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The Chris DeBlasio Podcast

The Chris DeBlasio Podcast

By Chris DeBlasio

Chris DeBlasio 🎬 Executive Producer & Actor 🎥CEO of @Agency850 💰Investor in Film/TV Shows 🏢 Investor in other businesses www.ChrisDeBlasio.com
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This is what it takes to be a LEADER! C-Level with Chris DeBlasio - Guest: Angela Raub CEO of Leadercast

The Chris DeBlasio Podcast Sep 24, 2019

00:00
28:36
Guest: Karen Frome -Principal & Founder / Rise Projects LLC | C-Level with Chris DeBlasio

Guest: Karen Frome -Principal & Founder / Rise Projects LLC | C-Level with Chris DeBlasio

Guest: Karen Frome -Principal & Founder / Rise Projects LLC | C-Level with Chris DeBlasio 

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Website- ChrisDeBlasio.com = : http://bit.ly/2Zepz3m

LinkedIn- Chris DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcxCh4


Chris DeBlasio, the CEO of Agency 850 and 850 Entertainment, is a television and film executive producer, public speaker and branding expert. He has +16 years in the entertainment business as both an actor and producer.

#Managment #Podcast #Marketing

Oct 14, 202116:12
Degas Wright - Chief Investment Officer and Speaker | C-Level with Chris DeBlasio

Degas Wright - Chief Investment Officer and Speaker | C-Level with Chris DeBlasio

Degas Wright - Chief Investment Officer and Speaker | C-Level with Chris DeBlasio  

CLICK SUBSCRIBE 👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️

YouTube - Chris DeBlasio=  http://bit.ly/2ZiBH3c


Facebook - Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zi0fJH


Instagram- Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zirnsg


IMDb- Chris DeBlasio= : https://imdb.to/2ZnBUm5


Twitter @Chris_DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcDdUw


Website- ChrisDeBlasio.com = : http://bit.ly/2Zepz3m


LinkedIn- Chris DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcxCh4



Chris DeBlasio, the CEO of Agency 850 and 850 Entertainment, is a television and film executive producer, public speaker and branding expert. He has +16 years in the entertainment business as both an actor and producer.

#Managment #Podcast #Investments

Sep 30, 202132:14
Gal Borenstein - CEO & Digital B2B & B2G Branding and Strategic Marketing Expert | C-Level with Chris DeBlasio

Gal Borenstein - CEO & Digital B2B & B2G Branding and Strategic Marketing Expert | C-Level with Chris DeBlasio

Gal Borenstein - CEO & Digital B2B & B2G Branding and Strategic Marketing Expert | C-Level with Chris DeBlasio

CLICK SUBSCRIBE 👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️

YouTube - Chris DeBlasio=  http://bit.ly/2ZiBH3c

Facebook - Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zi0fJH

Instagram- Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zirnsg

IMDb- Chris DeBlasio= : https://imdb.to/2ZnBUm5

Twitter @Chris_DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcDdUw

Website- ChrisDeBlasio.com = : http://bit.ly/2Zepz3m

LinkedIn- Chris DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcxCh4


Chris DeBlasio, the CEO of Agency 850 and 850 Entertainment, is a television and film executive producer, public speaker and branding expert. He has +16 years in the entertainment business as both an actor and producer.


#CLevel #ChrisDeBlasio #Podcast #Entertainment #Branding #Marketing

Sep 17, 202120:20
C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Chelsea Roberts - Operations Manager at Pat Murphy Electric

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Chelsea Roberts - Operations Manager at Pat Murphy Electric

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Chelsea Roberts - Operations Manager at Pat Murphy Electric   

CLICK SUBSCRIBE 👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️

YouTube - Chris DeBlasio=  http://bit.ly/2ZiBH3c


Facebook - Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zi0fJH


Instagram- Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zirnsg


IMDb- Chris DeBlasio= : https://imdb.to/2ZnBUm5


Twitter @Chris_DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcDdUw


Website- ChrisDeBlasio.com = : http://bit.ly/2Zepz3m


LinkedIn- Chris DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcxCh4



Chris DeBlasio, the CEO of Agency 850 and 850 Entertainment, is a television and film executive producer, public speaker and branding expert. He has +16 years in the entertainment business as both an actor and producer.


#ChrisDeBlasio #CLevel #PatMurphyElectric


Aug 19, 202123:36
C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest Charlie Dino President of AcquireTek

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest Charlie Dino President of AcquireTek

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest Charlie Dino President of AcquireTek  

CLICK SUBSCRIBE 👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️

YouTube - Chris DeBlasio=  http://bit.ly/2ZiBH3c

Facebook - Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zi0fJH

Instagram- Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zirnsg

IMDb- Chris DeBlasio= : https://imdb.to/2ZnBUm5

Twitter @Chris_DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcDdUw

Website- ChrisDeBlasio.com = : http://bit.ly/2Zepz3m

LinkedIn- Chris DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcxCh4


Chris DeBlasio, the CEO of Agency 850 and 850 Entertainment, is a television and film executive producer, public speaker and branding expert. He has +16 years in the entertainment business as both an actor and producer.

#ChrisDeBlasio #CLevel #CharlieDino

Aug 05, 202120:56
C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Jamie Turner - Author, Professor, Speaker and Leadership Expert

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Jamie Turner - Author, Professor, Speaker and Leadership Expert

C-Level: Guest Jamie Turner - Author, Professor, Speaker and Leadership Expert 

CLICK SUBSCRIBE 👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️

YouTube - Chris DeBlasio=  http://bit.ly/2ZiBH3c

Facebook - Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zi0fJH

Instagram- Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zirnsg

IMDb- Chris DeBlasio= : https://imdb.to/2ZnBUm5

Twitter @Chris_DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcDdUw

Website- ChrisDeBlasio.com = : http://bit.ly/2Zepz3m

LinkedIn- Chris DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcxCh4


Chris DeBlasio, the CEO of Agency 850 and 850 Entertainment, is a television and film executive producer, public speaker and branding expert. He has +16 years in the entertainment business as both an actor and producer.


#ChrisDeBlasio #CLevel #JamieTurner

Jul 22, 202119:53
C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Tracy Goodwin - The Power of Your Voice
Apr 27, 202123:03
C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Karen Asprea - The ART of DESIGN!

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Karen Asprea - The ART of DESIGN!

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Karen Asprea - The ART of DESIGN!  

CLICK SUBSCRIBE 👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️ 

YouTube - Chris DeBlasio=  http://bit.ly/2ZiBH3c

Facebook - Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zi0fJH

Instagram- Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zirnsg

IMDb- Chris DeBlasio= : https://imdb.to/2ZnBUm5

Twitter @Chris_DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcDdUw

Website- ChrisDeBlasio.com = : http://bit.ly/2Zepz3m

LinkedIn- Chris DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcxCh4​ 

Chris DeBlasio, the CEO of Agency 850 and 850 Entertainment, is a television and film executive producer, public speaker and branding expert. He has +16 years in the entertainment business as both an actor and producer.  

#ChrisDeBlasio #CLevel

Mar 17, 202118:14
C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Jay Martin - CEO of Talent Match - He has a great story!

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Jay Martin - CEO of Talent Match - He has a great story!

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Jay Martin - CEO of Talent Match - He has a great story!   

CLICK SUBSCRIBE 👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️ 

YouTube - Chris DeBlasio=  http://bit.ly/2ZiBH3c

Facebook - Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zi0fJH

Instagram- Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zirnsg

IMDb- Chris DeBlasio= : https://imdb.to/2ZnBUm5

Twitter @Chris_DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcDdUw

Website- ChrisDeBlasio.com = : http://bit.ly/2Zepz3m

LinkedIn- Chris DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcxCh4​ 

Chris DeBlasio, the CEO of Agency 850 and 850 Entertainment, is a television and film executive producer, public speaker and branding expert. He has +16 years in the entertainment business as both an actor and producer.

Mar 08, 202115:52
C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Robert Halverson - President and CEO of Portman Architects - What is he Designing NOW?

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Robert Halverson - President and CEO of Portman Architects - What is he Designing NOW?

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Robert Halverson - President and CEO of Portman Architects - What is he Designing NOW?   

CLICK SUBSCRIBE 👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️ 

YouTube - Chris DeBlasio=  http://bit.ly/2ZiBH3c

Facebook - Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zi0fJH

Instagram- Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zirnsg

IMDb- Chris DeBlasio= : https://imdb.to/2ZnBUm5

Twitter @Chris_DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcDdUw

Website- ChrisDeBlasio.com = : http://bit.ly/2Zepz3m

LinkedIn- Chris DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcxCh4​ 

Chris DeBlasio, the CEO of Agency 850 and 850 Entertainment, is a television and film executive producer, public speaker and branding expert. He has +16 years in the entertainment business as both an actor and producer.  #ChrisDeBlasio #CLevel #RobertHalverson

Mar 05, 202118:18
C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Carey Kelley - CEO of Green H2O

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Carey Kelley - CEO of Green H2O

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Carey Kelley - CEO of Green H2O  

CLICK SUBSCRIBE 👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️ 

YouTube - Chris DeBlasio=  http://bit.ly/2ZiBH3c

Facebook - Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zi0fJH

Instagram- Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zirnsg

IMDb- Chris DeBlasio= : https://imdb.to/2ZnBUm5

Twitter @Chris_DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcDdUw

Website- ChrisDeBlasio.com = : http://bit.ly/2Zepz3m

LinkedIn- Chris DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcxCh4​ 

Chris DeBlasio, the CEO of Agency 850 and 850 Entertainment, is a television and film executive producer, public speaker and branding expert. He has +16 years in the entertainment business as both an actor and producer.

Mar 05, 202115:41
C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: John Loud - President of Loud Security System, Inc.

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: John Loud - President of Loud Security System, Inc.

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: John Loud - President of Loud Security System, Inc.    

