Dave Witsken in the CEO of Universal Engineering Sciences® (UES), a leading national engineering and consulting company. UES, recognized as the fastest-growing AEC firm in the U.S. and Canada, continues to expand its operations nationally, with 67 branches in nearly 20 states and more than 3,100 professionals today. Most recently, Dave served as the President of BrandSafway's Industrial, Energy, and Commercial business for the United States, Canada and Mexico. BrandSafway is a provider of services and products to the industrial, commercial and infrastructure end markets worldwide. Dave worked in various global executive leadership roles throughout his 17 years at the company, including M&A, Sales, and General Management. During his tenure, BrandSafway completed 30 successful acquisitions and grew from $300 million in revenue in 2005 to $5 billion today. Previously, Dave spent 18 years at General Electric in various leadership positions. He received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati and an MBA from Westminster College, where he currently serves as an Advisory Board member.

Tim Bessell loves his job. He combines lifelong surfing experience with expert craftsmanship to create some of the best custom surfboards in the world. Surfboard shapers and surfers alike, from all over the world, know the name, Tim Bessell. From world-class professionals to weekend warriors, ask anyone who knows him and they'll tell you the same thing: Tim is more than a shaper, he's an artist. History of Bessell Surfboards At a very young age, Tim Bessell was exposed to the infectious world of art by his mother. As A result, Tim gained an interest and appreciation for the sub-culture that would coincidentally influence and shape his future to come. Tim began his professional surfboard shaping career when he began working at Sunset Surfboards. By the age of thirteen, Tim began shaping surfboards from the beautiful town known as La Jolla, California. He was one of the youngest surfboard shapers in the industry, but he was already making a name for himself as a surfer and as a shaper in and around his home break of Windansea Beach in La Jolla, California. A Surfboard Shapers Journey Three years later Tim moved to Hawaii to prove he has what it takes to be a shaper on the North Shore. He began shaping custom surfboards for Lightning Bolt, one of Hawaii's premier surfboard manufacturers known for the infamous lightning gun shape of the 70's ridden by legendary Gerry Lopez. In fact, Tim Bessell would later become one of the few shapers allowed to manufacture surfboards under the Lightning Bolt name. After legitimizing himself as a shaper, Tim returned to San Diego, California to open Bessell Surfboards. By 1987, Bessell Surfboards had grown into one of the largest surfboard manufacturers in Southern California. Tim also made a name for himself as an artist, with exhibitions as far away as Japan. Tim branched off into the world of apparel when he started his own clothing line in 1992. He designed every item himself, and his unique touch of style was an instant hit. Tim even helped design styles for other clothing companies such as Hurley, T&C Hawaii, and Billabong. In 1997 Tim decided to focus once again on surfboards when he returned to the shaping room to reinvent Bessell Surfboards. He built primarily custom-shaped boards for surfers who demanded more than the typical cookie-cutter shapes typically offer. Tim's willingness to work individually with each customer has helped build a reputation few surfboard shapers can match. To date, Tim has produced over 46,000 surfboards. His boards have graced the covers of Surfer Magazine, Surfing Magazine, Beach Culture, and countless other surfing magazines. Many world-class surfers have ridden Bessell Surfboards including Peter King, Luke Egan, Jon Roseman, Glen Winton, Brad Gerlach, Vetea David, Ricky Irons, David MacAulay, Saxon Boucher, Debbie Melville Beacham, Ryder Mackey, Chris O'Rourke, Billy Choe, Simon Law, Juston Postin, David Eggers, Davie Miller, Richard Kenvin and more. Bessell Surfboards are currently sold throughout the world with distributors in Japan, South America, and Europe. If you're lucky enough to visit Tavarua Island, you'll notice Tim's trademark guns are standard equipment on the island. Wherever you end up, chances are there is someone riding a Bessell. Currently, Tim and his team at Bessell surfboards are starting many new exciting projects. These projects include Watershed Productions, a new film production company that is focusing on cutting-edge surf films. Most notably Tim Bessell has teamed up with the Warhol Foundation to reconnect the much-forgotten love that Andy Warhol had for surfing and the surfing counter-culture. “How I Met Andy”, is a short film that tells the story of how Tim met Andy Warhol and why his artistic inspiration never left him and how eventually this became the "Bessell Warhol Project.” In this project, Tim has created an extensive collection of surfboards with licensed Warhol art imposed on his signature surfboard shapes. This has created an international buzz once again and many of these boards can be found in art galleries and collector homes all over the world. With the love for shaping boards Tim gained when he was thirteen combined with the experience, inspiration, and reputation he has gained along the way, Bessell Surfboards remains one of the top custom surfboard manufacturers in the world.

Jason Kruger is kind of a badass when it comes to accounting. Don’t be fooled by his impressive resume and professional demeanor, he’s shaking up the way business owners think about running their organizations. Gone are the days of the traditional office model with an accounting team that stays with a company for 35 years and then retires with a pension. Today’s business owners have to make strategic decisions to optimize profitability. The only way to do that is with good data from their accounting teams. Jason’s 20+ years of accounting and business advisory experience puts him in a prime position to help guide business owners to make smarter business decisions. Often, that means choosing outsourced solutions to provide next-level expertise at a fraction of an in-house cost. Founded in 2008, Signature Analytics brings the expertise and benefits of large company financial and accounting tools and processes to small and medium-sized businesses and larger non-profit organizations. Since that time under Kruger’s leadership, Signature Analytics was recognized as an Inc. 5000 company for FIVE straight years for growth and as a “Best Place to Work”. Signature Analytics still has a headquarters in Southern CA while delivering exceptional service to clients across the US. Before founding Signature Analytics, Kruger spent 10 years in public accounting, finishing as a Senior Audit Manager at Deloitte. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Arizona. With Kruger’s expertise and Signature Analytics’ commitment to delivering reliable financial insights, businesses and nonprofits can make smart decisions based on real numbers.

Dr. Stephen Barden, DProf, is a specialist in organizational leadership and strategy. He works with board-level leaders to help them and their successors develop and initiate strategies that benefit and sustain the entire organization. His practise has worked with clients in  Europe, the USA, the UK and Africa. Dr. Barden has been Chief Executive of News Digital Systems, Axel Springer Television and Quadriga plc. He has been Chief Operating Officer of BskyB and Managing Editor of TV-am plc. As an entrepreneur, he has founded businesses in the media, technology and communications sectors. Stephen Barden holds a Doctorate (DProf) from Middlesex University for his research into how top organisational leaders learn to use power and authority. He has a Diploma in Professional Coach-mentoring for Senior Executives from the Oxford School of Coaching and Mentoring. He is a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Programme for Management Development and has substantial training in Organisational Development, Action Centred Leadership and Negotiation. He is a trained Mediator accredited by the School of Psychotherapy and Counselling, Regents University, London. He is the author of the book “How Successful Leaders Do Business with Their World: the Navigational Stance” – which details his work on the exercise of leaders’ power and authority and forms the foundation for his practice.

Bruce Scheer is the CEO of InspireYourBuyers.com. Bruce's Bio: A friend from the industry asked me “What’s your why?” The problem was, he asked me on LinkedIn in front of thousands of viewers! Yes, panic set in and it spun me into some deeper reflection and a concerted look-back into how I’ve helped others in business and personal circles in ways that were deeply personal for me. After deep soul searching coupled with constructive outside perspective, I was able to land on my “why” - to inspire others to inspire others. I have been given the privilege of working with thousands of b2b leaders, sellers and marketers each year for over two decades in helping them inspire their buyers. It’s a source of immense personal joy for me when I can help others up their game in ways they weren’t able to before. On the business side, the role I’ve played can be characterized as “sales and marketing enablement,” and I’ve done this with and for business, product, sales, and marketing leaders and the organizations they serve for many of the world’s largest global businesses including Microsoft, Oracle, HP, Citibank, and McKesson. My clients have rewarded me, my colleagues, and my business partners with repeat business, the ability to quickly grow revenues landing my firm on the fastest-growing company list 2 years in a row, and winning industry awards including HP’s Marketing Circle of Excellence and the Corporate Executive Board’s Marketing Campaign of the Year. I’ve been a keynote speaker for very large corporate events including Microsoft’s CIO Summit, and a guest speaker and educator for associations, business roundtables and in-company events and ongoing programs across all major continents. Note: Bruce holds both an undergrad and an MBA from the University of Oregon. 

