CEO Roundtable

In this enlightening episode, Aldo Petruzzelli, Chief Executive Officer of Omnia, delves deep into the transformative world of Augmented Reality (AR). Discover how Omnia's innovative platform empowers businesses—from e-commerce giants to local restaurants—to navigate the AR landscape. Understand tailored AR recommendations suited to budgets and objectives, and how Omnia champions AR creators by ensuring they retain complete creative control and financial benefits. Join us as we explore the confluence of technology and commerce, and the boundless potential of AR in modern business. Don't miss this AR-centric conversation with the visionary behind it all!

On a particularly revealing episode of "The CEO Roundtable Podcast", the charismatic Jennie Raymer led us into the world of Amber Farooqui, unveiling a story rich in tenacity, spirit, and undeniable leadership. It was an exposition that painted Amber not merely as a business persona but as an emblem of women in power.

Jennie's apt questions uncovered Amber's journey from the shadows of doubt to the limelight of success. The segment was more than an interview; it felt like a dance of words between two professionals, driven by mutual respect and admiration. The host, Jennie, was undeniably the star, guiding the narrative, but the brilliance of Amber, her struggles, victories, and wisdom, was the heart.

Amber's admission, "I wasn’t born a leader; I grew into one through my experiences," speaks volumes of her voyage. For you, reading this, understand that leadership isn't necessarily innate. It's carved, molded, and refined by the fires of challenges and the soothing breezes of victories.

"You see," Amber continued, her voice a blend of confidence and humility, "Leadership isn't about leading the pack from the front, but understanding when to step back, listen, and allow others to shine." It's this ability to recognize and empower potential in others that sets true leaders apart. Jennie chimed in, emphasizing the weight of Amber's words, "That's the essence, isn't it? Knowing when to lead and when to follow."

Amber's recollection of a poignant moment, when she stood up against an unfair decision in her previous job, was particularly stirring. Her stand wasn't just for her but for everyone who'd been silently bearing the brunt of unchecked authority. "Sometimes," Amber reflected, "the smallest acts are the boldest statements of leadership."

For those of you aspiring to leadership roles or simply seeking ways to influence your environment positively, take Amber's journey as testament. It's not about the grand gestures but the consistent, small actions that echo your principles, values, and visions.

Jennie brilliantly tied the episode together, extracting kernels of wisdom that you can incorporate in your own journeys. But as Amber rightly said, "Every journey is unique, but the principles of leadership remain universal."

In concluding their conversation, Jennie remarked, "Leaders like you, Amber, inspire a generation to act with courage, compassion, and conviction." So, as you tread your path of ambition, remember the tales of tenacity like Amber's. Understand that leadership isn't just about titles or positions but about influencing change, supporting others, and standing up for what's right.

In the latest episode of CEO Roundtable, Sarah Fraggis, CEO of Filterless Era, shared her insights on how purpose and authenticity can drive success in the business world. 

As a leader who values transparency and honesty, Sarah Fraggis has built her company around these principles and has seen remarkable results. Fraggis's journey to becoming an accomplished CEO was not without its challenges. 

She faced numerous setbacks, including a failed business venture, but she refused to let these obstacles define her. Instead, she focused on her passion for helping others and channeled that energy into building a company that aligns with her values.

One of the key takeaways from Fraggis's story is the importance of leading with purpose. In a world where businesses are often driven solely by profit, it can be easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. 

Fraggis encourages leaders to take a step back and evaluate what their company stands for. By aligning your business with your personal values, you can create a sense of purpose that motivates both you and your team.

Another lesson from Fraggis's journey is the power of authenticity. In a filterless era, where social media and technology make it easy to present a polished image, it can be tempting to hide behind a facade. 

But Fraggis believes that being authentic is crucial to building strong relationships with employees, customers, and other stakeholders. By embracing your true self and being open and honest about your strengths and weaknesses, you can create a culture of trust and collaboration.

Fraggis's approach to leadership is refreshing in a world where so many CEOs are driven solely by profit. By prioritizing purpose and authenticity, she has created a company that not only achieves financial success but also has a positive impact on its employees and the community. 

As aspiring professionals and entrepreneurs, we can all learn from Fraggis's example and strive to lead with purpose and authenticity in our own endeavors.

Lou Sandoval is an accomplished CEO with a proven track record of success. He has navigated challenging situations, overcome obstacles, and achieved great things in his career. He joins us on the CEO Roundtable to explore his story and share the lessons he’s learned along the way.

Lou Sandoval grew up in a small town and was the son of immigrant parents. His parents instilled in him a strong work ethic and taught him the value of education. 

Lou attended DePaul University and graduated with a degree in Biochemistry . He later received business training at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business. He then went on to work for several top companies, honing his skills and gaining experience.

Eventually, Lou decided to start his own business. He founded a company that would go on to become a leader in its industry. Through hard work, determination, and a willingness to take risks, Lou was able to grow his company and achieve great success.

Throughout his career, Lou has learned many valuable lessons that he believes have contributed to his success. 

One of the most important is the importance of taking calculated risks. He believes that in order to succeed, you must be willing to step outside of your comfort zone and take a chance on something new.

Another key lesson that Lou has learned is the value of surrounding yourself with talented people. He believes that the success of any organization is dependent on the people who work there. By surrounding himself with talented and motivated individuals, Lou has been able to achieve great things.

Lou emphasizes the importance of having a clear vision for your organization. He believes that a strong vision can serve as a guidepost for decision making and can help keep everyone focused on the same goal.

Lou Sandoval is an inspiring figure who has achieved great things in his career. His story serves as a reminder that with hard work, determination, and a willingness to take risks, anything is possible. By taking the lessons he has learned to heart, aspiring professionals can apply these principles to their own careers and achieve success.

Meet Sara Ray Stoelinga, CEO at Easterseals serving Chicgaoland and Greater Rockford. Stoelinga grew up in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Education was the cornerstone of her upbringing, along with music, faith, and simple living. Her parents were good role models, instilling a sense of responsibility to use her talents to contribute goodness to the world

Though education was always part of her path, she didn’t have a clear trajectory. In her final year of college at UChicago, education came into focus. She was part of the neighborhood schools program where she tutored in public school. Being inside of Chicago schools was a wake up call as to how the segregated classrooms were. It made a huge impression on her. Fixing this problem drew her into her path. She got an internship at UChicago’s Center for School Improvement. The intersection between research and practice to improve schools attracted her to the program. 

A focus on and love for the kids have always been at the center of her work. She was the Expulsion Appeal Officer, where she was the person who heard the appeal as to whether or not a student was expelled. She never wanted to expel kids, as she saw gifted, smart kids in these positions. She asked herself, how do we make schools that serve those kids?

Three years ago, she joined Easterseals as its CEO. The organization has two pillars - early learning and disability with a variety of programs in both. The organization does important work, such as funding schools that serve youth with autism or other disabilities. It also works with Head Start -  her company services 1900 young children - 0 to 3 years - in 40 different childhood centers. 

She was a turnaround CEO, coming into the company as it was facing a number of issues. “It was the hardest thing I've ever done professionally,” Stoelinga says. She had to roll up her sleeves and restructure the company, always doing so with empathy and transparent decision making.

“They need us because they have disabilities and need access to the broader world and access to services. They need us because Head Start serves low income families that are 150% below the poverty line. And here we were, we're all wrapped up in this operational organizational stuff, and I think that the hardest part for me was the human element.”

After all was said and done, she fell in love with the work and knows it fits right in with her skills and leadership style. She’s working to ensure the company can always stay afloat and continue to live out its mission.

Tune in to hear more on Sara's story and how you can connect with or give back to Easter Seals.

