Category: podcast

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman sits down with Kyle David, CEO of The Kyle David Group. He is also a graduate of the Small Giants Leadership Academy Class of 2021.

Kyle got his professional career started earlier than most. Due to childhood autoimmune issues, he couldn’t participate in a lot of physical activities, and instead turned to reading – mostly books about technology and business. This self education led to a job with a consulting firm at just 14 years old. Thanks to a meritocracy culture and supportive mentors, Kyle was able to grow his skills as a technology consultant well before he could drive himself to his clients (good thing his colleagues didn’t mind giving him a lift!). 

When Kyle started his own firm after school, he took the values from both his previous job and his church upbringing and instilled them into his own culture. Now, Kyle takes pride in leading an organization that gives back to its people and works with values-aligned clients. 

Listen to this episode to hear about Kyle’s jump start in the consulting world, his grandfather’s wise words about entrepreneurship, and what growing up in a church-focused household taught him about leadership. 

 

Show Notes:

1:11 – In his Doogie Howser era

13:33 – A grandfather’s wisdom

24:10 – Challenges & humbling moments

32:35 – “Establish humility young”

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman sits down with Danielle Krischik, Partner and Chief Strategy Officer of Knight Agency. 

It’s no wonder that Danielle has a passion and a talent for storytelling, because her life has all of the trappings of a good story: joy and heartbreak, struggle and triumph. Danielle grew up in a house alive with love, family, and even a chocolate factory in the basement! But in a condensed amount of time, she lost all of the most important adults in her life, and was forced to grow up and take care of herself to survive. She moved from New York to Florida for college, got a job out of her internship, and has been building her career steadily ever since. 

Although she experienced heartbreak from a young age, Danielle exudes warmth and positivity, and has made her story into one about growth and compassion.

Tune into this episode to hear Paul and Danielle discuss the importance of human connection in business, Danielle’s transformative work trip to Dubai, and why she roots for the villain in movies. 

 

Show Notes:

5:13 – The power of purpose-driven storytelling

9:35 – Life is like a box of chocolates 

24:40 – Human connection in business 

31:46 – “Do not aim for perfection”

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Matt Hoying, President of Choice One Engineering. 

 

Matt grew up on a farm in Ohio with a loving and supportive family. And while both his parents held jobs in addition to running the farm, Matt’s mom always found the time to go out to the edge of their rural property with him and look up at the stars. This ritual not only taught Matt the value in slowing down, but showed him that he was a part of a world much bigger than himself, and he had a responsibility to make sure his contribution was a positive one.

 

Fast forward to 2004, when Matt interned at Choice One. He saw that the founders of the engineering firm had created a special culture where people mattered and integrity was central, and he wanted to be a part of it. As Matt’s risen through the ranks, he’s maintained his stargazing mentality: to appreciate what was created before him, while also committing to positively impacting the company and its legacy. 

 

Tune into this episode to hear about Matt’s personal vision and how it influences his leadership style, Choice One’s emphasis on two-way communication, and the importance of teachers in shaping Matt’s career path. 

 

Show Notes:

2:09 – Clarity in culture

6:10 – Bolstering the feedback loop

9:40 – From intern to president

12:28 – Early influences

33:02 – Getting checked by his own culture

On this very special episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with the inaugural inductees of the Small Giants Hall of Fame: Sabrina White and Tom Walter! 

 

Alongside celebrating 15 years of the Small Giants Community, we’re happy to share the creation of the Small Giants Hall of Fame. What will be an annual award moving forward has now seen its first batch of nominees, finalists and inductees – a process that heavily involved Small Giants Community members. 

 

Sabrina White is the Hall of Fame inductee representing Next Gen Leaders. In this episode, she shares with Paul what it has meant to her to grow as a leader alongside her team at Text-Em-All, as well as her involvement in the Small Giants Leadership Academy and its impact on her.

 

Tom Walter, the inductee representing Founders/CEOs, shares how he went from a command-and-control leader to a values-based leader thanks to his team at Tasty Catering. He also discusses how he discovered the Small Giants Community in its infancy, and what it has meant to him as he strives to continually learn from his peers. 

 

Paul, Sabrina, and Tom reflect together on what having a values-based community means to them as business leaders, the importance of recognition, and why they all continue to see value in engaging with the Small Giants Community. 

 

Show Notes:

4:00 – Sabrina’s growth as a leader

8:58 – The impact of the Leadership Academy

11:40 – Tom’s intro to the Community

14:37 – Transforming into a Small Giants leader

18:08 – Can people & profit coexist?

23:25 – Advice for leaders

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Dawn Abbott. Dawn is an author, EOS implementer, and owner of three businesses: Fun Productions, Connections Team Building, and Abbott Coaching. 

 

Early on in their marriage, Dawn and her husband, Tim, knew that they weren’t going to be able to get where they wanted to go in life by working for others. So, they saw a niche and a need in the special events space and created Fun Productions, an amusement rental company.

 

In 2013, with their two sons both about to be in college, Dawn and Tim thought they were ready to slow things down. However, life had other plans, and Dawn became pregnant with their third child, who she calls her “accidental blessing”. Tragically, only several months after their daughter was born, Tim died in a boating accident. Before Dawn knew it, her life was flipped on its head, and she had no capacity to run her business.

 

But her employees stepped up and helped carry the company through this tough time, teaching Dawn some valuable lessons about gratitude, leadership, and the importance of a strong culture. From there, she made significant changes to focus on caring for her team, a move that not only felt better, but worked better financially. 

 

Tune into this episode to hear Paul and Dawn discuss the difficulty of losing someone close as well as a business partner, how EOS has shaped Dawn’s view on business, and having her eldest son take the reins of the company. 

 

Show Notes:

4:43 – When life flipped on its head

9:45 – Walking in the light of gratitude

17:15 – Early influences & experiences

21:13 – Family transitions

26:05 – “Your Life Is Not a To-Do List”

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Chelle Neff, CEO and founder of Urban Betty, an award-winning salon and spa with three locations in the Austin, TX area.

 

Chelle grew up without a lot of opportunity; her parents had her when they were very young, and didn’t have a lot to support her financially. But one opportunity Chelle did have, and took on wholeheartedly, was a cosmetology program offered through her high school. Seeing as this program was a fraction of the price of a standard cosmetology school, Chelle saw this as her chance at a path forward. Straight out of high school, Chelle began working at a Supercuts, and then moved up to higher end salons.

 

But during her time working for other salons, Chelle noticed a business pattern that she didn’t like. In most salons, stylists rent a chair with which to receive clients, but that rental comes with unexplained service fees. Not to mention an overall lack of transparency and connection with the owner of any given salon, and Chelle knew that the typical salon culture (or lack thereof) was something she wanted to change. 

 

Tune into this episode to hear Paul and Chelle discuss Chelle’s rocky road to a successful business model, her passion for elevating the industry to be seen as a respectable career, and how she hopes to improve as a leader. 

 

Show Notes:

4:53 – Being the change in the industry

10:51 – Building a sense of community

18:00 – “I want to elevate our industry”

22:45 – Growing pains

33:16 – “Please ask for help”

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with our very first father-son duo. Tony Maione Sr. (henceforth called Senior) is Co-founder and Executive Senior Consultant of Core America, a janitorial and environmental services consulting and software company. Tony Maione, his son, is currently President of Core America, as well as an alum of the Small Giants Leadership Academy. 

 

While studying at Cornell University, Senior paid his way through school by cleaning buildings at night. By the time he graduated, he and his brother had a fully functioning business. They kept it going, using their parents’ basement as the office, and maintained both a positive business model and working environment. After over a decade of cleaning, Senior noticed there was a disconnect between the people who needed the cleaning services and the people providing the services. And so, he took a chance on trying his hand as a consultant, and helped clients find the best companies for their needs. By 1995, Core America completed the transition from cleaning provider to consulting service. More recently, they began offering their own software to aid clients even further. 

 

Although the younger Tony always wanted to build his own career identity, his path often overlapped with his father’s and uncle’s: first, attending Cornell, and eventually moving back to his hometown and joining the family business. As he’s risen through the ranks within Core America, Tony has managed to both honor the legacy that the previous generation established, while also moving the company forward with his own unique leadership style and goals. 

 

And yes, even after all of these years, the father and son duo still enjoy working together every day.

 

Tune into this episode to hear Paul and the two Tonys discuss their family business dynamic, how they carefully transitioned the leadership from one generation to the next, and how they went about rediscovering Core America’s culture.

 

Show Notes:

5:10 – The beginnings of Core America

15:25 – Brought up in a family business

23:55 – Tactful transitions 

28:15 – Rediscovering the culture

32:44 – Looking ahead

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Heidi Baumgart, COO of Skidmore Studio, a 65-year-old branding firm. 

 

As an only child growing up in rural Ohio, Heidi observed generations of her family work hard to build their businesses, be it a dairy farm or a home renovation business. She took these values with her through her academic career, and into her first job after college at an advertising agency. Soon enough, though, when Heidi and her now-husband were planning their wedding, she pivoted her career to run her own events planning business for five years, which she claims has heavily informed every role she’s had since. Heidi’s pivoted her career since then, first into marketing leadership, and most recently into people management, which is allowing her to live her purpose of helping humans flourish. 

 

Tune in to this episode to hear Heidi and Paul discuss Skidmore’s strong remote work culture, the influence of the Small Giants Community Summit on Heidi’s career journey, and their shared optimism about young people entering the workforce. 

