CEOs You Should Know - Wheeling

Denise Woodard is the Founder and CEO of Partake Foods, the allergy-friendly company that was inspired by her daughter’s experience with food allergies. Key moments this year include that Partake Foods announced it became a Certified B Corporation, and launched a collab with Ben & Jerry’s! Created in 2016, Denise started the business by self-distributing (selling cookies out of her car around NYC) and self-funding (depleting her 401K and selling her engagement ring). To date, the company has raised more than $20M from investors including HER, Rihanna, Circle Up Growth Partners, FF2032 and Marcy Venture Partners (Jay-Z’s venture capital firm). Partake was named #45 on the Inc 5000 list in 2022. Denise was the first Black woman to raise more than $1 Million publicly for a CPG food startup. As a Black woman, Denise is passionate about raising awareness of Black and female entrepreneurship and increasing opportunities for underrepresented people seeking careers in the food and beverage industry. In 2020, Denise founded Black Futures in Food & Beverage, an annual fellowship program that mentors HBCU students and helps them secure internships and jobs at the program’s end. Prior to launching Partake, Denise spent a decade in consumer-packaged goods at various Fortune 100 companies. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Jeremy, and daughter, Vivienne. She graduated with her BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from Arizona State University.

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Rocco Cozza calls Mike Howard to talk about how he navigated opening a new law firm in the middle of a pandemic, the firm's approach, and more in this latest episode.

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Belmont Savings Bank President & CEO Todd Cover stops by to talk about the experiences that honed his leadership skills, the bank's involvement in the community, what he's most proud of looking back on his time at Belmont Savings Bank, and so much more in this latest episode.

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Morgan K. O’Brien is Hope Gas’s and Hearthstone’s Chief Executive Officer. He is a native Pittsburgher who was raised by a blue-collar Irish-Catholic family to value all people and all forms of work. His work ethic and value of other people helped him rise to become CEO at Duquesne Light Company the electric provider for Western Pennsylvania. He later moved over to become the CEO at Peoples Gas serving Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky.

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Kevin shares his vision for the airport, how RED can help in the development, and more in this latest episode.

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We're back! Mike Howard sits down with Shawn Rohrig of Rohrig FInancial to discuss his leadership style, his message to anyone wanting to succeed, and more.

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BIO: Jacob Zuppke, President & CEO of Whisker Jacob Zuppke is the President & CEO of Whisker, a leading innovator in connected pet care that's most notably known for Litter-Robot. Jacob's passion for creative engineering solutions and innovative marketing campaigns has transformed a connected pet care company into one of the best-selling and highest-rated brands on the international market. Since 2015 when Zuppke joined the team, Whisker has grown from 30 employees to over 500 employees in 2023, and from $7.6M to over $180M in sales. Whisker's team of 500 people are dedicated to shaping the future of pet care. Jacob’s dedication to bringing innovative pet care products to market is partly influenced by his own fur children. At home, he has a Siberian cat named Lexie and a Yellow Lab named Emma.

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Jason Johnson, CEO Project K-9 Hero – BIO Short Bio - Jason Johnson is a globally recognized subject matter expert in the International K-9 Community. As the Founder and CEO of Project K-9 Hero, Jason has dedicated his career to making sure retired Police K-9s and Military Working Dogs receive the medical care, rehabilitation, or rehoming that they deserve once their service to our country is complete. He is a former Field Canine Coordinator for the National Explosives Detection Canine Team Program with the Department of Homeland Security, Lead Instructor and Course Developer at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives National Canine Training Center, Kennel Master and K-9 Handler for the U.S. Department of State in Iraq and Afghanistan, Police Narcotics K-9 Handler and Trainer, and a U.S. Army Military Police Officer. Jason holds a Master’s Degree in Security Management, is a published author, and an executive producer of television and film. Long Bio - Jason Johnson has a passion for Police K-9 and he has dedicated his life to working, training, and taking care of them. Jason believes that Police K-9s perform selflessly for the departments and agencies they work for, and once they retire, are not offered that same respect by those they serve. It is Jason’s goal to educate the public on the costs and responsibilities of adopting a retired hero and to ensure that every Police K-9 in the United States has their medical, food, and end-of-duty costs taken care of so they may enjoy the healthy and happy retirements that they deserve. After volunteering his time for three years at the inception of the organization, Jason now acts as the CEO of Project K-9 Hero. Jason is also the CEO of Paradigm Defense Concepts and the CEO of K-9 Solutions International (K-9SI), where he manages domestic and international K-9 detection as well as defense contracts, training, and consulting services with civilian and government agencies worldwide. Since founding Project K-9 Hero, Jason has been working hard to grow the foundation so that he can serve as many retired K-9 Heroes as possible. Before he founded Project K-9 Hero, Jason served as a Field Canine Coordinator for the Department of Homeland Security, where he provided program oversight and subject matter expertise to law enforcement and federal canine teams. He provided leadership, technical advice, guidance, and direction to ensure the overall effectiveness and utilization of explosive detection K-9 teams. He ensured that national program policy, standards, and guidelines were communicated in a clear and effective manner to a variety of internal and external stakeholders, while also ensuring adherence to such measures. He served as a K-9 liaison to civilian and law enforcement officials on the federal, state, and local government levels. Prior to working as Field Canine Coordinator, Jason was a K-9 Trainer/Instructor and Course Developer for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He planned, developed, and was the Lead Instructor for Explosive Detection Courses to a variety of domestic and international federal agents, law enforcement, and U.S. Military. He trained, instructed and certified students in multiple federal agencies such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Marshals Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency and many other state and local departments, working specifically in explosives detection. He worked with the Military Working Dog (MWD) program, providing Home-Made Explosives training to over 1,000 MWD’s prior to their deployment to high-threat areas such as Iraq and Afghanistan. He was also involved in developing and instructing the agency’s first off-leash detection program, SEEK (Search Enhanced Evidence K-9), and the agency’s first SRT (Special Response...

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Mike Drizake sits with Mike Howard to discuss Ziebart's beginnings, the key to their success, and more in this latest episode.

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Ben serves as CEO of Fors Marsh and guides the company’s business growth and diversification. He cultivates a purpose-driven culture focused on using business as a force for good, with the belief that businesses must share responsibility for strengthening the systems in which we operate. He is committed to evolving company policies and practices so that each of Fors Marsh’s key stakeholder groups—community, client, employee, and planet—are positively impacted. Under his leadership, Fors Marsh has earned B Corporation certification, has become a JUST employer, and received Top Workplace USA, the Northern Virginia Family Service CARE, and Inc. 5000 Hall of Fame awards, to name a few. Over Ben’s tenure, Fors Marsh has grown from 20 employees and $5M in revenue to more than 400 employees with annual revenues exceeding $100M. Prior to joining Fors Marsh, he spent a decade in the technology industry supporting and leading programs serving military personnel and their families.

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