Lisa Weinstein had reached a point in her career where she'd covered most of the ground in advertising, from executive positions in global advertising firms to leading a major roll-up in the ad-tech space. After grabbing a number of brass rings in her industry, Lisa made a huge jump to lead a company she had been advising, Curiosity.com.

Hear about her move, her ramp in this new role as a startup CEO, and her thoughts on where digital advertising and ad tech are headed on the Real Leaders Podcast with Sue Heilbronner.

When Vlada Bortnik arrived in the United States from the Ukraine at age 10 knowing very little English, her family settled in Kansas. Vlada was immersed in the language and in American culture, but she has never forgotten many of the things many Americans take for granted -- food in the grocery stores and enough money to buy it. 

From the time she was a kid, the founder of Joya (known best for the widely popular video communication app Marco Polo) has charted an intentional life. She landed at Northwestern University with a meaningful scholarship (which she needed), she majored in art and computer science, she successfully navigated from intern to product manager at Microsoft, and then she went out on her own (alongside her husband and co-founder) and built businesses that addressed market gaps or, with Marco Polo, solved a real problem.

Vlada tells her inspiring entrepreneurial journey and her motivation for focusing on Marco Polo to help people feel close. Hear the intimate conversation on the Real Leaders Podcast with Sue Heilbronner.

Luke Saunders broke into entrepreneurship selling plants in elementary and middle school. After college, facing a poor economy and with a less-than-stellar academic record, he took the helm at his family's business, manufacturing and selling grease and lubricant to industrial producers.Luke was a dedicated sales road warrior, and he struggled with getting anything close to healthy food during weeks that he was driving 1000 miles to meet with accounts. How does someone with early exposure in logistics, manufacturing, and bad fast food end up leading a fast-growing, venture-backed, Chicago-based company that sells fresh and healthy meals through vending kiosks? It makes perfect sense as Luke tells the story on this episode of the Real Leaders podcast with Sue Heilbronner.

Seth Levine, partner at Boulder-based venture capital firm Foundry Group, was dismayed to hear the news coming out of Silicon Valley about the sexual harassment and sexual assault claims connected to veritable luminaries in the venture world. Seth and Foundry did what they often do on issues that matter. They moved quickly beyond thought and words to action. Yet this is a complex issue for a firm run by (his words) four middle-aged white guys. They stayed curious, moved carefully, sought extensive input, and continued to ask themselves tough questions about the "right thing" to do. Hear Seth's thoughts in the aftermath of these difficult disclosures and his views on what venture firms must do to not only be fair and decent but also leverage the meaningful investment opportunities with women-led startups.

Listen in to an intimate conversation with MergeLane co-founder and CEO Sue Heilbronner on the Real Leaders podcast.

Mentoring has become a ubiquitous "should." You should be a mentor. You should have mentors. You should listen to the insights of your terrific mentors. This is certainly the byword in the startup world, and fantastic accelerators like Techstars are "mentor-driven" specifically nodding to the value that a diverse and engaged team of mentors can provide to an early-stage company.

So if you're outside of this world and want to hear more about what a real-life mentor deep dive with a startup sounds like, this podcast is for you. If you're inside this world and want to hear what a mentor meeting sounds like with Techstars Boulder company Monday, here's your chance. This intimate conversations covers the usual business dynamics of the company and touches on the personal dynamics of the founders. Actually all of that counts as critical "business" dynamics.

Evan Walden and Raul San Narcisso are the founders of Monday, at JoinMonday.com. Monday wants to connect engaged people with jobs they love, and as you'll hear, they're well on their way.

You know that time when you ended up at a bar with one of the smartest, most future-focused engineers you've ever met and you asked him (or her) a bunch of pretty basic questions about AR, VR, and AI? This episode of the Real Leaders podcast is a bit like that, except I get to feel like the neophyte asking the questions, both speakers stayed sober, and you get to be in awe of the way the complex mind of Vikas Reddy -- co-founder of spatial computing company Occipital -- can operate at the highest and most relatable levels in the highly complex space his company is charting.

It's a great listen. A wonderful startup founder. A really nice and generous guy. A story of true long-term devotion to finding the nexus between the power of technology and pragmatic ways to use it to make human lives better.

Eric Friedenwald-Fishman was raised in a family of hippies (his words). His upbringing rendered him a change agent and a force for justice, as early as elementary school. In this transparent conversation with Real Leaders host Sue Heilbronner, Eric explains how his core values built and still permeate the mission at his social change communications firm, the Metropolitan Group.

Jason Eckenroth is coming off a terrific exit for the company he founded 17 years ago and ran for the entirety. Jason and ShipCompliant is a story about passion, perseverance, patience, and paving the way to building a great life through the creation and nurturing of a company that articulates your values.

Jason's latest project is building a community for self-funded entrepreneurs. If you haven't raised venture capital, and are building a durable, profitable and meaningful business, visit www.sovereignty.com to learn more.

Devin Hibbard is changing the world, by radically enhancing the financial lives and self worth of women in its second largest continent. Devin could have chosen an easier path -- with talents perfectly suited to do just about anything -- but she has devoted her entire professional life to enriching the lives and prospects of women in Africa through the vehicle of BeadforLife. Hear how and hear why in this Real Leaders podcast with Devin Hibbard, the nonprofit's CEO.

You should know that Margaret Miner's companies generate way more revenue than you think, and way more than many of the tech companies you read about daily in TechCrunch. A completely different angle for this week's episode.

Do you spend time and energy thinking about how to retain your top talent? How to give them growth opportunities in the business to keep them engaged? So does Margaret Miner, founder and CEO of Colorado-based Rags Consignments and ten20, a nail and waxing spa. Given how things have worked out in her decades of growing not one but two businesses founded to solve a need Margaret herself had, she's pretty much got this figured out.

Take the fact that Ten20 has had retained at least one waxing technician -- growing her to one of two managers -- since the first days the company opened its doors 12 years ago. How about the fact that parents of the college-aged kids that staff the multi-unit Rags business regard the job as "finishing school" for their children.

Margaret earned her chops as an entrepreneur the organic way -- by building not one but two successful businesses that have been self-supporting and growing since the start. In this Real Leaders episode, Sue and Margaret talk about the highs and the lows of this path. Now selling Ten20, Margaret shares the challenges of letting go of a business that has been so embraced by her customers.As always, this episode is real, raw, and revealing.