School for Startups Radio

April 25, 2025 – Improv Energy Joel Zeff and Mindfully Successful Margo Boster

Joel Zeff – Speaker and Author of Make the Right Choice: Lead with Passion, Elevate Your Team, and Unleash the Fun at Work
Joel Zeff creates energy! His spontaneous humor and vital messages have thrilled audiences for more than 25 years. As a national speaker, work culture expert, author, and humorist, Joel captivates audiences with a unique blend of hilarious improvisational comedy and essential ideas on work and life. He has shared his experience and insight on collaboration, leadership, change, communication, innovation, fun and passion at more than 2,500 events. His book, “Make the Right Choice: Lead with Passion, Elevate Your Team, and Unleash the Fun at Work”, is consistently listed as one of the top work/life balance books on Amazon. He has appeared on CNBC and featured in the Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, The Kansas City Star, and many other media outlets.Margo Boster – Mindfulness Speaker & Leadership Coach and Author of Mindfully Successful: Unlock the Power of Your Brain, Body, and Breath to Elevate Your Leadership
Margo Boster is an author, speaker, and leadership coach specializing in mindfulness and leadership development. Her book, Mindfully Successful – Unlock the Power of Your Brain, Body, and Breath to Elevate Your Leadership, integrates cutting-edge neuroscience, mindfulness, and leadership strategies to enhance performance and well-being. Drawing from decades of experience as a tech leader and executive coach and deep studies in mindfulness and yoga, Margo provides a transformative framework for today’s leaders.

April 23, 2025 - Post-Employment Insurance Andy Hamilton and Team Collaboration Ryan Leak

Andy Hamilton – CEO and Co-founder of When – Post-Employment Insurance
Andy Hamilton is the CEO and Co-founder of When, an AI-powered offboarding platform and severance solution. He has previously co-founded two technology companies, both of which were acquired by public companies. The latter company, ApartmentJet, was acquired by Expedia Group. During the Covid pandemic, experiencing a layoff firsthand motivated Andy to create a better offboarding solution. In his personal life, Andy enjoys playing tennis, using his Peloton, and reading.Ryan Leak – Speakerpreneur, Strategic Advisor and Best-Selling Author of How to Work with Complicated People: Strategies for Effective Collaboration with (Nearly) Anyone
Ryan Leak is a best-selling author, esteemed executive coach, and a highly sought-after transformational speaker. With an incredible reach of over 1 million people every year through his keynotes, Ryan’s words have the power to transform lives. Each year, he dedicates his expertise and research to the growth of over 100,000 leaders, spanning the spectrum from Fortune 100 corporations to elite professional sports teams. While Ryan wears many hats, the ones he is most proud to wear are husband to Amanda and father to Jaxson and Roman. Ryan Leak is a dynamic speaker, best-selling author, and strategic advisor renowned for his ability to inspire and transform individuals and organizations. As the CEO of a leadership development firm based in Dallas, Ryan and his team train over 30,000 leaders annually — from Fortune 500 companies to professional sports teams. His unique talent for turning setbacks into opportunities, emphasizing the importance of resilience and the value of learning from failure, makes his teachings impactful and actionable with a splash of humor. Ryan’s passion is helping leaders push past autopilot and level up in their lives and careers. He spreads this empowering message through coaching, speaking, and leveraging the power of video to reach thousands through his online platforms. He is the author of the USA Today bestselling book “Chasing Failure,” the Wall Street Journal bestselling book “Leveling Up,” and his latest work, “How to Work with Complicated People.” His work has been featured in numerous media outlets, including Good Morning America and The Today Show. With an engaging personality and a deep understanding of human dynamics, Ryan continues to motivate and equip people to overcome challenges and succeed in their endeavors. He is also widely known for planning a viral proposal and wedding on the same day. Most importantly, Ryan is married to his best friend Amanda and is the proud assistant coach for his son’s basketball team. Whether through his powerful keynote speeches, best-selling books, or social media presence, Ryan Leak inspires over 50,000 individuals every month to chase their dreams and achieve their full potential. Ryan Leak is one of the most sought-after speakers in America, known for helping leaders and teams unlock their potential with practical strategies and unforgettable stories. As a bestselling author, executive coach, and leadership expert, Ryan speaks to over 200,000 people a year—from Fortune 100 companies to pro sports teams—on topics like resilience, personal growth, and navigating the challenges of working with complicated people. He’s the author of Chasing Failure, Leveling Up, and How to Work With Complicated People, and his work has been featured in Good Morning America, The Wall Street Journal, and Forbes. Ryan’s viral content inspires millions online (@ryanleak), and his bite-sized podcast episodes are just the encouragement you’re looking for on The Ryan Leak Podcast. Grounded by his faith and fueled by purpose, Ryan is passionate about helping people become who they’re meant to be—at work, at home, and everywhere in between.

April 21, 2025 – Actor to Edtech CEO Owain Yeoman and Digital Product Management Alex Cowan

Owain Yeoman – Entrepreneur. Partner/ Chief Commercial Officer of edYOU TECHNOLOGIES & Principal Producer and CEO @ SHOWMAN PRODUCTIONS
From his unforgettable portrayal of Wayne Rigsby in The Mentalist to a diverse range of roles across television and film, Owain Yeoman is blending his acting experience with a passion for innovation. Now serving as Chief Commercial Officer at edYOU, a cutting-edge AI-powered platform, Owain is shaping the future of personalized education. With a deep understanding of storytelling and performance, Owain is driving the adoption of AI technologies to make high-quality, tailored learning accessible to all, especially underserved communities. His journey reflects how celebrities are expanding their influence into transformative roles beyond the screen. Partnering with edYOU’s visionary CEO, Dr. Michael Everest, Owain is leading efforts to scale edYOU’s reach and redefine educational experiences on a global scale. Together, they are revolutionizing how technology can empower learners everywhere. His career began in the entertainment industry, where he built a multi-million dollar business as an award-winning actor and producer, contributing to content that has achieved billions in global box office and won Emmys, Golden Globes and Oscars. He holds a BA and MA from Oxford University, a Graduate Diploma with Honors Distinction from The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and a Bachelor of Arts from Kings College London. This academic foundation has equipped me with a profound understanding of both creative and strategic thinking. Being from a family of educators, he has a deep appreciation for the challenges faced by teachers and learners.Alex Cowan – Founder with 3 exits and now a Professor at Darden MBA, UVA + online with over 900,000 courses sold. Author of Hypothesis-Driven Development: A Guide to Smarter Product Management (Advanced Product Management Series)
Alex Cowan first started trying to make money with computers at 19 and he’s been at it for the last 25 years. Through new ventures, ‘intrapreneurial’ ventures inside existing companies, and three successful exits as both founder and investor, he’s never stopped wondering how to do it better. Now a professor at the University’s Darden School of Business, he’s helping to rethink the way we prepare leaders for successful careers in tech. With over 900,000 courses sold, his approach has become popular with practitioners worldwide.

April 18, 2025 - Call of Duty Military Consultant & Assistant Sec of State Dr. John Hillen and Junior Achievement's Take a Child to Work Day

Dr. John Hillen  - Author of The Strategy Dialogues: A Primer on Business Strategy and Strategic Management
 
The Honorable Dr. John Hillen is a highly accomplished CEO, Board Chairman, former US Assistant Secretary of State, and award-winning professor. With extensive strategic leadership experience spanning business, government, the military, and academia, he is the author of The Strategy Dialogues: A Primer on Business Strategy and Strategic Management and What Happens Now? Reinvent Yourself as a Leader Before Your Business Outruns You and has contributed numerous articles on strategy to Forbes, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. The Honorable Dr. John Hillen is a board chairman, corporate director, popular college professor, and sought after speaker. In addition to his board roles, he teaches strategy and leadership at Duke University, Hampden-Sydney College, and in the MBA program at George Mason University – where he has won several teaching awards. A former public company CEO who has built and sold four mid-sized companies, he is an award-winning leadership author, a former senior US government official, a decorated combat veteran, and an executive coach. John’s newest book, The Strategy Dialogues, is a critically acclaimed guide to thinking and acting strategically. Called by Patrick Lencioni “practical as it is entertaining…John Hillen makes strategy actionable and understandable” and by Marshall Goldsmith “a must-read for anyone looking to get clarity and bring these tools to their businesses.” John uses his decades of strategic leadership experience in several fields to reveal for audiences the secrets of strategic thinking and how to shape the future for their organizations – skills that every executive needs to master. An experienced speaker, facilitator and teacher, he moderates leadership seminars for The Aspen Institute and wrote a column on leadership and strategy issues for Washington Technology magazine and Forbes. His previous book, What Happens Now: Reinvent Yourself As a Leader Before Your Business Outruns You (co-authored with Mark Nevins) was named one of the top 30 business books of 2018 and is in its third printing. Unanimously confirmed by the Senate in 2005, Hillen served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs in the second half of the Bush administration and in that capacity spent much of his time with U.S. and allied troops in war zones from Iraq to Afghanistan to the southern Philippines. He has written or edited several books on international security affairs and has published articles in dozens of journals and newspapers, including Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. He has appeared on every major television network and was an on-air commentator for ABC News for a number of years. Hillen, who served for 12 years as an Army reconnaissance officer and paratrooper, was awarded the Bronze Star for his role in the Battle of the 73 Easting during Operation Desert Storm. He recently spent nine years on the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel, the federal advisory committee supporting the head of the U.S. Navy and received the Navy’s Meritorious Public Service Award in 2017. He was the military advisor on the original Call of Duty video game series set in World War II. In 2020 he was inducted into the US Army ROTC Hall of Fame. Dr. Hillen graduated from Duke University with degrees in public policy studies and history and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship after graduation. He holds a master’s degree in war studies from King’s College London, a doctorate in international relations from Oxford University, and an MBA from the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University. He was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws from Hampden-Sydney College in 2019.
Ed Grocholski - Chief Marketing Officer of Junior Achievement   
Take a Child to Work Day and Beyond is April 24th. Thousands of kids across the U.S. will visit workplaces to gain first-hand knowledge of what it’s like to have a job and work with others. Junior Achievement, which leads Take a Child to Work Day and Beyond, has expanded the program to give kids who can’t visit a parent’s workplace for one reason or another the flexibility to experience a visit at other times throughout the year. Through experiential learning, students gain confidence and inspiration about choosing a career, learn what it’s like to work with colleagues, and understand what different jobs are all about. This is especially important in today’s digital and constantly changing world. Every company – large or small – can open its doors for young people through Child to Work Day and Beyond (formerly Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day). JA and corporate sponsor Staples provide different activity guides for skill-building activities for kids of all ages. Participating workplaces also benefit through teamwork and mentorship. Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their future, and make smart academic and economic choices. JA learning experiences are delivered by corporate and community volunteers and provide relevant, hands-on experiences that give students from kindergarten through high school knowledge and skills in financial literacy, work readiness, and entrepreneurship. Additionally, Junior Achievement is expanding its reach to 18-to-25-year-olds to provide young adults with critical life skills, as well as to pre-K youth to ensure children get a solid head start. Today, JA reaches more than 4.6 million students per year in 99 markets across the United States as part of 12.5 million students served by operations in more than 100 other countries worldwide.

April 16, 2025 – A New Theme Park, Cake on Tuesday Elizabeth Bieniek and Most Uncomfortable Conversation Ever Men Dr. Michael J. Rovito

Elizabeth Bieniek – Tech Pioneer, Human-centric AI Consultant and Author of Cake on Tuesday: 25 Lessons to Unlock Corporate Innovation
Elizabeth Bieniek is an author, speaker, and consultant focused on “good peopling” as the secret to exceptional execution. As a founder and Fortune 100 innovation and engineering leadership veteran, her expertise lies in challenging assumptions, embracing diverse perspectives, and leading through ambiguity to build empowered, resilient teams that last. Named to Toptal’s 10 most influential “Female Pioneers in Technology,” she has spoken on bridging the gap between human connection and innovation at EmTech NEXT, Chatham House, ITEXPO, AWE, and the Global AI Community. Her leadership and innovation philosophy have been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg, Inc., International Business Times, and Women in Business. After leaving the corporate path to venture again into the unknown, you can find Elizabeth’s latest endeavors on her website, through LinkedIn, or simply ask when you bump into her at any number of coffee shops across her hometown of Austin, TX. Elizabeth Bieniek likes disruption. Named by Toptal as one of the 10 most influential female pioneers in tech, she is a founder and Fortune 100 leadership veteran who has spoken at MIT’s EmTech NEXT and London’s Chatham House think tank to the world’s top innovators. But it is her disruptive leadership tactics that have been featured in Forbes, Bloomberg, International Business Times, Inc. Magazine, and Women in Business. Her new book, Cake on Tuesday: 25 Lessons to Unlock Corporate Innovation, reveals her unconventional story and lays out a blueprint for modern leaders to harness the power of disruption. Elizabeth currently speaks, writes and consults from her home in Austin, Texas.Dr. Michael J. Rovito – Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Central Florida
Michael J. Rovito is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Sciences at the University of Central Florida. Rovito holds a Ph.D. in Public Health and a M.A. in Urban Studies from Temple University, a B.A. in Geography from Millersville University, and is a certified health education specialist. His work specializes in testicular self-examination and testicular cancer, male health behavioral change, and formative research, including theory, instrument development, and intervention design.

April 14, 2025 – Next Step CFO Michael Barbarita and Integrity Game Jeffrey Klubeck

Michael Barbarita – Owner of Next Step CFO
Michael Barbarita has owned and operated Retail, Manufacturing and Service companies over the last 30 years. One of the retail companies he operated called “Ski Town USA” grew from $2.5 Million to $8.0 million in less than 5 years. One of the products he manufactured was “Cookies To Scoop Frozen Cookie Dough” and was featured on the QVC Home Shopping Network and was selected as one of the top 20 products in the State of Massachusetts in 1997. He has sat on the Board of Directors of 5 different companies. He was a Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer for a large specialty retailer. He was Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer for all of his previously owned companies as well. Michael has been involved in the structuring of leveraged buyouts. He has experience in owning both commercial and residential investment real estate. He also has experience exporting and doing business on a global scale. He is an award winning public speaker and Published Co-author. He has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.Jeffrey Klubeck – Co-Author of #UNCOMMITTED: College Baseball Recruiting Journeys (The Integrity Game®)
Jeffrey Klubeck., is a distinguished international speaker, a communication expert, world-class coach, and creator of The Integrity Game®, a groundbreaking approach to soft skills development. With a career that spans over two decades, Jeffrey has empowered thousands of professionals, entrepreneurs, and high-performance teams in 14 countries and across 4 continents. He’s not just a coach—he’s a professor, author, and founder of Get A Klu, Inc., which specializes in enhancing productivity and accountability for small businesses and solo-preneurs.

April 11, 2025 – Deloitte to Entrepreneur Rosco Graves and Satisfaction Selling Joseph Riggio & Henrik Wenøe

Rosco Graves Jr – CEO of Polaxis
Rosco Graves Jr. – For over twenty years, Rosco has partnered with CEOs and executives to gather and interpret data in order to generate meaningful insights. He has a proven track record of leading initiatives to unlock value through tax, financial and operational strategies and enjoying making the complex simple, clear and actionable. As the CEO of Polaxis, Rosco enjoys meeting with business owners and individuals to understand their financial goals and find ways to help them achieve those goals. Prior to Polaxis, Rosco worked in various industries building a wealth of expertise in financial planning and analysis, strategy, cash flow management and mergers & acquisitions. Rosco started his career within Deloitte’s audit practice and his entrepreneurial journey includes being a franchise owner. In his spare time, Rosco likes to travel and mentor.Joseph Riggio – and Author of Satisfaction Selling: How to become a Trusted Advisor in high-value complex sales and build a movement of Positive Activists using The Satisfaction Cycle
Joseph Riggio, Ph.D. earned his doctorate in Business Administration after completing five years of research on how individuals make significant decisions in the face of uncertainty and chaos. Dr. Riggio is an Master Trainer, Coach and Consultant with the Society of NLP, a Fellow of the International Board of Executive Coaches, and the architect and designer of the MythoSelf® Process and Soma-Semantics®. He is a leading figure in international personal and professional development circles. Joseph has developed seminal work in the area of applied mythology related to personal and professional development, especially as it applies to decision-making, performance and leadership. The fundamental technology that Joseph continues to develop is sensorially and aesthetically organized transcending the limitations of ordinary cortical cognition. His interest if focused on understanding and utilizing the sub-cortical, pre-representational processes of implicit learning in what he refers to as the “Silent Brain.” In 1990 he founded the Applied Behavioral Technologies Institute | Princeton, through which he has coached and advised numerous clients on a professional and personal level for over twenty years, as well as becoming a leading educator and trainer of change work. Professionals come from around the world to learn with Joseph and among the consultants, coaches, counselors, therapists, physicians and others Joseph has trained and worked with his skill in the utilization of somatics is renowned, as are his use of hypnotic language, metaphor and storytelling. While Dr. Riggio is known and well regarded for his work developing new transformational performance methods and technology, he is probably most widely known as a keynote speaker and workshop leader. Joseph has run programs around the world for clients seeking profound personal, professional and organizational transformation and performance improvement. A highly regarded professional consultant, coach and mentor, Joseph has worked with leading Fortune 100 International companies and thousands of executives within them. Dr. Riggio’s proprietary training programs in sales and leadership development have been delivered in over thirty countries and translated into more than ten languages. More than twenty years of developing the essential material that comprises the MythoSelf Process work and Soma-Semantics model led Joseph to producing TCP | The Complete Package, a multi-media program clients can use on their own, designed to create the kind of transformational results he is renowned for generating with clients in his workshops and when doing private work with them. Beyond his professional and academic work Joseph spent many years as a competitive athlete. In addition to wresting and playing football in high school and college, he has been training in the martial arts for over 40 years, and has trained in traditional Japanese and Chinese styles including Okinawan karate, aiki-jujitsu and tai-chi, as well as competitively boxing in his late teens and early twenties. Most recently he’s been a private student of Master Al Ridenhour in the Guided Chaos system developed by Grand Master John Perkins. This background deeply informs the somatic approach that Joseph takes with his clients. Strange as it may seem, Joseph’s many years of work training dogs has also had a profound impact on his thinking and ways of work as well. Joseph has a very artsy daughter who’s off to school on her own next year and a son at UC Davis when he’s not tracking lions in the wilds of Tanzania. Now this “Jersey Boy” is moving on to New Hope, Pennsylvania, cohabiting a one-house kibbutz with a savannah cat and pit bull puppy…after all, the story must go on…Henrik Wenøe – CEO of Acuity World and Author of Satisfaction Selling: How to become a Trusted Advisor in high-value complex sales and build a movement of Positive Activists using The Satisfaction Cycle
Henrik Wenøe holds a Bachelor of Science in Sales and Marketing and is a certified Master Trainer of NLP. As the CEO and owner of Acuity World, Henrik has over 30 years of experience in Sales, Marketing, Communication, and Leadership. Since 2000, Henrik has been training leaders and professionals worldwide in sales and marketing. He has also co-authored several books on related topics. He focuses on creating customized training programs to improve sales performance and communication. Henrik is the creator of the Personal Leadership Program – PLP™ and the Personal Selling Program – PSP™. He also trains professionals globally in communication and customer satisfaction methods.

April 9, 2025 – Michel Buffet and Faithful Finances Chris McMahon

Michel Buffet – Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry
Michel Buffet advises C-suite executives and enterprise leaders on strategies to unlock the potential of individuals, teams, and organizations through tailored organizational and talent development solutions. With over 25 years of consulting experience, Michel specializes in executive succession, leadership assessment, coaching, high-performance team development, and organizational transformation. He leads Korn Ferry’s Top Team Performance solution and is a member of the CEO succession community of practice. He advises clients across several sectors including Consumer Products, Life Sciences, Healthcare, and Professional Services. Before joining Korn Ferry, Michel was the head of leadership resilience at YSC, a managing partner at Fisher Rock Consulting, and a partner at Oliver Wyman. He began his career as an Officer Psychologist in the French Navy. Michel is a board member of the French American Chamber of Commerce in New York, where he chairs the HR & Mobility Committee, and is a former president of the Metropolitan New York Association of Applied Psychology. Additionally, he serves on the board of NextGen Leaders, supporting LGBTQ+ high-potential leaders. A published author on leadership and team dynamics, Michel co-wrote The Five Disciplines of Inclusive Teams and has contributed articles on executive onboarding and Social Network Analysis (SNA) in organizations. He holds a PhD in organizational psychology from Columbia University and a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Paris. Michel is a dual French-American citizen, bilingual in French and English, and fluent in Spanish.Chris McMahon – CEO of MFA Wealth and Author of Faithful Finances: Six Steps to Establishing a Catholic Financial Life
Chris McMahon, President and CEO of MFA Wealth and Aquinas Wealth Advisors, has over 30 years of experience guiding clients in financial planning and values-based investing. He founded MFA Wealth in 1986, one of Pennsylvania’s leading investment firms, and expanded his impact by launching Aquinas Wealth Advisors in 2020. Chris is a frequent cohost on Fox Business’ “Mornings with Maria” and a contributor to media such as the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and InvestmentNews offering insights on personal finance and faith-based investing. Chris has also frequently appeared on Catholic media. A former Vice Chair of Legatus, Chris is actively involved in charitable initiatives and serves on several boards, including Duquesne University and Mary’s Place maternity home. He also founded the yearly Catholics at the Shore conference. Chris lives in Pittsburgh with his wife, Molly, and has five grown children.

April 7, 2025 – Adrenaline Dominance Dr. Michael Platt and Projectland Dawn Mahan

Dr. Michael E. Platt – Author of Adrenaline Dominance: A Revolutionary Approach to Wellness and his Cream
Michael E. Platt, M.D., a specialist in natural hormone replacement, has successfully treated thousands of patients from around the world. He has also given numerous seminars on hormones worldwide and been a speaker on hormones in Europe and Asia. He’s the author of the popular Miracle of Bio-Identical Hormones and his latest book, Adrenaline Dominance: A Revolutionary Approach to Wellness. Dr. Platt currently maintains a practice in Palm Desert, California, devoted to wellness and a preventive approach to illness.Dawn Mahan – Founder of PMOtraining.com and Author of Meet the Players in Projectland: Decide the Right Project Roles & Get People On Board
Dawn Mahan
Dawn Mahan is the founder of PMOtraining, LLC, and coined the term, Projectland®. She is a dynamic international speaker with extensive global experience, and sole inventor of the ProjectFlo® Process Learning System that makes learning PMI’s complex process fast, easy, and fun. She works with C-level leaders, business owners in growth mode, PMO leaders, and project managers at all levels. Her work in preparing young professionals in the YearUp program for internships at major companies has been featured in Morningstar, Yahoo! Finance and more. In the early 2000s she collaborated with colleagues on a blog they named PMthink! Project Management Thought Leadership. In 2009, she left the Fortune 50 and started her own firm. In 2014, she was awarded Professional of the Year Consulting/Project Management by Strathmore Who’s Who Worldwide. In 2021, she was hired by Udemy as their project management expert to co-create Smart Tips: Project Management & Agile for their business and marketplace platforms. She has trained thousands of ambitious professionals around the world. In the book published by the ROI institute, “Proving the Value of Leadership Development: Case Studies from Top Leadership Development Programs,” Dawn co-authored Chapter 18: Leadership Development with Artificial Intelligence. Look for her book, “Meet the Players in Projectland: Decide the Right Project Roles & Get People on Board.” Her background includes biostatistics, actuarial science, software development, database administration, business analysis, IT business consulting, project management, and PMO leadership. Dawn has built houses in Cambodia with Habitat for Humanity, has played a variety of roles on the American Lung Association’s Philadelphia Leadership Board, and sponsors a girls flag football team in Florida. vWhen she’s not in Projectland, you can most often find her with family in Hawaii, Pennsylvania, or the Florida Keys.

April 4, 2025 – Family Businesses Ivan Lansberg and Flex Careers Christine Fruehwirth

Ivan Lansberg – Co-Founder at LGA and co-author of The Enduring Enterprise: How Family Businesses Thrive in Turbulent Conditions
Ivan Lansberg is the co-founder at LGA and co-author of The Enduring Enterprise: How Family Businesses Thrive in Turbulent Conditions, with Devin DeCiantis. About the book: While blue chips, tech titans, and big banks are often hailed as the leading drivers of modern capitalism, it turns out that family businesses are not only more pervasive but also more enduring. This is particularly true in emerging and frontier economies, where the bulk of the world’s growth in population and economic activity will be generated in the years and decades to come. Though only one-fifth of Fortune 500 companies are family-controlled, enterprising families in these environments account for up to 90 percent of all business activity and employment. They not only survive but actually thrive under the constant threat of war, environmental disaster, and market failures, and have lessons to teach businesses and leaders everywhere about building and sustaining success in the face of crisis and uncertainty. Through vivid case studies and building on decades of personal experience, they share a unique portfolio of seven stabilizing strategies that can help any organization increase its resilience and performance. These include a Peruvian family that built a global soft drink empire from the ground up during an active terrorist conflict; a Korean family best known for exporting dried fish before being tapped by the government to help modernize the country; a Syrian family who relaunched their international manufacturing conglomerate after having their assets unceremoniously seized by a military coup, among countless others. Leveraging insights from the domains of management science, economics, history, biology, and systems theory, DeCiantis and Lansberg make clear that companies operating in advanced economies are no longer immune to the many structural shocks and frequent crises that are haunting our daily news cycle. As a result, they argue that the best chance at coping with elevated volatility is to adopt a more proactive and preemptive approach to managing risk—like the many enterprising families who have flourished in complex frontier environments for decades and even centuries. This perspective represents a new strategic mindset: building businesses that can navigate an ever-changing landscape, not just chase the next shiny new trend. As owners and leaders start embracing this new logic and outperforming their growth-obsessed peers, they predict that a fascinating trend will emerge. Business leaders everywhere will increasingly trade in their current high priests of efficiency and growth—the likes of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos—for enduring enterprises who have learned to thrive in all seasons. Having survived countless crises, such frontier family businesses have the upper hand when it comes to predicting the subtle tremors that precede an economic avalanche, as well as reading the shifting winds across the political and environmental landscape. By studying their stories and applying their timeless wisdom, we can all be better equipped to face the many new dangers and opportunities that lie ahead. A critical read in a world of uncertainty, THE ENDURING ENTERPRISE provides a new set of tools and inspirational examples that will guide business leaders through the toughest conditions.Christine Fruehwirth – Founder of FlexCareers Consulting and Author of Surviving Life’s Storms and Thriving in the Aftermath
Christine Fruehwirth has had more than 20 years of career counseling and life coaching experience through her successful business, FlexCareers Consulting. Her focus and passion has consistently been helping stay-at-home parents return to the workplace and working parents who are looking for more balance in their lives. From 2009 to 2019, Christine also worked as a Career Consultant and Instructor of a Career Management Strategy course at George Washington University, and most recently at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. During her years working in higher education, she developed an expertise in helping undergraduates of all majors recruit for and successfully obtain internships and full time positions in the Financial Services industry. She spent a decade in that industry focused on consumer and later investment banking, working for major financial institutions including Bank of America, Capital One and Wells Fargo. Her last few years in the industry were spent at Lending Tree on the senior leadership team.