Most people would consider family to be a top priority in their life. Yet few people specifically invest time and energy into working on their skills as parents and/or spouses. Jon Vroman started Front Row Dads with the mission to help family men with businesses come together to discuss and learn about issues facing them in fatherhood. In this conversation, Jon and three Front Row Dads discuss some of the lessons they’ve learned since the start of this unique and amazing group. For the complete ...
Nov 07, 2019•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 50
John Carpenter is one of the most universally admired leaders in the Cutco/Vector Marketing sales organization. He was the company’s #1 sales rep in his first year, and has been the long-time leader of the Texoma Division, headquartered in Dallas. A 32-year veteran with the company, John has produced nine figures of Cutco sales throughout his career. He has been married to Monica — his 6th grade sweetheart — for 34 years and has 2 kids, both of whom have sold Cutco. John loves life and helps eve...
Nov 04, 2019•47 min•Ep. 49
Lauren Gibbs won an Olympic Silver Medal at the 2018 games in South Korea! This moment was the high-point experience of a journey that has taken Lauren from growing up in Los Angeles to star high-school athlete to Brown University volleyball player to Cutco rep and manager to the corporate world and eventually to becoming a 30 year-old rookie in the world of bobsled. Lauren’s amazing journey is a testament to her yearning for something more in her life, believing in herself, having the courage t...
Oct 31, 2019•54 min•Ep. 48
Kyle Lopes is the first Cutco rep to reach $1 million in Cutco sales while still a full-time college student. He started his Cutco career in the San Jose sales office, then continued to advance while pursuing his hockey dreams for a couple of years. Eventually, Kyle enrolled at West Valley College in the Silicon Valley and became a serious Cutco Sales Professional around classes. He has been the #1 College All-American (student sales rep) in 5 separate Campaigns (4 month-periods) in the past few...
Oct 28, 2019•44 min•Ep. 47
Isaac Tolpin is a high-performance culture expert. As a Division Manager in the Pacific Northwest with the Cutco/Vector Marketing sales organization, he built the most successful and highest-performing team in the 70-year history of the company, establishing all-time sales records that haven’t even been approached since. Isaac left the company to establish his own coaching and consulting business, and he continues to guide and inspire entrepreneurs and business leaders to this day. Isaac and his...
Oct 24, 2019•48 min•Ep. 46
Larry Manley is the current Carolina Division Manager for Cutco/Vector Marketing, headquartered in Raleigh, NC. From humble beginnings in life, and through the early days of his career, Larry has become one of the most legendary figures in company history. A 31-year veteran with Vector, Larry has played a major role in the development of FIVE other Division Managers, and he was the recent recipient of the company’s $100 million award for producing over nine figures in Cutco sales. Larry is a big...
Oct 21, 2019•44 min•Ep. 45
Kenny Coleman is one of the finest “connectors” you might ever have a chance to meet. His path in life started as one of the only African-American kids in a predominantly white enclave in Silicon Valley, where he had to learn to navigate certain challenges to connect with others. In high school and college, he became a football star and vocal leader on teams from Gunn High School to Utah State University. As a Cutco/Vector Marketing sales rep after college, Kenny set one of the most legendary sa...
Oct 17, 2019•48 min•Ep. 44
Brett Wiggins is the current Michiana Division Manager (covering Indiana & Western Michigan) of the Cutco/Vector Marketing sales organization. As one of the pillars of the company’s Midwest Region, Brett is rapidly becoming one of the most influential leaders in the company. He leads a rapidly growing organization, volunteers his time to impact youth at his church, and devotes time to his family life with his wife and 2 young daughters. In this conversation, we talk about the four “strategic...
Oct 14, 2019•45 min•Ep. 43
Dr. Jacqueline Stavros has a passion for working with others to create positive change. She is a professor of Business and IT at Lawrence Technological University, and is recognized for her creation of SOAR, a positive approach to strategic change. The foundation of her work is Appreciative Inquiry, one of the most widely-used approaches for positive change. Jackie has worked in over 30 countries using AI and SOAR to affect the lives of thousands of people and hundreds of organizations. She has ...
Oct 10, 2019•42 min•Ep. 42
Drew Frank is the Rocky Mountain Division Manager for Cutco/Vector Marketing, headquartered in Denver CO. He is THE top field manager in the company, having run a championship Office in 9 of the past 12 years, and a championship Division in 4 of the past 5 years. His South Denver office holds the all-time company record with over $3.7 million in annual sales, and his Division is #1 again in 2019. With over $67 million in total career sales, Drew is a member of the Cutco/Vector Hall of Fame. He h...
Oct 07, 2019•53 min•Ep. 41
Mike Lancellot has the greatest track record of any other person in the history of the Cutco/Vector Marketing organization. As a sales rep, Mike was the #1 College All-American. After graduating from the University of Delaware, Mike became a District Manager and was the company’s #1 DM for three years in a row. He then became a Division Manager, and again was #1 for three years in a row. He then became a Region Manager, and was #1 for four years in a row, before taking on an Executive role as Vi...
Oct 03, 2019•56 min•Ep. 40
Jim Stitt Jr. is the current CEO of Cutco Corporation. When he was about 10 years old, his family was part of the team that purchased Cutco from ALCOA. Since that time, the entire organization has been molded in the image of the Stitt and Laine families. “People first” values have become a bedrock principle upon which Cutco Corporation has been built. Jim worked on the factory floor before graduating from the University of Dayton. About 2 years after graduating, Jim joined Cutco and has risen th...
Sep 30, 2019•44 min•Ep. 39
Rachel Richards is an incredible example of financial success at a young age. As a Cutco/Vector sales rep, Rachel succeeded at a level high enough to pay her way through a private college, Centre College in Kentucky, and graduated debt-free with a degree in Finance. She worked as a Financial Advisor for a while, then moved over to working in the Real Estate industry, where she developed the skills to successfully invest in rental properties. Over the past few years, Rachel and her husband have a...
Sep 26, 2019•43 min•Ep. 38
Colton Horn has been working with Cutco/Vector for just over 2 years. In that short time, he has truly distinguished himself as an amazing leader and an inspiration to many. As a Branch Manager in the Summer of 2019, Colton was responsible for every aspect of a Vector field sales office, from recruiting to training to development of the team to admin and financial controls. His team finished #1 out of about 300 Branch Offices nationwide. Colton is a student at Northwestern University, and his mi...
Sep 23, 2019•43 min•Ep. 37
Jon Levy is a behavioral scientist and author who works in the fields of influence, community/customer engagement, and adventure. He specializes in helping companies and individuals apply behavioral research to areas such as marketing, sales, product development, and connecting with people both professionally and personally. Jon is best-known for founding “The Influencers,” a secret dining experience and community whose participants have now included more than 1400 leaders across all industries ...
Sep 19, 2019•44 min•Ep. 36
Dane Espegard lives life by design. He and his wife, Brookelyn, identify specific dreams for their life, and then take the steps to achieve those dreams. For the past several years, Dane has been spreading this dreams mentality throughout his entire organization. His people are living their dreams, and results in the organization have doubled in the past 5 years. If you aspire to live more of your dreams and help others around you to do the same, the time is now and the place is here. Thanks for...
Sep 16, 2019•44 min•Ep. 35
Dan Casetta is the Western Region Manager for Cutco/Vector Marketing, and also hosts the Changing Lives Selling Knives podcast. Dan has been one of the most in-demand speakers at company events throughout the U.S. for many years. He’s a regular guest speaker at universities throughout the Bay Area, and has been welcomed into multiple organizations to share insights in areas of sales training, leadership development, and culture creation. He also hosts a mastermind group containing some of the mo...
Sep 12, 2019•29 min•Ep. 34
Tony Carlston is a true pioneer in Cutco history. He started with the company as a sales rep in 1998, and quickly turned into one of the top reps in the company. After a short stint in a management position, he decided to pursue full-time sales as a Cutco Sales Professional. After hearing the legendary John Ruhlin talk about the concept of business gifting with Cutco, Tony hatched his ideas for the Cutco Closing Gifts program, targeted primarily at realtors, and he quickly rose to the top of the...
Sep 09, 2019•40 min•Ep. 33
For the past two decades, Charlene Li has been helping people see the future. A graduate of Harvard Business School, she is the author of six books, including the NYT bestseller Open Leadership . Her latest book is The Disruption Mindset : Why Some Businesses Transform While Others Fail . With over 20 years of experience advising Fortune 500 companies, Charlene is an expert in digital transformation & strategy, customer experience, and the future of work. She has spoken at TED, the World Bus...
Sep 04, 2019•39 min•Ep. 32
Joe Cardillo considers himself “the luckiest man in Vector” because of all of the amazing connections that he has developed through his work experiences. He was born in Canada, but started with Vector/Cutco while in college in Michigan. He became a part of the Canadian start-up team for Cutco, then developed into the long-time head of the company’s Canadian operations, now General Manager. He is widely-known as one of the all-time greatest leaders in the company’s history. He and his wife Jennif...
Aug 19, 2019•37 min•Ep. 31
A college scholarship athlete graduates and marries his high school sweetheart. He gets a job he wasn’t supposed to be qualified for, then rewrites the record books for his company. Eventually, he starts his own company, and parlays that experience into amazing personal and financial success. He and his wife raise two great daughters and build their own substantial portfolio of real estate holdings in the San Jose / Silicon Valley area. He has a powerful influence on others, both in his work, an...
Aug 15, 2019•40 min•Ep. 30
Rich Plaskon is a 30-year veteran of the Cutco/Vector business who has produced over $80 million in sales. As the long-time Division Manager of the Virginia Division, Rich established himself as one of the company’s top executives, and became a model of success, consistency, and financial well-being for many others. Now, he’s working in new role as National Sales Manager of the company’s NextGen organization, working to expand the Cutco sales opportunity to people outside the company’s tradition...
Aug 12, 2019•48 min•Ep. 29
Amber Vilhauer is an online digital marketing expert who supports business owners to establish a powerful, integrated online presence that gets results and empowers them to make a difference in their industry. After working in Cutco/Vector Marketing for several years, she started her own company called NGNG Enterprises (standing for No Guts No Glory) in 2007. Over the past 12 years, Amber has supported more than one thousand entrepreneurs on six continents to get results. She is the launch manag...
Aug 08, 2019•43 min•Ep. 28
Josh and Amiee Mueller have teamed up to create a formidable “power couple” in the Cutco/Vector Marketing sales organization. In his 18-year career with the company, Josh has risen to become the #3 all-time sales rep in the history of Cutco, with almost $6 million in career personal sales and three National Championships. Amiee has been influential in the company in multiple roles, and more notably, has elevated herself from very challenging circumstances in her early life to become a best-selli...
Aug 05, 2019•48 min•Ep. 27
Hiro Rodriguez has spent a lifetime building mentoring relationships, on both sides of the spectrum. He started as a Cutco rep in my San Jose office, then was largely developed in the South Coast Division organization while at school at University of San Diego, and for several years after his graduation. He spent 2 years at Salesforce, then left to board the “rocket ship” at DocuSign. There, Hiro became the right hand man to CEO Keith Krach, one of the foremost business leaders in America, from ...
Aug 01, 2019•48 min•Ep. 26
Brandon Brown is on a short list of THE most talented and accomplished salespeople in the 70-year history of the Cutco/Vector Marketing sales organization. He has won the Silver Cup (representing #1 in the Nation) three of the past four years, and has broken numerous company records during his rocket-like ascent to the top of the company’s sales charts. Beyond his own success, he has mentored numerous other reps to elevate their performance into the levels of elite status in the company. Brandon...
Jul 29, 2019•47 min•Ep. 25
Michael Coscetta graduated from Harvard in 2003, and has already held powerful Executive positions in four different companies over his relatively short business career. Starting with the Cutco/Vector Marketing sales organization where he began as a student, Michael advanced to the position of Division Manager, responsible for the entire NYC Metro and surrounding areas. He later worked as the VP of Sales & Marketing for Structured Web, then moved to San Francisco to join Square, where he adv...
Jul 25, 2019•45 min•Ep. 24
John Wasserman is currently the Division Manager of the PA/NJ Powerhouse Division, centered around the Philadelphia metro. During his illustrious 28-year career with the Cutco/Vector Marketing organization, John has become one of the highest-producing field managers of all time, with two National Championships and dozens of sales records. Even more importantly, he’s one of the company’s greatest developers of all time, having developed National Champions at every level of the business, and promo...
Jul 22, 2019•41 min•Ep. 23
Fi Mazanke is a successful life and business coach who has had a profound impact on thousands of leaders throughout her career. She spent 12 years working as the right-hand person to the legendary Marty Domitrovich in the Central Region of the Cutco/Vector Marketing sales organization. Eventually, she founded Direct Connect Coaching in order to bring her influence to a much wider-ranging group of people in many walks of life. Fi is on the cutting edge of getting people to explore their strengths...
Jul 18, 2019•45 min•Ep. 22
Jeff Gamboa is currently the Division Manager of two Divisions in the Cutco/Vector organization, spanning much of the state of Florida, plus Puerto Rico. He’s a 22-year veteran with the company and member of the company’s Hall of Fame. He coined the term “VectorTrained” to represent the wide range of skills and competencies that people gain through selling Cutco, participating in Vector’s Leadership Academy program, and advancing into leadership positions with the company. Jeff has been one of t...
Jul 15, 2019•41 min•Ep. 21
