Ameritocracy

This week, host Troy Edgar meets with Entrepreneur and Creator, Donna Kasseinova at the L.A. studio.

Donna discusses her journey as an immigrant from Russia to the United States and her passion for music. Before arriving in the US, she had graduated as a classical pianist from the prestigious Gnessin Music Academy in Moscow. She drifted away from music and prioritized her focus on hard work, networking, and building her business skills. She also maintained her connections back in the fallen Soviet Union and eventually set up a very successful business that matched the new Eastern Europe demand with products and services available in the U.S. As her business grew, she realized the need for business education and went back to school and earned her MBA from the USC Marshall School of Business.

Donna eventually began to give back to her community and reignited her passion for music. She founded the Southern California-based Palos Verdes Music Salon. Alongside musical director Evgeny Tonkha, she brings together some of the nation's best musicians for intimate performances in exquisite private homes, carefully pairing patrons with artists for a unique musical experience.

In this episode we listen to Donna's personal experiences and insights, highlighting the importance of self-reflection, support for artists, and pursuing one's passions. She provided her thoughts of the American Dream and emphasized the importance of looking inward and taking responsibility for one's own success and encouraged individuals to pursue their passions and become professionals in their chosen fields.

A great follow-up episode is Ameritocracy E4: World Renowned Artist Olga Krimon, Preparing for a Successful Career Transition. In this episode, Olga shares her journey of transitioning from a thriving corporate career to becoming an award-winning artist, showcasing the power of embracing calculated risks and investing in oneself.

Ameritocracy™ is produced by Prospect House Media and recorded in studio locations in Los Angeles and Washington D.C.

This week, host Troy Edgar had the honor of meeting with U.S. Ambassador Gaddi Vasquez, the former Director of the Peace Corps at the Ameritocracy L.A. studio.

Gaddi reflects on his journey and offers a message of hope and resilience. He emphasizes the opportunities available and the importance of giving back. He expresses his pride in being an American and his dedication to creating possibilities for others. He also discussed his involvement in education and local government as ways to make a positive impact.

Gaddi acknowledges that challenges and hardships exist, but he believes that Americans have the ability to overcome them. He reminds us of "The importance of celebrating the fact that the U.S. is a great nation where people can dream big and achieve great things."

Links:

The Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum

Ameritocracy™ is produced by Prospect House Media and recorded in studio locations in Los Angeles and Washington D.C.

This week, host Troy Edgar is joined by the L.A. Times 2023 Inspirational Women nominee, Lina Lumme. Lina is the CEO of The Youth Center, an award-winning non-profit that has transformed the lives of thousands of children through their collaborative social, educational, and recreational programs.

Lina candidly talks about her 2003 journey to immigrate to the United States from Russia, when she arrived 8 months pregnant, homeless, with only $100.00 in her pocket. She shares her touching testimony of being connected at that time of desperation with the Precious Life Shelter, a Southern California-based non-profit that provides residential and supportive services for homeless pregnant women. Through their support and her determination and hard work she forged a path from being homeless to eventually becoming the CEO of the Youth Center, based in Los Alamitos, California.

Lina discusses the mission and programs of the Youth Center, her leadership philosophy, and how mentors play an important role and truly can impact someone's life. She explains that through merit, achievement, and success her organization builds donor confidence which provides the track record and credibility to raise money to maintain and advance the mission.

At the end, Troy asks Lina if she believes that today's youth are prepared and can still achieve the American Dream. Her answer is informed and insightful and provides an important data point as we all strive to create the conditions for success for our youth.

Please consider participating in the Youth Center's One Grand Project.

Ameritocracy™ is produced by Prospect House Media and recorded in studio locations in Los Angeles and Washington D.C.

This week I had the opportunity to attend the largest music trade show in the world the National Association of Music Merchants, also known as the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California. As a guitar enthusiast, I was excited to interview J.D. Lewis, the founder and lead designer of Warrior Guitars and his sons Dran and Gabe. The Lewis family has been showcasing their craft at the NAMM Show for over 30 extraordinary years. J.D. talks about the history of his company, the importance of staying true to oneself, and how the value of family is at the forefront of Warrior Guitar designs. He also shares his views on the music industry and the importance of quality and sincerity. Dran and Gabe discussed their involvement in the company's growth and reputation, their intention of staying true to their niche market and constantly evolving to meet customer demands has me excited for the next 30 years of Warrior Guitars. I hope you enjoy! - Troy

Ameritocracy™ is produced by Prospect House Media and recorded in studio locations in Los Angeles and Washington D.C.

This week, host Troy Edgar traveled to Toyota's North American headquarters to meet with IT Executive and General Manager Jason Ballard to talk about his background and experience at the company.

Troy and Jason started working together in 2014, when Toyota began consolidating their North American sales and manufacturing operations. They discuss the move of Toyota's headquarters to Plano, Texas, the role of technology in the company's operations, and the importance of leadership and continuous improvement.

Troy and Jason also touch on the return to office policies and the impact of remote work on collaboration and creativity. Jason emphasizes the need for authentic leadership, building relationships, and being bold in driving change. He also mentions the use of artificial intelligence and conversational AI in improving employee experiences and productivity.

Lastly, Jason shared his insights that highlight the importance of staying connected, thinking like a CEO, and embracing new technologies in the automotive industry.

Recommended reading: CEO Excellence by Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, Vikram Malhotra

Ameritocracy™ is produced by Prospect House Media and recorded in studio locations in Los Angeles and Washington D.C.

This week, host Troy Edgar had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Joseph Raffiee, Professor of Strategy at the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business. Troy and Joe have worked together at USC on the Veteran MBA program that is specifically designed to assist military veterans in seeking new business careers.

Joe discusses the meritocracy process to become a tenured professor and his balanced focus on research, teaching, and service. Joe has been recognized as one of the "Top 50 Undergraduate Professors" nationally and his research has been published in prestigious education journals and publications including the Harvard Business Review, Huffington Post, and Wired Magazine.

In addition to discussing his research on employee mobility and entrepreneurship, Joe shares his perspective on the "Return to Office" policies and possible effects on companies, workers, the market, and the economy.

Lastly, Joe provides a glimpse into his ongoing research that involves exploring the impact of partisan differences on innovation.

Check out the video version of this episode, now on Youtube.

Ameritocracy™ is produced by Prospect House Media and recorded in studio locations in Los Angeles and Washington D.C.

This week host Troy Edgar interviews Major League Baseball scouts Brad and Taylor Cameron. Together, they brought two different perspectives to the topic of identifying and developing talent in Major League Baseball.

Brad has been a professional baseball scout for 33 years. He started with the Cleveland Indians in 1990 and has been with the San Francisco Giants for the last 18 years. With the Giants, he has earned three World Series rings for their victories in 2010, 2012, and 2014. Brad was kind enough to bring those to the interview and we got a great picture for the show.

Taylor was originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates. After being a player, he started his career in 2012 as a Southern California area scout with the Minnesota Twins. He then worked for the Seattle Mariners before joining the Texas Rangers in 2021. Last year in 2023 the Rangers won the World Series. Now, Taylor will join his dad in receiving his first World Series rings when the season opens.

Finding talent in sports, business or any organization is always one of the hardest and most important things to do as a leader to be successful. In this podcast episode, we explore the similarities of corporate recruiting to the scouting process, the importance of evaluating player makeup and character, and the role of technology in scouting.

And yes, with Taylor in the room representing the Texas Rangers, Troy had to ask the question many Los Angeles Dodgers fans are wondering. What is the possibility of Clayton Kershaw joining the Texas Rangers when he returns from surgery as a free agent? You're going to have to listen to hear his response!

Check out the video version of this episode, now on YouTube.

Ameritocracy™ is produced by Prospect House Media and recorded in studio locations in Los Angeles and Washington D.C.

This week, host Troy Edgar travels to Las Vegas to meet with Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson. Steve was previously a Las Vegas City Council member and has been practicing law there for over 40 years. He has served as the District Attorney since 2012. His office handles over 75,000 cases a year and has recently been in the media spotlight with high-profile cases such as the arrest of Duane "Keefe D" Davis in the Tupac Shakur murder, the UNLV shooting, and the death of teen Jonathan Lewis, whose murder was captured on video by a mob of high school students.

In our professional lives, we often face critical situations that demand immediate responses, challenging our crisis management skills. This episode explores Steve's perspective and approach to crisis management. We discuss how his prosecution and criminal defense law expertise enables a quick understanding and framing of complex issues when he is on the clock to provide a timely response to the community and media.

If you're interested in more discussions about crisis management and communication under pressure, you may want to listen to a previous Ameritocracy interview: E19: U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Michael Day on Leadership and Career-Defining Moments in our episode library.

Check out the video version of this episode, now on YouTube.

Ameritocracy™ is produced by Prospect House Media and recorded in studio locations in Los Angeles and Washington D.C.

In this week's podcast episode, Troy Edgar meets in Washington D.C. with his colleague and mentor Dan Chenok, Executive Director for IBM's Center for the Business of Government. This was an important show for the podcast as Dan provides a great overview of "What is Meritocracy."

Dan also talks about his recently released book "Transforming the Business of Government: Insights on Resiliency, Innovation, and Performance." This book has been getting a lot of attention because of its focus on providing government leaders with practical and actionable insights on how best to manage and lead through uncertain and disruptive periods. Dan also shares an interesting fact of his relationship to Ron Chernow, the author of "Alexander Hamilton."

As frequent collaborators at the IBM Center and the Partnership for Public Service, Troy and Dan discuss the important role that think tank organizations play in the ecosystem of Washington, D.C. Lastly, they talked about their ideas for improving the effectiveness of the federal government, performance tracking, and the important role of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to measure performance and assist the President in meeting policy, budget, management, and regulatory/statutory responsibilities.

Recommended Reading: "Alexander Hamilton" by Ron Chernow

Recommended Reading: "Transforming the Business of Government: Insights on Resiliency, Innovation, and Performance" by Dan Chenok and Michael J. Keegan

Recommended Reading: "The Rise of Meritocracy" by Michael Young

Ameritocracy™ is produced by Prospect House Media and recorded in studio locations in Los Angeles and Washington D.C.

This week, Troy Edgar sits down with U.S. Secret Service Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Stephen Roncone in Washington, D.C. Steve, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran, assumed his current role in April 2023 overseeing a $2.8 billion budget supporting a workforce of over 7,000 special agents, officers, and other personnel. In this episode, he discusses the history of the U.S. Secret Service as well as the role of finance in law enforcement, his military-to-civilian career transition, and insights on AI and data analytics in the Federal Government. Steve concludes our conversation with valuable career advice: "Volunteer for assignments nobody wants. Establish opportunities and challenge yourself to take on those opportunities. In the end, you're going to learn a great deal about yourself and what you are truly capable of."

If you're interested in more discussions about finance and leadership in government organizations, you may want to check out episode E23: Former TSA CFO Pat Rose on Federal Funding and Technology Modernization.

Ameritocracy™ is produced by Prospect House Media and recorded in studio locations in Los Angeles and Washington D.C.