In this episode, Ricardo Regalado, a serial entrepreneur, talks to us about his business, from a small franchise to building his own successful brand in a multi-billion dollar industry. Ricardo is the CEO of Route and CVO of Rozalado Services.

One of Ricardo’s biggest catalysts to success has been learning every aspect of the cleaning industry.  He has done everything firsthand, from cleaning, inspections, and follow-ups, which has allowed him to understand his customer's needs perfectly.

“That tactic of doing everything first to this day holds to any employee that comes in. You may not go clean for as long as we did, but you have to provide the service. How can you take over, book a business for us or train that new employee if you've never done it yourself?”

Having started the cleaning business with his girlfriend (now wife) and his cousin Tony, Ricardo believes in sharing your business ideas, fears, and concerns with others.

“It's lonely when you come up with an idea, and nobody else is with you. You can go crazy, that idea can shutter, and you can get upset. It's all mindset, right? Your mindset works better when you have somebody else in that passenger seat with you.”

We all do better when we do things together. For any successful business, you have to grow a team, talent search, train them for success, outline the milestones they have to hit, and, most importantly, be clear on the job description. 

“That job description they're going to hold to it. You shouldn't assume that they're just going to do anything that you asked them to do. Let them know about the dynamics in the office. We failed to make an organizational chart, and I didn't realize that that was an important piece. A new employee coming in should know who to report to. I hate to say, stay in your lane, but if you don't, you can ruffle feathers, and the business dynamic will go wacky.”

Tune into the episode to listen to Ricardo share his story, his entrepreneurship tactics, and how he has built a successful business in the cleaning industry.

What started as a way to promote his high school band, turned into a career in creative design for Tim Fullerton. Now the CEO and Founder of FYD, a boutique digital marketing agency, Tim shares how he was led into a craft that helps businesses build brands. 

Tim has always had a passion for music, so when he formed a band in high school he took it upon himself to create a website. 

When it came to high school the internet was kind of picking up and we needed a website. I was like ‘I love design stuff and Photoshop, and I can figure this out.’ So that's where the whole career really originated was developing that website for the band.”

Given his passion for music, Tim found himself working on the Firefly music festival account, for the company he worked for before starting FYD. He shares how he was able to quickly piivoot at a time when that company went through a major transition. 

“In June, 2015, I was working at an events company, the one that did, the Firefly music festival, and they laid off 33% of their staff and I made the cut. That was one of those things where I had. about a month that I can afford to try and really go for this. And I think I set up one job interview after that, and that was it.

And I just went full blast, full tilt boss, becauseI already had a portfolio of freelance clients that I'd already worked with. I had people that I was contracting out to that I'd been working with for quite a while.

I had something kind of established there, but it was just one of those things where like “How do we just really move this thing forward?’”

Tune in to hear more on Tim’s story and how he’s managed to build a successful brand and company culture for FYD.

While going to college, Sara Stone wanted nothing more than to “be a girl behind the cosmetic counter.” Now the CEO and Founder Of Activate Your Impact, she shares how she went from student teaching, to working for some of the biggest names in the beauty industry, to starting a company that’s committed to selling safe products.  

With news coverage and documentaries like “Not So Pretty” on HBO Max, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the toxins found in almost all cosmetic products. Sara, being one of those consumers, sought a better solution and started a business in the process. As she pointed out, it’s about trusting the products we use.

“I think the one thing that we want when we go shopping is to know that what we're buying is safe, not only for ourselves, but our family and our friends and the people we love around us.

We take for granted thinking that we're going to pick something off the shelf and that product is going to be good for us, it's going to be safe and it's going to promise what it delivers on that label. However, unfortunately in cosmetics, not everything is regulated and there's no basic safety testing done on these products.”

Knowing that there are  ingredients that have been shown to cause infertility issues and even cancers, Sara’s increasing concern for her and her clients’ safety, led her to question the industry she faithfully served for sixteen years. 

Taking her passion for helping and educating others, Sara and her business partner agreed to pursue their purpose and passion, and turn it into a company. Community being part of their core values, Sara and her business partner have worked to create a space for others to pursue their purpose and passions. Though focused on building a brand around a line of skincare products, Activate Your Impact continues to offer other products from other brands that adhere to the same values and commitment to provide safe and clean products. 

“We're going to provide our consumer clinical, cruelty-free, clean, effective products that are going to be safe. We're also going to give people in the community, who love cosmetics, an opportunity to sell and be a part of this process as well. And mentor them if they want to go out and be entrepreneurs.”

Tune in to hear more about Sara’s story and how she’s building a brand during a time of incredible change for the beauty industry and beyond. 

https://www.tfocb.com/ceo/podcast/sara-stone

Matt Wilhelmi is CEO and Sr. Consultant at Strategic Voyages Business Consultant; providing CFO services to companies focused on growth. He joins us at the roundtable to share his voyage into building his company and the lessons learned along the way. 

The author of “Taboo Business Questions,” Matt breaks down his strategic approach to identifying the root cause of each of his clients’ unique situations, to provide a customized solution for them. Which as he points out, can be confusing for a business owner to do on their own, depending on who they ask. 

“There's a lot of businesses that are at that breaking point where they know they need some advice. They're scared of hiring a full-time CFO and they don't know what to do. So they go to their bank. Sometimes they’ll talk to their loan officer or their banker. Maybe they'll go to their CPA or their accountant, and they're getting all kinds of financial advice and it's very conflictual.

The advice from the bank is almost always different from the advice of the CPA. They speak these different languages. So, with my background, working at Chase and US bank, and then in small business, I've been able to translate that into words and terms a business owner can understand.”

Having worked as consultant, before starting his own company and seized the opportunity to learn of the problems and questions common to most businesses and business owners.Yet Matt continues to pursue knowledge through reading and encourages his clients to do the same. 

“It's that kind of mindset of continual learning and continual growth and being able to think about your business as something that is a project that you're working on. To improve instead of just showing up every day, and punching the clock, and making some money, and paying your people and going home. It's that mindset of how can I improve this? How can I bring more people into it to help it grow to something that I'm actually proud of showing other people?”

Beyond mindset, Matt shares how being honest of your skills as a CEO is crucial to the success of a business. Tune in to hear more on Matt’s story and to hear tips that could help you take your business to new heights.

https://www.tfocb.com/ceo/podcast/matt-wilhelmi

On this episode of the CEO Roundtable podcast, we sit down with Jaime DiPaulo, the president of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. 

Born and raised in Mexico, Jaime came to the United States as an exchange student landing in Denver, Colorado in 1980. Growing up with the Chicano movement in Colorado, he developed a taste for social justice, taking courses at the University of Colorado to better understand the history of Latinos in the United States. That led him down the path toward carving a career in economic development which eventually brought him to leading one of the largest chambers of commerce in the U.S. 

The goal of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is to help any Latino business gain access to capital and get everything in place so they can make sure they succeed. In Jaime’s words, “we’re like the red cross, we’re helping businesses survive.” In the state of Illinois there are 170,000 Latino-owned businesses with 80% of those in the Chicago Metro Area. 

With the recent COVID pandemic, Jaime and his team have been working around the clock to ensure they can give as many businesses as possible the resources they need to stay afloat and keep people employed. 

“We really might want to make a difference in this world and make sure that every small business is taken care of and we get the right access to them. We need to make sure we put Latinos in the community in positions of power so we can all grow together as a community.”

Aside from COVID, what’s top of mind for Jaime and the Chamber is understanding why Latino businesses don’t have the same access to capital as others. They have an ongoing collaboration with the Apsen Institute to create the write data so they can promote good legislation that will positively impact the community. 

Tune into this episode of the CEO Roundtable to hear more about Jaime’s journey and what he’s doing to uplift the Latino business community in Chicago.