ATL Career Journey

Welcome to this episode of the Atlanta Career Journey podcast. Today's guest is Angela Nation, who is Chief Executive Officer at Silver Hammer Systems.  I first met Angela when she was an executive in the talent acquisition industry and always found her to be smart, dedicated, hardworking, and very customer focused.  Her career in the recruiting and technology community eventually led to launching her current cybersecurity firm.  Angela and I talked about the importance of networking, active learning, and travel can help identify opportunities when least expected.

You can learn more about Angela on LinkedIn or her company Silver Hammer Systems.

My guest for Episode 39 of the ATL Career Journey podcast is Anne Game, who is the Managing Director and Head of the Atlanta Market at North Highland Consulting.  Anne is incredibly smart, she's a strategic thinker, and understands business at every level.  She's delivered amazing results at North Highland and I truly enjoyed my time working with her.  In this episode, Anne talks about the importance of mentors, leveraging your intuition, and not being afraid to ask for help.  She also provided some great advice for college students in their post-graduate careers.

You can learn more about Anne on LinkedIn or her company North Highland Consulting.

This 38th episode of the ATL Career Journey podcast is Molly Mazzolini, who is a Partner and Brand Integration Director at Infinite Scale sports marketing and design firm.  Molly and I met when we were working in brand management for the US and International Olympic Committees.  I found her to be smart, engaging, humble, customer focused, and just a lot of fun to work with.  She taught me a lot about sports marketing and brand management and went on from the USOC to help start up Infinite Scale.  She's done some amazing things in the sports world and one of the coolest people that I've worked with over the years.  Molly talked about her travel experience growing up gave her confidence to try new opportunities through college and into professional life.  One of her keys to success has been a keen eye for observation, collecting that data, and then taking action on that information. 

You can learn more about Molly on LinkedIn or her company Infinite Scale.

My guest for the 37th episode of the ATL Career Journey podcast is Svein Romstad, who is the Vice President of Sales and Leasing for the Loudermilk Companies. My friendship with Svein dates back to 1997 when we both worked at Meridian Management. I was brand new to the Olympic Movement and Svein was an Olympic veteran who had been a coach for the US Luge team as well as the Secretary General of the Luge Federation. Svein was gracious enough to educate me about sponsorships, activation, and how much work it takes to put together the Olympic Games. He's a great servant leader, hardworking, and one of the most humble individuals given his life experiences. Svein shared some of his keys to success, including networking, giving 100% to everything you do, and the power of language. I had a great time catching up with Svein and hope you enjoy our conversation!

You can learn more about Svein on LinkedIn.

My guest for the 36th episode of the ATL Career Journey podcast is John Verret, who is the Regional Director for Matrix Resources. John and I have known each other for over 10 years and I've found him to be an excellent sourcing partner regardless of the industry or job type. We have collaborated a lot over the years while he's been a Matrix and he's been a great partner, friend, and genuine human being. John and I discussed the importance of networking, communication, and dealing with failure as a part of career progression. We also talked about some important social topics around diversity and inclusion and what actions we can take as allies to help support this effort.   

You can learn more about John on LinkedIn.

My guest for Episode 35 of the ATL Career Journey podcast is Dr. Dale Lawson, who is an emergency medicine physician at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center based in Americus, Georgia. I've had the privilege of knowing Dale for over 30 years and is one of the most amazing humans that I know! We met at Georgia Tech through the Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity and I saw back then how multi-faceted she is. Incredibly smart, tireless worker, great athlete, excellent wife and mother, and just a genuinely good person. In 1988, Dale became the only the second female driver selected to drive Georgia Tech's Ramblin' Wreck car. She graduated with a business degree and worked in the telecom industry for several years before engineering a major career pivot into medicine. Some of Dale's keys to success are to be curious, be patient, and be open to opportunities. We also talked about the impact of COVID and the challenges that she's faced in the ER.

You can learn more about Dr. Lawson on LinkedIn.

My guest for Episode 34 is Laura J. Downey, who is the Executive Editor at WebMD. Laura and I connected on LinkedIn and I found her career journey fascinating. She is a very successful journalist whose career moved up the ranks in print magazines, transitioned to be a professor at her alma mater, and is now overseeing all facets of content for WebMD Magazine. Some of Laura’s keys to success have been to recognize and take opportunities as they present themselves and push yourself to be your best. We discussed her passion for mentoring and giving back to the community. Laura and I also touched on some really important social, educational, and medical issues that have affected the Black community. Laura gave me some great advice on how to take action through conversations, donations, and mentoring, to help bridge the current racial gap and make a real difference in people’s lives. I truly enjoyed our conversation and hope you do too!

You can learn more about Laura on LinkedIn.

My guest for Episode 33 of the ATL Career Journey is Kevin Donovan, who is currently the Development Director for POWER 10 Capital Campaigns. I initially met Kevin through my wife Julia during Delta's 1996 Olympic Games sponsorship efforts. He's worked in corporate America, been an Olympic consultant, and also a successful writer. Kevin talked about his early career in sales and how it prepared him for marketing and Olympic bids. He outlines some of his keys to success including patience, hard work, and being open to new challenges.

You can learn more about Kevin on LinkedIn or his personal website.

My guest for Episode 32 of the Atlanta Career Journey podcast is Scott Margulis, who is a Senior Systems Engineer at SAIC. I've known Scott since we were in middle school and have kept in touch for over 40 years! As a career Navy veteran, he initially followed his passion for flying and became a Naval Aviator. After a decade of flying, Scott decided to pivot and focus on computer science and cyber security. He leveraged educational opportunities while in the military to obtain two graduate degrees. Scott's keys to success include vision, setting small goals, and be willing to take on new challenges. I really enjoyed catching up with my old friend and hope you enjoy it too!

You can learn more about Scott on LinkedIn.

My guest for Episode 31 of the ATL Career Journey podcast is Scott Wollam, who is the owner of Wollmoor Properties. I've known Scott for most of my life and consider him to be more of a family member but also a great friend. Both of our dads became friends in the late 1950's in Ft Lauderdale and the rest, as they say, is history. Scott has led a very interesting journey from the west coast of Florida to Yale University to corporate life and then ultimately a small business owner. We talked about the challenges of starting a business, taking risks, and recognizing opportunities when they present themselves. This was a great episode for me to learn more about Scott and I hope you enjoy it as well!

You can learn more about Scott on LinkedIn.