Show Notes:

In this episode of the Business Growth Spotlight, host Heidi Schalk welcomes Cindy Terapak, Co Founder and Chief People Officer of CertainlyCX, for a powerful conversation on building a people first, global customer experience organization.

Cindy shares her journey from retail and human resources into launching CertainlyCX, a BPO designed to support both employees and clients with flexibility, care, and intention. With more than 150 team members across 10 countries, she explains how consistent communication, lived values, and active listening help create strong culture and low attrition in a fully remote environment.

The conversation also explores how CertainlyCX stands out in a crowded market, balances human talent with AI, and prepares for future growth while continuing to invest in leadership development.

This episode offers practical insight for founders and leaders focused on scaling teams, strengthening culture, and building sustainable growth.

Bio:

Growing up in a mobile military family exposed her to diverse cultures worldwide, shaping the empathetic leadership perspective she brings to her work today. With over twenty years of experience in retail, customer service, and human resources, Cindy understands what it takes to build teams that deliver exceptional customer experiences while driving business results.

Cindy builds high-performing CX teams that reduce attrition, grow loyalty & revenue, lower costs, and enable smooth scaling for B2B, B2C & DTC brands.

When she's not scaling CX operations, you'll find Cindy spending time with her kids, cooking, practicing yoga, and reading. She's also passionate about giving back to her community through her involvement with a local food pantry and serving on her city's food council.

To connect with our guest, click on the links below:

LinkedIn: 

https://www.linkedin.com/company/certainly-cx/?viewAsMember=true

https://www.linkedin.com/in/cindy-terapak-shrm-cp/

Website:  https://www.certainlycx.com/

Connect with me:

🎁Spotlight to Scale:  Spotlight to Scale Blueprint

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/

Show Notes:

In this episode of Business Growth Spotlight, host Heidi Schalk sits down with Matt Yaari, Founder of My Family Home Care, to explore what it truly takes to build a purpose driven service business while scaling operations responsibly.

Matt shares his journey of launching a senior home care company during the uncertainty of 2020 and how his background in caregiving, psychology, and human behavior shaped his leadership approach. He explains why personalized care, family level trust, and founder involvement have been core to My Family Home Care’s growth.

The conversation dives into how the company balances hands on care with operational systems, including the thoughtful implementation of AI to support scheduling, caregiver coverage, and future in home safety monitoring. Matt also discusses the expansion of services such as dementia care, fall prevention, and music therapy, all driven by real family needs rather than trends.

Listeners will gain insight into how relationship based marketing, community networking, and educational visibility strategies have helped My Family Home Care stand out in a competitive market. Matt also shares lessons learned from early startup challenges, building a reliable on call caregiver system, and what success looks like as the company approaches seven figure revenue.

This episode is a must listen for founders building service based businesses, leaders navigating growth with heart, and families seeking compassionate guidance for caring for aging loved ones.

Bio:

Matt is a Detroit based entrepreneur, launching My Family Home Care in 2020 to meet the needs of senior citizens in his community. When not working on his business, Matt practices Jiu Jitsu and standup comedy.

To connect with our guest, click on the links below:

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewyaari/

Website:  www.myfamhc.com

Connect with me:

🎁Spotlight to Scale:  Spotlight to Scale Blueprint

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/

Show Notes:

In this episode of Business Growth Spotlight, host Heidi Schalk speaks with Pam Boney, Founder of Tilt 365, about why effective leadership development goes far beyond personality labels. Pam shares how true growth comes from understanding character, self awareness, and the ability to adapt behavior based on context.

Pam reflects on her transition from senior leadership at Hilton to building a global assessment and certification company that serves coaches and organizations worldwide. The conversation explores how Tilt 365 helps individuals and teams develop trust, psychological safety, and agility using science backed insights rather than opinion driven feedback.

This episode also highlights the realities of growing a long standing business in a changing market, including when to simplify, pivot, and let go of products that no longer serve. Pam offers an honest perspective on visibility, lead generation, and what it takes to remain relevant in a crowded coaching industry.

Bio:

Founder and CEO of Tilt365.com, a designer and builder of fast, innovative assessments that grow character strengths, agility and generativity in people, teams and culture.

To connect with our guest, click on the links below:

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tilt365/

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/pamboneyceo/ 

Website:  https://www.tilt365.com

Connect with me:

🎁Spotlight to Scale:  Spotlight to Scale Blueprint

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/

Show Notes:

In this episode of Business Growth Spotlight, host Heidi Schalk sits down with Janine Klein, Founder of the Emotional Intelligence Institute (EII), to explore one of the most unconventional and impactful intersections of business, technology, and human connection.

Janine shares her remarkable journey from professional actress to CEO, revealing how storytelling, improvisation, and emotional intelligence became the foundation of a powerful training platform used by the U.S. military and Department of Defense. By blending live actors, CGI avatars, and immersive role play, EII helps leaders and service members rehearse the hardest conversations before they have to live them.

This conversation goes far beyond business as usual. Together, Heidi and Janine unpack fear, intuition, leadership identity, the role of AI in sensitive training environments, and why humans must remain at the center of emotionally complex conversations.

Bio:

Janine Klein is a dynamic professional with over 40 years of experience as an actress, director,medical recruiter, and improviser. Her expertise lies in blending the talents of military professionals, diverse improvisational actors, and skilled writers to create groundbreaking training environments. As a trauma survivor, she used those experiences to create empathetic communication through performance, she is celebrated for her ability to handle complex material with emotional authenticity and depth.

Janine is the CEO and founder of the Emotional Intelligence Institute (Eii), where she

collaborates with Air Force and First Responder clients and diverse organizations to deliver impactful training.

Her contributions include developing AF-specific human-domain scenarios, designing

leadership education curricula, and utilizing MRLS technology for educational purposes. Janine has personally executed over 3000 hours of AF MRLS training and facilitated more than 300 tailored scenarios for audiences ranging from one to 500 attendees.

Renowned for her improvisational techniques and character development, she excels at

creating compelling scenarios that align with client objectives. Her work encompasses

curriculum design, public speaking, EQ workshops, MBTI training, and high-level military

meetings.

Janine’s has performed internationally, from Scotland to New Zealand and across the United States, including off-Broadway appearances in New York City, as well as roles in commercials and films. Her accolades include a 2018 Best

Actress nomination from the Orlando Sentinel, a Broadway World Vocalist of the Decade

nomination, and 10 Fringe Patron Pick Awards in her hometown for standout performances overtwo decades. Most recently was nominated regionally for an MTA award for Best Actress in 2024 for her portrayal of Annie Wilkes in Stephen King's "Misery".

To connect with our guest, click on the links below:

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/janine-klein/

Website:  www.eiieq.com

Email:  [email protected]

Connect with me:

🎁Spotlight to Scale:  Spotlight to Scale Blueprint

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/

Show Notes:

In this episode of Business Growth Spotlight, host Heidi Schalk sits down with Anton Volkov, Co-Founder of Solvery, to unpack his entrepreneurial journey, from launching an unconventional tech school for kids to building a B2B HR-tech platform serving banks and enterprise organizations. Anton shares hard-earned lessons on mentorship, B2B sales, market education, focus, and how Solvery is expanding its platform with AI to future-proof employee development and learning systems.

This conversation is a masterclass in building trust-based B2B growth, leveraging networks, and evolving alongside your customers.

Bio*

I'm 35 and for the last 13 years I work in EdTech.

Currently i'm the Co-founder & CEO at Solvery. We help companies grow their metrics by integrating the new generation HR-tools: AI-bots, peer-2-peer learning, smart helpers and etc.

At first Solvery was just a marketplace with tech mentors for not-business customers. Now we have our own enterprise platform and work with top market leaders among banks, classified and e-com, resource and tech companies. 

More about me:

- first business with friends (dance school) at 18

- worked as Event project Lead at one of the Top marketing agencies in Saint Petersburg

- for 9 years we've run Digital Banana: tech school for high-school kids where we had over 400 students/ 3 spots and partnered with tech companies

- at 26 learned to code and became a Frontend Team Lead in a fintech company

- for the last 3 years developing the B2B branch in Solvery

- all that time was also have a running community in Moscow with 300+ participants from tech and other companies. Each Sunday we ran, network and breakfast together in different beautiful spots in the city

To connect with our guest, click on the links below:

LinkedIn:   https://www.linkedin.com/in/heyantonvolkov/

Website:  https://solvery.space/

Connect with me:

🎁Spotlight to Scale: Spotlight to Scale Blueprint

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/

Show Notes:

In this episode of Business Growth Spotlight, host Heidi Schalk sits down with Sean Lee, CEO of OpenDrives, to explore what it really takes to scale a technology company by leading with service, trust, and deep customer understanding.

Sean shares his unique journey from OpenDrives customer to CEO, detailing how his background in media and entertainment technology shaped his people-first leadership style. Drawing from over 20 years in Hollywood and a decade inside OpenDrives, he explains why the company is not just a data storage provider, but a workflow enablement partner focused on helping creatives stay in their flow.

The conversation dives into how OpenDrives supports high-performance media workflows for some of the world’s most recognizable brands, including powering massive global events like the FIFA World Cup. Sean explains the real business problems OpenDrives solves, why performance and simplicity matter so deeply to creative teams, and how honest, consultative selling has helped the company stand out against billion-dollar competitors.

Sean also introduces Astraeus, OpenDrives’ newest platform designed to extend beyond storage into on-prem hyperscale infrastructure management. He shares why this launch represents a major evolution for the company and how it opens the door to new industries beyond media and entertainment.

Throughout the episode, Sean offers candid insights on leadership, resilience, hiring for cultural alignment, managing growth responsibly, and why effectiveness matters more than size. He closes by sharing how relationship-driven visibility, in-person events, and authenticity continue to fuel OpenDrives’ growth.

This episode is packed with real-world lessons for founders, operators, and technology leaders who want to scale sustainably while staying deeply connected to the people they serve.

Bio*

Sean Lee is the CEO of OpenDrives, where he leads with a belief that true leadership is about service, purpose, and empowering others. With more than 25 years in media, entertainment, and technology—including roles at Universal Studios, Illumination Entertainment, and AV Squad, where he first experienced OpenDrives as a customer—Sean brings a unique customer-first perspective to innovation. At OpenDrives, he focuses on building cultures of trust, aligning teams around shared values, and delivering scalable solutions that allow people and organizations to do their best work.

To connect with our guest, click on the links below:

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanalexanderlee

Website:  https://opendrives.com/

Connect with me:

🎁Spotlight to Scale: Spotlight to Scale Blueprint

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/

Show Notes:

In this episode of the Business Growth Spotlight, Heidi Schalk sits down with Ron Pereira, co-founder of Gemba Academy, to explore the journey behind one of the most respected continuous improvement training platforms in the world. Ron shares how a simple idea between three Lean and Six Sigma practitioners grew into a global subscription based learning platform with thousands of videos and customers worldwide.

Listeners will hear how Gemba Academy began with a spare bedroom studio, a green screen, a budget camera, and a willingness to experiment. Ron discusses his transition from corporate engineer to entrepreneur, the early challenges of launching video training before online learning was mainstream, and the partnership dynamics that made the company possible.

The conversation dives into Lean and Six Sigma fundamentals, the value of continuous improvement, and why operational excellence is a long term investment rather than a quick fix. Ron shares insights on microlearning trends, leadership development, certification programs, and how companies can see measurable performance gains through process improvement.

This episode offers practical guidance for business leaders, operators, and teams focused on growth, efficiency, and scalable learning.

Bio

I am a co-founder of Gemba Academy LLC (http://gembaacademy.com). I currently serve as Managing Director of the company.

I have more than 30 years of experience working in operations, engineering, supply chain, and continuous improvement (Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma). 

I've also personally trained and mentored thousands of individuals across the world in both the lean and six sigma methodologies.

To connect with our guest, click on the links below:

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/gembaron/

Website:  www.gembaacademy.com

Connect with me:

🎁Spotlight to Scale: Spotlight to Scale Blueprint

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/

Show Notes:

In this episode of Business Growth Spotlight, Heidi Schalk sits down with Don Martelli, VP of Integrated Marketing & Communications at Alignable, the largest referral network for small businesses with nearly 10 million members. Don shares how Alignable is transforming networking by unlocking the second degree, the power of who your network knows, and why word-of-mouth is still the most effective growth engine for small businesses.

This episode dives into smarter networking, relationship-driven growth, and the new tools Alignable is rolling out to help business owners scale with clarity and connection.

Bio:

With over 25 years in PR, strategic communications, and marketing, my career spans transformative leadership roles across sectors including education, nonprofit, healthcare, real-estate, professional services, life sciences, technology and more. I've spearheaded agency innovations, developed impactful strategies for diverse audiences, and run a successful PR and strategic communications consultancy that, at its core, demonstrates adaptability and forward-thinking problems solving. Lastly, I'm part a well established, yet quickly growing entrepreneurial agency, helping them expand services and grow market presence in New England.

To connect with our guest, click on the links below:

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/donmartelli/

Website:  www.alignable.com

Connect with me:

🎁Spotlight to Scale: Spotlight to Scale Blueprint

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/

Show Notes:

In this episode of Business Growth Spotlight, host Heidi Schalk, Co-Founder of HLH Growth Solutions, sits down with Clay Malloy, President of DocsInk, for a powerful conversation on the evolution of healthcare technology, whole-person health, and the future of remote patient monitoring (RPM).

Clay shares his deeply personal and unexpected journey from sports marketing to healthcare — a path shaped by the loss of his mother, a passion for improving patient care, and an ambition to fix systemic issues from the outside in. His story sets the foundation for an open discussion about the shortcomings of traditional healthcare delivery and the massive opportunity technology provides to improve chronic care, reduce readmissions, and empower patients.

Heidi and Clay dive into:

What Remote Patient Monitoring Actually Is
RPM allows providers to track chronic conditions through at-home devices, from blood pressure cuffs to biometric wearables, enabling earlier intervention, fewer ER visits, and more control for patients.

The Rise of Wearables and Passive Monitoring
Clay breaks down why everything from Apple Watches to Oura Rings is changing the game, how passive monitoring can reduce patient burden, and what's coming next in AI-driven biometric data collection.

Whole Person Health
Why DocsInk is moving beyond single-condition solutions and toward personalized, lifestyle-informed care plans. Clay highlights the industry's shift toward understanding the entire person, not just symptoms.

AI’s Expanding Role in Healthcare
The two explore how AI is now supporting clinics with patient outreach, device setup, reminders, and clinical recommendations — all designed to reduce workload and improve patient outcomes.

Clay reveals why he chose to lead DocsInk, the company’s commitment to ethical RPM, and how his team is shaping the next evolution of healthcare technology.

This episode blends heartfelt storytelling with forward-looking strategy, offering a unique lens into where the healthcare industry is heading — and why it matters for leaders, innovators, and anyone passionate about better care delivery.

Bio:

I'm a sports marketing guy that ended up in the healthcare space b/c my family was impacted by one bad actor and I was naive enough to think I could change it. It didn't take long to realize how broken the healthcare industry really is.

To connect with our guest, click on the links below:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/docsink/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/DocsInk 

X: https://x.com/docsink

Website:  https://docsink.com/

Connect with me:

🎁Spotlight to Scale: Spotlight to Scale Blueprint

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/

Show Notes:

In today’s episode, host Heidi Schalk, Co-Founder of HLH Growth Solutions, sits down with David Lipscomb (CEO & Co-Founder) and Stefan Martin (CTO & Co-Founder) of Aglow, a rapidly growing social platform designed to bring authenticity, locality, and real human connection back into the digital experience.

Aglow is challenging everything we know about traditional social media — the comparison culture, the AI-generated content flood, the pressure to perform, and the lack of genuine community. Instead, they’re building a platform that prioritizes real people, real videos, local discovery, audio-based engagement, and AI used responsibly to connect humans (not replace them).

David and Stefan share their founding story, the problem Aglow is solving, the mental-health implications of current social platforms, and how their focus on authenticity is resonating — especially with Gen Z. They also unpack their growth strategy, including campus ambassador programs, equity rewards, and creative “fight fire with fire” marketing on established platforms.

From founder mindset to go-to-market strategy to the future of meaningful social connection — this episode is packed with insight.

David Lipscomb Bio:

David Lipscomb (CEO) leads Aglow’s strategy and operations. He previously worked in private equity and corporate finance, where he led budgeting, forecasting, and KPI tracking for a $100B+ AUM platform at ICONIQ Capital. Additionally, David supported relationship-building efforts with top founders and investors. Earlier roles include on-site operational analysis and BI development for PE-backed companies in healthcare, energy, and commodities.

Stefan Martin Bio:

After seeing social media change culture - mostly for the worse - Stefan decided to launch a product designed to connect in a genuine and authentic way through proximity based short-form videos. He's a 13-year engineering veteran who's built everything from Kindle's optimized browser at AWS to Uber's ETA dispatch systems at scale. He led mobile engineering at Volta Charging from Series A to IPO. Now, Stefan's focus is to build the future of social media that is actually social.

To connect with our guest, click on the links below:

LinkedIn:  

     David:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-lipscomb-4b578a142/

     Stefan:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/ste00martin/

Website:  https://aglow.life

Connect with me:

🎁Spotlight to Scale:  Spotlight to Scale Blueprint

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidischalkcoaching/