Everyone Talks To Liz Claman

This week, Liz is joined by founder and CEO of Baked By Melissa, Melissa Ben-Ishay to discuss how getting fired from her job as a media planner encouraged her to build one of the largest cupcake emporiums in the nation. Melissa describes how her family guided her to enter a line of work that she is truly passionate about, passionate enough to start her business in a tiny NYC apartment and explains the value of working with a close-knit team, gaining confidence, and juggling work with motherhood. Follow Liz on Twitter: @LizClaman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Liz is joined by CEO of Envoy, Larry Gadea to discuss his captivating story that begins thousands of miles away as a non-English speaker to one of San Francisco's top tech wizzes.   Larry describes how his family escaped Romania’s dictatorship and his childhood in Canada, how he graduated while also working at Google, and what it was like being one of Twitter’s first 50 employees.  Later, Larry shares his passion for technology and explains the most valuable qualities of big tech companies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Liz is joined by co-CEO of Biggby Coffee, Michael McFall to discuss his journey from minimum wage barista to business leader for a brand he truly loves.  Michael shares how his business experiences shaped his entrepreneurial philosophy, how Biggby Coffee grew into a $100 billion-dollar coffee franchise, with more than 250 locations across the Midwest. Michael explains his inspiration to write his book “Grind” in the hopes of motivating others…and he did it all without an MBA.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on a very special episode, after nearly two years Liz is celebrating 100 episodes of Everyone Talks To Liz. Liz looks back at just some of the amazing stories and incredible guests who have shared their inspiring stories of hard work and dedication. Follow Liz on Twitter: @LizClaman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Liz is joined by Founder and President of Nonfungible.com, Dan Kelly to break down what exactly NFTs are and how he was so early to the technology. Dan discusses how growing up playing video games in the 90s inspired him to teach himself computer programming, how he believes blockchain technology will revolutionize how society operates and why he thinks NFTs are a trend that will only continue to grow over time. Follow Liz on Twitter: @LizClaman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Liz is joined by Founder and CEO of theScore, John Levy to share how he took his love for sports and turned it into a billion-dollar sports gaming and media company. John discusses finding inspiration from childhood watching his father building a small cable business into a top competitor, how a challenging aspect of business foundation was the uncertainty of success, how theScore sports network innovated the game-switching format for Major League Baseball games and how his company pivoted to sports betting. Follow Liz on Twitter: @LizClaman *|* Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week , Liz is joined by Outlier.org Founder and MasterClass Co-Founder, Aaron Rasmussen to discuss how he discovered a passion for providing quality higher education. Aaron recalls learning coding as a 7-year-old and taking his first college-level course at age 11, how he overcame his PTSD from an early childhood accident through coding video games, the difficulty he encountered in finding celebrity teachers when founding MasterClass and how Outlier.org was created to make higher education more accessible for everyone. Follow Liz on Twitter: @LizClaman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Liz is joined by CEO of Panera Bread, Niren Chaudhary to discuss how his dedicated work ethic and deep friendships guided him to lead companies like Taj Hotels, Krispy Kreme and eventually Panera Bread. Niren describes the humbling experience of assuming a leadership role at Taj Hotels at only age 24, and how his work at Yum! Brands India brought cultural relevance to global brands like KFC and Taco Bell. He shares his goal for Panera Bread to serve the food that one would serve to their own family and the lessons of courage and gratitude he’s learned from his late daughter Aisha. Follow Liz on Twitter: @LizClaman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Liz is joined by Celebrity Cruises Captain, Captain Kate McCue, to discuss how she shattered glass ceilings to achieve her dream of becoming the first American woman captain of a major cruise line. Captain McCue discusses the career path that led her to her current role, how her team has persevered through COVID-19, and the joy she's found in bringing her passion for sailing to TikTok, where she has over 1 Million followers. Follow Liz on Twitter: @LizClaman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Liz is joined by the Founder and CEO of AppHarvest, Jonathan Webb, to discuss how years in Washington D.C. developing solar technologies for American defense led him to return home to Kentucky to fix American Agriculture.  Jonathan discusses how he appealed to Hillbilly Elegy author JD Vance and AOL's Steve Case to back his company, why he believes Kentucky is the perfect location for AppHarvest, and where we sees the future of American farming going. Follow Liz on Twitter: @LizClaman Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices