Forest is Founder and CEO of Voodle, a short video app for business teams to capture, share and discover important business moments as they happen where they work – home, office, or on the road. Forest is a serial entrepreneur with a 30 year passion for innovation in video platforms. Previously founder and CEO of hospitality marketing SaaS provider buuteeq, and visual effects software tools innovator Puffin Designs. He was a founding partner of China based UX design and development studio for OT...
Feb 03, 2021•58 min•Season 9Ep. 9
Liz is co-founder and CEO of Seattle-based Fresh Chalk, a social network aiming to give you a faster and more efficient way to find trusted recommendations. The site allows users to search through local service providers (like plumbers or vets) and products (like electronics or beauty products) to see which have been recommended by their friends. Prior to Fresh Chalk, Liz was with LiquidPlanner for 11 years, starting as the company's marketing contractor and working her way up to COO and ultimat...
Jan 26, 2021•36 min•Season 9Ep. 8
Scott is the CEO of Attunely Inc. A proven, compliant, and trustworthy machine learning platform that makes the recovery of receivables easy, seamless, and profitable. Attunely has earned recognition as one of the Best Places to work in Seattle, #29 of 50 Best Paying Companies, and #7 of 50 Best Small Companies to work for. Scott brings over 30 years of technology executive management experience in both domestic and international markets. Scott’s career spans decades of technology innovation wit...
Jan 19, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Season 9Ep. 7
Aaron is a globally recognized systems entrepreneur who has used the science of purpose to change the way we work and serve. He is the CEO and Founder of Imperative, a venture-backed startup that is reconnecting us as human beings in the workplace through peer coaching. Widely known for his thought leadership, he is the author of The Purpose Economy (2014) and a regular advisor and thought partner for many global brands. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jan 12, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Season 9Ep. 6
Shelly is the co-founder & CMO of X4Impact and Giving Tech Labs. Their vision is to inspire entrepreneurs worldwide to drive positive impact and change. Shelly has 20+ years of award-winning experience leading digital media campaigns for tech startups and Fortune 500 companies, including NBCUniversal, Comcast, Giving Compass and VidaNyx, where she serves on the Board of Directors. As a strong believer in the power of good intentions, Shelly is a passionate cheerleader for making personal con...
Jan 05, 2021•1 hr•Season 9Ep. 5
Jason is a serial entrepreneur, and retail consumer goods expert, obsessed with bringing amazing products to market. He has close to 20 years’ experience delivering impactful and beautiful products to the world’s largest retail chains. Jason is currently the CEO of two consumer good businesses; Ubio Labs which is a market leader in mobile accessories and FLTR which is a medical supply company formed to address the acute shortage of PPE during the COVID crisis. See omnystudio.com/listener for pri...
Dec 28, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Season 9Ep. 4
Adam is CEO of Brightloom, where he and his team are building the first ever high-performance, retention marketing solution for consumer brands. A long-time technology innovator, Adam is passionate about helping brands build meaningful and long lasting customer relationships. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dec 22, 2020•1 hr 12 min•Season 9Ep. 3
Dr. Darvish is the Founder and Medical Director of Holistique Medical Center and Holistique IV Lounge in Bellevue, WA. Dr. Darvish is an internationally-sought out board-certified Anti-aging and Regenerative Medicine lecturer, writer and clinical physician who consults and trains medical doctors as well as patients from all over the globe. Using the wisdom of the body’s own healing capacity, as a holistically-minded physician, she integrates the science of Western Medicine with the wisdom of Eas...
Dec 15, 2020•50 min•Season 9Ep. 2
Roei is CEO of magniX, an electric propulsion technology company, poised to disrupt the aerospace industry with its advanced electric engines that will enable transportation capabilities and services never possible before. We dig into Roei's leadership style, and learn about how his experiences in the military, corporate finance, and time at the Boeing Company and Bold IQ all brought him to wear he is today. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Dec 08, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Season 9Ep. 1
Kirby is a seasoned startup operator and angel investor. He is currently the Founding General Partner at Ascend.vc, a pre-seed stage venture fund investing in marketplace, e-commerce/DTC, and B2B software startups in the Pacific Northwest. He is also a Techstars mentor, passionate Board member, and Board Chair-elect at Special Olympics of Washington, where he helped bring the 2018 Special Olympics USA Games to Seattle. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Dec 01, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Season 8Ep. 12
Christy is an intrapreneur, entrepreneur, and strategist. She is currently building her fourth start-up, Artemis Connection, a boutique strategy consulting firm passionate about helping innovative leaders reach their goals. She loves working for forward thinking executives who want results. She has seven years of experience working in corporate strategy, including nearly four years at McKinsey & Co. Before this, Christy was an award winning economics and mathematics teacher. Come join us to ...
Nov 24, 2020•52 min•Season 8Ep. 11
Tony is the Co- Founder and CEO of Possible Finance, a financial technology company fighting to make financial services accessible and fair for all. After graduating from Harvard University, Tony joined a civic technology company, Axon, that pioneered the idea of putting body cameras on police officers. This is also where he would meet his co-founders of Possible. They explored different ideas in how to use technology to serve lower income and minority communities where they came up with the ide...
Nov 17, 2020•1 hr 2 min•Season 8Ep. 10
Mike currently serves as CEO for Concentric Advisors, a risk management consultancy that specializes in delivering strategic security and intelligence services. Mike retired from the United States Navy after over 38 years of service, finishing his military career as the Director of Strategic Operational Planning at the National Counterterrorism Center, within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.Throughout his career, Mike served in Navy and Joint leadership and command positions ...
Nov 10, 2020•57 min•Season 8Ep. 9
Russell has been a Seattle area healthcare and technology entrepreneur for a long time and has a background in corporate finance and private equity. In 2018-2019, Russell re-architected his life and moved abroad with his family to Costa Rica. That posed an interesting challenge. He needed a profession that he could perform from outside the United States while also tapping into his passion of supporting other entrepreneurs to achieve their highest and best use. Today, Russell is the co-founder of...
Nov 03, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Season 8Ep. 8
Julie is a managing director at Pioneer Square Labs, and runs the firm's venture capital arm, PSL Ventures. Prior to PSL, Julie was a partner at Madrona Venture Group, where she led the firm’s investments in Integris, Poppy, and Julep. In 2013, Julie launched the Seattle Entrepreneurial Women’s Network, an informal forum for women entrepreneurs and startup executives to connect in the Greater Seattle area. She currently resides in Seattle with her husband, Alejandro, and their toddler son and ne...
Oct 27, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Season 8Ep. 7
Chirag is an experienced CEO, strategy executive, consultant, and FinTech/Insure Tech founder. Currently, he is the co-founder of JennyLife, an innovative mobile-first life insurance provider geared towards empowering women and providing straightforward coverage and financial security. Prior to Jenny Life, Chirag worked in investment banking for big names such as Goldman Sachs, and The Federal Reserve Board. He holds a MBA, Strategy from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, a mast...
Oct 20, 2020•1 hr•Season 8Ep. 6
Matt is a seasoned technology executive with more than 30 years of experience building and leading world-class SaaS and consumer companies. Matt has led the growth of companies in the private and public sectors, including Rosetta Stone, RealNetworks, Expedia and many more. He has had multiple turnaround successes as a public company president as well as a private company CEO. As President of Rosetta Stone, Matt is responsible for driving the transformation and growth for all aspects of the compa...
Oct 13, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Season 8Ep. 5
Russ is CEO and Board Member of WineBid, the leading global auction recommerce site for fine and vintage wines. He also serves on the Board of Ooma, a NYSE-listed Voice over IP company for businesses and consumers, and is on the Board and original angel investor of DemandStar Corporation, a B2G marketplace. He is also an Advisor to the founders at Modus real estate closing, which was recently acquired by Compass. Russ cares deeply about building great cultures with high performance teams, who de...
Oct 05, 2020•55 min•Season 8Ep. 4
Adam Wray is a cloud enterprise technology entrepreneur and serial CEO. In 2017, Adam founded AstrumU, an AI company created to translate educational experiences into skills that lead to predictable career outcomes and economic opportunity for every learner. With over $13 million in funding, AstrumU is being used by an initial cohort of colleges and universities across the country including the University of Washington, the University of Kansas, and American University. In this episode we discus...
Sep 29, 2020•1 hr•Season 8Ep. 3
Debbie is a Certified Professional Organizer and Productivity Consultant, and the Owner of Simply Placed, founded in 2003. Through her work, Debbie teaches individuals and groups productive habits and organized systems that allow them to maximize their email, time, tasks, workspace, and teams. Debbie’s goal is to help her clients live more productive and rewarding lives, free of the stress and chaos caused by disorder. In this episode we learn about the psychology of behavior change and useful t...
Sep 22, 2020•58 min•Season 8Ep. 2
Keita is the founder and chief strategist of Success Bully, an elite accountability practice for women with a champion’s mindset who need strategic support to create momentum in their personal and professional lives. In this episode we dive deeper into the inspiration behind Success Bully and Keita’s fascination by human behavior that got her to wear she is today. Keita discusses how she wants people to know that you can transform who you are, and you can transform your life, by just that daily ...
Sep 15, 2020•57 min•Season 8Ep. 1
David Wasielewski is the Managing Partner at one of Seattle’s favorite restaurants, Din Tai Fung. In this episode David discusses how he became the first non-family member to operate a franchise by the company. Over the last 10 years David went on to open four Washington locations, one Oregon location, as well as become a proud partner of the Seahawks and Mariners and open units in the stadiums. We learn about the relationships that fuel him such as his family, and his journey from moving to the...
Sep 08, 2020•50 min•Season 7Ep. 12
Lee LeFever is the co-founder of Common Craft with his wife, Sachi. They are known for being pioneers of the "explainer video" movement, starting in 2007. Since then, they’ve built Common Craft into a scalable business without employees, earned over 50 million online views, and worked with many of the world's most respected brands. In this episode, Lee discusses growing up in an entrepreneurial family and how seeing an unmet need in the online community space led to his success. He digs into the...
Sep 01, 2020•41 min•Season 7Ep. 11
HeadLight CEO and Co-founder, George White, joins us to discuss how their technology provides a visual source of truth about infrastructure projects and how the business has evolved since 2005. After recently closing a $25 million funding round, George has some valuable insight on fundraising and choosing the right partners. He also dives into HeadLight's process of defining their operating principles, the liability aspect of the business, and the importance of being a vulnerable leader. See omn...
Jul 28, 2020•48 min•Season 7Ep. 10
In 2015, Dan Price, the CEO of Gravity Payments, announced that he would take over a $1 million pay cut and raise the minimum wage for everyone at his company to $70,000. Now five years later, he joins us to discuss cutting his salary again, this time to $0, to keep his company and employees afloat during the COVID-19 crisis. He shares details from their brainstorming session during this difficult time, and the way the Gravity Payments team has come together will truly wow you. Dan also reflects...
Jul 21, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Season 7Ep. 9
Jay Deutsch, the CEO of BDA, Inc, co-founded the merchandising agency for iconic brands with his best friend by striking a deal with the NFL when he was just 16 years old. BDA now employs over 750 employees and has 34 offices around the globe. On this episode, you'll hear why they’re always challenging the status quo and how he’s been leading with transparency during the COVID-19 pandemic. You'll also find out more about his involvement in Seattle’s new NHL team and what philanthropic causes are...
Jul 14, 2020•57 min•Season 7Ep. 8
Nutpods Founder and CEO and Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Madeline Haydon, shares her story from humble beginnings and lessons she learned from her refugee parents immigrating to the US. On this episode, you’ll learn how her Kickstarter campaign provided the assurance that she had a good idea, how the odds were stacked against her when it came to fundraising and what the moment was when she felt like she made it. In five short years, Nutpods has grown to the #3 brand in the plant-b...
Jul 07, 2020•53 min•Season 7Ep. 7
Nikesh (Niki) Parekh, CEO and Co-founder of Suplari, has built a career growing private and public technology companies in Seattle. On the What Fuels You podcast, Niki discusses what it took behind the scenes to execute seven acquisitions worth $430 million and six financings worth $150 million, the types of people he’s drawn to when building a winning team, and how recruiting and hiring have been for Suplari during COVID-19. You’ll also hear him look back fondly on his life-changing time in Ind...
Jun 30, 2020•57 min•Season 7Ep. 6
Laura Malcolm and her husband James founded Give InKind after experiencing the unexpected stillbirth of their first child and seeing how much work was created for their friends and families who wanted to be supportive from around the country. Give InKind changes the way people give, receive and coordinate support through major life events, with a mission that everyone feels supported, whenever and wherever they need it. On this podcast, Laura talks about the emotional events that influenced the ...
Jun 23, 2020•49 min•Season 7Ep. 5
After immigrating from India and building an impressive resume, Reetu Gupta founded Cirkled in in 2015. The award-winning, 21st century recruitment platform matches high school students with the best fit colleges and universities, improving outcomes for both sides. On this episode, Reetu discusses the slow evolution of this space and how their platform is doing some much-needed disrupting to the ten billion dollar industry. She also shares some interesting findings on how COVID-19 is going to im...
Jun 16, 2020•40 min•Season 7Ep. 4
