The Authority Company

COVID-19 gave small businesses the chance to reevaluate their challenges and reimagine their business. And now over 70% of small business owners believe their business is better off now than it was one year ago. So how did small and medium-sized businesses not only survive but thrive? Joining Joe this week is Wendy Taccetta, Verizon Business’ senior vice president for nationwide small business and channel chief. Wendy talks about Verizon's recent Small Business Recovery Survey and the effect of Verizon’s products and services on small businesses.

Much has been written about supply chain issues and the lack of toilet paper, but there’s something else that’s been in short supply recently, and that is kindness. Joe's guest this week is Andra Liemandt and she is the founder of Austin-based The Kindness Campaign (TKC), a national nonprofit devoted to research-based emotional intelligence and anti-bullying. Andra shares the inspiration for The Kindness Campaign and how her team is creating and providing accessible emotional health curriculum and programs to both children and adults in homes and classrooms.

For years, the world of business has been described as cut-throat, dog-eat-dog, and ruthless. But now more and more businesses are centered around building a kinder, more sustainable world. On the latest episode of the podcast, Joe is joined by Giovanna Mingarelli, who sits at the forefront of this kindness revolution. Giovanna is a Canadian entrepreneur, public speaker, writer, and founder of several companies, including M&C Consulting, a digital communications and crowdsourcing company and MC3, a Seattle-based tech startup offering AI-powered bots to power the ESG workplace revolution.

For seven seasons, Kerry Washington starred as Olivia Pope on the hit TV series Scandal, but what’s it like to handle crisis management for real? In 2022. This week, Joe welcomes Stephanie Craig, one of the country’s top crisis and reputation strategists. She's currently the Vice President of Consulting at Kith, where she helps clients expertly prepare for crises, mitigate risk and rebuild reputations.

There’s the old line that “doctors are lousy business people,” and it could be because they spend over a decade studying and training to get the doctor part right. They’re not spending a lot of time taking MBA Classes or reading Good to Great. But now it’s more difficult than ever to make it in medicine, and that’s even before that who pandemic thing. The most successful doctors today were either born with entrepreneurial DNA or developed it over time. On the podcast, Joe is joined by Dr. Ryan Neinstein, a board-certified plastic surgeon who is THRIVING in the ultra-competitive world of plastic surgery in New York City.

NFT’s blew up in 2021, but behind the scenes, Non-Fungible Token entrepreneurs have been developing products and services for years. And now all that hard work is finally seeing the light of day. In New York City, the first-ever NFT-vending machine popped up in the financial district, with prices ranging from $5 to over 400 dollars. The once old-fashioned and old-school folks who run baseball are now offering packs of NFT trading cards starting at $50. Joe's guest this week is among the earliest visionaries pioneering NFT product design: Jesse Johnson is the founder of Pixelcraft Studios, and his creation called Aavegotchi is bringing NFTs to the world of gaming.

Joe welcomes Jeff Spring to the podcast. Jeff is the CEO of the Disc Golf Pro Tour, and there's a chance that the “greatest shot in disc golf history” might have popped up on your timeline last summer. James Conrad’s 247-foot birdie forced a playoff at the world championships and the Disc Golf Pro Tour went viral. The sport has grown rapidly and saw a big pandemic push as aspiring Disc Golfers began flocking to courses across the country. But the world of professional disc golf has exploded since its tour launched 6 years ago. On the podcast, Jeff talks about how he's spearheading the growth of disc golf, the importance of developing star athletes, and what the future of the sport looks like.

There are many reasons why physicians make great entrepreneurs: They’re committed to continuous professional development and learning, they want to make a difference in people's lives, AND they have the tenacity and determination to thrive in ultra-competitive environments. This week, Joe welcomes Dr. Arash Aftabi and Dr. Farnoush Fadavi, a husband-and-wife dental surgeon team from Southern California that turned a personal project into a business called Bala. On the podcast, Arash and Farnoush share the inspiration for becoming entrepreneurs and the science behind their plant-based enzyme & electrolyte mix designed to hydrate and supercharge your daily life.

Joe welcomes professional football player turned investor Alex Smith to the podcast. After playing 16 years in the NFL and inspiring the sports world with his recovery from a life-threatening injury, Alex pivoted to broadcasting and investing in startups. Alex talks about his post-football career, how social media impacts professional athletes, and why he chose to invest in sports nutrition company, UCAN.

Media companies would love to release their (very) expensive blockbusters to the world's most populous country, but only China's fickle censors can dictate whether, when, and how a movie gets released. So how did we get here, and why do some of the most powerful executives on the planet bend over backward for the People's Republic of China? This week Joe finds out the answer when he's joined by Erich Schwartzel, the author of Red Carpet: Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy.