Leadmore Podcast

When BuzzFeed recognized rising inequality in the wake of the pandemic, the news publisher formed a desk dedicated to the phenomenon, and senior reporter Venessa Wong reframed a decade of experience in business writing to cover its cause and the communities impacted by it. In episode 51, Venessa and host John T. Meyer unpack the growing wealth gap, where her stories start, and her experience in covering anti-Asian racism as an Asian American journalist. How Venessa covers the heavy ...

Throughout his 20 years in community building, Joe Bartmann learned he had a knack for following legendary leaders. He also recently learned that he’d lived his entire life with autism. In episode 50, Joe and host John T. Meyer discuss Joe’s leadership journey, how he embraces the gap between legendary leaders, and what he’s doing to help others understand autism. Joe’s first community (02:55)Wading into economic development (10:28)Embracing the leadership gap (14:40)Empowering rural com...

Listening leads the storytelling process for Jackie Hendry, host of SDPB’s news program South Dakota Focus. It’s also her superpower. In episode 49, Jackie joins John T. Meyer to discuss what it was like to cover healthcare during the pandemic, the art of storytelling with audio, and what she has learned from interviewing leaders throughout her time at SDPB. You wanted to be a journalist when? (04:37)Coverage during COVID (08:10)Jackie’s new focus on South Dakota (16:48)The power of the ...

Rob Walling sees himself as a maker and serial entrepreneur. These days he leads with three things: Startups for the Rest of Us, a podcast about bootstrapping SaaS companies, MicroConf, the oldest and largest community for bootstrapped SaaS founders, and TinySeed, the first accelerator designed for bootstrappers. In this episode host John T. Meyer and Rob unpack his life’s mission of supporting a movement, how to identify ethical leaders, and how to start companies with solutions rather ...

Leaders can take the world by surprise. Fomeno founder and CEO Brigit Blote is certainly one of them. She’s a 21-year-old D1 athlete who plays in the symphony, and she’s building a company. In episode 47, Brigit joins host John T. Meyer to discuss her company’s origin story, how she met her co-founders, and how they beat the competition in 121 countries to earn $100,000 in seed funding from the Hult Prize Foundation.What is Fomeno? [01:30]The origin story [04:05]The first people Brigit called...

When it comes to milestone decisions such as accepting a promotion, selling your company, and starting a new company, Aaron Weiche is an expert. He’s done it a few times over the past decade. In this episode, Aaron and host John T. Meyer distill lessons from Aaron’s ascent to leadership, his story of selling a bootstrapped SaaS startup, and his newest role as Co-founder and CEO of Leadferno.Aaron’s startup track record [03:34]How do you merge into leadership roles at new companies? [08:36]Are...

How do we make a successful transition in leadership? In this episode, David Whitesock, founder of Commonly Well, and host John T. Meyer look to the nation’s transitions of power and apply historical context to the transitions we make in our careers. The origin of the idea of a peaceful transition of power [03:34]How much of this is timing? [14:18]Good leaders look beyond the target [18:39]You have to step way out of yourself to determine who’s next [21:22]Messy transitions are a choice ...

Leaders may be familiar with the terms diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as they dominated corporate talking points and headlines following the events of 2020. But where does the rubber meet the road and how do we push the needle in DEI efforts?As the Director of Employee Development and Engagement at Olive, Chase McCants says it begins with acceptance. He'd be the first to tell you he's not your typical HR guy and the ability to be who he is at work is what attracted him to the startup ...

Leaders often give everything they have to their team and their cause. But who takes care of the leaders? That’s exactly what the Reverend Jen Bailey and her team at Faith Matters Network are working to do. Jen is an accomplished leader with a lot of wisdom to offer. In this episode, Jen shares her insights about what leaders need most, what faith looks like after the pandemic, and reflections nearly a year after George Floyd’s murder.-----Connect with John T. Meyer Follow Leadmore on Instagr...

Wes Eisenhauer loves to create. He's a photographer, musician, chef, and entrepreneur—a true modern-day creator. While Wes makes his living creating things, that's not why he does it. He creates out of a need to explore and a passion for making things. His work has been featured in National Geographic, on the front page of Reddit, and with NASA. In this episode, John talks with Wes about how Wes chooses the projects he wants to pursue, what inspires him creatively, and why he often works with...