Corporate Competitor Podcast
228 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago -What do most Fortune 500 executives have in common? They learned important lessons on the fields and courts of their high school and collegiate sports teams. This is true for both men and women. Ernst & Young found that a whopping 94% of women holding a C-suite position, played sports.
Join 11-time New York Times Best-Selling Author Don Yaeger on his journey to sit with some of the brightest executives in the world as we discuss how sports shaped their professional trajectory in life.
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Episodes
Mammoth President Jake Farrant asks: Do you have the courage to eliminate dysfunction from your team?
April 06, 2022 10:00 - 37 minutes - 86.5 MBEp. 90: Jake is the founder of one of the fastest-growing sports construction companies with clients that include the NFL, SEC, Big 12, and hundreds of high schools around the country. “Above all,” he shares, “If you aspire to leadership, don't just perform well yourself, bring out the best in other people." You will learn: How the New Orleans Saints’ field made its way to Jake’s High School in Kansas. How Mammoth uses “small-town” values to generate big-time results. How to be optimi...
“Turnaround CEO” Michael MacDonald who led Xerox, OfficeMax, and Medifast asks: Do you have the courage to make tough decisions?
March 30, 2022 10:00 - 38 minutes - 87.2 MBEp. 89: Dick Vitale and Jim Valvano shaped this business icon. Michael spent 33 years climbing the ladder at Xerox before OfficeMax hired him as Executive Vice President where he led a $3.6 billion dollar division. In 2012, he was named Chairman and CEO of the nutrition and weight loss company, Medifast. Under his leadership, Medifast's stock rose from $4 to $218 per share. I knew Michael would be the perfect guest after reading his book From the Bench to the Boardroom. In the promotions ...
ESPN’s Jay Bilas says: Leaders should be demanding not demeaning.
March 23, 2022 10:00 - 48 minutes - 111 MBEp. 88: Coach K and Duke Basketball shaped this sportscaster and lawyer. As a four-year starter on Duke’s basketball team and former member of the coaching staff of two national championship teams, Jay learned the art of being demanding without being demeaning– an art at which Jay says Coach K excelled. “He was very demanding,” noted Jay. “But his criticism never cut into your character as a person or an athlete. It was about your performance.” This way of managing people balances keeping te...
NCAA Champion Coach Scott Drew says: Everybody wants to feel recruited.
March 16, 2022 10:00 - 32 minutes - 75.1 MBEp 87: Baylor Men’s Basketball coach joins us to celebrate March Madness and discuss his road to the 2021 national championship that began when he turned his job interview into a successful recruiting session. Coach Drew shares a treasury of leadership learnings that reflect the rich basketball culture from which he comes. You will learn: 6:00 Habits of a consummate learner. 11:30 How “the smart take from the strong.” 14:00 Why culture trumps talent every day on high-performing teams....
Silicon Valley Executive Mari Baker says: Find yourself a coach as great as Bill Campbell.
March 09, 2022 11:00 - 33 minutes - 77.6 MBEp. 86: Mari rose to Senior Vice President as Intuit grew from 30 to 3,000 employees and went from $7 million to $700 million in revenue. She has fashioned a 20+ year career in which she has held CEO, President, and SVP positions in startups and Fortune 50 companies and built some of the world's most successful consumer brands, including Quicken (Intuit, Inc.), BabyCenter (Johnson & Johnson), and Diner Dash (PlayFirst Mobile Games). As a three-sport athlete in high school, Mari opted not t...
Savannah Bananas Owner Jesse Cole says: Stop doing what your customers hate.
March 02, 2022 11:00 - 42 minutes - 98 MBEp. 85: With 1M TikTok followers — tripple any Major League Baseball team — the minor league baseball team in Savannah, Georgia creates raving fans. In this episode, the team's owner Jesse Cole helps you design the ultimate customer experience through tools that identify friction points in your current processes. Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-85/ for a free gift and today's show notes! You Will Learn: (5:00) How to use “Idea Paloozas” to grow good idea...
WNBA All-Star and Nike Leader Michelle Snow says: Playing for Pat Summitt changed how I communicate.
February 23, 2022 11:00 - 51 minutes - 119 MBEp. 84: Tennessee Basketball shaped the first woman to dunk in a nationally televised basketball game. At six-foot-five inches tall, the Pensacola native commands a sweeping view of the impact sports can have on business leadership. “As you progress in your life, you’ll only be alone if you don't bring someone along with you,” she observed. Michelle has been mentored by some of the best and she constantly reaches back to make sure that she is bringing others along. Visit https://donyaeger....
Chris Nikic, the first person with Down syndrome to complete an IRONMAN, and his father Nik Nikic on getting 1% better every day.
February 16, 2022 11:00 - 38 minutes - 89.2 MBEp. 83: When Chris became the first person with Down syndrome to complete an IRONMAN Triathlon, he etched his name in the Guinness Book of World Records and received the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance from Tim Tebow at the ESPYS. The process that got Chris over the finish line was a self-improvement model they developed called 1% Better. Today, they share this model with organizations teaching that while you may never be "the best," you can be 1% better when you stop imposing self-limitation...
Condoleezza Rice encourages you to build bridges as a leader.
February 09, 2022 11:00 - 42 minutes - 96.7 MBEp. 82: Dr. Rice was the first woman on the College Football Playoff Committee and one of the first two women to be invited to join the previously all-male Augusta National Golf Course. You may know her as Secretary of State, National Security Advisor, and Director of Stanford’s Hoover Institution, but in this episode, you will learn her background as a figure skater, tennis player, and a football savant. Her football coach father taught her so much about the game, she could break down defen...
Special Edition: John C. Maxwell takes over as host to interview Don Yaeger
February 02, 2022 11:00 - 29 minutes - 67.5 MBEp. 81: Football and basketball shaped Don Yaeger! This episode caps off a month of podcasts featuring John C. Maxwell’s League of Extraordinary Leaders: Joel Manby, Valorie Burton, Tim Elmore, and Jeff Henderson. In this episode, you will learn: How to establish rapport during an interview. Why Michael Jordan opened up to Don about his relationship with his father. How you can be invaluable without being most valuable. What Don is best known for on the basketball court. (Hint: It’s...
Former Chick-fil-A Marketing Exec Jeff Henderson: Do you know the difference between success and excellence?
January 26, 2022 11:00 - 45 minutes - 105 MBEp. 80: Basketball shaped this leader who Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy called “one of the five greatest people ever to work at Chick-Fil-A.” Jeff has founded a new company called The For Company, which helps individuals and organizations achieve excellence by answering two key questions: “What are we known for? And what do we want to be known for?” The leader’s job is to engage his or her team in answering these questions and then, in the role of servant-leader, work to align each team member...
Growing Leaders CEO Tim Elmore asks: Are you a thermometer or a thermostat?
January 19, 2022 11:00 - 46 minutes - 107 MBEp. 79: Track shaped this author of 37 books. Tim Elmore has helped sports powerhouses like Ohio State and LSU, and corporate juggernauts like Home Depot and Chick-fil-A, improve team performance by visualizing excellence while learning to embrace ideas that may seem contradictory at first but can lead to great insight. You will learn: What Martin Luther King, Jr. teaches us about leading with absence as well as presence. How uncommonly effective leaders leverage both their strengths an...
America’s Life Coach Valorie Burton asks: Are others better having crossed paths with you?
January 12, 2022 11:00 - 40 minutes - 93.8 MBEp. 78: Valorie has been featured on the Today Show, Dr. Oz, and now she is joining four other distinguished writers and motivational speakers as part of John C. Maxwell's League of Extraordinary Leaders. She grew up participating in track and gymnastics until she reached high school, at which point she discovered two life-changing activities: cheerleading and leadership! An only child and daughter of a career military man, Burton took naturally to leadership on the first real “team” she eve...
Former SeaWorld CEO Joel Manby says: In difficult moments seek dialogue, not monologue.
January 05, 2022 11:00 - 44 minutes - 103 MBEp. 77: Albion College baseball shaped this business icon. When Joel Manby took over as CEO of SeaWorld, the company was smack in the middle of national controversy following the 2013 release of the documentary Blackfish. Learn how he led with love and came to an agreement with the Humane Society through dialogue, not monologue, in this episode. You will learn: How guarding future Hall of Famer Magic Johnson taught Joel how to focus on his strengths. The difference between DO goals and BE...
2021 Behind the Scenes with host Don Yaeger and producer Savannah Gallagher
December 29, 2021 11:00 - 20 minutes - 46.2 MBEp. 76: In the spirit of year-end reflection, Don Yaeger uses the last episode of 2021 as a chance to invite podcast producer Savannah Gallagher on the show for a fun behind-the-scenes look recording the first 75 episodes of Corporate Competitor Podcast. Visit http://podcast-subscribe.donyaeger.com/ for a free gift when you subscribe! Their energetic conversation includes: The emotional connection made with longtime Sony Pictures TV Chairman Steve Mosko Previewing a project with Natio...
Personal Development Guru Becky Bursell says: Sign your name at the end of everyday.
December 22, 2021 11:00 - 35 minutes - 82 MBEp. 75: John Maxwell Company’s Executive Vice President offers her success secrets for executives looking for ways to unleash their team’s motivations and make the best use of their time. “People don't lack a hope and a dream, they lack a leader and a plan.” You will learn: How to motivate your team by listening to their dreams and hopes. Motivating yourself (and your team) by replacing perfection with purpose. Devoting more precious time and energy to things you're good at. How ta...
Kingdom Business Leaders’ Steve Dulin says: Make practice hard so the games feel easy.
December 15, 2021 11:00 - 35 minutes - 80.9 MBEp. 74: Texas High School Football shaped Steve Dulin. In his 20 years running Milestone Construction, the company never missed a deadline and never came in over budget… for 20 years. Learn how in this episode! You will learn: (6:30) Why every company needs to find “down-field” blockers. (9:15) How to remain calm under pressure. (13:00) How to lose graciously. (22:00) The importance of “calling” in choosing a line of work. (28:00) The three basic traits of well-run teams. (29:3...
Marketing expert Ryan Alford says: The questions an interviewee asks you reveal more than any answer.
December 08, 2021 11:00 - 37 minutes - 86.5 MBEp. 73: Basketball with Kevin Garnett shaped this marketing maven. As a boy growing up tall in South Carolina, Ryan Alford developed plenty of drive going toe-to-toe with another intense basketball player, young Kevin Garnett, and even played briefly on the same AAU team as the now NBA Hall of Famer. After graduating from Eastside High School, Ryan went to college at Clemson, not to pursue basketball but rather business. From there, he worked as a “Mad Man” in New York before returning to So...
Best-selling author John Bacon says: Be patient with results, not behavior.
December 01, 2021 11:00 - 48 minutes - 112 MBEp. 72: Former hockey coach John Bacon offers lessons he learned turning the nation’s worst high school hockey team into one of its most celebrated. Subscribe here https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-72/ for a free gift and today’s show notes! You will learn: 5:00 Why a star system demotivates the entire team. 11:00 The best way to make your team “special.” 12:00 How to be patient with results, but not behavior. 14:30 Mentors are far more important than pay for...
Movement Mortgage CEO and Super Bowl Champion Casey Crawford says: Make yourself needed
November 24, 2021 11:00 - 45 minutes - 103 MBEp. 71: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers shaped Casey Crawford. Movement Mortgage’s growing team of 4,000 have serviced about one out of every 45 home purchases in the U.S. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Casey used profits from its banking business to fund the opening of two tuition-free Title 1 schools serving the underserved and marginalized communities in which Movement operates. You will learn: What it means to make “love” a core value of your company. Why a paycheck will never be...
Alteryx CEO Mark Anderson asks: Do you know how your teammates define success?
November 17, 2021 11:00 - 36 minutes - 83.1 MBEp. 70: Hockey shaped this Toronto-raised CEO! Mark’s career has taken him from Cisco Systems to Palo Alto Networks and numerous other places before he took the reins at Alteryx, where he has come to view his leadership as something like a curator in chief, one who is responsible for the development journey of each member of his team. This journey begins with understanding their goals, which in turn reflect their ideas of “what success looks like.” Mark appreciates ambition and hunger in o...
