Episodes

Jordan Nathan is the CEO and Founder of Caraway, a non-toxic ceramic brand that makes thoughtfully designed cookware. Jordan decided to launch Caraway after he and his wife suffered Teflon poisoning from a pan Jordan had forgotten on the stove for 45 minutes. Despite working in cookware before, Jordan learned of the terrible health effects of PTFE-based non-stick coatings and the harmful output during production on the environment. After vetting for ethical manufacturing and quality and finding a factory that would meet all of his standards and fundraising, Jordan launched Caraway in November 2019. He was previously the CEO of Vremi, Founder & CEO of Wanu, and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Colby College. This Episode’s Heavy-hitter’s: Jordan’s first company was called Wanu, which was a DTC marketplace for cool, emerging brands. Although it wasn’t ultimately successful, one regret Jordan has was not building out a real MVP to give the idea a better chance to be validated by the m…

This is a special #thePOZcast episode, recorded live, in-person at ONE60 Studios in South Florida in February. This is the third annual show that Joe and Adam have done together in person where they talk about everything happening in the talent industry and life in general. It's always an amazingly insightful conversation between a mentor and his mentee. Joe Mullings is a career and talent expert and serves as the Chairman & CEO of The Mullings Group Companies. Through The Mullings Group, he’s advised some of the world’s best-known brands– such as Google, Johnson & Johnson, Siemens and Abbott– on how to hire and retain talent.  In 2020 he was appointed Chief Visionary Officer of MRI, a Top 3 executive search firm with 400 offices worldwide. Back for the third installation of our now-annual pow-wow, Joe and I as always have a lot to catch up on in the world of work! This Episode’s Heavy-hitter’s: - We’re still living with many of the same workplace rules that were made at the very b…

Maha Abouelenein is an entrepreneur and global communications expert, with nearly 30 years of experience advising global corporate giants, high-growth tech startups, top governments & high net worth individuals. She is the founder of OC Consultants and the Founder of Digital and Savvy, a strategic communications firm with offices in the USA & Dubai. She also manages the personal brand PR for Gary Vaynerchuk and consults for other high profile individuals & companies such as DFF, Nike & Target. She is also the Co-Founder of Now Gaming (an esports consulting firm) and is an Executive Coach for PepTalk. Raised & educated in the USA to Egyptian parents, she is at home in both West & Arab worlds. She is an Ex-Googler, Ex-Netflix & Careem, and known as one of the leading global crisis managers. This Episode’s Heavy-hitter’s: - Maha’s early aspirations were actually to be in journalism, working on the newsroom floor! Even before she was involved in communications on the corporate level, …

Ashish Toshniwal is the CEO and co-founder of Y Media Labs (YML). YML is an award-winning digital product and design agency, which Ashish and his cofounder Sumit Mehra originally bootstrapped and built from the ground up. Focusing on work culture and innovation, they’ve created a place where people can not only do their work but their life’s work. Under Ashish’s leadership, YML has grown to nearly 400 strong, with six locations around the world, and over 30 Fortune 500 clients, including Apple, The Home Depot, Facebook, and State Farm. This Episode’s Heavy-hitter’s: Ashish’s approach to his career was more about becoming a part of the Silicon Valley ecosystem, rather than having an ultra-specific role in mind. By physically relocating closer to the action, he theorized he was “increasing his chance of serendipity” which turned out to be correct. Ashish and his cofounder Sumit actually grew up two miles away from one another in Kolkata, India without ever meeting each other. The…

In this special episode, we’re sharing Adam’s conversation with Tracy Hazard on her show The Binge Factor. Tracy is a phenomenal host and helps peel back the layers of Adam’s creative and business processes, and how they’ve culminated to create The POZcast and NHP Talent. Adam shares some of his inspirations for podcasting, milestones, his pivot into recruiting, and fills in some of the blanks that you might have been wondering about after getting to know him from The POZcast. We thank Tracy for allowing us to share this episode with our audience, and hope you enjoy it! This Episode’s Heavy-hitter’s: A large inspiration for starting The POZcast was the lack of great shows in the recruiting and marketing spaces. As a fan of podcasts and legendary radio hosts like Howard Stern, Adam had “an itch” he just needed to scratch as a fan, but also as someone who knew that a better product could be released with the right amount of experience and preparation. Speaking of Howard Stern, anothe…

Tom Finn is the co-Founder and CEO of LeggUP, a professional coaching and preventative mental Health platform. LeggUP integrates world-class coaches and therapists, proprietary science-backed assessments, and ROI dashboards into one easy-to-use platform. Before forming LeggUp, Tom was VP & General Manager of Aetna and Regional Managing Director of Anthem Blue Cross. This Episode’s Heavy-hitter’s: - Tom originally thought that he wanted to be an International Corporate Attorney, but after some time spent in legal internships in London, he decided that the legal system was a bit too repetitive and regimented for his personality. - Tom’s first sales role was at his college bar back in Tucson, Arizona! This was much more his speed and a space where he realized how much he loved working directly with people. - The focal point for Tom when he’s starting a new position is to pick a solid entry point. If you’re following in Tom Brady’s footsteps for example, those are pretty big shoes to fi…

Best of #thePOZcast! Jackson Jeyanayagam: Vice President & General Manager of DTC at the Clorox Company: Orig Air Date 10/02/20 I really loved this episode as Jackson shares so many amazing career insights with great energy. This is one of my personal favorites! In this episode, Jackson discusses the importance of people-first in business. Jackson has had some terrific experiences– whether it be joining Chipotle as Head of Digital via cold outreach, getting involved at Boxed during its early years, or joining a legacy brand like Clorox Company. Like most top performers, Jackson has been able to hone his ability to listen to his gut when his next step is unclear, and it’s led him on an illustrious career path. Jackson sits down and really fills in the blanks between each point on his resume, and explains his thought process in moving from company to company. For those thinking about making a transition or just planning out their career trajectory, Jackson takes a refreshingly thor…

JeVon McCormick is an author, speaker, and the CEO of Scribe Media. Scribe Media is a multi-million dollar publishing company that helps entrepreneurs, executives, and experts write, publish, and market their books. Things weren’t always so great for Jevon though–he was born the son of a Black pimp father and a white single mother on welfare. Poverty, abuse, eviction, and discrimination were a daily part of his life. Jevon worked his way up through corporate at Countrywide Home Loans, but then lost everything when the housing bubble burst, and had to start over again. He met former POZcast guest and legendary writer Tucker Max at Scribe Media when he was looking to write his own autobiography, and the two clicked, eventually leading Jevon to taking over as CEO. This Episode’s Heavy-hitter’s: Jevon experienced the lowest of “American poverty” , a distinction that was important to him to make in our conversation. That means as a kid he had to line his hole-riddled shoes with plastic…

Connie Steele is a seasoned marketing and strategy executive, co-founder of Flywheel Associates, and host of the Strategic Momentum Podcast. With over twenty years of combined Fortune 500, mid-size company, and startup experience, she has observed firsthand how business is no longer binary, hierarchical, or absolute but non-linear, collaborative, and fluid. Connie is also the author of “Building the Business of You: A System to Align Passion and Growth Potential Through Your Own Career Mash-Up”. Her career mash-up advice has appeared on Forbes and Thrive Global.  This Episode’s Heavy-hitter’s: - A major motivation for Connie to leave her job in corporate America was being more present for her family. She made a gameplan with her husband, and the rest is history. - One recommendation that she makes for people that are trying to transition into entrepreneurship is to line up your network and how you’re going to outreach to people beforehand. Whether it’s finding clients, gaining ment…

Megan Reilly is the COO and co-owner of Tippi Toes®, an international franchisor of children’s dance. For more than a decade, Megan has helped franchise owners build and grow their own businesses around the world. Megan and her sister/business partner Sarah appeared on Shark Tank, where they were awarded a deal by Mark Cuban. They decided to decline the deal and grow their business on their own, and have since built 35 franchises, written and published children’s music that’s hit the Billboard Charts, and reached number 1 on iTunes. She is also the creator and host of the Who Is Your Momma Podcast, where she speaks to the mothers of some of the world’s most successful CEOs, athletes, and entertainers. This Episode’s Heavy-hitter’s: Tippi Toes was actually founded as the result of a college football game. Megan’s sister Sarah was working as a waitress and wanted the day off to go to a game. When her boss told her she wouldn’t have a job when she came back, she called their bluff an…

I am proud to share the 200th episode of #thePOZcast with all of you. I want to take a moment to thank all of my listeners for joining me on my journey and I truly hope that you can learn something from each episode. The goal of the show for me is to showcase amazing humans and shine a light on their journey, and that light reflects back on me. This is my art, my passion and I deeply appreciate all of you. With that, I am thrilled to share this episode that resonated so deeply with me as I got to spend 3 days with Emeka this past October in Newark. This episode is what the show is all about. Thank you!  Emeka Nnaka is a keynote speaker, therapist, and advocate for hope. Emeka suffered a severe injury playing for the Oklahoma Thunder semi-professional football team in 2009 that would leave permanent damage to his spinal cord. Emeka has been a returning guest on the Ellen Degeneres Show where he was recognized for his service to the community and resilience through life’s challenges…

BEST OF #THEPOZCAST: First Air Date: 5/14/21 Lindsey Pollak is a New York Times bestselling author and one of the world’s leading career and workplace experts. She specializes in early career success, which stems back to her time back in college, where she worked as an RA who fell in love with helping provide guidance and brainstorm solutions with her peers. Lindsay is great at unpacking the people problems that come with the career journey, and her recently published book “Recalculating: Navigate Your Career Through the Changing World of Work” takes on the many problems that have arisen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This Episode’s Heavy-Hitters: Lindsay and I each have the same Peanut M&M obsession that friends & family judge us for Each of her books is a direct reflection of the book that she wishes had been available to her five years earlier Millennials in the workforce are more focused on increasing the size of the pie as opposed to beating the competition; and this …

Luke Anderson is the cofounder of Cann, a company that makes microdose THC-infused beverages. Cann is the top-selling THC-infused beverage in the country and was founded in 2019. Prior to Cann, Luke graduated from Stanford University and had a background in product launch at Bain & Company. With that experience, he got together with his friend Jake to help him execute the idea of microdose beverages, and Cann was born. This Episode’s Heavy-hitters: - Luke actually deferred an offer to join Bain & Company to teach in a low-income schooling system for two years. He had always wanted to teach and was lucky enough that Bain didn’t mind him postponing his offer. - The idea for Cann was one Luke’s cofounder Jake had had for quite some time. Luke was not a cannabis user which made it hard for him to understand the concept, but once he understood the benefits of microdosing, they decided to go all in. - Part of Luke’s motivation for founding Cann was due to his own struggles with alcohol,…

Legend is a visionary, a problem-solver, and a creator. Legend runs Rebels Become Legends Enterprises and is someone that needs to be heard in order to be properly understood. I met Legend in early October 2021 in Newark, NJ, through an event with Breakout. Our group joined a meet-up at his co-working space for a networking mixer. I saw him just sitting there and not sure what it was but I said, "Im gonna go sit down next to this dude and listen to his story." And I am glad we did because what I heard, inspired me so much that I had to have him on the show. Just wish I was recording that first conversation. I love to showcase others' stories and this one is exceptional. Enjoy and I hope that you walk away learning a thing or two or at least inspired to take action. This Episode’s Heavy-hitter’s: - Legend lost his mother when he was just 4 years old, in a situation where his father also wasn’t present. Luckily, he was fortunate enough to have a close relationship with his Grandfathe…

This is a great episode for anyone looking to create a podcast or a current podcaster who wants to upskill their game. I share a ton of insight into how I built and utilize this show for business development. I recently came on Alex Sheridan's podcast, The Crazy Content Marketing Show, where we got to exercise our Improv skills, talk shop about podcasting and much more! If you are not familiar with him, Alex Sheridan is a former corporate B2B sales rep who saw an opportunity to use creative video content to build a brand and founded Impaxs Marketing. Alex is also a close friend and collaborator who has had a personal impact on the growth of The POZcast through his engaging and unique video editing skills. His company Impaxs helps companies win clients and build industry-leading brands on social media and is also the genius behind many of my incredible promo videos, check them out! https://impaxs.com/ This Episode’s Heavy-hitter’s: - Adam gets a lesson in Improv from Alex, whose c…

BEST OF #thePOZcast: Episode 1. To celebrate the 3 year anniversary of my show, let's take it back to the very first episode of the POZ Cast! Adam & Q Connect the online, offline. Here is a look into a raw first-time networking conversation. What I love most about listening back is seeing how far I have come. And, how I predicted the type of show I wanted to build, the guests and stories I wanted to share and the journey that I envisioned ahead of me. Please enjoy and don't laugh too much at how many times I say "riiiiiiight""? I appreciate EVERY ONE OF YOU who have listened to even one episode. It means the world. To check out all almost 200 episodes, please check out www.thePOZcast.com Thanks!

Dan Pantelo is a marketing technology executive, founder and CEO of Marpipe. Marpipe is the operating system for creative testing and helps companies perform multivariate testing on their creative and generates optimal creative results. Prior to founding Marpipe, Dan launched a marketing consultancy from his dorm room in college, which turned into a fast-growing agency based in Soho, Manhattan that specialized in creative production and demand generation for DTC businesses. Marpipe was initially developed when the agency ran into trouble with creative testing, and today, Marpipe has raised over $10m from the likes of Adobe, Samsung, and executives at Buzzfeed, Hubspot, MediaMath, and Criteo. This Episode’s Heavy-hitters: - Dan’s family is from the Soviet Union, where his grandmother was actually a business owner in an environment that was not very kind of accepting of a Jewish woman owning a business. - Dan’s parents came over to the states when they were just 19 years old and a…

A #THEPOZCAST EXCLUSIVE: We’ve got a STAPLE in the online professional community, the one that makes it happen, the thing that puts the LINK in LinkedIn– The LinkedIn Algorithm! This is an exclusive interview with THE Algorithm itself! Whether you’re on LinkedIn to grow your online profile or just to doom scroll your way through the workday– the algo is running the show that you tune into every day. I owe much of my success, network, and frustration to this powerful force in connectivity, and I finally got a chance to pick the brain– or hard drive– of this titan. This Episode’s Heavy-hitter’s: - We talk about the early #nofilter days where LinkedIn was just a job board back in 2005. - Delving into the dark days, we talk about the rock bottom tribulations of the dopamine rushes of the algo life.  - Every hero has its villains, and we break down the battle of the bots and how algo is dealing with the influx of faux engagement.Hold the press– we get spicy and start talking about the a…

Stephynie Malik is the founder and CEO of SMALIK Enterprises. Stephynie started her first global company, MalikCo, by bootstrapping the company with $1,500 and a cell phone, building it into a global software integrator, designing and delivering customized business solutions, optimizing performance, productivity, and profitability for her clients. Some of her past clients include Accenture, Ernst & Young, American Express, United, Nike, LinkedIn, PWC, and Deloitte to name just a few. Stephynie’s consulting, coaching and crisis resolution styles are unique, based on proven strategies and methods that achieve the desired outcomes elite athletes, high net worth, and high public profile individuals are looking for. This Episode’s Heavy-hitter’s: Stephynie was emancipated when she was just 15 due to her mother’s mental health problems, which left her unable to properly take care of Stephynie. Within a month of auditing and investigating a Venture Capital firm that she was hired to he…

BEST OF #thePOZcast: Hala Taha. Origional Air Date: 9/24/21 I have made a bunch of real friends that I met on LinkedIN and none is better than Hala Taha. She is so generous with her advice as a top podcaster and values my advice likewise around business and life. As the host of a top show herself, she really doesn't come out from behind the mic to talk about herself too much as the focus is always on the guest. In August, alongside our other great podcast friend, Vinnie Potestivo, we all interviewed each other in person in NYC. I can tell you, there is nothing more intimate than a face-to-face interview, especially these days. Plus when it's someone that you know, even better. Hala has been through a tremendous amount of heartache this past year, including losing her father, a long-term relationship, and the rollercoaster of business. We got deep and emotional and I felt that I brought out the true Hala that the world needs to hear and see more of. This episode was more of a conve…

Dave Scatchard is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey centre. He played in the NHL with the Vancouver Canucks, New York Islanders, Boston Bruins, Phoenix Coyotes, Nashville Predators, and St. Louis Blues. In 2011, Dave suffered a career-ending injury that would lead him through a period of physical, mental, and spiritual turmoil that would change the course of his life. After doctors at the Mayo Clinic released him when they determined the lasting effects of Dave’s injuries were irreversible, he turned to a variety of holistic medicines, coaches and other resources looking for a solution. The result of his journey would not only lead Dave through a full recovery and spiritual awakening; it would also drive him to create All Start Coaching, where he helps athletes and other professionals face and overcome challenges similar to those that he went through firsthand. Part Two: In the final part of my sit down conversation with Dave, we talk about the heavy-hitting journey through …

PART 1 Dave Scatchard is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey center. He played in the NHL with the Vancouver Canucks, New York Islanders, Boston Bruins, Phoenix Coyotes, Nashville Predators, and St. Louis Blues. In 2011, Dave suffered a career-ending injury that would lead him through a period of physical, mental, and spiritual turmoil that would change the course of his life. After doctors at the Mayo Clinic released him when they determined the lasting effects of Dave’s injuries were irreversible, he turned to a variety of holistic medicines, coaches and other resources looking for a solution. The result of his journey would not only lead Dave through a full recovery and spiritual awakening; it would also drive him to create All Start Coaching, where he helps athletes and other professionals face and overcome challenges similar to those that he went through firsthand. Part One: On this special two-part episode of The POZcast, I sit down with Dave as he takes us throu…

Best of #thePOZcast, E131, Grant Cardone. First aired Feb 2, 2021 In this very special episode of The POZcast, I’m joined by Grant Cardone, Mr #10X to discuss life, business, and his newest challenge in shooting the most recent season of Undercover Billionaire on Discovery+. We open up talking about the show and his experience and unravel his decisions and motivations in the process of building a monstrous business after turning over all of the resources he has worked his entire life to obtain. Grant talks about some of the split-second decisions he made that “saved his ass” early on in the competition, as well as some realizations that he came to early on in this 90-day challenge that would both haunt and motivate him throughout the challenge. We also dug in to one of the most important resources he was able to keep utilizing throughout the show– his family– and how that support drove him to keep pushing through the challenges. Once we finished talking about the show, I was able …

Stephanie Synclair is the Founder and CEO of La Rue 1680, a bestselling author, radio show host, and entrepreneur. For over eight years, Stephanie built and ran an extremely successful consulting firm that worked specifically with female entrepreneurs to build a strong following excited about saying yes about themselves, products, and services. When the pandemic hit in 2020, Stephanie began to think about how to create a product that could help people get through the tough times. She looked to her daily rituals, and the rituals she helped her coaching clients create for inspiration. With the help of pop culture's obsession with The Crown and Bridgerton, La Rue 1680, luxury loose leaf manufacturing and distribution, became an instant success. Stephanie has been featured on Vogue, CNN, Today, The Drew Barrymore Show, and more. Be sure to check out her brand, https://larue1680.com/ This Episode’s Heavy-hitter’s: When Stephanie’s son was born, everyone told her that her dreams of t…