Disruptive CEO Nation

Rarely do you meet people who you just know your life is richer because of that meeting - well, Chad Foster is one of those individuals. Author of Blind AmbitionTM, Chad is a globally recognized speaker and advocate for resilience, sharing his compelling journey from blindness at 21 to becoming a Fortune 500 corporate leader and motivational figure. Chad’s life story is the embodiment of living within disruption and staying grounded in purpose. Today, he is on a mission to help others thrive through challenge and change. Chad's framework, the Five Pillars of Resilience—choosing your response, telling empowering stories, visualizing greatness, embracing discomfort, and aligning mindset with action—reflects his belief that overcoming adversity is vital for character development. Drawing on his experiences in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and his upcoming PBS docu-series, Chad illustrates the importance of adaptability and self-care, urging others to find purpose in their work to successfully navigate life's challenges. Highlights of what we discussed: - Chad’s leadership journey through his blindness, successful business conquests and now navigating the world as a globally sought after speaker. - How resilience, choice, and mindset are key in overcoming adversity and achieving success. - That recognizing choice, telling empowering stories, visualizing greatness, embracing discomfort, and aligning mindset with action are crucial for resilience. - How embracing discomfort and pushing oneself out of the comfort zone is essential for personal growth and character development. - It is only through harnessing pure ambition he has conquered becoming a blind black diamond skier. - How navigating global travel challenges as a blind traveler with a service dog requires patience and adaptability. - Self-care and understanding the formula for peak performance are important for maintaining optimal productivity. Chad E. Foster is a billion-dollar revenue generator, job creator, and tech innovator—and he’s blind. Despite losing his eyesight as a young adult, Chad turned obstacles into opportunities, becoming the first blind executive to graduate from Harvard Business School's leadership program and pioneering CRM software for the visually impaired. A former Fortune 500 executive, Chad drove billions in revenue and industry-leading growth by embracing resilience and innovation. Now a globally sought-after speaker, he equips companies like Google, IBM, and Microsoft with actionable tools to transform challenges into opportunities. His dynamic keynotes combine heartfelt stories, practical strategies, and a direct, inspiring style to ignite change and unlock potential. Connect with Chad: Website: https://chadefoster.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadfoster/ Connect with Allison: Feedspot has named Disruptive CEO Nation as one of the Top 25 CEO Podcasts on the web and it is ranked the number 10 CEO podcast to listen to in 2024! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/ceo_podcasts/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/ Website: https://www.disruptiveceonation.com/ Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO #CEO #brand #startup #startupstory #founder #business #businesspodcast #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Angel Vossough, the brains behind BetterAI, is shaking up the AI game by focusing on making wine searches and recommendations more personalized through her cool project, VinoVoss. Angel and the team blend their skills and vast wine knowledge to craft an AI solution that opens the gateway for everyone to become a better wine expert as well as guide choices to lesser known quality brands. A big advocate for diversity and inclusivity, Angel also discusses the significance of diverse AI training data and backs initiatives like "returnship" to empower women in tech, ensuring their perspectives shape more effective AI systems. So pour your favorite red, white or sparkling beverage and take in this episode. Highlights of our conversation: - BetterAI is transforming the wine industry by using data science and AI to simplify wine selection through their VinoVoss project, ensuring a comprehensive and unbiased shopping experience for consumers. - The Smart Sommelier feature partners with wine shops to offer personalized wine recommendations through conversational AI, allowing customers to make purchases directly through the platform for a seamless experience. - Angel stresses the importance of diverse perspectives, including women's opinions, in training data for AI systems to create inclusive and effective solutions that cater to diverse consumer needs. - BetterAI's focus on high-quality data is evident in their manual review process involving 37,000 wine experts, ensuring precise recommendations and simplifying the wine selection process for consumers. Angel Vossough is the CEO and Co-Founder of BetterAI, a Silicon Valley-based AI service provider headquartered in Silicon Valley. The company is uniquely leveraging advanced AI technologies such as Machine Learning, Generative AI, Natural Language Processing, and Computer Vision to create this transformative solution that is revolutionizing the relationship between wine and digital platforms. She is also Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Caspian Capital, an early-stage investment firm focusing on deep tech, biotech, and AI; and was Co- Founder of OpenCovidScreen, a non-profit focused on driving innovation in low-cost, accessible COVID-19 testing. In her role as BetterAI CEO, and with a strategic focus on VinoVoss as one of its primary products, Angel oversees the direction and growth of the company’s innovative AI applications in the wine industry. This includes setting the overall strategic direction for BetterAI and VinoVoss; ensuring company objectives align with market needs and her company’s vision; building and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders, partners, and investors to support and advance BetterAI’s business goals; and ensuring the alignment of VinoVoss's development with BetterAI's broader technological advancements and business strategy. Connect with Angel: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vossough/ Website: http://www.vinovoss.com Website: https://www.betterai.io Connect with Allison: Feedspot has named Disruptive CEO Nation as one of the Top 25 CEO Podcasts on the web and it is ranked the number 10 CEO podcast to listen to in 2024! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/ceo_podcasts/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/ Website: https://www.disruptiveceonation.com/ Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO #CEO #brand #startup #startupstory #founder #business #businesspodcast #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

273 Scale Profits and Win Back Time By Training Teams to Lead with Christian Muntean, Founder at Vantage Consulting; Anchorage, AK, USA If you want different organizational results, tap into a different kind of leadership guru. For this episode, we headed north to Alaska to meet with Christian Muntean, a distinguished authority in leadership training helping CEOs drive improved financial results and business outcomes via improved team dynamics and organizational performance. Recently, he bundled In his book, "Train to Lead," a structured, 90-day path to enhance leadership capabilities. What we value about Christian is not only his immense wealth of knowledge but his down-to-earth approach and delivery. This may be because his early career path is rooted in disaster relief and working with community leaders and non-profits in areas in Russia, Mexico, Guatamala, Panama, the Kingdom of Swaziland, Kenya, South Sudan, and Indonesia. Through his firm, Vantage Consulting, he collaborates with clients across diverse sectors to deliver leadership training that emphasizes personal habits, self-management, and core leadership strengths. Highlights of our conversation: - A smart CEO invests in leadership training at multiple levels. - This training is crucial for preparing individuals for executive roles and developing leaders at all levels within an organization. - Leaders often struggle with transitioning to executive roles and managing the associated stress. If they struggle, your business struggles. - Self-development and personal habits play a significant role in effective leadership. - Self-care is essential for leaders to maintain health, resilience, and the ability to bounce back from challenges. - Creating a conducive space for success involves being your own best boss, prioritizing self-development, balance, and joy in life. Christian Muntean is an advisor to owners, executives, and boards. As the founder of Vantage Consulting, Christian has empowered owners and executives of small and medium-sized businesses to boost their top-line revenues by over $500 million. Even more valuable, they've achieved this while expanding their bottom-line margins and reclaiming precious time for their loved ones and passions. Christian’s most recent book, "Train to Lead," is a tested and proven 90-day leadership development guide built on athletic training principles. Christian’s clients have included Fortune 500 firms like BP and Conoco Phillips; government entities such as the US Coast Guard and the Alaska State Legislature; large privately held and Alaska Native-owned companies such as Northern Air Cargo and NANA Development; and a variety of other industries. Connect with : LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianmuntean/ Website: https://www.christianmuntean.com/ Email: christian@vantageconsulting.org Connect with Allison: Feedspot has named Disruptive CEO Nation as one of the Top 25 CEO Podcasts on the web and it is ranked the number 10 CEO podcast to listen to in 2024! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/ceo_podcasts/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/ Website: https://www.disruptiveceonation.com/ Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO #CEO #brand #startup #startupstory #founder #business #businesspodcast #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Marc El Khoury, the visionary founder of aifleet, is transforming the trucking industry with a focus on enhanced driver utilization and technological innovation. With roots in management consulting and a discovered passion for trucking, Marc has steered airfleet to an impressive annual growth rate of 75% to 100%.  The trucking industry is highly fragmented and working conditions are often unfavorable to drivers. Did you know that: There are over 500,000 trucking companies in the US. The average trucking company has four trucks. 90 percent of trucking companies have under 10 trucks. The largest trucking company has about 1 percent market share. Marc’s strategic direction emphasizes investment in technology to improve scalability and efficiency, a vision further empowered by a successful Series B funding round. This financial milestone has bolstered aifleet technological advancements and reinforced its reputation as a top workplace, where office employees and drivers find meaningful engagement and growth opportunities. Highlights of our conversation: - Marc’s commitment to elevating the trucking industry through the strategic use of technology and optimization to provide customers with efficient and dependable freight services and ensure more consistent income for drivers. - The importance of building a driver centric company and why aifleet drivers are full time employees. - Leveraging AI and automation, aifleet seeks to eradicate biases in load assignments and ensure equitable treatment for all drivers.  - aifleet places a strong emphasis on sustainability by actively working towards reducing emissions and enabling drivers to cover more miles in a highly efficient manner. - The company has demonstrated substantial growth, achieving impressive annual increases in revenue and successfully completing a Series B fundraising round. - Recognizing the significance of cultural fit, aifleet prioritizes hiring individuals who align with the company's mission, fostering a cohesive workplace culture essential for long-term success. Marc El Khoury is the CEO and co-founder of aifleet, a tech-driven trucking company. Powered by our proprietary ai technology, we optimize plans for higher revenue so we can optimize the experience for our hard-working drivers and rebuild the industry to benefit people, the planet, and our economy. Prior to aifleet, Marc served as Chief Strategy Officer at US Xpress, and Principal at Kearney, a management consulting firm. He holds an MBA from NYU Stern, a MS in Engineering from UC Berkeley, and a Bachelors of Engineering from the American University of Beirut. Connect with Marc: Website: https://aifleet.com/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marc-el-khoury-a59b111/  Connect with Allison: Feedspot has named Disruptive CEO Nation as one of the Top 25 CEO Podcasts on the web and it is ranked the number 10 CEO podcast to listen to in 2024! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/ceo_podcasts/  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/  Website: https://www.disruptiveceonation.com/  Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO   #CEO #brand #startup #startupstory #founder #business #businesspodcast #podcast  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Duncan Kreeger, the visionary founder and CEO of TAB, is on a mission to democratize real estate investment by making it more accessible and liquid for a broader audience. Drawing from two decades of experience in the property market, Duncan seeks to revolutionize traditional investment methods, which he views as risky and limiting, by offering fractional ownership opportunities that spread risk and allow more people to participate. Under his leadership, TAB enables individuals to invest in high-value properties with minimal capital, while also handling management responsibilities to provide a hassle-free investment experience. By leveraging technology and real-time information, Duncan is committed to educating potential investors and continually evolving his platform to open up real estate opportunities to a wider audience. Highlights of our conversation: - TAB facilitates fractional ownership in real estate investments for as little as £1,000, enhancing accessibility to a broader range of investors. - Investors utilizing TAB can effectively diversify their portfolios across multiple properties to mitigate risk and enhance accessibility to real estate investments. - Duncan underscores the significance of a robust team structure within TAB to effectively address competitive demands and propel business growth. - The core mission of TAB is to democratize real estate investments through technological innovation and streamlined investment processes. Duncan Kreeger is a leading figure in the world of property finance. With a career spanning over two decades, Duncan has built and sold West One Loans, now part of the ENRA Group, which recently sold for 350m GBP. He has successfully managed over 500m GBP of private capital. His expertise extends to completing secured loans worth an impressive 2.5bn GBP. In 2018, Duncan founded TAB, a pioneering property finance and investment firm that revolutionises the industry by offering accessible opportunities to investors through the TAB Market. With a commitment to trust, transparency, and simplicity, Duncan Kreeger is reshaping the way people invest in real estate. Connect with Duncan: Website: https://tabhq.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/duncan-kreeger-0395a45/ Connect with Allison: Feedspot has named Disruptive CEO Nation as one of the Top 25 CEO Podcasts on the web and it is ranked the number 10 CEO podcast to listen to in 2024! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/ceo_podcasts/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/ Website: https://www.disruptiveceonation.com/ Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO #CEO #brand #startup #startupstory #founder #business #businesspodcast #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Raoul Davis, the CEO of Ascendant Group, is a pioneering advocate for the institutionalization of CEO branding, emphasizing its critical role in building trust and authentic connections. He advocates for executives to actively manage their personal brands, ensuring alignment with their company's ethos to enhance long-term market presence. Raoul underscores the importance of humanizing businesses through executive branding, leveraging platforms like LinkedIn and strategic partnerships to weave personal narratives that resonate globally, respecting cultural nuances. By championing CEO branding, Raoul positions leaders as chief storytellers who, by sharing their stories and values, can not only enhance market trust but also inspire others by demonstrating authentic leadership. Highlights of our conversation: - CEO branding is essential for building trust and authenticity by positioning CEOs as the chief storytellers of their businesses, emphasizing human interaction over products or logos. - Highlighting the power of human connection in branding, CEOs can set their companies apart in a competitive market and establish deeper connections with consumers by sharing personal stories and values. - Emphasizing the importance of showcasing the human side of CEOs, positioning them as industry leaders and fostering organic relationships with their target audience. - Amplifying a CEO's strengths and aligning their personal brand with the company's values can enhance shareholder perception, marketplace trust, and establish them as industry thought leaders. Raoul Davis is CEO of the Ascendant Group, an award winning, global leader in CEO branding firm. PR News top 100 ranked elite agency, #1 ranked minority owned PR firm celebrating 20 years working with CEOs and executives of leading businesses in the world. Ascendant offers one of the most integrated agency models in the world including brand strategy, PR, literary representation, design, social media, video, photography, and strategic relationships. Clients include Fortune 500 executives, INC 5000 CEOs, Venture Capitalists, high performing entrepreneur brands, and bestselling self-help Authors looking to amplify their reach. Davis regularly writes content for Forbes and Entrepreneur and has been invited to small business summits at the White House, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the U.S. Senate. He is the author of the book Firestarters: How innovators, initiators and instigators can inspire you to ignite your own life. Connect with Raoul: Website: https://www.ascendantgroupbranding.com/ Connect with Allison: Feedspot has named Disruptive CEO Nation as one of the Top 25 CEO Podcasts on the web and it is ranked the number 10 CEO podcast to listen to in 2024! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/ceo_podcasts/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/ Website: https://www.disruptiveceonation.com/ Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO #CEO #brand #startup #startupstory #founder #business #businesspodcast #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cam Doody knows what it takes to move an early-stage start-up through product fit, function, and successful launch as he has honed in on creating the right environment and formula for success. As co-founder and general partner of Brickyard, a venture capital firm based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Cam and his team specialize in supporting early-stage tech startups and have built a reputation so strong that they are expecting possibly up to 10,000 pitch decks of founders hoping to enter their program. Cam’s philosophy is all about radical focus, grit, and fostering an ecosystem where founders can thrive in the most challenging stages of their journey. His commitment to family and the quality of life in Chattanooga underlines his focus on what truly matters, both professionally and personally, as he strives to back companies that will redefine their sectors and become household names. Here are some highlights: - Cam talks about how his experience scaling Bellhops into a national moving company helped fuel his transition into venture capital, leading to the founding of Brickyard. - Brickyard’s unique model requires founders to relocate to Chattanooga, where they spend up to two years in an environment designed for relentless focus on growth and achieving product-market fit. - Cam shares what he looks for in founders—those who understand the long, difficult path of building a company and are willing to make significant sacrifices, including moving to a less tech-dense location. - Brickyard fosters a supportive community of founders, all in the same critical phase of their startup journey, which helps combat the loneliness and stress of building a high-growth company. - Cam outlines his vision for Brickyard to become one of the most exclusive and successful pre-seed and seed-stage investment programs, backing category-defining companies that harness the power of AI and the internet. Cam Doody is the co-founder and general partner of Brickyard, a Chattanooga- based venture capital firm that helps early-stage startup founders get Series A funding. An Auburn University’s Harbert College of Business graduate, Cam is no stranger to entrepreneurship and taking risks. In 2011, Cam co-founded another company, Bellhop. Originating in his college dorm room, Bellhop rose to national prominence with $56 million in equity capital. Today, the company has raised over $90m in venture capital and expanded to serve state-wide and long-distance moves in more than 65 cities. Connect with Cam: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cam-doody-b489a124/ Website: https://www.justlaybrick.com/ Connect with Allison: Feedspot has named Disruptive CEO Nation as one of the Top 25 CEO Podcasts on the web and it is ranked the number 10 CEO podcast to listen to in 2024! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/ceo_podcasts/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/ Website: https://www.disruptiveceonation.com/ Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO #CEO #brand #startup #startupstory #founder #business #businesspodcast #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rohit Bhargava is a person you should know and follow. He is a pioneering thinker renowned for his expertise in non obvious thinking, a philosophy he champions through his speaking, consulting and body of work. We invited Rohit to tell us about his new book, Non Obvious Thinking: How to See What Others Miss. Rohit believes in the necessity of non obvious thinkers to drive innovation and disrupt conventional business paradigms, a vision he communicates through books, podcasts, and newsletters. He also carried this through by founding Ideapress Publishing so that he could help lift up the work of other great thinkers. He firmly believes that everyone can build the skill of seeing what others miss. Highlights of our conversation: - Why encouraging individuals to embrace non obvious thinking and recognize its value in uncovering insights and generating creative ideas will help businesses thrive in the future. - A CEO must see fostering an innovative mindset as an imperative in all team members and not just a specific innovation team. - That non obvious thinking can be learned, which