Amicus Therapeutics CEO John Crowley teaches how to be purpose-driven
November 10, 2021 10:00 - 48 minutes - 111 MBEp. 69: John Crowley’s life story was made into a major motion picture called Extraordinary Measures, starring Brandon Fraser and Harrison Ford. This podcast offers its own life and business lessons straight from John himself, including the business he created to save his own children’s lives that grew into a global biomedical giant. You will learn: (19:00) How to recruit “passionate entrepreneurs.” (20:00) How to lead empathetically. (43:00) Three steps you need to take to turn big dr...
Pro-football Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton says: Don’t sit back and accept your fate.
November 03, 2021 10:00 - 41 minutes - 57.2 MBEp. 68: Minnesota Vikings football shaped this business icon. Fran Tarkenton played professional football for 18 years! He reinvented the position of quarterback by honing the craft of scrambling with the ball rather than allowing himself to be sacked by opposing defenders. Today, the 81-year-old CEO, who has founded more than 20 businesses, hasn’t slowed down one bit. You will learn: The business lesson he learned playing at Georgia. Why he values curiosity above all other leadership qua...
Saxum CEO Renzi Stone says 1,000 small conversations beat one big one every time.
October 27, 2021 10:00 - 38 minutes - 88 MBEp. 67: Oklahoma basketball shaped this leader. Renzi is the Founder and CEO of Saxum and is nationally recognized for his political intelligence and public relations insight. He serves as a member of the governing board of the University of Oklahoma and on the global board of directors for YPO. In this conversation you will learn: [9:30] What leadership is NOT. [16:30] How to train yourself to overcome adversity. [28:00] How to create value for your team. [32:30] How to balance su...
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian: Lessons learned leading through the darkest hour.
October 20, 2021 10:00 - 46 minutes - 64 MBEp. 66: Growing up as the oldest of nine children whose parents ran a dental practice out of their home in New York, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian sought refuge on basketball courts and baseball diamonds, playing “just about every sport there is involving a ball.” But no childhood bathroom squabble or station wagon road trip could prepare him for the challenge of leading a world-class company through years of challenge to become the most profitable competitor in its industry. Listeners ...
President of iHeartMedia Sports Kevin LeGrett on the #1 ability leaders want from YOU!
October 13, 2021 10:00 - 42 minutes - 59 MBEp. 65: Playing and coaching basketball-shaped this business icon. Long before he became a famous NBA coach with the New York Knicks and an analyst at ESPN, Jeff Van Gundy coached high school basketball in Rochester, New York, and Kevin LeGrett was all the wiser and better equipped to lead because of their relationship. Upon graduating from college embarking on a career of his own, Kevin developed a reputation for generating tremendous bottom-line profit growth for the biggest media compan...
Acceleration Partners CEO Robert Glazer says there is no such thing as an overnight success
October 06, 2021 10:00 - 35 minutes - 49.3 MBEp. 64: Robert “Bob” Glazer is a serial entrepreneur who has worked at think tanks such as Arthur D. Little and incubators such as Cambridge Innovation Center before founding a host of his own companies and charities. His longest-running priority, Acceleration Partners, began in 2007 and works with clients worldwide to develop and scale their affiliate partner programs. He thinks people glamorize entrepreneurship to their detriment. Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/...
Former Denver Bronco Rafe Wilkinson says: Once a decision is made, agreement is optional, commitment is not.
September 29, 2021 10:00 - 40 minutes - 55.3 MBEp. 63: Rafe played linebacker for a Super Bowl Denver Broncos team and considered coaching until his entrepreneurial drive kicked into gear and led him to buy ODS Security Solutions. Over 15 years, he led the company through explosive growth, increasing his workforce from a team of 30 to more than 1,000. In 2016, he became a co-founding partner of CEO Coaching International with twelve-time triathlete Mark Moses. Whether he is coaching a client or a member of his team, Rafe believes in usin...
President and CEO of First Command Mark Steffe Says: Don’t just tell people to get to a better place — help them.
September 22, 2021 10:00 - 42 minutes - 58.2 MBEp. 62: Football, basketball, and track shaped Mark Steffe, an Illinois native responsible for guiding First Command Financial Services in its efforts to make lifelong financial security possible for all military families. When an employee isn’t performing up to snuff, Mark wants his supervisors to avoid telling them to sell more, deliver more, get better results, work harder, and the like. Instead, he wants the leaders to “roll up their sleeves, get their hands a little bit dirty and help...
Lokai Founder and CEO Steven Izen Says, “Don’t Cut Corners.”
September 15, 2021 10:00 - 32 minutes - 45.1 MBEp. 61: Cornell track and field shaped this entrepreneur. Lokai’s brand of beaded bracelets has become a phenomenon sold in 5,000 locations in 170 countries. The bracelets each contain a droplet of mud from the Dead Sea and water from Mount Everest to represent the highs and lows of earth and of life. Steven paid his dues going “door-to-door” around New York City, trying to get stores to display his bracelets, and was rejected 95 percent of the time. Eventually, his hard work (and his dis...
Harvard Business Review Editor-in-Chief Adi Ignatius urges his team to “act like it matters.”
September 08, 2021 10:00 - 34 minutes - 47.9 MBEp. 60: Baseball shaped this highly competitive and goal-oriented executive. Adi Ignatius is a leader who comes to play—whether the “play” involves slow-pitch softball or transforming the country’s oldest and most influential academic business journal. His success includes writing for the Wall Street Journal, receiving a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize, writing for the Far Eastern Economic Review, Time Asia, and Time Magazine, where he became Executive Editor and Deputy Managing Editor b...
TD SYNNEX's John O’Shea asks: Would everyone on the team know the goal if asked individually?
September 01, 2021 15:01 - 36 minutes - 83.3 MBEp. 59: University of Florida Crew shaped this technology leader. John O’Shea’s career at Tech Data started in 1994 when he was hired from a temp agency. Flying up the ranks as swiftly as one of those sculls plying the waters of a crystal clear lake—“I was averaging a new job every six or eight months!”—he rose to the position of President of Global Business Units at TD Synnex. He has developed a distinctive leadership style that CEO Rich Hume called strong and informed. You will learn: T...
Three-time Olympic Medalist Elana Meyers Taylor Says You Can’t Spend Life in Your Gold Medal Moment
August 25, 2021 10:00 - 43 minutes - 99.9 MBEp. 58: Bobsled & softball shaped this competitor and mother. When Elana Meyers Taylor finally steps out of the bobsled for the last time, maybe after the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, she will be able to look back at a trail-blazing career in which she became the first woman to earn a spot on the U.S. National Team competing alongside men as a four-man bobsled pilot. In this episode you will learn: How to trade “obligations” for “opportunities” Why she thinks respect is the glue that...
Longtime Waffle House President & COO Bert Thornton teaches how to engage your team in conversation
August 18, 2021 10:00 - 32 minutes - 74.2 MBEp. 57: Georgia Tech football shaped this business icon. In 1971 Bert Thornton went to work at Waffle House flipping eggs and four decades later retired as the President and COO. His best leadership advice? Give out your cell phone number, because “when the trainees have access to the COO, communication improves among managers.” Each of the 11 million bowls of Bert’s Chili served annually is named for Thornton, who came up with the recipe when Waffle House moved into Texas in the 1980s.
Healthcare Executive Quint Studer teaches how to multiply your team’s creativity
August 11, 2021 10:00 - 40 minutes - 93.9 MBEp. 56: Baseball shaped this great leader who has served as the president of Baptist Hospital and founded his own businesses serving his two passions: healthcare excellence and strong communities. Many have read his books on leadership and business operations. Studer co-owns the Pensacola Blue Wahoos minor league baseball team with golf great Bubba Watson. The little-known team grabbed headlines in 2020 after the COVID pandemic shut down normal operations when they turned the stadium into ...
Urban Meyer, Jacksonville Jaguars’ Head Coach, Loves a Deep Bench
August 04, 2021 10:00 - 26 minutes - 60.3 MBEp. 55: NFL special edition with guest host John C. Maxwell to discuss the benefits of having a system your whole team buys into. “I used to say the job of a leader is to set the standard and demand all live up to that,” said three-time national championship coach Urban Meyer. “I’ve come to believe the job of a leader is to earn your team’s trust. And then you set a standard while equipping and inspiring them so they can achieve the standard.” Meyer’s system for building a deep bench wi...