 

Show Notes:

• 5:05 – Building a better culture through remote work
• 12:30 – Growing up with elbow grease
• 15:40 – Transferring skills into entrepreneurship 
• 17:05 – The Small Giants Community influence 
• 23:40 – Skidmore’s devotion to values
• 32:23 – Heidi’s advice for young people

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Andrew Barry, founder and CEO of Curious Lion.

 

Andrew got his start on the accounting side of business at KPMG. But as his passion for learning grew, he embraced his own courage by moving from his home country of South Africa to the United States, where he started his own training services business. Even though the road wasn’t always smooth, Andrew had mentors (including several standout female leaders in a male-dominant industry) to back him up, as well as his own curious mindset, to propel him forward. Now, through Curious Lion, he’s helping organizations shift their cultures to ones that are people-focused and embrace change in order for them to thrive and not just survive. 

 

Tune in to this episode to hear Andrew and Paul discuss the dual influences their parents had on each of their leadership journeys, the dynamics of being a thought leader while running a business with its own identity, and the power of storytelling. 

 

If you want to take a deeper dive into the tools and philosophies of Curious Lion, Andrew and his team have developed a free email-based course for anyone to access. Sign up to get these problem-solving tools here!

 

Show Notes:

• 3:50 – Awareness is the key to starting a learning culture
• 6:00 – Optimize the planner, not the plan
• 11:15 – From accounting to entrepreneurship
• 17:30 – Andrew’s personal journey
• 29:05 – Curious Lion’s challenges in 2023
• 34:00 – “Stories are one of the greatest technologies we’ve ever invented”

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Beck Sydow, the Founder of HumanKind Business Leaders, and former CEO of StickerGiant. 

 

Beck’s passion is bringing people-hearted and business-minded leadership beliefs to individuals, teams, and organizations. A self-proclaimed “business geek” as well as a longtime mindfulness practitioner, Beck’s aim is to help people understand the importance of weaving together business and leadership, and to do so by showing up to work as their full selves. And Beck finds that sharing their personal story is a helpful illustration of this belief.

 

Beck grew up in an evangelical christian household, received a bachelor’s degree from Liberty University, a large evangelical school, and later gained one of their master’s degrees from Naropa University, a buddhist-inspired school. Beck is also same sex attracted and gender nonbinary, a component of their identity that has taken time to fully embrace and share with others, including their colleagues at different organizations, and family. And although the road has not always felt smooth, Beck acknowledges that in order for us as leaders to promise a culture of acceptance, we have to be willing to remove our own masks and show up as our full selves.

 

Tune into this episode to hear Beck and Paul discuss mindfulness in the workplace, embracing one’s complete self, and not being afraid to share our true selves with the ones we care about the most. 

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Carl Erickson, the recently retired Executive Chairman of Atomic Object, a design and development software consultancy he co-founded in 2001.

Previously a tenured professor at Grand Valley State University, he enjoyed teaching, but didn’t so much appreciate the affinity in academia for sticking to the status quo. So, when a former student asked him to help manage a team for a startup, Carl took a sabbatical, and eventually resigned, to pursue the new opportunity. The innovation happening in such a new industry was thrilling. When that startup didn’t make it, Carl took the ashes of that business and created Atomic Object. 

Carl takes pride in having formed a team of longstanding Atoms who have helped him to shape the company from the early years into what it is today (their first intern, Mike Marsiglia, is now a co-CEO of the company). And part of that is due to Carl’s self regard, combined with his lack of business training – unburdened, he simply created a company that he wanted to work at. 

Tune in for this episode as Carl and Paul discuss Atomic’s handcrafted employee ownership structure, how moving states as a child shaped Carl’s personality, and the humbling lessons he’s learned on the company’s aspirational journey to becoming 100 years old. 

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Taylor Vanden Hoek, a delivery lead at Atomic Object, a custom software consultancy. Along with one of her colleagues, Taylor is currently working towards opening and managing Atomic Object’s fourth office, which will be located in Raleigh, NC. 

From a young age, Taylor had a love for art, largely thanks to her dad’s own passion for creativity. But it wasn’t until her senior year in high school, when she enrolled in a graphic design program at a tech center, when she really hit her stride. After studying at the Art Institute of Chicago, Taylor went on to have design jobs at various companies with different angles on the role of designer. Through this diverse experience, she was able to learn that she loved the parts of design that prioritized the end user and strove to problem solve with them in mind (also known as human centered design). With this self-awareness in mind, she found a place where she could thrive and pursue her purpose in Atomic Object. 

“Being able to know myself really well is something that has helped me figure out the systems I need to build for myself in order to be successful.” 

Tune in for this episode as Taylor and Paul discuss how Taylor came to lead the charge on Atomic Object’s fourth office opening, her passion for gardening (and how it relates to her leadership journey), and finding her own leadership style in the tech community.