is why he has written his latest book. - A tenant of non obvious thinking emphasizes the importance of supporting female leaders for opportunities in business to lend to diversity and inclusivity in innovative thought processes. - Rohit is passionate about promoting innovative thinking through various platforms like podcasts, book awards, newsletters, and speaking engagements and all CEOs and business leaders need to recognize that they can also elevate their thoughts and voice in the same way. - The Non Obvious Book Awards were established to honor outstanding nonfiction and business books, promoting insightful literature and unique perspectives. Rohit Bhargava is on a mission to inspire more non-obvious thinking in the world. He is a 3-time Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of ten books and is widely considered one of the most entertaining and original speakers on trends, innovation, and marketing in the world. Rohit has been invited to deliver “non-boring” keynotes and workshops in 32 countries around the world to change the way teams and leaders think at the World Bank, NASA, Intel, LinkedIn, MetLife, Under Armour, Univision, Disney, and hundreds of other well-known organizations.  Rohit's body of work, including his bestselling trend reports, aims to inspire individuals and organizations to think creatively, cover blind spots, and foster a culture of curiosity and risk-taking. To further amplify his message, he established the Non Obvious Book Awards, recognizing exceptional nonfiction and business literature, and continues to advocate for diversity and innovative thinking as catalysts for progress.  Prior to becoming an entrepreneur and founding the Non-Obvious Company and Ideapress Publishing, he spent 15 years leading marketing strategy at Ogilvy and Leo Burnett where he advised global brands on human behavior, marketing, and storytelling. Connect with Rohit: Website: https://nonobvious.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohitbhargava/ Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Rohit-Bhargava/author/B001JRWL64?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1728051894&sr=8-1&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true Connect with Allison: Feedspot has named Disruptive CEO Nation as one of the Top 25 CEO Podcasts on the web and it is ranked the number 10 CEO podcast to listen to in 2024! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/ceo_podcasts/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/ Website: https://www.disruptiveceonation.com/ Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO #CEO #brand #startup #startupstory #founder #business #businesspodcast #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every day CEOs and senior leaders are faced with a tsunami of information and requests so we invited Nuala Walsh, leadership expert and author of Tune In: How to Make Smarter Decisions in a Noisy World to share her esteemed insights. With her distinguished 30-year career in financial services and as the founder of Mind Equity Consulting, Nuala brings a profound understanding of human behavior to the forefront of business decision-making. In a world rife with data overload and disinformation, Nuala underscores the necessity of a nuanced approach to decision-making, promoting strategies like the SONIC mnemonic to combat cognitive biases and enhance organizational performance. Nuala advocates for leaders to be vigilant of default biases and overconfidence, stressing the importance of self-awareness and seeking external perspectives to avoid negative consequences. Highlights of our conversation: - Human decision risk is a crucial factor in leadership decisions due to data overload, disinformation, distraction, and filtering out irrelevant voices. - Default bias leads humans to trust people similar to them, potentially resulting in errors in decision-making. - Avoiding bad news and over-trusting can lead to detrimental decisions, highlighting the importance of critically evaluating information. - Social comparison and bandwagon effects can lead to feelings of inadequacy when comparing achievements to others. - Behavioral Analysis in Business emphasizes the need to refrain from hasty conclusions and understand the complexities of decision-making processes. Nuala Walsh is a non-executive director, adjunct professor of behavioral science in Trinity College Dublin, CEO at MindEquity Consulting, and author of the award-winning TUNE IN: How to Make Smarter Decisions In A Noisy World. With a three-decade career in global investment management at BlackRock, Merrill Lynch and Standard Life Aberdeen, latterly as Chief Marketing Officer, she has been recognized among the 100 Most Influential Women in Finance Her board and advisory appointments span business, sport and non-profit organizations including UN Women (UK), the British & Irish Lions, World Athletics, The FA, the Innocence Project London, and President of the Harvard Club of Ireland. A TEDx speaker and visiting fellow at the London School of Economics, her insights feature in Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Psychology Today, the Financial Times, Inc, the Economist, BBC, CNBC and Fox Business. Connect with Nuala: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nualagwalsh/ Writing website: https://www.nualagwalsh.com/ Consulting website: https://www.mindequity.co.uk/ Connect with Allison: Feedspot has named Disruptive CEO Nation as one of the Top 25 CEO Podcasts on the web and it is ranked the number 10 CEO podcast to listen to in 2024! https://podcasts.feedspot.com/ceo_podcasts/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/ Website: https://www.disruptiveceonation.com/ Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO #CEO #brand #startup #startupstory #founder #business #businesspodcast #podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices