Next Up Podcast

Thanks for tuning into the Next Up Podcast. This episode is the podcast conversion of our first ever live studio audience filming of Next Up at NxtGen Network’s event called Ignite. This episode is sponsored by LINQ and is the finale episode of the 4C’s behind the business of Child Nutrition… and the topic is “Courage”.

On today’s episode, we have Stefanie Giannini, Director of Food & Nutrition Services at Marquardt School District 15 in the Chicago land area and owner of IVATI where her mission is to inspire and cultivate every individual's identity & development as a leader through public speaking, consulting, and content creation. Along with Stefanie is Sandy Voss, the Director of Food & Nutrition Services at Arlington Heights School District 25. Also, in the Chicagoland area. Stefanie and Sandy have a special relationship in that Sandy used to be Stefanie’s director before her move to Arlington Heights which opened the door for Stefanie's promotion at Marquardt 15. In this episode, we’ll talk about their relationship, what it takes to lead successfully in today’s society, and how to hire and develop future leaders.

Learn how you can transform your cafeteria into the dining space of your dreams with AmTab!  We've got James and Eve from AmTab and Scott Anderson from Madison County School District who walked us through his experience partnering with AmTab.

Leah began her career in university food service at Morehead State University. After spending the next six years in healthcare nutrition/food service, she decided to make the change to school nutrition. During her employment at Mayfield Independent Schools, she has co-coached a winning Kentucky Junior Chef team and held numerous positions within Kentucky School Nutrition Association and is currently KSNA President-Elect. Most recently, Leah has been on the front lines providing meals in the community after a devastating tornado destroyed Mayfield.  

This is a four-part series that was inspired by a LINQ’D UP podcast featuring Shannon Solomon from  Aurora Public Schools. In this series, Shannon will be the guest host and will be joined by Jessica Shelly, Katie Cossette, and Roy Pistone where they speak about what it takes to successfully run your child nutrition program as the business it is.

Our friends over at Nation's Restaurant News, had a conversation about Wendy's entering the metaverse arena on an episode of the Extra Serving podcast. Being the techy futurists we are, we had to check it out! Join Marlon, Amanda, and Mike on their adventure to Wendyverse!

Connect with NxtGen Network:

Connect with Nation's Restaurant News:

In this episode of the Next Up Podcast, Marlon had the opportunity to travel to Bonita California to meet with Stella Ndahura, the Foodservice Director at Bonita Unified School District. Malissa Marsden from the Mushroom Council was able to make the trip as well, and as you can imagine the topic of the conversation was mushrooms. We spoke about benefits, recipes, and how to get the results you want when introducing them to your menus. Well...that and me trying to convince Stella to take me to back home to Africa with her! 

https://www.mushroomcouncil.com/

In this live talk show episode converted to podcast, we spoke about the things you can do to control the perception of your child nutrition program by using marketing and communication tools. Our guests on this episode include Tyson K-12, TITAN a LINQ Solution, and Alachua County Schools from Florida.  

https://www.tysonfoodservice.com/your-channel/k-12 

https://www.tysonmarketingbuilder.com/shop 

https://www.titank12.com/ 

https://www.linq.com/

In this episode of the talk show, Marlon Gordon and Amanda Venezia sat down and had a conversation with Lora Gilbert, the Senior Director of Food and Nutrition Services at Orange County Public Schools about what it was like to be a founding member of the USFA as well as what her district is doing to better their community. https://urbanschoolfoodalliance.org/

It's been 18 years since the School District of Lee County became peanut free in their kitchens. In this episode, find out what drove the decision to bring peanuts back into their school nutrition program and what they're doing to ensure it's done successfully.