Embracing Uncertainty

Preston Weekes is an entrepreneur and CEO of OperationsX. OperationsX makes outsourcing turnkey and simple. In 2020, we saw the shift in the marketplace when everyone was forced into the work-from-home lifestyle because of Covid-19.   Companies realize now more than ever the viability of remote workers. Zoom, VOIP, and Video are more relevant now than ever. Preston also shares that online training is the future of the workforce. This means the workforce will only expand further into global teams.   Preston shares all of these ideas and tells us what it means to live a life of significance.   Connect with Preston: Operationsx.com

Jonathan Fishbeck is the CEO and Founder of EstateSpace LLC. A technology platform for high net-worth families and family offices. The platform helps them handle their lifestyle management services and operations to maintain real property assets.   This helps his clients reduce risk and also helps their wealth succession.   Before starting EstateSpace, Jonathan worked in high end home design for high net-worth families.   Overseeing these operations, Jonathan understood he could connect his technology background with his clients needs. EstateSpace became a family funded firm!   His passions beyond Estate Space include children, veterans and childrens research.

Deniero B, a true remote CEO, podcast host, coach, and social media personality. After starting his career in corporate America. Deniero knew he wanted the flexibility to live life on his terms. That’s when he started his coaching business. Listen as he explains living life on his terms and taking risks. He shares the story of moving to Italy without knowing the language, just to fulfill a dream.  At the end, he shares his perspective on living a life of significance.

Jeff Harry helps individuals and companies navigate difficult conversations while dealing with their most challenging issues using positive psychology.   Some of his practices include: How to deal with toxicity in the workplace with play, how to cut through office politics to create a psychologically safe workspace, how to help your staff find flow in order to do their best work, and how to play with your inner critic to increase your productivity.   Jeff has worked with companies like Google, Microsoft, Southwest Airlines, Adobe, NFL, Amazon, and Facebook. He’s also been named a top 100 HR professional by multiple publications.

Jason linnet is a hypnotic influence expert who helps entrepreneurs close more premium sales. As a certified professional hypnotist, Jason has practiced for over 20 years and helps his clients harness the power of positive persuasion techniques. These techniques help entrepreneurs quickly and effectively rewrite negative thought patterns. He reveals his secrets of hypnotic communication and shares his systems to supercharge your business growth. According to Jason, this isn’t about tricking or manipulating. It’s about helping your clients better sell themselves. For more on Jason: https://jasonlinett.com/

Justin is the founder of Conversionly, a company that turns cold leads into prospects and qualified sales opportunities. Justin didn’t always intend on being an entrepreneur. It was in 2013, on a mission trip where Justin fell ill and was hospitalized for 30 days.   After nearly losing his life, he realized how short life could be and he knew he wanted to do more. As his health began to recover, he finished school with multiple degrees in marketing.   After taking a job with a company out of school, he got the entrepreneurial itch. As a side gig, he started a marketing company to help companies convert leads. As the company began to build on its success, his wife encouraged him to go for it and he left his job for good.   This is where he learned the importance of living a life of significance. It’s about giving back and helping others achieve success along the way.

Nick Bradley is a world renowned business growth and scale up specialist. He's also the host of the U.K. number one business podcast, Scale Up Your Business with over 100,000 downloads in more than 30 countries.  Nick spent most of his career in private equity, completing over 22 acquisitions for a combined $5.6 Billion. Nick is also a dedicated family man and has completed 24 Ultra-marathons. 

Rich started his company out of necessity in 2009 when the economy was bad, and jobs were scarce. For the first 6 years, the company did very well, but then the market shifted and the company nearly failed. This is where Rich tells us he had to make tough choices, let people go, and pivot his company.   Fortunately, the changes worked because they decided to decentralize and go virtual. This allowed them to find the best talent across the country.   As we get personal, Rich explains his unique personal style. Although it may not appeal to everyone, he shares that his clients truly want the best of the best, no matter what generalizations people may make about his appearance.

Eric Balance is an entrepreneur, coach, and motivator. At the beginning of the episode, Eric talks about his 3-year remote journey that he always dreamed of. He tells us that his journey is a byproduct of chasing fulfillment over achievement. The lesson he teaches us is that life happens for us, not to us.   For Eric, he treats his life abundance as a tool that he describes as “Business Nirvana.” Towards the mid-point, he shares the early struggles with limiting beliefs and his battle with drug addiction. Through his family and support system, Eric went to rehab and turned his life around. From that point on, he knew he had the perseverance to not only survive but thrive.   Listen as Eric shares with us his opinion on living a life of significance by serving those around him.

Pam Christian is a mindset coach, motivational speaker, and host of the Juice podcast. As we meet Pam, we learn about her journey through life. She recalls her battle with self-doubt but the light really came on for her once she started to recognize the thoughts in her head.   “we learn to agree with our thoughts, instead of challenging them.” It takes hard work to challenge themselves and the work never ends. People get comfortable during easy times and then fail to adapt to uncertainty.   As the podcast continues, we learned Pam didn’t set out to be a performance coach. She started off in real estate but found herself helping friends and colleagues with their struggles. This led Pam to start her coaching business. Although she is naturally an introvert she shares the importance of stepping out of her comfort zone.   Listen as Pam shares her parenting style and the importance of equipping her kids with their own tools to succeed. This is where we learn Pams meaning of living a life of significance.   Connect With Pam: https://thepamchristiangroup.com/

John Cefalu is the CEO of The Buildsters Corp and JJs landscaping. In just over a year and a half, JJ’s landscaping has grown from 0 to a multi-million dollar company. John started his first business in college after a trip to Kenya. The trip had a major impact because of the connection he made with the kids in Kenya.   Little did he know, that after 5 years of hard work, the Kenyan government would shift and the new regime stole more than $500,000 from John. Young and ashamed, he ran away to Chicago to regroup. After a short time, he was back on his feet with a goal to make $200 per day while landscaping.   Those small goals turned into a massive landscaping operation. Then covid occurred. While his competitors were left scrambling, John and his team doubled down on digital marketing and the success followed.   Listen until the end where John shares his idea of living a life of significance.

Mike Ciorrocco is a professional speaker, performance coach, author, and thought leader. Mike's background is in the mortgage industry and he recognized that social media was the fastest way to build an audience. He shared that importance with his team, but he wasn’t doing it himself.   Mike recognized the importance of practicing what you preach so he started a podcast. His podcast took off and now Mike is well known for his concept of “rocket fuel.” At this point in the podcast, we learn Mike came from a broken home and as a child, he spent a lot of time at home. While this was lonely, he learned the value of positive self-talk.   He learned to use his peers and own negative self-talk, as rocket fuel to propel his success. Listen as Mike talks about leadership, using words like “we” “us” and “our.” He shares his passion that comes from a team environment and working with others. Mike's true passion is to propel energy and success for others!

Joe Semaan is considered a secret weapon in business, but his career did not begin in a high-performance role. Rather, Joe was the youngest of 4 children, born in Peoria, Illinois. He knew that nothing would be given to him. He moved to Chicago and Joe found himself in tax sales.   The sales came fast for Joe, but it was also in the middle of the tech bubble. Like many others, his decline was as quick as his rise. Then he realized that if he was going to be broke, he could do it anywhere.   Joe moved to L.A. and found his footing in the mortgage industry. He experienced his second bubble. Joe learned the value of self-awareness which can help us recognize the trends around us. Joe stressed the ability to form long-lasting relationships and learning from those around us, instead of transactional relationships.   Listen to the very end where Joe tells us his definition of living a life of significance. Hint: it starts with the education system.

Dave Ferrera is a founder, inventor, entrepreneur, and engineer. Dave had a life-changing event in college. His grandfather had a stroke while in surgery and during a conversation with his doctor, he asked Dave about his future.   Dave wanted to go into engineering, but the doctor suggested he shift his focus to healthcare. Daves thought changed completely. He found employment in the medical products field and his career took off. After being called to join a start-up, Dave moved to California and was forever bitten by the startup bug.   This is where Dave discovered the foundational relationship of teams, doctors, and engineers. Collectively they could solve any problem. Dave also shares his story on mentorship and the values he learned from mentors, he now shares to those he mentors.   As we finish the podcast, Dave shares his version of living a life of significance.

Peter Taunton is the founder of Snap Fitness and Lift Brands. Lift Brands currently has over 6000+ locations in 28 countries, but Peters journey started from humble beginnings. Peter shares the story of when he was 8 years old selling popcorn in his fathers business. Peter shares that a lot of what he learned about business, started with that experience.  His business career started when he quit his professional racquetball career. He went back to his local club and told them "if you ever want to turn around this failing club, give me a call." A year later, they took him up on that offer. 7 years later, he sold those clubs and started the journey of building Snap Fitness. In this episode, he shares that journey and you won't want to miss as Peter shares with us his meaning on living a life of significance.   Connect with Peter: https://www.instagram.com/peter_taunton/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Henry Kaminski is the founder of Unique Designz, a design and branding agency. While we learn that Unique Designz is a multi-million dollar business, Henry's story starts with humble beginnings. Henry grew up in a blue-collar family but his parents wanted more for his life.   Henry started Unique Designz in 2008 during the economic crisis. Fortunately for Henry, his business was like a rocket ship and he had to hold on for dear life. He shares that he found his niche in night clubs but after creating success, he found himself overleveraged on the verge of losing it all.   Henry knew the importance of asking for help and completely transformed his business into what it is today. As the podcast goes on, Henry shares with us the importance of branding and why it’s vital for your companies future.   At the end, Henry passionately shares his opinion on living a life of significance. His answer will inspire you to rethink your own stance on living a life of significance. Connect with Henry: https://uniquedesignz.net/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Lonnie McRorey is the co-founder and CEO of Framework Signs. Although Framework Signs was founded 3 years ago, the company has scaled quickly due to its ingenuity. Lonnie has disrupted the software development, engineering, and IT industries.   After his bad experiences outsourcing IT companies, he saw an opportunity in the marketplace. Lonnie viewed the problem of IT outsourcing as a mathematical equation. Once you subtract corporate greed from the equation, you can allocate that to top talent. These are his digital cowboys.   They are free to create and solve complex problems with autonomy. For Lonnie, significance is about having an impact on others around you.   Connect with Lonnie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lonnie/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Michael Maximoff is a serial entrepreneur with expertise in digital & email marketing campaigns. Michael was born in Ukraine and left in his 20s to pursue his education. After returning to Ukraine he pursued a job in IT before his true growth began. He learned the importance of taking care of yourself, as it was the only way to survive.   Michael shares that Ukraine has become an IT hub. He found himself creating great lead generation campaigns for other companies, before taking the plunge and starting his own IT company with a partner that had complementary skills. Listen as he explains how they measure success within their company.   Finally, listen as Michael explains his true passion to impact the world. His goal to achieve that is by developing solutions to people's biggest problems. Connect With Michael: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-maximoff/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

John Azar is an industry leader in real estate, private equity, and sales management. John's journey started in copier sales which led to an opportunity in copier sales. In 2004, he discovered an opportunity focused on raising capital for real estate developers. His company was off to a fast start before 2007 happened. His company did not survive and John had to go back to the drawing board.   John took a traditional job but kept paddling. He shares that pain and heartache are universal feelings. In 2014, he made the leap into entrepreneurship again, joining his brothers company. According to John, working with family is a blessing and a curse. It is easy to have trust when working with family, however, it is a balancing act to separate business and family.   Eventually, John decided to launch his own company and pursue his own happiness. He shares with us how he stays centered and tells us his opinion on living a life of significance. Connect with John: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jalalazar/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Nuno is an engineer, consultant, and venture capitalist. In this episode, he shares the 3 different phases of his career, and how none of it was planned. He shares that his progression has been a byproduct of him pushing people to take action and tells us that communication is one of his unique superpowers.   He also tells us that he’s learned to look at his own career from a distance. By keeping yourself at a distance, it forces you to remain neutral and less emotional with your decision making. He goes on to give us techniques on how to return to neutral and how to turn your anxiety into opportunity.   When you move from performance and  happiness, you are on the path to what he calls “True North.” He says life is not about balance, it’s about flow. At the end, he shares his opinion on living a life of significance and shares the importance of giving back by helping others. Connect with Nuno: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nuno-goncalves-pedro-69732a/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Ray McKenzie started as a road warrior, traveling weeks at a time managing a global IT team. One day, he noticed people dining, enjoying themselves, and not rushing back to work. This led Ray to ask, “ow is it possible to have such a work/life balance?” The answer was self-employment.   He didn’t have a plan, but one day he got a call from 2 CEOs requesting that he join their teams. Ray’s goal was to work for himself so one of the CEOs offered him a consulting contract, and that’s where Red Beach Advisors was born.   Not everything went smoothly for Ray. In year 2, contracts started ending and he had to learn to hunt for sales. This is where he learned the importance of perseverance and relationships.   Ray also tells us about his next startup, and his thoughts on life in this new world.   Connect with Ray: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raymondmckenzie/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Farhad Mehraban moved to the U.S. in the 5th grade when his father took a teaching assignment at Northwestern University. While the cultures were very different from Iran, his real shock came when he went back to Iran after living in the U.S.   It took him almost 10 years to gain his green card to return to the U.S. which he described as a dream come true for him and his family. Despite starting from nothing, he embraced and loved the 18 hour days. Farhad discusses the importance of mentorship from virtual mentors like Tony Robbins and Brian Tracy.   As he continues into management, he shares that his goal as a manager is to entice employees to assume and grow into his position. Farhad credits his management success to continually learning and surrounding yourself with those who challenge you. At the end, he shares how helping others, helps himself.   Connect with Farhad: https://www.linkedin.com/in/farhadmehraban/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Camila Santo background is in b2b consulting, specifically, building corporate partnerships! She is passionate about building female minority owned businesses. She tells us that immigrants have a strong will to succeed and entrepreneurship offers the opportunity to climb the ladder.   Listen as she explains how the current climate is pushing people into entrepreneurship and how 1/3 of workers are self employed.    She also highlights that 90% of businesses are small businesses, but only a fraction are femalminority owned. Listen as she explains those challenges, mainly startup capital.   Listen as she explains how we can break down the bias barrier and listen to hear perspective on living a life of significance. Connect With Camila: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camilasanto/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Danielle Teresa is in the start up process of launching her new company. Danielles background is in education. After 16 years, Danielle opens up about her nervous breakdown that would change her career and life forever.   Around this time, she discovered that she doesn’t need to be defined by her circumstances and decided to become the Phoenix rising in her own life.   Her new company helps other companies recognizes the champions in their employees. Listen as Danielle explains the employees biggest fear, which is not being heard by senior management. She explains to us how her company helps bridge that gap between management and employee to create successful relationships.   Connect with Danielle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-teresa-337350199/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Todd Robinson is an attorney, business owner, and entrepreneur. His career started as a social worker where he began to take interest in the law. Post law school Todd joined a law firm as an associate. However, he always knew that if he wanted to be in charge of his own future, he needed to build his own clients.   He began to chase business when he discovered the opportunity in closing commercial real estate loans. His book began to flourish, but what comes next came as a surprise. An outreach at a social event caused friction in his company, which led to him being fired.   Todd said this was his moment of truth and decided to start his own firm. Listen as he shares his story and how he has diversified his career now.   Connect with Todd: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddnrobinson/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Christine Hueber is a consultant and known as the Jedi master of LinkedIn. Christine adopted LinkedIn as a consultant in 2006 and views LinkedIn as a magical conference in the sky filled with your ideal clients.   14 years later, she is ranked in the top 1% of the most viewed profiles (out of 700 Million accounts).   Christine’s journey started out in traditional employment. Through her interactions with mentors and entrepreneurs, she was called to replicate their lives.   As she jumped into entrepreneurship, Christine explains the importance of adopting change and staying relevant. She tells us that this is the major difference between employment and entrepreneurship.   She also shares her LinkedIn content strategy and her perspective on thought leadership!   Connect With Christine: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinehueber/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Noah Koff is the founder of Redwood partners. An industry leader in building digital growth strategies. Originally, Noah wanted to work for a magazine. However, due to a recession, his first opportunity was with a startup.   Noah embraced the speed of a startup and decided it was the best route for him. As his experience grew, he began to recognize the importance of culture in business. Today, Noah practices that, by helping his own clients craft their corporate culture in the marketing strategies.   At the end, Noah talks about the importance of having a tangible impact. This means serving his community as a leader and mentor.   Connect with Noah: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noahkoff/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Brad Blazar’s journey began as founder & CEO of an oil company he started at the age of 23. At a young age, he successfully scaled his company and raised millions of dollars. However, as the oil & gas industry collapsed in the 1980’s, Brad recognized it was time to wind down the company for its investors.   Brad tells us he took a year off from working and went back to school. As he began to interview for new jobs, he was humbled by the salary offers he was receiving.   Instead, he threw himself into the financial services industry, where something magical happened. He found an old disk for a book he had written years ago, which would serve as his next pivot for his coaching career.   He trademarked his program “The Art of Beliefology”—By relentlessly pursuing your goals, surrounding yourself with high performing people, and learning how to manage your self-doubt, you can become hugely successful.   Plan for success and execute on your plans!   Connect with Brad: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradblazar/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Bryan Rutberg is the founder of 3C Communications. He didn’t start out as a founder. He started out in a sales role, which set the foundation for a lot of his great relationships.   Listen as Bryan discusses the importance of good management, and how his superiors helped him grow into the role. Here is where we learn the importance of taking an active interest in others' success.   Listen later as he discusses the importance of goal setting and how to align them with your customers, as well as your partners. Bryan later took on the role as a coach. He tells us that coaching is the most important gift you can give, as well as receive.   Connect with Bryan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanrutberg/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Gary Ohara is the CEO of High Impact Technologies, outsourced IT solutions for small and middle-market companies. Gary tells us that he didn’t intend on starting a business, but the company he worked for was sold 4 times and he was tired of it.   Gary stepped out on his own and found that his skillset was working on the business, instead of in the business. Listen as Gary discusses his philosophy on hiring slow and firing fast. This is where we learn his theory on balcony people vs basement people. It’s important to surround yourself with balcony people.   In the end, Gary shares with us the value of listening, what makes him tick, and what keeps him motivated. Connect with Gary: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hiimpacttech/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Adam Bricker is the Executive Director at Carolina Cyber Center. Adam's career has been a journey from corporate security IT, consulting, education, and entrepreneurship. Throughout the journey, Adam learned the power of mentorship.   The lessons he learned from mentorship allowed him to start a new company and business career. Today, Adam has applied those same lessons to his business, teaching cybersecurity to students in western North Carolina.   At the end, Adam shares the hard lessons he learned when he first started his business. Also, listen to Adam's advice on cybersecurity, along with what both employers and employees should be doing to keep themselves safe online.   Connect with Adam: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adambricker1/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Judy Pearson is a serial entrepreneur and innovator in the insurance industry. Listen as Judy describes herself as a natural fixer, seeing problems, and finding solutions to fix those problems. Judy's career didn’t begin as a founder. Like many, Judy started her career in traditional employment, navigating the boardrooms in male-dominated corporate America.   Her jump into entrepreneurship came when she needed to leave corporate America for personal reasons. Eventually, that led to her career in insurance, underwriting title insurance for fine art, and important collectibles. Listen as Judy describes the 6-year journey and the obstacles in her way, before eventually exiting the company.   Connect With Judy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pearsonjudy/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Michael Guidry and Paul Hatcher of the Guidry Group join us on this episode. The Guidry Group is a global leader in kidnap and resolution security services and crisis management. They have worked on cases in over 100 cases and Michaels interest in kidnap resolution started when he was a state trooper in 1977.   In 1981, he left law enforcement and went to work for himself because of the experience he gained as a hostage negotiator. Listen as Michael explains the lean early startup days where potential clients had mistrust for him because of his youth.   Eventually, he was invited to be interviewed on a television network, which eventually led to a life-changing opportunity.   Michael also shares how his success has led him to give back, starting with his foundation. Listen as Michael shares his meaning of living a life of significance!   Connect With Michael: https://www.linkedin.com/in/theguidrygroup/ Work With The Guidry Group: https://www.guidry.com/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Alex Cavalieri is the Co-Founder at Seven Group, a marketing company for financial advisors. Alex recognized that most digital marketing platforms were lacking in the financial services industry, Alex and his partner discovered an uncovered need in a traditional industry.   However, while the business is clearly defined, his pathway to reaching that success was hardly defined. Listen as Alex discusses his difficult start after leaving college without a job and how one tweet at his first job, would change his life forever. He knew that social media was just beginning and that it was about to catch its wave.   Listen to Alex’s excitement as he describes his opportunity in the marketplace, as well as his North Star!   Connect With Alex: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexcavalieri/ Seven Group: https://www.thesevengroup.com/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Breck Rice is the Executive VP and CRO of ServRX. ServRX helps community pharmacies get reimbursed on the medications they dispense for workers comp patients. Not only do they improve patient care, but they also improve workflow and profitability of the pharmacies that work with them.   Listen as Breck explains how the return to work is rapidly changing because of Covid-19. ServRX has developed new technology that accurately detects employee health.   Breck shares how his entire career has been a David vs Goliath mission and details his meaning of living a life of significance. Connect With Breck: https://www.linkedin.com/in/breckrice/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

David Schaub is a serial entrepreneur who built multiple 6-figure businesses from the ground up before he was 27. However, David did not always have it easy. He faced many levels of adversity on his way to success.   David started the WNY Podcast just over a year ago. His podcast is a movement aimed to help local Western New York business owners take the next step in their own businesses. Connect With David: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-schaub-32ba3847 Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Aslyne Rodriguez is the founder and CEO of Empower Bus. EmpowerBus provides transportation for low-income families to and from work. On this episode, you will learn how Aslyne found her business partner and how they used a business accelerator to launch a successful company.   She also shares how state and community initiatives helped EmpowerBus grow.   At the end, Aslyne shares the impact of the government-mandated quarantine (Covid-19) and the current state of EmpowerBus. Learn more about EmpowerBus: https://www.empowerbus.com/ Connect with Aslyne: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aslyne-rodriguez/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

David Blatt is the CEO of CapStack Partners and a Real Estate Capital Markets expert. CapStack partners help people finance distressed commercial real estate.   In this episode, David shares his humble background and how he bootstrapped the company himself. He shares how he took a job as a receptionist to get his foot in the door and learned the business of real estate, before eventually starting his own firm.   David achieved initial success, which created extreme pressure for his business. Listen as David describes what he means by “Limitless Opportunity.”   “Being right is one thing, but you also need cash, legal advice and the knowledge of regulations to succeed in this business”   At the end of the episode, David shares how he pushes himself each day to live life to its fullest potential! Connect With David: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidblatt-capstackceo/ CapStack Partners: https://www.capstackpartners.com/   Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Daniel Burrus has built an illustrious career as an author, teacher, entrepreneur and consultant for organizations such as Google and the Pentagon. Daniel is the founder of Burrus Research and has delivered over 3000 keynotes.   Dan is a futurist and is well known for his work titled the Anticipatory Organization. Over the course of this episode, Daniel teaches us how to lay out our fears, how to fail fast and embracing the duality between uncertainty and certainty.   He also shares how to thrive in difficult times, while others are merely surviving. At the end, Dan gives us his thoughts on what it means to live a life of significance and stay tuned for a gift at the end!   Connect with Daniel: https://www.burrus.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielburrus/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Darryl Dunn is the CEO and GM of the Rose Bowl, he joins Embracing Uncertainty to discuss his experience with hosting one of the most significant events in all of sports. Much like many in the entertainment industries, Darryl has had to deal with competitors and new stadiums across LA in order to stay ahead of the competition. Darryl discusses passionately the importance that the community of Pasadena has on the Rose Bowl and why the community is essential for their success. Connect with Darryl: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darryl-dunn-637a79a7/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Jeff Kasper has worked as an employee, manager, company founder and entrepreneur. After starting his career in banking, his entrepreneurial itch pushed him to start a customer satisfaction company. They revolutionized the industry by handing out $100 bills to employees and customers for a job well done. After that, he challenged himself again by attempting to start a game based application, that didn't go as planned. He shares costly lessons of an unsuccessful venture. This minor setback led Jeff into starting another family business, before eventually finding happiness and success through his voiceover work! Connect with Jeff: https://www.voices.com/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Mark Blackhurst is the Co-Founder and CEO of Digital Next, a website marketer based in the UK. In this episode, you will hear how Mark and his brother started the company as a hobby. However, through Marks brothers understanding of Google and SEO, the company grew to $1.5 Million pounds in 14 months. It wasn’t without stress though, listen as Mark describes the challenges he faced while hiring abroad and why it’s essential to work with people that share your same passion. Mark also discusses the importance of discovery, and how mature companies use it to create the right relationships. Marks Website: https://digitalnext.co.uk/ Connect With Mark: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markblackhurst/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

James Bobo is the CEO of Bobo Family Group, a 3rd generation real estate investing company. In this episode, James speaks fondly of his grandfather, who started the company through perseverance and determination. James also has his own story of perseverance, he bought his first house at the age of 16 and started his own real estate business at the age of 19 before re-joining the company business before being fired. After building success on his own, a tragedy forced James back into the family business and is now the CEO of the Bobo Family Group. James Bobo: https://bobofamilygroup.com/ Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Rafal Los is the Principal owner of Rabbit Seventy7 and host of the "Down The Security Rabbit Hole" Podcast. What makes Rafal unique is his length of time as a cloud security expert, but also his nearly 9-year career in podcasting. We discuss: The everchanging need for enterprise cloud security How small organizations are facing a do or die moment with their IT security Why formal education is not important during the hiring process We also discuss Rafals podcast which is set to release its 400th episode Connect with Rafal: linkedin.com/in/rmlos Connect with Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveleclair/ Embracing Uncertainty Links: https://linktr.ee/embracinguncertainty

Welcome to Embracing Uncertainty. I am your host Steve LeClair. Everyone wants to live a life of significance. Most people would define this as providing for their loved ones. Through the choice of occupation and the accompanying lifestyle afforded, it provides homeostasis. The human brain was wired for security and comfort. This explains why few people are willing to take risks required to launch a business, expand it and reach the upper echelon of their chosen market. The pathway to success is cluttered with obstacles and challenges that cause most people to turn away. The fear of failure and the unknown is so strong, homeostasis wins. On each episode of Embracing Uncertainty, we answer the following three questions: Why is it some business owners and entrepreneurs are able to face their fears, take risks and overcome failures while others stagnant or regress? What was the triggering event in their company where they faced adversity and made tough decisions that forever changed the company’s trajectory? Lastly, what are lessons they have learned that can help other business owners and entrepreneurs? Many of our listeners find they make an emotional connection with our guests. Our guests are often quite candid during these interviews and freely discuss what’s most important to them such as their family and their core values. At times they will even go into tragic experiences that shaped them into the person before our eyes. You will also hear our guests discuss the key personnel and trusted advisors who have helped them along the way. At the end of the next 30 minutes, you will not only understand how our guest is living a life of significance, you will also know their steps for Embracing Uncertainty.