High Octane Leadership

We wrap up Season 2 by talking about a topic that all professional leaders need to have knowledge of and take action on if they want employees to be happy, if they want to have the best ideas, and if they want their companies to grow the right way; diversity and inclusion.

Hosted today by Jason Gillikin with guest (and normal host) Donald Thompson is extremely passionate about Diversity and Inclusion. He is the CEO of Walk West, which is the fastest growing marketing agency in North Carolina, but he is also an angel investor involved in several companies in the Triangle area. More importantly for this conversation, he's a a diversity and inclusion consultant, identifying how companies can start or change their diversity and inclusion initiatives. And he’s working on a diversity and inclusion online course PLUS a podcast which will both by launching in the Spring of 2020.  

On the show today, we talk about why it’s so important to him, what inclusivity means, we talk about the diversity you can’t see, and how Don implements D&I in the companies he’s working with.

Hustle Unlimited is (usually) hosted by Walk West CEO, mentor, investor, and hustler himself, Donald Thompson.

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

Hustle Unlimited is edited and produced by Earfluence. For more on the Earfluence Podcast Network, visit @EarfluenceMedia on any social media platform.

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.

Donald Thompson talks to guest host Meghan Hockaday about what it takes to succeed in business, who his mentors are and what they taught him, why he doesn’t like the term work-life balance, some of the strategic partnerships at Walk West, and the craziest thing he’s done for a client. 

Hustle Unlimited is (usually) hosted by Walk West CEO, mentor, investor, and hustler himself, Donald Thompson.

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

Hustle Unlimited is edited and produced by Earfluence. For more on the Earfluence Podcast Network, visit @EarfluenceMedia on any social media platform.

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.

Pete McEntegart, managing editor of Grepbeat.com has had quite the windy career path, starting as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs, then going back to college, then writing at Sports Illustrated – if you ever read SI.com in the 2000’s, Pete was the guy who wrote The Ten Spot, which was a daily column on 10 funny things in sports that day. During his time there, he was rudely interrupted by a six-month trial of the Tyco CEO and CFO who were accused of embezzling millions from the company – and he wrote about it for Time Magazine. He then went out to LA to be a film and sitcom writer, and then to Chicago where he co-founded a company called CharacTour, which is kind of like a Netflix algorithm that tells you what shows and movies you should be watching. That ended up not working out, and so in July of 2018, he started working for Bronto founder Joe Colopy’s passion project, Grepbeat.com, which is an online publication that supports the tech startups in the Triangle. On the show today, Pete talks about lessons learned in his windy path, what he sees from successful entrepreneurs, and what’s different about the Triangle ecosystem. 

Such an interesting guy, and the only one of our guests so far who has a Wikipedia page.

Subscribe to Grepbeat's twice-a-week newsletter at Grepbeat.com.

And be sure to read his article in Time, One Angry Man, about his time as a Tyco trial juror.

Hustle Unlimited is hosted by Walk West CEO, mentor, investor, and hustler himself, Donald Thompson.

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

Hustle Unlimited is edited and produced by Earfluence. For more on the Earfluence Podcast Network, visit @EarfluenceMedia on any social media platform.

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.

As Director of Entrepreneur Initiatives at Wake Tech in Raleigh NC, Katie Gailes has been able to help thousands of entrepreneurs with networking, funding, mentoring, and training. But she also says that entrepreneurship does NOT necessarily mean starting a business.  On today's episode, Katie talks about what being an entrepreneur actually means, some of the amazing things she's doing with Wake Tech AND Launch Wake County, diversity in entrepreneurship, and so much more in this inspiring episode!

Hustle Unlimited is hosted by Walk West CEO, mentor, investor, and hustler himself, Donald Thompson.

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

Hustle Unlimited is edited and produced by Earfluence. For more on the Earfluence Podcast Network, visit @EarfluenceMedia on any social media platform.

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.

Hustle Unlimited is hosted by Walk West CEO, mentor, investor, and hustler himself, Donald Thompson.

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

Hustle Unlimited is edited and produced by Earfluence. For more on the Earfluence Podcast Network, visit @EarfluenceMedia on any social media platform.

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.

“Any time you shop local and independent and you spend money in our community, more of that money recirculates back here. And that means money for roads, money for schools, you know, money for general infrastructure. And it just helps create more jobs here.”

Jennifer Martin is the Executive Director of Shop Local Raleigh, and she comes on the Hustle Unlimited Podcast to talk about why it’s so important to shop local, the incredible events (like Brewgaloo) that they’re running to support the community, why businesses should join Shop Local Raleigh, and the advice she has to up-and-coming entrepreneurs.

Hustle Unlimited is hosted by Walk West CEO, mentor, investor, and hustler himself, Donald Thompson.

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

Hustle Unlimited is edited and produced by Earfluence. For more on the Earfluence Podcast Network, visit @EarfluenceMedia on any social media platform.

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.

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.

“A lot of people become a CEO for the first time with no experience. It’s kinda like becoming a parent. There’s not really qualifications to be a CEO. You can print a business card, you can start a business, then you are in charge of something and really responsible for taking something from a concept to a commercial being. And a lot of times when people start a brand new company, they have an idea, they have a certain perspective. But running a business and creating something that gives you value to the point where you can survive in the marketplace is a totally different thing.”

Donald Thompson learned from the mistakes he made as a young CEO, and he shares some of his wisdom in an interview with Amie Thompson, CEO of Creative Allies, and Jason Gillikin, CEO of Earfluence.

The book referenced in this episode is Startup Hats by David Gardner.

Hustle Unlimited is hosted by Walk West CEO, mentor, investor, and hustler himself, Donald Thompson.

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

Hustle Unlimited is edited and produced by Earfluence. For more on the Earfluence Podcast Network, visit @EarfluenceMedia on any social media platform.

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.