High Octane Leadership

Ann Marie Taepke has produced some of the most amazing, hilarious, and memorable videos for brands like Velcro, Chrysler, and  AstraZenaca.  She’s a social media savant who has taken her talents from Ignite Social Media to Walk West, and now she’s the CMO of Holderness Family Productions.

Today she talks about what it’s like to have a viral hit, lessons she learned from watching the great Kobe Bryant, and social media strategy we can all implement today. 

Also, Ann Marie has partnered with Walk West to offer a social media course that provides the philosophy and tools needed to have a successful brand on social media. Through a combination of lectures, worksheets, and expert interviews, with this course you'll be able to master the art of crafting an effective social media strategy. 

And if you go to social.walkwest.com before the end of July, you’ll get 30% off. 

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.

Born and raised in Eastern North Carolina, Tonya Williams' incredible career path took her all the way to the Obama White House, where she was the the Director of Legislative Affairs for Vice President Joe Biden.   On the show today, Tonya talks about that journey - which included UNC Law School, the North Carolina General Assembly, GSK, and the office of Congressman GK Butterfield where she served as Chief of Staff. Tonya is now with SoftBank, as the Director of External Affairs for the Opportunity Growth Fund, a fund that will invest $100M in American minority owned businesses.

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.

Anson Dorrance is quite possibly the most successful coach of any sport all-time, having led the UNC Women's Soccer program to an astounding 22 national titles. On the show today, Anson talks about how he quantifies competitiveness, lessons learned from watching Dean Smith run practice, his perspective on the Black Lives Matter protests, and why he's much more focused on human development than athletic development.

Coming Soon - Anson's Book, Vision of a Champion, will be available on audiobook and adapted into a podcast series. For more information including sponsorship opportunities, check out the Vision of a Champion website. 

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.

We have a guest host for this bonus episode, as Ciera Thompson sits down with two generation z-ers based in Canada. Kaia Counter is pursuing her Master's degree in International Affairs and Ben Codrington is a recent Queen's University graduate who is breaking into the tech industry. These three young professionals discuss what they look for when choosing a place to work, the importance of diversity, and what makes generation Z unique. 

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.

Akinwole Garrett has been super successful in his education and career, having gone to the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, and leading divisions of ABC, CBS, SheKnows Media, and now Lenovo.  As a black man, Aki is no stranger to being the only one in the room. Today he talks about what that's like, the value of higher education, networking, what it's like to build a podcast network from scratch, and why if he had a magic wand with one wish, he'd choose to eliminate white privilege.

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.

Joe Colopy is the founder and former CEO of Durham-based Bronto, which sold to NetSuite in 2015 for $200M. Joe is now involved in the Triangle startup scene, running both Colopy Ventures and Jurassic Capital, and he has an online tech startup newsletter – Grepbeat – which a lot of you probably read in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday.

With a $200M exit, you might expect Joe to have a huge ego, but that’s not him at all. He’s all about community, family, and helping other entrepreneurs. 

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.

Gary Salamido is the CEO of the NC Chamber, and he wants to know why Donald Thompson created The Diversity Movement, how NC businesses can create a more diverse and inclusive workplace, what can be done about white guilt, and how he can sign up to be a Certified Diversity Executive.

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.

Sonya Hopson is "The Lady with The Pink Hard Hat", but she's so much more than that. She's an African American woman working primarily in the construction industry, and she's overcome so many challenges - bias, mistakes, imposter syndrome, racism, and her own personal struggles - to build HIRE Strategies into one of the preeminent job recruitment firms in North Carolina.

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.

David Gardner is a serial entrepreneur (7X founder, exits over $100M) turned angel investor (FilterEasy, Archive Social) turned venture capitalist (Cofounders Capital, raised over $40M for NC tech companies). At this fireside chat at American Underground in Durham NC, David talks about his book, "The Startup Hats: Master the Many Roles of the Entrepreneur", what North Carolina can do to help the startup community, why he invests in founders rather than ideas, and why retirement isn't as great as it sounds.

Startup Hats on Audible
Startup Hats on Paperback and Kindle

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.

Ashlyn Sanders was super successful academically and on track to become a doctor. She graduated from UNC a year early, interned in the Obama White House, and went to grad school at Duke. But while at Duke, a life altering diagnosis steered her to the path of entrepreneurship and an eventual investment from NBA legend Charles Barkley.

NeuroVice
WRAL Techwire: NBA Legend Charles Barkley Invests in Cary medtech startup

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.