The Corporate Couch: Work Stories I Only Tell My Friends

Aaron Fulk, The Transparent CEO - How She Became a LinkedIn Pioneer, Overcoming Hardships, and How to Network With Intention

Aaron Fulk (www.aaronfulk.com) is the CEO and founder of Lillian James Creative (https://lillianjamescreative.com/). You are going to enjoy this conversation with Aaron in this wide-open chat about her unconventional upbringing and career journey.  Here is the bio Aaron gave me to use for the episode:
In 2016, as a single mom without a college degree, Aaron (spelled like a boy) founded Lillian James Creative in her garage. She leaned on her marketing and sales experience, tapped into her personal and professional networks, and utilized her intuition and ambition to overcome obstacles, conquer challenges, and achieve company goals.
You will so enjoy listening to Aaron's unfiltered and unapologetic view of her life!

Baron Lukas, A Born Leader - Being a Lifelong Learner, How to Cultivate Leadership Excellence, and the Essence of Great Culture Building.

Please enjoy this mini-course on leadership with Baron Lukas!
 
Baron Lukas is an executive leader, advisor, coach, and retired Marine Corps Colonel. He has 42 years of leadership, management, and mentoring experience. His professional career spans a diverse spectrum of positions: fighter pilot, instructor, strategist, intelligence officer, professor, commander, and finally, business executive, entrepreneur, board member, and advisor.
Baron is a Principal at ExecHQ, a consulting firm comprised of over 100 senior executives in North America and globally with extensive C-Suite (e.g., CEO, CFO, COO, CMO, etc.) experience. ExecHQ delivers on-demand, cost-effective solutions for complex business problems faced by CEOs and business owners. Baron’s advisory services include pre-transaction valuation improvement, strategy development and execution, executive coaching, corporate governance, and succession planning. Baron heads “ExecHQ MULTIPLE,” an advisory program specifically intended to prepare businesses for an M&A transaction or capital raise, and ExecHQ’s Executive Coaching and Corporate Governance practices.
Baron’s long history of business and military leadership positions gives him a unique perspective that blends the best practices of both worlds. A native of Germany, Baron is bilingual (English and German) and holds two master’s degrees. Baron and his wife, Tanya, an award-winning author, live on a small ranch just west of Fort Worth, Texas.

Maki Moussavi: Navigating the Spiritual Journey of Success - Dealing With Toxic Work Relationships, Helping High Achievers Overcome Self-Doubt, and Embracing Your Unique Path to Success

Enjoy my conversation with the magnificent Maki Moussavi as we get into some deep topics about work and fulfillment. Her book is fantastic!
 
Maki Moussavi (www.makimoussavi.com) is a mindset and executive coach, as well as the author of The High Achiever’s Guide (Amazon). She helps high achievers catalyze empowering change through deep examination of their conditioning to identify limiting patterns that keep them from reaching their full potential. Maki helps high achievers create positive disruption in their lives by de-complicating the process of making change. Like her clients, she identifies as a type A high achiever and spent 13 years in corporate America. Combined with her training in genetic counseling, her background provides the unique skills and experience to guide clients through the emotionally complex process of self-examination, deconditioning from standard paradigms of success, and uncovering a personally aligned approach that is holistically fulfilling.  

Special Edition - What 10 Exceptional Executives Focus On To Build A Great Corporate Culture

Welcome to the first special edition of the Corporate Couch Podcast! These episodes will be more of a loveseat and will range from 15 to 30 minutes in duration. In each special edition episode, I will ask one or more exceptional executives how they deal with the challenges that face corporate America today. This first special edition episode is about a topic near and dear to my heart, corporate culture, and you will hear from 10 exceptional executives on what they focus on to build outstanding cultures. You will hear from the following impressive group of leaders:
 
- Harry Campbell (linkedin.com/in/harryscampbell )
- Mike Allison (linkedin.com/in/mike-allison-connect )
- Jonathan Jones (linkedin.com/in/jonathanjoneskc )
- Pamela Norton (linkedin.com/in/pamelaannnorton )
- Sherri Gilligan (linkedin.com/in/sherri-w-gilligan-95845097 )
- Steve McClain (linkedin.com/in/steve-mcclain-981b648 )
- Brad Douglas (linkedin.com/in/braddouglas1 )
- Jy Maze (linkedin.com/in/jy-maze-0a23a8156 )
- Franny Goolsby (linkedin.com/in/frannygoolsbysalesleader )
- Mark Mears (linkedin.com/in/markamears ).
 
Please enjoy this inaugural special edition episode!

Mary Messner - Empowering Women in the Workplace - Overcoming Self-Doubt, Championing Authenticity, and Inspiring Leadership for Today and Tomorrow

Mary Messner  (www.marymessner.com) is a professional speaker, an advocate for women and girls, a mother, and a wife (not necessarily in that order). She has dedicated her career to approaching challenges with creativity, refusing to accept the status quo, and leading with a determination to grow others.Mary partners with organizations to provide inspiration, offer knowledge, and identify solutions. She is committed to creating a workplace culture where women are recognized and celebrated for their authentic and powerful abilities. Her speaking engagements and workshops provide tangible strategies that demonstrate how to empower women in the workplace. While off the stage, Mary spends her time as the Executive Director for Madam President Camp, a non-profit youth organization designed to inspire girls to use their voice to become leaders in their communities now and in the future. Mary brings her corporate, non-profit, and small business experience to each interaction with the goal of creating meaningful connections with her clients and audience.
 
You will enjoy my conversation with Mary!

Jy Maze, Transportation Trailblazer - Leading with Integrity, Diversity As Your ”Why”, and Entrepreneurship Lessons from Toddlers

Jy Maze is the President of award-winning Maze Freight Solutions (https://mazefreightsolutions.com/). She has been in transportation and supply chain management for over 12 years. Her sales success with large and small companies, along with the lack of diversity in the industry led to the founding of Maze Freight Solutions in 2017. The company, which emphasizes integrity, quality, and superior customer service, has experienced phenomenal growth since its inception.
Jy is a wife and mother of two, Author of Finding Your Toddler Ambition (https://a.co/d/0ysShIM), Motivational Speaker, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist/Trustee of the Maze Foundation, Mentor, and a 2023 KC Biz Journal, Women Who Mean Business honoree.
You will love Jy's energy and the conversation. Please enjoy!

Kristin Herman, The Wholehearted Wealth Advisor - Living By Design, Having Courageous Vulnerability, and Money as a Measure of Desire

Kristin Herman (LinkedIn Profile ) is a wealth management advisor at Northwestern Mutual. Her wealth management philosophy:
In the world of wealth management, there is a lingering misconception about what financial advisors are and do. Many feel that financial advisors are only out to collect a fee or to transact a result. They believe that transparency is the last thought of the financial advisor, and as a result, strategy and education go by the wayside.
The people who work with Kristin don't want to make a transaction. They want someone to understand and counsel them at a deep level by clarifying and aligning their intentions and actions so that they can know what is meaningful in their lives will also be measurable. This helps them pursue ‘Wholehearted Wealth’ through ‘Living by Design’ and achieve financial freedom, confidence, and peace of mind.
Kristin and her team work with amazing individuals nationwide who want to create a legacy of wealth that matches their passions and joy—and they do it by creating clarity, confidence, and security. In their journey with her team, their courageous vulnerability helps them pursue ease in their financial paths, becoming empowered and equipped to pursue their own wholehearted lives. As they create meaningful change in their finances, they experience a peace they never knew was possible.
When you feel empowered, wholehearted, and cared for, the world is your oyster. 
 
Please enjoy my conversation with Kristin!

Mike Allison, The Culture Champion - Having a No Asshole Policy, The Impact of the Pandemic on Corporate Cultures, and Leading with Emotional Intelligence

Please enjoy my conversation with Mike Allison as we discuss how to build a great corporate culture, leading with emotional intelligence, the pandemic's impact on leadership, and his one interview question.
Mike Allison (linkedin.com/in/mike-allison-connect )is the Vice President of Talent and Culture at Spotlight where his focus is on talent acquisition, employee growth/engagement, and leadership development. Spotlight was recently named one of Kansas City’s best places to work for in both Ingram’s magazine and theKansas City Business Journal. Mike is also an Adjunct Professor andBloch Executive Education instructor within the Bloch School at theUniversity of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC). Prior to his role at Spotlight, Mike enjoyed over 22 years of healthcare IT leadership experience working at Cerner. His final role there involved leading a group of faculty who developed and deliveredadvanced education to cohorts of Veterans Administration (VA)clinicians, informaticists, and analytics professionals. He also workedwith internal and external leaders on change management and otherorganizational development initiatives. Previously, Mike held executiveresponsibilities within Cerner’s client and associate learningorganizations. His award-winning teams, many of which wereinternationally based, provided practical and effective end-to-end learning solutions to Cerner clients and associates around the world. Mike also spent a year as the Vice President of Learning and Development at AMC Theatres where heled a team of learning professionals focused on building, supporting, and retaining talent across multiple guest-facing brands.
Mike regularly carries out public speaking engagements and provides coaching to business leaders across the Kansas City metropolitan area. He presents and instructs on diverse topics such as leading through change, emotional intelligence, holding difficult conversations, building a culture of feedback, advanced presentation techniques, cultivating trust, and executive presence. Prior to working in the private sector, Mike was involved in city management for three years. He worked primarily as a management analyst for the city of Kansas City, Mo. He earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations and a master’s degree in public administration (MPA) from Brigham YoungUniversity.
Mike is married to Amy Allison, a non-profit leader serving as the Executive Director for The Farmer’s House. They have three young adult children (girl, boy, girl). Besides being an avid family man, Mike is passionate about volunteering, seeing the world, hiking, music, disc golf, and all things San Francisco. He was born and raised in the “City by the Bay.”

Joel Goldberg: Living His Childhood Dream - From Sports Broadcasting to Business Success, Culture Building, and Championship Insights

Joel Goldberg (https://joelgoldbergmedia.com/meet-joel/ ) is an Emmy Award Winning Broadcaster. Keynote Speaker. Published Author. Joel began dreaming of a career as a sportscaster at a young age, always wanting to deliver news of the previous night’s game to his grade school teachers. He’s spent over a quarter century on television, relying on relationship-building to tell athletes’ stories. Joel’s unique access enables him to share lessons learned from the baseball field to the board room as a motivational speaker and to homes everywhere through his business podcast.

Haley Prophet, Being a Chief Wellness Officer - Well-Being vs. Wellness, Introducing Meditation to Your Employees, and Having a Human-Centered Approach to the Workplace

With nearly 20 years of experience in corporate well-being, Haley Prophet (linkedin.com/in/haleyprophet ) brings a multi-dimensional approach and authentic presence to her strategies for fostering an atmosphere where individuals, organizations, and community relationships can thrive. She creatively evaluates and implements well-rounded, multi-dimensional whole-person well-being opportunities through intentional planning and alignment with company and program goals and values. Haley emphasizes the notion that energy management has to begin with how individuals care for and prioritize their well-being which leads to happier, healthier, and more productive workplaces and communities. She is also in her college Hall of Fame and has been voted as a 100 Top Wellness Professional in 2014 and 50 Top Wellness Professionals in 2016.
 
Please enjoy my conversation with Haley a true pioneer in corporate well-being!