The One Away Show

Rich Thompson learned everything he needed to know about business behind the counter of a frozen yogurt shop in Northern California.

His parents ran it. All five kids worked it. And from the time he was four years old, Rich watched his parents show up every single day — opening, closing, fixing orders, building relationships with every customer who walked through the door.

That foundation followed him through a career in finance, into founding his own investment fund Caprice, and eventually into leading Dreamliner — a staffing and workforce solutions company with 600 employees — where he still shows up every day, in the trenches, the same way his parents did.

In this episode, Rich breaks down:

• What a frozen yogurt shop in NorCal taught him about customer experience and community
• Why he's always bet on the jockey, not the horse — and what that means for how he invests
• The decision to leave corporate finance and build something on his own terms
• How athletics shaped his competitive edge and work ethic long before business did
• Why the owner in the trenches always outperforms the owner in the ivory tower
• The balance framework he uses to make decisions when hundreds of families are depending on you
• Why his next chapter is about helping founders who have the idea but don't know who to call
• What watching someone grow from individual contributor to leader does for him

If you believe the best businesses are built on relationships, not spreadsheets — this one's for you.

In 2005, Benny Czarny had a simple mission: build a cybersecurity language that helped products talk to each other. Twenty years later, that mission has evolved into something far bigger — protecting the world's critical infrastructure.

But the real turning point? A discovery buried inside a product test. While running compatibility checks on hundreds of antivirus tools, Benny found something alarming: antiviruses are only about 45% accurate when scanning a file. A coin flip. And most of the major cybersecurity incidents happening in enterprises? Caused by file flow.

That insight changed everything.

In this episode, Benny breaks down:

• Why he started with an OEM model — and why every founder building for the long term should consider it
• The accidental discovery that revealed a massive gap in the cybersecurity industry
• What it actually means to pivot from OEM to enterprise — and how it changed his job overnight
• Why critical infrastructure protection is so much bigger than OT security
• How he's built a company that promotes from within — interns becoming GMs, junior marketers running global teams
• The five year plan he updates every single year — and why they're beating it
• 290,000 certified students and counting at OPSWAT Academy
• Why making at least one mistake a day means you're not on vacation

If you're building something for the long game — this one's a masterclass

Mitch Slater wanted to be in broadcasting. He worked for Larry King. He worked for Howard Stern. He produced game shows in Los Angeles. And then his dad's manager looked at him across a desk and said: you've got communication skills, you can handle rejection — we'll teach you the rest.

That was 35 years ago. Today Mitch is one of the most respected financial advisors at UBS — and the lessons he learned watching Larry King every night still drive how he builds relationships with every client.

In this episode, Mitch breaks down:

• How a career in broadcasting accidentally became a career in wealth management
• What Larry King taught him about listening — and why he never learned anything with his mouth open
• The return on relationship framework that has defined his entire career
• Why managing expectations is the most underrated skill in financial services
• How he built his niche — and why going deeper always beats going broader
• What he thinks AI will and won't do for the financial advisory business
• Why after open heart surgery last year, he's more convinced than ever that human to human will always matter
• 300 Springsteen shows and counting — and what that passion has to do with how he shows up at work

If you believe relationships are the real currency in any business — this one's for you.

Harold Jurado packed everything he owned into a small Subaru Crosstrek, left his family in Chicago, and drove west with almost no money and no plan.

He didn't know where he'd land. He ended up in San Francisco — and a job at Google running their noodle cafe, Threads, changed everything.

Serving 2,000 people a day, watching lines stretch out the door rain or shine, Harold saw something most chefs never see: consistent, year-round demand. Not seasonal. Not trendy. Just people who always wanted a great bowl of noodles.

That data point became a restaurant. That restaurant became Ramen Well. And now Harold is building his second company — Umami Hadi, a frozen ramen and chili oil brand built to go national.

In this episode, Harold breaks down:

• Why leaving Chicago with almost nothing was the most important decision of his life

• What cooking at Google taught him about demand, scale, and proof of concept

• Why he chose ramen over sushi, steakhouse, or fine dining — and what that says about who he wants to serve

• The gastropub philosophy: taking everyday food and elevating it without losing accessibility

• What it's like running two companies at once — two rents, two payrolls, two babies

• The short term goal (one grocery store) and the long term vision (national, nine figures, exit)

• Why he thinks going out to restaurants more is one of the best things you can do for society

If you've ever packed up your life and driven toward something you couldn't quite name yet — this one's for you.

Andy Hilger never planned on a corporate career. English and philosophy major. Master's in creative writing. Spent his 20s working in a group home and an environmental company — pretty sure the corporate world wasn't for him.

Then he took a job at Allegiance Group just to pay the rent. And one chaotic meeting changed everything. A flip chart marker rolled in front of his chair. He reached down to pick it up. His boss pulled his chair away. And suddenly the behind-the-scenes note taker was standing in front of four angry people being told to "land the plane."

What happened next set the trajectory for a 25-year career that took him from note taker to President of Allegis Group — one of the largest staffing companies in the world. In this episode, Andy breaks down: The one moment that pulled him out of the background and into the arena Why the best leaders breathe in stress and breathe out calm How a startup with "fire, fire, fire, ready, aim" energy became a billion dollar company

The agility vs. ability framework — and why your degree's half life is about 2.5 years Why careers are still being run on waterfall when the world has gone agile What lifelong learners have that makes them nearly AI-proof How he's spending his next chapter: teaching at Duke, writing, and helping people retain their agency in a world that keeps changing If you've ever felt like a square peg in a round hole — and wondered if that might actually be your superpower — this one's for you.

At 11 years old, Dusty Holcomb's parents pulled him out of school. No classroom. No curriculum. Just a library card and a world of books waiting to be devoured.

What felt like an oddity at the time turned out to be the greatest gift of his life.

Dusty spent his formative years reading biographies of Eisenhower, Rommel, and Lincoln — not because anyone told him to, but because he was fascinated by one idea: ordinary people doing extraordinary things. That curiosity planted a seed that grew into 28 years of leading organizations, 15 of them as President or CEO — and now a second career coaching the next generation of leaders through the most disruptive moment in business history.

In this episode, Dusty breaks down:

• Why being homeschooled at 11 became the greatest inflection point of his life

• What military history taught him about leadership before he ever ran a team

• The first principle of leadership that most managers never figure out: it's not about you

• Why clarity and alignment are the two most underrated tools in any leader's arsenal

• How great leaders architect machines — and let go of who gets the credit

• The 86% problem: why most organizations are paralyzed by AI and what to do about it

• The three pillars every leader needs to evaluate AI decisions: return on capital, return on time, return on new opportunity

• Why "designed by a human" needs to become the only acceptable standard

If you believe leadership is a craft worth mastering for life — this one's for you.

Aaron Vaccaro was a senior in college, striking out on every internship, staring into the abyss. One spring afternoon, after an investment club presentation, he spotted a board member in the lunchroom and did something most people wouldn't — he asked if they could grab lunch.

That board member knew a guy in Seattle. Didn't really know what he did. Just had a feeling they'd connect.

That feeling turned into a phone call. That phone call turned into a summer internship. That internship turned into 12 years working alongside Eric Anderson — investor, visionary, and the man Aaron credits for everything he knows about business and life.

In this episode, Aaron unpacks what it actually looks like to find the right mentor, earn their trust, and grow alongside them for over a decade — from scaling TopGolf to building Singularity University.

We get into:

• The one lunchroom moment that changed everything
• What to look for in a mentor — and what they're looking for in you
• Why capability plus values alignment is the formula for any great partnership
• The art of unbundling complex problems — and why most people conflate everything
• Visionary leaders vs. execution leaders — and figuring out which one you are
• What succession planning looks like when your mentor is your north star
• Why deep tech, energy, biology, and robotics are where Aaron is placing his bets next
• The unexpected lesson of becoming a first-time dad

If you've ever wondered what it takes to find the right person to learn from — and how to make the most of it — this one's for you.

Marc Shaw never planned to be in the title business. He wanted to prosecute insider trading at the SEC. Never got the callback.

Instead, at the 2002 NFC Championship Game — a loss, by the way — he struck up a conversation with the guy sitting in front of him. That stranger was in the title space. And he offered Mark some closings on the side while he finished law school.

That one conversation turned into a career. And that career turned into Worldwide Title — one of the fastest growing title companies in the country, built on a simple belief: technology doesn't replace trust. It just relocates it.

In this episode, Marc breaks down:

• How a stranger at an Eagles game changed the entire trajectory of his life

• What he saw in the title industry that nobody else was paying attention to

• Why his first employees are still with him today — and what that says about culture

• The human expertise layer that no amount of AI can replace

• Why title insurance is fundamentally a promise, not a transaction

• The Atari to PlayStation 10 analogy for where AI is headed — and what it means for his industry

• Why judgment, relationships, and trust are about to become the most valuable skills in business

If you've ever stumbled into something that turned out to be exactly where you were supposed to be — this one's for you.

Naren was a lawyer at three different venture-funded tech companies when the dot com bubble burst and took all three of them with it.

So he did what any reasonable attorney would do next.

He started a children's book company.

It started with a bedtime story for his three-year-old daughter, a Virginia Tech mascot named the Hokie Bird, and some truly terrible illustrations. That one book sold 5,000 copies in six months — and unlocked a niche nobody had touched: children's books at the intersection of licensed sports content and university pride.

350 universities later, he had a publishing company. Then in 2018, he pivoted again — into thought leadership publishing through Amplify, helping executives, entrepreneurs, and experts turn their ideas into books that open doors nothing else can.

In this episode, Naren breaks down:

• Why he went from law to publishing — and why it made more sense than it sounds

• How one proof of concept became a deal with 350+ universities and Major League Baseball

• The 2018 pivot to thought leadership books and why it changed everything

• Why a book is the ultimate long-form content flex — and what LinkedIn posts will never be able to do

• The AI writing question every author is wrestling with right now — and where the line actually is

• Why your email list is still your single most valuable asset at launch

• The bureau strategy that gets speakers more bookings from a single book tour

If you've ever thought about writing a book — or wondered if it's still worth it — this one's your answer.

Stephanie spent 20 years helping her dad grow his natural ingredient business. She fell in love with the work, the industry, and the meaning behind it all. Then they sold it — and she was left staring at a blank page.

What do you do when the thing that gave your work its soul is gone?

You build something new. From scratch. On your own terms. And if you're lucky, you get to do it with the person you love most.

In this episode, Stephanie and Tyler share the story behind Dabble & Dollop — a kids' personal care brand built on values, not venture capital — and what it actually looks like to build a business together as husband and wife.

We get into:

• Why selling the family business was the catalyst Steph needed to bet on herself

• How Tyler went from investment banking to Mint Mobile to co-founder — and why the timing finally felt right

• What working with her dad taught Steph about autonomy, risk, and what meaningful work actually feels like

• The real consumer insight that changed their entire product strategy

• Why parents of newborns will spend anything — and what happens at age three

• The cash flow reality of self-funded consumer products (spoiler: it's brutal)

• Why the entrepreneurship unicorn story is a lie — and what seven years of fighting actually looks like

• How Steph stays positive when the road gets hard

If you've ever wondered what it takes to build something real — with no outside money, no safety net, and everything on the line — this one's for you.