The Changeup

This week's guest is the founder of Phoenicia Diner, Mike Cioffi. If you have ever been to the Catskills or ever had a friend go to the Catskills, you have surely heard of Phoenicia Diner.  It's a time warp to classic diners and yesteryear. It almost feels like you pulled up in a wood-paneled station wagon. And the food is really good. Actually, it's fantastic. We talk about his choice to change careers, how it became a social media phenomenon, some mistakes along the way, and why it has such a lasting power in a frantic fickle world. , 

This week's guest is Matt Gallira, the Founder and CEO of Big Mozz.  Big Mozz is just that... Big mozzarella sticks, and they are delicious. We talk about his journey from creating the recipe, to entering the Brooklyn Shmorgasboard, to scaling the business to be in over 1000 grocery stores across the country. If you can find them at a store near you I highly recommend snagging a few to chew while listening to his story.

This week's guest is the Co-founder of TALEA Beer Co.,  LeAnn Darland.  Leann and her co-founder Tara Hankinson have built an amazing brewery with 2 locations in Brooklyn and 2 in Manhattan. I am lucky enough to have one two blocks from my office so I visit it pretty frequently. We talk about her journey from the Navy, to Google, to startup land, to finally going all in on building her own company. We discuss how they are bucking the trend of the Bearded Beer Bro, which I'm one of, and created spaces for people of diverse backgrounds to enjoy great beer. Not only is their beer amazing, they have some of the best designed spaces in the game. This was recorded at their brewery in Williamsburg while the team was brewing, so you will hear the lively reality of a brewery in the background.TALEA Beer Co.

This week's guests are two of the founders of Wayward Lane Brewing,  Andrew Rowles and Kyle Bergen.Wayward Lane is an amazing farm, brewery, and taproom located in a restored 1800's hophouse in the town of Schoharie, New York.  They were crowned 2023 New York Brewery of the Year and since opening my shop they have become one of my favorite breweries as they make some amazing IPAs, crisp lagers, and dense porters- They're just crushing it! The interview was done at their brewery so you'll hear some hustle and bustle in the background. We discussed how they came together and decided upstate New York would be home, how they grew from selling out of the taproom to distributing across the state, and what excites them most about the beer industry in 2024.https://www.waywardlanebrewing.com/

This week we talk to the founder of Glidelane, Chris Genteel. Glidelane is an advisory firm with a mission around economic equality to marginalized communities.  By supporting founders of color, they are rooting bias out of products, services, and go-to-market stories. We talk about how his career at Google evolved as he grew into leadership roles, his transition from the corporate world to startup life, how growing up as the black child raised by a single white mom formed his view on sexism, racism, inequality and how leaders of color can navigate the DEI roller coaster of today. https://www.glidelane.com/blog

This week we talk with Bharani Rajakumar,  the CEO and Founder of Transfr. Transfr aims to provide every person an opportunity to acquire the skills needed for employment.  Through their VR coaching platform, prospective employees get hands-on training at real technical jobs.We talk about how growing up working class shaped his vision for what entrepreneurship could be, how he scaled his company, and how VR and AI will play a pivotal role in the future of the workforce.

This week's guest is the founder of More Lake, Erzsi Sousa. More Lake is a brand consultancy focused on working with climate companies. We talk about her decision to leave the marketing tech world of Google,  Microsoft and Stripe to focus on companies making an impact on our climate emergency. She shares how her family ended up moving from San Francisco to Portugal, finding the right fit with prospective clients, and how a love of the outdoors led to the company's founding.Interested in learning more about climate change? Check out these resources:If you want to start with the basics: The Science of Climate Change Explained from the New York TimesIf you like learning on Youtube: Climate Science Translated and Climate Town, and The Big Misconception About Clean Energy from Huge if TrueIf you’re the New Yorker long reads type: Annals of a Warming PlanetIf you like great journalism with personality: HeatedIf you want a great primer in book form: How to Avoid a Climate Disaster (Bill Gates)

This week's guest is Peter Corbett,  the Founder, CEO and Coach at Still Rush, a mindful leadership coaching practice. We talk about his decision to sell his agency and retire from advertising, his volunteer work as a spiritual caregiver, life, love, loss, and death, and the motivations that moved him to his new life. 

This week's guest is the Co-founder and CEO of Unlock, Jared Cozart.Jared and I met as fellow agents for the Management Leaders of Tomorrow program and became fast friends as I  gravitated toward his high empathy for others, strong leadership, and his ability to just be real.We talk about his path to entrepreneurship the struggles and hurdles along the way, how adversity on the baseball field helped sharpen his focus, and how he found the true balance between friendship and work with his co-founders.

