Make a Difference (MAD) Podcast

In episode 71, Brandon and Farra discuss the differences between culture and values when it comes to business. 

Welcome to episode 70! Jennifer Doyle Vancil is a Gallup-Certified strength coach that helps people create strengths-based careers. Brandon and Farra took the Clifton assesment prior to this episode, so they get to talk with Jennifer all about their results and what a strengths-based career looks like. 

Chris Pelle is the CEO and Founder of Complete Canine Training, and a former Madwire employee!Chris has grown Complete Canine Training from a single man operation to 20+ employees operating out of Colorado's top dog training facility.

The Galbate Team is a top producing father & daughter real estate team at The Group serving Northern Colorado. Lauren is also a former Madwire employee!

Doctor Arnie Robinson is a clinical profressor of marketing at Colorado State University (GO RAMS!). Arnie has been a professor at CSU for 7 years and teaches digital marketing and social media marketing courses at the undergraduate level and digital marketing and search engine optimization courses at the graduate level.

Peter Fuller, CEO and Founder of The Workflow Academy, and his team are traing the next generation of RevOps talent through a non-tranditional means to education. Through their many certification programs, their students can set their own pace and take classes on their own schedule.In this episode, we talk to Peter about how The Workflow Academy came to life and his own journey through education. 

Welcome back, MAD Podcast family! We took quite a break, but we are happy to be back with a new co-host and tons of new episodes with amazing guests! 

Benjamin is the founder and CEO of QRTiger and is no stranger to entrepreneurship. He is also an architect by trade and has been based in Asia for 13 years now. Benjamin's goal is to bring better QR code solutions to businesses and personal brands and he strongly believes in a product that can make other businesses grow. QR codes have helped thousands of brands grow their business worldwide.  Check out QRTiger at:https://www.qrcode-tiger.com/https://www.facebook.com/QRTIGERS/

Jeremy Wenger is no stranger to grief, and that's why he's made it his mission to help other people through grief and recovery. Jeremy is the founder of Grief and Recovery Encouragement and hosts a podcast called The Grief Recovery Podcast.Connect with Jeremy at:https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremywenger/

Daniel founded Budai Media on the belief that every modern ecommerce company should adapt to market changes fast if they want to outgrow their competition. And if you like going fast, you must be an unlimited thinker. They've experienced some impressive growth over the last several years, and we talk to Daniel about founding a company, working with businesses overseas, and leadership.Check out Budai Media at:https://www.thebudaimedia.com/https://www.facebook.com/budaimediallc/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKtHC2ojO_7mhMHXQ-qZcHQ

In 2017, Brendon Kreig made a big chance. He left his corporate gig and co-founded Revel Greens, the largest greenhouse lettuce producer in the U.S. Revol Greens has locations in Minnesota, California, and Texas. Check out Brendon and Revol Greens at:https://www.revolgreens.com/https://www.instagram.com/revolgreens/https://www.facebook.com/RevolGreenshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/brendon-krieg-6641205/

Author of Selling With Dignity, a guide for entrepreneurs and sellers, and the host of the Sales Made Easy podcast, Harry Spaight is on a mission to help sales professionals do sales differently.Connect with Harry at:http://harryspaight.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/harryspaight/

Anna Taylor is founder and CEO of Dene Adams®, LLC. Her innovative concealed carry holsters are primarily distributed to law enforcement and private citizens. Anna is an internationally recognized public figure known by her educational and comical viral videos. Anna has an amazing story, and we loved getting to talk to her all about it. This self-made entrepreneur has gained a massive following and shares her tips and advice for business owners. We hope you enjoy episode 59!Connect with Anna:https://deneadams.com/https://www.instagram.com/Dene_Adams_officialhttps://www.youtube.com/c/Deneadamsofficialhttps://www.instagram.com/anna_taylor_officialhttps://www.facebook.com/AnnaTaylorOfficialhttps://www.youtube.com/c/Deneadamsofficial

Kylie and Ernan, Co-Founders of Evoke Imagination Productions, talk to us about what it's like to start a creative business - from challenges to victories and everything in between.Check out Evoke Imagination Productions at:https://www.instagram.com/evokeimaginationproductions/https://www.facebook.com/evokeimaginationproductions/

Brian, Brennan, and Jake talk to us about community, giving back, leadership, and working in the remote world. Enjoy episode 57!

Brandon and Marcia purchased iconic Fort Collins costume shop, The Life of the Party, in 2018 and have successfully taken into the 21st Century. We talk to them about what it's like to purchase a business and how they were able to take The Life of the Party from a local store to a world-wide eCommerce business. Find Life of the Party at:https://www.lifeofthepartystore.com/https://www.facebook.com/TheLifeofthePartyFoCohttps://www.instagram.com/thelifeofthepartyco/https://www.pinterest.com/TheLifeoftheParty/

Payton Frantz is a social influencer + founder of Higher Battle, an online ministry and community. Follow Payton at:IG: https://www.instagram.com/payfrantzYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/c/paytonfrantzTiktok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTdyaWGvD/Higher Battle: https://www.instagram.com/higherbattle

In today's episode, we talk to John Brooks, the President and Managing Partner of BTTS Holdings, the largest, exclusive event venue operator in Central Ohio with five venues, in-house catering, floral design and a strong focus on giving back by doing their part to eliminate food waste. Connect with John at https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-a-brooks/

Noel Aruliah is the founder of Curry Traits and Growing OC. Noel Founded Subtle Curry Traits, an online community, 3 years ago, and today it is a private Facebook group with over 972,000 members and over 700K members engaging each month.Noel knows what it takes to create a thriving online community, and that's how Growing OC was born.You can book a free, 15 min call with him to find out more info around the online course.https://calendly.com/noeloc/15minnoel@growingoc.com https://www.growingoc.com/https://www.facebook.com/groups/1167300000091005/https://www.instagram.com/subtlecurrytraits/?hl=en

Join us in welcoming our new co-host, Cole Slayden!Cole is a Multimedia Specialist on the Branding Team at Madwire®. As a part of the emerging wave of young content creators who have grown up with the internet, the early days of his career took place on YouTube creating fun-spirited videos of the popular game video game Minecraft. 200+ gaming videos later he had amassed a whopping…30 subscribers, (which later turned out to be dummy accounts made by one of his friends.) Although gaming is no longer his claim to fame, nine years and a LOT of videos later, Cole has gone on to cultivate an online audience of over a quarter million followers. Outside of his creative endeavors, Cole is a notorious cat lover, with he best friend being a two-foot tall calico boy named Gulliver. He loves meeting new people and isn't afraid to break the ice, sharing passion and absorbing wisdom are fundamental parts of his Identity. 

Today's episode is certainly bittersweet as we bid farewell to Darius. 

We made it, friends! Episode 50 is here and we are so excited to share this milestone episode with you, and we thank you for your support of the Make a Difference Podcast.In episode 50, we talk to Buck Adams, founder of Art for Redemption. Buck is a veteran, social entrepreneur, and a formally incarcerated individual. While incarcerated, Buck began working with Defy Colorado, an independent nonprofit organization that helps individuals with criminal histories create legal business ventures. This is how Art for Redemption came to life. Art for Redemption helps inmates become rehabilitated and contributing members of society through art made in prison. 

Reza is a husband, father, NFL Chaplain for the Denver Broncos, and a campus director for Athletes in Action. He is originally from Abadan, Iran, yet spent most of his life in Southern California. He attended Colorado State University and had the opportunity to play football for the Rams. His love of investing in others and athletics lead him to coach at the collegiate level for 2 years before he started pouring his life into others on and off the playing field. He currently coaches business men and women, helping organizations align vision and mentor athletes. 

It's another episode of feel good stories! Darius and Farra share some feel good stories from around the world this week.Links to stories referenced:https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/afghan-all-girls-robotics-team-get-us-scholarships/https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/german-animal-shelter-posts-tinder-profiles-for-lonely-animals/https://theweek.com/us/1003908/this-georgia-man-is-changing-his-neighbors-lives-1-at-a-timehttps://www.foxnews.com/us/california-police-officer-saves-choking-babyhttps://www.foxnews.com/world/us-air-force-pregnant-afghan-mother-deliver-baby-c-17-evacuation

Farra and Darius share feel good stores from the week. 

Joe Buckner is the Founder and Visionary of Fort Collins' only boutique boxing studio, Beautifully Savage: The Art of Pugilism. Born and raised in Fort Collins, Colorado, Buckner has a passion for the community and helping others to reach their goals and dreams. Buckner spent his youth as a multi-sport athlete and later went on to play college football. After a series of unfortunate events though, life took an unexpected turn for Buckner and led to a season of homelessness. Determined to fight for a better life, he became more motivated than ever to salvage his dreams and overcome even when defeat seemed imminent. Over time and with a lot of hard work, he paved his way to becoming a successful businessman and now entrepreneur. Learn more about Beautifully Savage Boxing and Joe:https://theartofpugilism.com/http://www.facebook.com/theartofpugilismhttps://www.instagram.com/beautifullysavageboxing/

Darius met Alicia by complete happenstance at a cemetery, of all places. They made a connection and now we get to share her story with all of you!Alicia  has decades of high-level experience in the customer service, insurance and financial services industries. Because of this, she found her true passion and purpose in entrepreneurship and launched Alicia Squared, LLC in March of 2020 (yes, at the beginning of the pandemic).She's developed multiple business models designed to educate other business owners and teams, help refine and organize the innermost details of their business while helping them grow. All without sacrificing quality. Her niche is business operations, people operations and human resources.Learn more about Alicia and Alicia Squared at:https://www.aliciasquaredllc.com/https://www.instagram.com/alicia_squared_llc/https://www.facebook.com/AliciaSquaredLLC/https://www.linkedin.com/company/alicia-squared-llc/https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-miller-b577a852/

Madisen “Mattie” Golden serves as the WomenGive Director at United Way of Larimer County and has been with UWLC since 2016. She received her Bachelor's degrees in Business Marketing and Spanish from Colorado State University, and transitioned to a front line fundraiser after several years in international sales and customer service. Her dedication to serving the community and elevating opportunity for women and girls shines through in her role overseeing the entire WomenGive program including revenue generation, community partnerships, volunteer committees, scholarship awards and related staff and intern supervision.  Madisen is a 2019 40 Under Forty honoree, a Working in Northern Colorado Ambassador, and a member and volunteer of the Junior League of Fort Collins. If you don't see her out and about at community events, you'll find her in line for a croissant at Little Bird Bakeshop, listening to music in Old Town Square or enjoying the sunshine with friends on a patio. Madisen is not only making a huge difference in the lives of single moms in Larimer County, but she is also an active member of our community serving many other non profit organizations through volunteering. More about WomenGive:https://uwaylc.org/WomenGivehttps://www.instagram.com/womengiveuw/

Jen DeKorte grew up in a small town with a big family and quickly learned the value of serving and savoring time with people over home cooked meals and fresh baked pastries. It's no wonder that Jen now owns a very successful bakehouse, The Sweet Petite, and supplies 47 Whole Foods stores with delicious gluten free and vegan cakes and pies. Learn more about Jen and The Sweet Petite Bakehouse at:http://www.thesweetpetiteco.com/https://www.facebook.com/thesweetpetiteco/https://www.instagram.com/thesweetpetiteco/

Happy Summer!Darius and Farra here. Just checking in without a guest this week to say what's up!We'll be back next week with a guest. Hope everyone is having a great summer!

A Fort Collins, Colorado native, Dr. Troxell is a proven innovative leader in the public, private and research sectors. He is the former mayor of Fort Collins, Colorado and on the faculty in engineering at Colorado State University. Additionally, he is the past Associate Dean for Research and Economic Development for the College of Engineering at Colorado State University and is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.Dr. Troxell is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of intelligent robotics and intelligent control of distributed systems. He is the principal of Distributed Energy Futures LLC.

Welcome to episode 40!Kizzy Parks, Ph.D., is the CEO of KPC, GovCon Winners, AmPar, and AdultFluent - a definite serial entrepreneur. Kizzy told us that from a very young age, she always knew she would be an entrepreneur. Fun fact, she is also a Guinness world Record title holder...but you'll have to listen to find out what that title is!Find Kizzy at:https://www.linkedin.com/in/kizzyhttps://www.kpcinc.com/

Adam Weber is no stranger to entrepreneurship, and as the Co-Founder of a few successful startups, Adam is also no stranger to leadership. Recently, Adam's company, Emplify, was acquired by San Francisco performance management platform, 15Five, and he now serves as their SVP of Community. Prior to that, Adam co-founded Bluebridge Digital, which he sold in 2016. Adam is an expert and speaker on employee engagement, culture, team performance, and leadership development. He has spoken at a number of events around the country for which he has been consistently rated as a top presenter. In 2020, Adam was named to Business Insider's list of Rising Stars in HR.Outside of all of that, Adam is enjoying life in Zionsville, Indiana with his wife, their two sons, and their dog, Poppy.

Justin Mahaffey is no stranger to making a difference. As a wildland firefighter of 13+ years, Justin understands the importance of taking risks the right way, and that risks look different to anyone. To tackle any challenge successfully, you have to be smart about it. You have to have community to back you up, and that is how WildFitLife805 was born. It's a place full of people who are not strangers to facing challenges — people who have won/lost and learned enough to understand that both are worthwhile experiences. This is a place where people can be a daring and motivated person on their own terms. It's a place where people can thrive.Learn more about Justin and WildFitLife905https://www.wildfitlife805.com/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5KHCKvztEemf4P2IQJt6Oghttps://www.instagram.com/wild_fit_life_805/

Zeke Cortez, owner and founder of Super-Natural Eats, is on a mission to change the old and outdated ways of the western diet that our economy has suffered from and bring a new and healthy dynamic to “convenient food.”Check out Super-Natural Eatshttps://supernaturaleats.com/https://supernaturaleats.com/instagramhttps://supernaturaleats.com/facebook

After a long a prosperous career in the financial industry, Bill felt called to make a difference in people's lives in another way. He went back to school and obtained a Masters of Science and started his own counseling practice, Whole Counseling.Bill still works in the financial industry by day, but by nights and weekends, he helps people work on themselves so they can improve the dynamics of all of their relationships. https://wholecounselingcom.wordpress.com/

Nick was born and raised in San Diego, CA and grew up spending most of his time at the beach and in the outdoors. He joined the Army in 2009 and spent the next 5 years as a Motor Transportation Operator with The 1st Infantry Division Big Red One and The 82nd Airborne Division All Americans. Nick has a great passion for serving others, and a love for all things health promotion, and that's why he founded Health4Heroes.Serving in high risk operating environments can have lasting effects on the health and well-being of our nation's military veterans and first responders. To combat these effects, Health4Heroes provides a supportive community, connection, and encouragement, paired with direct, affordable access to local health & wellness services for veterans, first responders, and their families.Check them out at:https://www.health4heroes.org/https://www.facebook.com/Health4Heroes.USAhttps://www.instagram.com/health4heroes/?hl=en

“MoneySmartGuy” Matt Sapaula is a United States Marine Corps combat-veteran who transitioned into the insurance industry. He began his post military career working at a large brokerage firm in southern California in transition from active-duty service in the United States Marine Corps. In the Marines, Matt's dedication to his country, his unit, and his duties propelled him to become a decorated military veteran while serving in Somalia, Africa, through Asia and the Persian Gulf. This time also gave him the values, discipline and drive that he brings to the financial services industry.Matt became one of the first military veterans to utilize the GI Bill to undergo DePaul University's Financial Planning program.Connect with Matt at:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattsapaulahttp://www.mattsapaula.com/https://moneysmartguy.com/https://youtube.com/c/7FigureSquad

Haydee Sperling left her successful corporate career to  follow her calling and start ProAmerica360 - A movement designed to help proud Americans discover proud, American owned businesses and organizations.Check out ProAmerica360 at:https://proamerica360.com/https://www.instagram.com/proamerica360/https://www.facebook.com/ProAmerica360https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLVI_LXtcDXQSOXMSnGicjghttps://www.linkedin.com/company/proamerica360/

Konrad Schlarbaum is the Sustainability Coordinator for the Office of Sustainability at Pikes Peak Community College, the only sustainability office for the entire Colorado Community College System! Not only does Konrad have a passion for sustainability (which started at a very young age) and protecting our Earth, but he is also an Army veteran, father of 2, and an extremely active member of his community.

Darrell Fick, a former competitive swimmer and University of Texas alumni, has had a successful career in the pharmaceutical industry, but mentoring students is where he really enjoys spending his time. In episode 31, we talk to Darrell about leadership, careers, being a student athlete, managing family time and a busy work schedule, and maybe just a touch of the critical feelings that many people have about the pharmaceutical industry. 

Darius and Farra take a short break from guests to talk about the first quarter of 2021, plus they play a little game. 

B - Bold - This is not only the name of Rustin Hughes' organization that helps individuals with disabilities through adaptive sports, but it's also the way that this adaptive athlete and experienced MMA fighter lives his life.Rustin is no stranger to adversity, and we are so excited to share his inspiring story with all of you. 

Volt Mobility, by REEVAAS, is on a mission to deliver affordable, renewable energy-powered transportation globally. Not only that, but they believe in people and planet over profits, so their entire model promotes local living wage employment, local business ownership, and widely distributed wealth and income benefits to their employees, owners, and shareholders. We got to chat with Volt Mobility Co-Founders, Alex, Bob, Deva, and Mac, about their why and how they plan to create the future of green transportation. Check out Volt Mobility:https://www.voltmobility.net/https://www.instagram.com/Volt_Mobility_of_Arvada/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQrNfKQKPEg9krtriSqHWtQ

Heather Bohlinger is the Founder and Executive Leadership Coach of Fiorii. She has been working with professionals in a variety of contexts for over 22 years as they strive to achieve their business and personal goals.  Some of her passions and expertise are business strategizing; leadership development; increasing emotional IQ;  goal-setting; healthy work and life integration; time management; reducing stress while increasing results; and embracing and celebrating your unique design. Heather has been coaching, teaching and training nationally for the past 15 years as she built her own business from the ground up to the top 1% of the company with over 600 colleagues nationwide. She is a certified Executive Leadership Coach. Heather combines business expertise with a heart for serving others.Learn more about Heather and Fiorii at:https://www.fiorii.com/https://www.instagram.com/fiorii.woman/https://twitter.com/HLBohlinger

Stephanie Maslow Blackman was stuck in a boring job and desperate for a creative challenge, so she went to a local art school and signed up for the only class that was still available, metalsmithing. She never looked back. Now, Stephanie owns NYC based Metalicious, an environmentally friendly and ethically minded fine jewelry business, and in this episode, we talk to her about it all.Find Metalicious:https://metalicious.com/https://www.facebook.com/MetaliciousJewelryhttps://instagram.com/metaliciousjewelryhttps://www.pinterest.com/metalicious/

Thompson Tindall knows first hand what it's like to come home from war and all the difficulties surrounding that. Using motorsports as a vehicle to tune the mind and soul of our returning veterans, Thompson created War Eagle Garage.Check out all the amazing things Thompson is doing:https://wareaglegarage.org/https://www.facebook.com/WarEagleGarage/

What treat it was to chat with Toby and Brett from Altitude Integrations. In this episode, we talk all about corporate responsibility, the Pledge 1% program, and what we think the future generation of workers will want to see in a company.Check out Altitude Integrations at:https://www.altitudeintegrations.com/https://www.facebook.com/AltitudeIntegrations/https://www.linkedin.com/company/altitudeintegrations/

John Fitch, Co-author of the international bestseller, Time Off: A Practical Guide to Building Your Rest Ethic and Finding Success Without the Stress, was such a pleasure to talk to! We talked about how important rest and leisure time is, as well as John's own recovery from being a workaholic. Enjoy the episode!https://www.john-fitch.com/

Welcome to episode 22! Donny Mcintyre shares the inspiration behind his 2 product inventions, Tossits and HEROBOARD, and reminds us that people will always remember how you made them feel. https://heroboardfitness.com/https://www.instagram.com/heroboardfitness/https://www.facebook.com/heroboardfitnesshttps://www.tossits.com/https://www.instagram.com/tossitsinc/https://www.facebook.com/tossits/

Dr. Lori is a licensed marriage and family therapist with a passion for helping everyone live their best lives possible. In this episode, we talk to Dr. Lori a lot about kindness, especially about being kind to yourself. We hope you enjoy the episode!