High Octane Leadership

Donald Thompson says that being a former athlete can make you a better entrepreneur, and James Chapman is no exception. Having played basketball throughout his entire childhood, the founder and CEO of Plain Sight, a mobile app for networking with like-minded people in virtual and physical spaces, is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for helping others achieve their goals, too.

In this episode, Donald and James discuss what it takes to turn your ideas into a full time job.

The Donald Thompson Podcast is hosted by Walk West CEO, The Diversity Movement CEO, mentor, investor, and Diversity and Inclusion Consultant Donald Thompson.

Music for this episode provided by Jensen Reed from his song, “You Can’t Stop Me”.

The Donald Thompson Podcast is edited and produced by Earfluence. For more on how to engage your community or build your personal brand through podcasting, visit Earfluence.com.

High Octane Leadership is hosted by The Diversity Movement CEO and executive coach Donald Thompson and is a production of Earfluence.

Order UNDERESTIMATED: A CEO’S UNLIKELY PATH TO SUCCESS, by Donald Thompson.

Kayla Merriweather is a powerhouse. A senior at New York University, she’s in the Gallatin School of Individualized Study, concentrating in History and Place through a Black Feminist Lens with a Minor in Spanish. She’s a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholar, a Resident Assistant and the President for the Black Student Union. 

In summary, she’s wicked smart and an example of the type of leaders we need for a better future. To close Women’s History Month, we’re talking about how she practices and teaches allyship, what allyship means to her and what it means to be intentional about the companies you support.

The Donald Thompson Podcast is hosted by Walk West CEO, The Diversity Movement CEO, mentor, investor, and Diversity and Inclusion Consultant Donald Thompson.

Music for this episode provided by Jensen Reed from his song, “You Can’t Stop Me”.

The Donald Thompson Podcast is edited and produced by Earfluence. For more on how to engage your community or build your personal brand through podcasting, visit Earfluence.com.

High Octane Leadership is hosted by The Diversity Movement CEO and executive coach Donald Thompson and is a production of Earfluence.

Order UNDERESTIMATED: A CEO’S UNLIKELY PATH TO SUCCESS, by Donald Thompson.

In Durham, N.C., Leonardo Williams and his wife, Chef Zweli, own one of two Zimbabwean restaurants in the country - Zweli's. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, he’s had to make several innovations and pivots to keep his small business running, but he’s never given up. After partnering with Summit Church to allocate extra food to the his community, he realized the power in connecting individuals from all walks of life to support one another, and he started Activate Durham to do just that.

In this episode of The Donald Thompson Podcast, Donald and Leonardo talk about how Activate Durham will help people gain access to public health and transportation information,  legal assistance, financial assistance and, what Leonardo’s most excited about, finding jobs.

The Donald Thompson Podcast is hosted by Walk West CEO, The Diversity Movement CEO, mentor, investor, and Diversity and Inclusion Consultant Donald Thompson.

Music for this episode provided by Jensen Reed from his song, “You Can’t Stop Me”.

The Donald Thompson Podcast is edited and produced by Earfluence. For more on how to engage your community or build your personal brand through podcasting, visit Earfluence.com.

High Octane Leadership is hosted by The Diversity Movement CEO and executive coach Donald Thompson and is a production of Earfluence.

Order UNDERESTIMATED: A CEO’S UNLIKELY PATH TO SUCCESS, by Donald Thompson.

Companies hire Will Barfield to fill positions with diverse, qualified employees, not only white men like him. He says that, by being intentional in making sure candidates from all backgrounds are considered, his clients have inclusive and effective teams. In this episode, Will and Donald discuss why having these teams—and surrounding yourself with individuals different from you—is so important and beneficial to personal and professional growth.

The Donald Thompson Podcast is hosted by Walk West CEO, The Diversity Movement CEO, mentor, investor, and Diversity and Inclusion Consultant Donald Thompson.

Music for this episode provided by Jensen Reed from his song, “You Can’t Stop Me”.

The Donald Thompson Podcast is edited and produced by Earfluence. For more on how to engage your community or build your personal brand through podcasting, visit Earfluence.com.

High Octane Leadership is hosted by The Diversity Movement CEO and executive coach Donald Thompson and is a production of Earfluence.

Order UNDERESTIMATED: A CEO’S UNLIKELY PATH TO SUCCESS, by Donald Thompson.

Before his family moved from Greece to America, Pryon‘s Igor Jablokov didn’t have electricity in his home—no TV, no radio, no technology. But when he got his first computer, he found his passion. He began a career in artificial intelligence, and he was confused as to why the technology available to him in his lab wasn’t available to everyone else. “No one is going to want a listening device in their house,” people told him. They were wrong. The technology Igor created was acquired by Amazon and is now found in billions of Alexa powered devices. On this podcast, hear how he did it, what he learned from it and what he is now doing at Pryon.

Recommended reading:
We Are All Born Entrepreneurs, by Steve Welch
T-Minus AI: Humanity’s Countdown to Artificial Intelligence and the New Pursuit of Global Power, by Michael Kanaan

The Donald Thompson Podcast is hosted by Walk West CEO, The Diversity Movement CEO, mentor, investor, and Diversity and Inclusion Consultant Donald Thompson.

Music for this episode provided by Jensen Reed from his song, “You Can’t Stop Me”.

The Donald Thompson Podcast is edited and produced by Earfluence. For more on how to engage your community or build your personal brand through podcasting, visit Earfluence.com.

High Octane Leadership is hosted by The Diversity Movement CEO and executive coach Donald Thompson and is a production of Earfluence.

Order UNDERESTIMATED: A CEO’S UNLIKELY PATH TO SUCCESS, by Donald Thompson.

We are taking a quick break from your regularly scheduled weekly episode so we can share with you a new podcast. On First Check, Venture Capitalist Tim McLoughlin (Cofounders Capital) is taking lessons learned and his expertise in investing to level up current investors and get future investors ready to write their First Check.

Donald Thompson is the first guest, and we’re sharing just a few minutes of that conversation with you here. to hear the rest of it, you’ll need to head to First Check on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.

And the Donald Thompson Podcast will be back next Wednesday with a new episode, with guest Igor Jablokov, the AI entrepreneur who helped build Alexa.

First Check and the Donald Thompson Podcast are productions of Earfluence.

High Octane Leadership is hosted by The Diversity Movement CEO and executive coach Donald Thompson and is a production of Earfluence.

Order UNDERESTIMATED: A CEO’S UNLIKELY PATH TO SUCCESS, by Donald Thompson.

Substantial Media, LLC. is on a mission to amplify positive stories within Black and Brown communities. By letting creativity run free, their contributors create multimedia content that brings attention to important issues at local, state and national levels.

That kind of vision deserves recognition and support, so DT has devoted himself to Substantial's mission by joining them as an investor and board member.

On this episode, Substantial Media CEO Greg Hedgepeth and Substantial Magazine Editor-in-Chief Evelyne Del interview DT about his history, his hustle and his commitment to supporting their business.

The Donald Thompson Podcast is hosted by Walk West CEO, mentor, investor, and Diversity and Inclusion Consultant Donald Thompson.

Music for this episode provided by Jensen Reed from his song, “You Can’t Stop Me”.

The Donald Thompson Podcast is edited and produced by Earfluence. For more on how to engage your community or build your personal brand through podcasting, visit Earfluence.com.

High Octane Leadership is hosted by The Diversity Movement CEO and executive coach Donald Thompson and is a production of Earfluence.

Order UNDERESTIMATED: A CEO’S UNLIKELY PATH TO SUCCESS, by Donald Thompson.

In this solo episode, Donald reflects on what Black History Month means to him, what CEOs should share during this month regardless of their political beliefs, and why he's investing in a new company that's focused on amplifying the true superheroes of our communities.

The Donald Thompson Podcast is hosted by Walk West CEO, mentor, investor, and Diversity and Inclusion Consultant Donald Thompson, who was recently named to the Forbes Next 1000 List.

Music for this episode provided by Jensen Reed from his song, “You Can’t Stop Me”.

The Donald Thompson Podcast is edited and produced by Earfluence. For more on how to engage your community or build your personal brand through podcasting, visit Earfluence.com.

High Octane Leadership is hosted by The Diversity Movement CEO and executive coach Donald Thompson and is a production of Earfluence.

Order UNDERESTIMATED: A CEO’S UNLIKELY PATH TO SUCCESS, by Donald Thompson.

While there are no longer laws that segregate our country, Ken Lewis has noticed something - the corporate boardrooms don't look much different than what they did in the 1950's.  Find out what we can do to change that.

Ken Lewis has been a practicing attorney for 33+ years, and represents clients in mergers, acquisitions, and sales of businesses, and in the formation of strategic alliances at Nexsen Pruet, LLC.

The Donald Thompson Podcast is hosted by Walk West CEO, mentor, investor, and Diversity and Inclusion Consultant Donald Thompson.

Music for this episode provided by Jensen Reed from his song, “You Can’t Stop Me”.

The Donald Thompson Podcast is edited and produced by Earfluence. For more on how to engage your community or build your personal brand through podcasting, visit Earfluence.com.

High Octane Leadership is hosted by The Diversity Movement CEO and executive coach Donald Thompson and is a production of Earfluence.

Order UNDERESTIMATED: A CEO’S UNLIKELY PATH TO SUCCESS, by Donald Thompson.

JouleBug CEO Grant Williard is on a mission to make sustainability both fun and profitable. For starters, saving the planet is as simple as following your grandma's advice.

Download the JouleBug app | in the Apple Store | on Google Play

The Donald Thompson Podcast is hosted by Walk West CEO, mentor, investor, and Diversity and Inclusion Consultant Donald Thompson.

Music for this episode provided by Jensen Reed from his song, “You Can’t Stop Me”.

The Donald Thompson Podcast is edited and produced by Earfluence. For more on how to engage your community or build your personal brand through podcasting, visit Earfluence.com.

High Octane Leadership is hosted by The Diversity Movement CEO and executive coach Donald Thompson and is a production of Earfluence.

Order UNDERESTIMATED: A CEO’S UNLIKELY PATH TO SUCCESS, by Donald Thompson.