Karen, Author at Business RadioX ® Page

Starting Small E135

December 14, 2022 by Karen

Starting Small E135

Todd Asmuth joined Tycoons to share some insights on his experiences in working with startups, especially a nuclear fusion startup. He also talks about making sure you start small, become good at the small things, then work your way up to bigger things.

Tune in to hear Todd’s thoughts on starting from the bottom and working your way up to bigger things and finding innovations to help people and keeping your foot on the gas. You can learn more about Todd at www.shinefusion.com

SHINE deploys its safe, cost-effective and environmentally friendly technology in a stepwise approach. Its systems are used to inspect industrial components in aerospace, defense, energy and other sectors. SHINE’s proprietary medical isotope production processes create molybdenum-99 and non-carrier-added lutetium-177.

These important medicines are used in tens of thousands of daily procedures to diagnose and treat heart disease, late-stage cancer, and other serious illnesses. In the future, SHINE plans to scale its fusion technology to help solve one of energy’s toughest hurdles by recycling nuclear waste. Through a purpose-driven and phased approach, SHINE aims to generate fusion power to deliver clean, abundant energy that could transform life on Earth. Learn more at www.shinefusion.com and @shinefusion.

Todd Asmuth joined SHINE as the company’s president in September 2015 and served in the additional role of chief financial officer from 2018 to 2021. In 2021, he was appointed chief strategy officer while retaining his responsibilities as SHINE’s president.

Prior to SHINE, he took multiple venture-capital-backed companies from concept to commercialization to profitability using lean startup, customer-focused product development techniques. He has also served on the boards of directors of multiple early-stage companies and non-profit organizations and currently is an operating partner for the private equity group May River Capital.

Early in his career, Asmuth spent four years in management consulting with Booz Allen & Hamilton on strategy engagements with Fortune 500 companies.

Todd earned an M.B.A. with honors from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Yale University.

Connect with Todd on LinkedIn.

About the Show

Tycoons of Small Biz spotlights the true backbone of the American economy, the true tycoons of business in America… the owners, founders and CEO’s of small businesses. Join hosts, Austin L Peterson, Landon Mance and the featured tycoons LIVE every Tuesday at 1 pm, right here on Business RadioX and your favorite podcast platform.

About Your Hosts

Austin Peterson is a Comprehensive Financial Planner and co-founder of Backbone Planning Partners in Scottsdale, AZ. Austin is a registered rep and investment advisor representative with Lincoln Financial Advisors. Prior to joining Lincoln Financial Advisors, Austin worked in a variety of roles in the financial services industry.

He began his career in financial services in the year 2000 as a personal financial advisor with Independent Capital Management in Santa Ana, CA. Austin then joined Pacific Life Insurance Company as an internal wholesaler for their variable annuity and mutual fund products. After Pacific Life, Austin formed his own financial planning company in Southern California that he built and ran for 6 years and eventually sold when he moved his family to Salt Lake City to pursue his MBA.

After he completed his MBA, Austin joined Crump Life Insurance where he filled a couple of different sales roles and eventually a management role throughout the five years he was with Crump. Most recently before joining Lincoln Financial Advisors in February 2015, Austin spent 2 years as a life insurance field wholesaler with Symetra Life Insurance Company. Austin is a Certified Financial Planner Professional and Chartered Life Underwriter. In 2021, Austin became a Certified Business Exit Consultant® (CBEC®) to help entrepreneurs plan to exit their businesses.

Austin and his wife of 23 years, Robin, have two children, AJ (21) and Ella (18) and they reside in Gilbert, Arizona. He is a graduate of California State University, Fullerton with a Bachelor of Arts in French and of Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management with a Master of Business Administration with an emphasis in sales and entrepreneurship.

Connect with Austin on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Landon Mance is a Financial Planner and co-founder of Backbone Planning Partners out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He rebranded his practice in 2020 to focus on serving small business owners after operating as Mance Wealth Management since 2015 when Landon broke off from a major bank and started his own “shop.”

Landon comes from a family of successful entrepreneurs and has a passion and excitement for serving the business community. This passion is what brought about the growth of Backbone Planning Partners to help business owners and their families. At Backbone Planning, we believe small business owners’ personal and business goals are intertwined, so we work with our clients to design a financial plan to support all aspects of their lives.

In 2019, Landon obtained the Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) designation through the Exit Planning Institute. With this certification, Backbone Planning Partners assists business owners through an ownership transition while focusing on a positive outcome for their employees and meeting the business owner’s goals. Landon is also a member of the Business Intelligence Institute (BII) which is a collaborative group that shares tools, resources and personnel, and offers advanced level training and technical support to specifically serve business owners. In 2021, Landon became a Certified Business Exit Consultant® (CBEC®) to help entrepreneurs plan to exit their businesses by counseling owners about exit options, estimating the value of the business, preparing the business for exit and tax considerations.

Landon enjoys spending time with his beautiful wife, stepson, and new baby twins. He grew up in sunny San Diego and loves visiting his family, playing a round of golf with friends, and many other outdoor activities. Landon tries to make a difference in the lives of children in Las Vegas as a part of the leadership team for a local non-profit. He regularly visits the children that we work with to remind himself of why it’s so important to, “be the change that you wish to see in the world.”

Landon received his B.S. from California State University Long Beach in business marketing and gets the rest of his education through the school of hard knocks via his business owner clients.

Connect with Landon on LinkedIn.

Norm Weiss and Karika Bridgers with N. Weiss Associates, Inc.

December 13, 2022 by Karen

Norm Weiss and Karika Bridgers with N. Weiss Associates, Inc.

Since 1996, N. Weiss Associates, Inc. (NWA) has provided environmental, health, and safety compliance services to clients ranging from small businesses to large Fortune 100 companies from a variety of industries, including manufacturing, aerospace, semiconductor, mining, utilities, insurance, legal, tribal, governmental and others.

Our goal is to assist our clients in navigating environmental, health, and safety (EHS) compliance and regulations.

Norm Weiss is President of N. Weiss Associates, Inc. (NWA) based in Phoenix, Arizona.

NWA is a small consulting practice that provides environmental, health, and safety (EHS) compliance services. Norm has worked in the EHS field for over 45 years in the public and private sectors.

He formerly served as an Assistant Agency Director at the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, where he managed the Office of Waste Programs and the Office of Planning & Program Development. Norm also worked as a Managing Senior at two different environmental consulting firms before opening his current practice over 25 years ago.

Currently, Norm focuses on client compliance services, training, and managing the firm with his team. He is also a senior instructor for training at ASU Polytechnic Fulton Schools of Engineering and a training director for Kary Environmental Services.

Training seminars include HAZWOPER, RCRA, and DOT Hazmat seminars. He trains approximately 800 people annually through open enrollment and onsite training classes.

Karika Bridgers has been working with N. Weiss Associates, Inc. (NWA) in Phoenix, Arizona, since 2009; she is the operations manager and a senior consultant responsible for environmental compliance programs and environmental research projects: including implementation, hazardous waste, chemical management, clean air, and clean water programs.

Projects include wastewater sampling, spill prevention, stormwater planning, and air permitting. She has experience developing and implementing job hazard assessments, emergency management plans, infectious control plans, and sampling/analysis protocols.

Our newest program has been the implementation of the Maricopa County Travel Reduction Program (TRP) for clients throughout Maricopa County.

Karika is an instructor for training at ASU Polytechnic Fulton Schools of Engineering, presenting HAZWOPER, RCRA, and DOT HazMat training seminars. Karika is also a faculty associate for Arizona State University, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, teaching courses in the Environmental and Resource Management Program.

Follow N. Weiss Associates on LinkedIn.

E114 Learning from Games with Andrea Clinton and Daniel Zitter

December 13, 2022 by Karen

E114 Learning from Games with Andrea Clinton and Daniel Zitter

In this episode of Project Management Office Hours, PMO Joe welcomed Andrea Clinton and Daniel Zitter. Prior to this discussion we all participated in a Workshop using the Project Management Board game led by Daniel. The discussion included lessons learned during the workshop, the benefits of games for learning, the next generation of PMs, as well as the career transition Andrea recently experienced and how her long project management career helped with the change.

Andrea Clinton is a career project manager and leader. She has dedicated her expansive 25 year career to the craft of project management. She has worked across industries from education to manufacturing, software development to data center design/build, gaining experience at variety of companies from small start-ups to Fortune 5 companies such as Apple.

Daniel Zitter loves project management, and he’s happy to tell anyone who will listen! He appreciates the complexities of managing a project. He enjoys discussing it with others and teaching the methodologies, thought processes and how to deal with the questions and challenges that are sure to arise. He is Co-Founder of PM Zone and the Project Management Board game.

If you’re wondering does playing a board game simulate running a project and what can you learn from the game, here is what Andrea had to say, “As we were working through the program, within our gameplay, if you will, you think that you’re going to start working on your tasks and you have them all lined up and you’re thinking, what could possibly go wrong? I’ve got this, this is totally easy. And then before you know it, there’s a risk thrown up and you have to stop and address that risk or there’s a constraint that comes up and then you have to turn around and go backwards or have to try and borrow resources from somewhere else.”

We train our youth with games all the time whether in school, at home, or activities. Gaming helps to break down any barriers which might pop up when you are “supposed to be learning”. The fun and excitement of the gaming workshop allows players, Project Managers, to experience situations and learn together building stronger teams and better situational awareness.

Listen to the entire episode to hear the full story from Andrea and Daniel.

Connect with Andrea Clinton:
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-clinton-16a0172/

Connect with Daniel Zitter:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielzitter/

Thank you to THE PMO SQUAD and The PMO Leader for sponsoring this show.

The PMO Squad is a leading provider of PMO and Project Management services in the US. They assist clients building and improving PMOs, provide Project Management Consulting services, deliver custom Project Management Training and provide Project Management staffing services. Learn more about The PMO Squad – https://www.thepmosquad.com

Where do PMO Leaders go for Information, Learning, Networking and Services? The PMO Leader community has “Everything You Need to Become a Great PMO Leader”. One PMO World, One Community! Learn more about The PMO Leader – https://www.thepmoleader.com

Developed by project management professionals, the PMzone solutions provide all the knowledge and tools required by both experienced and occasional project managers. Whether a project has just landed on your desk, or managing projects is your full-time job, we’re happy to help you hone your skills through courses and games that offer practical tools to help you master project management

Daniel Zitter loves project management, and he’s happy to tell anyone who will listen.

He appreciates the complexities of managing a project. He enjoys discussing it with others and teaching the methodologies, thought processes and how to deal with the questions and challenges that are sure to arise.

And he’s happy to share his knowledge and experience with clients, friends and acquaintances – because he believes deeply in what he does, how he does it and that doing it right makes a huge difference to the outcome.

Daniel is an experienced and certified project manager. He is a licensed industrial engineer and holds a Project Management Practitioner Certification “In Good Standing” from the Project Management Institute (PMI). He is also an accredited PMO – Certified Consultant, of the PMO Global Alliance, and was a member of the Jugging Committee for the 2019 PMO global awards competition.

Connect with Daniel on LinkedIn.

Andrea Clinton is a career project manager and has dedicated her expansive 25 year career to the craft of project management. She has worked across industries from education to manufacturing, software development to data center design/build, gaining experience at variety of companies from small start-ups to Fortune 5 companies such as Apple.

Andrea has experience as a project manager, PMO leader, consultant, process designer and business owner. After completing her graduate degree in Global Management at Thunderbird last year, Andrea has most recently, thrown her skills towards two businesses which include the start-up of a restaurant and the growth of the project management team at Maverick Power.

