Critical Mass Business Talk Show | Orange County’s Longest-Running Business Talk Show

Rocky Foroutan is the Founder and Visionary behind LenderHomePage.com. He founded the company from his small home office in 2003 by building turnkey websites for mortgage brokers and loan officers. Sixteen years later, the company has grown to serve over 2,000 clients with an innovative, multi-channel digital platform that helps customers enhance borrower experience while gaining efficiencies and saving cost.

Prior to LenderHomePage, Rocky spent nineteen years as a software developer, sales and marketing management in Fortune 5000 companies.

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Critical Mass Business Talk Show is Orange County, CA's longest-running business talk show, focused on offering value and insight to middle-market business leaders in the OC and beyond. Hosted by Ric Franzi, business partner at Renaissance Executive Forums Orange County. Learn more about Ric at www.ricfranzi.com.

Catch up on past Critical Mass Business Talk Show interviews...

YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gHKT2gmF

LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/g2PzRhjQ

Podbean: https://lnkd.in/eWpNVRi

Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/gRd_863w

Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gruexU6m

#orangecountyca #mastermind #ceopeergroups #peergroups #peerlearning

Sheryl Utal is the Founder & CEO of Japa Health. Sheryl had a ten-year corporate career with senior roles in private equity, real estate development and management consulting, before she burned out and had to make a change.

Sheryl has been the owner of two successful lifestyle businesses both with profitable exits. Although she had successful exits the journey wasn't easy or linear and included turnaround experience. She has over 13 years of experience in wellness including 40,000 customers and 5M in revenue. Healing herself from autoimmune disease and trauma, Sheryl is passionate about natural healing, disease prevention and human optimization, a passion which began over 15 years ago after conventional treatment for an autoimmune disease diagnosis failed. She took her health into her own hands and was determined to be the most vibrant and joyous version of herself possible.

In 2013, Sheryl founded Red Diamond Yoga, a large yoga studio in LA and built a strong reputation for inspiring people through yoga, breath-work, energy healing, fitness and mindfulness. After five and half years and close to 40,000 students, she sold Red Diamond in 2018 to build Japa Health. Sheryl believes everyone has the capacity to heal and holds a strong vision for a world of empowered, healthy people.

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Critical Mass Business Talk Show is Orange County, CA's longest-running business talk show, focused on offering value and insight to middle-market business leaders in the OC and beyond. Hosted by Ric Franzi, business partner at Renaissance Executive Forums Orange County. Learn more about Ric at www.ricfranzi.com.

Catch up on past Critical Mass Business Talk Show interviews...

YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gHKT2gmF

LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/g2PzRhjQ

Podbean: https://lnkd.in/eWpNVRi

Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/gRd_863w

Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gruexU6m

#orangecountyca #mastermind #ceopeergroups #peergroups #peerlearning

Dina Miller is the Founder & CEO of Electi Management Inc. A highly motivated, self-directed and results-driven CEO of a business management company, Dina attended MIT and subsequently earned my B.S. in Business from Johns Hopkins University. She later completed her MBA at the University of Delaware.

For over twenty years, Dina has built a “hands-on” track record of leadership, team-building and cross-functional collaboration. Thinking and planning globally while executing locally, Dina has a high-performing staff to support operational initiatives and client needs. She is passionate about what she does and embodies an energy and urgency as a culture creator and catalyst for change with an exemplary reputation for forging working relationships based on trust and respect. Dina loves to build strong, long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with individuals, businesses and organizations.

Dina created Electi Management at the end of 2020, as the pandemic raged and she saw an opportunity to leverage her years of experience in business management, accounting, and operations to help other small businesses achieve new efficiencies in their accounting practices and workflows.

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Critical Mass Business Talk Show is Orange County, CA's longest-running business talk show, focused on offering value and insight to middle-market business leaders in the OC and beyond. Hosted by Ric Franzi, business partner at Renaissance Executive Forums Orange County. Learn more about Ric at www.ricfranzi.com.

Catch up on past Critical Mass Business Talk Show interviews...

YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gHKT2gmF

LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/g2PzRhjQ

Podbean: https://lnkd.in/eWpNVRi

Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/gRd_863w

Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gruexU6m

#orangecountyca #mastermind #ceopeergroups #peergroups #peerlearning

A 20-year award-winning Broadcast Journalist with an emphasis on Public Relations, Kelly Bennett has been a reporter, anchor, senior assignment manager, TV host, and Radio Host, then transitioned into public affairs managing community/public relations for two major cable companies. She worked with many programmers within the industry, CNN, Court TV, Bravo, Lifetime, Oxygen Networks, and more, to bring successful programs that received commendations and proclamations from government officials.

In 2009, Kelly founded Bennett Unlimited PR giving her clients local, national, and international notoriety and connecting them to Influencers, networking groups, celebrities, VIPs, private clubs, executive round-tables, entrepreneur gatherings, and charity functions to further their career and goals. Her clients have been on the Kelly Clarkson show, Good Morning America, CBS, LA Times, Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, Inside Edition, HuffPost Live, Dr. Oz, CNN, Getty Images, Huffington Post, New York Magazine, KTLA, Good Day LA, MSNBC, OC Register, Orange Coast Magazine, Rivera Magazine and many more.

In 2019, Kelly received the Ambassador for Peace Award from the Universal Peace Federation, and in 2011, Kelly was awarded the California Governor and First Lady’s Service Award for her volunteerism and community work. In 2005, she received a Commendation from Orange County Sheriff’s Department, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and US Postal Office for her work that helped bring the AMBER Alert to Orange County, and in 2004 she was given a Commendation from the County of Orange for her role in profiling the “Adoption Needs in Orange County” program. She won Business Woman of Distinction, American Business Woman’s Association in 2001. Kelly is the Society Editor for Orange County Newspapers, delivered to homes in the Newport Beach, Coto de Caza, Ladera Ranch, Mission Viejo, and San Clemente zip codes and online. Her column covers non-profit galas, events, and lifestyles of the social scene. She also hosts a monthly talk show on KCAA commercial radio 102.3 FM, 1050 AM, and 106.5 FM, an NBC affiliate that reaches 5 million people in the Southern CA area, and podcasts to over 201 countries.

Kelly Bennett is a member of TPEC (Television Publicity Executives Committee); HRTS (Hollywood Radio & Television Society), eWomen Network, Advisory Council Member for Special Olympics of Orange County, and an Honorary Member for Orange County Family Justice Center, and Past-President of the Orange County Community Relations Council.

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Critical Mass Business Talk Show is Orange County, CA's longest-running business talk show, focused on offering value and insight to middle-market business leaders in the OC and beyond. Hosted by Ric Franzi, business partner at Renaissance Executive Forums Orange County. Learn more about Ric at www.ricfranzi.com.

Catch up on past Critical Mass Business Talk Show interviews...

YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gHKT2gmF

LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/g2PzRhjQ

Podbean: https://lnkd.in/eWpNVRi

Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/gRd_863w

Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gruexU6m

#orangecountyca #mastermind #ceopeergroups #peergroups #peerlearning

A reformed 'Corporate Rat' turned Entrepreneur in 2017, Traci Shirachi is the CEO & President of The Mark USA Inc. (“The Mark” or “the Company”). The Mark is a data analytics applied research and evaluation company comprised of about 15 employees that work with organizations nationally and internationally to define and articulate community and social impact focused on helping the underserved thrive.

The Mark uses rigorous data collection and research methods to evaluate and measure results for organizations and companies to achieve sustainable growth. Many of the organizations or companies that work with The Mark focus on demonstrating their social impact. These include universities and colleges to corporations and small businesses.

Traci formerly worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and has an MBA from Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University and a BA in Political Science from the University of California, Davis. She is actively involved and on the Board of Orange County Advisors in Philanthropy, and a Board member of WISE Place.  She was honored in 2019, 2020, and 2021 as the Orange County Business Journal’s Women in Business and also honored in 2020 and 2021 for Women in Entrepreneurship.

An entrepreneur who is passionate about social change and philanthropy in everyday living, Traci is married and a working mom of two little girls. She lives in Orange County, but relocated over 13 years ago from New York City and before that lived all over the country including Nashville, Tennessee. Traci was originally born and raised in the Bay Area and long time resident of the area.

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Critical Mass Business Talk Show is Orange County, CA's longest-running business talk show, focused on offering value and insight to middle-market business leaders in the OC and beyond. Hosted by Ric Franzi, business partner at Renaissance Executive Forums Orange County. Learn more about Ric at www.ricfranzi.com.

Catch up on past Critical Mass Business Talk Show interviews...

YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gHKT2gmF

LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/g2PzRhjQ

Podbean: https://lnkd.in/eWpNVRi

Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/gRd_863w

Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gruexU6m

#orangecountyca #mastermind #ceopeergroups #peergroups #peerlearning

Peggy Knauft is the Founder of Primary Pacific Properties. Peggy's incomparable customer service provides the optimal real estate experience for buyers and sellers and has helped her rank in the top 1% of all agents in Orange County, California.

Peggy’s clients value her genuine care and ability to deliver outstanding results, underscored by her honesty, helpfulness, and desire not to take herself — or life — too seriously. She distinguishes herself from other agents by using her marketing background and staging talents to effectively and persuasively market homes that attract the right buyer and secure the best offer. Along with Peggy’s corresponding Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist designation, she is also a Seniors Real Estate Specialist® and a Certified Probate Real Estate Specialist.

Peggy graduated from Santa Clara University with a B.S. in political science. Before her real estate career, she was a vice president of global marketing, honing her marketing expertise and accumulating more than 20 years of experience in negotiating multimillion-dollar contracts. But Peggy’s passion for properties encouraged her to hang up her corporate hat for one that felt custom-made. Her first lesson was realizing there’s no textbook on how to succeed in this business, but she quickly figured it out by flexing her creative muscles. In just a few short years, Peggy turned 99% of her clients into referrals, gaining such a broad base that she serves just about every type of buyer and seller. Peggy’s involvement in her own family’s real estate business holdings for more than 25 years has further enhanced her ability to navigate market conditions and negotiate effectively on behalf of her clients.

Peggy grew up in Pasadena and has been an Orange County resident since the 1990s. She currently lives in Laguna Niguel with her husband and two daughters. Her passion for real estate aside, Peggy enjoys spending time with her family and volunteering at her daughters’ schools and for the community. She also loves traveling and sampling new restaurants.

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Critical Mass Business Talk Show is Orange County, CA's longest-running business talk show, focused on offering value and insight to middle-market business leaders in the OC and beyond. Hosted by Ric Franzi, business partner at Renaissance Executive Forums Orange County. Learn more about Ric at www.ricfranzi.com.

Catch up on past Critical Mass Business Talk Show interviews...

YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gHKT2gmF

LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/g2PzRhjQ

Podbean: https://lnkd.in/eWpNVRi

Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/gRd_863w

Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gruexU6m

#orangecountyca #mastermind #ceopeergroups #peergroups #peerlearning

Dita Shemke is a highly-proficient financial executive with a wealth of experience in private and public companies, public accounting, angel investing and founding start-ups. Her biggest strength lies in her ability to think strategically and put the right people together to bring an idea to fruition.

Dita is a passionate advocate for women. Her support for women to be more self-sufficient is both a personal and a business priority. She purposely developed her 20-year-old wealth advisory practice to primarily work with women in transition and assist owners of private companies to grow and eventually exit their business. Dita is the Orange County Chair for 50/50 Women on Boards, a global campaign to increase the number of women on boards of companies in the Russell 3000. She is a founding member and part of the leadership of the Southern California Chapter of Private Directors Association (PDA), a national organization that promotes excellence on private company boards. She spearheaded the formation of the Collaboration of Professional Women (CPW) in Orange County, an affinity group for female members of Provisors and the Center for Women’s Leadership at Vanguard University. In addition to starting and founding organizations,

Dita is highly skilled in governance, having served on various boards of directors and advisory boards of nonprofit organizations, chambers of commerce, and university foundations. Dita received an Executive MBA from Pepperdine University with a focus on Strategic Planning. In her quest to find a larger platform for financial independence for women, she completed a Certificate in Microfinance from the Boulder Institute of Microfinance in Turin, Italy. Dita is passionate about learning, travel, food, and wine.

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Critical Mass Business Talk Show is Orange County, CA's longest-running business talk show, focused on offering value and insight to middle-market business leaders in the OC and beyond. Hosted by Ric Franzi, business partner at Renaissance Executive Forums Orange County. Learn more about Ric at www.ricfranzi.com.

Catch up on past Critical Mass Business Talk Show interviews...

YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gHKT2gmF

LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/g2PzRhjQ

Podbean: https://lnkd.in/eWpNVRi

Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/gRd_863w

Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gruexU6m

#orangecountyca #mastermind #ceopeergroups #peergroups #peerlearning

Dr. Shahrzad Nooravi is a business psychologist, Master Certified Coach (MCC) and Founder and CEO of Strategy Meets Performance, a business consulting firm that partners with leaders of mid-sized to Fortune 500 organizations to help them create engaging, innovative, and productive cultures. Dr. Nooravi has been named “Trailblazer of the Year,” “Citizen of the Year,” and “A Voice to Listen to” for driving positive change in her community. Dr. Nooravi's new leadership book, "A Powerful Culture Starts with You" was rated as the #1 New Release in Workplace Culture and Best Seller in Business Coaching.

In a time in our history where employees have realized that they have many options for how and where they work, workplace culture is more important than ever. In her book, Dr. Nooravi shares the mindset it requires to be an engaging leader that employees are loyal to and do not want to leave. She will also share real-life client examples from her three-model approach for driving a strong, engaged and joyful workplace.

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Critical Mass Business Talk Show is Orange County, CA's longest-running business talk show, focused on offering value and insight to middle-market business leaders in the OC and beyond. Hosted by Ric Franzi, business partner at Renaissance Executive Forums Orange County. Learn more about Ric at www.ricfranzi.com.

Catch up on past Critical Mass Business Talk Show interviews...

YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gHKT2gmF

LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/g2PzRhjQ

Podbean: https://lnkd.in/eWpNVRi

Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/gRd_863w

Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gruexU6m

#orangecountyca #mastermind #ceopeergroups #peergroups #peerlearning

Stewart Gandolf, MBA, is the Chief Executive Officer of Healthcare Success, one of the nation’s leading healthcare and digital marketing agencies. Over the past 20 years, Stewart has marketed and consulted for over 1,000 healthcare clients, ranging from practices and hospitals to multi-billion dollar corporations.

A frequent speaker, Stewart has shared his expertise at over 200 venues nationwide. As an author and expert resource, Stewart has also written for many leading industry publications, including the 21,000 subscriber Healthcare Success Insight blog. Stewart also co-authored, “Cash-Pay Healthcare: Start, Grow & Perfect Your Cash-Pay Healthcare Business.”

Stewart began his career with leading advertising agencies, including J. Walter Thompson, where he marketed Fortune 500 clients such as Wells Fargo and Bally’s Total Fitness.

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Critical Mass Business Talk Show is Orange County, CA's longest-running business talk show, focused on offering value and insight to middle-market business leaders in the OC and beyond. Hosted by Ric Franzi, business partner at Renaissance Executive Forums Orange County. Learn more about Ric at www.ricfranzi.com.

Catch up on past Critical Mass Business Talk Show interviews...

YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gHKT2gmF

LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/g2PzRhjQ

Podbean: https://lnkd.in/eWpNVRi

Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/gRd_863w

Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gruexU6m

#orangecountyca #mastermind #ceopeergroups #peergroups #peerlearning

Yuko Tsuchida, CPA, MBA, is a Certified Public Accountant with over 10 years of tax consulting experience advising multinational corporations on value-added tax strategies. Her career started with KPMG's Japanese tax practice where she provided audit, tax, and advisory services to Japanese companies operating in the United States. After KPMG, she co-founded Think, LLP, a strategic tax advisory firm specializing in income tax planning, R&D credits, investment, employee and training tax credits, and incentive services. Throughout her career, she has helped clients claim over $100 million in incentives and credits.

Ms. Tsuchida founded Hito, LLC in October 2017 after seeing how many companies fail to achieve their projected growth because they lack the time and resources to implement tax planning strategies that aligned with their long-term business objectives. Hito is the Japanese term for ‘people’ and Ms. Tsuchida believes people drive business growth. Hito provides value-added tax consulting services focused on tax incentives and credits. Hito accelerates the growth of businesses and promotes change through tax benefits. This helps businesses unlock savings by minimizing taxes and freeing up capital for reinvestment into the business and its employees.

Ms. Tsuchida enjoys volunteering her time to guide nonprofit organizations, specifically those with missions that support childhood development. She has spent several months consulting with orphanages and early childhood development centers in Cambodia and South Africa. providing financial expertise on long-term financial sustainability, her dream is to build a not-for-profit organization in Sub-Saharan Africa or Southeast Asia to provide education to underprivileged children.

Ms. Tsuchida holds a Bachelor of Accounting from Northeastern State University (Oklahoma) and a Master of Business Administration from IE Business School (Madrid, Spain).

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Critical Mass Business Talk Show is Orange County, CA's longest-running business talk show, focused on offering value and insight to middle-market business leaders in the OC and beyond. Hosted by Ric Franzi, business partner at Renaissance Executive Forums Orange County. Learn more about Ric at www.ricfranzi.com.

Catch up on past Critical Mass Business Talk Show interviews...

YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gHKT2gmF

LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/g2PzRhjQ

Podbean: https://lnkd.in/eWpNVRi

Apple Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/gRd_863w

Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gruexU6m

#orangecountyca #mastermind #ceopeergroups #peergroups #peerlearning