School for Startups Radio

May 15, 2026 - WorkMoney Carrie Joy Grimes and Greatest Hits Mike Michalowicz

Carrie Joy Grimes – Founder and CEO of WorkMoney and Author of The Joy of Money: How to Do More With and Feel Better About Your Money—No Matter How Much You Have
Money is math plus motivation or feelings.
Carrie Joy Grimes is the founder and CEO of WorkMoney, a national nonprofit dedicated to helping Americans lower costs, increase incomes, and build financial stability. Through its community of more than 9 million members, WorkMoney connects people with practical tools and resources that have helped them save more than $2 billion. Carrie Joy is the author of The Joy of Money: How to Do More With and Feel Better About Your Money No Matter How Much You Have, a practical guide that helps readers understand both the math and the emotions of money so they can build lasting financial security.Mike Michalowicz – Author of The Pumpkin Plan, CEO at Provendus Group
Entrepreneurial success is around innovation based upon necessity.
Mike Michalowicz is an entrepreneur, speaker, and bestselling business author known for helping small business owners build more profitable and sustainable companies through simple, practical systems. He is the author of several widely recognized business books, including The Pumpkin Plan, Profit First, Clockwork, Fix This Next, and Get Different. By age 35, Mike had founded and sold multiple multimillion dollar companies before experiencing a major financial collapse that reshaped his approach to entrepreneurship. That experience became the foundation for his focus on building businesses that prioritize profitability, efficiency, and long term stability. Today, he serves as CEO of Provendus Group and continues to advise entrepreneurs around the world through speaking, writing, consulting, and media appearances. Mike is also a former small business columnist for The Wall Street Journal and a former business makeover expert for MSNBC.

May 13, 2026 – NYT Best Selling Author Jay Kopelman and Greatest Hits Kevin Johnson

Jay Kopelman – CEO of Mission to Live Foundation and Author of From Baghdad, With Love: A Marine, The War, And A Dog Named Lava
These medicines don’t show you what you want to see or whatyou want to know. They show you what you need to knowand what you need to see.
Jay Kopelman is the CEO of the Mission to Live Foundation, dedicated to expanding access to psychedelic therapy for veterans navigating the invisible wounds of war—PTSD, mild traumatic brain injury, depression, and addiction. A New York Times bestselling author, former Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, and two-time cancer survivor, transformed by ibogaine and  5-MeO-DMT therapy himself, Jay brings exceptional passion, lived experience, and urgency to this work. Jay works tirelessly to raise funds to provide psychedelic therapy scholarships for veterans and first responders in need. He has dedicated his life to service – either as an officer of the Marines for 20 years, a healthcare leader for 10 years, seeking improved patient outcomes (Johnson & Johnson, Airstrip); or as a business advisor to veteran entrepreneurs. A year after his transformation, Jay has evolved from participant to President and CEO of Mission to Live Foundation, having raised over $2 million to fund scholarships. He has firsthand knowledge of what’s at stake. In 2024, after a lifetime of service and battles both internal and external, he underwent a profound healing journey through ibogaine and 5-MeO-DMT. His authenticity, transparency, and courage in sharing his own story have been the catalysts. His vision is for the foundation to be the “American Cancer Society of Ibogaine Access”: raising awareness, mobilizing resources, and ensuring no one is left behind, knowing every veteran’s path is different, and healing doesn’t end when the retreat is over. Under his leadership, the Foundation is setting a new standard for veteran care: not just funding treatments, but full-spectrum healing journeys that include integration coaching, meditation, functional medicine, hormone balancing, long-term support, and data collection to provide outcomes evidence. Jay’s fight for mental health access is personal and lifelong. From a young age, he felt called to defend those who couldn’t defend themselves. As a Marine, he served with honor—including in combat in Iraq. As an author (From Baghdad with Love), he helped reshape public perceptions of war and recovery. As a nonprofit leader, he’s supported countless causes—animal rescue, wounded warriors, humanitarian relief. Also a cancer survivor, he understands what it means to face death and choose to fight—not just for himself, but for others. Living with intention, today, Jay trains daily in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, speaks publicly on the power of psychedelic therapy, and mentors fellow veterans navigating their own transitions. He describes his work as a second chance—not just to heal, but to do good. Jay’s ethos is simple: “Go into the world to do well, but more importantly, do good.” For him, that means showing up—day after day, donation after donation, veteran after veteran—to make sure the doors to healing are open for everyone who needs it. As Jay says, he’s “just a regular guy trying to inspire others and show a little grace every day.”
Kevin Johnson – CEO of Johnson Media Inc. and Bestselling  Author of  The Entrepreneur Mind: 100 Essential Beliefs, Characteristics, and Habits of Elite Entrepreneurs
The energy that it takes to go after a big idea is thesame energy that it takes to go after a small idea.
Kevin D. Johnson, founder and president of Johnson Media Inc., has several years of experience leading his award-winning company as a successful marketing and communications firm. It serves many of the most notable Fortune 100 businesses today. As an innovative leader, he has appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America, CBS, CNN, Oprah Radio, and in The New York Times, The Financial Times, Fast Company, and The Wall Street Journal. Recently, Johnson Media Inc. was awarded two 2015 Telly Awards. With nearly 13,000 entries from across the US and around the world, the Telly Awards honors the best work of the most respected advertising agencies, production companies, television stations, cable operators, and corporate video departments in the world. In October of 2014, the company was also awarded a 2014 International Davey Award by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts today. With nearly 4,000 entries from across the US and around the world, the Davey Awards honors the finest creative work from the best small firms, agencies and companies worldwide. He also supports non-profits and enjoys doing community service as a volunteer for the East Lake Foundation, Junior Achievement, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America, Economic Empowerment Initiative, Latin American Association, and Boys & Girls Club of America.

