Lay of The Land

Darren Small, co-founder and CEO of Oko.With over a decade of experience on Wall Street, Darren’s analytical background from the world of investment banking, stocks, and data, equipped him with a keen eye for efficiency and growth opportunities which he’s now applied to the world of logistics!Darren co-founded Oko back in 2021 after witnessing firsthand the transformative power of streamlining logistics operations. Since then, as CEO, Darren has raised $4 million in funding for the business and assembled a team of nimble operators dedicated to revolutionizing trucking operations, delivering greater efficiency throughout the international and middle-mile supply chains with automated solutions to enable businesses to move goods more effectively!This conversation was a lot of fun — Darren is a deep thinker with a ton of insightful perspectives. We cover his journey to Cleveland, how to effectively pivot, his approach to leadership and cherishing the journey and moments along the way, the implications of automation in our supply chains, and ultimately the future of simplified logistics Darren envisions and Oko’s role in shaping it.-----LINKS:https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenallansmall/https://oko.trade/-----SPONSORS:Lay of the Land is brought to you by JumpStart, providing services and resources to fuel the growth of technology startups across Ohio. JumpStart’s experienced advisors offer personalized business services to help you overcome challenges and prepare to raise capital. With 1:1 advising, workshops, and accelerator programs, JumpStart has helped thousands of entrepreneurs — many of whom we’ve heard from here on Lay of The Land — transition from the early growth stage to venture-readiness. Additionally, founders can tap into a network of resources in marketing, software development, finance, and talent recruitment to drive their companies forward. To learn more about JumpStart please go to JumpStartInc.org/startups to get started today.-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/

John Kempf — founder of Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA), a regenerative agronomy company started back in 2006 to share the knowledge, tools, and systems that regenerate farm profitability, soil health, and plant health, all while reducing the need for fertilizers and pesticides.Under John’s leadership, AEA has grown to be trusted by over 10,000 growers across the world to deliver exceptional yield and quality improvement results on over 4 million collective acres of fruit, nut, vegetable, and broad acre crops all while profitably generating over $20mm in revenue last year and raising over $2.5 million in crowdfunding.From a recognition that our existing food system is fundamentally broken, John’s vision is one that agriculture —  the source of so many challenges in our world today — has the capacity to be the solution to those very challenges, where the process of growing food regenerates land, revitalizes rural communities, produces food that improves our health, and leads to farming landscapes that are beautiful, vibrant and clean.In addition to building AEA, John is also the host of the Regenerative Agriculture podcast — one of the leading agriculture podcasts in the country, with millions of downloads— where he interviews leading farmers and scientists on the practices and science that accelerate the healing of soil, crops, livestock, and our relationship to land.It’s hard not to be inspired after meeting with John — he is clearly pushing the envelope of what is possible and necessary — unaccepting of the status quo and limitations of conventional agriculture; his passion and enthusiasm are infectious and his progress with AEA is more than compelling. This was such a fun and educational conversation — from unpacking the larger concept of regenerative agriculture to hearing about the influence of his Amish upbringing and much more.-----LINKS:https://johnkempf.com/https://advancingecoag.com/https://regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRApdrU3BA0Pzo6MNWTD2jghttps://www.instagram.com/advancingecoag/-----SPONSORS: John Carroll University Boler College of Business || Impact Architects & NinetyJohn Carroll University Boler College of Business: https://business.jcu.edu/ As we’ve heard time and time again from entrepreneurs on Lay of The Land — many of whom are proud alumni of John Carroll University —  success in this ever-changing world of business requires a dynamic and innovative mindset, deep understanding of emerging technology and systems, strong ethics, leadership prowess, acute business acumen… all qualities nurtured through the Boler College of Business!With 4 different MBA programs of study — spanning Professional, Online, Hybrid, and 1-Year-Flexible — The Boler College of Business provides flexible timelines and various class structures for each MBA Track — including online, in-person, hybrid and asynchronous — to offer the most effective options for you, in addition to the ability to participate in an elective International Study Tour, providing unparalleled opportunities to expand your global business knowledge by networking with local companies overseas and experiencing a new culture.The career impact of a Boler MBA is formative and will help prepare you for this future of business and get more out of your career. To learn more about John Carroll University’s Boler MBA programs, please go to business.jcu.eduThe Boler College of Business is fully accredited by AACSB International, the highest accreditation a College of Business can have.Impact Architects & NinetyLay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/

Adam Graybill, co-founder and CEO of Journey Biosciences.With a robust 20-year tenure in the diabetes market, Adam has been at the forefront of assembling purpose-driven teams and forging impactful strategic partnerships across the healthcare landscape; having played an instrumental role in building the Cardinal Health At Home business to a billion-plus dollar entity, ultimately serving over 300,000 individuals with type 1 diabetes each year.Deeply understanding of the demands and burden that come with managing a chronic condition, like a diabetes diagnosis, Adam co-founded Journey Biosciences with Dr. Paul Beisswenger to positively impact the >20 million diabetes patients in the US, and ~37 million Americans who suffer from chronic kidney disease.Journey Biosciences has launched the first predictive screening for people with diabetes that identifies patients at risk of chronic kidney disease before any clinical signs or symptoms, allowing clinicians to then take swift, targeted action with intensive interventions, resulting in life-saving and cost-saving benefits. Technically NaviDKD is Journey Bioscience’s clinically validated and CPT code-certified screening for adult diabetes patients — it utilizes measurements of AGEs, A1C, eGFR, and other personal information — providing insight into long-term complications of diabetes, blood glucose levels over time, and overall kidney function — to stratify individuals into three distinct risk categoriesThis was an awesome conversation — Adam is incredibly passionate about meliorating the lives of individuals affected by chronic health conditions and it was inspiring to hear how he’s built Journey Biosciences to that end. We cover his motivations, doing the work you're meant to be doing, the journey of Journey Biosciences, and a whole lot more!-----LINKS:https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamgraybill/https://www.journeybio.life/https://www.instagram.com/journeybio.life/https://twitter.com/journeybio-----SPONSORS: John Carroll University Boler College of Business || Impact Architects & NinetyJohn Carroll University Boler College of Business: https://business.jcu.edu/ As we’ve heard time and time again from entrepreneurs on Lay of The Land — many of whom are proud alumni of John Carroll University —  success in this ever-changing world of business requires a dynamic and innovative mindset, deep understanding of emerging technology and systems, strong ethics, leadership prowess, acute business acumen… all qualities nurtured through the Boler College of Business!With 4 different MBA programs of study — spanning Professional, Online, Hybrid, and 1-Year-Flexible — The Boler College of Business provides flexible timelines and various class structures for each MBA Track — including online, in-person, hybrid and asynchronous — to offer the most effective options for you, in addition to the ability to participate in an elective International Study Tour, providing unparalleled opportunities to expand your global business knowledge by networking with local companies overseas and experiencing a new culture.The career impact of a Boler MBA is formative and will help prepare you for this future of business and get more out of your career. To learn more about John Carroll University’s Boler MBA programs, please go to business.jcu.eduThe Boler College of Business is fully accredited by AACSB International, the highest accreditation a College of Business can have.Impact Architects & NinetyLay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/

Phil Londrico, Founder & CEO of JaTango — an interactive broadcasting and e-commerce platform that gives individuals the power to host their own live shopping channel anywhere.For many years now, we’ve seen e-commerce grow, sparking an entire industry of new brands, channels, and technology stacks. Today, everything from a legacy department store to your local grocery store to a faraway fashion boutique is “online” and at your fingertips. But the actual experience of shopping hasn’t changed very much. We still generally begin browsing with a specific item in mind and it all feels pretty transactional. Traditional e-commerce platforms often fail to deliver that joy of discovery you feel when shopping in person.This is what makes livestream shopping, which has already gone mainstream in China, fueling over $150 billion in Gross Merchandise Value… so fascinating. With that in mind — JaTango, based here in Cleveland, is bringing that intimacy and connection to the buying experience through their own immersive liveshopping — taking the best of the analog television shopping “buy now!” experiences and putting it into the hands of DIY sellers.Phil has long been a visionary, growing up in his family business as one of the largest growers of Christmas Trees in the USA, responsible for many millions in annual revenue securing major national chains, including Walmart, Central Hardware, Tractor Supply, Handy Andy, and many more. As head of IT Development, he created, produced, and patented a mechanical product that was extensively sold in national chain stores, including Walmart, K-mart, and AAA Travel Agency.In 2006, Phil was early to envision streaming entertainment, co-founding Rock Me TV, one of the first internet television networks.This conversation was a ton of fun — Phil is full of energy and passion for bringing people together through commerce and breaking down the barriers between buyers and sellers — We cover what it’s been like building on the frontier of technology, the importance of timing, lessons learned from his family business, the future of commerce, and lots more!-----LINKS:https://jatango.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/phillondrico/-----SPONSORS: Lay of the Land is brought to you by JumpStart, providing services and resources to fuel the growth of technology startups across Ohio. JumpStart’s experienced advisors offer personalized business services to help you overcome challenges and prepare to raise capital. With 1:1 advising, workshops, and accelerator programs, JumpStart has helped thousands of entrepreneurs — many of whom we’ve heard from here on Lay of The Land — transition from the early growth stage to venture-readiness. Additionally, founders can tap into a network of resources in marketing, software development, finance, and talent recruitment to drive their companies forward. To learn more about JumpStart please go to JumpStartInc.org/startups to get started today.-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/

Dr. James Kenyon, Director of NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, OhioThe road to the Moon goes through Cleveland. With a budget of approximately $900 million, a staff of more than 3,200 civil servants, over 725 patents, and over 120 R&D 100 Awards, Glenn — under Dr. Kenyon's leadership and in accordance with NASA's mandates — is providing integral support to Artemis, NASA’s mission to return us to the Moon, overseeing the service module that will propel the Orion Space Capsule out of Earth’s orbit and around the Moon.Founded in 1941, Glenn Research Center has led NASA’s electric propulsion development efforts and been integral in many of NASA’s most famous missions transforming aviation and space exploration — from Mercury and Apollo to the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station; playing important roles in robotic exploration missions, including the Mars rovers and Cassini’s mission to Saturn.Prior to becoming Glenn’s director. Dr. Kenyon served as director of the Advanced Air Vehicles Program in the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) at NASA Headquarters in Washington, led advanced programs and technology at Pratt & Whitney, and worked for 17 years in the Department of Defense where he was responsible for strategic planning, policy guidance and management oversight of DoD aerospace science and technology programs.This conversation tapped into my latent childhood love and curiosity for exploring the great cosmos around spaceship Earth — Dr. Kenyon and I explore his passion for aerospace and path to NASA, the history and evolution of the Glenn Research Center, and its significant impact here in Cleveland, his reflections on leadership, decision making and talent, and ultimately what’s on the horizon, for exploring the unknown in both air and space.-----LINKS:Connect with Dr. James Kenyon: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-kenyon-204174172NASA's Office of STEM Engagement: https://www.nasa.gov/glenn-stem/NASA's Internships:  https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/internship-programs/Doing Business with NASA Glenn: https://www.nasa.gov/glenn-business-and-partnerships/NASA Glenn's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nasaglenn/NASA Glenn's X: https://twitter.com/NASAglenn-----SPONSORS: John Carroll University Boler College of Business || Impact Architects & NinetyJohn Carroll University Boler College of Business: https://business.jcu.edu/ As we’ve heard time and time again from entrepreneurs on Lay of The Land — many of whom are proud alumni of John Carroll University —  success in this ever-changing world of business requires a dynamic and innovative mindset, deep understanding of emerging technology and systems, strong ethics, leadership prowess, acute business acumen… all qualities nurtured through the Boler College of Business!With 4 different MBA programs of study — spanning Professional, Online, Hybrid, and 1-Year-Flexible — The Boler College of Business provides flexible timelines and various class structures for each MBA Track — including online, in-person, hybrid and asynchronous — to offer the most effective options for you, in addition to the ability to participate in an elective International Study Tour, providing unparalleled opportunities to expand your global business knowledge by networking with local companies overseas and experiencing a new culture.The career impact of a Boler MBA is formative and will help prepare you for this future of business and get more out of your career. To learn more about John Carroll University’s Boler MBA programs, please go to business.jcu.eduThe Boler College of Business is fully accredited by AACSB International, the highest accreditation a College of Business can have.Impact Architects & NinetyLay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/

Ryan McManus — founder and CEO of SHARE MobilityRyan is passionate about solving workforce and rural mobility challenges, creating and affording equitable access to transportation, and ultimately changing the way people actually commute.To this end, SHARE Mobility, which raised over $12 million in funding from investors like JumpStart Ventures here in Cleveland, JobsOhio, Iron Gate Capital, Seamless Capital, and Venn Ventures among others, is a mobility-as-a-service platform empowering companies and municipalities to seamlessly implement a new transportation program or optimize existing ones as part of an employee benefits program.Practically, this has resulted in exciting mobility programs and pilots like one with the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority's (GCRTA) to expand equitable access to employment opportunities in Solon for all the Greater Cleveland region, providing first and last-mile ridings from public transit centers to employment sites.In a world where many frontline workers don't have access to a car and we’re increasingly thinking about mobility holistically, Ryan has a fascinating and unique perspective on autonomous vehicles, connected car innovations, multimodal transportation, the transition to mobility subscriptions from car ownership, what mobility-as-a-service even is, and a whole lot more. I enjoyed getting to learn from Ryan about where this space is headed, SHARE Mobility’s role in shaping it, and his reflections on entrepreneurship.-----LINKS:https://www.sharemobility.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanpmcmanus/https://twitter.com/rynmcmnshttps://twitter.com/ridewithsharehttps://www.instagram.com/ridewithshare-----SPONSORS: John Carroll University Boler College of Business || Impact Architects & NinetyJohn Carroll University Boler College of Business: https://business.jcu.edu/ As we’ve heard time and time again from entrepreneurs on Lay of The Land — many of whom are proud alumni of John Carroll University —  success in this ever-changing world of business requires a dynamic and innovative mindset, deep understanding of emerging technology and systems, strong ethics, leadership prowess, acute business acumen… all qualities nurtured through the Boler College of Business!With 4 different MBA programs of study — spanning Professional, Online, Hybrid, and 1-Year-Flexible — The Boler College of Business provides flexible timelines and various class structures for each MBA Track — including online, in-person, hybrid and asynchronous — to offer the most effective options for you, in addition to the ability to participate in an elective International Study Tour, providing unparalleled opportunities to expand your global business knowledge by networking with local companies overseas and experiencing a new culture.The career impact of a Boler MBA is formative and will help prepare you for this future of business and get more out of your career. To learn more about John Carroll University’s Boler MBA programs, please go to business.jcu.eduThe Boler College of Business is fully accredited by AACSB International, the highest accreditation a College of Business can have.Impact Architects & NinetyLay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/