Jean-Christophe Bédos is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of Birks Group Inc., formerly Henry Birks & Sons, a leading manufacturer and retailer of luxury jewellery and watchmaking since 1879 in Canada. Before joining Birks, Mr. Bédos was formerly with the high-end jeweller, Boucheron International (Kering), in Paris, France, where he served as President and CEO after a distinguished career with the Richemont Group in Paris and London and at Cartier’s iconic Maison. In July 2018, Birks was prized with the prestigious Brand Of the Year Award. The prestigious World Branding Awards are the premier recognition programme of the UK-based World Branding Forum.  The annual event is the ultimate global brand recognition accolade and evaluates brands from around the world. The judging process involves a three-step procedure: brand evaluation, public online voting and consumer market research.  Birks is the only brand to receive the award in the Retail Jewellery category, surpassing the impressive competition for its dedication and passion behind the fine jewellery brand. Jean-Christophe Bédos currently serves on the Board of Directors of Birks Group Inc., and the Montreal General Hospital Foundation as Vice-Chair and is Chair of the Financial Resources Allocation Committee.  Mr. Bédos is a Member of the Board of the London Business School Global Advisory Council.  He is an active member on the committee “L’avenir de la rue Sainte-Catherine” project and has co-chaired the fundraising campaigns of the McCord Museum and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal.  Born in Morocco, he lived in France and England until 2011.  He now resides in Montreal, Canada with his wife and four children.  He is a skilled brand builder within the luxury retail sector, who brings a very relevant background having spent his entire career, for more than 30 years, within the high-end watch and jewellery industry.  Mr. Bédos earned a MSc in Business Management from London Business School – Sloan Fellowship Masters Programme, with Distinctions in Marketing and Brand Management; a BA in International Commercial Law from University of Paris Pantheon-Sorbonne; BA (Honors) in European Business from Trent University, Nottingham, England; BA in Business Administration from Toulouse Business School, Toulouse, France.

Kendra Reichenau is CEO of Heartland America. She is a transformational Global Senior Executive with extensive experience leading well-known consumer-facing brands spanning multinational public companies to owner-operator and founder-led organizations. Strong track record of driving results in general management, omnichannel, merchandising, consulting, and strategy development. A clear communicator and developer of high-performing teams and a cross-functional collaborator with global teams, vendors,  customers, and investors. Known for solving problems, creative rebranding, commitment to the customer, and positioning businesses for innovative growth and potential sale. 

David is the founder and CEO of multiple businesses. Most prominent among them is his longest-running company, ISU Corp. ISU is a custom software solutions company with clients ranging from start-ups to multi-million-dollar conglomerates like General Electric and Heinz. Located in Canada’s Silicon Valley, ISU Corp increases entrepreneurs’ net profits with exceptional custom software solutions. We have been granted awards like the “Best Innovative High-Tech Enterprise Software Company of the Year” from Global 100, and ACQ5’s “Game Changer of the Year” to attest to our excellence. Most recently, ISU Corp has been chosen as a recipient of the Canadian Business Excellence Award for the sixth year in a row as a recognition of our outstanding company culture and effective process (2018-2023). David Mansilla is passionate about inspiring others. A priority in his life is sharing his experiences in hopes of encouraging a new generation of entrepreneurs to reach their full potential. David is the host of The Break Free Podcast, where he invites a diverse set of guests to bring audiences valuable knowledge on living life on their own terms, whether it’s professionally or personally. David is also a #1 international bestselling author for his book, Breaking Out of Corporate Jail.

In the spirit of summer, we're taking a break from creating new content this August. We'll be back in September with fresh content, but in the meantime, we hope you'll enjoy some of our listeners' favorite episodes! Mike Capone is CEO of Qlik. He grew up in the Bronx (not Chicago, although he is distantly related to that branch of the Capone family), which he credits with giving him resilience and grit. He says his dad--one of the first CIOs who worked for JCPenney--challenged him and is one of his greatest mentors. Mike claims he could have applied himself better is school, but was more street smart and interested in sports. In this episode, he discusses his path to the corner office after he was told that no CIO would ever become a CEO (spoiler: he made it happen) and his leadership evolution as he progressed from CIO to COO to CEO. He extolls the virtues of "leading from the front" by spending time with everyone on the team, clearly explaining your expectations, and never asking anyone to do something that you wouldn't do yourself. Mike also shares what he looks for in a new hire--intelligence, passion, and someone who is "interesting"--and why he encourages others not to play it safe all the time by stepping up for the harder assignments. He gives an overview of Qlik and talks about the tech/social responsibility mix that he loves about the company, and its participation in C40 Cities.

Hollenstein joined the roster at eyebobs in July of 2016. As VP of Direct, Hollenstein was responsible for expanding the direct-to-consumer business, which includes e-commerce and catalog. In December of 2017, Hollenstein was named CEO and continues to utilize his collaborative style and passion for building eyebobs unique brand to drive the business forward. Prior to joining eyebobs, Hollenstein was Vice President, Merchandising for Sportsman's Guide. As leader of the product management team, he helped Sportsman's Guide deliver over $300M in annual volume. Previously, Hollenstein led the direct purchase division at G&K Services, and from 2000 to 2008 he helped build the Duluth Trading Co. business as Vice President of Product Development.