Fenella Kim had no network, no resources, and no roadmap when she arrived in the United States—but she figured it out anyway.

Fenella is a Long Island, NY-based Vistage Chair who went from high-voltage electrical engineer to serial entrepreneur, building and exiting multiple companies after arriving in the U.S. In this episode of the Chairwaves podcast, Fenella shares how a single mentor changed her trajectory and how that experience shaped her commitment to paying it forward. Today, she’s all in on that mission as a Vistage Chair and venture capitalist. Fenella is grounded in a belief that Vistage works—because it helps leaders grow, strengthens families, and creates real impact in the communities they serve.

This is an inspirational episode that shows what’s possible with persistence and an abundance mindset. 

The best way to connect with Fenella is via email at [email protected]

There’s a difference between having the answers and knowing how to help someone find their own.

On this episode of Chairwaves, I talk with Machen MacDonald, a Vistage Chair based in Grass Valley, California. Machen is a former financial advisor turned certified coach who works with private clients in addition to leading his Vistage group. In his work, Machen has seen a consistent pattern—leaders either don’t know how to get what they want, or they’re not fully clear on what they want in the first place.

Machen and I talk about his transition from financial advisor to coach, and what he’s learned about helping leaders get clearer on their direction. In his Vistage group, that often shows up through the idea of leading with love—creating a space grounded in trust, vulnerability, and clear thinking. It’s a shift from how most executives were wired, but it’s central to how he helps people grow.You can connect with Machen on LinkedIn, by phone at 530-906-1119, or by email at [email protected].

Most business leaders think their challenges are unique. They’re not—and that realization can change everything.

In this episode of Chairwaves, Gary Ostermueller, a Vistage Chair in New Jersey, talks about what changed for him after joining a TEC group. He noticed that even though businesses can look completely different on the surface, they’re all dealing with the same core problems. People issues, cash flow, leadership pressure—it all overlaps more than most leaders realize. That insight became a foundation for how he now shows up as a Chair.

Before becoming a Chair, Gary spent three decades in a family-run manufacturing company, and that experience allows him to relate to leaders at every level. He brings a perspective to his group that spans the shop floor to the boardroom and has built a group grounded in compassion, real care, and a willingness to challenge each other.

The best way to connect with Gary is through LinkedIn or via email at [email protected] 

If you’re not willing to dig into the details, you’re probably missing the real issue.

In this episode of the Chairwaves podcast, Vistage Chair Michael Edwards, based in Lincoln, Nebraska, talks about how an unexpected path, from grocery stores to law school to building software companies, ultimately led him to Vistage. He shares how his legal background trained him to slow down, listen carefully, and examine the fine details that others often overlook—a mindset that now defines how he leads his group.

What makes Michael’s group different is its blue-collar mix of leaders, many from small towns surrounding Lincoln, bringing practical, hands-on experience into every discussion. It’s a group shaped by leaders from small towns and hands-on industries, and that difference is something he’s proud of.

You can connect with Michael via email at [email protected], through the Vistage website, or through LinkedIn. 

If you’ve got people, you’ve got problems. That’s true no matter where you are in your leadership journey.

Rick Vanasse has built a practice around helping leaders at every level navigate one of the hardest parts of business—leading people and building strong organizations. From emerging leaders learning how to influence, to CEOs learning how to step back and truly listen, Rick sees the same challenges show up again and again when it comes to leading people. Leading well is an ongoing process, not a fixed skill.

In this episode of Chairwaves, we talk through Rick’s journey from manufacturing to healthcare, his work with leaders navigating family business transitions, and how his battle with stage four cancer reshaped how he thinks about resilience, humility, and relying on others.

This is a thoughtful conversation about leadership, transitions, and what really matters.

The best way to connect with Rick is by email at [email protected] or on LinkedIn. 

In a recent Vistage meeting, Atlanta-based Vistage Chair Meredith Jolly’s group worked through issues worth more than $20 million to the companies involved. For Meredith, that experience perfectly captures the power of peer groups: leaders getting perspectives they might never have considered on their own.

On this episode of the Chairwaves podcast, Meredith shares the journey that led her to become a Vistage Chair. She started as a part-time secretary at a fintech startup while in college and worked her way into the CEO role. Along the way she experienced the full lifecycle of a company—from startup growth to exit—and later led a private-equity-backed turnaround before becoming a Chair. Today she co-chairs a group in Atlanta where trust, candor, and a wide range of perspectives shape the discussion. As Meredith notes, there’s a Vistage saying that members come for the Chair but stay for the group—and she’s seen that dynamic take hold as members challenge, support, and learn from each other.

The best way to contact Meredith is by email at [email protected] or through her website.

Arturo Lopez didn’t build his Vistage groups the traditional way. Instead of recruiting from the usual executive circles, he looked for something different: good human beings with potential.

On this episode of the Chairwaves podcast, I talk with Houston Vistage Chair Arturo Lopez. Arturo’s career and education took him through seven countries before he began building his career in Houston. He explains how he built two CEO groups made up mostly of leaders under 50 from a wide range of cultural and professional backgrounds. His approach is simple: go where diverse entrepreneurs already are, ask trusted connections for introductions, and focus on finding people with character and potential rather than polished credentials. Arturo also shares the mindset that drives his work as a Chair. For him, the relationships formed in a Vistage group are lifelong. He approaches the role with a genuine love for entrepreneurship and a desire to help leaders grow beyond the title of CEO and become better people all around.

You can learn more about Arturo and reach him through his website.

For most of his career, Rick Rodgers kept one thing to himself: he has dyslexia.

He built a life in high-performance roles as a firefighter, paramedic, NASA rescue specialist, Wall Street professional, and commercial banker by working harder, pushing further, and proving he belonged. It wasn’t until his mid-30s, when he was finally diagnosed, that he began to understand how much that hidden struggle had shaped him.

In this episode of the Chairwaves podcast, Rick shares the moment during his Chair training when he chose honesty over self-protection. That shift allowed him to lead differently. Dyslexia, which once drove him to overcompensate, now shapes how he creates space for honesty and accountability in his Vistage groups. We talk about the loneliness of leadership and why so many accomplished executives still feel they have to project certainty instead of asking for help. Rick is now helping Chairs and CEOs better understand neurodiversity in their members, teams, and families.

The best way to reach Rick is by phone at 303-520-6447 or via email at [email protected]

Most new leaders aren’t short on talent—they’re short on someone they can talk to.

Jim Heller has spent his career navigating that reality. As a fourth-generation leader of a Detroit-based machining company, he joined Vistage because he didn’t want to be the one who derailed the family business. Eight years later, after firing himself as CEO and helping transition the company to outside leadership, he discovered something even more meaningful: the power of simply being present for other leaders.

Now a Vistage Chair with four groups in Michigan, including an Emerging Leaders group he launched during COVID, Jim is passionate about developing first-time leaders and believes many of them are stepping into bigger roles without enough time or guidance to grow. Supporting them is one of the ways he chooses to serve. 

If you care about developing leaders at any level, you’ll appreciate this conversation!

If you’d like to connect with Jim, you can reach him via email at [email protected] or on LinkedIn. 

If you can’t walk away from your business and have it still run, do you own a company or do you just have a job?

Cynthia Goro’s perspective comes from experience. She grew up in her family’s garbage truck manufacturing business in Iowa, became president, and led the company through rapid growth, restructuring after 9/11, and a successful exit. Along the way, she discovered that real value isn’t just revenue or market share. It’s creating a business that continues to run, grow, and lead even when the owner steps away.

In this episode of Chairwaves, we talk about Cynthia’s four Vistage groups, family business dynamics, imposter syndrome, and what it means to build a legacy that benefits employees, the industry, and the community. This is a candid conversation about building something that lasts.

You can reach Cynthia via email at [email protected] or by cell phone at 319-830-3555.