Four-Time Olympian Angela Ruggiero says: Everyone is terrified, be confident in your preparation
July 28, 2021 10:00 - 39 minutes - 90.4 MBEp. 54: Harvard Hockey shaped this business icon. Angela took her joy of sport and turned it into a high-profile career. She played longer than any other man or woman in a USA Hockey jersey and was only the fourth woman inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame! After she hung up her skates, she continued her studies at Harvard Business School and served on the International Olympic Committee. She was fascinated by the business of sports which led her to co-found Sports Innovation Lab, a data-...
RE/MAX CEO Adam Contos Recommends the Pain of Discipline over the Pain of Regret
July 21, 2021 10:00 - 28 minutes - 66.2 MBEp. 53: Track and Field shaped this incredible leader. Before joining RE/MAX – one of the largest publicly traded real estate companies in the world with 135,000 agents operating in 110 countries— Adam Contos ran a SWAT team, working for a local Sheriff’s Office. He describes the job as “kicking in doors, blowing things up, and saving people.” In this episode, Adam shares that while his current professional life is completely different, his approach to leading high-performance teams rema...
EY’s Kristy Ingram asks: How would you react if you lost your professional identity?
July 14, 2021 10:00 - 42 minutes - 97.5 MBEp. 51: As an equestrian in her native Australia, Kristy Ingram had to learn how to make the transition from managing horses to managing people when her competitive days ended. Her 15 years of consulting experience includes managing Ernst & Young’s sponsorship of the Rio Olympics and developing their Women’s Athlete Business Network. Today she is EY’s Global Leader of Athlete Programs where she helps talent-hungry managers tap into a leadership pipeline that most overlook… retired athlete...
Former NBA Player Charles Smith asks: Is versatility your blessing or your curse?
July 07, 2021 10:00 - 38 minutes - 87.9 MBEp. 51: Pittsburgh Basketball and 10 years in the NBA shaped this entrepreneur. Charles Smith played with the Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks, and San Antonio Spurs. During that window, he was often asked to assume new roles, sometimes mid-season. The one skill he worked on constantly was shot blocking, and still today he ranks in the NBA’s top one percent of all-time shot blockers. After retiring, he participated in the Executive Entrepreneurs program at Stanford University and has ...
Keller Williams’ KWx CEO Carl Liebert shares two things that must happen before you can lead
June 30, 2021 10:00 - 44 minutes - 102 MBEp. 50: Navy Basketball shaped this business icon. Carl Liebert played alongside two of the best players in the program’s history in Vernon Butler and David Robinson. He went on to earn advanced degrees from Harvard, Stanford, and Vanderbilt en route to attaining two decades of C-Suite experience at Home Depot, 24- Hour Fitness, USAA, AutoNation, and now Keller Williams’ parent holding company KWx. In this episode, Carl discusses how leaders can prevent their teams from turning one mistake...
Longtime Sony Pictures TV Chairman Steve Mosko asks: How do you show composure when the world around you is crumbling?
June 21, 2021 10:00 - 46 minutes - 106 MBEp. 49: Delaware Lacrosse is just one of the FUN experiences Steve shares with Don Yaeger. Learn how spiking a football in high school impacted his first meeting with Jerry Seinfield. Really. Then he walks us through when 10 years of his Sony emails were stolen and released to the world by hackers. Finally, he details his experience working with Peyton Manning as host of his newest show, “College Bowl.” Listen to our conversation and then tune into College Bowl Tuesday nights on NBC! ...
Two-time Masters Champion Bubba Watson asks: Can you talk about your failures?
June 16, 2021 10:00 - 54 minutes - 125 MBEp. 48: Bubba Watson is an enthusiastic businessman with ownership stakes in the Blue Wahoos baseball team, a car dealership, and a candy shop in Pensacola, Florida. His heartfelt tears in the winner’s circle, joyously goofy hip hop performance in the boy band Golf Boys, and passionate advocacy for adoption have endeared him to millions. In near lockstep with his considerable success on the golf course and growing portfolio of businesses, Watson has had to confront his battle with anxiety ...
CEO of Torchy’s Tacos GJ Hart offers his 6 strategies for effective leadership
June 09, 2021 10:00 - 38 minutes - 88.6 MBEp. 47: Basketball shaped one of the country’s best restaurant leaders. GJ served as CEO of California Pizza Kitchen and CEO of Texas Roadhouse, where he oversaw growth in revenue from $63 million per year when he arrived to more than $1 billion annually when he moved. Today he is in Austin, Texas, leading the rocket ship that is Torchy’s Tacos, one of the fastest-growing brands in America. A proud graduate of James Madison University, GJ wanted to offer opportunities to students like hims...
Kraft Analytics Group CEO Jessica Gelman asks: What do you do to create your own luck?
June 02, 2021 10:00 - 42 minutes - 98.3 MBEp. 46: Harvard Basketball shaped this business icon. As a student, Jessica had the opportunity to work with the Robert Kraft family, owners of the New England Patriots football franchise and Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, on ways to increase the stadium’s revenue on non-game days. She parlayed the opportunity into a long term relationship with the Kraft family. Today, she is the CEO of Kraft Analytics Group (KAGR), which works with all of the major U.S. sports leagues and prope...
Chick-Fil-A Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility Rodney Bullard shares a leader’s need for grace and forgiveness
May 26, 2021 10:00 - 37 minutes - 85.1 MBEp. 45: Air Force Football shaped this business icon. Before coming to Chick-fil-A, Rodney served as an Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting complex criminal cases. As a White House Fellow, the nation’s most prestigious public-service fellowship, Rodney was placed at NASA working directly for the NASA Administrator. He also previously served at the Pentagon as a Congressional Legislative Liaison in the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force. In this episode, Rodney describes how ...
Owner of PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans Steven Ballard gives tools to inspire confidence in your team
May 19, 2021 10:00 - 37 minutes - 84.9 MBEp. 44: Tulane football shaped this business icon. Steven went into business with his brothers, Paul and Scott, opening a restaurant and a couple of coffee houses. Under the banner Ballard Brands, the brothers went on to form a company that today owns, operates and manages more than 150 restaurants and food and beverage “concepts” in 28 states and 3 countries, including the acclaimed PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans and Smoothie King franchises. As their company has grown and the brothers have exp...
Alliance Vice President Stephen Jermyn asks: Are you louder with your compliments or your complaints?
May 05, 2021 10:00 - 38 minutes - 53.6 MBEp. 42: Albany basketball alumnus shares how he is paying his coach’s example forward in business through principles like: -Keeping things fun and upbeat at meetings. -Using goal-setting rather than quotas in professional development because “nobody sets a quota on the basketball court." -Practicing “self-care” by clearing out time for himself to just sit with pencil and paper and think so that he can come up with a game plan and turn them into actions. Visit https://donyaeger.com/co...
Google Marketing Executive Kate Johnson asks: Have you predicted your future in big bold letters?
April 28, 2021 10:00 - 41 minutes - 95.9 MBEp. 41: Michigan Rowing shaped this business icon. The mental discipline that earned Kate a seat on the US Olympic Crew Team also earned her a seat at the C-suite table at Visa and Google. As Visa’s Vice President of Global Sponsorship Marketing, she developed and led the relationships between Visa and 40+ partners including International Olympic Committee, FIFA, and the NFL. Today, as Google’s Head of Global Sports and Entertainment Marketing, she is responsible for connecting media partner...
Disney CEO Bob Chapek says: Develop the greatest strength in the world — willpower
April 21, 2021 10:00 - 42 minutes - 97.6 MBEp. 40: Chapek traces his remarkable journey, from humble roots running cross country in America’s industrial heartland to running one of the world’s most iconic companies. Listeners looking to sharpen their presentation and leadership skills will receive a mini-tutorial from the master himself as Bob shows how he has turned “overpreparation” into an art form, including his patented “pencils down” process. Visit https://donyaeger.com/corporate-competitor-podcast/episode-40/ for today's ...