scale distributors and retail programs at volume across the country from their brand new full-service production facility in Cleveland.In addition:Nick founded SISU Lifestyle, a leading Sauna manufacturing company and brand focused on affording the best sauna experience possible.He founded the Acton Academy Lakeside, a one-room schoolhouse for the 21st century and for his own 3 children and other families who share this desire for an innovative approach to education.He founded The ISI Life (standing for Iron Sharpens Iron), where he hosts a podcast of his own and has built a community for men in pursuit of developing habits for success, establishing life-giving relationships, and building momentum towards a life of excellenceHe founded MasterPlan Coach, a comprehensive executive coaching program for entrepreneurs seeking to achieve authentic success across their personal and professional life.All in, Nick is a true entrepreneur, applying his problem-solving mindset to all aspects of life and thematically tying his work together to a foundational principle of Developing People and Changing Lives — a topic which we’ll unpack in our conversation today. This was such an engaging conversation — Nick is intentional and full of wisdom and candor; it was a real joy getting to hear his story and reflections.-----SPONSORS: John Carroll University Boler College of Business || Impact Architects & NinetyJohn Carroll University Boler College of Business: https://business.jcu.edu/ As we’ve heard time and time again from entrepreneurs on Lay of The Land — many of whom are proud alumni of John Carroll University —  success in this ever-changing world of business requires a dynamic and innovative mindset, deep understanding of emerging technology and systems, strong ethics, leadership prowess, acute business acumen… all qualities nurtured through the Boler College of Business!With 4 different MBA programs of study — spanning Professional, Online, Hybrid, and 1-Year-Flexible — The Boler College of Business provides flexible timelines and various class structures for each MBA Track — including online, in-person, hybrid and asynchronous — to offer the most effective options for you, in addition to the ability to participate in an elective International Study Tour, providing unparalleled opportunities to expand your global business knowledge by networking with local companies overseas and experiencing a new culture.The career impact of a Boler MBA is formative and will help prepare you for this future of business and get more out of your career. To learn more about John Carroll University’s Boler MBA programs, please go to business.jcu.eduThe Boler College of Business is fully accredited by AACSB International, the highest accreditation a College of Business can have.Impact Architects & NinetyLay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----LINKSConnect with Nick Dadas on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-dadas-7623534/Follow Nick Dadas on X: https://twitter.com/nickdadasUniversity Tees: https://universitytees.com/Follow University Tees on X: https://www.twitter.com/universityteesFollow University Tees on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/universitytees/SISU: https://sisulifestyle.com/pages/our-storyActon Academy Lakeside: https://actonlakeside.com/about/-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
Reilly Berk, CEO of Berk Enterprises.Founded back in 1946 by her grandparents, Suzanne and Harold Berk, Berk Enterprises boasts a diverse history that began with the creation of the "QuicKill" insecticide and the subsequent founding of Berk Exterminating Company in Warren, Ohio. Evolving, the company expanded its ventures into numismatics, leading to the Warren Coin Shop, and later transformed into Berk Paper and Supply, carrying janitorial products such as tissues, napkins, and paper towels. In 1976, Berk Paper and Supply evolved into Berk Enterprises, when the company underwent transformative changes, introducing innovations like the novelty drinkware line for the concession industry and the Environ product line which consists of earth-friendly alternatives.Today Berk Enterprises, Inc. maintains an impressive catalog of over 4,000 food service disposables such as plastic cutlery, straws, cups, to-go containers, and much more as they service over 3,000 different customers, including some of the largest restaurant chains, as well as schools, entertainment venues. theaters, stadiums, and fairs, in addition to supplying the nation's largest food service distributors with multiple distribution centers across the country.Guided by familial dedication, Reilly, who was recently recognized by Forbes as a 30 under 30 in Cleveland, now serves as the CEO of Berk Enterprises, overseeing over 115 employees and with a drive and vision to continue to shape the industry with Berk Enterprises’ legacy, values, and expanding product offerings.This was a really fun conversation as we unpack what it was like becoming CEO in her early 20s, the history and evolution of the family business, Reilly's perspective on management and leadership, and what is in store for Berk going forward.-----SPONSORS: John Carroll University Boler College of Business || Impact Architects & NinetyJohn Carroll University Boler College of Business: https://business.jcu.edu/ As we’ve heard time and time again from entrepreneurs on Lay of The Land — many of whom are proud alumni of John Carroll University —  success in this ever-changing world of business requires a dynamic and innovative mindset, deep understanding of emerging technology and systems, strong ethics, leadership prowess, acute business acumen… all qualities nurtured through the Boler College of Business!With 4 different MBA programs of study — spanning Professional, Online, Hybrid, and 1-Year-Flexible — The Boler College of Business provides flexible timelines and various class structures for each MBA Track — including online, in-person, hybrid and asynchronous — to offer the most effective options for you, in addition to the ability to participate in an elective International Study Tour, providing unparalleled opportunities to expand your global business knowledge by networking with local companies overseas and experiencing a new culture.The career impact of a Boler MBA is formative and will help prepare you for this future of business and get more out of your career. To learn more about John Carroll University’s Boler MBA programs, please go to business.jcu.eduThe Boler College of Business is fully accredited by AACSB International, the highest accreditation a College of Business can have.Impact Architects & NinetyLay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----LINKS:Berk Enterprises: https://berkbrands.com/Connect with Reilly Berk: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reillyberk/-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
Mary Cowan, the President of NCS Credit, based here in the greater Cleveland area.The story of NCS Credit is one of family, growth, and success anchored in a belief of uncompromising excellence and ever-advancing technology. Founded in 1970 by Howard V. Cowan as a commercial collection agency, NCS Credit’s goal was to form trusted partnerships and provide exceptional debt recovery services for its clients. In the early 1980s NCS Credit earned a reputation as a leading authority in the corporate credit industry and expanded its services to meet the needs of its credit professionals by adding the Construction, UCC, and Publication Service GroupsMary joined the company in 1990, shortly after the sudden and tragic death of her father Howard Cowan; The entire family rallied and resolutely continued to pursue Howard’s vision forward.Today, under Mary’s leadership, NCS Credit serves clients across the US and Canada as a commercial debt recovery service — protecting many billions of dollars over their more than 50 years of service across many industries like manufacturing, construction, food distribution, and energy, in addition to educating thousands of credit professionals — guided by their belief that everyone should get paid for the work that they doThis was a fun and educational conversation for me. Mary talks about the hard things she experienced and navigated as part of her entrepreneurial journey, the trials and tribulations turning around suffering culture, morale, and performance to an organization now recognized seven times over as a Northeast Ohio top workplace, the challenges of being a 2nd generation leader, the power of business operating systems, and a whole lot more.-----SPONSORS: John Carroll University Boler College of Business || Impact Architects & NinetyJohn Carroll University Boler College of Business: https://business.jcu.edu/ As we’ve heard time and time again from entrepreneurs on Lay of The Land — many of whom are proud alumni of John Carroll University —  success in this ever-changing world of business requires a dynamic and innovative mindset, deep understanding of emerging technology and systems, strong ethics, leadership prowess, acute business acumen… all qualities nurtured through the Boler College of Business!With 4 different MBA programs of study — spanning Professional, Online, Hybrid, and 1-Year-Flexible — The Boler College of Business provides flexible timelines and various class structures for each MBA Track — including online, in-person, hybrid and asynchronous — to offer the most effective options for you, in addition to the ability to participate in an elective International Study Tour, providing unparalleled opportunities to expand your global business knowledge by networking with local companies overseas and experiencing a new culture.The career impact of a Boler MBA is formative and will help prepare you for this future of business and get more out of your career. To learn more about John Carroll University’s Boler MBA programs, please go to business.jcu.eduThe Boler College of Business is fully accredited by AACSB International, the highest accreditation a College of Business can have.Impact Architects & NinetyLay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----LINKS:Connect with Mary Cowan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mary-cowan-94b4266/NCS Credit: https://www.ncscredit.com/-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
Ethan Holmes — founder and CEO of Holmes Mouthwatering, a Cleveland-based manufacturer of all-natural applesauce, made with Ohio-grown apples, pears, and local apple cider. To date, over 50,000 customers have purchased and consumed Holmes’ products, processing over 500,000 pounds of apples and delivering over 250,000 units to consumers across the US. Holmes Mouthwatering applesauce can be found in retailers including Heinen's, Whole Foods Market, Kroger and Giant Eagle, among others.Inspired by his Grandfather who had always made food at home from scratch, when Ethan was 15 years old, he asked him how to make applesauce and this passion was born. Armed with 100 pounds of apples that his parents gifted him for Christmas, Ethan chopped, cooked, and experimented until his recipe was perfect.Over a decade later, with national expansion, ~$800,000 in capital from programs like Cleveland Chain Reaction and the Chobani Incubator, it was a ton of fun to hear from Ethan about his journey building Holmes Mouthwatering and the work he’s doing to inspire the next generation of Cleveland entrepreneurs through his own initiative!-----SPONSORS: John Carroll University Boler College of Business || Impact Architects & NinetyJohn Carroll University Boler College of Business: https://business.jcu.edu/ As we’ve heard time and time again from entrepreneurs on Lay of The Land — many of whom are proud alumni of John Carroll University —  success in this ever-changing world of business requires a dynamic and innovative mindset, deep understanding of emerging technology and systems, strong ethics, leadership prowess, acute business acumen… all qualities nurtured through the Boler College of Business!With 4 different MBA programs of study — spanning Professional, Online, Hybrid, and 1-Year-Flexible — The Boler College of Business provides flexible timelines and various class structures for each MBA Track — including online, in-person, hybrid and asynchronous — to offer the most effective options for you, in addition to the ability to participate in an elective International Study Tour, providing unparalleled opportunities to expand your global business knowledge by networking with local companies overseas and experiencing a new culture.The career impact of a Boler MBA is formative and will help prepare you for this future of business and get more out of your career. To learn more about John Carroll University’s Boler MBA programs, please go to business.jcu.eduThe Boler College of Business is fully accredited by AACSB International, the highest accreditation a College of Business can have.Impact Architects & NinetyLay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----LINKS:Connect with Ethan Holmes on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethan-holmes-2b5b0124/Holmes Mouthwatering: https://holmesmouthwatering.com/Follow Holmes Mouthwatering on X: https://twitter.com/holmesasauceFollow Holmes Mouthwatering on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holmesmouthwatering-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
Mohamed Kamara, founder and CEO of InovCares.Grounded in a sobering reality: The United States has the highest rates of maternal mortality in the industrialized world. In May 2017, having lost both his sister and aunt to preventable pregnancy-related causes, Mo found himself in a place with the motivation and determination to confront this maternal mortality crisis head-on.Mo ultimately founded InovCares to this end — to address the concerns of women of color who are, unfortunately, often dismissed in healthcare settings. Where in addition, many of them do not receive culturally humble and competent care that promotes trust between patients and providers. The cumulative effect of these dynamics is diminished confidence in healthcare, misdiagnosis, improper treatment, and, ultimately, worse outcomes for women of color and their babies — amounting to over $32B in total maternal morbidity costs across US births.InovCares’ platform — which has already supported over 5,000 women of color with over 10,000 virtual consultations so far and is backed by organizations like Andreessen Horowitz TxO Fund, Ohio Impact Fund, and Jumpstart Foundry — is designed to minimize common barriers faced by pregnant and post-partum women by reducing costs, wait times and transportation needs, improving patient access to essential testing and prescriptions, providing a range of culturally competent specialists, and empowering and educating patients through easy access to online content.Mo’s story is incredibly inspiring and it was a real pleasure to learn more about his journey so far.-----SPONSORS: JumpStartJumpStartLay of the Land is brought to you by JumpStart, providing services and resources to fuel the growth of technology startups across Ohio. JumpStart’s experienced advisors offer personalized business services to help you overcome challenges and prepare to raise capital. With 1:1 advising, workshops, and accelerator programs, JumpStart has helped thousands of entrepreneurs — many of whom we’ve heard from here on Lay of The Land — transition from the early growth stage to venture-readiness. Additionally, founders can tap into a network of resources in marketing, software development, finance, and talent recruitment to drive their companies forward. to learn more about JumpStart please go to JumpStartInc.org/startups to get started today.-----LINKS:InovCares Website: https://www.inovcares.com/Connect with Mo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohamedkamara/InovCares on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inovcares-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
David Tirpak, founder of Miracle K9 Training — Since founding the company in 2019, David has grown Miracle K9 Training to a thriving 15-person organization, a multi-million-dollar top-line revenue business, and one of the most respected dog training centers in Northeast Ohio! David's dog training story started when he got his very first dog, Vera. As someone who has never had dogs growing up and didn't really know what he was doing with one, the first logical step seemed like finding a dog trainer to learn everything he could from. After working with three different dog trainers and working under another for over two years, he started to realize that there was a huge gap in the dog training world for true behavioral rehabilitation.Shortly after David started his first dog training company, Heights Canine Dog Training, he spent the next three years traveling the country to meet other world-renowned dog trainers and dedicated himself to creating dog training programs geared towards helping the everyday dog owner to be successful long term with dogs that have more serious behavioral issues. In those three years, David helped to build Heights Canine into a thriving business with three locations across Ohio gaining national recognition for the work they were doing.In January 2019, David left the company to get back to what he loves doing — training dogs — and formed Miracle K9 Training, a specialized dog training facility that was first and foremost, a dog training center, which meant more specialized staff, a larger group of trainers, and additional services like daycare, boarding, and grooming that have an emphasis on keeping the dogs mentally stimulated and structured during their stay.David (recent Forbes 30 Under 30 Cleveland winner) has such a genuine passion and enthusiasm for this work, it was a real joy to learn more about his journey, philosophy on dogs, growth as an entrepreneur, and impact here in Northeast Ohio.-----SPONSORS: John Carroll University Boler College of Business || Impact Architects & NinetyJohn Carroll University Boler College of Business: https://business.jcu.edu/ As we’ve heard time and time again from entrepreneurs on Lay of The Land — many of whom are proud alumni of John Carroll University —  success in this ever-changing world of business requires a dynamic and innovative mindset, deep understanding of emerging technology and systems, strong ethics, leadership prowess, acute business acumen… all qualities nurtured through the Boler College of Business!With 4 different MBA programs of study — spanning Professional, Online, Hybrid, and 1-Year-Flexible — The Boler College of Business provides flexible timelines and various class structures for each MBA Track — including online, in-person, hybrid and asynchronous — to offer the most effective options for you, in addition to the ability to participate in an elective International Study Tour, providing unparalleled opportunities to expand your global business knowledge by networking with local companies overseas and experiencing a new culture.The career impact of a Boler MBA is formative and will help prepare you for this future of business and get more out of your career. To learn more about John Carroll University’s Boler MBA programs, please go to business.jcu.eduThe Boler College of Business is fully accredited by AACSB International, the highest accreditation a College of Business can have.Impact Architects & NinetyLay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----LINKS:https://miraclek9training.com/tiktok.com/@miraclek9traininginstagram.com/miraclek9trainingfacebook.com/miraclek9trainingtwitter.com/davidmiraclek9-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
Jim Pshock, Founder of Bravo Wellness, which he successfully exited to Medical Mutual in 2020.After 20 years working in the insurance industry, Jim observed a need and a niche for employee wellness incentives, as health claims data indicated that the vast majority of healthcare spending is related to lifestyle-influenced & largely preventable claims. Health risks such as obesity, tobacco use, and low participation in health screenings that provide early detection of problems were directly correlated with rising costs in healthcare and a poorer quality of life for millions of people.In 2008, Jim founded Bravo Wellness to improve these lifestyle numbers, saving all parties involved a significant amount of money and improving and extending the lifespans of participating people by offering an outcomes and progress-based-incentive-program that rewards those achieving health goals and provides alternatives for those who are medically unable to meet those goals.From inception to acquisition, Jim grew Bravo Wellness to serve over 2 million members nationally with over 175 employees, 150 of which were here in Cleveland.This was an awesome conversation and Jim is an awesome person — we cover everything from the wisdom of lessons learned in kindergarten, to the power of incentives in everyday life, post-acquisition reflections, to what Jim is focused on now, with the bandwidth to invest in other entrepreneurs, advise, consult and be intentional about his work as he spends more time with his family.-----SPONSORS: John Carroll University Boler College of Business || Impact Architects & NinetyJohn Carroll University Boler College of Business: https://business.jcu.edu/ As we’ve heard time and time again from entrepreneurs on Lay of The Land — many of whom are proud alumni of John Carroll University —  success in this ever-changing world of business requires a dynamic and innovative mindset, deep understanding of emerging technology and systems, strong ethics, leadership prowess, acute business acumen… all qualities nurtured through the Boler College of Business!With 4 different MBA programs of study — spanning Professional, Online, Hybrid, and 1-Year-Flexible — The Boler College of Business provides flexible timelines and various class structures for each MBA Track — including online, in-person, hybrid and asynchronous — to offer the most effective options for you, in addition to the ability to participate in an elective International Study Tour, providing unparalleled opportunities to expand your global business knowledge by networking with local companies overseas and experiencing a new culture.The career impact of a Boler MBA is formative and will help prepare you for this future of business and get more out of your career. To learn more about John Carroll University’s Boler MBA programs, please go to business.jcu.eduThe Boler College of Business is fully accredited by AACSB International, the highest accreditation a College of Business can have.Impact Architects & NinetyLay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----LINKS:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-pshock-0343a0a/https://www.medmutual.com/https://www.bravowell.com/-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
Kaleb Dumot — founder of Integrity Power Search here in Cleveland, a boutique search firm for technology companies all across the US and Canada. Since starting Integrity Power Search out of his parent’s basement in 2012, Kaleb has drastically grown the firm, successfully executing over 2,000+ retained searches with client companies that have collectively created $100’s billions of value in exits, many of whose stories we’ve shared here on Lay of The Land like Dallas Hogensen from Felux (Episode 86), AC Evans from Drips (Episode 39), and others like RVShare (Episode 10). In addition, Integrity Power Search has worked with many other prominent organizations like Klarna, StockX, Duolingo, and over a hundred others, backed by many of the top-tier funds and investors in the industry!In our conversation today, we unpack Kaleb’s journey building IPS — taking it from a garage startup to the full-stack search firm for high-growth startups and technology companies that it has become today, and we cover recruiting, entrepreneurship, and all things talent. Kaleb has awesome perspective on these topics having worked with so many startups over their stages of growth and been a direct witness to the evolution of Cleveland, Northeast Ohio, Ohio, and the larger Midwest startup ecosystems over the last decade.-----SPONSORS: John Carroll University Boler College of Business || Impact Architects & NinetyJohn Carroll University Boler College of Business: https://business.jcu.edu/ As we’ve heard time and time again from entrepreneurs on Lay of The Land — many of whom are proud alumni of John Carroll University —  success in this ever-changing world of business requires a dynamic and innovative mindset, deep understanding of emerging technology and systems, strong ethics, leadership prowess, acute business acumen… all qualities nurtured through the Boler College of Business!With 4 different MBA programs of study — spanning Professional, Online, Hybrid, and 1-Year-Flexible — The Boler College of Business provides flexible timelines and various class structures for each MBA Track — including online, in-person, hybrid and asynchronous — to offer the most effective options for you, in addition to the ability to participate in an elective International Study Tour, providing unparalleled opportunities to expand your global business knowledge by networking with local companies overseas and experiencing a new culture.The career impact of a Boler MBA is formative and will help prepare you for this future of business and get more out of your career. To learn more about John Carroll University’s Boler MBA programs, please go to business.jcu.eduThe Boler College of Business is fully accredited by AACSB International, the highest accreditation a College of Business can have.Impact Architects & NinetyLay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----LINKS:Learn more about Integrity Power Search — https://www.integritypowersearch.com/Connect with Kaleb Dumot on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/kalebdumot/-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
Every 50th episode on Lay of The Land thus far, I’ve tried to honor the request I occasionally get, that from time to time, listeners would like to hear more of my own thoughts and flip the proverbial script from host to guest....On the 50th episode, I explored my own professional journey, the concept of startup ecosystems, and what it takes to get the entrepreneurial flywheel going…On the 100th episode, I reflected on what universal lessons I think we can take with us from Lay of The Land: what are the patterns and commonalities across all of the stories we’ve heard from people trying to build great things — from what inspires and motivates founders to pursue entrepreneurship in the first place, to where founding ideas actually come from, to the meaning and importance of culture.Which brings us to episode 150. Personally, I’m much more a fan of listening than I am of speaking; to reference the greatest Cleveland entrepreneur of all time, who unfortunately we won’t get the opportunity to ever have on the podcast as he passed away in 1937, but fortunately, there is quite a lot written and documented about John D. Rockefeller — he often recited a poem that reads:A wise old owl lived in an oakthe more he saw the less he spokethe less he spoke, the more he heardwhy aren’t we all like that wise old bird?For me, this poem resonates deeply. Lay of The Land has become my Oak Tree in that regard as it allows me to hear, to listen, and to learn! With that said, for the 150th episode of Lay of The Land, I’ll continue the tradition of taking a deliberate pause, deviating from the wisdom of the owl, and share some of my own thinking.Fortunately, my friend Jonathan Satovsky runs his own podcast called Wisdom, Wealth, and Wellness and hosted me as a guest there where I got to share some of this thinking… and really in great company as he’s featured many far wiser than myself on his podcast like:Dan Ariely, one of the pioneers of behavioral economics, Greg Harden, an executive and performance coach to folks like Tom Brady and Michael Phelps, Joel Greenblatt, a renowned value investor and author of one of the books actually that got me into investing many years ago… and many others! In our episode, which I’m resharing on Lay of The Land today, I get to unpack a whole variety of unfettered reflections on entrepreneurship, product management, investing, passion and ambition, the race to the bottom of attention, founding insights, flanuering and a lot more! I really enjoyed being the guest on the podcast for once… So with that, I hope you all enjoy this conversation as much as I did — and if you do, I encourage you check out other episodes from Jonathan’s podcast as well !-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
Andrew Maurer is the co-founder and CTO of Rise Works, an all-in-one compliance and payment platform designed for companies with global workforces. Rise, which is based in Pepper Pike and has raised $3.8 million in seed funding from investors like Draper Associates, Polymorphic Capital, Sino Global Capital, Hashkey Capital, and other angels — offers a platform with flexible payment infrastructure along with automated routing between fiat and cryptocurrencies, enabling Web2 and Web3 organizations to onboard, manage, and pay contractors and global workers while ensuring full compliance and alleviating burdensome tax processes — covering +90 local currencies, over 100 cryptocurrencies, and having paid out >$10 million dollars to teams in countries across the world.Andrew, a California transplant now living on the east-side of Cleveland for the last 15 years, came to build Rise with two decades of experience developing software and a decade-long experience at Dealer Tire here in Cleveland prior. Andrew is also a pilot, mostly flying for fun!This was a fascinating conversation as we unpack Andrew’s passion for blockchain and instant global payments as a catalyst for positive change, the future of digital identity, the challenges of companies building in the web3/crypto space, opting to focus on global first, the staying power of blockchain, and lots more!-----SPONSORS: John Carroll University Boler College of Business || Impact Architects & NinetyJohn Carroll University Boler College of Business: https://business.jcu.edu/ As we’ve heard time and time again from entrepreneurs on Lay of The Land — many of whom are proud alumni of John Carroll University —  success in this ever-changing world of business requires a dynamic and innovative mindset, deep understanding of emerging technology and systems, strong ethics, leadership prowess, acute business acumen… all qualities nurtured through the Boler College of Business!With 4 different MBA programs of study — spanning Professional, Online, Hybrid, and 1-Year-Flexible — The Boler College of Business provides flexible timelines and various class structures for each MBA Track — including online, in-person, hybrid and asynchronous — to offer the most effective options for you, in addition to the ability to participate in an elective International Study Tour, providing unparalleled opportunities to expand your global business knowledge by networking with local companies overseas and experiencing a new culture.The career impact of a Boler MBA is formative and will help prepare you for this future of business and get more out of your career. To learn more about John Carroll University’s Boler MBA programs, please go to business.jcu.eduThe Boler College of Business is fully accredited by AACSB International, the highest accreditation a College of Business can have.Impact Architects & NinetyLay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----LINKS:Learn more about Rise — https://www.riseworks.io/Connect with Andrew Maurer on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-maurer-dotme/Follow Rise on X @rise_pay — https://twitter.com/rise_pay-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
Patrick Ghilani, CEO of MRI Software.Founded in 1971 & based in Solon, Ohio — MRI Software has been a leading provider of real estate software and has been a trailblazer in the PropTech industry for over five decades, serving more than two million users worldwide, covering over 20 million units, across 45,000 clients, with over 4.2 million leases in over 170 countries — providing solutions that transform the way communities live, work and play!Pat has been with MRI since 2006 and has led the organization as CEO for a decade now, previously holding positions of President, COO, and VP of Global Professional Services, with over 25 years of experience in the enterprise software world and over 10 years in the commercial and multifamily real estate vertical prior!Pat and I discuss his path to MRI, his approach to leadership, his perspective on PropTech as an industry, the strategic decision to build out a connected platform and ecosystem, overcoming risk aversion, macro-real estate trends, the future of MRI software and so much more!For a company with such a rich history and strong presence here in Cleveland with thousands of employees, it was awesome to learn more about how MRI has continued to innovate as a pioneer of the real estate software industry and Pat’s reflections on the journey thus far and vision for the future.-----SPONSORS: John Carroll University Boler College of Business || Impact Architects & NinetyJohn Carroll University Boler College of Business: https://business.jcu.edu/ As we’ve heard time and time again from entrepreneurs on Lay of The Land — many of whom are proud alumni of John Carroll University —  success in this ever-changing world of business requires a dynamic and innovative mindset, deep understanding of emerging technology and systems, strong ethics, leadership prowess, acute business acumen… all qualities nurtured through the Boler College of Business!With 4 different MBA programs of study — spanning Professional, Online, Hybrid, and 1-Year-Flexible — The Boler College of Business provides flexible timelines and various class structures for each MBA Track — including online, in-person, hybrid and asynchronous — to offer the most effective options for you, in addition to the ability to participate in an elective International Study Tour, providing unparalleled opportunities to expand your global business knowledge by networking with local companies overseas and experiencing a new culture.The career impact of a Boler MBA is formative and will help prepare you for this future of business and get more out of your career. To learn more about John Carroll University’s Boler MBA programs, please go to business.jcu.eduThe Boler College of Business is fully accredited by AACSB International, the highest accreditation a College of Business can have.Impact Architects & NinetyLay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----LINKS:Learn more about MRI Software — https://www.mrisoftware.com/Connect with Patrick Ghilani on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickghilani/Follow MRI Software on X @mrisoftware — https://twitter.com/mrisoftware-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
Erin Holston Singh, founder of Options Naturapathic, the Ohio Association of Naturopathic Doctors (OHNDA), and in private practice since 1999.She had her first encounter with natural medicine at 15 years old when her mother developed a perplexing and seemingly incurable health condition which opened up a broad new world full of possibilities and ignited her passion for true healing. Since then, Erin made her life's work unlocking the mystery of non-specific illnesses that keep people miserable and sick when no solutions were to be had from conventional medicine. Over the past twenty-five years, she has worked to help patients avoid and stop pharmaceuticals by shifting practices that contribute to premature death using the wisdom of natural medicine to actively decode what is going on in their bodies and minds with all health issues. Her undying quest to find answers landed in the realm of cancer care, where she is now focused on creating a new culture of healthcare, from the ground up.This was a perspective-enhancing and unconventional conversation in that Erin lays out her deviation from the conventions of traditional healthcare! Erin shares her journey through the world of medicine, her philosophy on care, her learnings from the status quo & desire to change the culture of healthcare, her entrepreneurial journey starting and building a practice and Options Naturopathic to a million-dollar natural medicine business, what natural medicine even is, the power of meditation, the implications of psychedelics, and lots more along the way.-----Lay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----Learn more about Options Naturopathic — https://www.optionsnaturopathic.com/Connect with Erin Holston Singh on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-erin-holston-singh-2535973-----For more episodes of Lay of The Land, visit https://www.layoftheland.fm/Past guests include Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Steve Potash (OverDrive), Ed Largest (Westfield), Ray Leach (JumpStart), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Lindsay Watson (Augment Therapy), and many more.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on Twitter @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
Meg Mayhugh, Founder and Managing Partner at People Architects as well as the Head of Talent & people at Ninety.io the leading cloud-based business operating system and only officially licensed software for EOS (the Entrepreneurial Operating System), which recently closed its $35 million Series B funding, valuing the company at over $200 million!Meg has decades of experience in talent and people management, leadership strategy, and HR writ-large with an amazing set of roles that led her professionally from: bond and corporate debt trading, to a McKinsey consultant, to Chief People Officer, Chief Growth Officer, and Chief of Staff across firms like Bridgewater, the world’s largest hedge fund, to National City Bank and later PNC, to Dealer Tire here in Cleveland, to TalentLaunch with Aaron Grossman (who shared his story here on the Lay of The Land back on Episode #41), to Ninety and Impact Architects with Kris Snyder (who shared his story back on Episode #98),...to her own company today! Meg deeply believes that people are a business’s greatest asset and launched People Architects back in 2020 to help entrepreneurs manage this greatest asset. As a fractional Human Resources, Talent, and Recruiting firm, People Architects helps growing, small to medium-sized companies across process planning, people-optimization & employee engagement, and profit protection as Meg and her team coach other entrepreneurs to plan for growth and advise them on how to best manage risks to their organizations and win the war on talent.Meg is incredibly passionate about all things people, and that passion comes through in spades in our conversation where we cover the gift of being fired, lessons learned from Ray Dalio and Bridgewater's unique culture, work-life integration, the eb-and-flow of trust between executives and employees, the role of transparency, fostering meaning and connection in the workplace, building a company as a mom of three, transferable lessons from sports to business, the power of mentors, a whole variety of other macro-level HR and People-oriented topics, the differences between leading very large and small company cultures, and lots more.I’ve personally learned so much from Meg and really enjoyed this opportunity to package just a small piece of her earned wisdom into our conversation today — -----Lay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----Connect with Meg Mayhugh — https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-mayhugh/Learn more about People Architects — https://www.peoplearchitects.io/Learn more about Ninety — https://www.ninety.io/-----For more episodes of Lay of The Land, visit https://www.layoftheland.fm/Past guests include Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Steve Potash (OverDrive), Ed Largest (Westfield), Ray Leach (JumpStart), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Lindsay Watson (Augment Therapy), and many more.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on Twitter @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
Brian Krusz is the Founder & Managing Partner at Sgt. Clean Car Wash —  a premier express carwash organization proudly serving Northeast Ohio since 2013 with over a dozen locations throughout the region. Under Brian’s leadership, Sgt. Clean has been recognized many times over as a five-time Inc 5,000 fastest growing private company winner, Weatherhead 100 winner, Smart Culture award recipient, and, having spent 8 years in the United States Marine Corps himself, a multi-time Vet100 winner as a proudly Veteran-owned-and-operated business, and of course, best car wash in Cleveland by Smart Business Magainze.This was an awesome conversation — we cover the business of carwashes, how Brian got started in the industry, how Sgt. Clean Car Wash is changing the face of car washes, the influence of Brian’s time in the Marine Corps, his unique approach to recruiting, the implications & realities of ADHD, the role and opportunity for carwashing to positively impact local communities, building a lasting culture, and so much more.-----Lay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----Connect with Brian Krusz on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-krusz-b943518/Learn more about Sgt. Clean Car Wash — https://sgtclean.com/-----For more episodes of Lay of The Land, visit https://www.layoftheland.fm/Past guests include Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Steve Potash (OverDrive), Ed Largest (Westfield), Ray Leach (JumpStart), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Lindsay Watson (Augment Therapy), and many more.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on Twitter @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
TJ Gliha, Co-Founder of Journey Wealth.Established in 2021, Journey Wealth is a full-service wealth planning firm that helps entrepreneurs explore the world of opportunities availed by their success, by addressing their needs and enabling them and their families to lead the lives they aspire to. From its humble beginnings with just 4 employees, Journey Wealth has grown as a self-governing Registered Investment Advisory firm to nearly 20 professionals, with the strategic acquisition of a significant equity stake in FSM Wealth, offering multi-family office services primarily to professional golfers.This was a really fun conversation for — as a long-time student of public market investing, TJ and I got to unpack the wealth management business and industry overall, the intersection of investing and entrepreneurship, the psychology and cognitive biases of investors, how to balance structure and growth, his formative past as portfolio manager and trader on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange floor, the evolution of Journey Wealth in service of helping entrepreneurs make the most of their time — all of our most valuable asset — leadership, and so much more.Outside of his professional endeavors, TJ also plays an active role in the community as a board member of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Cleveland Clinic Children’s Council in addition to his role as Treasurer of the Avon Lake Football Club, stemming from his passion for football!-----Lay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----Connect with TJ on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/t-j-gliha-aif%C2%AE-cepa-a4ba801/Learn more about Journey Wealth — https://www.journey-wealth.com/-----For more episodes of Lay of The Land, visit https://www.layoftheland.fm/Past guests include Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Steve Potash (OverDrive), Ed Largest (Westfield), Ray Leach (JumpStart), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Lindsay Watson (Augment Therapy), and many more.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on Twitter @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
Our conversation this week is with Tom Lix — founder & CEO of Cleveland Whiskey — on pushing the boundaries of convention while building on tradition to artfully blend science with craft to create unique award-winning Whiskey.Tom is a serial entrepreneur — prior to founding Cleveland Whiskey, he founded Public Interactive which he sold to National Public Radio, he served as President/COO of Yankelovich Partners, and as you'll hear later, Tom has always been a tinkerer through and through.Lix spent some formative years in the US Navy where in addition to some early bootleg distilling; he was cross-trained in nuclear physics and thermodynamics along with seawater/freshwater distillation. A college dropout who hitchhiked across the country fought forest fires in Alaska at the age of 17, and founded the first University-sponsored Motorcycle Club in America. He later earned his Doctorate in Business from Boston University.Originally published as episode #21 back in April of 2021, this conversation with Tom Lix is one of my personal favorites! Tom is a deep eloquent orator, with an eclectic entrepreneurial background, and is one of the best and most engaging storytellers I know, making for one of the most entertaining conversations so far! Cleveland Whiskey continues to push the boundaries of Whiskey’s conventions as they’ve racked up award after award since our original recording and break ground on their new distillery and restaurant planned at the Flats South Bank in the Malcom Building, home to the Consolidated Fruit Auction company more than 100 years ago. Tune in for a spirited conversation!-----This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects and Ninety. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects or leverage a free trial through Ninety, the software platform that helps teams build great companies, by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----Connect with Tom Lix — https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomlixLearn more about Cleveland Whiskey — https://clevelandwhiskey.com/Follow Cleveland Whiskey on Twitter — https://twitter.com/clevewhiskeyFollow Cleveland Whiskey on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/clevelandwhiskey/-----For more episodes of Lay of The Land, visit https://www.layoftheland.fm/Past guests include Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Steve Potash (OverDrive), Ed Largest (Westfield), Ray Leach (JumpStart), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), and many more.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on Twitter @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
Todd Goldstein — Founder & CEO of Whoa DoughIn 2008, Todd co-founded LaunchHouse with the mission to invest, develop, and foster promising idea-stage startups in Northeast, OH through Community, Education, Coworking, and Investment — and through LaunchHouse, has helped grow a diverse portfolio of 65 companies that collectively raised more than $30 million in follow in funding.Todd’s most recent endeavor — among his many as a serial founder, entrepreneur, investor, and advocate for intellectual property rights — and where we’ll spend most of the conversation today, is Whoa Dough, which he founded back in 2019 in the aftermath of discovering his 3 boys were diagnosed with severe gluten intolerance and now sells millions of healthy snack bars per year.The reality is that 32 million Americans suffer from food allergies, of which 5.6 million are children — a number that has grown drastically over the past few decades. At first, Todd thought he and his family’s cookie-dough-eating days were over, but he quickly realized that he was intolerant of that too and took it upon himself to create a snack-happy, natural cookie-dough that could satisfy his family’s sweet tooth without wreaking havoc on their bellies. Two years and many dozens of recipes later, Whoa Dough was born — and today is a growing brand that Todd and his team have grown to boast distribution in brands like American Airlines and participation in Mondelez’ Snackfutures program all while creating a gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, plant-based, kosher, non-GMO, Vegan, natural product!Really enjoyed learning about Todd’s journey, passion for building this out in Cleveland, and the momentum of Whoa Dough going forward!-----Lay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----Connect with Todd Goldstein on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddgoldstein/ Learn more about Whoa Dough — https://www.whoadough.com/ Follow Whoa Dough on Twitter @WhoaDough — https://twitter.com/whoadoughFollow Whoa Dough on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/whoadough_/Learn more about LaunchHouse — https://lhcowork.com/-----For more episodes of Lay of The Land, visit https://www.layoftheland.fm/Past guests include Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Steve Potash (OverDrive), Ed Largest (Westfield), Ray Leach (JumpStart), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Lindsay Watson (Augment Therapy), and many more.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on Twitter @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
Gerald Hetrick (CEO of Docket (formerly Bezlio) & Professional EOS Implementer) Gerald has been on the show once before; those of you who’ve been with Lay of The Land from the beginning may recall Gerald as one of the first entrepreneurs to make an appearance back on Episode #6, which I’d encourage anyone interested in learning Gerald’s personal and entrepreneurial journey co-founding and leading two companies from inception to exit — spanning his time building Vox Mobile and Able — to take a listen to that episode… Gerald’s an incredible storyteller and sets a great stage there for our conversation today where we pick up on where we left off and cover what’s transpired in the years since.And it’s pretty incredible how much has changed in this interim period and how impactful Gerald has been in driving that change. As CEO of Able, Gerlad led the organization through five years of 100% Year-Over-Year growth, a $7 million Series B fundraise, and ultimately a successful exit in early 2022 to Bullhorn, a leading software platform for the staffing and recruiting industry.With the time and space to reflect post-acquisition, Gerald resolved to be retrospective and learn from the lessons of his failures and successes over his 25 years of entrepreneurial experience. In this time, he came to the conclusion that he loves building great companies and that so many of the issues he struggled with in the process of building great companies were self-inflected, recognizing how much more impactful he could have been if he had prioritized running on a consistent business operating system, like EOS, and that ultimately these operating systems provide leverage, and not overhead.Collectively, these realizations amounted to Gerald becoming CEO of another Cleveland growth-oriented technology startup called Docket (recently rebranded from Bezlio), and starting his own EOS implementation practice, coaching other growth-minded leaders willing to invest in making their visions reality and their teams as healthy as possible!At Docket, Gerald is focused on ensuring manufacturing shop-floor employees know what to do next and how to do it right, believing deeply in the opportunity to significantly drive middle-market manufacturing growth and prosperity. To that end, he recently closed a $4.5 million seed round to invest in massive product improvements to its cloud-based mobile ERP (Enterprise resource planning) platform, their go-to-market strategy, and customer relationships.This was a really fun and candid conversation, understanding how Gerald has evolved as a leader, closing Able’s chapter, starting Docket/Bezlio’s chapter, building his coaching practice in service of other founders trying to build great organizations, his approach to dreaming big and operating practically, and many other reflections along the way.