In addition to recently opening a restaurant in Scottsdale, Masons Famous Lobster Rolls, Andrea is keeping her skills sharp working as an independent project management and leadership consultant.

Connect with Andrea on LinkedIn.

ABOUT PROJECT MANAGEMENT OFFICE HOURS SERIES

Project Management Office Hours is intended to provide Project Management professionals a place to drop in and discuss Success Stories, Best Practices, and Lessons Learned. Project Management Consultant Joy Gumz has shared with us, “Operations keep the lights on, strategy provides the light at the end of the tunnel, but project management is the train engine that moves the organization forward.”

Each of us has a unique story to tell, but collectively we share a message that organizations who embrace Project Management Best Practices perform better than those which don’t. Organizations which align Projects to Strategy perform better. Organizations with Engage Executive Sponsors deliver better results. Organizations which measure Project Management performance outperform those which don’t.

During our Project Management Office Hours, we hear directly from Industry leaders how to make an impact in our profession. How we, collectively, will Advance Project Management Best Practices, One Listener at a time!

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Joe Pusz started THE PMO SQUAD to bring real world PMO Leadership experience to the consulting space and to advocate for Project Management through his blog PMOJOE.com. The old saying is “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” Following this mindset Joe left Corporate America in 2013 to start THE PMO SQUAD and work with fellow Natural Born Project Managers to advance Project Management Best Practices.

ABOUT OUR SPONSOR

THE PMO SQUAD focuses exclusively on PMO and Project Management consulting. Corporate America is full of Accidental Project Managers running projects who haven’t been trained to be PMs. To help solve this problem THE PMO SQUAD is on the Leading Edge with PMO As a Service. PMO As a Service allows our clients to focus on their respective core competencies while THE PMO SQUAD delivers Project Management expertise. Contact Joe at 678-591-7868. Follow The PMO Squad on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

The Leaping Man Executive Leadership E10

December 13, 2022 by Karen

The Leaping Man Executive Leadership E10

What story do you tell yourself about not being ready yet to do and be what you truly aspire to be? What becomes possible when you inquire into your “I can only…when…” limiting beliefs and let them go? How can you respond to this moment in a way that brings you peace in your heart and feeling pride in your actions?

Listen to this episode of Rooted & Unwavering and hear what John Rex, Executive Coach and former CFO of Microsoft North America, has been learning about living and leading from his core values, taking response-ability and enjoying life as it comes and helping others grow in their journeys.

Says John: “We humans tend try too hard to define what the rewards of life should be. We don’t trust enough that the journey itself is its own reward, so we fixate on a destination, or a particular achievement and we forget that the value of life is in living the journey. This present moment that we are in right now has its own merit and value just by being here. Every experience has value as it offers us an opportunity to respond, to be conscious to make a choice that brings us peace in our heart and feel pride in our actions.”

Rex Executive Leadership helps high-performing executives grow to the next level and deliver big impact, while finding joy in the journey.

As the former CFO of Microsoft North America, John Rex brings real-world perspective to the ever-increasing demands of his clients’ leadership challenges.

As an executive coach, John combines sharp insight and impactful methods with a mindset of compassion, curiosity, and courage. And as a husband and father of four, he knows what it means to juggle a leadership career with devotion to the people who matter most – all while finding joy in the journey.

Having worked worldwide and lived in Latin America for 12 years, John holds a strong personal stake in diversity and inclusivity — and he works continually to expand his understanding of people, places, and cultures around the world.

Family, spirituality, and community are central to John’s way of living. When he’s not working one-on-one with senior executives, he enjoys cycling, skiing, and planning the next adventure with family and friends.

About Rooted & Unwavering

Peace, Compassion, Wisdom, Purposefulness, Creativity and Strength come online in us when we deeply connect with the true, unwavering greatness that lives within ourselves and others.

In this podcast and radio show, Hylke Faber, seasoned transformational coach and author of the award-winning Taming Your Crocodiles series, engages in deep inquiry with leaders from all walks of life about courageously connecting with our true selves, others and the world at large.