This week's guest is the Co-Founder of HUDSY TV, Angel Gates. HUDSY TV is an award-winning streaming television platform rooted in the community of Upstate New York. Their goal is to highlight and elevate the incredibly diverse voices and spirit of the Hudson Valley through the power of film and storytelling. We talk about their decision to move from a co-op to a nonprofit, his decision to leave the Bronx and move to the woods upstate, and how producing original work for communities has helped strengthen his bonds to it. 

This week we talked to the founder and CEO of C-Suite Coach, Angelina Darrisaw. We discuss how she has scaled her business to include 40-plus coaches and works with partners like Google, Major League Baseball, and Wayfair. We learn the adjustments needed to go from being a solo coach to being CEO of a thriving business, how our early experiences in the corporate world share her vision for C-Suite coaches, and why everyone should have a board of directors for their career. www.csuitecoach.com

This week we talk to the co-founder of Third Act, Jesse Samberg. We learn how Jesse initially started this business with one of his best friends, the difficult decision to go out on his own, and how mentoring small business owners propelled him to create Third Act.

This week's guest is the co-owner of See and Be Kitchen,  Chrissy Traore.Chrissy is a Chef with food-based business experience and her husband and partner Ben is an amazing Baker, having worked at some of the most prestigious places in New York City, including Bien Cuit, The Dutch, Saraghina, MaPeche, and Corton. We talk about their decision to leave the city behind and build a farm bakery in the Catskills, the joys and hurdles of running your own business and we try to figure out which one of the breads is her favorite.See and Be Kitchen

Welcome to Season 4 of the Changeup. Our first guest is the Co-Owner and Treasurer/Secretary/Writer at Baseball Prospectus, Rob Mains.  While we did not predict the devastating early exits of the Braves and Dodgers, we did talk about the changing landscape of what next-generation teams like the Diamondbacks, Orioles, and Rangers are doing to lead the way moving forward. If you like baseball, you will love this episode as we go deep on the numbers and history of sabermetrics, advanced statistics, and why the Mets and Yankees blundered so hard this season. 

This week's guest is the EVP and CMO of the New York Mets, Andy Goldberg. He is a seasoned marketing executive with prior leadership roles at American Express and GE before embarking on this new challenge.We talk about the major differences in marketing baseball teams versus a global corporation, how building a Super Bowl spot in less than three weeks came to fruition and the growing success baseball is having with the new rule changes. Also, listen to me try my hardest not to freak out about wins and losses- I need to have Andy's calm demeanor!This episode will also be our season finale. It's hard to believe that what started out as a way to pass time during the height of Covid has turned into three seasons with over 75 episodes. Thanks for listening and we will be back in August with the new season!

This week we welcome the founders of Latinx Healthy Minds, Sarah Romero and Patty Alvarado. Latinx Healthy Minds is on a mission to eliminate the stigma associated with mental health and provide professionals with the tools they need to live healthy, productive lives at work and in the community. We talk about why mental health is such a difficult topic in the Latinx culture, how leaders can help forge a path for a more open conversation around mental health, and the amazing story of how Sarah and Patty linked up to bring this company to life. 

This week's guest is the founder of With it Girl, Marialidia Marcotulli.With it Girl is a multifaceted, multi-generational platform with a goal to amplify the voices, work, visions and ideas of women in skate, surf and active lifestyles. The With it Girl community engages in conversations that further the narrative around action sports, prioritizing community, diversity and creativity. We talk about the important decision to relaunch With it Girl nearly 20 years after shutting it down originally, the differences and similarities between generations of young adults and how she approaches every new opportunity with curiosity. 

This week we talk with the Co-Host of "Am I on Mute?", Katrina Craigwell.Katrina is a marketing digital transformation leader who has had leadership roles at Meta, JP Morgan Chase, and General Electric where she spearheaded marketing programs at the intersection of storytelling and technology.  Katrina has been named to Business Insider's "Most Creative Women in Advertising", Digiday's "Changemakers" and Adweek's "Most Influential Women in Media and Marketing"We talk about leading teams in the hybrid world, whether the promise of technology maps to its use for marketers and how experimentation is key to innovation.

This week's guest is the founder and CEO of KERV Interactive, Gary Mittman.KERV is a patented interactive video platform that drives deeper user engagement, boosts creative performance, and increases time spent with brands. We talk about the genesis of the patent that led to the company, his very insightful thoughts on artificial intelligence and machine learning, breaking into the infomercial business, and what the future holds for interactive advertising.

This week's guest is the Co-Founder and CEO of Restore Hyper Wellness, Jim Donnelly. Restore Hyper Wellness is a system of total balance, energy and proactive healing.  It is their belief that the holistic approach to wellness is what is missing from conventional health care. We talk about the path that led to creating Restore Hyper Wellness, his five-year theory on building new companies and shifting careers, his approach to leadership, and how alligators were key competitors in one of his early businesses.