American Executive

Andrew Smart is the CEO of Duke Brands. The company has flourished since its humble beginnings in 1917. In addition to manufacturing their own refrigerated grocery products, Duke Brands oversees and manages the process for other name brand companies. You know how ranch is on everything Americans eat? Well Hidden Valley, who owns the ranch market, is one of those brands Duke helps manage. 

Daxy Perez is the co-founder of Legacy Podcasting. The company helps businesses leverage podcasting as long form content that engages their target audience, builds the brand and grows revenue. Even before Covid-19 Legacy accessed employment talent across the world in a completely decentralized remote from home business model. 

Michelle Rademacher had a career as a talented architect. In 2018 she decided to make a pivot and take the jump into entrepreneurship to start a career consulting firm, helping other individuals make pivots into new careers. She shares her background in architecture and what it is like to run a career consulting company. 

Dan Slagen is the author of the book Understanding Start Up CEO's and has spent his career helping fast growing companies improve their marketing goals. Companies include Wayfair - ticker (W), Hubspot - ticker (HUBS), Alignable and ClimaCell in addition to starting his own company and selling it. 

Mark Clackum has a nose for business opportunities and picking the right women. What started as a minimum wage job 25 years ago doing manual labor in a metal scrap yard turned into a career where he would become president and later sell the company. 

Ben Knosby got a degree in chemical engineering from NC state and used that background in engineering to create a software company. Lucid Travel is used by universities across the country to book their sports and club teams to save money and time. Lucid aggregates pricing from other websites and wholesalers to provide a customized platform for each client. 

Owyhee Produce started in the late 1950's as a side gig by Shays's grandfather returning from the Korean War. In the last 15 years it has grown into a top 10 onion grower/packer in the United States. Tune in to listen from Shay Myers, CEO of Owyhee Produce. 

Dennis Brown went bust with his email branding company in the dot com era. He tried again, scaled a company to 80 million in sales and sold his equity for millions.