Ms. Edwards makes very clear that she has a solid perspective on the game basketball and her place in it right now. Listen as she talks about being called a tom boy a few years ago and how that bothered her, but now? She's fine with it.

"If they hop on that court with me, they're going to say another thing."

Confident? Check. Hard working? Check. Good listener? Check some more.

She likes to play point guard and shooting guard, and her highest scoring game was 29 points.  

In this episode, let Ms. Edward's words reinforce your belief in the next generation!

For additional details, visit: 

https://junescharf.wixsite.com/reaching-new-heights/blog/episode-27-stand-out-basketball-player

This graphic designer, magazine publisher, event planner and business owner in Warrensville Heights offers a mini master class in graphic design with respect to commercial application. Her biggest gripe? "The mistake that many businesses make is that they don't have a design strategy."

In this illuminating conversation, Ms. Deluca Dolan also introduces listeners to the concept of "environmental graphic design," and she reveals the work she has completed for clients including W.F. Hann & Sons, Cleveland Indians and Infinity Construction. She notes that she has seen an uptick in clients' interest in custom publishing which includes magazine production.

She shares her experiences with visual branding work which she breaks down into corporate identification materials like logo design, marketing materials, and branding guidelines and standards. Some of her most visible work appears at Progressing Field in the concession stand area and bars. 

Most of all, Ms. Deluca Dolan stresses the need for strategy. "We can design something that looks great and people will say, Wow!, but if it doesn't have a purpose or isn't part of a bigger plan, then it won't be effective."

Listen as she also shares the details surrounding her annual Female Entrepreneurial Summit which has featured some high profile keynote speakers such as Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post, Diane Nyad whom swam between Cuba and Florida, and the founders of Rent the Runway. It is scheduled for October 23. 

For more details, visit https://junescharf.wixsite.com/reaching-new-heights/blog/episode-26-founder-president-contempo-design-communications

 Omar Campbell is the 35-year-old owner of a gym that opened in Warrensville Heights in October 2018.   

"People want that microwave way of fast results but they don't know the steps to get there."

In this highly energized conversation, Mr. Campbell taps into every aspect of fitness! Listen as he shares his approaches to fitness training and how he achieves the goals clients set for themselves.   

He admits that he was starting to get a belly a number of years ago, and a friend's father pointed out to him that he needed to do something about it since he had become a dad and that's not how a man should look. He took it seriously and went back to school and transformed his mind and body state.

What he shares here stands a very good chance of inspiring you to push yourself farther and discover what's possible!

For further details, visit

https://junescharf.wixsite.com/reaching-new-heights/blog/episode-25-owner-limitless-chanxes-personal-trainer

Dr. Isaac Kirstein, D.O., is the Dean of the Cleveland campus that opened in 2015. The main campus in Athens, Ohio began 40 years ago, and recently, a campus was added in Dublin, Ohio.    

"Our mission is to train doctors but at the end of the day, the bigger 'why' is to keep communities healthy."

In this illuminating conversation, Dr. Kirstein traces the story of osteopathic medicine in general, and the details surrounding the osteopathic school here in Warrensville Heights in particular. It's a triumph of great timing and a wonderful partnership between Cleveland Clinic South Pointe Hospital and the staff at the school. He also points out that osteopathic medicine is undergoing rapid growth, with one in four medical school students currently pursuing a D.O. degree.

The highly selective school has a mission to serve students from Ohio and to place them in facilities in Ohio, largely in primary care where there is a need for more doctors. Listen to the excitement in Dr. Kirstein's voice when he shares that the first class to graduate from the Warrensville Heights campus will occur on May 11, 2019. 

For further details, please visit: 

https://junescharf.wixsite.com/reaching-new-heights/blog/episode-25-dean-ohio-university-heritage-college-of-osteopathic-medicine-osteopathic-internist

W.F. Hann & Sons, located in  Warrensville Heights, is the area's largest residential HVAC company with a fast-growing commercial HVAC division. Ms. Johnson is the first female president in the company's 112 year history.    

In this enlightening conversation, Ms. Johnson discusses her role in this male-dominated industry. She oversees a fleet of more than 50 vehicles and manages a warehouse for inventory that includes hot water heaters, air conditioners and furnaces. 

She explains how she manages a business that handles 6,000 residential, commercial HVAC contract customers, along with clients  who have plumbing issues and those who call with emergencies.

As one of seven children (she's #3, with one brother and the rest being sisters), she understands family and the needs people have professionally and personally. In fact, she discusses how staff members call her "mom" and others will say, "the doctor is in." She says she likes when this happens, especially because "you never know what someone is going through."

With great honesty, she shares some of the pain from her past, including the death of her twin sisters who suffered from cystic fibrosis. The closeness she shares with her family members is something that informs her leadership style, she explains.

Listen as she mentions one source of peril in her industry with 30 million service techs due to retire nationwide in 2019. The implication: W.F. Hann & Sons is hiring! 

"To transform people is an amazing gift."

 Dr. Kates has treated between 20,000 - 30,000 patients in his 25 years of practice. In that time, he has had a dramatic impact of each of those lives. Listen as he shares some drama in his own life that led him to choose orthodontics for a profession. He always knew he wanted to be a businessman, and when he was exposed to renowned dentist Dr. Henderson Jonhson Sr.'s work, he was sold. He saw how Dr. Johnson helped the community and was respected by it and was able to make profound changes in people's lives.

He also was shaped by the mandatory travel abroad program during college which afforded him a trip to Kenya, his significant adventure beyond home. "This helped me discover who I am. I had to go deep within myself." For six months, he lived there and learned Kiswahili in the process - and he speaks it in this episode! He spent three months with a family and three months in the jungle living in a tent.

Listen as he details some wild stories about hippos and buffalo! His talks about Hell's Gate, a place that's essentially a zoo with no cages, where, upon entry, a sign reads, enter at your own risk and peril! Hear him tell a suspenseful tale about when the ground began to shake and a dust storm kicked up which meant only one thing - a stampede!

Ultimately, Dr. Kates explains how, through his work, he can help people obtain the self confidence that comes from having a great smile.

For further details, visit:

https://junescharf.wixsite.com/reaching-new-heights/blog/episode-22-orthodontist

 Hear Ms. Foxman discuss her 25-year-old special events production company coordinates creative, one-of-a-kind events for clients in the private, non-profit and for-profit sectors. She imparts valuable wisdom such as this: "Easiest theme to execute: Hawaiian luau. Colorful. Cheap. You can decorate your guests, too - with lei's."

She is a true storyteller who has planned enough events to fill a book....which maybe one day she will....about her storied career...ba-da-bing. She'll entertain you will her successes, her challenges and her stress! 

She has handled events for many of the larger institutions throughout the Cleveland area, and she has planned weddings for many couples with a range of budget limits. The biggest fee with which she was involved was $2 million wedding, spread across all vendors.

Drawing on her experience, she emphasizes the need to spend money to raise money among the non-profit sector. Tune in to her colorful captures of the party life!

 "Sometimes the best thing God can do is knock you down to make you look up." 

 This conversation allows Dr. Vernon to explain himself by tracking his path to the pulpit and giving insight into how he feels about his work. He boldly shares why the happiest day of his life was (with the exception of the birth of his children) when the Second Tabernacle Baptist Church in Cleveland made him its pastor in 1999, at the age of 27.  He learned the lesson that he has about three minutes to not be boring, otherwise he'll lose their attention.

He refers to his present location in Warrensville Heights as "the mothership," and he films all of his Sunday worship programs at that location. With the topics he pursues, he discusses how he always seeks relevance to people's daily lives. he wants them "to feel church."

Dr. Vernon also is well known for serving as a pastor who pastors other pastors. He believes that if he can help those individuals, then he can help all of their communities by extension.

He details his life growing up in various Cleveland neighborhoods, including the  E. 40th and Kinsman area and the Corlett community. His fond memories of those days is one of the reasons why he established one of his churches there.

For more details, visit:

https://junescharf.wixsite.com/reaching-new-heights/blog/episode-20-popular-pastor

"I had to be the best, no matter where the work was coming from."  

This conversation follows Mr. Dillard's intense journey as a business owner. His first exposure to entrepreneurialism came when he worked in a bank and found himself paying close attention to those who worked as entrepreneurs. He drew on his hardwired mentality as a competitive athlete to drive his success, something he quickly experienced in advertising sales for the CBS affiliate WOIO-Channel 19 early in his career. 

He shares the challenges an athlete feels in replacing the high that sports deliver.  "That never goes away."

He also discusses his franchise business which provides opportunities for other to become entrepreneurs. About 80% of those owners have other full time jobs, so this becomes a meaningful source of supplemental income. Entry starts at $950 and requires a 5-week training program at his office in Warrensville Heights. 

I hate to give away too much here, but Mr. Dillard made some powerful points, like the following:

"I have an affinity for helping African American males see their future. When I was 18 years old, on my way to an Ivy League school (Cornell), while being all-state in two sports, I had never met a black business owner or doctor, attorney or dentist. Never had a black teacher. Obviously, there's a problem with that. So, I was like everyone else, I wanted to be a professional basketball player. That's the only thing I saw on TV. That's not a good thing. So that's why I give back."

Please dive into his story and surface with a real appreciation for the work he is doing in the community.

For additional details, please visit 

https://junescharf.wixsite.com/reaching-new-heights/blog/episode-19-entrepreneurialism

"A client said that getting his diagnosis felt like being pushed out of an airplane without a parachute. InMotion provides a soft landing," says Ms. Schwartz. 

These guests discuss how no one has an excuse to be alone with their illness - the services they provide are completely free of charge. Operating for nearly four years, InMotion exists as possibly the only facility in the country where so many sources of support - exercise programs, education and healing arts - can be found in a single space. 

Discover how people feel embraced by this community and they return regularly for more. But not only are the clients happy, so are the staff members, with a 100% retention rate.

The guests explain how classes are offered at four different levels so clients' abilities are catered to, without requiring instructors to teach to only a narrow range. Ages of those participating include 40s to 90s. What they can expect to achieve is some stabilization of the disease.

Listen and learn as they describe how they are delivering on one of their core missions: helping people get through their day and maintain their quality of life.

For further details, please visit:

https://junescharf.wixsite.com/reaching-new-heights/blog/episode-18-inmotion-a-nonprofit-center-devoted-to-those-affected-by-parkinson-s-disease