CEO.com | Dispatches from the frontiers of leadership

Join Clint for an exciting conversation with Renee Ryan, who is the CEO of Cala Health and is on a mission to transform the standard of care for chronic disease. They discuss her journey of being an investor to becoming the CEO of an industry-disrupting company. Modern tech advancements, including the recent boom of artificial intelligence, are driving medicine forward and Cala Health is using these tools to help people with hand tremors live a normal life again. Renee shares her best advice from lessons learned over the years. Tune in to learn more about Cala Health's incredible work and hear what the future of the medical industry holds in tech. "I think there's just so much we can do in a preventative way before things happen, that makes more sense than all this down-stream care that we spend so much money on."

Meet Marco Zappacosta, the co-founder and CEO of Thumbtack. This innovative, American company empowers small businesses nationwide through helping people care for their homes. A common theme we hear from high-profile entrepreneurs like Marco is their businesses usually start by identifying an issue in a market, and supplying a unique product or service that fills the gap. They talk about how the modern customer and buying experience has to be effortless and how that's the key ingredient to making businesses succeed today. "Thumbtack was founded in the same 6-12 month period that spawned Uber and AirBnb. And that has always shown me how big and how impactful these businesses can get when you truly get it right, when you truly solve that problem in sort of that magical of a way."

On this episode of For Leaders, Clint meets with Lee Benson who is an accomplished author, serial CEO, and leadership coach. In his most recent book, Lee helps business leaders identify their most important number and impliment strategies to achieve their north star goals so they can navigate tough times with ease. They discuss mental health of leadership and how struggle does not define you, but is necessary for personal empowerment and growth. Lee's mission is to motivate companies to embrace struggle in healthy ways and to intrisically build value within organizations. His primary driver is to make the world a better place by teaching people about their purpose and how they can build value in themselves from a young age, so they can practice reaching their goals and bettering themselves throughout their lives. "That's where the self-esteem comes from. When you're accomplishing challenging things, you did it, you're in the middle of it, you feel great about yourself. That permeates out into your family. That permeates out into the communities you engage with."

Join us for a fun conversation with Fredrik Thomassen who is an entrepreneur, CEO, and Founder of Superside. Placing high value on company culture, Fredrik has transformed the way his company of creatives function and interact with their customers. By focusing on the needs of the customer, Fredrik was able to identify a gap in the market and deliver a service unlike any that existed. They discuss the future of AI and how it's affected his business, as well as the opportunities such a tool presents in today's market. With so many employees working remotely, Fredrik shares his expert tips for keeping a thriving sense of company culture no matter where people are located around the world."We're incredibly excited about it and we're pretty much all in. I think there hasn't been anything in the last 6 months or so where we haven't spoken about AI."

Ash Fontana joins Clint Betts on this episode of For Leaders for a conversation about modern tech and AI. Ash is an esteemed coach for CEOs and investors and he helps business leaders discover how to propel their companies forward using an adaptive approach in problem solving. They talk about the fears people are currently experiencing with the emergence of new AI technology and he explains why these feelings are natural from a humanistic perspective. Ash shares some insights about how the modern employee working landscape is evoloving. With a goal of helping people work for themselves, Ash is a leading voice in the future of work. Tune in to learn more from this great mind!"I think people think about strategy a lot at work, but remarkably, people don't think about strategy a lot in their own personal life."

Ilir Sela joins Clint for a conversation about standards of leadership and how he founded Slice, an awesome pizza delivery service on a mission to support local restaurant owners. Coming from three generations of small business owners, Ilir saw early on how hard these people work to achieve their goals and establish their customer base. Described as a "life saver", Slice has helped restaurant owners successfully move parts of their business online, further tapping into an infinite market. With so many large-scale pizza chains in the nation, Slice levels the playing field between the neighborhood corner pizzeria and popular takeout spots, making Ilir a genius in the industry. They discuss implementing change and overcoming the struggles of entrepreneurship - something many can relate to. Tune in to learn more about Ilir's journey!"Our mission is to keep locals thriving. There are people on the team that are more passionate about that mission than I am and I live and breathe it 24/7."

Dr. Tommy Watson is a successful author, coach, speaker, and entrepreneur and we're thrilled to have him on the show to speak with Clint about the resilience of the human spirit. On top of that, he's a big dreamer and his work helps teach people not only how to dream beyond their circumstances, but how to make their dreams a reality. Tommy's childhood was chaotic and he overcame some of the hardest obstacles that no child should have to endure. Having learned so much from the harsh circumstances at home, he's making the most out of his experiences, helping people turn their lives around."I've got to take care of myself first. But others who have the same drive who want to do something as well, I'm going to try to bring them along with me. I'm going to be their encourager."

We're thrilled to have Chip Wilson, the founder and former CEO of Lululemon, on the show today to have a conversation about entrepreneurship with Clint. Chip has always had the desire to make something great, incorporating athleisure, adventure, and innovative company culture together in harmony. With a focus on living a healthier and happier life, Chip's mission is to elevate the world to greatness. They dig deep into the foundation of Lululemon and how Chip's ideas, as its founder, shaped the industry as a whole, forever changing market integrity. They also discuss valuable lessons learned about making mistakes and how important it is to be resilient as a business leader today. "Of course being a creative person, I love change and I love the disruption."

Clint meets with Mel Torrie on this episode to talk about everything from tractors to Elon Musk to AI and automation in the agricultural industry. Entrepreneurs are professional risk-takers and Mel is no stranger to taking risks to make his vision become reality. Mel discusses his work in outdoor autonomy and how prominent brands are starting to employ this new technology in their designs. With the largest center for autonomy being in Australia, Mel's business has become an optimized operation worldwide, branching into nations across the globe. Tune in to hear just how Mel was able to work with his leadership to make his company a leader in the industrial automation space. "It really replicates what we're doing down in mining, for example, in Australia where the truck drivers have now been trained. They commit never to lay anyone off and they retrained the drivers. Some of them now run our software from 800 miles away and run the mine and don't have to leave their families and fly into a camp in the middle of nowhere."

On today's episode, Clint meets with Tony Aguilar, the CEO and Founder of Chipper, for an insightful conversation about fintech and the lasting impacts of student loans. As a first-generation graduate, he saw firsthand how difficult student loan debt is to pay off and noticed how much it held students back from launching their lives and careers. He approaches entrepreneurship with a community-first mindset and has made massive waves in the industry because of it. They discuss the future of education and how that landscape might change over time from a financially innovative perspective. "I think you have to have that as a founder, this unwavering confidence in your abilities to succeed and to just tackle any challenge you face in building your company."