The T.R.O.N. Podcast

Michelle Clarkson is an Executive Leadership Strategist, Professional Speaker, and Founder & CEO of Meaningful Moments of Power. With more than 25 years of corporate leadership experience, including two decades with Honeywell, Michelle has led large-scale global teams, customer experience operations, continuous improvement initiatives, and organizational transformation. Today, she brings that executive experience into her work developing leaders from the inside out.

Through Meaningful Moments of Power, Michelle works with high-achieving women who are ready to strengthen their self-trust, confidence, voice, boundaries, and decision-making, while also partnering with organizations and leadership teams through corporate leadership training, leadership development, speaking, coaching, and transformational experiences. Her philosophy, Permission Granted™: Lead Yourself First, challenges people to stop waiting for external permission and recognize that how they lead themselves directly impacts everything and everyone they lead.

Dr. Anjelis Oliveira, PhD, MSN/MHA, RN, is a dynamic healthcare executive, wellness entrepreneur, and nurse educator who brings over 20 years of clinical and leadership experience to the microphone. As the Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) of HCA Florida Highlands Hospital and the founder of Rising Stars Wellness, she uniquely bridges the gap between high-level hospital operations and modern, holistic wellness.

On air, Dr. Oliveira delivers a powerful combination of clinical expertise and deep personal empathy. After navigating her own 105-pound health transformation with the help of GLP-1 therapy, she founded a premium telehealth practice dedicated to metabolic health, medical weight loss, and sustainable habit changes. Distilling complex medical concepts into actionable advice, she teaches listeners how to break free from restrictive "all-or-nothing" mindsets by using her signature concept of "Minimum Daily Actions" to rebuild self-trust and consistency.

An expert storyteller and passionate educator, Dr. Oliveira also serves as an adjunct nursing faculty member at St. Thomas University, holds a Ph.D. in Nursing from Barry University, and is fully bilingual in English and Spanish. Whether discussing the future of hospital leadership, burnout prevention for healthcare professionals, or the science and psychology behind sustainable weight loss, she leaves audiences inspired, empowered, and equipped with practical tools for long-term health.

Kent Heckenlively, JD, is a former attorney, passionate middle school science teacher, and New York Times bestselling author who has sold over half a million books worldwide! Known for his energetic storytelling and bold investigative style, Kent tackles big tech, government secrecy, and institutional corruption, while also writing fast-paced historical fiction and political thrillers. From the Courtroom to the Classroom Kent’s diverse career is driven by a deep love for law, science, and education:

• Legal Roots: A Rhodes Scholar candidate with a Juris Doctor (JD) degree, Kent excelled in mock trials and law review before interning for U.S. Senator Pete Wilson and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
• Science in Action: After conducting viral research at Lawrence-Livermore National Laboratories, Kent transitioned into education. Since 2006, he has been sharing his love for science with California middle schoolers.
• Bestselling Exposes: He co-authored the Plague trilogy, including Plague of Corruption, which skyrocketed to #2 on the New York Times Bestseller list. He is also the go-to co-author for high-profile tech and media whistleblowers.
• Vibrant Fiction: Kent recently launched a successful fiction career with The King of Italy (2024), a sweeping multi-generational historical saga, and This Never Happened: A Call Girl in D.C. (2026), a sharp, satirical political thriller.

Chart-Topping Hits & Engaging Stories With a prolific catalog of books, Kent constantly engages a highly dedicated global audience: A founding editor of Age of Autism, Kent is a fearless advocate who continues to write and inspire from his home in Northern California, where he lives with his wife and two children. 

I am thrilled to welcome to the mic a guest who proves that life’s most unexpected turns make for the absolute best stories. Janet Flaugher is an award-winning author, global educator, and former international school superintendent whose career has taken her from the classrooms of Denver to the bustling streets of Beijing, China.Janet is a true literary shape-shifter. She doesn’t just stick to one lane; she commands everything from deeply moving historical biographies to laugh-out-loud travel memoirs and bilingual children's fiction. Her life reads like a masterclass in curiosity, and her writing captures the grit, humor, and beautiful randomness of the human experience.She is the celebrated author behind:

• Two Bottles of Water: Her brilliant, award-winning travel memoir that captured 1st Place at The BookFest Awards for its honest, hilarious look at expat life in China.
• My Father’s Voice: A profoundly moving, deeply researched biography tracking her father's journey from the Great Depression to serving as a WWII Air Force bombardier.
• What If We Had a Dinosaur?: A highly praised, bilingual interactive children's book that brings imagination to life for young readers.

Whether she is unpacking the intense realities of leading an international school, navigating the trials of rural life, or sharing the pure joy of storytelling, Janet brings a wealth of wisdom, a sharp wit, and an incredible perspective to the show today.

Our guest today is a former professional basketball player turned elite wealth strategist who is completely redefining what it means to be truly wealthy. After experiencing childhood financial hardship, he mastered the world of finance, earned a Doctorate in Business Administration, and went on to build a premier wealth advisory firm. But he’s not just about numbers—he famously walked away from an $8.1 million corporate offer early in his career just to protect his ethics and personal values.

He is an Amazon bestselling author, the founder of Michels Family Financial, and the architect behind the global 'Rich by Choice' movement. Please welcome the 2026 Fort Worth 'Man of Impact' award winner, author of Rich by Choice, Dr. Nicholas E. Michels

What does it take to completely reinvent your career after nearly 40 years? In this episode, we sit down with W. Kenneth Tyler, Jr., a semi-retired CPA who spent decades writing "persuasive prose" to the IRS before pivoting to his true passion: storytelling.

Kenny joins us to pull back the curtain on his journey from corporate accounting to becoming an award-shortlisted indie author. We dive deep into his debut historical fiction espionage caper, Hunting the Red Fox—a thrilling tale that weaves together World War II military spying, old Hollywood glamour, and the professional golf circuit.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The Spark: How a chance conversation with a former Major League Baseball player set off a decade-long writing journey.
• The Reinvention: Turning 38 years of business ownership and a marketing MBA into a toolkit for launching a book.
• The Process: What it’s really like to transition from rigid tax compliance to creative fiction.

Amy Meislin Pollack is an American children's author and retired educator best known for creating the Jelly Bean middle-grade fiction series. Her debut series, published by Austin Macauley Publishers, includes The Adventures of Jelly Bean, The Further Adventures of Jelly Bean, and The Still Further Adventures of Jelly Bean. [

Literary Career

The inspiration for Pollack’s coming-of-age series dates back to her fourth-grade classroom in the 1960s, where her teacher frequently called her to the front of the room to share impromptu stories about a character named "Jelly Bean". Though she began drafting the stories later in life, she formally completed and published the series during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Geared toward readers aged 7 to 13, her books follow the nostalgic, real-world complexities of adolescence in the 1960s. Her writing has earned critical recognition from outlets such as Kirkus Reviews and The US Review of Books for tackling sensitive, relatable youth themes, including bullying, mixed-race identity, poverty, and family dynamics. [1,

Professional Background

Before launching her publishing career, Pollack spent more than 40 years in education. She taught a diverse range of subjects and grade levels, working as a high school English teacher, reading specialist, and special education teacher. Additionally, she served for six years as a writing professor and tutor center advisor at Montclair State University. In the early 1970s, prior to entering education, she worked briefly in the New York City advertising industry

Dr. Sieglinde Othmer is an author, style and wellness advocate, and octogenarian powerhouse on a mission to redefine how we view the aging process. Born in Germany, Dr. Othmer survived a daring childhood escape from behind the Iron Curtain before immigrating to the United States, where she established herself as a social scientist, researcher, and academic.

Following the loss of her husband, she channeled her personal resilience into creating Joyous Longevity, an educational movement and field guide exploring mindfulness, socialization, and cognitive activity. Her empowering message that "joy is a conscious decision" has made her a highly sought-after guest on programs like Kansas Public Radio and various wellness podcasts. When she isn't writing or speaking, Dr. Othmer is an avid gardener, global traveler who has visited over 40 countries, and the proud mother of three children.

Brian Beck helps mid-sized organizations move beyond the hype around AI and cybersecurity and turn emerging technology into practical business results.

While much of the conversation around AI focuses on what the technology can do, Brian focuses on a more important question: Why are so many companies struggling to actually implement it?

His work centers on helping leadership teams identify where AI can create meaningful impact within their existing operations, align teams around execution, and implement solutions that improve efficiency, reduce risk, and support better decision-making.

Brian brings a practical perspective shaped by real-world experience—including seeing initiatives stall, budgets get wasted, and expectations fall short of reality. Rather than focusing on the latest tools or buzzwords, he breaks down what actually works, where organizations commonly go wrong, and what leaders should consider before making their next technology investment.

On the podcast, Brian offers a straightforward, no-hype perspective on AI, cybersecurity, leadership, and implementation—giving business leaders actionable insights they can take back to their organizations and put to work immediately.

What if Type 2 Diabetes isn’t really a blood sugar problem—but a cellular and metabolic problem hiding underneath it?

Dr. Jason Shumard is a Functional Medicine practitioner with more than 20 years of experience helping people understand and overcome Type 2 Diabetes, insulin resistance, and metabolic dysfunction. He goes beyond simply managing numbers and symptoms, using detailed lab-based assessments to uncover what’s actually driving the problem.

But this mission is personal. After watching his own mother struggle with diabetes, Dr. Shumard became passionate about helping others understand the condition from a completely different perspective.

Known for breaking down complex metabolic science into conversations anyone can understand, he challenges conventional thinking and asks an important question: Why do so many people keep hitting the same walls with diabetes—and what can we do differently?

On the podcast, Dr. Shumard brings science, personal experience, and a fresh perspective to a topic affecting millions of people. Expect an eye-opening conversation about diabetes, insulin resistance, metabolism, and the hidden factors that may be keeping people stuck.