Thoughts That Rock

In this episode, we talk with AMANDA HITE, Co-Founder & CEO of Be The Change Revolution, a media agency based in DC, listed by Inc Magazine as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the US, and which helps companies maximize their impact on the business & society…getting them to think differently about social media, marketing & workplace engagement.

THOUGHT #1

Be the Authentic, Unapologetic YOU. 

THOUGHT #2

My Happiness Grows in Direct Proportion to My Acceptance and in Inverse Proportion to My Expectations. – Michael J. Fox

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AMANDA HITE'S BIO:
Amanda started working at age 15 and has been in leadership roles since she was 16 years old. Amanda dropped out of college and worked her way up the corporate ladder in her twenties. She had an early midlife crisis when she turned thirty, feeling an insatiable desire to make more meaningful impact as an entrepreneur. In 2008, the year of the global financial crisis that devastated so many businesses, Amanda with only $64 left in her checking account cashed in her 401k and savings to start her first company.

Amanda has a passion for social justice. She’s supported movements to end childhood hunger in America, equality for the LGBTQ community, and she’s implemented transformation models for the world’s most vulnerable. She credits her ability to embrace and lead change to growing up with so much change and adversity. Hite had 32 homes by the age of 18 and she benefited as a kid from programs like food stamps and free school meals. She also grew up gay in southern baptist churches and endured the challenges that followed her father’s injury and honorable discharge from the Army after serving in Desert Storm. Those are just a few of the things that she says motivate the advocacy work she does today and her deep spirit of patriotism.

Hite is founding member of the “Changers of Commerce” connected capitalism movement. Amanda is an Advisory Board Member for Share Our Strength’s “Dine Out For No Kid Hungry” and she was recognized with their 2011 Advocate Leadership Award. Amanda has a deep passion for political activism. She is a Federal Club Council member and serves on leadership committees for the Human Right’s Campaign.

Hite’s dynamic stage presence has made her a highly sought after International Keynote Speaker. Amanda has been featured as a Social Media influencer and thought leader in several publications, including The Huffington Post, Entrepreneur and Nationʼs Restaurant News. Amanda lives her message of “Be The Change” and, for those who work with her and have heard her speak, that message is forever tattooed in their minds. Amanda and the team at BTC are revolutionizing the way companies think about social media, marketing, and workplace engagement, helping them maximize their impact on their business and in society.

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In this episode, we talk with KYLE SMITH, CEO of Nothing Bundt Cakes, which produces THE best quality bundt cakes in over 300 bakeries across the US…listed as one of the “Top 50 Franchises” and consistently making Franchise Times’ “Fast & Serious” list.

THOUGHT #1

Be Confident Enough to Surround Yourself with People Who Have the Ability to Replace You.

THOUGHT #2

Commit to Hiring Employees that Have All 3 C's: Competence, Character and Cultural Fit

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KYLE SMITH'S BIO:
Kyle Smith was previously Sr. VP of Operations for CiCi’s Pizza and was in that role for 13 years. In 2012, he joined Nothing Bundt Cakes as President and in 2017, he was promoted to CEO. Kyle has assembled a talented team that supports its bakery owners and the day to day operations of the brand, while pursuing the brand's “rationale” expansion goals. Kyle will continue to focus on building a strong franchise organization and leading strategic initiatives that drive Nothing Bundt Cakes reputation for extraordinary quality and service.

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In this episode, we talk with former President/COO of Chili’s Grill & Bar, KELLI VALADE, now in the role of President & CEO of TDn2K, the leading insights & knowledge provider of restaurant data (HR, financial performance, consumer trends), representing the entire industry.

THOUGHT #1 - The Highest Calling of a Leader is Creating a Place Where People Can Be Seen.

THOUGHT #2 - Loyalty is a Consequence of Leadership.

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KELLI VALADE'S BIO:

“Where your talents and the needs of the world cross; there lies your vocation.” Aristotle’s wisdom has guided Kelli Valade’s career since the tender age of 16, when she landed her first restaurant job as a hostess. It was there Kelli found the same hospitality, the same love of great food and the same connection around the table she’d experienced her entire childhood, cooking and eating Italian food around her grandmother’s kitchen table in New York.

Kelli discovered early where her passion for life intersected with work. She was hooked; and she’s built a career living out that passion, working her way up through Operations, then Human Resources, where she led HR, Recruiting and Compensation for national chains like TGI Friday’s and On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina.

Kelli joined TDn2K as President and CEO in early 2019. Prior to TDn2K Kelli spent over 20 years at Brinker International in various roles including leading Human Resources then serving as Chief Operating Officer for Chili’s Grill & Bar. As the first female President in the brand’s history, she was responsible for 80,000 + ChiliHeads, more than 1,600 restaurants in 31 countries and two territories.

To give back to the industry, Kelli has served on the boards of TDn2K, the Multicultural Food & Hospitality Alliance (MFHA), the National Restaurant Association (NRA) and currently serves on the board of Women’s Foodservice Forum (WFF). A compelling and passionate keynote speaker, she frequently speaks to students and professionals across the industry, sharing best practices and lessons from her lifelong journey.

And the industry she loves, loves Kelli back. Nation’s Restaurant News added her to their Top 50 Power List in 2017, The Western Foodservice and Hospitality Expo gave her the Beacon Award in 2016 and Dallas Business Journal named her a Woman Worth Watching in 2013.

Together with her husband Don and their two beautiful children, Morgan (18) & Christian (16), Kelli has lived in Texas long enough to be called a native, but her heart (and her accent) remain firmly rooted in New York. You can connect with her on Twitter @kvpalooza, find her on Facebook or just follow the scent of the homemade meatballs. They’re worth the trip.

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In this episode, we talk with BRIAN FANZO, the founder & CEO of iSocialFanz…a huge social influencer, change agent, technology evangelist, prolific podcaster, conference emcee and Millennial keynote speaker.

THOUGHT #1 - Raise Your Hand Faster than Anyone Else.

THOUGHT #2 - If the Goal is Survival, You've Already Lost.

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BRIAN FANZO'S BIO

Brian is a proud dad of three girls under the age of 10, a Pittsburgh loving sports fan, a self-proclaimed change evangelist which makes sense as the one constant in this pager wearing millennials career has been changing. Brian is a proud geek that majored in computer science that found his niche of “translating geekspeak” with a unique background that includes working 9 years for the DoD in Cybersecurity, 2 years at a booming cloud computing startup and the last 5 years an entrepreneur and CEO of iSocialFanz.

Brian’s DoD career includes leading a team of 30+ developers & trainers with a mission of training, implementing and developing solutions that empowered the different branches of the military to share and collaborate leveraging social business tools their cybersecurity policies and procedures. If that doesn’t sound tough enough Brian’s role included 2 trips to Afghanistan & 3 to Iraq while also briefing the joint chiefs of staff at the Pentagon. Brian discovered his love for workshops, training and speaking while at the DoD for which he leveraged in his next job as the Technology Evangelist of a booming datacenter startup based out of Phoenix Arizona was known as IOdatacenters.

Brian became the face of that company over his two years at IO, developing and implementing the social business and training strategies with the focus of transparent collaboration between new hires, management, executives as well as partners and customers. In those two years, the company grew from 256 employees when Brian started to 612 when Brian left.

The role of technology evangelist was one that Brian designed at pitched the CEO himself, as it was a role that two of his idols Guy Kawasaki at Apple and Robert Scoble of Microsoft, later Rackspace mastered creating cult-like followings while connecting internal and external community for the company. Brian had the luxury of reporting to the CEO with a dotted line to both the CIO & CMO where he was able to be the face of the brand speaking and evangelizing the IO data center and cloud solutions at the largest technology events in the world including Amazon ReInvent, VMworld, Gartner Symposium, CES and many more.

In 2014 while still at IO Brian received his first of many social business awards as he was named Top 25 Social Business Leader of the future by the Economist and IBM. Brian leveraged the visibility and opportunities afforded to him with this award to travel to Ted Talks and the world’s largest technology events as an influencer, speaker and the personal brand of iSocialFanz.

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In this episode, we talk with LAURA GASSNER OTTING, best-selling author with her book, Limitless, and motivational keynote speaker…helping audiences find their voice and generate the confidence needed to tackle larger-than-life challenges, via new ways of leading and mentoring others.

THOUGHT #1 - You’re Just Not That Important.

THOUGHT #2 - Being Pulled Towards Your Values will Beat Pushing Your Hardest Every Time.

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LAURA GASSNER OTTING'S BIO:

Washington Post Best Selling Author and Motivational Keynote speaker, Laura Gassner Otting, inspires people to push past the doubt and indecision that keep great ideas in limbo because her presentations make listeners think bigger and accept greater challenges that reach beyond their limited scope of belief. She delivers strategic thinking, well-honed wisdom, and perspective generated by decades of navigating change across the start-up, nonprofit, political, as well as philanthropic landscapes. Laura dares listeners to find their voice, and generate the confidence needed to tackle larger-than-life challenges. She leads them to seek new ways of leading, managing and mentoring others.

Laura’s entrepreneurial edge has been well-honed over a 25-year career that started as a Presidential Appointee in Bill Clinton’s White House, where she helped shape AmeriCorps. She left a leadership role at the respected nonprofit search firm, Isaacson, Miller, to expand the startup ExecSearches.com. Laura also founded and ran the Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group, which partnered with the full gamut of mission-driven nonprofit executives, from start-up dreamers to scaling social entrepreneurs to global philanthropists. In 2015, Laura sold NPAG to the team that helped her build it, both because she was hungry for the next chapter and because she held an audacious dream of electing our nation’s first female president. Along the way, while serving on Hillary Clinton’s National Finance Committee, she was asked to do a TEDx talk which became so popular that it launched a speaking career.

Laura has spoken across the United States and internationally to universities, companies, conferences, accelerators, TEDx, and the US Military. She is the author of Mission-Driven: Moving from Profit to Purpose (2015) and the Washington Post Best Seller Limitless: How to Ignore Everybody, Carve Your Own Path, and Live Your Best Life (2019). She lives with her husband, two teenage sons, and troublesome puppy outside of Boston, MA.

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In this episode, we talk with BRETT CULP, acclaimed filmmaker & keynote speaker, who has inspired audiences around the world with his documentaries and positive messaging.

THOUGHT #1 - Everyday Leadership Changes the World - We All Have Power to Make an Impact, that the Small Things are the Big Things, that Everyone Matters.

THOUGHT #2 - You Don't Have to Wait to Hit Rock Bottom; Raise the Floor.

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BRETT CULP'S BIO:

Brett Culp is an acclaimed filmmaker and keynote speaker whose work has inspired audiences around the world. He is the personal cinematographer for Hollywood stars, music icons, beloved authors, hall of fame athletes, and royal families. His films are featured on Netflix, iTunes, Hulu, and Amazon Prime. Through his groundbreaking documentary work, Brett has pioneered a unique approach to community-building, inviting people to connect with a noble vision and make a difference together. Passionate, energetic, and engaging, Brett encourages audiences to find the superhero within and unlock their own path to 'everyday leadership.'

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In this episode, we talk with ANGELA RAUB, the CEO of Leadercast, which is the global pioneer in leadership development, delivering incredible in-person events and digital platforms.

THOUGHT #1 - Live Your Life with a Servant's Heart; One Day You May Have to Ask Others for Help.

THOUGHT #2 - Accept Your Weakness So You Know Who to Ask for Help.

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ANGELA RAUB BIO:

Angela Raub has served Leadercast and its audiences for nearly two years as Chief Sales Officer, where she oversaw all aspects of Leadercast’s business development, executed strategic growth initiatives, and managed a growing team of enthusiastic sales professionals.

“Angela has proven to be a professional and team builder. She's led Leadercast's sales department with integrity, developing a culture of enthusiasm, with ownership throughout. She understands our mission thoroughly and has a heart for the people we serve. It's our pleasure to promote her to President & CEO,“ say Ken Moyes and Bob Pourchot, co-owners of Leadercast.

Prior to joining the team at Leadercast, Raub held leadership positions at Pathbuilders Inc., Wellspring Living, Hotel Equities and J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University.

She holds an Executive MBA in International Business from Georgia State University and received her undergraduate degree in Communications and Business from University of Toledo.

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