May 12, 2026 - Value Creation Family Lee Benson and Greatest Hits Second Act Jay Samit

Lee Benson – CEO of ETW and CEO of Dinner Table and Author of Value Creation Family: The Proven Playbook for Setting Up Your Family to Enjoy True Success
All of the opportunity in the world, in my view, is in the struggle.
CEO Lee Benson has spent more than three decades helping organizations and families focus on what creates the most value. A lifelong entrepreneur, Lee founded and led eight companies, including aerospace company Able Aerospace, which grew from just two employees into a global operation with more than 500 team members serving over 2,000 customers in 60 countries before achieving a nine figure exit in 2016. Today, through ETW and his family leadership platform Dinner Table, Lee helps business leaders and families align around purpose, values, execution, and long term success.Lee is also the author of the bestselling book Value Creation Kid and the new book Value Creation Family: The Proven Playbook for Setting Up Your Family to Enjoy True Success, where he shares practical frameworks for building stronger families, creating lasting impact, and defining success beyond money. Known for his straightforward and actionable approach, Lee has become a respected voice on leadership, value creation, execution, and strategy. His insights have been featured in major media outlets including Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and Inc. Magazine, and he has appeared on networks such as CNBC and Bloomberg.Jay Samit – “Coolest Job,” Video on Demand Creator and Author of Disrupt You!: Master Personal Transformation, Seize Opportunity, and Thrive in the Era of Endless Innovation
Every obstacle out there is actually a new form of opportunity for an entrepreneur to create a solution to make life better and profit
Jay Samit has been described by Wired magazine as “having the coolest job in the industry.” He is a leading technology innovator who has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for startups, sold companies to Fortune 500 firms, taken companies public, and partnered with some of the world’s biggest brands, including Coca Cola, McDonald’s, General Motors, United Airlines, Microsoft, Apple, Verizon, and Facebook. Samit is CEO of SeaChange International, a leading global multi-screen video software company. A technology innovator and entrepreneur, he was a senior advisor to LinkedIn and was appointed to the White House initiative for education and technology by President Bill Clinton. Samit is the host of the Wall Street Journal Startup of the Year series. Samit helped grow pre-IPO companies such as Linkedin, held senior management roles at Sony and Universal Studios, pioneered breakthrough advancements in mobile video, internet advertising, ecommerce, social networks, ebooks, and digital music that are used by billions of consumers every day. An adjunct professor at USC, Samit teaches innovation at America’s largest engineering school and is author of Disrupt Yourself: Master Personal Transformation, Seize Opportunity, and Thrive in the Era of Endless Innovation. He frequently appears on ABC, Bloomberg, CBS, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, NBC and tweets daily motivation to the over 100,000 business professionals who follow him on Twitter. An expert on transformational corporate change, Samit has been quoted in The New York Times, The Economist, Businessweek, Forbes, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Fast Company and TechCrunch. He was awarded with the Leonardo Da Vinci Lifetime Achievement Award.

