Breakthrough Innovation

In this episode of Breakthrough Innovation, we sit down with Andrew Poles — executive coach, leadership strategist, and ultra-endurance athlete who’s coached over 10,000 leaders to grow sustainable, high-impact businesses without burning out.

Andrew unpacks the idea of "dirty fuel" — the stress, self-doubt, and fear that drives many high achievers — and offers a powerful alternative rooted in neuroscience, empathy, and clean motivation.

🔥 Why fear-fueled ambition leads to burnout (even at the top)

🧠 How to switch from dirty to clean fuel — and sustain performance long-term

👥 Why influence is about commitment, not being right

🎯 How to lead through empathy without giving up accountability

💬 The mindset shift that unlocks resilience, clarity, and creativity

If you’re scaling a company, leading a team, or simply trying to stay sane while driving change — this is your reset moment.

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In this episode of Breakthrough Innovation, we’re joined by Kevin Carlson, a fractional CTO/CISO and executive coach with decades of experience helping companies overcome critical inflection points at the intersection of technology, product, and security.

He shares insights from inside high-growth companies — and the moments where innovation either scales or breaks down.

🚨 What tech-led innovation gets wrong (and why market-led wins)

🔁 Why “changing the wheels on the bus while it’s moving” is the new norm

💥 The real reason most products fail — and how to avoid building for no one

🧠 How radical candor and alignment (not consensus) drive clarity

🔐 Why security still keeps him up at night — and how AI is making it harder to get right

If you’re scaling tech, navigating team complexity, or leading innovation inside chaos — this episode brings practical wisdom from someone who’s been there.

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In this episode of Breakthrough Innovation, we sit down with Rachael Edmondson-Clarke, founder of Elevar and a neuroscience-based leadership strategist helping high-performing leaders avoid burnout and stay creative under pressure.

After a dramatic collapse from stress in her glass-walled corner office, Rachael rebuilt her approach to leadership using science-backed strategies rooted in mood regulation, neurobiology, and emotional resilience.

🧠 The 4R framework for sustainable performance: Recognize, Restore, Resolve, Regulate

⚠️ Why burnout begins long before the breakdown

💬 The myth of “mindset-only” leadership

🌱 How nature, mood, and nervous system cues drive clarity and innovation

🛠️ What neuroscience says about performance without depletion

This episode is a must-listen for executives, HR leaders, and performance coaches seeking innovation that’s sustainable and human.

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In this episode of Breakthrough Innovation, we speak with Marina Morgan, founder of Morgan Impact, a Silicon Valley-based organizational psychologist whose work bridges neuroscience, psychology, and business strategy.

She’s led transformations for companies ranging from startups to global enterprises with 300,000+ employees — and she’s here to explain why tech isn’t what’s blocking innovation. It’s the mental load, emotional friction, and cultural wiring we ignore.

🧠 Why entrepreneurs' brains are wired differently from their teams — and why it matters

⚠️ How lack of sleep, poor nutrition, and low oxygen silently sabotage innovation

🚫 Why “resistance to change” is often just a sign of exhausted nervous systems

🎮 How business games and safe-play environments accelerate mindset shifts

💬 The 3 groups you’ll always face in a transformation — and which one to focus on

This episode is a must-watch for founders, execs, and transformation leaders who want to unlock innovation by understanding the human operating system behind it.

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In this episode of Breakthrough Innovation, we sit down with Ken Cox — president of River City Internet Group, host of the award-winning Clicks and Bricks podcast, and founder of InLink, a radically human-centered business platform designed to empower solopreneurs.

Ken shares the highs, lows, and hard truths of entrepreneurship — from building data centers to launching boxing gyms, losing millions, and coming back stronger.

💡 Why per-user pricing and tech lock-in are crushing small businesses

🔐 What real data privacy means — and why Google and Amazon aren’t offering it

🛠️ How InLink offers enterprise-grade CRM, hosting, and AI tools at a price solopreneurs can actually afford

💬 Why most startup ideas won’t survive contact with customers — and why that’s OK

💥 The brutal reality of losing $4M and a cofounder — and what it taught him about resilience

If you’re a founder, freelancer, or operator who wants to win without selling your soul (or your data), this is a must-listen.

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In this episode of Breakthrough Innovation, we speak with Bill Kasko, CEO of Frontline Source Group, who flipped the recruiting model on its head by offering a five-year placement warranty in an industry that barely guarantees 90 days.

