Lay of The Land

Kaleb Dumot — founder of Integrity Power Search here in Cleveland, a boutique search firm for technology companies all across the US and Canada. Since starting Integrity Power Search out of his parent’s basement in 2012, Kaleb has drastically grown the firm, successfully executing over 2,000+ retained searches with client companies that have collectively created $100’s billions of value in exits, many of whose stories we’ve shared here on Lay of The Land like Dallas Hogensen from Felux (Episode 86), AC Evans from Drips (Episode 39), and others like RVShare (Episode 10). In addition, Integrity Power Search has worked with many other prominent organizations like Klarna, StockX, Duolingo, and over a hundred others, backed by many of the top-tier funds and investors in the industry!In our conversation today, we unpack Kaleb’s journey building IPS — taking it from a garage startup to the full-stack search firm for high-growth startups and technology companies that it has become today, and we cover recruiting, entrepreneurship, and all things talent. Kaleb has awesome perspective on these topics having worked with so many startups over their stages of growth and been a direct witness to the evolution of Cleveland, Northeast Ohio, Ohio, and the larger Midwest startup ecosystems over the last decade.-----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:Learn more about Integrity Power Search — https://www.integritypowersearch.com/Connect with Kaleb Dumot on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/kalebdumot/-----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/

Every 50th episode on Lay of The Land thus far, I’ve tried to honor the request I occasionally get, that from time to time, listeners would like to hear more of my own thoughts and flip the proverbial script from host to guest....On the 50th episode, I explored my own professional journey, the concept of startup ecosystems, and what it takes to get the entrepreneurial flywheel going…On the 100th episode, I reflected on what universal lessons I think we can take with us from Lay of The Land: what are the patterns and commonalities across all of the stories we’ve heard from people trying to build great things — from what inspires and motivates founders to pursue entrepreneurship in the first place, to where founding ideas actually come from, to the meaning and importance of culture.Which brings us to episode 150. Personally, I’m much more a fan of listening than I am of speaking; to reference the greatest Cleveland entrepreneur of all time, who unfortunately we won’t get the opportunity to ever have on the podcast as he passed away in 1937, but fortunately, there is quite a lot written and documented about John D. Rockefeller — he often recited a poem that reads:A wise old owl lived in an oakthe more he saw the less he spokethe less he spoke, the more he heardwhy aren’t we all like that wise old bird?For me, this poem resonates deeply. Lay of The Land has become my Oak Tree in that regard as it allows me to hear, to listen, and to learn! With that said, for the 150th episode of Lay of The Land, I’ll continue the tradition of taking a deliberate pause, deviating from the wisdom of the owl, and share some of my own thinking.Fortunately, my friend Jonathan Satovsky runs his own podcast called Wisdom, Wealth, and Wellness and hosted me as a guest there where I got to share some of this thinking… and really in great company as he’s featured many far wiser than myself on his podcast like:Dan Ariely, one of the pioneers of behavioral economics, Greg Harden, an executive and performance coach to folks like Tom Brady and Michael Phelps, Joel Greenblatt, a renowned value investor and author of one of the books actually that got me into investing many years ago… and many others! In our episode, which I’m resharing on Lay of The Land today, I get to unpack a whole variety of unfettered reflections on entrepreneurship, product management, investing, passion and ambition, the race to the bottom of attention, founding insights, flanuering and a lot more! I really enjoyed being the guest on the podcast for once… So with that, I hope you all enjoy this conversation as much as I did — and if you do, I encourage you check out other episodes from Jonathan’s podcast as well !-----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/

Andrew Maurer is the co-founder and CTO of Rise Works, an all-in-one compliance and payment platform designed for companies with global workforces. Rise, which is based in Pepper Pike and has raised $3.8 million in seed funding from investors like Draper Associates, Polymorphic Capital, Sino Global Capital, Hashkey Capital, and other angels — offers a platform with flexible payment infrastructure along with automated routing between fiat and cryptocurrencies, enabling Web2 and Web3 organizations to onboard, manage, and pay contractors and global workers while ensuring full compliance and alleviating burdensome tax processes — covering +90 local currencies, over 100 cryptocurrencies, and having paid out >$10 million dollars to teams in countries across the world.Andrew, a California transplant now living on the east-side of Cleveland for the last 15 years, came to build Rise with two decades of experience developing software and a decade-long experience at Dealer Tire here in Cleveland prior. Andrew is also a pilot, mostly flying for fun!This was a fascinating conversation as we unpack Andrew’s passion for blockchain and instant global payments as a catalyst for positive change, the future of digital identity, the challenges of companies building in the web3/crypto space, opting to focus on global first, the staying power of blockchain, 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:Learn more about Rise — https://www.riseworks.io/Connect with Andrew Maurer on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-maurer-dotme/Follow Rise on X @rise_pay — https://twitter.com/rise_pay-----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/

Patrick Ghilani, CEO of MRI Software.Founded in 1971 & based in Solon, Ohio — MRI Software has been a leading provider of real estate software and has been a trailblazer in the PropTech industry for over five decades, serving more than two million users worldwide, covering over 20 million units, across 45,000 clients, with over 4.2 million leases in over 170 countries — providing solutions that transform the way communities live, work and play!Pat has been with MRI since 2006 and has led the organization as CEO for a decade now, previously holding positions of President, COO, and VP of Global Professional Services, with over 25 years of experience in the enterprise software world and over 10 years in the commercial and multifamily real estate vertical prior!Pat and I discuss his path to MRI, his approach to leadership, his perspective on PropTech as an industry, the strategic decision to build out a connected platform and ecosystem, overcoming risk aversion, macro-real estate trends, the future of MRI software and so much more!For a company with such a rich history and strong presence here in Cleveland with thousands of employees, it was awesome to learn more about how MRI has continued to innovate as a pioneer of the real estate software industry and Pat’s reflections on the journey thus far and vision for the future.-----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:Learn more about MRI Software — https://www.mrisoftware.com/Connect with Patrick Ghilani on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickghilani/Follow MRI Software on X @mrisoftware — https://twitter.com/mrisoftware-----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/

Erin Holston Singh, founder of Options Naturapathic, the Ohio Association of Naturopathic Doctors (OHNDA), and in private practice since 1999.She had her first encounter with natural medicine at 15 years old when her mother developed a perplexing and seemingly incurable health condition which opened up a broad new world full of possibilities and ignited her passion for true healing. Since then, Erin made her life's work unlocking the mystery of non-specific illnesses that keep people miserable and sick when no solutions were to be had from conventional medicine. Over the past twenty-five years, she has worked to help patients avoid and stop pharmaceuticals by shifting practices that contribute to premature death using the wisdom of natural medicine to actively decode what is going on in their bodies and minds with all health issues. Her undying quest to find answers landed in the realm of cancer care, where she is now focused on creating a new culture of healthcare, from the ground up.This was a perspective-enhancing and unconventional conversation in that Erin lays out her deviation from the conventions of traditional healthcare! Erin shares her journey through the world of medicine, her philosophy on care, her learnings from the status quo & desire to change the culture of healthcare, her entrepreneurial journey starting and building a practice and Options Naturopathic to a million-dollar natural medicine business, what natural medicine even is, the power of meditation, the implications of psychedelics, and lots more along the way.-----Lay 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!-----Learn more about Options Naturopathic — https://www.optionsnaturopathic.com/Connect with Erin Holston Singh on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-erin-holston-singh-2535973-----For more episodes of Lay of The Land, visit https://www.layoftheland.fm/Past guests include Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Steve Potash (OverDrive), Ed Largest (Westfield), Ray Leach (JumpStart), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Lindsay Watson (Augment Therapy), and many more.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on Twitter @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/

Meg Mayhugh, Founder and Managing Partner at People Architects as well as the Head of Talent & people at Ninety.io the leading cloud-based business operating system and only officially licensed software for EOS (the Entrepreneurial Operating System), which recently closed its $35 million Series B funding, valuing the company at over $200 million!Meg has decades of experience in talent and people management, leadership strategy, and HR writ-large with an amazing set of roles that led her professionally from: bond and corporate debt trading, to a McKinsey consultant, to Chief People Officer, Chief Growth Officer, and Chief of Staff across firms like Bridgewater, the world’s largest hedge fund, to National City Bank and later PNC, to Dealer Tire here in Cleveland, to TalentLaunch with Aaron Grossman (who shared his story here on the Lay of The Land back on Episode #41), to Ninety and Impact Architects with Kris Snyder (who shared his story back on Episode #98),...to her own company today! Meg deeply believes that people are a business’s greatest asset and launched People Architects back in 2020 to help entrepreneurs manage this greatest asset. As a fractional Human Resources, Talent, and Recruiting firm, People Architects helps growing, small to medium-sized companies across process planning, people-optimization & employee engagement, and profit protection as Meg and her team coach other entrepreneurs to plan for growth and advise them on how to best manage risks to their organizations and win the war on talent.Meg is incredibly passionate about all things people, and that passion comes through in spades in our conversation where we cover the gift of being fired, lessons learned from Ray Dalio and Bridgewater's unique culture, work-life integration, the eb-and-flow of trust between executives and employees, the role of transparency, fostering meaning and connection in the workplace, building a company as a mom of three, transferable lessons from sports to business, the power of mentors, a whole variety of other macro-level HR and People-oriented topics, the differences between leading very large and small company cultures, and lots more.I’ve personally learned so much from Meg and really enjoyed this opportunity to package just a small piece of her earned wisdom into our conversation today — -----Lay 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!-----Connect with Meg Mayhugh — https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-mayhugh/Learn more about People Architects — https://www.peoplearchitects.io/Learn more about Ninety — https://www.ninety.io/-----For more episodes of Lay of The Land, visit https://www.layoftheland.fm/Past guests include Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Steve Potash (OverDrive), Ed Largest (Westfield), Ray Leach (JumpStart), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Lindsay Watson (Augment Therapy), and many more.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on Twitter @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/

Brian Krusz is the Founder & Managing Partner at Sgt. Clean Car Wash —  a premier express carwash organization proudly serving Northeast Ohio since 2013 with over a dozen locations throughout the region. Under Brian’s leadership, Sgt. Clean has been recognized many times over as a five-time Inc 5,000 fastest growing private company winner, Weatherhead 100 winner, Smart Culture award recipient, and, having spent 8 years in the United States Marine Corps himself, a multi-time Vet100 winner as a proudly Veteran-owned-and-operated business, and of course, best car wash in Cleveland by Smart Business Magainze.This was an awesome conversation — we cover the business of carwashes, how Brian got started in the industry, how Sgt. Clean Car Wash is changing the face of car washes, the influence of Brian’s time in the Marine Corps, his unique approach to recruiting, the implications & realities of ADHD, the role and opportunity for carwashing to positively impact local communities, building a lasting culture, and so much more.-----Lay 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!-----Connect with Brian Krusz on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-krusz-b943518/Learn more about Sgt. Clean Car Wash — https://sgtclean.com/-----For more episodes of Lay of The Land, visit https://www.layoftheland.fm/Past guests include Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Steve Potash (OverDrive), Ed Largest (Westfield), Ray Leach (JumpStart), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Lindsay Watson (Augment Therapy), and many more.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on Twitter @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/

TJ Gliha, Co-Founder of Journey Wealth.Established in 2021, Journey Wealth is a full-service wealth planning firm that helps entrepreneurs explore the world of opportunities availed by their success, by addressing their needs and enabling them and their families to lead the lives they aspire to. From its humble beginnings with just 4 employees, Journey Wealth has grown as a self-governing Registered Investment Advisory firm to nearly 20 professionals, with the strategic acquisition of a significant equity stake in FSM Wealth, offering multi-family office services primarily to professional golfers.This was a really fun conversation for — as a long-time student of public market investing, TJ and I got to unpack the wealth management business and industry overall, the intersection of investing and entrepreneurship, the psychology and cognitive biases of investors, how to balance structure and growth, his formative past as portfolio manager and trader on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange floor, the evolution of Journey Wealth in service of helping entrepreneurs make the most of their time — all of our most valuable asset — leadership, and so much more.Outside of his professional endeavors, TJ also plays an active role in the community as a board member of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Cleveland Clinic Children’s Council in addition to his role as Treasurer of the Avon Lake Football Club, stemming from his passion for football!-----Lay 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!-----Connect with TJ on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/t-j-gliha-aif%C2%AE-cepa-a4ba801/Learn more about Journey Wealth — https://www.journey-wealth.com/-----For more episodes of Lay of The Land, visit https://www.layoftheland.fm/Past guests include Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Steve Potash (OverDrive), Ed Largest (Westfield), Ray Leach (JumpStart), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Lindsay Watson (Augment Therapy), and many more.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on Twitter @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/

Our conversation this week is with Tom Lix — founder & CEO of Cleveland Whiskey — on pushing the boundaries of convention while building on tradition to artfully blend science with craft to create unique award-winning Whiskey.Tom is a serial entrepreneur — prior to founding Cleveland Whiskey, he founded Public Interactive which he sold to National Public Radio, he served as President/COO of Yankelovich Partners, and as you'll hear later, Tom has always been a tinkerer through and through.Lix spent some formative years in the US Navy where in addition to some early bootleg distilling; he was cross-trained in nuclear physics and thermodynamics along with seawater/freshwater distillation. A college dropout who hitchhiked across the country fought forest fires in Alaska at the age of 17, and founded the first University-sponsored Motorcycle Club in America. He later earned his Doctorate in Business from Boston University.Originally published as episode #21 back in April of 2021, this conversation with Tom Lix is one of my personal favorites! Tom is a deep eloquent orator, with an eclectic entrepreneurial background, and is one of the best and most engaging storytellers I know, making for one of the most entertaining conversations so far! Cleveland Whiskey continues to push the boundaries of Whiskey’s conventions as they’ve racked up award after award since our original recording and break ground on their new distillery and restaurant planned at the Flats South Bank in the Malcom Building, home to the Consolidated Fruit Auction company more than 100 years ago. Tune in for a spirited conversation!-----This episode is brought to you by Impact Architects and Ninety. 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 or leverage a free trial through Ninety, the software platform that helps teams build great companies, by visiting ia.layoftheland.fm!-----Connect with Tom Lix — https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomlixLearn more about Cleveland Whiskey — https://clevelandwhiskey.com/Follow Cleveland Whiskey on Twitter — https://twitter.com/clevewhiskeyFollow Cleveland Whiskey on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/clevelandwhiskey/-----For more episodes of Lay of The Land, visit https://www.layoftheland.fm/Past guests include Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Steve Potash (OverDrive), Ed Largest (Westfield), Ray Leach (JumpStart), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), and many more.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on Twitter @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/

Todd Goldstein — Founder & CEO of Whoa DoughIn 2008, Todd co-founded LaunchHouse with the mission to invest, develop, and foster promising idea-stage startups in Northeast, OH through Community, Education, Coworking, and Investment — and through LaunchHouse, has helped grow a diverse portfolio of 65 companies that collectively raised more than $30 million in follow in funding.Todd’s most recent endeavor — among his many as a serial founder, entrepreneur, investor, and advocate for intellectual property rights — and where we’ll spend most of the conversation today, is Whoa Dough, which he founded back in 2019 in the aftermath of discovering his 3 boys were diagnosed with severe gluten intolerance and now sells millions of healthy snack bars per year.The reality is that 32 million Americans suffer from food allergies, of which 5.6 million are children — a number that has grown drastically over the past few decades. At first, Todd thought he and his family’s cookie-dough-eating days were over, but he quickly realized that he was intolerant of that too and took it upon himself to create a snack-happy, natural cookie-dough that could satisfy his family’s sweet tooth without wreaking havoc on their bellies. Two years and many dozens of recipes later, Whoa Dough was born — and today is a growing brand that Todd and his team have grown to boast distribution in brands like American Airlines and participation in Mondelez’ Snackfutures program all while creating a gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, plant-based, kosher, non-GMO, Vegan, natural product!Really enjoyed learning about Todd’s journey, passion for building this out in Cleveland, and the momentum of Whoa Dough going forward!-----Lay 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!-----Connect with Todd Goldstein on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddgoldstein/ Learn more about Whoa Dough — https://www.whoadough.com/ Follow Whoa Dough on Twitter @WhoaDough — https://twitter.com/whoadoughFollow Whoa Dough on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/whoadough_/Learn more about LaunchHouse — https://lhcowork.com/-----For more episodes of Lay of The Land, visit https://www.layoftheland.fm/Past guests include Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Steve Potash (OverDrive), Ed Largest (Westfield), Ray Leach (JumpStart), Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland), Pat Conway (Great Lakes Brewing), Lindsay Watson (Augment Therapy), and many more.Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up for Lay of The Land's weekly newsletter — sign up here.Connect with Jeffrey Stern on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreypstern/Follow Jeffrey Stern on Twitter @sternJefe — https://twitter.com/sternjefeFollow Lay of The Land on Twitter @podlayofthelandhttps://www.jeffreys.page/