-----Lay of The Land is brought to you by Burton D. Morgan Mentoring at JumpStart. It's impossible to tell the stories of the entrepreneurs building in Cleveland and across northeast Ohio without acknowledging the impact of our collective mentoring community. Over the past decade, Burton D. Morgan Mentoring at JumpStart has helped hundreds of mentees, some of whom we’ve heard from as guests on this podcast, realize their innovative visions. Our guest today, Gerald Hetrick, serves as a Burton D. Morgan mentor alongside other local serial founders and subject matter experts. These volunteers are passionate about sharing their time, talent, and lessons learned to grow and accelerate the next generation of entrepreneurial students and startup leaders. To learn more about Burton D. Morgan Mentoring and other free services available to Northeast Ohio entrepreneurs, go to jumpstart.org/startups. Burton D. Morgan Mentoring is made possible with funds from the Burton D. Morgan Foundation.-----Connect with Gerald Hetrick on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/geraldhetrick/ Follow Gerald Hetrick on Twitter —  https://twitter.com/geraldhetrickLearn more about Gerald's EOS Practice — https://www.eosworldwide.com/gerald-hetrickLearn more about Docket — https://usedocket.com/Bezlio Redirect to Docket — https://bezl.io/Learn more about Able (Acquired by Bullhorn) — https://www.bullhorn.com/products/able-by-bullhorn/-----For more episodes of Lay of The Land, visit https://www.layoftheland.fm/Past guests include Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Steve Potash (OverDrive), Ed Largest (Westfield), Ray Leach (JumpStart), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Lindsay Watson (Augment Therapy), and many more.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on Twitter @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
Jack Greco, co-founder and former CFO and COO of ACV Auctions, a Buffalo-based wholesale online marketplace for cars (ACV Auctions went public in 2021 and is currently valued at approximately $3 billion dollars)Now an active angel and venture investor through his fund Far Out Ventures, Jack runs a weekly newsletter called Buffalo Bridge which tells the stories of Buffalo’s startup community and has made nearly 200 investments in other founders and startups!Jack is the first guest to come on Lay of The Land outside of NEO, but I think after heairng this awesome conversation you'll understand why! In this special episode of Lay of The Land, Jack is unfettered and candid in his reflections on building a multi-billion dollar company, the journey of ACV Auctions, the parallels of Cleveland, OH & Buffalo, NY, his passion for investing and for founders, and the work he is excited about next.-----Lay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----Connect with Jack Greco on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacklgreco/Learn more about ACV Auctions — https://www.acvauctions.com/Learn more about Far Out Ventures — https://www.farout.vc/Subscribe to Buffalo Bridge (Jack's Newsletter) — https://buffalobridge.substack.com/-----For more episodes of Lay of The Land, visit https://www.layoftheland.fm/Past guests include Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Steve Potash (OverDrive), Ed Largest (Westfield), Ray Leach (JumpStart), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Lindsay Watson (Augment Therapy), and many more.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on Twitter @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
Tracy Strobel — CEO of the Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL)Tracy Strobel was appointed Chief Executive Officer of CCPL in July 2019 after serving in the Deputy Director role for nearly 15 years. CCPL has 27 branches that serve the 610,000 residents of 47 communities in Northeast Ohio. CCPL has earned the prestigious five-star rating in Library Journal’s Index of Public Library Service for the last decade; and received the publication’s highest overall score among America’s largest metropolitan library systems for 10 consecutive years (2010-2019).Tracy’s career in public libraries began with a focus on technology at Medina County District Library (1996-1999) and Cleveland Public Library (1999-2005), where she developed the nation’s first 24/7 virtual reference service. Prior to becoming CEO, she led its 27 branches, Information Technology, Technical Services and Literacy & Learning divisions. Her major accomplishments at CCPL include leading the largest capital improvement program in the Library’s history, which included the replacement of twelve branches and several renovation projects over a period of ten years.From 2011 to 2013, Tracy served as the U.S. representative to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s International Network of Emerging Library Innovators. She was a member of the Public Library Association (PLA) Board of Directors (2016-2019) and the American Library Association’s (ALA) Office for Information Technology Policy Advisory Committee (2015-2019). Tracy served as chair of the ALA 2020 Census Library Outreach and Education Task Force (2018-2020) and is currently a member of the PLA’s Continuing Education Advisory Committee.In February 2020, Tracy was appointed to the board of The Center for Community Solutions, a nonpartisan think tank focused on solutions to health, social and economic issues. She also serves on the board of Youth Opportunities Unlimited and chairs their Community Collaboration Committee.This was an amazing conversation — we cover Tracy’s childhood dream of being a librarian, the history of the Cuyahoga County Public Library, the business and operations of libraries, their responsibility and role as a civic institution and bastion for education & the robust exchange of ideas, their evolution and relevance in ever dynamic and technologically enabled world, offering opportunity as a product, lesser-known and unexpected services of libraries, and ultimately, Tracy’s vision for the future of the Cuyahoga County Public Library!If you can’t tell, I am personally a huge fan of libraries, and as Tracy and I will discuss, I think they are of the most underrated public institutions we have, so it was a real treat to hear from Tracy about her experience leading the Cuyahoga County Public Library!-----Lay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----Connect with Tracy Strobel on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracy-strobel-44421531/Learn more about The Cuyahoga County Public Library — https://cuyahogalibrary.org/Follow The Cuyahoga County Public Library on Twitter — https://twitter.com/CuyahogaLibFollow The Cuyahoga County Public Library on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/cuyahogalib/-----For more episodes of Lay of The Land, visit https://www.layoftheland.fm/Past guests include Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Steve Potash (OverDrive), Ed Largest (Westfield), Ray Leach (JumpStart), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Lindsay Watson (Augment Therapy), and many more.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on Twitter @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/
loading
Comments 
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store