Today’s guest is an “astrophysicist turned new media whiz” who has earned five Ivy League degrees and holds six patents. He helped build an X-ray observational satellite for NASA, and has co-founded and led several ventures.

A serious athlete, he has completed six marathons and competed at the World and National level of Ultimate Frisbee. He has swam across the Hudson River, and has done burpees every day for six years, 90,000 and counting.

Although his passions are dramatically diverse, his dedication to excellence in them all has established him as a thought leader in fields that include science, invention, entrepreneurship, art, leadership, coaching, and education.

My guest co-founded Submedia, which brought to market one of his inventions – a technology to display motion pictures for subway riders to enjoy between stations, thereby pioneering the field of commercial in-tunnel media. Submedia has grown worldwide to install dozens of displays in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia.

His book “Leadership Step by Step” is a powerful and practical guide to help readers cultivate key abilities, behaviors, and beliefs through experience. This isn’t your run of the mill leadership book.

Please join me in welcoming Josh Spodek.

In this episode we explore:

• how he defines leadership: “To influence at least one other person to achieve a common goal.”
• his poor people skills early in his career was a blind spot that led to him losing his company and a humbling “ah ha!” moment in business school
• not being born with leadership skills doesn’t mean you can’t acquire them - through experiential learning. “You can’t read to get integrity. No amount of lectures you can listen to to get persistence.”
• the challenge of communicating how different his leadership lessons are from traditional learning. Curious? Watch this video: NYU Students Speak About Joshua Spodek’s Entrepreneurship and Leadership Courses
• how work/life balance is a misnomer - Keith Richards doesn't worry about work/life balance, he loves what he does all of the time.

Listen, subscribe and read show notes at www.OnTheSchmooze.com - episode 63

Today’s guest is a speaker and advisor who helps companies tap into the human side of business. Over the course of her expansive career, she has experienced her fair share of disruption and corporate upheaval. Surviving all manner of corporate restructuring, reorganization, and multi-billion dollar acquisitions, she has seen firsthand how growth objectives suffer because people strategies fall short of expectations. That’s why she’s made it her mission to help companies cultivate the human point of view in today’s data-driven era.

An internationally skilled C-suite marketing executive, she has over 25 years of experience working in global advertising, marketing, and corporate communications for a variety of industry-leading companies such as Kraft, Unilever, Nokia, Cadbury, Coors, Gerber’s, and NAVTEQ.

She is currently writing the book, Now What? A survivor’s guide for navigating and thriving through acquisition, which will help companies and their workforces flourish through mergers and acquisitions.

Please join me in welcoming Jennifer J. Fondrevay

In this episode we explore:

• how she defines leadership “The most impressive leaders have a sense of humility.”
• benefits of building trust in your team and getting positive peer feedback: “I really enjoy working with you, I do my best work when working with you.”
• her “philosophy of pay it forward and give. Always look for how you can give to others.”
• how writing a book is only the first step if you want to have a true impact on the world
• the benefits of being inclusive when networking and strategies for connecting at events – “The onus is on you. You can always get something out of a conference. If you go at it with the right mindset.”

Listen, subscribe and read show notes at www.OnTheSchmooze.com - episode 62

Today’s guest is a 5-time bestselling author and the CEO of an online publishing business that grew to $1.3 million in the first year and is now on pace to do over $3.2 million in 2017. He’s helped thousands of people on their journey to writing and publishing their first book through his company Self-Publishing School.

He wrote and published his first book while in college and it was such a success that he dropped out of school. Realizing he could earn thousands of dollars a month in passive income was a huge epiphany. His life’s mission became helping other people unlock that same experience.

He was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug at an early age when he saw that he could make a lot more money working for himself. While his friends were off searching for jobs, he was out starting businesses. By age 20 his businesses earned over $320,000 and he received the “Entrepreneur of the Year” award from Young Entrepreneurs Across America.

Please join me in welcoming Chandler Bolt.

In this episode we explore:

• his definition of leadership: “Leadership means growing, coaching, and building people up.”
• the wake-up call that made him realize he needed to become a better leader or risk losing it all.
• how he finds time to read a book every week – and the growth he’s seen because of this practice.
• the daily practice he did for a year that helped him grow and deepen his professional network.
• three simple things to live a very healthy life that everyone knows and hardly anyone does.

Listen, subscribe and read show notes at www.OnTheSchmooze.com - episode 61

Today’s guest created her first website at age 12 when she was living in Poland – a site that had 40,000 views in just a few months.  Eight years later, she was a successful photographer in Chicago when she began to experience the power of social media and the impact the internet can have on a business. This led her to found a health and wellness blog in 2012, which attracted over 100,000 monthly views and 45,000 monthly readers.

After she sold this site, she focused on growing a business to help entrepreneurs blow up and scale up their businesses to become true leaders online. She teaches her clients and community how to leverage their own natural personalities into strategic marketing campaigns that are both profitable AND fun.

To say that she is a digital native seems like a huge understatement. She lives and breathes digital marketing and is known as the “Blow Up, Scale Up” Marketing Strategist.

Please join me in welcoming Kamila Gornia.

In this episode we explore:

• her thoughts on leadership: “Anybody that thinks just of themselves is not a true leader.”
• how she went from a shy girl in Poland with the love of Japanese manga and anime to running a successful website about it at age 12 (and now an experienced marketing strategist at age 27).
• the rewards of being able to empower people to actually take action.
• the growing pains she experienced as she went from solopreneur to managing a team and scaling her business.
• how to use dinner parties to create stronger connections with your network

Listen, subscribe and read show notes at www.OnTheSchmooze.com - episode 60