May 11, 2026 – BenefitRFP Bob Nienaber and Greatest Hits Larry Wyman

Bob Nienaber – CEO of BenefitRFP
Life has so much excitement that I really truly do live each day at its fullest
Bob Nienaber, CEO of BenefitRFP,  a fintech executive benefits firm that helps HR leaders and CEOs turn executive compensation from a cost into a strategic advantage while increasing shareholder equity. Bob specializes in uncovering hidden revenue opportunities, typically $3–5M per company, by optimizing IRS and regulatory components of executive plans. Using proprietary tools like the benefitMATRIX™, companies can reveal $1M+ in untapped value in as little as 20 minutes. He has helped numerous Fortune 500 companies and large enterprises identify opportunities they didn’t even know existed, showing HR leaders how executive plans can drive real business impact.Beyond uncovering hidden value, Bob provides practical, actionable strategies HR leaders can implement immediately. From rapid plan audits to real-world success stories, he shows how optimizing executive benefits not only boosts shareholder equity but also improves employee retention, engagement, and satisfaction. His approach turns complex compensation plans into clear, measurable tools that drive both financial and organizational results.Larry Wyman – Co-founder of Okeanos
We are poisoning ourselves daily with the amountof plastic that’s being made.
Larry Wyman was a founding partner in the international commercial real estate development firm HRO International, Ltd. beginning in 1981, when he left the practice of law at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver and Jacobson in New York. He was responsible for all aspects of the commercial development process on 12 major projects in New York City during the 1980’s and 1990’s. He also directed HRO’s activities in London and Frankfurt from 1996 to 2004, as well as HRO Asset Management in New York beginning in 2004. Since stepping down from day-to-day involvement at HRO, he remains a member of HRO’s advisory board, with projects now focused in Paris. He became a Board Member of Okeanos in September, 2019, and has since stepped into the role of Chief Strategy Officer. Larry and his wife of 35 years, Sheryl, have two adult children, Nicole and Max, both of whom live in New York City.

May 7, 2026 – Relationship Real Estate Athena Brownson and Opportunity Zones Ashley Tison

Athena Brownson – Realtor at Your Castle Real Estate
The greatest marketing you can do is word of mouth
Athena Brownson is a seasoned REALTOR® at Your Castle Real Estate and a proud Colorado native whose lifelong connection to the state gives her clients valuable firsthand insight into the local real estate market. With nearly a decade of experience, Athena has built a reputation for skilled negotiation, unwavering integrity, exceptional responsiveness, and steadfast loyalty. She understands that buying or selling a home is far more than a transaction. For her, it is about creating a seamless, stress free experience while helping clients find a place that truly reflects their lifestyle, personality, and dreams. Athena’s background in interior design gives her a sharp eye for aesthetics, functionality, and the hidden potential within every property. She expertly guides clients through every stage of the process while helping them envision how a space can become a meaningful and personalized home. Her infectious enthusiasm, attention to detail, and genuine commitment to client success have made her a trusted name throughout Colorado’s real estate community. She proudly serves clients across Denver Metro, Boulder, Colorado Springs, Breckenridge, and surrounding areas with the same dedication and passion that have defined her career. Outside of real estate, Athena enjoys exploring Denver’s vibrant culture, searching for vintage treasures at estate sales, attending concerts, spending time with friends, and relaxing at home in Berkeley with her beloved furry companions, Boo Berry and Luci Fur. Athena’s accomplishments include being named a Five Star Real Estate Agent from 2017 and 2020 through 2023, receiving the 2022 DMAR Excellence Awards Silver recognition, being featured in Success Magazine’s “10 Industry Leaders” in 2022, earning recognition in 5280 Denver Magazine’s Top Producing Teams with Black Diamond from 2022 to 2023, and being named by USA Today as one of the Top 10 Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2022.Ashley Tison – Founder and President of OZPros | Opportunity Zone Advisory Firm
I’m a firm believer that coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous.
Ashley Tison, Esq., is a tax strategist, entrepreneur, and co-founder of OZPros, the leading advisory firm focused on Opportunity Zones and advanced tax-efficient investing. Through OZPros, he and his team have helped investors legally defer or reduce over 1 billion dollars in taxes while channeling capital into projects that create real community impact. A magna cum laude graduate of UNC Charlotte and the UNC Chapel Hill School of Law, Ashley spent years as a real estate and securities attorney, fund manager counsel, and operator across multiple businesses before building OZPros into a one-stop shop for Opportunity Zone strategy, fund design, and compliance. On stage and behind the mic, Ashley turns complex tax law into clear, usable playbooks for investors, advisors, and business owners. He speaks on Opportunity Zones, tax-efficient exits, audit-ready wealth strategies, and how to think like a family office at any scale. Known as the “OZ Sherpa,” he has been featured in national media and on dozens of podcasts for his practical, story-driven approach to doing well by doing good. Ashley Tison, known as the OZ Sherpa, has helped investors and business owners legally defer over $1 billion in taxes through Opportunity Zones and has guided the creation of more than 900 funds and businesses. With Opportunity Zones now permanently expanded under The One Big Beautiful Bill, Ashley is on the frontlines of helping entrepreneurs leverage OZ strategies. They work not just for real estate, but also for business sales and even cryptocurrency gains. He has taken over 2,000 calls with investors, advisors, and founders who want to keep more of what they earn and align their impact with legacy. He’s been featured on 100 podcasts and national media, but his focus is always on making these complex topics accessible for people who need clarity. With nearly 10,000 wealth builders in Ashley’s network, he would love to share actionable strategies your audience can put to work right away.

