Critical Mass Radio Show

Manik Arora, President and CEO of Arora Engineers, Inc. is Ric's first guest.  Family-owned and operated Arora has developed and maintained a comprehensive engineering practice based ont he principles of quality and client satisfaction. Jerry Ferro, CEO of Free-For-All talks with Ric about the rising healthcare costs affecting over 50 million people in America.  Jerry shares how his firm helps people lower the costs of prescriptions and lab tests. Jim Guthrie, CEO Car Crafters and Ric discuss his business which is a nationally recognized auto body shop because of the culture he has built in this 30 year old business.  Jim is also an Indy Race Car Driver veteran.

Susan Johnson, Founder and CEO of Susan's Healthy Gourmet is Ric's featured guest.  They discuss how, after moving to California in 1994, Susan and her husband decided to start a business.  A family history of cancer and heart disease had made Susan very aware of the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.  She decided to fill a niche of offering prepared healthy meals for the home and opened her headquarters in Irvine, CA.  Ric talks with Susan about how her original business has evolved into three businesesses focused on healthy, great tasting foods.

Dan Withee, Principal at Withee Malcom Archietects, LLP is Ric Franzi's first guest.  Dan and Ric discuss Dan's firm which he co-found with his partner Dale Malcom.  Dan talks about his firm's focus within the construction and design industry as well as the latest trends in affordable building design. Jim Carol, Founder and CEO of DonateGames talks about his latest venture, a social enterprise that collects and resells donated video games to raise money in support of children and families woh are affected by rare diseases.  In 2010, it's second year of operation, DonateGames collected well over $1 million in donated video games and gear, luanched a wolrd-class e-commerce store, established a physcial headquarters and contributed more than $.79 of every dollar of revenue directly to research and treatment for sick children.

Tom Johns, CEO of National Roofing is host Ric Franzi's featured guest.  National Roofing was started by Tom in 1977.  It is a premier roofing and waterproofing contractor headquartered in Albuquerque, NM.  National installs state-of-the-art roofs and provides specialized services for challenging roofing projects.  Tom also has launched related companies and discuss his motivation for building new businesses.

Kathi Guiney, President of YES! Your Human Resources Solution founded in 2004 with the goal of providing customized and scalable HR services to emerging growth, small to mid-sized companies in all industries.  Kathi and Doug discuss connecting business initiatives with employee needs to achieve strategic objectives.

Hayes Drumwright, Founder and CEO of Trace3 is host Ric Franzi's featured guest.  They discuss Trace3's rapid growth, culture, and related topics.  Ric explores with Hayes how his selection as a 2011 OCBJ Excellence in Entrepreneurship Award finalist has affected him as an Orange County business leader.

Kevin Bailey, President of Vans is Ric Franzi's featured guest.  They discuss the iconic brand and Kevin's responsibility as steward of this Orange County institution.  Ric talks with Kevin about a variety of topics including the current challenges and opportunities Vans is facing.

Host Doug Gfeller continues his discussion of coaching from the client's perspective with focus on what the client works on in between coaching sessions.

Jeremiah White, President of White & Associates is host Ric Franzi's first guest.  Ric and Jeremiah talk about Jeremiah's firm which is a strategic management consulting firm. Richard Kahn, CEO of eZanga.com joins Ric as the second guest.  They explore the latest trends and strategies in internet marketing.  Mr. Kahn is a recognized leader in the internet marketing field.

Tom Gephart, Founder of Ventana Capital is Ric's featured guest and they discuss Tom's firm which has been in the venture market since 1984.  Ventana is one of the first venture capital firms in the Southern California region.  Helping their portfolio companies think strategically and globally has become a hallmark of Ventana's culture.  Tom discusses his firm's culture and track record.

Jim Riley, CEO of Intersect Beverage talks with host Ric Franzi about how his firm has successfully launched a new tequila and have been able to take it national within 18 months.

Doug interviews Donna Thiessen, Vice President Human Resources Allergan.  Donna and Doug talk about the challenges in high tech industry recruiting.  Doug also looks at how the coaching client prepares for their coaching session on this week's installment.

Joe Yesulitis, CEO Aavalar Consulting is host Ric Franzi's first guest.  Joe's firm is a premier consulting and staffing firm founded by an industry expert who understands the needs of the clients. Joe talks about how at Aavalar Consulting they believe that honesty and integrity are more important than just making money. Ryan Clark, Founder and CEO PeopleShare is Ric's second guest.  Ryan discusses how technology  has changed his business, how he interacts with both clients as well as work resources.

Ray Williams, President of Jade Range talks with host Ric Franzi about the strategies and tactics he is using to re-build his commercial cooking brand.  Also Ray shares how Jade uses "celebrity chefs" to help his brand achieve market differentiation.

Tom Van Dorpe, Senior Principal, VCA Engineers talks with host Ric Franzi about key practices his firm uses, which Ric considers to be "best practices", for to employee performance and retention.   Listen how Tom has adopted these activities as a direct result of the input he received from his CEO peer group.

Host Doug Gfeller talks with Tom Weber of Sunrise Growers about some of the unique HR issues Tom faces on a regular basis.  How would you like to go from 40 employees to 300 with just 48 hours notice, on a regular basis?  Listen to Tom for his answer.  Doug also continues the discussion of coaching from the client's perspective.

Mitch Wienick, CEO of Kelleher and Assoicates, LLC is host Ric Franzi's first guest.  His firm is an executive coaching and leadership training firm.  Among other things, they help executives find new positions (executive search) and they help them transition into new positions. Carlos Casas, President of RockTeam talks about his firm which enables people with technology.  Since 1993 RockTeam has been delivering professional services, software and hardware solutions.

Vivian Clecak, Founder and Executive Director of Human Options joins host Ric Franzi to discuss her ogranization's mission of serving battered women, their families and help our community break the cycle of violence.  Vivian discusses Serious Fun 2011 Event  to be held on Friday May 6th, at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.  Human Options is celebrating it's 30th year in service to the community.

Doug's guest is Patricia Welch, Human Resource Director for MagnaFlow.  She and Doug discuss the challenges of managing multiple locations.  Doug also continues his discussion of coaching from the client's perspective.

Ms. Emmy Miller, President of Liberty Business Strategies, Ltd. is host Ric Franzi's first guest.  Her firm is a business strategy/consulting company.  They do corporate coaching but they are thought of as a team-building catalyst. Ned Moore, CEO and Co-Founder of Portico Systems talks with Ric about his firm which provides innovative solutions to enable health plans to reduce administrative, medical and IT costs. Simon Hauger, Executive Director of EVXT Team shares his unique educational automotive team-comprised of West Philadephia inner-city hight school students-which has won the Automotive X Prize numerous times.  They have consistently beat out several university teams including MIT.