Podcast Episodes

Rick Culleton is a serial entrepreneur who built multiple businesses across industries, from electronics to hospitality, and is currently splitting time between Austin and Costa Rica. Rick shared how growing up watching his father transform from a struggling employee...

Jolynn Ledgerwood is the founder of Elevate Your Talent and host of the Play for Performance podcast. When she was diagnosed with a learning disability in nursing school, she made a courageous pivot to build a thriving career in corporate learning and development,...

Today's guest is is Delaney William, the founder of Elevated Tech, a company that helps people grow their remote income through job search automation and career strategy within the framework of the controversial but increasingly relevant concept of job stacking. In...

Paige Lopez, is CEO and founder of Awaken 180, a weight loss company. In our conversation, Paige shared her journey from aspiring neurosurgeon to entrepreneur, the emotional challenges of pivoting from a traditional career path, and how she built a business with...

As the Senior Vice President of Health and Innovation, Jennifer Langton led all initiatives to improve player safety, including the creation of a $60 million engineering roadmap and the development of the Digital Athlete platform—an AI-driven system designed to...

Elitzur Bar-Asher Siegal is a professor, linguist, and leader based in Israel. In our conversation, we explored two extraordinary initiatives he is leading in response to the ongoing crisis in Israel and Gaza. The first is Humanitas, a coalition of all the humanities...

Greg Larkin is am entrepreneur, author, and founder of the executive community Punks & Pinstripes, a curated executive community that gathers people who, as he says, are trying to climb their second mountain. Greg’s view of what defines success is a little...

Today's guest is Ron Browning, the CEO of Intellibright, a performance-based digital marketing agency. Ron’s career is characterized by entrepreneurship, digital innovation, and a fierce commitment to accountability. We talked about his unique journey—starting with...

Natasha Braginsky Mournier is currently the co-chair of Girls Are Investors, a UK charity, and is a member of several boards. Prior to that, she had a remarkable career in investment management, covering Russia and emerging markets at Capital Group, where she retired...

Rishad Tobaccowala is one to the visionaries in the world of marketing and advertising – he founded some of the early digital marketing agencies and has covered several C-level roles for Publicis. Today, he comes back to discuss his latest book, Rethinking Work. In...

Joseph Rainone is the CEO of Ubique Group, a private equity owned furniture company. Joseph has spent over 30 years working in consumer product companies, making his way from a analyst to manager all the way to CEO. In our conversation, Joseph shares invaluable...

Dina Denham Smith, is an exectuive coach with an extensive background in leadership, spanning private equity, consulting, and high-growth startups, and she has a deep passion for the intersection of business and psychology. In our conversation, she shares her journey...

Haley Forest is a renaissance woman at the intersection of leadership, creativity, and neuroscience. Haley’s career path is anything but traditional—she spent two decades in hospitality, where she developed a deep understanding of human behavior, before transitioning...

Rishad Tobaccowala, is an author, speaker and known as a visionary in the advertising industry. He was the founder of two of the early interactive digital agencies in the early '90, and  covered several leadership positions at the Publicis Group, including Chief...

Suzanne Dean had a long career first as a musician and composer, then as a music educator, and finally as the founder of a grassroots non profit. In our conversation, we focused on the first and the last part of her career. We started with her experience as a musician...

Robyn Bolton is the founder and Chief Navigator of Mile Zero, an innovation consulting firm. Robyn’s story is a perfect illustration of the core belief that is at the core of this podcast: if you go through the process of intentionally defining your true values and...

Today we feature my appearance on The CEO Project Podcast, where I discussed the topics of Authentic Leadership and Branding. The host, Jim Schleckser, had been my guest on the podcast a few weeks before this session, so this conversation started from there. We talked...

Today's guest is Ricardo Regalado, a serial builder and entrepreneur. Ricardo launched 5 companies and is a partner in a 6th. His ventures are in different industries, but his main two companies are all grounded in his deep expertise in the commercial cleaning...

Today's guest is Justin Buonomo, founder of Journey to Financial Freedom, a company specialized in personal financial education. During our conversation Justin had a very honest discussion on the trauma that he went through in his youth and then talked about some of...

We celebrate the end of the year by sharing some of the NFL conversations we had in the 2024 season. First, my analysis of the leadership lessons from the fall of Bill Belichick. Then my conversation with Greg Bedard, founder of the online sport magazine Boston Sports...

In this episode Dino Cattaneo presents a selection from his previous interviews with Lily Zheng and Claudia Scott on the topic of Equity and Inclusion. Today's guest is Contact Dino at: dino@al4ep.com Websites: al4ep.com Additional Guest Links: Contact at: LinkedIn:...

Today's guest is Marques Ogden, host of the Get Authentic With Marques podcast and inspirational keynote speaker, coach and consultant. In our conversation he shared the leadership lessons he got from a life in football: Marques played Division I football at Howard...

Kathryn Valentine is the Founder of Worthmore Strategies, a research based firm aimed at advancing women in the workplace by partnering with companies to deliver negotiation training to women. Kathryn developed her approach to leadership in the years she spent at...

Christian Muntean is a strategic coach and consultant based in Anchorage, Alaska, who specializes in leadership transitions and business exits. Christian came into this work from a very nontraditional path. He started his career in the NGO world and specifically doing...

Lily Zheng is a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategist, Author and Practitioner. They take a very practical approach, deeply grounded in data and in creating long-term measurable results for the companies they partner with. In this conversation, Lily explains what...

Jim Schleckser is founder & CEO of The CEO Project, a company that serves CEOs and high-revenue entrepreneurs. Their offering combines peer group meetings and discussions with personalized one-on-one coaching sessions led by former CEOs. We start with Jim's path...

Neta Weiner is an artist and social activist based in Jaffa. He is the founder and lead singer of the Jewish-Arab hip-hop band System Ali and the artistic director of the Beit System Ali social educational movement. And right now, he is also teaching a Tufts...

Today's guest is Patrick Heron - Managing Partner of Frazier Life Sciences, a healthcare investment firm focusing on companies developing novel therapeutics. In our conversation we covered his career, but then we dove into the hard questions: how do you build a...

Maggie Olson is the Founder of Nova Chief of Staff, the first-of-its-kind destination for Chief of Staff education, certification, and development. In our conversation, we discussed her career and then dug deep into what it means to lead from the Chief of Staff spot....

At the end of every episode I ask my guests their "food for the soul" - arts or other things that inspire them. In this episode I answer the question with some of my food for the soul. I start with guitars and specifically, my current favorite guitar, my Powers...

Claudia Scott, the Head of Inclusive Entrepreneurship and Director of KIVA North West Arkansas at Startup Junkie. In that role, Claudia leads the development and implementation of strategies that give access to capital and other entrepreneurial resources to...

Today's guest is Damon Lembi – CEO of Learnit, published author and host of the Learn-It-All podcast. As you may guess from the name, Learnit is a learning and training company that helps organizations upskill their workforce. Through college, Damon thought he would...

Joanna Strober is the CEO and founder of MIDI health, a company that provide tele health services to women in midlife. In the process, she ended up taking a leadership role not just for the company but for society as a whole, as MIDI Health does work that fills a big...

Victor Cho, CEO of Emovid comes back to the podcast. In our first conversation he mentioned his passion for the topic of the Fourth Stakeholder and the role of business in society. We agreed that since it was a topic we both loved, rather than discussing it in that...

Today's guest is Ali Cox, founder and CEO of Noble West, a marketing consultancy that specializes in food ingredients, agriculture and the entire agricultural ecosystem. Ali is not your typical CEO – before starting her business career, she won a world championship...

An anthology episode including all the answers to the favorite food and drinks by guests of the podcast. Includes answers by: Anna Goldsmith Ginevra Bersani Franceschetti Jason Downie Bryan Adams Jesse Friedman Melissa Kwan Jason Thompson Whitney Hinshaw Sullivan Jeff...

Today's guest is Jesse Friedman, Head of WP Cloud and VP of Innovation and Partnerships at Automattic. We discuss how to build an open and creative culture when leading technology teams and the foundational practices that make Automattic so successful at remote work....

John Torrens is an entrepreneur, founder of two successful healthcare related businesses, and a professor of entrepreneurship at Syracuse University. What makes him unique is that he accomplished all this, including getting a PhD. in business, while having adult ADHD....

Today's guest is is Victor Cho, a tech entrepreneur, former CEO of Evite, and current CEO of Emovid, a company that uses video messaging to deliver more authentic communications at scale. Unlike many people, Victor knew from an early age that when he grew up he wanted...

Today we talk about branding and leadership with Carlos Williams, the founder of DBC, a creative agency that leverages data and equity to connect brands with their audiences. Carlos shares his unique perspective on leadership influenced by historical city-states. We...

Our guest is Bryan Adams, one of the pioneers of the employer branding discipline and the author of the book “Give and Get Employer Branding” a book that is considered the bible of the discipline. He is the founder and CEO of two companies: Ph. Creative, an agency...

Giovanni Vacchi is the CEO of Colombini Group, a family owned company that has been one of the leaders in the Italian design and furniture sector for over 50 years. Giovanni had a variety of experiences across countries and industries, and in this conversation shares...

David West, co-founder and CEO of Proscia, shares his journey from student/researcher to founding and building a medical software company whose goal is to improve cancer diagnosis through technology. We discussed how he developed his vision of authentic leadership...

  In today's episode we revisit all the answers to the question: what is the business expression or jargon that drives you crazy. If you missed it, make sure you check out 4th Annual Business Jargon that Drives You Crazy - Part 1, which came out on Memorial Day....

Rachel Labi is the co-founder of Building Financial Freedom, an organization that develops financial literacy programs for youth. As she discusses her journey from advocating for mandatory personal finance education in Indiana to founding Building Financial Freedom...

Anthony Frasier is the CEO and Founder of ABF Creative, a media company specialized in multicultural audio content for children. Starting out right after high-school, Anthony followed a unique entrepreneurial path, going from tech to educating fellow entrepreneurs to...

Our guest today is Simon T Bailey, anAward-winning keynote speaker, coach, and author who spent his formative years working in the hospitality business, working for companies like Hyatt and Disney. In our conversation, we discussed Simon’s approach to leadership and...

Today's guest is Kelly Campbell, a former CEO turned Trauma-Informed Leadership Coach. She is also the author of Heal to Lead: Revolutionizing Leadership through Trauma Healing (Wiley), an inspired keynote speaker and a longtime conservationisttrained by Al Gore as a...

Some business expressions become so overused that they end up losing their meaning. At the end of every episode of Authentic Leadership for Everyday People I ask my guests what is the business jargon that drives them crazy. It's a question that was designed to get to...

Our guest today is Amy Vaughan, owner and Chief Empowerment Officer of Together Digital, a professional community whose purpose is to educate and empower women within digital and provide them with network where they can help each other succeed in digital. In our...

Yasmeen Abu Fraiha is a medical doctor currently completing a clinical fellowship in critical care at BIDMC in Boston, combined with a research fellowship at the Middle East Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School. She is also a board member of the New Israel Fund, a...

Today's guest is Dr. Amanda Blake, a Body/Mind leadership coach, founder of Embright and author of the book Your Body Is Your Mind. We discuss her unique career path that marries the intricacies of mind-body science with the art of leadership and behavior change. We...

Christian "Boo" Boucousis is the CEO of Afterburner and a former fighter pilot for the Royal Australian Air Force. In our discussion he talks about his personal history, the key components of the training fighter pilots go through, and how the leadership traits...

Greg Bedard of Boston Sports Journal joins us for a candid discussion on his shift from a traditional sports journalism career to forging his own path in the digital media world. We navigate the highs and lows of starting a subscription-based sports website amidst an...

Today we talk about leadership, partnerships and co-founders. Our guest is Annie Garofalo, Founder and CEO of Confidante. She specializes in preventing co-founder conflicts. Her approach is a combination of her experience as a co-founder herself and a rigorous...

How does stress impact leaders? In today's episode host Dino Cattaneo shares a framework and areas of intervention to manage stress as an individual and as the leader of an organization. This episode was inspired by this LinkedIn post by Erica Seidel. - 16...

Humor is a very powerful leadership tool. In today's episode we celebrate April's Fool with a discussion of 6 principles to use humor effectively in a leadership or corporate context. I also share a portion of a conversation with Bill Prinzivalli about the connection...

Our guest today is Debora Spar professor and Business In Global Society Unit Head at Harvard Business School. She is here to discuss a course called The Social Purpose of The Firm that is required in the first year curriculum of the MBA program. In our conversation we...

When the line between corporate power and societal responsibility blurs, leaders must navigate the terrain with both integrity and strategic insight. Join me, Dino Cattaneo, as we traverse the complex world of leadership in the context of corporate social...

Today's guest is Stephen Wunker. He is the founder of New Markets Advisors, a firm that specializes in new product introductions. He is also the author of 4 books on innovation and disruption. In our conversation we discussed his career, from consulting to successful...

Anna Goldsmith is the founder of The Hired Pens, a copywriting agency, and the producer of TedX Portsmouth. She shares her creative leadership journey, from balancing art and business to the influence of poetry classes on her copywriting skills. She reveals her...

Today our guest is Pam Prior, who helps us examine leadership through a financial lens. Pam is a CFO-turned-entrepreneur and finance coach, and her mission is to make finance fun and valuable for small business owners. Drawing on her 30-year career, she shares...

Stephen Klein returns in this episode for the second half of our conversation with him. As a reminder, Stephen is an entrepreneur and AI expert whose journey weaves through academia, business, and innovation, and he is responsible for the creation of Curiouser.AI. In...

Our guest today is Stephen Klein, an entrepreneur and AI expert whose journey weaves through academia, business, and innovation. Discover Stephen’s unique path, from teaching at Berkeley to shaping digital transformation at the world's largest law firm. Stephen...

Jason Downie, is the US CEO of Making Science. From his early days touring with a cappella group Ball In the House while consulting part time at Bain, to navigating the corporate landscape at Google, Jason's career is a captivating blend of music, consulting, and...

This is a solo episode in which Dino analyzes Bill Belichick's tenure as a head coach of the New England Patriots and lists the lessons that can be learned from how it ended. Lou Gerstner's interview on how to turnaround companies that are in a crisis after an...

Our guest today is Ginevra Bersani, an Italian economist and co-author of "Il Costo della Virilità" the winner of the Premio Nazionale di Divulgazione Scientifica 2023. Ginevra and her research partner Lucile Peytavin started from data showing that 83% of convicted...

Jason Thompson, is the Founder and CEO of 33 Sticks.  He is an expert in data and analytics, but what makes him unique is the fact that he built his business around the leadership principles of humanity and empathy. In this episode, we delve into Jason's journey,...

This episode is Part Two of my conversation with Nico Cattaneo, the talented composer behind our podcast theme music, my son, and a rising young comedian in New York City. If you missed Part One, be sure to check out Episode 120, before diving into this episode. In...

Today's guest is Nico Cattaneo, the author of the podcast theme music. He is also my son and a comedian. He takes us for a behind the scenes look at the life of a comedian in New York. We talk about how he realized he wanted to be a comedian, how he took his first...

Today, my guest is a dear old friend and great creative leader. Lynn Pulsifer is the owner and Chief Creative of Salty Cactus Creative. We talk about how to develop and build creativity, for yourself and for the teams you lead.  Lynn shares her experiences as a...

Today, we talk to Uriya Rosenman, an Israeli education entrepreneur and Sameh Zakout, a Palestinian singer and actor. As the founders of the DUGRI Project, a social venture dedicated to amplifying a moderate Israeli-Palestinian narrative, they aim to forge a mutually...

Join me today as I talk with Gaia van der Esch about her latest book, "​​Leading Our Way: How Women Are Re-Defining Leadership."In our discussion, we delve into the profiles of seven modern women leaders, emphasizing crucial skills like optimism, curiosity,...

Today, we are talking with Don Martelli, As President and Partner of the Belfort Group, Don is deeply immersed in the realms of integrated digital marketing, creative services, web development, public relations and communications. Throghout his career, Don has...

Today's guest is Mosongo Moukwa, the President of Hathaway Advanced Materials and the bestselling author of the book "Be a Leader of Significance." In his long career, Mosongo has been on two parallel journeys. First, a global journey from Congo to Belgium to Canada...

In this special Thanksgiving episode, I'm thrilled to introduce my guest Scarlet Keys, a celebrated songwriter, esteemed educator at Berklee College of Music, TED talk speaker, and author. Over the past three years, Scarlet courageously faced a challenging health...

Today, I sat down with Jeff Bender, the CEO, and Founder of Lion and Owll, a company that designs gender-neutral, chic, and comfy kids' clothing, a business he launched in an effort to create a safe, inclusive, and self-confident environment for all children after...

Today's episode is special, coinciding with Veterans Day week.  In Episode 27 in January 2022, I interviewed Navy chaplain Brandon Harding who introduced me to 23rd Veteran—a unique mental health program for veterans dedicated to providing a unique mental health...

Our guest today is Melissa Kwon, co-founder and CEO of eWebinar. Melissa is a 3x bootstrapper navigating the entrepreneurial world while embracing the digital nomad lifestyle. In our discussion, she talked about finding her authenticity and how that shaped her...

Our guest today Tangia Al-awaji Estrada a storyteller, business builder, and PR consultant. She co-founded BIPOC Podcast Creators, the premier resource for black, indigenous people of color-identified creators across the podcasting space. In our conversation, we...

Our guest today is Debi Kleiman, a veteran of Boston's startup/marketing/high-technology scene. Debi is currently working at Harvard University supporting faculty who are starting AI and Machine Learning ventures. As the author of "First Pitch," and a seasoned startup...

In today's episode I celebrate my birthday by reflecting on the leadership lessons I learned from my father. I also talk about my birthday tradition of organizing a Daniel Pearl Music Day show in October. This year's event is the 11th annual event and will be held at...

We had many entrepreneurs come through the podcast, so the theme today is entrepreneurship. We’ll cover topics like how and when to take the jump, what is important at the beginning, and how to think about finding the right partners. We will hear from 4 people: Alisa...

In this episode we go back to the interviews with Debora Spar and Roger Brown and take out some of the key lessons from leading in higher education that can be applied to other organizations. Contact Dino at: dino@al4ep.com Websites: al4ep.com Additional Guest Links:...

Today, I’m sitting down with Jazzy T. Williams, CEO and Founder of the JazzCast Pros Network a platform that provides a unique space for thought leaders to resonate with a global, niche audience. Focused on leadership and self-development, the network's mission is to...

Join me in this engaging discussion with fellow leadership coach Whitney Hinshaw Sullivan as we examine the vital role of empathy in leadership and how too much empathy can be just as damaging as too little. We discuss the necessity of maintaining boundaries on...

Today's episode is an anthology of the best answer to the question : what food inspires you? The guests highlight the powerful connection between food, roots, identity and authentic leadership. Featuring: Rishad Tobaccowala, Jean Batthany Rand Fishkin, Gabriella...

Daniel Huerter went from working at a Fortune 500 software to becoming an entrepreneurial trailblazer who dove into the cannabis / CBD startup realm, as the Co-Founder of Pure Spectrum CBD. Daniel shares his journey, what it means to him to be an authentic leader, his...

In this special milestone Episode number 100, we take a moment to reflect on an incredible journey and express our heartfelt gratitude to you, our dedicated listeners. Today we're celebrating authenticity and its profound meaning to each of us. Listen in as I invite...

Michel Cohen is the visionary, CEO, and Founder of DentalPro, Italy's largest Professional Dentist Clinic Group, boasting over €200 million in sales, 2500 employees, and 265 clinics and offering accessibility to quality dental care across the country. Michel shares...

Vyra Scher is a transgender Asian immigrant woman who launched LECHERY an affordable luxury brand offering gender-neutral European hosiery, socks, and shapewear at just 20 years old. In less than two years, the business has grown from 0 to $15 Million with 100,000...

Today we talk to Isabella Mandis, Founder and CEO of Girls Who VC and sophomore at Havard, proof that age is no barrier to making a positive difference in the world of VC. Isabella shares her inspiring journey into authentic leadership and starting Girls Who VC just...

Today we talk to Mike Sweeney, Chief Strategy Officer at RallyBright, and executive coach and a seasoned leader with a distinguished career that includes serving in the military before transitioning to the corporate world. Mike has a passion for coaching leaders,...

Today we talk to Jeff Robbins, musician and co-founder of Lullabot, a renowned, fully remote company specializing in web development. In 2021, Jeff developed an app called Visibox which allows musicians and other performers to control videos and other visual elements...

Today we're thrilled to bring you part two of our third annual "Business Jargon that Drives Us Crazy" show. This features the shows from January to June of 2023. Part one was published on Memorial Day and it featured episodes from July to December of 2022. This are...

Today's episode is a special one as we honor the Juneteenth holiday. In this episode, we're resharing a small extract from my conversations with two incredible guests from last year, addressing the progress that still needs to be made. First up, we have Jason Greer, a...

In today's episode, podcast guest and producer Dino Cattaneo talks about how high potentials can successfully transition into upper level management. Specifically, Dino focuses on three areas that are key to success: Self-assess Be a selfless leader Accountability....

Today we talk to Mya Byrne, a talented singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist known for her captivating storytelling and heartfelt lyrics. Deeply influenced by her love for classic country music, she is dedicated to creating authentic and powerful songs that...