While developing an award-winning culture is no easy task, even more difficult is to maintain culture during rapid growth and across multiple locations. LaBella Associates was named among Rochester's Top Workplaces for the past 5 years and reached the #1 spot in 2018. During that time, they've almost tripled the number of employees, undergone more than a dozen acquisitions and have grown to more than 20 office locations in the Eastern United States and Spain.

Under Michele Ebenhoch's leadership over the past four years as Director of Human resources, they have navigated significant challenges in the scaling up of the organization’s administration, managed a massive recruiting and onboarding effort and are developing the training and leadership development programs that will fuel LaBella’s continued growth.

Michele is a seasoned HR professional with over 20 years of experience working in a variety of industries including manufacturing, retail, consulting and senior living before joining LaBella Associates. She received her BS Degree from Niagara University and is currently pursuing her Masters in Human Resource Management from Nazareth College. Michele lives with her husband and 3 children in Fairport. When she is not working on school assignments or carpooling her children around, she enjoys getting lost in a good book and traveling with her family.

After the birth of her daughters marked some of the happiest days of her life, Yasmin Mattox fell into despair as she tried to navigate the balance of parenthood and career. Yet her frustration led to a recognition that the whole idea of "balance" might be part of the problem, eventually sparking a business idea. In 2017, she founded Arkatecht, a company that creates digital professional advancement tools tailored to the unique needs and aspirations of working parents.

Raised in NYC, Yasmin has happily lived in the Rochester area since graduating Alfred University (2007) with a B.A. in Political Science. She also holds an M.S. in International Studies (2011). She’s worked in the legal, mental health, renewable energy, consulting, and higher education fields, with the common thread being her deep interest and expertise in research and its real world applications to do good.

Married to her college sweetheart, with whom she is raising three daughters, ages 5, 3, and 1, Yasmin loves learning about break-neck speed discoveries, successes, and failures, in different fields, and she is always excited to learn about the various ways people and their work are interconnected.

By EVOLving toward a flat organizational structure and creating self-empowered teams over the past 15 years, Optimax has grown from $3 million to $40 million in revenue and now employs more than 400 people. EVOLving that culture also takes a personal EVOLution as a leader, with a willingness to let go of the reigns, distribute decision-making and forgo rigid plans to instead sense and respond to opportunities as they arise. Tune in to the latest episode to get a peek inside a radical new paradigm for business, plus a few tips on how to get started on your own journey:

-What to do instead of consensus-based decision-making

-What to do instead of strategic planning

-How to align benefits packages and reward systems to reinforce your culture

-How to scale your culture to support "astronomical" growth (even if NASA isn't sending your products into space)

Rick Plympton is the CEO of Optimax located in Ontario, NY. During his 22 years at Optimax, he has held several roles including Quality Manager and VP of Sales and Marketing, before taking on the role of CEO. Optimax manufactures precision optics for research and industry, serving a wide variety of applications for semiconductor, medical, defense and aerospace, including the optical equipment for the Mars Rover and other NASA projects! Founded in 1991, Optimax currently has 300+ employees sharing a corporate culture of continuous learning and employee empowerment; and continues to grow at an average rate of 20% per year. He was named the 2012 Small Business Person of the Year in New York State by the SBA and in 2018 was inducted into the Rochester Business Hall of Fame.

Not many 27 year olds have the opportunity to take over as CEO of a multi-million dollar company, but Cody Hewitt was up to the task. In two years under his leadership revenues have doubled and he attributes much of that success to a focus on culture and even using the word LOVE in the construction industry. He set out to create a company where employees would be proud to say they worked and not only has that vision become a reality, but his employees have even become his best recruiters by selling that vision to prospective talent.

-Hear how Cody took employee input from a Cultural Values Assessment to shape the future of Hewitt Young

-How they're working to enact their culture through storytelling and alignment of values with strategic initiatives

-Building culture in a unionized environment and the shift toward Conscious Capitalism in the construction industry

Cody is dedicated to his career as CEO of Hewitt Young Electric, where he instills his expertise in electrical construction, his positivity, and motivation to succeed in every individual. By taking the serving leader approach to his mentorship Cody has worked diligently to transform the culture at Hewitt Young to an efficaciously prosperous environment, leading to recognition as a 2019 Top Workplace. Cody is an avid volunteer in the community where he has worked many events and raised money for those in need. Though his continued dedication to his work, Cody has made a positive impact on the lives of those around him.

What are companies looking for when deciding to expand or relocate? Could Conscious Capitalism be a tool for recruiting companies, retaining talent and growing the regional economy?

Ana Liss is one of Rochester's most passionate cheerleaders, but it's not just hype. She can quote endless studies and statistics about our current assets and future potential. At any given time in her role as Managing Director of Business Development at Greater Rochester Enterprise, Ana is working on multiple top-secret code-named projects to recruit companies to Rochester. She learns about their top priorities and advocates for Rochester's assets. Who better to have on the podcast to talk about how to make Conscious Capitalism an economic development strategy for Rochester?

Ana is passionate about promoting economic growth and shared prosperity in Rochester. She previously served the office of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as an Empire State Fellow and Policy Advisor, has also worked for Cornell University’s S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management, the Center for Governmental Research, and spent time as a television news anchor, reporter, and producer in Elmira-Corning, NY and in Rochester. She holds a B.A. in Journalism from Ithaca College’s Park School of Communications, a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Certificate in Innovation Management and Technology Transfer from SUNY Empire State College. In 2017, Ana was named among Destination Counsellors International’s 40 Under 40 in Economic Development in the U.S.

When Bob Duffy began as the President and CEO of the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce, he recognized that Chambers needed to EVOLve to stay relevant. He implemented some evolutionary (and revolutionary) changes both internally with their own culture and externally through speakers and events to elevate the consciousness of the Rochester business community.

In a recent study and initiative to increase collaboration across Rochester's many economic development agencies, the Chamber was tasked with a focus on talent strategy for Rochester and the Finger Lakes region. Bob recognizes that Conscious Capitalism is integral to that strategy: "Any corporation that is all about profits and nothing else will not attract the type of talent you want. To be successful, you need that philosophy...we should be a beacon across the state and across the country." Tune in to this episode to hear about how Bob's time as a police officer gave him the empathy to be a better leader, his path from police officer to Police Chief to Mayor to Lieutenant Governor, how he's elevating the consciousness of business leaders in his current role leading the Chamber and his advice for the future leaders of Rochester.

"Business integrity is a reflection of how we live our lives" says Cyndi Weis. In order to be a conscious leader, Cyndi has always prioritized her own wellbeing. She's also been able to build a business to elevate the consciousness and wellbeing of others: first through yoga, then nutrition and later a focus on meditation. Now she's reaching out to business leaders to raise their own consciousness while also helping them to create corporate cultures that have a positive impact on wellbeing.

In a world where "everybody's got too much to do and an inbox that's never empty, the master tool for stress is pattern disruption." When Cyndi talks about meditation as a way to disrupt that stress and overwhelm, "people are desperate for it." Best of all, more and more studies on meditation are showing that "the benefits are profound for something that's free, doesn't take a lot of time and doesn't take much education."

Cyndi is a teacher of many things: meditation, yoga and nutrition among others. She first learned yoga from her mother at age 12, while her entrepreneurial success can also be traced back to childhood, including starting as an Avon cosmetics salesperson at age 15 and becoming the top salesperson by age 16. She went on to found several business before bringing together her interests in yoga and business when she founded Breathe Yoga and Juice Bar, which has grown from a hobby to seven locations and a new spin-off store "Breathe at Home."

"My ability to obtain my dreams is carried on the backs of the people that I work with. If they're going to carry me to my dreams, I want to carry them to their dreams too."

John Nichols founded the construction company Nichols Construction Team in 1983 with his father Jim and his brother Brad. From the beginning, they were committed to using purpose and culture as a competitive advantage. Even though John recognizes the importance of talking about culture and values in every meeting, he believes that "culture is caught, not taught." When leadership demonstrates a long-term commitment to culture, they "don't have to preach it, they just teach it like an apprenticeship: through watching."

Tune in to this episode to learn why the tough times and difficult situations have been the greatest opportunities to prove their commitment to their culture:

-No matter what the contract says, if the company makes a mistake, their "buildings never go out of warranty" and they've created a culture of psychological safety by extending that empathy to employee mistakes as well

-The reaction during the recession that made their team MORE cohesive, not less

-Getting feedback not just from customers, but also from unsuccessful proposals

John has more than 40 years of construction experience. As president and CEO of the Nichols Construction Team, John oversaw all business operations as well as the overall construction management process ensuring that day-to-day operations meet or exceed the expectations of their clients. John takes great pride in helping clients see their dreams become realities and always strives to develop business relationships that are based on respect, trust, and honesty. John has worked to root that culture into all operations at Nichols Construction Team to sustain those values even as he passes the torch of leadership.

A person sits in a chair. It happens millions of times a day, and few of us give it a second thought. Yet it's a connection Staach believes should be not only comfortable, but meaningful. Staach strives to create the finest modern handcrafted furniture using only sustainable methods and materials. Because Staach thinks good, functional design and environmentally responsible practices can make our world a better place to live in. And sit in.

For Staach, sustainability is a way of life. A process of continually finding more and better ways of existing within this world. As designers, manufacturers, and employers, Staach recognizes that their actions carry significant weight and pride themselves on being proactive, respected advocates for social and environmental causes and continually look for ways to improve their contributions.

Seth Eshelman started Staach in 2006 as a RIT student for an independent study project after a trip abroad to Denmark. It was another college project, this time by one of his college friends, that led Staach to formalize the sustainable ethos of its founding by pursuing a B-corp certification.

In some ways, Conscious Capitalism blurs the lines between the for-profit and non-profit sectors. Some have even erased the distinction by calling it for-purpose. There are certainly things that the for-profit sector can learn from non-profits about brining more purpose into work. There is also much that the non-profit sector can learn about being more agile and entrepreneurial. Perhaps Rochester's most entrepreneurial non-profit, Foodlink is celebrating "40 Years of Social Innovation." Tune in to this episode with Foodlink's Chief Programs Officer Mitch Gruber to learn about some of their most innovative social enterprises, how they balance purpose and profit, and how balancing their values of agility and stewardship help to create an entrepreneurial culture at Foodlink.

Mitch Gruber is the Chief Programs Officer at Foodlink. After graduating from SUNY Binghamton in 2006, Mitch traveled throughout east Africa and the middle east to work on various social justice projects. He returned to Rochester in late 2007 and began working for Action for a Better Community as a Head Start teacher on Hudson Avenue.

He met his mentor Tom Ferraro in 2008 and began working for Foodlink, where he now serves as the Chief Programs Officer. He implemented some of the most critical public health programming in Rochester including Curbside Market, Lexington Ave Urban Farm, and several job training programs. For this work Governor Cuomo appointed him to his Council on Hunger and Food Policy.

While at Foodlink he earned a PhD in American history at the University of Rochester. His dissertation analyzed the decline in urban food access in Rochester during the twentieth century, and argued that a strong municipal government can foster equity and social justice for all residents.

He was even married at the Rochester Public Market and he and his wife own and live in a home in the Susan B. Anthony neighborhood, where he is not only an active member of the neighborhood association but was recently elected to Rochester City Council.