America's Entrepreneur

After tomorrow's show but effective immediately, The Veterans Business Podcast will be consolidated with The DFW Business Podcast and renamed to America's Entrepreneur. Super excited! Drop me a line at [email protected] and let me know what you think!

Joe Plenzler (https://joeplenzler.com) is a 20-year Marine Corps veteran, serving a significant portion in a public affairs role, working with notable Marine Corps generals such as Generals Mattis, Conway, Amos, and Dunford. Post-military he has worked with the U.S. Naval Institute, led communications for Wounded Warrior Project, and has founded Cassandra-Helenus Partners. Joe and I spend some time talking about a variety of topics, but spend a considerable amount of time discussing thoughtful communication, particularly in time of crisis. A very insightful discussion you'll absolutely enjoy.

#business #leadership #communication

Eric Zarko is chairperson and the real catalyst behind the scenes for the DFW Nonprofit Resource Group. He has a career in sales and most recently, sales in the information technology space. The DFW Nonprofit Resource Group is a group of mission-friendly service organization professionals that collaborate, provide knowledge, insight, and guidance to its members to help businesses and those they serve.
Eric and I mentioned a book Stop Whining, Start Winning by TK Klund (https://amzn.to/3aI0whn).

In this outstanding discussion about entrepreneurship, TK shares a bit of his journey and the challenges and obstacles he's overcome. TK is the author of Stop Whining, Start Winning (https://amzn.to/2QIhtRC) and the CEO of Verve Systems, LLC (verveunited.com). TK is also the host of The Celebrity Softball Classic (http://celebritysoftballclassic.org/).

Mike DeSa joins the show to talk about his very unique entrepreneurial journey in agriculture. We discuss the back story, his international travels and pursuits in Latin America, and the corner of the market he and his team have focused on. It's a fun and interesting discussion about a unique agricultural entrepreneurship journey.

#business #leadership #communication

Taylor Gillig (https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorgillig) is the CEO of The Cookery, an interactive cooking class concept with guided instruction on preparing meals in a small group setting. The Cookery has locations in Dallas and Fort Worth, with a third location opening in Houston later this year. Taylor and I discussed effective business model execution and how The Cookery adopted a model that was less disaffected by COVID than other.

Bob Ellithorpe joined the show and we had an amazing conversation about leadership and its associated challenges and joys. We cover broad-level topics related to business growth and contraction and went pretty micro-level into how lay offs and firings can be handled with care and compassion. This is a must-watch episode for current and aspiring leaders with a TON of BOLD Impact Moments.

#business #leadership #communication

Books we mentioned in the discussion:
Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War (https://amzn.to/3wgsLwN)
The Oz Principle: Getting Results Through Individual and Organizational Accountability (https://amzn.to/3wiBvCs)
The Leadership Engine: How Winning Companies Build Leaders at E (Collins Business Essentials) (https://amzn.to/2PIRFo6)
Good to Great:Why Some Companies Make the Leap... And Others Don't (https://amzn.to/3u3aNvQ)

Gerald Kong is the founder, principal, and senior advisor with Trinity Transaction Advisory, LLC (trinitytransactions.com). The firm performs sell-side representation, exit plans, business valuation, tax analysis, negotiations, deal structuring and many other things related to mergers and acquisitions. A book he mentioned, Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People can be found here: https://amzn.to/3acB57h

Michael Gorton is a serial entrepreneur, author, and most-recognized as the co-founder of TelaDoc. Michael founded Internet Global in 1993, selling in 2000 in an interesting story told in this episode. From the success of iGlobal, he co-founded TelaDoc with Dr. G. Byron Brooks, growing it to a sizable subscribers and revenue base before leaving the company in 2010. He's gone on to do a number of other things, write best-selling books, and most recently started Back to Space, LLC and Recuro Health. Couple book links: Broken Handoff: Saving Your Assets (https://amzn.to/2RxHinZ), Forefathers and Founding Fathers (https://amzn.to/2PQe6YV)

A fun discussion with FixedOps Marketing Co-Founder Russell Hill. We discussed the changes that have taken place in the automotive space, specifically how dealerships manage their service department and how customers can have a better experience. We also discuss a lot about personal growth and development with some extremely high-value points Russell makes. A few books we mentioned briefly:

How To Win Friends and Influence People (https://amzn.to/3g7tpHc)
Think and Grow Rich (https://amzn.to/2OFD10v)

#business #leadership #communication