CEO Coaching International Podcast

Guest: Dan Smytka, a coach at CEO Coaching International. Dan has global expertise in growing and leading multibillion-dollar businesses with marquee brands such as General Electric, Carrier, and Goodyear Tire and Rubber. Dan has also led businesses in Asia and Europe where he cultivated a reputation for generating profitable growth, building high-performance collaborative executive teams, and executing strategies to expand profit margins and deliver sustainable results.

Quick Background: CEOs started 2025 with a long list of unknowns ranging from AI and interest rates to tariff turbulence and global conflicts. Six months later, questions about the world and the pace of change in business still outnumber definitive answers. But the best CEOs know that where there are challenges there are always opportunities. And if you have courage, vision, strategy, and a team of A-players, your company will be nimble enough to adjust on the fly and strong enough to grow through any obstacles. 

On this classic episode, Dan Smytka discusses specific strategies that will help you keep moving products, delivering services, expanding your profit margins, and Making BIG Happen even when the going gets tough.

Guest: Mo Said, the Founder & CEO of Mojo Supermarket, a powerhouse advertising agency that's been named Small Agency of the Year, Strategy Team of the Year, and one of the Best Places to Work.

Overview: Growing and managing a BIG business is an art. For many CEOs, high-level leadership is also a journey of self-discovery. Find that perfect harmony between all your skills and passions and Making BIG Happen will be that much more fulfilling. 

On today's show, Mo Said discusses how he resolved the tensions between the artist he wanted to be and the CEO his business needed. He also shares how he designed his own CEO education through stories, coaching, and reflection, and why great entrepreneurs are actually great artists.

Guest: Byron Carlock, a coach at CEO Coaching International. Byron is a distinguished real estate executive with 38 years of experience that spans the full real estate lifecycle from strategy to execution.

Quick Background: COVID, WFH, NIMBYs, and YIMBYs were already accelerating changes to how and where we work and live. Now leaders in the real estate sector are also contending with major political hurdles, higher interest rates, and inflated costs across the board.  

But there are also BIG opportunities in real estate for CEOs who know how to spot value and serve the needs of customers and their communities. 

On today's show, Byron Carlock  explains how  leaders in real estate and other industries can align strategy, capital, and policy to Make BIG Happen in this complex environment.

Guest: Kyle Karnes, a coach at CEO Coaching International.  

Quick Background: If you're skipping over Gen Z workers because you "don't want to deal with them," you're letting stereotypes and social media memes cloud your judgment. Gen Z is mission-driven and tech-savvy, and they crave strong leadership that can teach them how to channel their passions into Making BIG Happen. 

On today's show, Kyle Karnes explains why Gen Z may be the most misunderstood and undervalued generation in the workforce and shares best practices for hiring and developing your company's next wave of talent.

Guest: Brett Jackson, a coach at CEO Coaching International.  Brett is a seven-time CEO, and two-time COO with 35 years of experience leading software and SaaS companies through scale-ups, pivots, and turnarounds. Before he became a CEO, Brett built deep go-to-market expertise as a VP in product sales and marketing.

Quick Background: You can't always blame sales and marketing when your sales are trending in the wrong direction. And sales and marketing can't always blame each other. Great leaders push their teams to look below the surface and also take in the BIG picture to repair deeper misalignments that are stalling progress.

On today's show, Brett Jackson discusses how optimizing the go-to-market value chain can drive sustainable revenue growth and Make BIG Happen.

Guest: Matt Dunie, a coach at CEO Coaching International. Matt  has founded or co-founded four companies and served as CEO or President five times across the information services and SaaS sectors. He's led businesses ranging from startups to enterprises approaching $400 million in revenue, and he's executed more than 20 acquisitions and exits.

Quick Background: Successful startups and small businesses eventually reach a place where complexity starts to stall growth. It's at this early turning point that the CEO has to take their leadership up a notch and make the tough decisions that will Make BIG Happen.

On today's show, Matt Dunie discusses how to navigate the challenges of the "messy middle," including dealing with change, decentralizing decision-making, and finding the courage to lead with transparency and empathy.

Guest: Joanne Starkman, the co-founder of Innersense Organic Beauty, a clean hair care brand that she launched with her husband Greg.

Overview: All successful CEOs pour their hearts into their businesses. But a company that truly lives and breathes your mission can be as BIG as it is rewarding and impactful. 

On today's show, Joanne Starkman discusses how her deeply personal mission to create non-toxic, high-performing hair care products has grown into a category-defining brand that's beloved by salons, stylists, and customers across the country.

Guest: Rick Stern,  the CEO and founder of Stern Recruiting. Rick is also the former founder and CEO of Nitel, which is a telecom company that he bootstrapped from zero to $180 million in revenue over two decades before he exited through a private equity transaction.

Overview: Now what?

That's the question high-performing CEOs ask themselves after they've reached any major milestone. But after selling your business or retiring, you can't just walk back into the c-suite and raise the bar a little higher. And even if you set your sights on a new endeavor, leaving behind a company that you've led and grown is an extremely emotional experience that will have a profound effect on your journey to a new BIG.

On today's show, Rick Stern gets candid about letting go of his life's work, the unexpected challenges of retirement, and the itch that ultimately pulled him back into entrepreneurship. Rick also explains how he used sabbatical time to reset and how learnings from his first company are shaping his new leadership mindset.

Guest: Dr. Joel Myers,  the Founder and Executive Chairman of AccuWeather. Dr. Myers is considered the father of modern commercial meteorology.

Overview: CEOs often feel like they're making "life and death" business decisions. But, as we saw during the pandemic, when the safety of your customers and employees is at stake, CEOs need reliable data that will help them adapt to the facts on the ground quickly and lead decisively. 

On today's show, Dr. Joel Myers  explains how technology, including AI and predictive analytics, is shaping the future of weather forecasting and how businesses can prepare to mitigate risks, protect their people, maintain efficiency, and keep Making BIG Happen.