May 6, 2026 - Volition Capital Isabelle Tashima and Greatest Hits Restaurant Star Steve de Haan

Isabelle Tashima – Growth Equity Investor at Volition Capital
The companies that are winning the attention and getting roundsdone quickly are the ones where AI is meaningfully changing uniteconomics or the delivery model or the margin profile of the business.
Isabelle Tashima is a Senior Associate at Volition Capital, a Boston based growth equity firm that partners with founder owned, capital efficient technology companies. At the firm, she focuses on sourcing, evaluating, and executing investments in high growth businesses, typically working with companies generating between $5 million and $50 million in revenue that are positioned to become category leaders. Since its founding in 2010, Volition has managed approximately $2 billion in assets and built a reputation for backing disciplined, high performing entrepreneurs. Prior to joining Volition in 2024, Isabelle worked in investment banking at Goldman Sachs in New York as part of the Cross Markets Group, where she focused on middle market mergers and acquisitions. She further expanded her investing experience during her MBA through time at KKR, gaining exposure to large scale private equity investing and strategic growth initiatives. Isabelle earned her Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a minor in Psychology from Harvard University, where she was a member of the Varsity Women’s Volleyball team. She later received her MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management as an early admit, further strengthening her expertise in finance, strategy, and innovation. Originally from the Chicago area, she maintains an active lifestyle outside of work, with interests that include skiing, scuba diving, travel, and exploring new food destinations.Steve de Haan – Former President and Founder of Andrews Entertainment District
It really was a conscious decision on who I wanted to be,what I wanted to accomplish.
Steve de Haan worked at a Little Caesar’s Pizza in high school, and by graduation, he had advanced to being assistant manager. He became bar manager of a TGI Fridays before he could legally drink. His regional manager told him he “had learned as much as you’re going to learn here,” so the following weekend, he drove to Atlanta and walked into The Tavern at Phipps, which had just been on the cover of the Hudspeth Report. He put on a whole Tom Cruise “Cocktail” show for them. Within one year, the bar had doubled their revenue. Soon, Steve was recognized in the premiere issue of Jezebel Magazine as one of the top bartenders in Atlanta. He was invited to attend the Skyy Vodka Quest World Bartending Competition at Disney World. Steve placed seventh in the world as a “flair” bartender and won the state of Georgia title three times. When Steve was 29 years old, he was approached about becoming the beverage partner for a new property to open in Atlanta. Completely under-funded and totally naive, he said, “Okay, let’s do this.” He emptied his bank account to fund the initial deposit on the lease and later secured the funding through a friend of a friend, and soon became President. The company has been a debt-free company and growing organically for 12 years, including 8 bars and restaurant and has won national awards like the USA Today Top Ten Bar in the US.

May 5, 2026 – Selling Senses Armen Avanessian and Greatest Hits Faisal Hoque

Armen Avanessian – Author of Selling Senses: Unlocking the Power of Sensory Sales and Inner Wisdom
Speed wins, whether it’s speed to market or speed to solution,speed wins, but perfection can kill momentum.
Armen Avanessian as a potential source for your coverage. An award-winning fintech and payment sales leader with more than 20 years of experience, Avanessian recently released his debut book, Selling Senses: Unlocking the Power of Sensory Sales and Inner Wisdom. The book offers entrepreneurs a fresh perspective on why customers buy—not just based on logic or data, but on emotion, experience and intuition and how founders can intentionally design those experiences to drive growth, differentiation and long-term loyalty. Avanessian shares practical insights on building trust, standing out in competitive markets and creating meaningful customer connections through sensory engagement and human-centered leadership. He is available for interviews and can provide actionable takeaways for your audience. I’d also be happy to share a complimentary review copy of Selling Senses upon request.Faisal Hoque – #1 Wall Street Journal and USA Today Best Selling Author, Founder and Chair at NextChapter, Founder and Managing Director at Shadoka, Author of Globee Awards winning 2022 Publication of the Year for Best Business Book called Lift: Fostering the Leader in You Amid Revolutionary Global Change
Unless you know and connect with yourself and connect with otherpeople, you cannot certainly connect with your creation and thecreation that actually creates value.
Faisal Hoque is an accomplished entrepreneur, noted thought leader, technology innovator, advisor to CEOs, BODs, and the US federal government, and an author with more than 25 years of cross-industry success. He is the founder of SHADOKA, NextChapter, and other companies. They focus on enabling sustainable and transformational changes. He also serves as a strategic partner and a thought leader for CACI, and works extensively with US Federal Agencies. CACI is a $6 billion public company who plays a vital role in US national security. He is a 3 times winning Founder and CEO of Deloitte Technology Fast 50 and Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ awards. At the age of only 14, he began what would be the first of many businesses; cobbling together stereo components to sell from his father’s home in Dhaka, Bangladesh in order to save the money he would need to support his plan to study in the United States. He built his first commercial software product at the age of 19 while studying at the University of Minnesota, and went on to hold management positions in Pitney Bowes and then Dun and Bradstreet. In 1991, Pitney Bowes recruited him to join one of their R&D groups before he finished his undergraduate degree. As a serial entrepreneur, he has raised venture capital from angels, strategic partners, and institutional investors to fund his innovative business-to-business startups. Over the decades, his companies innovated products and solutions that: provided middleware software for complex, secure transaction processing; created industry’s first set of re-usable software components for integrated B2B e-commerce; and pioneered comprehensive business value management frameworks and platforms. As a thought leader, he has authored a number of award winning books on leadership, innovation, mindfulness, resilience, organizational transformation, and entrepreneurship, including the #1 Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller Lift – Fostering the Leader in You Amid Revolutionary Global Change (Fast Company), and the #2 Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestseller Everything Connects – Cultivating Mindfulness, Creativity, and Innovation for Long-Term Value (Fast Company). His work has appeared in Fast Company, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Fox, CBS, Financial Times, Mergers & Acquisitions, Forbes, Leadership Excellence, and Huffington Post among other publications. He holds a strong belief that it is through knowledge sharing that we may provide the greatest clarity on how to improve our collective future. As a globetrotter, he is passionate about nature, people, culture, music, and design, and he loves to cook.

May 4, 2026 – Greatest Hits Wayne Allen Root and Getting Published Ken Lizotte

Wayne Allen Root – Wayne Allyn Root – Former Libertarian Vice Presidential Nominee, Nationally Syndicated Radio Host, Entrepreneur, and Author of The Power of Relentless: 7 Secrets to Achieving Mega-Success, Financial Freedom, and the Life of Your Dreams
If you worry what critics say, you will never be successful in life.
Wayne Allyn Root is an American entrepreneur, nationally syndicated radio host, television personality, and bestselling author known for his high-energy style and outspoken views on business, politics, and the American Dream. Often referred to by his initials “WAR,” he has built a multi-decade career spanning media, finance, and public speaking, earning a reputation as a relentless advocate for capitalism, economic freedom, and small business success. Root is the author of numerous bestselling books, including The Power of Relentless, TRUMP RULES, The Great Patriot Protest & Boycott Book, and The Murder of the Middle Class. His work focuses on achievement, financial independence, and winning strategies in both business and life. He first gained national political attention as the Libertarian Party’s vice presidential nominee in 2008, later becoming a prominent conservative voice across radio, television, and digital platforms. He currently hosts the nationally syndicated radio show “Wayne Allyn Root: Raw & Unscripted” on the USA Radio Network and the widely followed podcast “WAR RAW.” In television, he has hosted programs such as “America’s Top Ten Countdown” on Real America’s Voice and “Raw & Unfiltered” on Lindell TV. Earlier in his career, Root served as an anchorman and host on CNBC, then known as Financial News Network, where he developed his on-air presence and financial commentary expertise. Beyond media, Root has a background as a successful entrepreneur and Las Vegas gaming executive, along with experience as a reality television producer. He is a frequent keynote speaker, addressing audiences across the United States on entrepreneurship, leadership, and economic trends. His influence in talk media has earned him recognition on the Talkers Heavy Hundred list of the top radio hosts in America. Root’s career has also included close involvement in national politics. He was a visible supporter and campaign surrogate for Donald J. Trump, frequently serving as a featured speaker at events and maintaining a strong media presence during election cycles. His commentary is widely syndicated through Creators Syndicate and appears in newspapers across the country. Born in New York into a blue-collar family, Root credits his upbringing and relentless work ethic as central to his success philosophy. He now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife and children, continuing to build his brand across media, publishing, and public speaking.Ken Lizotte – Founder/CEO of Emerson Consulting Group and Author of Walden for Hire: Business Lessons from Henry David Thoreau
There’s something about the credibility of a book, even thougha lot of people say, well, who reads books anymore?
Ken Lizotte CMC is Founder/CEO of emerson consulting group inc., a firm that has transformed 450+ business experts, professional service firms, private companies and nonprofit organizations into “recognized thought leaders” by helping them spread their thought leading ideas via publishing books and articles, and delivering speaking engagements so as to separate them from their “competitive pack.” Hundreds of Ken’s “client thought leaders” have published first-time books thanks to the efforts of Ken and his team. Author of nine books and editor of two more, Ken’s newest book “Walden for Hire: Business Lessons from Henry David Thoreau,” has been published by HarperCollins Leadership, and has been a columnist for the Huffington Post, Money Inc., the American Management Association, and Boston Magazine. He lives in Concord Massachusetts, a short 3-mile run to Walden Pond and Thoreau Farm.

May 1, 2026 – Manager Method Ashley Herd and Suffering Dr Suzan Song

Ashley Herd – Founder of Manager Method and Author of The Manager Method: A Practical Framework to Lead, Support, and Get Results
If you walk out of a situation at work and all you’ve accomplished isjamming it down someone’s throat that you’re right, no matter whetheryou are or not, that’s likely going to impact the way that person worksfor the rest of the day.
Ashley Herd is the Founder of Manager Method and the author of The Manager Method: A Practical Framework to Lead, Support, and Get Results. She is a former Head of HR for North America at McKinsey & Company and an employment attorney who began her career at Ogletree Deakins. Across her career in law, legal, and HR leadership roles at organizations including Yum! Brands, Ashley has worked with everyone from frontline restaurant managers to senior consultants, giving her a rare, ground level and executive view of what actually works in management. Ashley is known for her practical approach to leadership, shaped by years of seeing preventable workplace issues escalate simply because managers were never taught how to handle real situations. She has built a large following of more than 500,000 professionals by sharing clear, actionable guidance on hiring, feedback, performance management, and employee relations. Her work focuses on closing the gap between what companies expect from managers and what managers are actually trained to do. Through Manager Method, Ashley created a modern training system that combines on demand learning with live, HR led cohorts, allowing organizations to scale consistent, real world management training without relying on one time workshops that fail to stick. Her framework emphasizes scenario based learning so managers can practice high stakes conversations before they happen, improving both performance and workplace culture.Dr Suzan Song – Author of Why We Suffer and How We Heal: Using Narrative, Ritual, and Purpose to Flourish Through Life’s Challenges
Purpose is something that has meaning that’s outside of oneself
Dr Suzan Song is a Harvard and Stanford-trained psychiatrist, medical anthropologist and humanitarian mental health adviser. For more than two decades, she has dedicated her work on building resilience in individuals and communities affected by adversity – from everyday struggles to the world’s most challenging environments of war and human trafficking. Dr Song has advised the United Nations, multiple U.S. federal agencies and Ministries of Health, shaping systems of care for children and families in crisis to bridge clinical innovation with systems reform and localized approaches. She has a private practice in Washington D.C., is a professor of psychiatry at George Washington University and a sought-after speaker on leadership resilience, systems change and the science of healing. Her mission is to bridge clinical reality and systemic change, bringing the lessons of human survival into leadership, policy and programmes that can transform lives at scale.

April 29, 2026 – Personal Trainer Entrepreneur David Cozzens and Greatest Hits 10 Lawsuits Barry Cohen

David Cozzens – Founder and CEO of Train with David
Anything you start, you’re just going to suck at, and that’s normal…but if you do something long enough and learn fromyour mistakes, you will get better as you go.
Dave is a multi-location business owner and entrepreneur who has built and scaled one of the highest-volume personal training companies in Southern California. He grew the business from the ground up, focusing on systems, operations, and execution rather than hype or shortcuts, and now oversees multiple locations generating consistent cash flow without daily hands-on involvement. With over a decade of experience hiring, training, and managing teams, Dave specializes in turning service-based businesses into scalable operations. His work centers on practical growth strategy, customer acquisition, retention, leadership development, and building businesses that run without burning out the owner. Dave is known for his no-nonsense, execution-focused approach to entrepreneurship and shares real-world lessons on what actually works when growing a business – mistakes included.
Barry H. Cohen – Owner of AdLab Media and the Co-Author of the Book 10 Ways To Get Sued By Anyone & Everyone
If you don’t have proper agreement with your partners…how do you go back and fix that later?
Barry H. Cohen is the Owner of AdLab Media and the Co-Author of the Book 10 Ways To Get Sued By Anyone & Everyone. For over thirty years, Barry has plied his trade in the advertising industry and the broadcast community. For the past twelve years, Barry has served as principal of AdLab. Prior to that, he held positions with New York radio stations WPAT and WOR, and served as General Manager of WKCW, a Virginia radio station. Barry is the author of a widely reviewed advertising guide book for smaller companies, entitled 10 WAYS TO SCREW UP AN AD CAMPAIGN.  He is co-author of the book Startup Smarts.  Barry has also authored guest columns for Floorcovering Weekly, Radio & Records and Performance magazines, as well as Tiempo de Mercadeo. A familiar speaker on advertising, Barry has addressed national and regional organizations, including the Radio Advertising Bureau, Interep, the Concert Industry Consortium, the Mid-Year Radio Symposium, the Natural Products Expo East, the US Small Business Administration, The NJ Innovates Conference, the NJ Florists Association, the Financial Institutions Marketing Association, the Mid-Jersey Business Expo and the Gateway Small Business Expo, in addition to the American Marketing Association and TD Bank. He is the recipient of several creative awards: from the NJ Ad Club, the Dynamic Graphics Foundation, the Association of Graphic Communicators, and the Silver Microphone Awards. Barry H. Cohen is the author of the acclaimed book 10 Ways to Screw Up an Ad Campaign (Simon & Schuster/Adams Media) and co-author of Startup Smarts (Simon & Schuster/Adams Media). He is also the co-author of the novel Comin’Home, and author of the Soul Switchers series of novels. Barry specializes in Strategic Planning and Media Liaison, leveraging his expertise in radio, television, magazines, and public relations. He graduated Cum Laude from Kean University with a B.A. in English/Speech-Theater-Media. Barry’s accomplishments extend beyond his education as he was admitted to the Roundtable Group expert consultancy and actively served on the boards of notable organizations including Kean University Alumni Association, NJ Ad Club, Allgood Entertainment, Network Plus, and Amwell Security. His impressive profile includes features and profiles in prominent publications such as NJ Business, NJ Biz, Entrepreneur, StartupJournal.com, AdLaw.com, Whole Foods, Pollstar, Radio Ink, Radio Business Report, Radio & Records, “The (Bergen) Record,” and “The Miami Herald.”