We've seen the statements. Black Lives Matter. What has happened in the past is not ok. Diversity is important to our work culture. That's all great, but how do we move from statement to strategy? Jes Averhart and Rob Shields are leading that conversation forward through their work at Recity, the Reinvention Roadmap, and the JUST Podcast, which tackles race relations in our country and what we all can do to improve them. Recity Coworking Recity Connect The Reinvention Roadmap The Reinvention Roa...
Jul 30, 2020•42 min•Season 3Ep. 43
As a leader, from the moment you wake up, you already feel like you're behind. So how can we be ruthlessly efficient to get the job done effectively while not taking away from family and life outside of work? The Donald Thompson Podcast is hosted by Walk West CEO, mentor, investor, and Diversity and Inclusion Consultant Donald Thompson . Music for this episode provided by Jensen Reed from his song, “You Can’t Stop Me”. The Donald Thompson Podcast is edited and produced by Earfluence . For more o...
Jul 28, 2020•22 min•Season 3Ep. 42
Keith Langbo just celebrated the 8th anniversary of his talent acquisition firm Kelaca , and today Keith talks about recruiting and finding the right talent, especially in our work-from-home environment today. But what's remarkable about Keith is that 8 years ago, Keith and his family decided to move down from Michigan to Raleigh, a place where they didn't know a single soul. Keith set a goal of having 600 cups of coffee in the first six months to meet people and grow his business - and he ended...
Jul 23, 2020•31 min•Season 3Ep. 41
How do you sell through this COVID-19 storm? How do you continue to build your business, or even just survive? Donald Thompson has led through crises before, and in this solo episode, he talks about what it was like during the Recession in 2008 and what you should be doing to build relationships and make your company stronger. The Donald Thompson Podcast is hosted by Walk West CEO, mentor, investor, and Diversity and Inclusion Consultant Donald Thompson . Music for this episode provided by Jense...
Jul 21, 2020•12 min•Season 3Ep. 40
Ann Marie Taepke has produced some of the most amazing, hilarious, and memorable videos for brands like Velcro , Chrysler, and AstraZenaca. She’s a social media savant who has taken her talents from Ignite Social Media to Walk West , and now she’s the CMO of Holderness Family Productions . Today she talks about what it’s like to have a viral hit, lessons she learned from watching the great Kobe Bryant, and social media strategy we can all implement today. Also, Ann Marie has partnered with Walk ...
Jul 16, 2020•45 min•Season 3Ep. 39
Born and raised in Eastern North Carolina, Tonya Williams ' incredible career path took her all the way to the Obama White House, where she was the the Director of Legislative Affairs for Vice President Joe Biden. On the show today, Tonya talks about that journey - which included UNC Law School, the North Carolina General Assembly, GSK, and the office of Congressman GK Butterfield where she served as Chief of Staff. Tonya is now with SoftBank, as the Director of External Affairs for the Opportun...
Jul 09, 2020•52 min•Season 3Ep. 38
Anson Dorrance is quite possibly the most successful coach of any sport all-time, having led the UNC Women's Soccer program to an astounding 22 national titles. On the show today, Anson talks about how he quantifies competitiveness, lessons learned from watching Dean Smith run practice, his perspective on the Black Lives Matter protests, and why he's much more focused on human development than athletic development. Coming Soon - Anson's Book, Vision of a Champion, will be available on audiobook ...
Jul 07, 2020•40 min•Season 3Ep. 37
We have a guest host for this bonus episode, as Ciera Thompson sits down with two generation z-ers based in Canada. Kaia Counter is pursuing her Master's degree in International Affairs and Ben Codrington is a recent Queen's University graduate who is breaking into the tech industry. These three young professionals discuss what they look for when choosing a place to work, the importance of diversity, and what makes generation Z unique. High Octane Leadership is hosted by The Diversity Movement C...
Jul 02, 2020•43 min•Season 3Ep. 37
Akinwole Garrett has been super successful in his education and career, having gone to the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, and leading divisions of ABC, CBS, SheKnows Media, and now Lenovo. As a black man, Aki is no stranger to being the only one in the room. Today he talks about what that's like, the value of higher education, networking, what it's like to build a podcast network from scratch, and why if he had a magic wand with one wish, he'd choose to eliminate white privilege. T...
Jun 30, 2020•30 min•Season 3Ep. 36
Joe Colopy is the founder and former CEO of Durham-based Bronto , which sold to NetSuite in 2015 for $200M. Joe is now involved in the Triangle startup scene, running both Colopy Ventures and Jurassic Capital , and he has an online tech startup newsletter – Grepbeat – which a lot of you probably read in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday. With a $200M exit, you might expect Joe to have a huge ego, but that’s not him at all. He’s all about community, family, and helping other entrepreneurs. Th...
Jun 25, 2020•39 min•Season 3Ep. 35
Gary Salamido is the CEO of the NC Chamber , and he wants to know why Donald Thompson created The Diversity Movement , how NC businesses can create a more diverse and inclusive workplace, what can be done about white guilt, and how he can sign up to be a Certified Diversity Executive. The Donald Thompson Podcast is hosted by Walk West CEO, mentor, investor, and Diversity and Inclusion Consultant Donald Thompson . Music for this episode provided by Jensen Reed from his song, “You Can’t Stop Me”. ...
Jun 18, 2020•42 min•Season 3Ep. 34
Sonya Hopson is "The Lady with The Pink Hard Hat", but she's so much more than that. She's an African American woman working primarily in the construction industry, and she's overcome so many challenges - bias, mistakes, imposter syndrome, racism, and her own personal struggles - to build HIRE Strategies into one of the preeminent job recruitment firms in North Carolina. The Donald Thompson Podcast is hosted by Walk West CEO, mentor, investor, and Diversity and Inclusion Consultant Donald Thomps...
Jun 16, 2020•41 min•Season 3Ep. 33
David Gardner is a serial entrepreneur (7X founder, exits over $100M) turned angel investor (FilterEasy, Archive Social) turned venture capitalist (Cofounders Capital, raised over $40M for NC tech companies). At this fireside chat at American Underground in Durham NC, David talks about his book, "The Startup Hats: Master the Many Roles of the Entrepreneur", what North Carolina can do to help the startup community, why he invests in founders rather than ideas, and why retirement isn't as great as...
Jun 10, 2020•29 min•Season 3Ep. 32
Ashlyn Sanders was super successful academically and on track to become a doctor. She graduated from UNC a year early, interned in the Obama White House, and went to grad school at Duke. But while at Duke, a life altering diagnosis steered her to the path of entrepreneurship and an eventual investment from NBA legend Charles Barkley. NeuroVice WRAL Techwire: NBA Legend Charles Barkley Invests in Cary medtech startup The Donald Thompson Podcast is hosted by Walk West CEO, mentor, investor, and Di...
May 27, 2020•33 min•Season 3Ep. 31
What are the leaders of tomorrow looking for in companies they're working for? What brands to they admire (or not)? What do they want Boomers and Gen X to know about them? Join us in our virtual roundtable discussion with 4 future leaders from Gen Z - Tea Blumer , Gaven Kerr , Ciera Thompson , and Jalen Hatton . The Donald Thompson Podcast is hosted by Walk West CEO, mentor, investor, and Diversity and Inclusion Consultant Donald Thompson . Music for this episode provided by Jensen Reed from his...
May 20, 2020•46 min•Season 3Ep. 30
Jen Hoverstad is a cancer survivor, attorney, Tedx speaker, marketer, mom, wife, podcaster, all around amazing person, and now the Director of Community Engagement at the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. On the show, Jen talks about her cancer journey, what it truly means to be an influencer, how she does it all, and her new role with Kay Yow. Jen's Tedx Talk, How to Change the World by Being an Influencer Kay Yow Cancer Fund Greater Than Podcast The Donald Thompson Podcast is hosted by Walk West CEO, mento...
May 13, 2020•41 min•Season 3Ep. 29
Hassan and Meleata Pinto are rockstar parents and professionals. All three of their children are on full scholarships playing soccer - at Elon then transferring to Duke, at UNC to play for the legendary Anson Dorrance, and at Princeton - all elite schools both academically and athletically. Hassan is now the Senior VP of Business Development at Creative Allies , and Meleata is the Global Marketing Director at Lenovo. So while chasing their dreams professionally, how did they raise such great tal...
May 06, 2020•54 min•Season 3Ep. 28
As my company was getting used to this new work-from-home reality, I noticed that some people on the team – and it was usually women – were opting not to show their faces. And it got me to wondering, why do we put so much pressure on women in the workplace to look a certain way? I wrote about it in a LinkedIn post , and I hit on something that people wanted to talk about. My guest today, Loren Shumate , commented right away, “I had this exact realization this week. I honestly think it is more ho...
Apr 15, 2020•36 min•Season 3Ep. 27
The Startup Hats: Master the Many Roles of the Entrepreneur , by serial entrepreneur turned venture capitalist David Gardner, is now available on audiobook. On this feed is Chapter 1: The Entrepreneur Hat. The entire audiobook is available on Google Play . David is a 6X successful startup founder who now runs Cofounders Capital, which has now invested over $40M in North Carolina tech startups. In Startup Hats, David provides an easily digestible resource to growing your company based on the many...
Mar 16, 2020•22 min•Season 3Ep. 22
We wrap up Season 2 by talking about a topic that all professional leaders need to have knowledge of and take action on if they want employees to be happy, if they want to have the best ideas, and if they want their companies to grow the right way; diversity and inclusion . Hosted today by Jason Gillikin with guest (and normal host) Donald Thompson is extremely passionate about Diversity and Inclusion. He is the CEO of Walk West, which is the fastest growing marketing agency in North Carolina, b...
Dec 02, 2019•19 min•Season 2Ep. 21
Donald Thompson talks to guest host Meghan Hockaday about what it takes to succeed in business, who his mentors are and what they taught him, why he doesn’t like the term work-life balance, some of the strategic partnerships at Walk West, and the craziest thing he’s done for a client. Hustle Unlimited is (usually) hosted by Walk West CEO, mentor, investor, and hustler himself, Donald Thompson. Music for this episode provided by Jensen Reed from his song, “You Can’t Stop Me”. Hustle Unlimited is ...
Nov 25, 2019•28 min•Season 2Ep. 20
Pete McEntegart, managing editor of Grepbeat.com has had quite the windy career path, starting as a financial analyst at Goldman Sachs, then going back to college, then writing at Sports Illustrated – if you ever read SI.com in the 2000’s, Pete was the guy who wrote The Ten Spot, which was a daily column on 10 funny things in sports that day. During his time there, he was rudely interrupted by a six-month trial of the Tyco CEO and CFO who were accused of embezzling millions from the company – an...
Nov 18, 2019•28 min•Season 2Ep. 19
As Director of Entrepreneur Initiatives at Wake Tech in Raleigh NC, Katie Gailes has been able to help thousands of entrepreneurs with networking, funding, mentoring, and training. But she also says that entrepreneurship does NOT necessarily mean starting a business. On today's episode, Katie talks about what being an entrepreneur actually means, some of the amazing things she's doing with Wake Tech AND Launch Wake County, diversity in entrepreneurship, and so much more in this inspiring episode...
Nov 11, 2019•41 min•Season 2Ep. 18
Hustle Unlimited is hosted by Walk West CEO, mentor, investor, and hustler himself, Donald Thompson. Music for this episode provided by Jensen Reed from his song, “You Can’t Stop Me”. Hustle Unlimited is edited and produced by Earfluence . For more on the Earfluence Podcast Network, visit @EarfluenceMedia on any social media platform. High Octane Leadership is hosted by The Diversity Movement CEO and executive coach Donald Thompson and is a production of Earfluence . Order UNDERESTIMATED: A CEO’...
Nov 04, 2019•35 min•Season 2Ep. 17
“Any time you shop local and independent and you spend money in our community, more of that money recirculates back here. And that means money for roads, money for schools, you know, money for general infrastructure. And it just helps create more jobs here.” Jennifer Martin is the Executive Director of Shop Local Raleigh , and she comes on the Hustle Unlimited Podcast to talk about why it’s so important to shop local, the incredible events (like Brewgaloo) that they’re running to support the com...
Oct 28, 2019•31 min•Season 2Ep. 16
“A lot of people become a CEO for the first time with no experience. It’s kinda like becoming a parent. There’s not really qualifications to be a CEO. You can print a business card, you can start a business, then you are in charge of something and really responsible for taking something from a concept to a commercial being. And a lot of times when people start a brand new company, they have an idea, they have a certain perspective. But running a business and creating something that gives you val...
Oct 21, 2019•48 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Tim McLoughlin is a Trianlge native and partner at Cofounders Capital , a Cary NC based venture capital firm that has raised over $30 million to invest in tech startups. On the show today, you’ll hear how Tim and David Gardner (founder of Cofounders Capital) got connected, why the Triangle is such a special place for Tim and his family, why not all businesses are investable businesses, and why the only way that your investors can help you is if you’re honest with them. Hustle Unlimited is hosted...
Oct 14, 2019•43 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Molly Demarest is the General Manager of American Underground Startup Hub in Durham NC. Throughout her career, she has grown into leadership of the American Underground team and mentorship of aspiring entrepreneurs. But when she was growing up, she could never have guessed she’d be this successful. With a learning disability and ADHD, Molly knew she had a different way of learning. But unfortunately, many of her teachers didn’t embrace the difference, so she also thought she was dumb. On today’s...
Oct 07, 2019•44 min•Season 2Ep. 13
Javier Leiva is a creative director at Red Hat and former Emmy winning TV producer. But today, we talk to Javier about his podcast side hustle, Pretend , which now has over a million downloads. We talk about how Pretend started, its successes and opportunities, sacrificing sleep, keeping priorities straight, and advice for all the side hustlers and podcasters out there. Hustle Unlimited is hosted by Walk West CEO, mentor, investor, and hustler himself, Donald Thompson. Music for this episode pro...
Sep 30, 2019•39 min•Season 2Ep. 12
Heather Chandler literally wrote the book on how to make a video game, and was the senior producer on the most popular game in the world, Fortnite . She chats with Donald Thompson on this episode of Hustle Unlimited about her career as a trailblazing woman in gaming, why she wrote the book on how to make a game, her time at Epic games making Fortnite, mentorship, and now transitioning into entrepreneurship with her new company, Whole Brain Escape , in Apex NC! Hustle Unlimited is hosted by Walk ...
Sep 23, 2019•35 min•Season 2Ep. 11