Today we’re running a replay of one of my favorite conversations from 2022 with Lila Mills of Signal Cleveland. Since we last spoke, Signal Cleveland has continuously produced reliable daily journalism across a plethora of local topics and built Cleveland Documenters, a group of nearly 700 greater Cleveland residents, representing nearly every zip code in the county, who are trained and paid to cover public meetings. Additionally, launched in December 2023, Signal Akron joined Signal Cleveland as the 2nd newsroom within the Signal Ohio network of independent and community-led non-profit newsrooms — now representative of one of the largest local nonprofit news startups in the country with more than 20 staff and over $15 million raised so far.I have a deep-rooted belief in the importance of local storytelling, as a way to inspire, educate, and build community locally; it’s one of the many reasons I love doing Lay of The Land, and it’s why I think this conversation about Signal Cleveland resonates so broadly and why I’ve become such an advocate and supporter for the work they’re doing — what local storytelling is to the community, local journalism is to democracy and society overall!--Lila has been working in community and media for more than 20 years. She most recently spent almost 11 years with the nationally-recognized community building program Neighborhood Connections where her work ranged from editing a community newspaper to serving as associate director. Prior to that, Mills was a student newspaper advisor at Cuyahoga Community College and a reporter at the Plain Dealer. Born and raised on the southeast side of Cleveland, Lila is a first-generation college graduate with degrees from Columbia University.From 2000 to 2020, the newspaper industry's advertising revenue fell by an estimated 80%, from 2000 to 2018, weekday newspaper circulation fell from 55.8 million households to an estimated 28.6 million, 1800 communities have lost their local newsroom since 2004, over 2000 papers have closed since 2004 and there’s been a 60% reduction newsroom jobs since 2008 — needless to say, access to Local News across the country is waning.Signal Cleveland — a nonprofit initiative formed by The American Journalism Project and a coalition of Ohio-based organizations like the Cleveland Foundation, the John S. And James L. Knight Foundation, Sisters of Charity Foundation, the Visible Voice Charitable Fund, and the Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation — aiming to be a trusted source of daily news and information for Greater Clevelanders.Lila has incredible perspective working through all of the challenges that come with starting a newsroom from scratch with real understanding of the Cleveland nuance — very much enjoyed hearing her thoughts on the whole endeavor and the implications this can have for Cleveland!--Learn more about Signal ClevelandLearn more about the American Journalism ProjectConnect with Lila Mills on LinkedInFollow Signal Cleveland on Twitter @signalclevelandFollow Signal Cleveland on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/signalcleveland/-----SPONSORS: John Carroll University Boler College of Business || Impact Architects & NinetyJohn Carroll University Boler College of Business: https://business.jcu.edu/ As we’ve heard time and time again from entrepreneurs on Lay of The Land — many of whom are proud alumni of John Carroll University —  success in this ever-changing world of business requires a dynamic and innovative mindset, deep understanding of emerging technology and systems, strong ethics, leadership prowess, acute business acumen… all qualities nurtured through the Boler College of Business!With 4 different MBA programs of study — spanning Professional, Online, Hybrid, and 1-Year-Flexible — The Boler College of Business provides flexible timelines and various class structures for each MBA Track — including online, in-person, hybrid and asynchronous — to offer the most effective options for you, in addition to the ability to participate in an elective International Study Tour, providing unparalleled opportunities to expand your global business knowledge by networking with local companies overseas and experiencing a new culture.The career impact of a Boler MBA is formative and will help prepare you for this future of business and get more out of your career. To learn more about John Carroll University’s Boler MBA programs, please go to business.jcu.eduThe Boler College of Business is fully accredited by AACSB International, the highest accreditation a College of Business can have.Impact Architects & NinetyLay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjef...

Andre Cisco — Manager for MGK and XX Brands, Brand Strategist and Investor, co-owner of the 27 Club — the coffee lounge and kitchen here in Cleveland — and Managing Partner at Dead Logic, a marketing strategy and brand management firm.Andre is a serial entrepreneur with more than 10 years of entertainment, international logistics, and merchandising experience — Invested in wealth building through ownership and community, he is dedicated to creating businesses that disrupt, educate, and enhance opportunities while creating access and equity across industries.This was such a fun conversation getting to exploring Dre’s upbringing and ties to Cleveland, the intersection of art and business, the history and evolution of his relationship with MGK, starting a label, bringing Drake to Ohio for the first, giving back to the community here in Cleveland, balance, luck, motivations, reinvention, fatherhood and enjoying the journey along the way.-----SPONSORS: John Carroll University Boler College of Business || Impact Architects & NinetyJohn Carroll University Boler College of Business: https://business.jcu.edu/ As we’ve heard time and time again from entrepreneurs on Lay of The Land — many of whom are proud alumni of John Carroll University —  success in this ever-changing world of business requires a dynamic and innovative mindset, deep understanding of emerging technology and systems, strong ethics, leadership prowess, acute business acumen… all qualities nurtured through the Boler College of Business!With 4 different MBA programs of study — spanning Professional, Online, Hybrid, and 1-Year-Flexible — The Boler College of Business provides flexible timelines and various class structures for each MBA Track — including online, in-person, hybrid and asynchronous — to offer the most effective options for you, in addition to the ability to participate in an elective International Study Tour, providing unparalleled opportunities to expand your global business knowledge by networking with local companies overseas and experiencing a new culture.The career impact of a Boler MBA is formative and will help prepare you for this future of business and get more out of your career. To learn more about John Carroll University’s Boler MBA programs, please go to business.jcu.eduThe Boler College of Business is fully accredited by AACSB International, the highest accreditation a College of Business can have.Impact Architects & NinetyLay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----LINKS:https://www.instagram.com/andreciscoxx/https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrecisco/https://www.instagram.com/deadlogiccreate/https://www.deadlogic.co/https://www.instagram.com/27clubcoffee/-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/

Rick Stockburger, CEO of BRITE Energy Innovators.Located in the City of Warren, just outside Youngstown in the Mahoning Valley, BRITE was founded in 2010 as a non-profit focused on the acceleration of energy technology in Northeast Ohio. Since then, and under Rick’s leadership, BRITE has helped over 600 companies, creating approximately 2100 jobs, and channeling >$250 million dollars into BRITE’s network of companies.Providing signature start-up programs, a networked ecosystem, and strategic presence to unleash the energy revolution across Ohio, Appalachia, and the Midwest writ large, BRITE serves a variety of clients providing solutions to today’s challenges and defining tomorrow’s opportunities in energy storage, grid resilience, and mobility and transportation.Rick comes to BRITE as a Northeast Ohio native, a decorated combat veteran serving the US over nearly 7 years in the early 2000s and in operations across the world, as well as a kindred believer to myself, in the power of storytelling, having spearheaded an award-winning “Red, White, and Blueprints: A Rust Belt Documentary” telling the stories of some of the most innovative initiatives, individuals and ideas in the Rust Belt from Detroit to Buffalo to Cleveland and beyond!This was an awesome conversation — we cover Rick’s journey to BRITE, involving a serendipitous run-in with Dave Grohl (a fellow Warren, Ohio native), Voltage Valley, the dependency and interconnectedness of everything energy, some of the most compelling companies within BRITE’s network, including some who’s stories we’ve shared here on Lay of The Land like LAND energy (back on Episode 48), Octet Scientific (back on Episode 118) with their founders, Scott Colosimo and Onas Bolton respectively, changing perceptions about Nuclear, Rick’s learnings along the way, and ultimately the opportunity and ability for this region ability to lead in energy production, electrification of things, and energy storage going.-----SPONSORS: John Carroll University Boler College of Business || Impact Architects & NinetyJohn Carroll University Boler College of Business: https://business.jcu.edu/ As we’ve heard time and time again from entrepreneurs on Lay of The Land — many of whom are proud alumni of John Carroll University —  success in this ever-changing world of business requires a dynamic and innovative mindset, deep understanding of emerging technology and systems, strong ethics, leadership prowess, acute business acumen… all qualities nurtured through the Boler College of Business!With 4 different MBA programs of study — spanning Professional, Online, Hybrid, and 1-Year-Flexible — The Boler College of Business provides flexible timelines and various class structures for each MBA Track — including online, in-person, hybrid and asynchronous — to offer the most effective options for you, in addition to the ability to participate in an elective International Study Tour, providing unparalleled opportunities to expand your global business knowledge by networking with local companies overseas and experiencing a new culture.The career impact of a Boler MBA is formative and will help prepare you for this future of business and get more out of your career. To learn more about John Carroll University’s Boler MBA programs, please go to business.jcu.eduThe Boler College of Business is fully accredited by AACSB International, the highest accreditation a College of Business can have.Impact Architects & NinetyLay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----LINKS:https://brite.org/https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickstockburger/https://twitter.com/BRITEpeoplehttps://www.instagram.com/britepeopleRed, White, and Blueprints: A Rust Belt Documentary-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/

Kyle Maggard, Founder & CEO of Over Easy.Kyle started OverEasy in the fall of 2018, reflecting on his time as a former college athlete at Westpoint and as an Army Captain where living a healthy and active life wasn’t just his passion, but his job. As a busy father, husband, and entrepreneur, he came to recognize that staying fit and eating healthy were harder than they sounded in his busy lifestyle, and without a convenient and nutritious option to start his day, set out to create one for himself.Over East started with a year of Kyle iterating and testing different recipes while still at Harvard Business School, until he found the right combination for the company's first product — a delicious, high protein, high fiber oat-based breakfast bar, believing that a good breakfast sets the tone for the rest of the day.Since moving back to Cleveland, Kyle raised $5 million in funding for the business and has grown Over Easy’s distribution across national retailers like Wegmans, Giant Foods, and others including Whole Foods, who was Kyle’s first partner.While aiming to cater to all consumers, Over Easy found an early niche among both college and professional athletes as collegiate athletic programs were among the brand’s first customers in January 2020 and the bars are now supplied to over 20 NFL locker rooms and a few dozen MLB, NBA, WNBA, and NHL locker rooms.Kyle exudes passion for the business and for Cleveland — While Over Easy started with a breakfast bar, it is more than apparent after talking with Kyle, even only for a few minutes, that his ambitions to fix a broken food system, starting with breakfast, are far greater and his desire to help build up the Cleveland entrepreneurial community is inspiring. It was a ton of fun to learn from Kyle how he thinks about branding, leadership, quality, excellence, motivations, enjoying the process, his vision for the future, challenges faced along the way, and lots more!-----SPONSORS: John Carroll University Boler College of Business || Impact Architects & NinetyJohn Carroll University Boler College of Business: https://business.jcu.edu/ As we’ve heard time and time again from entrepreneurs on Lay of The Land — many of whom are proud alumni of John Carroll University —  success in this ever-changing world of business requires a dynamic and innovative mindset, deep understanding of emerging technology and systems, strong ethics, leadership prowess, acute business acumen… all qualities nurtured through the Boler College of Business!With 4 different MBA programs of study — spanning Professional, Online, Hybrid, and 1-Year-Flexible — The Boler College of Business provides flexible timelines and various class structures for each MBA Track — including online, in-person, hybrid and asynchronous — to offer the most effective options for you, in addition to the ability to participate in an elective International Study Tour, providing unparalleled opportunities to expand your global business knowledge by networking with local companies overseas and experiencing a new culture.The career impact of a Boler MBA is formative and will help prepare you for this future of business and get more out of your career. To learn more about John Carroll University’s Boler MBA programs, please go to business.jcu.eduThe Boler College of Business is fully accredited by AACSB International, the highest accreditation a College of Business can have.Impact Architects & NinetyLay of The Land is brought to you by Ninety. As a Lay of The Land listener, you can leverage a free trial with Ninety, the platform that helps teams build great companies and the only officially licensed software for EOS® — used by over 7,000 companies and 100,000 users!This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects. As we share the stories of entrepreneurs building incredible organizations throughout NEO, Impact Architects helps those leaders — many of whom we’ve heard from as guests on Lay of The Land — realize their visions and build great organizations. I believe in Impact Architects and the people behind it so much, that I have actually joined them personally in their mission to help leaders gain focus, align together, and thrive by doing what they love! As a listener, you can sit down for a free consultation with Impact Architects by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----LINKS:https://overeasyfoods.com/https://www.instagram.com/overeasyfoodshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/kylejmaggard27/Mitch Kroll's Lay of The Land Episode-----Stay up to date by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Past guests include Justin Bibb (Mayor of Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Steve Potash (OverDrive), Umberto P. Fedeli (The Fedeli Group), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Stewart Kohl (The Riverside Company), Mitch Kroll (Findaway — Acquired by Spotify), and many more.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on X @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on X @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/