American Executive

Betsy Hamm is the Chief Operating Officer of Duck Donuts. Founded in Duck North Carolina on the outer banks, Duck Donuts was founded to create warm, fresh delicious made to order donuts. Since their founding in 2007, they have expanded to over 100 locations and a big part of that growth has been driven by strong branding and marketing strategies with Betsy Hamm at the helm.

Barry Allen is the president of Budget Saver and Zigenfelder Company, out of Wheeling West Virginia, the largest maker of twin pops in United States. You know those delicious colorful popsicles you ate as a child that you could pull apart with the two sticks? Those are the ones.

Amy Jungk is the Vice President of Corporate Strategy for Old World Spices and Seasonings out of Kansas City KS. Old World is the premier manufacturer for spices and the fastest growing barbeque brands made across the country. Learn how a company like Old World takes barbecue brands and helps them get marketed, manufactured and distributed nationwide.

Jonathon White is a graduate of Columbia University, schooled to be an attorney, he practiced real estate litigation before joining the family business, White Coffee. White Coffee not only imports their coffee from all over the world, but they also roast and distribute their coffee, giving them a unique advantage to service their commercial clients across the country.

Today I’ll be talking with Joshua Lock, a data analyst for Phillips 66, ticker PSX.Josh has spent many years studying the economic history of the United States and frequently publishes his opinions online to generate conversations around reckless money printing by the federal reserve, the debasement of fiat currency, the argument for gold and silver, and the problems of increased debt levels.

Tim Higham is founder and CEO of In Motion Global, the maker of Ascend TMS. A lifelong entrepreneur, Tim is now in the midst of amazing growth with his software company that helps shippers, trucking companies and third party brokers manage their supply chain and transportation needs all in one place. The software provides service to thousands of companies across 19 different countries and is rated the number one transportation software in the world!

Shannon Nelson is the Plant Controller for Werner Co - a manufacturing company out of Crystal Lake Illinois near Chicago. Werner Co's brand portfolio is far reaching. The company manufacturers ladders, truck and van storage equipment, and job site storage solutions for the construction industry. Shannon got her start in the accounting field as a staff accountant for the famous Jim Beam Brands.

Christopher Nadeau is founder and CEO of Haversack Inc, a less than truckload freight management and consulting company out of Charlotte North Carolina. Christopher spent 26 years in the army and traveled the world. After getting laid off from XPO Logistics he decided it was an opportunity to strike it out on his own and start his own company.

Matthew Askren is president of XLNT Bakeries, a new baking company out of Winston Salem North Carolina that is producing and rolling out the Hoopie Pie across the country. If you have not come across the Hoopie Pie yet it is a delicious premium dessert that is cream filled on the inside, covered with a light fluffy bread on the outside that is cold to the touch. It comes in three delicious flavors – Red Velvet, Chocolate, and Vanilla.

Terry Novak is the CEO of Tedor Pharma. From humble beginnings in Allentown Pennsylvania starting off in sales to CEO managing thousands of employees, Terry has seen it all in the contract manufacturing world, an industry that makes medicines, so sick people can feel better.

Andrew Smart is the CEO of Duke Brands. The company has flourished since its humble beginnings in 1917. In addition to manufacturing their own refrigerated grocery products, Duke Brands oversees and manages the process for other name brand companies. You know how ranch is on everything Americans eat? Well Hidden Valley, who owns the ranch market, is one of those brands Duke helps manage.

Daxy Perez is the co-founder of Legacy Podcasting. The company helps businesses leverage podcasting as long form content that engages their target audience, builds the brand and grows revenue. Even before Covid-19 Legacy accessed employment talent across the world in a completely decentralized remote from home business model.

Michelle Rademacher had a career as a talented architect. In 2018 she decided to make a pivot and take the jump into entrepreneurship to start a career consulting firm, helping other individuals make pivots into new careers. She shares her background in architecture and what it is like to run a career consulting company.

Dan Slagen is the author of the book Understanding Start Up CEO's and has spent his career helping fast growing companies improve their marketing goals. Companies include Wayfair - ticker (W), Hubspot - ticker (HUBS), Alignable and ClimaCell in addition to starting his own company and selling it.

Mark Clackum has a nose for business opportunities and picking the right women. What started as a minimum wage job 25 years ago doing manual labor in a metal scrap yard turned into a career where he would become president and later sell the company.

Ben Knosby got a degree in chemical engineering from NC state and used that background in engineering to create a software company. Lucid Travel is used by universities across the country to book their sports and club teams to save money and time. Lucid aggregates pricing from other websites and wholesalers to provide a customized platform for each client.

Owyhee Produce started in the late 1950's as a side gig by Shays's grandfather returning from the Korean War. In the last 15 years it has grown into a top 10 onion grower/packer in the United States. Tune in to listen from Shay Myers, CEO of Owyhee Produce.

Dennis Brown went bust with his email branding company in the dot com era. He tried again, scaled a company to 80 million in sales and sold his equity for millions.