How do we stay connected to our true selves and our greatness, especially when we are challenged? How do we rest in the heart, also when our mind keeps us restless? What becomes possible when we truly stay committed to our own and others’ best selves, also when we don’t feel it? How do we practice staying connected to our true selves, in the midst of our busy lives?

Join us and leave inspired to act on your heart’s greatness and that of the people around you.

About Our Host

For as long as he can remember Hylke Faber has been curious about what this life is about. His ongoing inquiry has become his work: helping people individually and collectively to discover what is possible in life and express that authentically and fearlessly.

Hylke started his work life with Towers Perrin as consultant and then as Partner with Strategic Decisions Group, serving a wide range of industries, including financial services, manufacturing, consumer electronics and life sciences companies. A major shift occurred during this critical phase of his life. He had become the typical, hard-charging, 16-hours-a-day strategy consultant, and was burning out at a rapid clip.

When he discovered meditation, everything changed. He was so taken by his new discoveries that he chose to bring to business what he was learning: that there is a way we can have it all – we can be fulfilled, do work we love, and create extraordinary results with others. He thinks of it as creating a sense of ease in business.

He learned how to coach and facilitate human transformation completing his coaching certification with Newfield Network and by working at Axialent, the culture and leadership company. After a few years, he founded Co-Creation Partners together with other leaders in the field of transformation and personal development. Then he formed Constancee to help people grow by creating the conditions where deep personal, interpersonal and organizational shifts happen routinely.

He leads Growth Leaders Network, the culture and team development consultancy. He has also taught coaching at Columbia Business School Executive Education and has contributed to Harvard Business Review. He is currently teaching a course on Climate Conscious Leadership at Arizona State University. His award-winning book, Taming Your Crocodiles: Unlearn Fear & Become a True Leader, was published by Dover in 2018.

His next book, Taming Your Crocodiles Practices for Leadership Depth, came out in 2020. Besides helping others grow, which he loves, he is a trained opera singer, enjoys hiking and writing, is an avid reader, in particular of biographies, and is always in the process of growing himself. He integrates all of what he learns in his work with executives.

Connect with Hylke on LinkedIn.

About Our Sponsor

Realizing Your Greatness

We are a team of experienced facilitators and coaches dedicated to helping individuals, teams and organizations thrive by helping them recognize their innate greatness and putting it to work.

- Executive Coaching: we work with clients individually to help them connect to their calling and use every challenge as an opportunity to help them grow more into what makes them great.
- Team Performance: we help teams evolve to their next level of excellence, connectedness and impact by working on the root drivers of team performance.
- Culture Development: we help organizations to evolve their culture by creating clarity about where they aspire to go, and by building role models, coaches and systems that catalyze people being energized to work the new way.

Key Notes: we deliver powerful speeches at conferences and other events that help audiences become energized, more connected to themselves and each other, more open to discovery and ready to commit to the next stage of learning in their career and life journeys.

Growth Leaders Network (GLN) serves Fortune 500 companies, smaller organizations and non-profits globally.

GLN clients report that we catalyze significant business transformational impact and profound shifts in people, team and organizations at the root cause level.

Learn more about the Growth Leaders network here.

The Messiness of Trying To Do It All E10

December 12, 2022 by Karen

The Messiness of Trying To Do It All E10

On this episode of the Messy Middle Podcast & Radio Show, we welcome Mindy Jones, owner of the Amy Jones Group & Founder of Community on Purpose and Kim Bryant, Physical Therapist and Owner of Thrive Pelvic Health & Wellness.

As three professional and busy moms, we discuss how all roads lead to entrepreneurship and how community has played such a critical role in our businesses. Mindy and Kim share valuable insight on how to know when a shift is needed and the many leadership lessons they have learned along the way.

If you are a woman in business wondering how to manage and juggle it all, this episode is a great reminder that you don’t have to try to do it all. Through the power of community, you are not alone. We discuss ways to ask for and receive help. We can’t wait for you to hear the invaluable wisdom Kim & Mindy share!

The Amy Jones Group is a residential real estate team in the East Valley owned and operated by a committed group of professional women who are raising the industry standard through excellent care, advocacy and representation of their clients and families.

Committed to serving their community, owner Mindy Jones launched Community on Purpose in 2022, a nonprofit organization serving women and families through fundraising and volunteering which the Amy Jones Group spearheads.

Known for their community based approach to marketing, the Amy Jones Group has a loyal following of clients who speak loud and proud about the difference working with the Amy Jones Group has made on their family.

Mindy Jones has been building community since her debut as a 2nd grade peer mediation specialist – yep, you read that right.

She has organized fundraising events and charity galas, recruited volunteers for projects big and small, managed volunteer engagements for nonprofits and corporate giving arms, and helped dozens and dozens of nonprofits along the way before starting one of her own, Community on Purpose, which serves women and families in Arizona.

Mindy is the mom of a 3 year old fire cracker of a boy, owner of the Amy Jones Group, an all female owned and operated residential real estate team serving hundreds of families each year, and professional community builder who leads the Women Empowered Committee at the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce, co-chairs ICAN Positive Programs for Youth’s dreamBIG gala and has been recognized for the work she and her company have done in the community.

Mindy lives by the motto, “Be the Change You Want to See” and through events, public speaking, professional writing engagements, social media platforms, volunteering, and gritty execution, Mindy and her team have positioned themselves as the premier community builders in the East Valley.

Mindy is passionate about helping others find clarity in their voice, understand how to leverage community relationships to build a strong following for their brand and make a massive positive impact on their businesses, communities, and families along the way.

Mindy is passionate about giving women a professional platform for achieving their financial goals in a meaningful career while serving their families, communities, and selves along the way.

Always looking to create new partnerships, Mindy’s experience in building a community based business is truly a testament to her belief that every connection is the opportunity to change the world.

Connect with Mindy on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.

Thrive Pelvic Health and Wellness is a group of practitioners that specialize in all things pelvic health. We treat adults and children and have 4 valley location.

Some of the common conditions we treat are, pain with intercourse, bladder or bowel leakage, prolapse, pelvic pain, diastais recti, postpartum recovery, labor and birth prep, and low back/hip pain.

Dr. Kim Bryant received her doctorate in physical therapy in 2009 and has been specializing in pelvic health since 2017.

She opened Thrive Pelvic Health to provider the quality care her patients deserve but to also allow her to have a better work-life balance.

Her goal is to take the shame out pelvic floor dysfunction so that many of this population doesn’t have to suffer in silence.

Follow Thrive Pelvic Health and Wellness on Facebook and Instagram.

About The Messy Middle Podcast & Radio Show

“Beginnings are usually scary, and endings are usually sad but it’s the middle that counts the most.”- Hope Floats

We often talk about the beginnings and endings of things. We celebrate our firsts and mourn our lasts. We often ignore the in between, or what we like to call the messy middle. In this nebulous space, often there are no awards or recognition.

It is frequently characterized by the long days, hard work, uncertainty, self-doubt, small wins, setbacks, persistence, and sheer determination to simply keep moving forward. And, yet, it is also where the magic happens. The middle part of our journey is what shapes us, prepares us and fills our lives with meaning.

Welcome to the Messy Middle Podcast & Radio show! Each month we invite guests to share their own version of the Messy Middle and the lessons they’ve learned along the way.

Whether you’re in the messiness of growing a business, healing from trauma, or navigating the wild world of parenting; this show is for you! We’re so excited to celebrate the messiness of life and business with you!

About Mother & Founder Co

Mother & Founder Co was created to help people who are experiencing change and are looking for growth, healing & transformation. The only thing that is constant is change…and change is really difficult for most people. When remaining where you are is more painful than the unknown, change happens.

*And*

Mother & Founder is there to help you create, maintain, and navigate the changes you wish to make.

In addition to the amazing community of women, we provide trauma healing sessions, clarity courses designed to re-imagine what’s possible, individual coaching and small business strategy masterminds.

About Jen Burwell

Jen is the Founder of Mother & Founder Co. and Co-Founder of Jens LIGHT Events.

She is a recognized public speaker and enjoys working with audiences of all sizes. She is a fierce advocate of self-development and believes a kinder world begins from within.

Her goal is to help as many leaders heal themselves as possible. A healed world is a better world for all of us. In 2020, she received the prestigious honor of Business Woman of the Year by the Tempe Chamber of Commerce.

She loves being right in the messy middle of growing business(es), mothering 3 young kiddos (2 on the Autism Spectrum) and navigating a healthy and happy marriage amid it all.

In her spare time, she enjoys morning solo runs accompanied by her AirPods and her latest Audible book. Her other joys include spa days, being near the ocean, travel and learning something new.

Follow Mother & Founder Co on Facebook and Instagram.

Stephanie Morales with Persevere E34

December 9, 2022 by Karen

Stephanie Morales with Persevere E34

Persevere is a national 501(c)3 non-profit organization committed to end mass incarceration, reduce recidivism, and empower incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, and other justice-involved men and women to succeed.

We influence this by providing full stack coding education inside of state prisons, career readiness classes, job placement and a full year of case management during reintegration.

Stephanie Morales is the Program Manager for Persevere for the state of Arizona. She has been with the organization for nearly three years.

Her background is in social work and trauma informed coaching. Stephanie is deeply passionate about decarceration and rehabilitative vs punitive services.

Connect with Stephanie on LinkedIn.

About Arizona Good Business

What is good business? What are local businesses doing to build a better Arizona?

Join Arizona Good Business to hear from local companies who are:

Centering purpose at the forefront of business
Creating social well-being for the community
Prioritizing sustainability and positive environmental practices
Growing strong company cultures through building authentic teams
Ensuring diversity, equity, and inclusion are involved in all business decisions

Arizona Good Business features local business leaders that are redefining what it means to do good business.

About Your Host

Thomas Barr is the Executive Director for Local First Arizona, the largest coalition of local businesses in North America. He advocates for a strong local business community that contributes to building vibrancy, equity, and prosperity across the state. A proud Arizona native and graduate of Arizona State University, Thomas leads the business coalition of Local First Arizona by advocating for the economic and cultural benefits provided by building strong local economies.

Thomas steers the strategic direction of LFA’s major programs and initiatives as well as the engagement of over 3000 businesses across Arizona. As Executive Director, Thomas guides a team of statewide senior directors overseeing the execution of LFA’s communication strategy, major initiatives and key partnerships, as well as the collaboration of over 30 staff implementing work in entrepreneurship programs, small business advocacy, local food initiatives, sustainability, urban development and community building. He frequently speaks to groups locally and nationally, presenting the impact of Local First Arizona and the importance of local economy work in building prosperity.

Outside of Local First Arizona, Thomas has participated in volunteering his time to many causes and organizations throughout the Valley including Young Nonprofit Professionals – Phoenix, Equality Arizona, Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits, Arizona Commission on the Arts, Heritage Square Foundation and Phoenix Legal Action Network. Additionally, Thomas is a 2018 Phoenix Magazine 40 Under 40 honoree, alumni of Arizona Leading for Change, and current participant in Valley Leadership Institute’s 40th cohort.

Connect with Thomas on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Emmily Bowman and Alex Chapman with braidbabes

December 8, 2022 by Karen

Emmily Bowman and Alex Chapman with braidbabes

braidbabes is a team of mobile braiders that come to you and give you the Pinterest hair of your dreams. braidbabes is a perfect fit for the busy millennial or mom who doesn’t have time to run to the salon.

They are currently braiding in Nashville, TN, Buffalo, NY, and just launched in Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ! Add them to your next party, or book them for your next date-night or bridal hair.

Emmily Bowman is the CEO of braidbabes— a mobile braiding company established in 2019.

Since then, braidbabes has tripled their revenue year over year, launched in three cities, and grown to employ over 70 braiders.

Emmily plans to take braidbabes global, launch a custom app, and continue to grow into a multi-million dollar company.

While running braidbabes is always her top priority, Emmily finds the opportunity to enjoy the little things in life, and always strives to leave people better than she found them.

Alex Chapman also made the jump from a 9-5 corporate role to becoming the Corporate Trainer at braidbabes.

Alex joined braidbabes in 2020 after taking their virtual braiding bootcamp course from Emmily during the first COVID shut down.

Fast forward two years: Alex now trains every new braider, leads all virtual bootcamp sessions, and runs continued employee education.

She has even recently trained Emmily, and continues to improve braidbabes methods with her careful eye for detail and aptitude for teaching.

Connect with Emmily on LinkedIn and follow braidbabes on Facebook and Instagram.

Problem Solving E134

December 8, 2022 by Karen

Problem Solving E134

Tyler Robertson joined Tycoons to share some great insight from lessons he’s learned as a small business owner. He started in his garage with only a thousand dollars and boot strapped his way upward. His vision started a solution to a problem and has grown to over $70 million in annual revenue.

Some of his key takeaways are about the importance of managing your cash flow and how to focus on the growth of the business. He had to stop doing the work in the business and hired people so he could focus on doing what was needed to grow. Tune in the full episode, it’s full of valuable knowledge learned from experience.

Diesel Laptops provides efficiency repair solutions for diesel powered equipment such as commercial trucks, agriculture & earth moving equipment. This is accomplished by providing computerized diagnostic tools, repair information, parts catalogs, diesel technician training classes, and a call center staffed with diesel technicians for remote support.

Tyler Robertson is the founder and CEO of Diesel Laptops. Founded in his garage 7 years ago, the company has been bootstrapped to now over 230 employees, 5 locations across the US and over $70 million in annual revenue.

Diesel Laptops has landed on the Inc 5000 list 4 times, along with placing in the Top 500.

Follow Diesel Laptops on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About the Show

About Your Hosts

Connect with Austin on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Landon received his B.S. from California State University Long Beach in business marketing and gets the rest of his education through the school of hard knocks via his business owner clients.

Connect with Landon on LinkedIn.

Selfcare is Table Stakes E9

December 8, 2022 by Karen

Selfcare is Table Stakes E9

Where do we find the wherewithal to choose courage over comfort consistently? How do we help ourselves to stay open and curious?

Bernard Slowey, Vice President of Digital Customer Success at Salesforce, shares how it all starts with selfcare. Going for a run, spending time with his wife and five-year-old sun, meditating and finding other ways to take care of monkey mind helps him to stay grounded and confident as he works with his teams to serve customers well.

He also reflects on how connecting with the bravery of his ancestors helps him put things in perspective and find the strength to bring his best self to this moment. “Find what works for you…everybody is different, you may enjoy going out for a walk, spending time in nature. You have to find what gives you balance.”

Listen to this episode of Rooted & Unwavering to learn how to stay in balance, also with lots on our plates.

Salesforce is the world’s #1 customer relationship management (CRM) platform. They help companies’ marketing, sales, commerce, service and IT teams work as one from anywhere.

Bernard Slowey leads the Digital Customer Success organization at Salesforce, responsible for driving customer success at scale to empower their 150k+ customers to realize their business outcomes.

Before Salesforce, he lead the Digital Customer Success & Support org at GitHub leading its digital transformation.

Prior to that, he spent 14 years at Microsoft Customer Support, where he had a number of leadership roles including the leader for Digital Support and Head of Windows Global Support.

Connect with Bernard on LinkedIn.

About Rooted & Unwavering

Peace, Compassion, Wisdom, Purposefulness, Creativity and Strength come online in us when we deeply connect with the true, unwavering greatness that lives within ourselves and others.

Join us and leave inspired to act on your heart’s greatness and that of the people around you.

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