Liftoff Journeys with Jeanniey Walden

This conversation made me hungry AND inspired, which honestly is the best combination. James Mazzuto spent 20 years in the corporate world, earned an MBA from Tulane, lectured at universities, ran a nonprofit, launched a solar startup, and was literally about to go to LAW SCHOOL on a chancellor's scholarship at Seton Hall when something completely unexpected happened. He walked into a restaurant to kill time for six months and got hooked. Like hook, line, and sinker hooked.

Now he's overseeing three restaurants across New Jersey, Allendale Social, Charlie's Place, and Saku. Alongside partner Daniel Gray and Michelin-star chef Joey Sergentakis. And the way he talks about hospitality, about the trust that goes into something as intimate as sharing a meal, about why you can train someone to make a cocktail but you can't train them to CARE, that hit different. He also calls himself a "recovered MBA" which might be the best self-description I've ever heard on this show.

If you've ever wondered whether it's too late to completely pivot your career or whether that thing scratching an itch you didn't know you had might actually be your calling, this one's for you.

I have been looking for someone who lives at the intersection of creativity and business strategy and Paul Kozlowski is exactly that person. He's an award-winning architect and co-founder of Dunn Kozlowski, a firm that's spent nearly 24 years creating spaces that don't just look beautiful, they make people FEEL something. We're talking restaurants where you don't even realize you've been drawn up to the second floor, residences that are a pure expression of someone's personal brand, and hospitality spaces designed to work just as well for a post-yoga lunch as they do for the biggest celebration of your life.

But what really got me in this conversation is how Paul thinks about brand in a way most marketers and business leaders never consider. He dropped this 80-20 rule that honestly every business owner needs to hear, and the way he breaks down why most companies get design completely wrong might make you rethink that Pinterest folder you've been building.

If you've ever wondered why some spaces just hit different, or why your dream vision might actually be working against you, this is the episode to listen to.

This one is personal for me. Over 10 years ago, Stan Rosenberg was my intern, and watching where his career has gone since then honestly makes me so proud. While he was still in HIGH SCHOOL, this guy started a nonprofit called Trip of a Lifetime that has now raised over a million dollars and sent more than 350 students on transformational travel experiences. Since then, he's scaled teams at major companies and now runs his own firm, Storm King Consulting, where he's built a community of over 550 leaders all paying it forward.

But what really makes this conversation special is how Stan talks about the things nobody tells you about sales, community, and knowing what you're NOT good at. He's a self-described introvert who people didn't think would last three months in sales, and the way he flipped that into his biggest strength is something every leader needs to hear.

If you've ever felt like you have to be the loudest voice in the room to win, this episode is going to change the way you think about that completely.

So I've been a little obsessed with Ross Simmonds ever since I came across one of his presentations and this conversation did NOT disappoint. Ross is a global thought leader and entrepreneur who helps brands scale through content, but the way he thinks about content is completely different from what most marketers are doing right now. He says things that honestly make a lot of people in the industry uncomfortable, like that distribution matters MORE than what you actually create, and that the channels most brands are afraid of are exactly where they should be showing up.

But it's what Ross said about the person on the other end of the screen that completely shifted my perspective. He has this way of breaking down something we all know deep down but keep ignoring, and once you hear it you won't be able to unsee it in your own marketing.

And if you're leading a stretched-thin team right now trying to keep the lights on AND be creative at the same time? Ross shared something his company does every single week that I think every business should steal immediately. You're going to want to hear this one all the way through.

Alex Bennett started washing dishes at his parents' restaurant at 16, and by 25, he was running the whole place. But then life threw him some curveballs: a divorce, a master's degree he couldn't use at the worst possible time, and a career pivot most people wouldn't see coming. And somehow, all those detours led him to write a historical fiction trilogy about bourbon, pirates, and a Scottish rebellion. Yeah, you read that right.

What really got me is how Alex talks about letting life take you where it's going to take you instead of fighting it. He has this incredible way of looking at setbacks not as failures, but as setups for something better. And the story behind how the book came together, including one random conversation with a kid at the bar that made him rewrite an entire manuscript. I won't spoil it, but let's say the details matter more than you think.

If you've ever felt stuck between what you planned for your life and where life actually took you, this one is going to hit different. Alex drops some seriously good advice for anyone chasing a dream, starting over, or just trying to figure out their next move. Plus, you're going to learn something about whiskey history that will make you the most interesting person at your next happy hour. Trust me on that one.

Listen now and find out how a dishwasher turned bartender turned author figured out that the best stories, in books and in life, come from the chapters you never planned to write.

Imagine taking your child to a therapist for help with their behavior, only for the therapist to basically call you a bad parent and tell you it’s your fault they act the way they do? I sat down with Karen Thomas, the founder and CEO of Naturally Recovering Autism, and what she shared about her journey had my jaw drop.

This mom spent over a decade and more than $100,000 of her own money researching, experimenting, and figuring out how to help her son recover from autism symptoms, naturally. Spoiler alert: She did it!
 
Her son went from struggling in kindergarten to being a college graduate living independently, and she's helped other parents see incredible results too, including a mom whose nonverbal son started talking and reading within two months of starting Karen's program. 


This is a mom who refused to accept "there's nothing we can do" and built an entire recovery roadmap from scratch! And she did it all before AI. Whether you're a parent navigating autism, dealing with health challenges in your own family, or just trying to figure things out when nobody has the answers, you're going to feel so seen listening to this. 

