Motivated To Lead Podcast - Mark Klingsheim

This week, we interviewed Tim Lupinacci. Tim spent the first 28 years of his legal practice focused on helping financial institutions solve complex problems arising in commercial restructuring and bankruptcy matters throughout the country. During his leadership journey at Baker Donelson, Tim chaired the Financial Services Department, the Women’s Pathways to Leadership Committee, and served as a member of the Firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee. He was awarded with the Firm’s highest award for both advancement and support of women and advancement and support of minorities. Four years ago, he was selected as CEO and Chair of Baker Donelson, which is one of the 100 largest law firms in the country. In these positions, he has led the Firm through significant organizational change, growth, and the global pandemic. He continues leading Baker Donelson through its five year BakerVision 2028 strategy, and the execution of its Diversity & Inclusion Compact. As a self-professed “leadership junkie”, Tim’

This week, we interviewed Lesly Jules. Lesly is the author of three influential management books; one of them is a Handbook for Church Management. He is a visiting professor in MBA programs in Haiti and USA. Lesly currently serves as regional director with HOPE International, a Christ-centered organization that empowers men, women, and families to break the cycles of physical and spiritual poverty through discipleship, biblically based business training, savings services, and small loans. He lives in North Carolina with his wife and son.

This week, we interview Dr. Vanessa Patrick. Vanessa is a Professor of Marketing and the Associate Dean for Research at the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston. We discuss her book The Power of Saying No. Vanessa has published dozens of research articles in top-tier academic journals in psychology, marketing, and management, and popular accounts of her work have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, Los Angeles Times, Business Week, Fast Company, Forbes, Huffington Post and Washington Post. In her research, she investigates strategies to achieve personal mastery and inspire everyday excellence in oneself and others and is a pioneer in the study of everyday consumer aesthetics.  She has a PhD in Business from the University of Southern California and an MBA in marketing and a BS degree in microbiology and biochemistry from Bombay University in India. Vanessa lives with her family in Houston, Texas.  

This week, we interview John Paul (J.P.) Stephens. J.P. is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University. His research focuses on the experience of work relationships and the coordination that these relationships enable. More specifically, this has entailed close examination of people’s experience of high-quality connections, their emotional carrying capacity (or ability to express more and different kinds of emotion), the interplay between emotion and attention for the aesthetic experience of collective work, and the relational coordination that facilitates the collective efforts of complex, interdependent project work. His work has appeared in the Academy of Management Review, the Journal of Business Ethics, the Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, the Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology and Work, the Oxford Handbook of Positive Organizational Scholarship, and the Handbook of Leadership and Creativity. He has also contribu

This week we interview David Klein. David is a nationally recognized, award-winning transformational coach and experience designer in the baseball and softball world. His distinct approach marries traditional coaching with modern methodologies tailored to resonate with today's youth. As a former college baseball player and coach, he laid the foundation for Legends Baseball and Softball in 2009. From its humble beginnings as a summer collegiate baseball team and youth camp, Legends Baseball has grown exponentially to become the largest club baseball program on the West Coast. Impressively, it stands alone as the only U.S. franchise specializing in baseball and softball, producing over 50 players who have signed MLB contracts and nurturing 3 major leaguers and 2 Olympians.

 This week, we interviewed Emily Jordan Gargas. Emily is a dynamic force in the world of marketing. She holds a remarkable track record across various sectors such as tech, sports/fitness, healthcare, retail and has led teams at global heavyweights like Nike and Google as well as nimble, high growth startups like Tubi and Willow. Most recently, she was steering the ship as the VP of Marketing at Willow Innovations spearheading consumer awareness, brand strategy and performance marketing.  She’s an expert architect of brand campaigns, product launches, and digital initiatives and enjoys nothing more than masterfully constructing high-caliber marketing teams under a culture infused with innovation and collaboration. She has won a number of AdWeek and AdAge awards for her provocative brand campaigns and a Cannes Lion for her work on Google’s first popup store and retail strategy.  Emily lives in Oakland California with her husband, Dan and 10 month old daughter, Jovie. She credits much of her success to havin

This week, we interview Anjan Thakor, Senior Associate Dean, and John E. Simon, Professor of Finance at the Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis. Thakor was previously The Edward J. Frey Professor of Banking and Finance at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, where he also served as chairman of the Finance area. He has served on the faculties of Indiana University, Northwestern University, and UCLA.  He has worked with many companies, including Whirlpool Corporation, Allision Engine Co., Citigroup, RR Donnelley, Dana Corporation, Anheuser-Busch, Zenith Corporation, Lincoln National Corporation, J.P. Morgan, Landscape Structures, Inc., CIGNA, Borg-Warner Automative, Waxman Industries, Reuters, The Limited, Ryder Integrated Logistics, AT&T, CH2M Hill, Takata Corporation, Tyson Foods, Spartech.  He has published over 75 research papers and seven books. He is past managing Editor of the Journal of Financial Intermediation and past president of the Financial Intermediatio

This week we interviewed Ann Hatcher. Ann is a Senior Consultant at Thrivence, based in Nashville, with more than 25 years’ experience in all areas of human capital. Prior to joining Thrivence in 2022, Ann was the Chief HR Officer role at Wellpath, a $2B private-equity backed healthcare company contracting with state and local governments. At Wellpath, Ann built a scalable HR function to support company growth. Prior to Wellpath, Ann held multiple VP roles at HCA Healthcare, one of the nation’s largest publicly traded hospital companies. Ann received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Washington & Lee University and Master of Business Administration from Belmont University. She serves on the board of the Urban League of Middle TN. She serves as Adjunct Faculty at Vanderbilt University’s Master of Leadership and Organizational Performance. Ann and her husband Scott reside in Nashville, where they are cheering on their recent college graduate son Joseph.

This week we interviewed Brennan Marilla. Brennan has a 30-year track record of driving growth and commercializing transformative therapies in med-tech. He currently serves as Chief Commercial & Operating Officer for Israeli start-up OSSIO, where he has helped build one of the fastest growing, disruptive companies in the orthopedic implant market over the last 6 years. Before OSSIO, he was Chief Commercial Officer for Surgical Specialties Corp (now Corza Medical), where significant improvements in top and bottom-line performance for the contract manufacturer led to a successful acquisition by Vivo Capital in 2017. Prior, he was VP & GM of Covidien’s $650M Endovascular business and VP, Sales and Marketing for their $1B+ Peripheral Vascular sector. In his tenure, these franchises rapidly transformed into a market-leading brand through multiple product introductions, disruptive technology acquisitions, and market development campaigns.    Before Covidien, he spent 12 years at Medtronic where he was VP, U

This week, we are joined by Ellen Connelly Taaffe. Ellen is a Clinical Associate Professor at the Kellogg School of Management, where she teaches Personal Leadership Insights and is the Director of Women's Leadership Program. She spent 25 years with Fortune 500 companies holding the top brand management post at divisions of PepsiCo, Royal Caribbean, and Whirlpool Corporation. Ellen serves as an independent board director for three company boards, runs a leadership advisory consulting, speaking, and coaching business and is a TEDx speaker. She shares her insights on leadership, careers, and advancing women and inclusion through her writing and speaking in media like Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Business Insider, Washington Post, Bloomberg, and Kellogg Insight. In her new book, The Mirrored Door: Break Through the Hidden Barrier that Locks Successful Women in Place, Taaffe uses her vast experience to help women understand and navigate through internal and external obstacles to create th

On this week’s podcast, we interview Meredith Bell, co-founder and President of Grow Strong Leaders. Her company publishes software tools and books that help people build strong relationships at work and at home. Meredith is an expert in leader and team communications, the author of three books, and the host of the Grow Strong Leaders Podcast. She co-authored her latest books, Connect with Your Team: Mastering the Top 10 Communication Skills, and Peer Coaching Made Simple, with her business partner, Dr. Dennis Coates. In them, Meredith and Denny provide how-to guides for improving communication at work and serving as a peer coach to others

In this weeks episode, we interview Ryan Quinn. Ryan is the Chair of, and an Associate Professor in, the Management and Entrepreneurship Department of the University of Louisville’s College of Business. He is also the Academic Director of the Center for Positive Leadership. He earned his Bachelors of Science in Statistics at Brigham Young University and earned a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management and a graduate certificate in Complex Systems from the University of Michigan. He conducts research, teaches, and consults on topics related to leadership and change management. He has published research on topics such as courage, learning, flow, communication, and relationships in journals such as Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Review, Organization Science, Academy of Management Discoveries, and Social Networks, and he is also a co-author of the book, Lift: The Fundamental State of Leadership. He has taught at all levels, including executive, Ph.D., MBA, and u

 This week Melissa Pickering joins us as a guest on Motivated to Lead. Melissa is a product executive with 18 years of experience in building products and product teams across CPG, EdTech, and MedTech industries.  Melissa is VP of Product at Willow Innovations, a company dedicated to building solutions to moms’ most meaningful problems. She began her career as a mechanical engineer for Disney Imagineering, which motivated her to launch an edtech startup to inspire a future generation of engineers.  After her startup was acquired, she relocated to Denmark for several years to build and lead product innovation teams at The LEGO Group.  She has shared her purpose-driven product beliefs on the TEDx stage and continues to share her experiences with emerging product leaders as a volunteer podcast host.

In this week’s episode, we revisit our interview with Alisa Cohn. Alisa is an Executive Coach who has worked with C-suite executives at prominent startups (such as Venmo, Etsy, Draft Kings, The Wirecutter, Mack Weldon, and Tory Burch) and Fortune 500 companies (including Dell, IBM, Microsoft, Google, Pfizer, Calvin Klein and The New York Times.) She is the author of From Start-up to Grown-up, which won the 2022 Independent Press Award, and the creator and host of a podcast of the same name.  A frequent keynoter, Inc. Magazine named Alisa one of the top 100 leadership speakers, and she was named the Top Startup Coach in the World at the Thinkers50/Marshall Goldsmith Global Coaches Awards and the #1 Global Guru for Startups. She is the executive coach for Cornell’s New York City tech incubator, and she has coached leaders from around the world, including the first female minister of the transition state of Afghanistan and the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. She has guest lectured at H

This week we revisit our interview with Stacey Porter. Stacey is the Chief People Officer at Outset Medical. Stacey has expertise in organizational design, innovative talent practices, and employee engagement.  Prior to Outset, she was the Head of Global Talent Development for Intuitive Surgical, Inc., responsible for designing performance and succession practices, while developing leaders and high-performing teams. Stacey has held leadership roles at VMware and Roche, and has built a career on creating nimble, progressive organizations. She has a MSW and doctoral studies in industrial/organizational psychology.

This week we revisit our interview with Jason Mellad. Jason is the CEO of Start Codon. Jason is a scientist entrepreneur passionate about translating innovative technologies into better patient outcomes. As CEO and co-founder of Start Codon, a Cambridge-based accelerator, he aims to identify and recruit the most disruptive healthcare startups worldwide. Previously he was CEO of Cambridge Epigenetix and Business Development Manager for Horizon Discovery’s diagnostics division.  Jason has a Ph.D., Medicine from the University of Cambridge.

This week we revisit our conversation with Dr. Julia Lee Cunningham. Julia Lee is an Associate Professor of Management and Organizations at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and a National Geographic Fellow and Explorer. She currently serves as a faculty co-director for Center for Positive Organizations. She is also a faculty affiliate at the Sanger Leadership Center, and Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan. Prior to joining Ross, she served as a Lab Fellow in Institutional Corruption at the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, and a Research Fellow in Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard University. She earned her PhD, MPP, and AM degrees at Harvard University, where she was trained in organizational behavior, psychology, and behavioral economics.   Dr. Lee Cunningham strives to promote the use of scientific evidence in diagnosing and addressing critical problems in public policy and business practices, and has many years of expe

This week we revisit our interview with Magnus Nicolin. Magnus served as Chief Executive Officer, of Ansell, a global company with over 14,000 employees, until 2021.  He is currently the Chairman of the Board at Munters a $1B provider of indoor climate solutions. He also serves on the boards of BillerudKorsnäs and Fam AB which are multi-billion-dollar companies. Prior to joining Ansell, Magnus, a Swedish citizen, spent three years with Newell Rubbermaid Inc., most recently as President, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. Prior to that, he spent seven years with Esselte Business Systems Inc, where in 2002, he led the leveraged buy-out of Esselte from the Stockholm and London Stock Exchanges. Following the buy-out, he became the Chief Executive Officer of Esselte. He has also held senior management positions with Bayer AG, Pitney Bowes, and McKinsey & Company.   

This week we revisit our conversation with Brittany Bradrick. Brittany has over 20 years of experience in finance, strategy, and corporate development for life science companies, with operational and advisory experience. Brittany is a COO & CFO at Neurelis, Inc. Before that; she was the COO and CFO at ViaCyte. Previously she was Vice President, Strategy and Corporate Development at Insulet Corporation, an insulin pump company. Before Insulet, she was Director, Business Development and Alliance Management at Abbott Diabetes Care, a glucose measurement company. Before Abbott, Brittany was an investment banker in the life science industry for ten years at Piper Jaffray, Credit Suisse, and Chase Securities. Brittany started her career as a Federal Reserve Bank Examiner. Brittany earned an MBA from the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University and a B.S. in business administration from the University of Missouri. She currently serves on the advisory board of AltrixBio and the board of Spectr

This week we interview Nick Damian. Nick is a serial entrepreneur focused on solving unmet needs to improve patient care. He is currently CEO & Founder of Andromeda Surgical, which is developing autonomous robots for safer, better, more efficient surgery. Before that, he was CEO & Co-Founder of Zenflow, where he co-invented a novel implant for BPH (enlarged prostate) and led the product from inception through multiple clinical trials to commercial readiness, raising over $60M in funding. He was also CTO & co-founder at Nurep, later re-branded as Avail MedSystems. He was the key architect of the company's remote surgical support product for operating rooms that is now used in hundreds of medical facilities. Nick earned his M.S. and B.S. with Distinction in Management Science & Engineering from Stanford University and was an Innovation Fellow at Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign. He was the first medtech founder to be funded by Y Combinator twice and actively advises startups through StartX,