With a mindset rooted in “do the opposite” (yes, inspired by Seinfeld’s George Costanza), Bill built a company that thrives on trust, success, and long-term thinking.

🔥 Why selling on success instead of failure transformed their client relationships

💡 How the Costanza Theory led to a billion-dollar-level staffing innovation

📉 What it took to survive LinkedIn hate mail and industry backlash

🤖 How AI is changing staffing — and why human connection matters more than ever

🧠 The most powerful question leaders can ask: “What are our options?”

If you’re in staffing, HR, or leadership, this episode redefines what it means to innovate from the inside out.

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In this episode of Breakthrough Innovation, we’re joined by Victoria Pelletier, known as the “Turnaround Queen” and “CEO Whisperer” — a former COO at 24, president by 35, and CEO by 41. She’s led 40+ transformations and has the scars (and stories) to show for it.

Victoria shares how healthy resilience, inclusive leadership, and “whole human” cultures drive real business outcomes.

🔥 Why “resilience” doesn’t mean building walls — and what healthy resilience looks like

🧠 What leaders get wrong about DEI (and how to do it right)

👥 Why diverse teams innovate better — but only if they feel safe to speak

💬 The myth of top-down leadership — and what truly builds trust

⚙️ How to lead through transformation without burning your people out

If you’re navigating change, leading teams, or transforming culture — this is the blueprint you need.

Learn more about Victoria and the transformation she leads here - https://victoria-pelletier.com/

Thanks for tuning in to Breakthrough Innovation! Want to subscribe to the podcast? Have feedback to share? Connect with us on Spotify or iTunes and leave us a review—we’d love to hear from you!

In this episode of Breakthrough Innovation, we sit down with Matt Curry, business developer and clean energy evangelist at ICE Thermal Harvesting. His team helps industrial and energy companies convert waste heat into zero-emission electricity — with no upfront cost.

Matt shares how ICE’s “power as a service” model is changing the game for clients from natural gas to fisheries — even in remote Alaska.

🔥 Why waste heat is the most overlooked clean energy source

⚙️ How ICE’s system produces power from steam, exhaust, or hot water

💸 Why they take on 100% of the CapEx risk — and still turn a profit

🤝 How client feedback led to 3 generations of product innovation

⚡ What it means to make clean energy easier and cheaper than diesel

A must-listen for innovators, energy leaders, and sustainability pros ready to turn waste into value.

Thanks for tuning in to Breakthrough Innovation! Want to subscribe to the podcast? Have feedback to share? Connect with us on Spotify or iTunes and leave us a review—we’d love to hear from you!

In this episode of Breakthrough Innovation, we talk with Astha Purohit, Director of Product at Walmart, former McKinsey consultant, and expert at the intersection of AI, product, and retail. She shares how she’s leading cutting-edge innovation across Walmart’s AI ecosystem — and how to thrive in times of exponential change.

🧠 How to apply first principles thinking across medicine, consulting, and tech

💥 Why effort ≠ outcome — and what 2000-year-old wisdom taught her about success

🚀 How AI is evolving faster than any tech wave before it

📅 The weekend ritual she uses to stay ahead of AI developments

🤖 Why she trained a custom GPT to teach her AI — and you can too

Whether you're navigating career shifts, building in AI, or leading through disruption, Astha offers a powerful, grounded framework for staying curious, focused, and future-ready.

Thanks for tuning in to Breakthrough Innovation! Want to subscribe to the podcast? Have feedback to share? Connect with us on Spotify or iTunes and leave us a review—we’d love to hear from you!

In this episode of Breakthrough Innovation, we talk with Faith Clarke, a brilliant systems thinker, psychologist, and founder of FaithClarke.com. With deep roots in engineering, research, and inclusion strategy, Faith is reimagining work as a place of healing — not harm.

💡 What it really means to build a restorative culture (and why “healthy” isn’t enough)

⚠️ Why most organizations are unintentionally designed to drain humans

🤝 How to move beyond DEI checklists to build actual belonging

🧠 The link between innovation, trust, and emotional safety in small teams

🛠️ Why treating people like people (not problems) will transform your business

This episode is for leaders, founders, and team builders who believe the how of work matters just as much as the what.

Thanks for tuning in to Breakthrough Innovation! Want to subscribe to the podcast? Have feedback to share? Connect with us on Spotify or iTunes and leave us a review—we’d love to hear from you!