Profiles in Leadership

Matt Johnson is a marketing agency founder, podcaster, and musician. Matt runs a podcast launch & production agency based in San Diego, an international team that helps business coaches,  consultants and thought leaders use done-for-you podcasting to attract an audience, build influence & become MicroFamous.

Matt is the author of MicroFamous and currently hosts the MicroFamous podcast. He is a frequent podcast guest and event speaker to audiences around the US, Canada, and Australia.

"What's Gaby Cooking?"  has become a powerful brand in the food and lifestyle world.  Gaby Dalkin describes herself as a communicator who happens to be a Chef!  She loves interacting with people, cooking and traveling and she has found a way to share it on social media, authoring 3 bestselling cookbooks and forming partnerships with well known brands in the industry.  Her passion is infectious and her driving to succeed is inspiring.  She continues to build an empire that people just want to be a part of.  She grew up a picky eater and now she shows people that anyone can cook and entertain as well as eat good healthy food.  A success story you just can't resist! 

Steve Miletich has worked as a reporter at The Seattle Times for more than 20 years, covering air-safety issues, criminal-justice matters, police reform and a wide range of watchdog and investigative projects. He was part of a team of Times reporters that was awarded the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news for coverage of the killing of four police officers in Lakewood, Wash. He was also a finalist in 2007. In May of 2020 he received his second Pulitzer Prize for his work on a 4 person team covering issues with the Boeing 737 Max airliner.   He previously worked at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer from 1981 to 1999 and The Journal-American in Bellevue, Wa, from 1976 to 1981

Tony Gemignani is a 13 time world champion Pizzaiolo from San Francisco.  He is the chef and owner of 28 locations in Northern California and Las Vegas.  Tony has been perfecting his craft for more than 2 decades and holds an impressive set of awards for his pizza making and tossing skills.  He is the proprietor of the International School of Pizza in San Francisco, where he certifies chefs from around the world, and is an official U.S. Ambassador of Neapolitan Pizza by the city of Naples, Italy.  Tony has also been inducted four times into the Guinness World Book of Records.  Tony has appeared on several popular shows including Good Morning America, The Today Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and is a regular on Food Network Channel.  He is the author of PIZZA, Tony and the Pizza Champions, and The Pizza Bible, the definitive book on Pizza.  In this interview he talks of building a strong team and always striving to learn and grow.

In January of 2020 In Nashville at The 13th Annual Graham Sessions I gave a "What I Believe" speech.  Leaders need to be willing to collaborate, communicate effectively with different personalities and compromise when necessary.   The best ideas that last the test of time are gained with collective wisdom in a high functioning group.  We need to feel comfortable in our right brain thinking and embrace the gray.  Black and white thinking is limiting.  Being willing to wander and live in the gray opens up opportunities and allows teammates to feel included and listened to which results in more innovation and higher levels of success.  It might be messy, so be brave and "Say yes to the mess" and believe in the gray. 

Julie Huffaker is a breathe of fresh air bringing passion and hope to leadership and life.  She is a social scientist fascinated by how people come together in groups and outperform themselves.   She has more than 25 years' experience helping organizations deliberately evolve leadership, culture, strategy and capacity.  She has a PhD in Organizational Leadership and Change, a MA in Human Development and a MBA.   She is a Principal and Founding Partner at consultancy Deeper Funner Change.  Her wisdom and compassion are unmatched and her impact of helping people change how they communicate is unparalleled.  She is passionate about paddle boarding and diving deep into personal and group interactions.  She lives in Portland, Oregon.

This is the second episode of reviewing "Pearls of Wisdom" from interviews over the last couple of months.  This will be released one month into the COVID 19 Pandemic crisis we are in  not only as a nation but as part of the world.  Businesses are struggling, many are closed and people are getting anxious and frustrated with being at home to support the Stay at Home and Shelter in Place the nation is doing to help slow down the spread of the virus.  Leadership has never been more important than now.  This episode reviews some key points Leaders have made during interviews on this Podcast and I have elaborated on these key points in a discussion format.  As I stated during Pearls of Wisdom Summary I, I will do this periodically as a way to further highlight and learn about the amazing leaders I have the honor and privilege to interview in each episode I publish on this program. 

Imagine being the first at something?  Dr. Darlene Iskra was the first woman Commander of a ship in the US Navy!  She served in the US Navy for 21 years..  She was also one of the first woman officers to serve as a Diving Officer and she served on four different ships before taking command of the Rescue and Savage ship USS Opportune during Operation Desert Shield/Storm in December 1990. She has a Ph.D in Sociology and an MA in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.  She was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame in 2008 and the San Francisco State University Alumni Hall of Fame in 2009. 

Covid 19 pandemic has brought businesses to crisis mode.  Leadership has never been more important.  This episode brings 6 different people from the trenches with boots on the ground navigating this uncharted territory day by day.  People need to hear facts and know the truth as everyone tries to figure out how to manage the next few weeks and likely months.  No one knows the answer but Leaders have to move forward and do what they can to help those counting on them for their livelihood.  In a crisis leadership matters.

Tyler Ott is the long snapper for the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL.  He has played for the team for 3 years and has a contract through the 2022 season.  He is a graduate of Harvard University where he won two Ivy League Championships and graduated with a degree in Economics and a minor in Environmental Science and Public Policy.   He shares his theory on leadership and has experience with 5 different NFL teams and describes how the team cultures are very different.  He believes Seattle under coach Pete Carroll is the best place to be in professional football and states many players want to play for this team and stay with this team because of the team culture the coaches and players have created.  As an unsung staple of the team he knows when he is doing his job when he is not mentioned on TV or in the media.  He talks about his leadership role on the team.