Linch With A Leader

On this weeks episode of Linch with a Leader, Mike sits down with Jack Easterby of the Houston Texans.  Prior to his role with the Texans where he currently serves as the executive vice president of team development, he served with the New England Patriots from 2013-2018 as the team chaplain and character coach.  Easterby was lauded by the Patriots players for the incredible role he played during that time.  Prior to that he had served with the Kansas City Chiefs and some time at the University of South Carolina.Mike spends time talking with Easterby about his years as a college athlete and how his passion developed into helping athletes be a real champion.  At the recording of this episode, Easterby had just left his role with the Patriots and had not yet joined the Texans.  There are so many great nuggets of wisdom from this great leader!

On this episode of Linch with a Leader, Mike sits down with speaker/leader Shep Shepherd to talk about his story from adversity to one of the most inspiring leaders of today. Shep travels the country now inspiring hope in this generation. His presentations are as relevant as they are timeless. He is one of the leading authorities today on Hope and Transformation. His influence is global. His philosophy is simple: Tough times do not last, Tough people do! He was born in the hood, but he is now reaching the world.As CEO of Shep Inspires LLC, he has been unmatched in his ability to deliver real, relevant, and relatable content from the platform for over 12 years now. In 2010 he also founded Keep The Change Inc. a non-profit devoted to empowering pro and college athletes through chaplaincy and mentoring.For more information on Shep visit him at:www.shepinspires.com

Rodney Bullard currently serves as the Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility for Chick-fil-A, Inc. and Executive Director of the Chick-fil-A Foundation.  He leads the company in their community engagement, philanthropic efforts and the sustainability strategy.  Before beginning with Chick-fil-A, he served as an Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting difficult criminal cases.  Due to his work, he was awarded by the United States Attorney General with the Department of Justice Director’s Award.  He’s been selected as a White House Fellow, which is the nation’s highest public service Fellowship.  As a Fellow, he was placed at NASA working for the NASA Administrator.  He is an alumnus of the Air Force Academy, Duke Law School, the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business and Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.  Rodney has also authored a book entitled Heroes Wanted: Why the World Needs You to Live Your Heart Out.In this episode, Mike Linch talks with Rodney Bullard about his impressive background, his work at Chick-fil-A, his book and how his faith has played such an important role in his life.

Rachel is a graduate of the Auburn University Broadcast Journalism program and has become a master at her craft.  She has been featured on national broadcast such as Fox Sports, ESPN, CBS Sports, Yahoo and Sirius XM.   Whether a field reporter and host of the College Football National Playoff game or working NASCAR, Rachel bring passage and energy!  She is known by many as the “SEC-ologist” for her vast knowledge of SEC football and was the first female host of SiriusXM ESPNU.Her most recent work away is called “Changing the Narrative”.   Since August of 2016, she has visited 35+ institutions talking to young athletes about being Kings and Queens through purpose. In this episode, Mike explores not only Rachel’s life journey but also her faith that has been her sustaining force!

Kevin Scott is an entrepreneur and author from Kennesaw, Georgia and is a graduate of the University of Georgia. He has spoken in over 100 countries, and co-founded ADDO in 2011 with the mission and goal of inspiring people today to impact tomorrow. ADDO is a leadership consultancy that partners with Chick-fil-A and Coca-Cola. Prior to founding ADDO, Kevin was involved with non-profit charitable work, business ventures, and politics. Kevin has been named to the “40 under 40” lists for Georgia Trend and the Atlanta Business Chronicle. He has also authored three books, The Lens of Leadership, 8 Essential Exchanges, and The Lepers’ Lessons

Chris Norton is a motivational speaker and has a non-profit foundation. Chris was a collegiate football player who’s career ended in 2010 after becoming paralyzed after making a tackle. Although he was told he would never be able to move again, Chris had defied the odds and walked across the stage at graduation and walked down the aisle with the assistance of his wife Emily. His story was seen online hundreds of thousands of times online. Now he is sharing his story with people all over the country, and through the Chris Norton Foundation, helping others with neuromuscular injuries overcome their obstacles.

Dr. Sam Chand is a former pastor, college president and chancellor, speaker, and author. He lives with the singular vision for his life of “help others succeed.” He climbed the ranks at Beulah Heights Bible College beginning as a janitor, and finishing up as the president of the school. He continues to develop leaders through the Sam Chand Leadership Institute working with ministries, governments, and social organizations. In this episode, Mike Linch and Dr. Sam Chand discuss his background, his passions for leadership, new material he has just released, and how his faith has played a key role in who he is today.

Ira Blumenthal is a speaker, consultant, author, branding expert, and a motivator based out of Atlanta, Georgia; he is often considered the modern day “Renaissance Man.” He is the founder and president of Co-Opportunities Inc., which a consulting company that has worked with some of the largest companies in the world including: Coca-Cola, Nestle, Kroger, Disney, and many more. Ira has the honor and notable distinction of being the single longest continually retained consultant in The Coca-Cola Company’s history. Ira is also a published author with his works, Ready, Blame, Fire! (Myths and Misses in Marketing) andManaging Brand You are just two of the books he has published that have gained notoriety. On top of everything else he does, Ira Blumenthal has spoken to well over 1-million people throughout his career on five different continents. In this episode, Mike Linch and Ira Blumenthal discuss their friendship, Ira’s impressive background and career successes, lessons that he has learned, and the role his faith has played in his life.

The Miles’ are the CEO’s and Co-Founders of Belay. Belay is a virtual assistant company that has the mission to, “glorify God by providing solutions that equip our clients with the confidence to climb higher.” Bryan and Shannon felt a calling from the Lord to start their own business, and in 2010 they began the step by founding the Miles Advisory Group. That group expanded into a multitude of areas and roles of providing those solutions to their clients all across the country, and in 2017 all of their Miles AG suite came under the name of Belay. Belay was recently awarded the number one spot in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Best Company Culture and has been in INC. 500 four times. Bryan and Shannon both have authored books as well. In this episode, Mike Linch and Bryan and Shannon Miles discuss their backgrounds, how they got into what they’re doing and how God has played a role in their leadership and company.

Dan Reiland is the Executive Pastor at 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia. He first partnered with the legendary John Maxwell for 20 years, as the Executive Pastor at Skyline Wesleyan Church located in San Diego. He then moved on to become the Vice President of Leadership and Church Development at Injoy. Dan also writes a blog to help encourage and pass on leadership insights that he has learned and acquired from his time in ministry. He has a passion for seeing leaders grow and become empowered in what God has called them too. In this episode, Mike Linch and Dan Reiland discuss his passion for developing leaders, things that he learned from working for John Maxwell, leadership lessons that he has learned along the way, and all the things that God is doing through him.