The Matt Baxter Show

Danny Klein is the Editorial Director at QSR and FSR magazines, two of the restaurant industry's leading trade publications and part of the WTWH Media portfolio of brands. QSR is celebrating its 27th year in business and continues to serve as a leading resource for franchisees, executives, and thought leaders throughout the foodservice world. FSR, founded 12 years ago, covers the full-service restaurant sector. A graduate of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, Danny spent more than a decade covering high school, college, and professional sports throughout Florida before joining the company as the associate editor of FSR magazine in 2015. A Brooklyn, New York, native, he lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with his wife, Lindsey, basset hound Maggie, daughter, Audrey, and son, Dean. Thank you, Danny, for today's episode!

Holly knows all too well about how purpose can change throughout the course of our life. Holly's background includes starting her own construction company in 1997 and being a GC for 25+ years building and designing for people residentially/commercially. Before taking over for Faith-Based Counselor Training Institute (FBCTI) she started Age Me Gracefully, a line of supplements and skin care. She's also a Southern Living Magazine top female home builder for the state of Texas, as well as has an International Living article for her building and design in Central America, where she spent three years. She believes passion is more than dreams of great things and following your bliss, but a burning in the pit of your stomach that is only tamed when you feed your dreams through accomplishments and actions toward that burn. That feeling of power, drive, energy, and borderline obsession required to achieve your dreams is passion, and Holly has written a book on this very subject. Join us to discuss all this, and more, on today's episode!

Hibben has a variety of experiences at Source Intelligence, Braintree/Venmo, PayPal, and Jellyvision, now working as the fractional Head of People for scaling companies that recognize talent as their greatest asset and are ready to build modern people operations. She has an unwavering commitment to investing in people – the prerequisite to building a strong people operations, cultural identity, and high-performing company. Thank you Hibben!

Co-founder and CEO of Boom Learning, changing teachers lives for the better by saving time and improving the student learning experience. Mary has worked with business large and small on the intersection of user-generated content, copyright, privacy, and related business and PR risks. An entrepreneur at heart, she starts companies or creates new lines of business within companies. Thank you, Mari, for today's episode!

With more than 15 years of experience as an HR professional, Senior Manager of Thought Leadership for Paylocity Shari Simpson brings a unique, veteran perspective to a range of topics, from training and development to talent acquisition and employee relations – many of which she dives into with other industry experts as the host of the podcast PCTY Talks: HR, People and Culture. When she's not lending her voice there, she's finding other ways to elevate HR, payroll, and business professionals in and outside of Paylocity by collaborating with other industry leaders and speaking at local and national conferences. Shari also co-leads Paylocity's women's employee resource group, SHEroes. Thank you Shari for today's episode!

For every employee—the healthy and the hurting—Forte is the mental wellness employee platform that provides Content and Connections so they can uniquely and meaningfully contribute at work, home, and in their community. Today we engaged in conversation about how to make work more meaningful in the world (and more!). Thank you to today's guests!

Jessica Yarmey is the CEO of KickHouse, a modern kickboxing franchise that inspires members and communities to take their health and kick it up a level. Today we chatted about personal fitness, wellbeing, and larger perspective. Thank you, Jessica, for today's episode!Linkedin: Jessica YarmeyInstagram: @jessicayarmey

Whaat's up podcast listeners! Today I'm chatting with the one and only Bandit the Rapper, a stylish dude, brilliant musician, and amazing guy. The insight he brings today and the ideas we discuss are brilliant. Thank you!

Randy has been the Chief Information Security Officer at Veterans United Home Loans since May 2021. It is awesome working for a company whose mission is to put Veteran Heroes into Homes and to live their values of passion, integrity, and fun every day. Thank you, Randy, for today's episode!Linkedin -- Randy Raw

Welcome back to another episode of The Matt Baxter Show! Today we get to know Dr. Endya Perry, a brilliant CFO and all-around cool person. It's special to analyze the next phase of each step of her life, focusing on the moment and beyond! Dr. Perry brings energy, light, wisdom, and motivation to make the world a better place.Linkedin: Dr. Endya Perry https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-endya-perry-40a82668/

Claire is confident, self-motivated, innovative and commercially minded, with a strong track record of producing creative & digital strategies that deliver significant return on investment across major platforms and projects. We chat about her work at Unilever, and more! Thank you Claire for today's episode.

After a brief hiatus, we are back! Sarry Ibrahim's business is to help high net worth individuals, real estate investors, business owners and retirees grow and protect their wealth predictably and safely. As a Financial Consultant, Health and Life Agent, Sarry has cultivated a reputation for putting his clients first, no matter what. He prides himself on attending all client meetings without expectations or preconceived ideas to ensure that he is solving his client's problems. Thank you, Sarry, for today's episode!

Nina Murano has appeared as a singer in numerous New York venues including Jimmy Weston's, Village Gate, Sweet Basil, Sweetwater's, Greene St., Condon's, 37th St. Hideaway, Red Blazer, Freddy's, Tramps, Eleonora's; The Triad and Danny's Skylight Room. She has performed in Los Angeles at The Beverly Hilton; in Florence, Italy at ” Il Sipario” ; in Amsterdam at the Bette Asfalt Theatre and for an event in Hamburg, Germany.She has received the Bistro Award from Backstage; the Outstanding Solo Performance Award from NY Native and has been the recipient of more than 15 annual ASCAP Special Popular Song Panel Awards.“Nina Murano has a voice that glows…and jazz phrasing know-how.” NY NEWSDAY“Nina's Classy and Classic” NEW YORK POST“Murano's touch of elegance…creates a moody, and dreamlike musical interlude” DRAMALOGUE“Murano is as polished and sophisticated a singer as one could hope for…a best kept secret.” NY NATIVE Nina studied with Sanford Meisner at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre and continued her professional acting training with William Esper and Mordecai Lawner. Her twenty five plus years of award winning club and cabaret singing becomes the basis of her coaching for Broadway musicals and drama. Thank you, Nina, for being today's guest on the Matt Baxter Show!

Lucia Rios removes barriers and creates access through her presence, voice, and activism. Her life in college and over a 20-year working career have included giving a voice to and empowering those with disabilities. She is passionate about helping people with disabilities find their voice to better themselves and the world around them through creative solutions, innovative thinking and accessibility. She is an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion of all people -- thank you, Lucia, for today's episode!

Matt is a sourcing specialist with management and marketing experience and a strong focus on safety, social responsibility and sustainability. His goal is to build the best sourcing company in the world while upholding the highest standards possible. Thank you, Matt, for today's episode of The Matt Baxter Show!

Great discussion, deep life story, and business strategy: all things that mean a great episode of The Matt Baxter Show. Sebastian has 8+ years in innovation and corporate venturing in large organizations, having launched StationX to bridge the world between entrepreneurs and corporate and create game-changing partnerships. Thank you, Sebastian, for today's episode!

Dubbed ‘Queen of Electro', Luciana has stood at the forefront of Dance Music with a supercharged sound that has infiltrated dance floors across the globe, particularly in the United States where she has had 9 Billboard Dance No.1's. She's the Girl who started the electro nu wave movement with the multiplatinum “Yeah Yeah” and the voice behind countless club anthems, collaborating with the biggest names in EDM: Tiesto, Hardwell, KHSMR, Will Sparks, Bassjackers, and Moguai to name a few. Her recent collaboration with South American mega star Juan Magan went #1 in 9 countries on the first day of release and went platinum within two weeks. The video rocketed up to 70million YouTube views in less than 4 months. Now, from her LA studio, Luciana has just released her first art collection – a series of famous icons — dripping in punk. This collection is a unique blend of her two loves — music and art — as captured by the renowned photographer Dennis Leopold for Mexican lifetyle magazine M Revista. Thank you, Luciana, for today's podcast. Instagram — thelucianacaporasoWebsite – www.luciana.comSpotify – Luciana - 1M Monthly ListenersInstagram Art – Punk Street StudiosNFT Discord — Join the ROYAL CLBRZ Discord Server!

Today I chat with Sam, an entrepreneur with a passion for cybersecurity. Based in both New York and Sydney, he is motivated by creating simple, technical solutions to complex problems and by challenging preconceived ideas and beliefs in order to have a positive impact on the world. In 2015, with funding from leading U.S. and Australian investors, he launched Kasada to provide an innovative web traffic integrity solution to companies around the world. Thank you for today's episode!

Chris Zingo is the Chief Revenue Officer at Finastra, leading the development and execution of the go-to-market strategy for Finastra's Global Corporate Banking and Lending Business. His primary responsibility is to define and implement the target operating model for the region with the objectives of improving the customer experience, expanding market reach and partner ecosystem, accelerating the penetration and expansion of our markets, and drive revenue and retention growth. Thank you, Chris, for today's episode!

Tameka McNair holds an undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering with a focus in Human Factors, a minor in African American Studies and an MBA with a focus in Leadership. Currently, Tameka is a Director at Microsoft driving digital employee experience success (Viva). Prior to her current role, she has worked in various organizations at Microsoft: Sales/Services as the Azure GTM lead, Legal focused on Privacy Operations, C+AI Security Fundamentals and Internal Audit where she was a Senior IT Auditor.Her personal mission is to Empower everyone that she encounters to become the best version of themselves and to discover their purpose - encouraging others to reach for the stars and to not stop until they obtain them all!Her unique style, personality, and commitment to walking in her authentic truth has played a major part in navigating her life and career. Inspired by her experience overcoming a wide range of obstacles, Tameka seeks to encourage others to pursue their dreams despite the various challenges they may face. Tameka is a long-time advocate of DEI (Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion) and has helped establish employee resource groups to push DEI initiatives. She is an active mentor to both adults and youth in underserved communities and passionate about encouraging youth and minorities to explore STEM careers. She is also the cofounder of the Women IN Energy Conference. Tameka is a published author for a book titled Conquering Uncertainty – Don't concede too soon, your Victory awaits you.Within the last 10 years, Tameka has made four industry switches (Manufacturing, Energy, Software and Retail), each leveraging her technical expertise, desire to solve challenging problems, customer obsession and ability to navigate across various disciplines. Tameka aspires to become the CEO of a Fortune 100 company. Thank you for today's episode!Tameka's website: http://www.tamekamcnair.com/Tameka's book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BN21JMKW?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860

Terry entered business networking in 1995 during his first professional sales job while I lived in Columbus, Ohio. By 27, he was running 5 different groups ranging from 18 to 52 people. After moving back to Michigan, he developed  Motor City Connect, became the fastest growing networking group in Detroit. It was also one of the first hybrid online and real world networking groups on the planet.As a sought after speaker, his goal is to leave the audience wanting more. Coaching became that more. Thank you Terry!

Alex Drost is a Founder & CEO who works with growth-minded professionals to help them connect, grow and excel in their careers, believing that true success lies in your ability to foster meaningful connections with those around you with intentional focus and effort.After starting his career in middle-market investment banking, Alex embraced his entrepreneurial spirit, a deep desire for continual growth, and passion for technology to create Connection Builders.Connection Builders is a tech-enabled growth platform purpose-built to accelerate career advancement for individuals and drive sustainable growth for firms.Alex is also the host of the Branch Out Podcast, where he talks with today's industry leaders about their mindsets and the actions they have taken to reach their success. Thank you Alex for today's podcast!

Tracy is a speaker, author, coach, and founder of Kawa Community Partners, supporting individuals in finding the best version of themselves, whether it be changing their career or growing their business. She also is a developer of K-BAT, helping discover career blind spots to move past obstacles hindering professional growth. Thank you for today's episode!

Raj Khemani is the Head of Global Capability Centers – India & Poland at Haleon. He is a strategic leader with expertise in leading technology-based, multi-billion-dollar revenue and growth initiatives. Raj has an acute understanding of organizational leadership and is a strong believer that values and culture are crucial to an organization's strategy for success.Raj's interests include geo-politics, social action, economic empowerment, environmental causes, and science and technology. Thank you Raj for today's episode!

Greg Anderson is an innovative legal executive offering a unique and diverse skill set, with over twenty years of global experience and leadership roles in operations, finance, sales, engineering, and legal. Well versed in technology, development, and outsourcing and award-winning subject matter expert in information security and privacy, Greg chats about his ventures on today's episode! Thank you Greg!

This episode features Dan Mangena: Forbes featured international speaker, Wall Street Journal featured "Master of Success” and two-time best selling author. Thank you for being on today's podcast!

Saj is the CFO for Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines at AstraZeneca and is a highly motivated strategic CFO with over 17 years of rich experience in strategic business partnering, change management and driving outcomes, budgeting/forecasting, controlling and taxation and proactive risk management. Saj will be speaking at the World Finance Forum in 2023 on the role of the CFO in shaping organizational culture. Thank you for being on today's episode!

Palash is a huge believer in the power of marketing narrative and storytelling in changing the trajectory of a business. He advanced from Harvard Business School's MBA program to build the event marketing platform for the modern B2B go-to-market stack. Passionate about startups, founders, and excellent convo; thank you Palash for today's episode!

Tim Crawford co-founded Tenstreet in 2006 to provide software solutions for the transportation industry and has served as CEO since 2016. With a team that's largely based in Tulsa, the company is nearing 200 people today and continuing to grow. Since its founding, the business has grown to serve nearly 4,300 motor carriers and private fleets and processes over 50% of employment verifications in the trucking industry overall. Ninety percent of professional drivers have used the platform to apply, qualify, and onboard with fleets of all sizes.Prior to Tenstreet, Tim worked at a large background screening company in various technology and operations leadership roles and as a consultant for a public accounting firm. A graduate of TU in accounting, he's called Tulsa home for most of his life. Thank you Tim!

Charles is a scientist with interests at the intersection of physics, machine learning, and computational biology. Previously, Charles worked as a machine learning engineer at Leap Motion and a computational biologist at Pfizer. He was a Philippe Meyer Fellow in theoretical physics at École Normale Supérieure in Paris, France, and a postdoctoral scientist in biophysics at Boston University. Charles holds a Ph.D. in biophysics from Harvard University and a B.S. in biophysics from the University of Michigan. Thank you for today's episode!

A veteran of the retail industry with more than 30 years of leadership across retail, marketing, sales and product, Kevin Bailey was appointed to lead Vans as its Global Brand President in March 2022. In his role, Bailey oversees the strategic direction of Vans' global business, while also enabling regional teams to deliver local strategies to drive continued international growth. In addition to this, Bailey also currently serves as the Executive Vice President for the Asia Pacific region of Vans' parent company, VF Corporation. Throughout his 17 years within VF, Bailey has held a series of roles with increasing responsibility across the organization. He most recently served as President, Asia-Pacific Region and Emerging Brands for VF and was responsible for leading VF's Asia-Pacific regional platform as well as VF's global Emerging Brands platform of brands such as Altra®, JanSport® and Smartwool®. Prior to this, Bailey served as President of VF's Action Sports Coalition, and the company's Canada, Mexico, and Central/South America businesses. As a long-time retail leader with vast industry knowledge, Bailey returns to Vans where he previously served as President from 2009 to 2016, during which time revenue for the brand more than doubled to $2.2 billion. Throughout his almost three decades within the industry, Bailey has held a number of leadership roles through his career, specifically serving as the Executive Vice President of Lucky Brand, a division of Fifth and Pacific, and also the Director of Retail Operations for Nike, where he oversaw Nike's direct-to-consumer businesses. Earlier in his career, Bailey held various retail operations and marketing roles with Early Learning Centres, Banana Republic and American Eagle Outfitters.  Originally from the east coast of the US, Bailey attended the University of Vermont and Rutgers University. He resides in Orange County, California with his wife, and their pet dog and cat. Bailey has a strong love of art and music which started at an early age and he has an extensive guitar collection. Thank you Kevin!

Troberman leverages the company's extensive range of content, experiences and technologies to bring brands together in new ways with consumers across all of the company's businesses, iHeartMedia's 859 radio stations and iHeartRadio. Troberman is a marketing innovator and visionary -- thank you for being today's guest!

Dr. Archelle Georgiou is the Chief Health Officer for Starkey Hearing Technologies, a global hearing technology company headquartered in Minnesota. She oversees the Healthable features embedded in the company's hearing aids, and brings hearing health to the forefront of overall health. In addition to her role at Starkey, Archelle is Chairman of the Board of Directors at Children's Hospital and Clinics of Minnesota and also serves on the Board for CaringBridge. She is an Executive in Residence at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. Dr. Georgiou's extensive healthcare background includes experience as a physician, business executive, advisor, author and speaker. She was the Chief Medical Officer and a senior executive at UnitedHealth Group between 1996 and 2007. Since 2007 she has been an on-air medical expert and has covered over 2000 medical topics during her weekly segments on KSTP-TV. Based on her interactions with viewers, in 2017, Dr. Georgiou published her first book, Health Care Choices: 5 Steps to Getting the Medical Care You Want and Need (Rowman & Littlefield). Dr. Georgiou graduated from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and was board-certified in Internal Medicine. She lives in Wayzata, Minnesota and enjoys traveling, cooking Greek food for friends and family, and binge watching television shows with her husband.

Thomas Smale is the Founder and CEO of FE International. He is a serial business entrepreneur and M&A expert, having built the industry-leading firm in the $1-100M global technology sector. With experience dating back to the early 2000s, Smale offers invaluable technical, diligence and negotiation advice to early-stage and seasoned business owners alike, which has resulted in over 1,200 successful exits.Smale can be regularly found speaking at industry events where he enjoys meeting like-minded entrepreneurs and investors.Alongside his duties at FE International, Smale is a sought-after author and keynote presenter for leading industry events worldwide. He has been interviewed on top podcasts and blogs on a variety of topics, including business strategy, buying and selling businesses, negotiation tactics and more. He writes a business column regularly on entrepreneurship, growth, and business management for Entrepreneur.com and is a Young Entrepreneurs' Council member. Thank you Thomas for being on today's episode!

Today I chat with Ryan Hartman about space tourism and the logistics and theory behind potential capabilities in that realm! Not only are his goals incredible, but he is a respected leader, amazing person, and an inspiration to all. Thank you Ryan for being on today's episode!

Thank you Rob for being on this week's episode!"My journey began in College. As I attempted to play baseball at a small DII school, I experienced a Hinge moment and fell off an 80 foot cliff. The HInge is any person, event, or moment that connects who we are with who we become and tragedies are immediate, because from that moment on, everything is different. I was a knucklehead with a drinking problem and I paid for it. I was blessed enough to discover my passion and purpose early on after my hinge moment and since I was given a second chance, I was not going to blow it. Sport Psychology Graduate school at Temple University and The University of Tennessee followed as well as coaching professional athletes on Mental Toughness. A detour as a college professor took place for a few years until another Hinge moment. With two kids under the age of five, I left the safety of academia and went all-in with being part of the support for athletes, coaches, & teams on Mental Toughness.It took guts, faith, and the road less traveled. And it made all the difference. I've completed 100-mile trail ultra marathon, Ironman, and dozens of ultra's. I've been fortunate enough to coach executives, whom I refer to as Corporate Athletes!" -- Dr. Rob BellFor more information -- https://drrobbell.com/

Today I'm hanging out with Paul Kirk, an authentic, raw human being, honest about his past failures and successes. He comes alongside the BOSS Academy and BOSS Lifestyle in general to help CEOs and business owners in many ways of their lives. Thanks Paul!

Frank is the master networker, unafraid to make introductions, and deep conversation producer. I was lucky enough to be a guest on his podcast and now I'm luckier that he is on mine! Thank you Frank!

Priya has over 15 years of experience creating and implementing global product strategy in Fortune 100, mid-cap and start-ups. She has successfully built and commercialized highly technical hardware and software product solutions through direct sales & channel partners. Thank you for great conversation, Priya!

An Ann Arbor business attorney, with a focus on employment, James Reid plays a huge role in maintaining integrity and kindness in the practice. Today we chat about how we met (SHRM New Orleans!), intentionality, and life. Thank you James for being on today's episode!

Phil has been a serial entrepreneur for many years, having founded and exited several startups. He is now the Managing Director of Forefront Venture Partners, one of the largest and most active AngelList syndicates. Phil is also a published author, frequent conference speaker, and one of the co-hosts of "The Pitch" podcast. Thank you Phil for being this episode's guest!

Andy Atkins is the CEO and creative of 730 Eddy studios. Andy has a love for what he does — he owns a production studio, is a content creator, and is more than that: a good friend! In a world of fast-paced startups and oversaturated companies, he maintains a down to earth, rooted perspective from his brand through the lens of a business owner in the film world. 

A phenomenal leader, man, and executive coach, Alain covers a massive ground of what it means to be an incredible person. With the pleasure of getting to know him in several capacities, I have found Alain to be a representative of leadership, listening to employees, and expanding individuality, while driving the best out of others. Thank you Alain for being on today's episode!

Jon Stross is President and Co-founder of Greenhouse Software, a recruiting platform designed to help companies get better at recruiting through built-in best practices, automation and performance tracking. An awesome, enjoyable guest, his story encompasses the tech and HR space; this episode has been a chance to learn and grow as a startup founder and someone in the same space. Thank you Jon!

Scott brings fire on this episode - talk of leadership culture, coaching, and training and more awesome things! In Scott's role, he directly works with organizations to improve their talent strategies in aspects that align with Wedge, leading talent strategies into the future of the corporate world. Thank you Scott!

Henry Schuck is the CEO of a brilliant, successful tech company that has grown massively and contributed in many ways to Wedge and the success of the tech sphere. Not only does he run a successful organization, but he is a great human that I am honored to spend time with! Thank you.

Today we're hanging out with Andreas, a German entrepreneur who explored many areas, ultimately pivoting his way into the HR Tech space. Analytical and intelligent, Andreas brings a unique perspective to the conversation, both in the business world, and as a human. Thank you!

Mike is Co-CEO at Atomic Object, where he works at the intersection of business and technology, helping clients to research, identify, and create the right software products to suit their needs. Not only is Mike impacting business in Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and (soon!) Chicago, he is impacting lives - thank you for being today's guest!

A fellow Michigan person, Jeannette Cota has been a TV star, model, cook, launched a clothing brand, and more. Years of wisdom and understanding bring brilliant conversation to today's episode - thank you Jeannette!

A prolific sports columnist at the Washington Post, Len Shapiro takes sporting events and makes them easily digestible, providing nuanced takes on his interpretations of the moments. Today we discuss his journey, as well of some of the best moments of his documentations. Thank you Len!

Jared Hummel is president of Parqa Digital Marketing, a unique take on marketing that helps staffing and recruiting firms find, retract, and retain talent. We dive into the talent landscape, between the digital recruiting space that Wedge is a part of and the typical staffing and recruiting space that Jared works in. Thank you for being this episode's guest!