Content warning: this episode features graphic descriptions of violence and domestic abuse. Katy Smith is Business Editor at The Columbus Dispatch and Editor of Columbus CEO magazine. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years, most of those covering business in Columbus. She grew up in Bexley and now lives in Clintonville in a duplex with her husband Nick, her rescue cat Dexter, and her brother Joe, who she cares for. So, Katy has been sharing other people’s stories for about 20 years now...
Mar 15, 2021•51 min•Ep. 57
After fleeing an abusive relationship, becoming a single mom, and nearly losing everything, Alaina Shearer rebuilt her career by learning digital and tech. In the span of just five years, she climbed from making $8 an hour to running a small business that generates nearly $2 million per year in revenue. In 2016, Alaina created a national network for women in digital and tech, now called Together Digital , where she fought fearlessly for equal pay and opportunity. Then, in 2020, she continued to ...
Mar 01, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 56
Award-winning architectural designer Curtis Moody has a prosperous 48-year career driven by passion to break into a field with little minority representation. Today, Moody Nolan is the largest African-American-owned-and-managed architectural firm in the country, and the firm's designs have received more than 330 awards, more than any other minority architectural firm in the United States. Curt continues to use his success to help others serving as a role model for others to continue to work towa...
Feb 22, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 55
Steve Wartenberg is a veteran journalist who currently works as a freelance reporter in Columbus. He also writes for the James Cancer Hospital at The Ohio State University and hosts The James Cancer Free World podcast. Steve is also an avid cyclist — some might even say he's an obsessed cyclist — who has written several e-books about biking in France and has ridden in Pelotonia, a three-day cycling fundraiser in Central Ohio to support cancer research every year since 2008. I’ve known Steve for ...
Feb 15, 2021•58 min•Ep. 54
James Chapman is the Founder and CEO of Plain Sight, a social networking platform for like-minded people to connect with each other in virtual and physical spaces. But this wasn’t his first foray into intentional networking. In 2015, he began an evening workspace for side hustlers to collaborate with each other, which led to the idea for his current startup. In 2017, he started and ran Detroit Demo Day, which has since provided over four million in funding to small businesses throughout the City...
Feb 08, 2021•53 min•Ep. 53
Magdalena De La Cruz Cook Garcia, or Magie Cook for short, is an immigrant and entrepreneur who was born in an orphanage in Mexico, growing up in poverty along with 68 brothers and sisters. With $800, she started Maggie’s All Natural Fresh Salsa’s & Dips, a company she grew into a multi-million dollar business before selling it to Campbell’s in 2015. Soon after, she went back to Mexico and helped save 31 orphaned children who were on the verge of falling into drug cartel hands. And now, she’...
Feb 01, 2021•51 min•Ep. 52
Cindy Salas Murphy is the founder and CEO of WithHealth , a San Diego-based company that combines precision health with telemedicine to make access to specialty physicians affordable and immediate. Cindy has more than 20 years of experience leading transformation in healthcare for hospitals, medical groups, and as an entrepreneur with a successful exit. Her outcomes include the growth of a startup to more than one billion under management and improved patient safety, quality service, and growth,...
Jan 25, 2021•55 min•Ep. 51
Claire Coder is a 23-year-old serial entrepreneur, a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30, and a proud college dropout. Claire started her first business, a promotional products company, at age 16. In just two years, she was able to grow the business to employ eight independent distributors, sell in boutiques across the Midwest, and sell internationally online. That sparked her passion for building companies and led her to dropping out of college to launch Aunt Flow . Headquartered in Ohio, Aunt Flo...
Jan 18, 2021•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 50
Lisa Cini is known as the leading Alzheimer's and long-term care design expert in the United States and has been widely recognized for her contributions in the field. She's the Founder and CEO of Mosaic Design Studio, Best Living Tech, and the Infinite Living Collaboration, all focused on design products and technology that help people move from fear to freedom as they face the challenges of aging. Lisa is also the author of “The Future is Here: Senior Living Reimagined,” “Hive: The Simple Guide...
Jan 11, 2021•56 min•Ep. 49
Kathleen Griffith’s passion is to help female entrepreneurs start their own companies and architect the life of their dreams, a passion she discovered after quite a few twists and turns. A self-described “totally accidental entrepreneur,” Kathleen is a self-made successful business woman and a leading voice in the women’s space. She is the owner of the female-focused marketing consultancy Grayce & Co, which works with Fortune 500 brands and media companies, and she also funded and founded Bu...
Jan 04, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 48
As we wrap up our first year of Gravity, we wanted to reflect on what we’ve learned and extend gratitude to all of you for joining us on this incredible journey. The vision for this podcast was to explore the human experience — the one we're all having, and hopefully transforming and expanding and evolving as we go — because we believe that sharing our experiences, openly and honestly, can really connect us, help us, and inspire us. We’re also including a speech that Brett gave to the Columbus C...
Dec 30, 2020•19 min
This episode is a recording of Brett Kaufman speaking at Startup Grind Columbus about combining blockchain and the startup financing world with Rhove and Calvin Cooper, the core philosophy behind the conscious living space Gravity, the roles of coaching and therapy in his life, and more. Brett talks about: Why Brett got involved in Rhove What interested him in the startup and investment space Pelatonia’s new HQ at Gravity Why Brett cares about spaces His passion to impact the human experience Wh...
Dec 21, 2020•1 hr 9 min
Does your work have purpose? Brett spent much of his early life doing things that had a superficial purpose, such as going into banking to impress his girlfriend’s parents. He spent the next 11 years in the corporate world not feeling inspired, and not really knowing that he could feel inspired, having never seen that modeled to him as a child. At Kaufman Development, their mission is to build high design communities around impact, creative expression, and wellbeing—doing our part to change the ...
Dec 14, 2020•30 min
In this talk at The Ohio State University, Brett Kaufman tells the story of how, through trial and error, he ended up finding a way to incorporate the things he loves with the work he did for a living. From the lessons he picked up as a kid, to taking a career just to impress people, to finally finding a way to express himself creatively and purposefully with work that feels as though it makes a difference, to the creation of Gravity, an intentional living space met to spark fateful encounters a...
Dec 07, 2020•59 min
Gino Wickman is one of the most prolific and impactful thought leaders in the entrepreneurial space, teaching and inspiring countless people through his books, the Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS®) , and now, Entrepreneurial Leap , a resource to help entrepreneurs-in-the-making get a huge jump-start. What Brett asks: [02:33] Tell us about the beginning of your story. [05:00] Tell me about living in nine cities by the age of 10. [10:05] Why couldn’t you connect with school, instead choosin...
Nov 30, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 47
Chet Scott and his team at BUILT TO LEAD are leadership and development coaches for some of the most influential leaders across the City of Columbus and abroad. Chet's journey started when he left CompuServe after 20 years and started working with influential leaders; he discovered his life's opus and began his builder's journey. His content, style, writing, and approach to leadership is real, raw, and direct. And in his own words, “he's a friend to a few and a truth teller to many with a true l...
Nov 23, 2020•1 hr 33 min•Ep. 46
Scott Donnell is a serial entrepreneur who has dedicated his life to both physical and mental health — a holistic approach to hacking the human experience. He is the founder of Apex Leadership Company , a fitness and fundraising program for schools. Apex has raised $75 million for schools and has 116 franchises and three million customers, as well as myfirstsale.com . Most recently, Scott joined the biotech world as the CEO of Hapbee. Hapbee specializes in hacking the body and mind using ultra-l...
Nov 16, 2020•46 min•Ep. 45
Jason Barger is a globally celebrated author, speaker, and consultant and the creator of The Step Back from the Baggage Claim movement. Jason is committed to engaging the minds and hearts of people in order to strengthen leadership, culture, clarity of mission, visions, and values — a culmination of his life experiences, from growing up in Egypt to going on a Christmas adventure to help tear down the Berlin wall to spending seven days in seven cities without leaving an airport. What Brett asks: ...
Nov 09, 2020•56 min•Ep. 44
Losing half your relatives, losing your mother, losing your father, getting diagnosed with cancer yourself: that’s not an easy path to walk as a young adult. Jonathan Dwoskin was forced to grow up real early, real fast — and, along the way, he managed to find support and develop some tools that allowed him to not just overcome trauma but literally save his life. Listen to learn how therapy, meditation, and breath can be used as transformative tools for any person. It might be a lot simpler than ...
Nov 02, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 43
How do you do something that’s never been done before? It’s a difficult question to answer, no matter what problem you’re trying to solve, but Jordan Davis has managed to pull it off over and over again, from kickstarting the Smart Columbus initiative to incepting Can't Stop Columbus. Jordan also went through a unique and traumatic adolescent experience that helped shape her perspective and instilled in her a drive that very few people have: for every year from 9th grade to sophomore year in col...
Oct 26, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 42
Kary Oberbrunner, CEO of Igniting Souls, is an author, coach, and speaker who helps individuals and organizations clarify who they are, why they're here, and where they're going so they can become souls on fire, experience unhackability, and share their message with the world. He shares the story of how he began to self-harm, what it took to finally confront that, and what unlocked for him when he found the courage to share that story with the world. What Brett asks: [01:20] Can you tell us abou...
Oct 19, 2020•56 min•Ep. 41
Brian Bogert is a human behavior and performance coach who teaches clients to leverage self-awareness and intentionality to become the most authentic version of themselves: Who they already are. Brian helps executives, entrepreneurs, athletes, and growth-minded individuals learn this transformative approach that cultivates perspective, motivation, and direction to help them align their lives with their true purpose and defy their own expectations. He teaches not just to accept change, but to emb...
Oct 12, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 40
Before we can start leveling up, we have to go back and look at who we are at our core — and that can be a long process that requires a lot of work. Brett has spent a lot of time in therapy and coaching to get to the root of himself so that he can learn to create from his highest and best self, but it’s a journey that never really ends. We were all born pure of one divine energy, whether that’s God or the Universe or something else entirely, but the idea is the same: We have a purpose. And then,...
Oct 10, 2020•14 min
Krystopher Scott (he/him/his) is a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder and managing partner of Billion Or Bust Ventures, where their goal is to inspire a billion diverse businesses to become billion-dollar enterprises. He also co-founded Two Cent Sports, a sports media company aiming to tell sports stories and amplify the voices of athletes through the lens of Black culture. What Brett asks: [01:37] Can you take us back to your childhood? [06:28] What was it like to be a child in your family ...
Oct 05, 2020•49 min•Ep. 39
Glenn Parker is a former NFL offensive lineman and one of a few select players to have played in five Super Bowls. He retired after the 2001 season, shifting to be an analyst on the NFL Network's “Playbook” and the main college football analyst for the CBS College Sports Network's “The AFL on NBC. Now he’s transitioning again, and this time he’s bringing things full circle by becoming a coach and passing on the lessons he’s learned from his own coaches and mentors. What Brett asks: [01:59] Can y...
Sep 28, 2020•47 min•Ep. 38
Content Warning: Suicide Christy Whitman is a transformational leader, celebrity coach, and law of attraction expert, as well as the two-time New York Times bestselling author of “The Art of Having It All” and “Taming Your Alpha Bitch” and the author of the international bestseller "Quantum Success." Her forthcoming book, “The Desire Factor,” will be released in April 2021. Christy shares the story of how growing up with an older sister struggling with addiction led to discovering how to grieve ...
Sep 21, 2020•52 min•Ep. 37
Dr. Jen Welter is a ground-breaking, barrier-busting force of nature. She’s a trailblazer, sports pioneer, pHD, passionate leader, world-renowned speaker, entrepreneur, and source of inspiration around the globe. She tackled her football career with fearless tenacity and an unprecedented track record of pioneering firsts, building on her remarkable career in women's football that included two gold medals with team USA, four world championships, and eight all-star selections. Dr. Jen busted into ...
Sep 14, 2020•58 min•Ep. 36
Michael Redd has been building, developing, and investing in tech-focused startups since he retired from the NBA in 2013. After 12 seasons as a professional basketball player, both in the NBA and the Olympic US team in 2008, Michael has continued a strong drive towards excellence in his focus on venture off the court. Hear him tell the story of his childhood, what led him to the NBA, and how he’s working with his wife to remove the stigma around mental health. What Brett asks: [03:45] What was i...
Sep 07, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 35
While working with teens struggling with addiction, John Kim discovered a common thread shared by the people he worked with: no one had a dad. As he put it, “We live in a fatherless nation.” From there, he developed a passion for creating dialogue with other men and started a blog called The Angry Therapist, where his blunt and authentic insights quickly built him a cult following. He practiced transparency and shared his personal story, which was extremely counter-cultural in the therapist spac...
Aug 31, 2020•50 min•Ep. 34
Nicole Winhoffer is a global fitness artist, health expert, and entrepreneur known for her creative workout philosophy, which has played a leading role in shaping some of the strongest bodies in the entertainment industry. Nicole created the revolutionary NW Method, a total body wellness formula that transforms energy into strength through chakras and movement. Born in New York City, Nicole’s dance background allowed her to make her Broadway debut at the age of 17, performing in productions such...
Aug 24, 2020•49 min•Ep. 33
