The Matt Balaker Podcast

Ron Reid was a nationally touring comedian with appearances on Showtime, NBC, and more. He parlayed his expertise to help create Artists West Entertainment. Hear his story.

Newth Morris is an entrepreneur, family man, and above-average snowboarder. He founded a company that employed hundreds. Now he's helping the next generation of business leaders. What are his thoughts on running a business in California? Tune in to find out.

MORE ABOUT NEWTH MORRIS

https://www.ankona.com/

Amy Chambers had a cushy corporate job. But she left it to write books, teach others, get fit, and live the life she wanted. Hear her story on the Matt Balaker Podcast.

MORE ABOUT AMY CHAMBERS

Amy Chambers has over 21 years of experience in the financial services industry and has spent 15 of those in leadership. By the time she was 28, she was managing 260 people for a large commercial bank and has held numerous District Manager and Regional Director roles—before ultimately becoming a Chief Operating Officer for a credit union overseeing numerous divisions including Retail, Call Centers, Wealth Management, Facilities, and Operations Support.

During her years as COO, her organization grew at a rate of nearly 20% annually. Throughout her career, she’s led over 500 people to success. She’s worked with and for every kind of leader imaginable, and in her two decades of observing, studying, coaching, and mentoring others—she’s developed a framework of principles that work, every time, to help transform culture, engage people, and deliver results—EVERY TIME. Today, Amy is an Executive Coach, Career Coach, Life Coach, and Business/Leadership Consultant—helping her clients all transform their lives, as well as a business consultant on leadership, culture, talent, and success. Her first book, “the 7 V.I.R.T.U.E.S. of Exceptional Leaders”, is a #1 International bestseller and she’s currently writing her second book, which will focus on personal leadership.

Amy trained herself from being unable to run a mile without having to walk- into an a marathon runner. In the past 7 years, she’s ran over 200 half marathons, 11 full marathons, and hundreds of other races, totaling nearly 12,000 miles. She’s also become an avid skier—something she was once deathly afraid to do. Amy is a long-time cyclist, rollerblader, tennis player, photographer, and scrapbooker. She currently resides in Long Beach, CA with her boyfriend of 6 years, David.

www.amymchambers.com 

https://m.youtube.com/@coachamychambers2001?noapp=1 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-chambers-4335008/

Brooklyn-born Mike Diamond has led an intriguing life. As a Marine veteran, Diamond confronted his greatest fears and might have discovered the key to race relations. He pushed passed homelessness to become a successful business man. Then standup comedy derailed his political career. He persevered with laughter and drive. Hear his story. 

 https://www.instagram.com/mikediamond... 

@mikebdiamond 

https://www.facebook.com/Michael.A.Di...

Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist and film critic who runs HollywoodinToto.com. He regularly contributes to The Daily Wire, RealClearInvestigations, TheHill.com, and JustTheNews.com. Hear is story about love, movies, and free expression.

http://HollywoodInToto.com

https://link.chtbl.com/vHZhQUOy?sid=TWITTER

Matthew Nordgren a philanthropist, national champion, television star, and founder of Arcadian Capital Management. He was part of the most exciting game in Rose Bowl history. Now he applied his worth ethic to the business world. Hear his story on the Matt Balaker Podcast.

MORE ABOUT MATTHEW NORDGREN Matthew Jason Nordgren is an ambitious executive, dedicated philanthropist, and accomplished athlete who brings a unique passion for creating strategic alliances. He encompasses a depth of experience in finance, corporate development, and capital sourcing, as well as in building highly motivated teams of skilled professionals.

In 2005, Mr. Nordgren received his education at the University of Texas at Austin, while playing football for the Texas Longhorns Football Team. As a quarterback on a National Championship winning team, he developed skills that would be carried through his lifetime and core business philosophies. While playing football on scholarship for The University of Texas, he graduated with two degrees in less than four years and was accepted into and pursued a master’s degree program at the University of Texas. After playing professionally briefly with the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles, Mr. Nordgren went on to earn a dual master’s degree in both business administration and sports management from the University of Dallas. He was subsequently featured on the Bravo TV show “Most Eligible Dallas,” while becoming a partner in a family business, NORDCO, Inc., a Dallas-based energy firm. This is also when he helped to develop, manage and build his first private equity/family office business with a sports and media focus which lead to a career in running various investment vehicles across a broad spectrum of strategies.

https://www.arcadiancap.com/

Matt Hawkins is a leader in cannabis investing. But he didn't start out that way. Hear his story about entrepreneurship, investing, and advocacy.

ABOUT MATT HAWKINS Matt Hawkins entered cannabis as the founder of EEC in 2014. He is known and respected in the industry as one of its foremost and thought-leading investors and has developed invaluable cannabis relationships as a result. Matt has spoken on countless industry panels and has discussed cannabis on media outlets such as CNBC, Fox News, Cheddar, Yahoo Finance, and Bloomberg. Prior to EEC and during his 20+ year career in private equity, Matt founded two $500M+ alternative investment firms and built deep and broad expertise in turnaround management and real estate.

https://www.entourageeffect.com/

From his 75 million-viewed AGT performance to his #1 Amazon comedy album, Alex Hooper blends dark humor with silly positivity. Hear his story about leaving his day job, roasting Simon Cowell, battling cancer, and resiliency.  

Check out his new podcast Dirty Briefs: https://www.audible.com/pd/Dirty-Briefs-with-Alex-Hooper-Podcast/B0BSVJYGVF  @hooperhairpuff https://www.hoopercomedy.com/#home-section

Jordan Youkilis is Wells Scholar, fund manager, and cannabis expert. What are his New Year's Resolutions? He's countering the Drug War. Listen to find out how.  

Jordan Youkilis' Resolution:  This year, I’m resolving to write a revolutionary proposal for sensible drug policy.  50+ years into the War on Drugs, and my heart breaks as its devastation continues compounding. 

Despite trillions spent, addiction rates haven’t moved, and overdose deaths continue rising. The US has 5% of the total population, yet 25% of the prison population. Black men have a 1 in 3 chance of incarceration during their lifetime (vs. 1 in 17 for whites). Meanwhile, the opioid epidemic became the heroin epidemic, which became the fentanyl epidemic. We have the highest per capita cost of health insurance. Yet out pharmaceutical-focused system has taken America from one of the healthiest countries 40 years ago to dead last among industrialized nations. 

 It’s time we recognize that our drug policy is fundamentally flawed, and dramatic reform is required to fix it. Prohibition does not work, and the negative consequences exceed those of the substances themselves. Yet our politicians can’t even pass commonsense legislation like SAFE Banking – with bipartisan and overwhelming popular support. In the meantime, drugs continue to divide the nation along racial and party lines.  

Therefore, I’m writing a proposal for our elected officials with revolutionary ideas to fix the War on Drugs once and for all. To the leaders in the movement for sensible drug policy, your input and support on this project is greatly appreciated. 

Some ideas I’m currently considering:  

1. Immediate descheduling of cannabis and rescheduling of psychedelics. 

2. Health policy that treats drug addicts as human beings suffering, not criminals to be locked in cages. 

3. Broad criminal justice reform – incl. elimination of mandatory minimums and asset forfeitures. 

4. Reparations to communities subjugated by the War on Drugs. Investments focused on local programs proven to reduce recidivism and break multi-generational cycles of poverty. 

5. Full transparency into campaign financing. Specific scrutiny focused on funding from pharmaceutical co.’s, for-profit prisons, and A&D contractors. 

6. Prevention of patenting naturally occurring cannabinoids and other plant molecules. 

7. Independent investigation into the intelligence agencies’ involvement in the illicit drug trade. Officials complicit in drug trafficking should face criminal charges and be brought to justice. 

8. Research funding into the benefits of cannabis and other alternative healing modalities.

 9. Implement a path to repeal the Controlled Substances Act and UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances. 

In the words of Dr. King, it’s time “to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. 

This is not time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy.”  Let’s make 2023 the year we end the War on Drugs and restore the integrity of medicine. Love to you all!