Grab your copy of my new book, The Trust Threshold, available on Amazon https://www.liftoffcompany.com/the-trust-threshold/

Sergio Kopelev has one of those journeys that sounds almost unbelievable. He came to the US as a refugee, grew up in real poverty in Brooklyn, got into some serious trouble as a kid, and somehow turned it all around to become a vice president at a multinational consulting firm who's spoken in front of Congress. It’s like a mix of West Side Story meets an episode of The Americans with a bit of Goodfellows and Hijacked all tied together. Yet, it’s 100% REAL, and that's what makes this one SO good.

We got into everything from how his family's history shaped his mindset, to the moment law enforcement completely changed his trajectory, to what he's building now, and okay, I have to tell you about this, he's launching a spy school startup called Tradecraft Adventures! It’s where people actually get to live as an undercover operative for four days. Like, WHAT?! I couldn't believe he was sharing all of this, and I didn't want this conversation to end.

Sergio owns every single part of his story, including the messy parts that most people would never talk about. At the end of the day, his journey is about figuring it out as you go, and honestly, aren't we all doing that? If you need a reminder that where you started doesn't define where you're headed, this is your episode. Trust me on this one.

Grab your copy of my new book, The Trust Threshold, available on Amazon https://www.liftoffcompany.com/the-trust-threshold/

Trust is the invisible line between momentum and stagnation. Cross it, and teams move faster. Miss it, and nothing works the way it should.

In this episode of the Snarketing Podcast, hosts Matt Wurst and Valerie Vespa welcome back their first-ever repeat guest, Jeanniey Walden, for a wide-ranging, candid conversation about trust, leadership, attention, and growth in an AI-shaped world.

Jeanniey introduces her new book, The Trust Threshold: Crossing the Line Between Stuck and Unstoppable, and breaks down how her AIR Method (Authenticity, Inspiration, Relatability) applies far beyond business strategy. The discussion spans everything from why attention has collapsed to a three-second window, to how leaders unintentionally create “checklist workers,” to why relatability is a revenue and survival skill, not a soft one.

The episode also explores how AI can be used as a thinking partner rather than a shortcut, the danger of performative leadership, and why trust signals show up long before revenue drops. With real-world stories from Fortune 250 brands, startups, and personal leadership moments, this conversation blends practical insight with humor and honesty.

Within hours of its release on 2/24, the book hit bestseller! Grab your copy by going to https://www.liftoffcompany.com/the-trust-threshold/

Hopefully you know by now that I didn’t just wrote a book (The Trust Threshold) - but this took me on a journey I never expected. I didnt just write it - I “vibe-Authored” it. And during that process I realized I created the way I lead when I was a little girl (WHAT?!?!)

This episode came from sitting down with Vanessa and Keith Bell for an unexpected, unfiltered, no-prep conversation about my own journey. The one that led me to do something I swore I would never do again…write another book.

I talk openly about my first book experience years ago, and why I never wanted to write another book. Bu more importantly, it touches on how the journey to write a book through this vibe-authoring process led me on a journey to understand so much more of who I am and give me the insights to create the framework that can now help and power other business, brands and leaders.

You will hear so much and meet the great team behind this process.
We talk about the early fears.
The moment the outline stopped me cold.
And the realization that the framework behind my work (authenticity, inspiration, and relatability) didn’t start in my career… it started when I was young and helping my grandma learn to speak after a stroke.

This conversation became the missing chapter in my own story. It helped me understand why this podcast exists, why this book needed to be written, and why the AIR Method isn’t just a business framework, it’s a way of navigating life, leadership, and growth.

If you’ve ever said:
Writing a book sounds cool, but I could never do it, I dare you to not just listen to this podcast, but to try it out.

My book is all about helping people go from Stuck to Unstoppable and you deserve that.


Oh and P.S. If you are seeing this before 2/23 - enter our giveaway for a free copy of my new book.

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/432368-the-trust-threshold-crossing-the-line-between-stuck-and-unstoppable

I don't know about you, but 2025 wasn't the best year for me. I lost my mom, my former company liquidated in bankruptcy and most people I know lost their jobs. That had to be more than a coincidence, and after chatting with Letao Wang, now I know why and I am super psyched for this new year- the year of the Fire Horse!

All I have to say is THANK goodness Letao didn't listen to his family and chose this path. 

A conversation you will not want to miss. 

In this episode of Liftoff Journeys, I sit down with Letao Wang, counselor and award-winning astrologist, to talk about how your life can positively impact many people when you follow the path you are drawn too. 

Like many of us,  Letao didn't find his career part right away. In fact,  he followed the expected path his family had set for him. He graduated, went into finance, graduated, and stepped into a career that looked stable and successful. But internally, something was missing, and he could feel it.

Imagine living according to expectations rather than alignment. That was Letao's reality and a chance spiritual encounter during his Saturn return became the moment that shifted everything. Not because it gave him all the answers, but because it finally gave him permission to ask better questions.

He makes everyone who has been in this position before feel really happy as he shares how  how astrology and counseling became tools for Letao not to escape reality, but to understand people more deeply and to help them heal. What I loved most was how authentic and relatable he was about fear, doubt, and the grief that can come with choosing a different path. Best of all, he trusted his inner voice. Trust led to belief and belief led to his business leadership. 

This episode is for anyone who has ever looked at their life and thought, this should feel right by now. This is your year. Let's do this.

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