 CLICK SUBSCRIBE 👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️ 

YouTube - Chris DeBlasio=  http://bit.ly/2ZiBH3c 

Facebook - Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zi0fJH 

Instagram- Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zirnsg 

IMDb- Chris DeBlasio= : https://imdb.to/2ZnBUm5 

Twitter @Chris_DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcDdUw 

Website- ChrisDeBlasio.com = : http://bit.ly/2Zepz3m 

LinkedIn- Chris DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcxCh4  


John Loud 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jloud/ 

Website: http://www.loudsecurity.com/ 

Twitter: @loudsecurity 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LSsystems/ ​ 

Chris DeBlasio, the CEO of Agency 850 and 850 Entertainment, is a television and film executive producer, public speaker and branding expert. He has +16 years in the entertainment business as both an actor and producer.  

#ChrisDeBlasio #CLevel #JohnLoud

Feb 09, 202133:22
C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Tavia Sharp - Speaker, Coach & Image Consultant at Styled Sharp

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Tavia Sharp - Speaker, Coach & Image Consultant at Styled Sharp

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Tavia Sharp - Speaker, Coach & Image Consultant at Styled Sharp 

CLICK SUBSCRIBE 👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️ 

YouTube - Chris DeBlasio=  http://bit.ly/2ZiBH3c

​Facebook - Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zi0fJH

​Instagram- Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zirnsg

​IMDb- Chris DeBlasio= : https://imdb.to/2ZnBUm5

​Twitter @Chris_DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcDdUw

​Website- ChrisDeBlasio.com = : http://bit.ly/2Zepz3m

​LinkedIn- Chris DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcxCh4

​​ Chris DeBlasio, the CEO of Agency 850 and 850 Entertainment, is a television and film executive producer, public speaker and branding expert. He has +16 years in the entertainment business as both an actor and producer.

Jan 27, 202114:58
C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Courtney Lukitsch CEO and Founder of Gotham Public Relations

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Courtney Lukitsch CEO and Founder of Gotham Public Relations

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Courtney Lukitsch CEO and Founder of Gotham Public Relations

Had a great conversation with Courtney... she had some really great advice about PR! Take a listen.   

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Courtney Lukitsch CEO and Founder of Gotham Public Relations Inc (Gotham PR New York) "GOTHAM PR"  

CLICK SUBSCRIBE 👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️ 

YouTube - Chris DeBlasio=  http://bit.ly/2ZiBH3c

Facebook - Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zi0fJH

Instagram- Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zirnsg

IMDb- Chris DeBlasio= : https://imdb.to/2ZnBUm5

Twitter @Chris_DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcDdUw

Website- ChrisDeBlasio.com = : http://bit.ly/2Zepz3m

LinkedIn- Chris DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcxCh4

 Chris DeBlasio, the CEO of Agency 850 and 850 Entertainment, is a television and film executive producer, public speaker and branding expert. He has +16 years in the entertainment business as both an actor and producer. 

 #ChrisDeBlasio #Agency850 #CLevel

Jan 22, 202116:46
C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Bob Burg - Keynote Speaker and Author

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Bob Burg - Keynote Speaker and Author

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Bob Burg - Keynote Speaker and Author   

CLICK SUBSCRIBE 👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️👉➡️ 

YouTube - Chris DeBlasio=  http://bit.ly/2ZiBH3c

Facebook - Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zi0fJH

Instagram- Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zirnsg

IMDb- Chris DeBlasio= : https://imdb.to/2ZnBUm5

Twitter @Chris_DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcDdUw

Website- ChrisDeBlasio.com = : http://bit.ly/2Zepz3m

LinkedIn- Chris DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcxCh4 

Chris DeBlasio, the CEO of Agency 850 and 850 Entertainment, is a television and film executive producer, public speaker and branding expert. He has +16 years in the entertainment business as both an actor and producer.  

DeBlasio got his start at the School of Film in Manhattan, NY with teachers who instructed the likes of Edward Norton, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Peter Sarsgaard, and others. After receiving training he landed roles on the nationally broadcasted One Life to Live, CSI: NY and other day-time television. This early success gave DeBlasio the confidence to pursue a full-time acting career in Los Angeles California.  

During his time in LA, Chris’s entrepreneurial spirit kept emerging. He started working with his contacts in the movie business to fulfill the emerging need for mobile content. Chris listened to their needs and developed a new way for movie content to be shown on smartphones. This technology took off and DeBlasio started Agency 850.  Agency 850 is now headquartered in Atlanta, GA which has a thriving entertainment industry. As CEO, DeBlasio oversees a staff of writers, producers, social media managers and branding experts to administer CEO and Personal branding services to leaders in cutting-edge industries.  

850 Entertainment's studio is located in Marietta, Georgia. This is the headquarters for all movie and TV content produced by DeBlasio. The facility is over 16,000 sqft with 4,000 sqft of administrative offices and production facilities.  

Through his own branding work and ability to be comfortable on stage, DeBlasio has been asked many times to speak to audiences about acting, the movie industry, as well as personal and CEO branding.  

You can find Chris’s personal branding knowledge online by searching for his own professionally produced CEO branding show called “C-Level with Chris DeBlasio” where he discusses business success and strategy with CEOs from all over the world.  


 #ChrisDeBlasio #CLevel #BobBurg

Jan 13, 202121:16
C-Level with Chris DeBlasio Guest: Aisha Adams

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio Guest: Aisha Adams

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio Guest: Aisha Adams 

YouTube - Chris DeBlasio=  http://bit.ly/2ZiBH3c 

Facebook - Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zi0fJH 

Instagram- Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zirnsg 

IMDb- Chris DeBlasio= : https://imdb.to/2ZnBUm5 

Twitter @Chris_DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcDdUw 

Website- ChrisDeBlasio.com = : http://bit.ly/2Zepz3m 

LinkedIn- Chris DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcxCh4 

 Aisha Adams Social: 

website: https://aishaadamsmedia.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/learndiversityandinclusion/  

Aisha Adams - Diversity & Inclusivity Expert of Aisha Adams Media Group. She was recently featured in Forbes on the 5 ways Anti-Racism Protests Will Change Your Business. Aisha is a blogger, writer for Asheville Citizen-Times, and many more outlets.  Recently Aisha Adams partnered with Lenoir-Rhyne University Asheville, in the founding of the Lenoir-Rhyne Equity and Diversity Institute (LREDI), which is set to begin its first class on September 18th.  Through this 30-hour certificate program, participants will be taught to build workplaces and communities that cultivate diversity, inclusivity, and equity.    You turn around a Corvette that's quick but when you turn around to 18-wheeler you got a lot of stuff. So we're carrying 400 years of stuff so it's going to be a big long process that i don't think is ever over because we have to keep making our workplaces our products our marketing safe for everybody and that's just something that we will always have to work on as a part of what we do. On this episode of C-level my guest today is Aisha Adams On today's episode of C-level I have Aisha Adams, she comes to us  with a wealth of knowledge and Aisha i'm happy that you're here. I'm so excited to be here with you. So this is gonna be a fun episode, you know so you're partnered with a university and i want you to kind of kind of talk about some of the things that you're doing over there it's pretty exciting stuff. Yeah i'm super excited to partner with Lenoir-Rhyne University they are a 125-year-old university with campuses in Columbus, South Carolina a graduate school here in Asheville where we're based and they also have a main college campus in Lenoir North Carolina so partner with them with the equity and diversity institute super excited to just train equity advocates you know after everything that happened with George Floyd a lot of professionals really didn't know what to do.

Oct 13, 202013:11
C-Level with Guest: Shane Jackson - President of Jackson Healthcare

C-Level with Guest: Shane Jackson - President of Jackson Healthcare

C-Level with Guest: Shane Jackson - President of Jackson Healthcare

YouTube - Chris DeBlasio=  http://bit.ly/2ZiBH3c

Facebook - Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zi0fJH

Instagram- Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zirnsg

IMDb- Chris DeBlasio= : https://imdb.to/2ZnBUm5

Twitter @Chris_DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcDdUw

Website- ChrisDeBlasio.com = : http://bit.ly/2Zepz3m

LinkedIn- Chris DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcxCh4

Jackson Healthcare Social: 

Facebook: @jacksonhealthcare 

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/Jackson-healthcare 

Twitter: @jacksonhlthcare Instragram: jackson_healthcare  Here is the link to his book - https://www.amazon.com/Fostering-Cult...

(profits from the book are donated to nonprofit organizations).

Sep 14, 202027:05
C-Level with Guest: Billy T Van Eaton - CEO of Cumberland Landscape Group

C-Level with Guest: Billy T Van Eaton - CEO of Cumberland Landscape Group

C-Level with Guest: Billy T Van  Eaton - CEO of Cumberland Landscape Group 

YouTube - Chris DeBlasio=  http://bit.ly/2ZiBH3c 

Facebook - Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zi0fJH 

Instagram- Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zirnsg 

IMDb- Chris DeBlasio= : https://imdb.to/2ZnBUm5 

Twitter @Chris_DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcDdUw 

Website- ChrisDeBlasio.com = : http://bit.ly/2Zepz3m 

LinkedIn- Chris DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcxCh4  

#ChrisDeBlasio #CLevel #BillyTVanEaton

Sep 11, 202017:35
C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Todd Burkhalter - Author and Financial Advisor

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Todd Burkhalter - Author and Financial Advisor

C-Level with Chris DeBlasio | Guest: Todd Burkhalter - Author and Financial Advisor 

YouTube - Chris DeBlasio=  http://bit.ly/2ZiBH3c 

Facebook - Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zi0fJH 

Instagram- Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zirnsg 

IMDb- Chris DeBlasio= : https://imdb.to/2ZnBUm5 

Twitter @Chris_DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcDdUw Website- 

ChrisDeBlasio.com = : http://bit.ly/2Zepz3m 

LinkedIn- Chris DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcxCh4  

Todd Burkhalter Social 

LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/toddburkhalter/  

#CLevel #ChrisDeBlasio #ToddBurkhalter

Aug 25, 202015:42
C Level with Chris DeBlasio - Guest: Jason Waters of JW Finanical Group

C Level with Chris DeBlasio - Guest: Jason Waters of JW Finanical Group

C Level with Chris DeBlasio - Guest: Jason Waters of JW Finanical Group

I talk about that a lot with with entrepreneurs that want to start their own business. You don't need to know everything. You don't have to be an expert on everything. Understand what you're really good at and surround yourself with people that with skills you're not so great at. So you can build a really good team. So today on C-level I am excited to have Jason Waters a really good friend of mine. Fractional CFO and mortgage expert Jason Waters. What is good man? How are you doing? - Hey, good to see you. Thank you for having me on here. - Hey thanks for coming out. I also want to add he has an amazing show you guys, got to check it out it's called Cash Flow. He talks about finance, he talks about how to navigate through difficult situations and difficult with the economy and all this other stuff. You guys definitely check out that show. So Jason, you and I have been friends for a long time but give me so your background for our audience here. - Yeah sure, so I used to be a banker. I was a Bulldog, you see on my shirt.  Actually, I was someone  who actually does what they majored in, which is finance. And so I am rare and one of my favorite parts was corporate finance and how corporations are structured financially. So I got a job as a commercial banker right out of college. I did that for almost 20-years, working for large banks, small banks, until the time came where I left banking, or banking left me.

Jun 25, 202015:47
Thankfulness, Teamwork and Gratitude | C-Level - Guest Scott Tindle
Jun 22, 202023:05
Legal Issues Concerning Covid-19 | C-Level With Amanda Farahany

Legal Issues Concerning Covid-19 | C-Level With Amanda Farahany

Legal Issues Concerning Covid-19 | C-Level With Amanda Farahany

I think one of the biggest things too is communication. You know its communication. The employer and the employee need to be in constant communication of everything that's going on because it's you've got two sides here right and everybody's trying to figure this out but I think communication is the absolute biggest key especially when we are slowly bringing the country back to normal. So on today's episode a C-Level I'm excited to have Amanda Farahany managing partner of Barrett and Farahany and today we're gonna be talking a lot about the legal issues surrounding Covid. What to know as an employer and what to know as an employee. So Amanda welcome. - Thank you, glad to be here. So Amanda tell me... I'm really big on people's backgrounds. Tell me where are you from? How'd you get started? How'd you get started into law? That type of thing. - Hh I'm from Charlotte, North Carolina. I was just there this last week and getting to visit my parents which was nice. Definitely drove, this way even out of my home so yeah this was a big deal. I got to see them, which was nice and my sister has a baby who's 6-months old and this is the first time I got to meet her so a lot of exciting things there. I got into law really because I met somebody who I thought was super cool and was a lawyer and when I was 14 and he traveled the world and I love to travel and that was it. That was why I chose to become a lawyer.

Jun 19, 202015:25
How Journalism and Social Marketing work Together | C-Level with Devika Rao

How Journalism and Social Marketing work Together | C-Level with Devika Rao

How Journalism and Social Marketing work Together | C-Level with Devika Rao

People have good stories. We just have to do a little bit of a job to get at them and I think that even applies to marketing now. Brands are wonderful and you can personify them if you just dig a little deeper. Devika it's really great to have you on the on the show today. Thanks for having me. I hope you guys are doing well. Yes same to you. So today we have Devika Rao on the show. President of O'Neil Communications. We are going to be talking a lot of things in business. Devika, I want to hear your background. Where are you from? How did you get into you the line of work that you're in. Oh that's a good story I think but yeah I actually I'm from Atlanta. I moved here and when I was 8 with my family. So been here, I went up to Penn State for college so go Nittany Lions for anyone watching that and then we moved back and I was a journalism major. So this has been something... journalism was something I really wanted to do since I was about 12 years old. I've always wanted to be a writer. - At Penn State? - At Penn State I was a journalism political science major. Had this awesome idea to be like a political correspondent or something something really fun like that and so came back from school after graduation and just started hustling you know. Just started, the market wasn't doing so well when it came to journalism. We all know that every media kind of took a dive for a while but it's usually during those times you kind of figure out how to breakthrough. So kind of went through the motions of freelancing. Started kind of creating a name for that.   #ChrisDeBlasio #CLevel #DevikaRao

Jun 19, 202018:15
From The NFL to the Boardroom | C-Level with Guest: Ryan McNeil

From The NFL to the Boardroom | C-Level with Guest: Ryan McNeil

From The NFL to the Boardroom | C-Level with Guest: Ryan McNeil 

It gives us a chance to reflect back on what has been happening and it gives us chance to kind of plan strategize how we move forward. C-Level I'm excited to have Ryan McNeil former NFL player and the CEO of Sports ID. What is good Ryan? Everything's good Chris, thanks for having me. It's nice to be on the show. I look forward to the conversation. - Yeah me too. So I mean for the small majority people that don't know who you are let's get a little bit background on you and then let's let's dive right into Sports ID and what you're doing over there. So quick and dirty I've been around sports most of my life. More than four decades, damn that makes me old but nonetheless mainly as an athlete executive consultant and a business person and so played college football University of Miami. We were pretty good back then. Two national championships, two number twos, one number three, only lost five games in five years. That led to me to being the Detroit Lions first pick in 1993. Played 12-years in NFL. Two-time ALL Pro two-time, Pro Bowler and entrepreneur at  heart. So I always been an entrepreneur and and so Sports ID allows me to combine my two passions in sports and technology. You know and I really have a lot of appreciation for athletes that come out and become entrepreneurs and start these businesses, and do these different things because sometimes you've got sports it has a shelf life and so it's like what's the next thing? So having guys like you go out there and creating new businesses, your man after my own heart.

Jun 15, 202009:52
The Importance of Collaboration | C-Level

The Importance of Collaboration | C-Level

The Importance of Collaboration | C-Level  

What makes things good isn't just people  it is people building off of each other, because a bunch of like-minded people are only going to get so far. What really pushes breakthrough thinking and innovation and creativity is building off what you bring versus what I know and adding and adding and adding and that's when the great ideas come. So today on C-Level I'm excited to have Lisa Fey as she is a TEDx speaker author and consultant and today we're gonna be talking about working together and collaboration. So Lisa welcome. - Oh it's great to be here. -So I'm really big on everybody's journey. I know a little bit about yours. Tell our audience how did  you get into all this? How did you start? Where did you come from? That type stuff. - Well I'm a small-town girl from a farm community of about eight hundred. No wait, you don't want me to go that far back... I think it is relevant to my story. I mean, I am from a small town in North Carolina. I went to the University of North Carolina, talked my way into a job with NBC Sports. Ultimately talked my way into a job at the Coca-Cola company where I ended up spending 30-years.  10-years in sales, 10 in marketing and 10 in training and development and living all over the country and teaching sales training globally. When I had the opportunity to take the next step I decided to go out and become a professional speaker. But you know that's kind of a weird thing to tell people you do.  What I really do is I help people in organizations that have identified that poor communication is a challenge to their business.

#ChrisDeBlasio #CLevel #Agency850

May 19, 202014:51
A Conversation with the CEO Sensei | C-Level

A Conversation with the CEO Sensei | C-Level

A Conversation with the CEO Sensei | C-Level

You know it's unfortunate I mean I don't know we're up to 16 million people or something that are unemployed. This is a fresh restart for you. Maybe you should look at where you are employed before and say hey is that something I really wanted to do? If not I got a fresh start, I got a fresh start to go on and do something that I truly want to do because at the end of the day success is not money, in my opinion in, one man's opinion. Success is not money it's happiness and when you find happiness that is what's worth living. Happiness and now we are all given... 16 million of us are given a fresh start. I've got John Fenton he's an entrepreneur, Vistage speaker, best-selling author and I heard something a black belt in Tai Chi.. - Yeah, yeah that's right. I I'm also known as the CEO Sensei and which means a lot to me. I don't know what it means to other people. When I was a managing partner running a business I needed something to find, to kind of grab myself and keep my head on straight and we were in a super high growth period and transforming the business in the early 2000s and I just came across by accident a yoga and Tai Chi Center. I went in and met the master and it wasn't like I can walk in, I didn't think you know yoga's gonna be like Lululemon hanging on the wall. This very young Korean gentleman dressed all in black and we met for a little while and I was looking, I was in the studio with him had a meeting. We were sitting on the floor would you like to do that and the martial arts sitting on the floor a lot yeah well I look up it was this big big banner and this big banner it says Tai Chi the way to limitless energy you find your Center and I saw that I said I want to do that. and I did some online research and I and I loved the sword there's a sword form and all kind of stuff and so I just jumped into it both feet the only time I

May 07, 202023:03
Is Content the New Currency? | C-Level

Is Content the New Currency? | C-Level

Is pushing content more valuable than money? Here what digital marketing coach Jason Swenk thinks as he talks with Chris DeBlasio.

Content is the new currency. Content is the new currency providing value and pushing content because that is all that we have right now. Great episode, I mean just talking about everything that's going on especially the agency world and advertising and social media. So welcome! - Yeah man thanks for having me on. It's crazy times but you know with any crazy times there's always opportunity. I love that. That's that's the biggest thing is if you can see the opportunity in the midst of the craziness I think that's what is going to keep you going and keep everything else going around you. - Yeah I mean you can't just you can't focus on the negative. I mean hopefully everybody's being safe and are healthy. My thoughts are with them but you know on a business front it's kind of like all right here's an opportunity for you to kind of really leverage you know but you got to kind of survive to thrive first and sometimes its pivot depending on the industries that you're targeting to ya know. - It's so important especially now, times like this and I've been talking about this on a lot of different podcasts I've been doing. But it forces us to innovate and you know guys like us... it's just something that we do but people that are like "so hey business has always been done this way" it's stretching them and then it's forcing them to innovate and change their business model to adapt to what's happening right now. I think that's really important. - Yeah, I mean it's it's nuts. I always feel bad for the people that said, "we have always done it this way" and I'm like, well you're not gonna be doing it that much longer could you be head of business. -  yeah you always have to innovate

May 05, 202018:12
Having a business coach in your corner is valuable especially when you are just starting out

Having a business coach in your corner is valuable especially when you are just starting out

Having a business coach in your corner is valuable especially when you are just starting out

There are three types of business owners; One people that are gonna cave that are just, I'm gonna go hide I'm just gonna throw my hands up whatever and great! The second type is sit back and do naturally nothing, and then the third type is double down and go all in. Well Jeff I'm super excited to have you on today I think you know a lot of much-needed information is gonna come out of this episode. So you are a business coach, a speaker, but I love to hear about people's journey. So how did you get into all this then? - It's a great question. Well I came out of corporate so I was with Bank of America and I was with Wachovia total of about 26-years. Migrating from Richmond Virginia down here and back in mid 2007 Wachovia made a disastrous acquisition of a Savings and Loan out in California that took the bank down and as it was going on it was a subprime loan bank at the peak of the subprime market and the day after they bought it things started going downhill and so they let me and a lot of others go and so it was after 26 years it's like you know what I there's got to be more to life than just banking so I looked around I had an about a year severance, looked around and found this and really like this, that's how I got there. So banking and well obviously been through 2008 and been through all that stuff and now we're going through the coronavirus so we're kind of some similarities and some differences. yeah you know I I don't have much similarities because I was getting into this back when we were in 2008 so I didn't have a client base I that was a good thing or not because I didn't have a client base so I wasn't facing that worried that the next phone call is gonna be a client saying I you know we got two cuts to spend things I'm having that now there's trade-offs I mean I've got revenue coming in now that he didn't have back then but it's kind

May 04, 202018:53
What are the legal issues surrounding Covid 19? | C-Level

What are the legal issues surrounding Covid 19? | C-Level

What are the legal issues surrounding Covid 19? | C-Level

If you're just sitting back and hoping that the government is gonna come in and save you. That's gonna  put you in a very bad position. So Lee, I'm really excited to have you on my episode today. We've got a lot of topics that we want to talk about but one of the things that I think is really important that a lot of people want to know about is a lot of the legal issues around what's going on and just everything that's going on in society right now with Covid 19. So Lee Davis thank you so much for coming on the show. - Absolutely, I'm glad to be here. I think it's a very timely topic and I think there's a lot of things that maybe people could hear and maybe help make them feel a little bit better about their situation. Yeah, so Lee we've been friends for a long time but for the people that don't know you out there let me get your background. How did you get where you're from? How'd you get started? How'd you get started in the law.  That type stuff. - Sure, well I have somewhat humble beginnings I guess. I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. My family was not wealthy. We weren't super poor either, but we  put our heads down and got through it. All through life, my parents gave me a great upbringing. They gave me great opportunities and I managed to not throw all of those opportunities away and one of the opportunities I got was once I discovered that I wanted to go to law school, I was able to go to law school. So since 1997 I've been a practicing civil litigator in the state of Georgia and I handle all types of different cases. Primarily I do what's called commercial litigation that is usually litigation or lawsuits between two businesses about some aspect of their business sometimes it's representing banks sometimes it's representing small or medium-sized businesses

May 01, 202022:39
How do you run a business through economic hardships? C-Level LIVE with Salon Bellezza

How do you run a business through economic hardships? C-Level LIVE with Salon Bellezza

How do you run a business through economic hardships? C-Level LIVE with Salon Bellezza


That is the only thing that we can do right. Especially if you're in the retail environment is push content.  I always tell everybody, I say, give your best content for free because you're helping people especially in times like. They cannot go into your salon, they cannot go into your restaurant. Teach them how to cook the recipe that they enjoy. When the market picks up they're gonna want to go back to you and have you do it because they don't want to do the dishes, hair, they don't want to dye their hands orange you know. So the fact that you are willing to give that information for free is gonna give you the upper hand. The fact that you're on social media and pushing content is gonna make you stay relevant during these times where a lot of other people are gonna even close their doors and or throw their hands up and say well I can't have anybody in my shop right now so I guess that's it.  It's not it! You can get on social media.  Ashley, Rebekah give me some background on both of you guys.  How did you start Salon Belleza? - So I had done hair for at that point probably 20 22 23-years.  To start my own salon because mainly the business and the industry had been really good to me and I wanted to create a place where I could have other stylists who could experience the same thing in my industry. It's an amazing industry. You can get anywhere especially with the entertainment industry being here in Atlanta. You can just be as little or big as you want it and so I really wanted to create a salon where I helped other stylists who were like me grow. As corny as it sounds really like realize their dreams and fulfill the need be creative so that's really how it started how I started it and then Ashley

Apr 24, 202020:13
Are you helping other companies and clients during the crisis? Guest: Attly Aycock of Remington Medical

Are you helping other companies and clients during the crisis? Guest: Attly Aycock of Remington Medical

Are you helping other companies and clients during the crisis?  Guest: Attly Aycock of Remington Medical

As leaders, we make decisions all the time and I think now especially it's a day-by-day decision. Things are changing so much. I hear everybody saying it's uncertain, we don't know exactly what's gonna happen. I always say well I don't have a crystal ball, I don't know exactly how this is gonna play out so the only thing I can do is make decisions on a daily basis depending on what's happening. I think those are the things and don't beat yourself up you're gonna make some great decisions you're gonna make some not-so-great decisions. The worst thing that you can do is not do anything. What we need right now with the coronavirus going on and somebody that's actually, you know it trenched entrenched in the medical profession such as yourself so so Attly give me a little bit of background on you and the company and let's dive right into it yeah sure so I'm Attly Aycock CEO of Remington Medical we're a medical device manufacturer located just out of Atlanta Georgia we have two facilities up in Alpharetta Georgia and a third facility in the Dominican Republic and we have kind of two divisions one where we make the Rimington branded products that service the cardiac rhythm management space urology interventional radiology and some other areas as well and then we have a contract manufacturing side of the business where we manufacture other medical devices companies on their behalf and then they go and take this market and market and sell those so that reselling so you're making all the equipment and then they resell it on I guess to hospitals and yeah so we're making our own brand and we're selling that directly to hospitals and then other device companies use us as like an outsourced manufacturer for them so it's their IP their design passing it over to us and we're making that for them...

Apr 17, 202015:45
Leveraging Social Media during the Downturn | How do you do it?

Leveraging Social Media during the Downturn | How do you do it?

Leveraging Social Media during the Downturn | How do you do it?

We are gonna get through this. This is going to come to an end and if you're preparing yourself now and getting all this stuff out of the way when it does come to an end you're gonna be that much more ahead when everything gets back to the way it was before. I'm super excited for today's episode because we're going to be talking about social media and the importance of being active on social media especially in times like now where everybody needs to stay connected talking about a bunch of different things. But Before we jump into that I want to get your background I want to know how did you get started all this and get some background on you. Yeah, I appreciate you having me Chris. It was, let's see I was born in Sarasota Florida and January 1st as a wee little guy won't go that far but I worked for GM out of college and we were teaching car dealers about the internet and we were doing this sort of Roadshow and I learned very quickly that when you talk about technology or anything different new to people but if you don't do it in an engaging and layman's term kind of way you'll lose them and so ever since then that was back in 2000 I've been technology and at the time it was internet with websites and then marking in that social media digital marketing and I wrote a couple books one called e boot camp another one called social media overload got a third one in the works that I hope to get done here sooner than later and I own an agency called impact social media and we do social media marketing for other businesses and I'm normally speaking about 30 or 40 times a year but right now I'm not people face-to-face at all because you're in crisis that were right now how are you handling that cuz I know a lot of events you know kind of kind of shut down and a lot of us speakers I do a lot of speaking as well so how how are you kind of navigating that a lot of alcohol it's been hard man I mean it's #CLevel #ChrisDeBlasio #SocialMedia

Apr 08, 202024:54
How to sell in times of uncertainty

How to sell in times of uncertainty

How to sell in times of uncertainty

This is out of people's control right? It was an unexpected event but as a leader you know we got to roll with it we got to roll with it and and and maintaining that positive attitude and maintaining you know the direction for your team is going to be really really important because again the attitude is everything very excited about this episode so we are actually broadcasting through a webcast because of obviously the situation coronavirus and cant roll the film crew but this is going to be very exciting because in this episode we're talking about something near and dear to me which is sales and specifically selling during this time and giving your insights so why don't we dive in I want to get a little bit of background on both of you Marisa maybe if you want to start with you and Stacia I'd love to hear your background how you guys got into all this. So Marisa Pensa Methods In Motion got into this because I attended a program from a company that was teaching sales training and I just found it to be very non-technique-Y and non-gimmicky and I remember saying to my husband one night on the couch and I was like oh yeah I called that company that has a sales training company and I originally it was franchised years and years ago and I told him I said it's a franchise no way and I remember he said to me he's like why cannot you'd be great at that you should go for it and it was because of his encouragement that really pushed me and in so Stacia who's on the phone was on our line rather was a mentor to me for years and so anyway so that's a little bit of background but it's just non-technique-y non-gimmicky just a straightforward way to build relationships and grow your business and I'm Statia skinner president of creative training solutions I've been doing this let's just say for a very very long time Marisa and I you know kind of partnered together we wrote a book together which was a lot of fun called competitive selling the guy booked a proactive calling in a reactive world


Stacia Skinner  Email- Stacia@CTS-solutions.net  Phone # - 847-840-3480  

Marisa Pensa  Email - marisa@methodsnmotion.com Phone # 678-574-6072 Website - MethodsNMotion.com   

YouTube - Chris DeBlasio=  http://bit.ly/2ZiBH3c

Facebook - Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zi0fJH

Apr 02, 202028:38
He knows INVESTMENTS! Stacy Chitty Managing Partner of Blue Vault Partners LLC

He knows INVESTMENTS! Stacy Chitty Managing Partner of Blue Vault Partners LLC

He knows INVESTMENTS! Stacy Chitty Managing Partner of Blue Vault Partners LLC

I've always said that you know, take any corporation in America, they didn't start out the way that they are today. It took a long period of time to develop into what they are today. Blue Vault is no different. We started out with one idea, a simple idea. We gonna cover non-trading REITs and we gonna tell a little bit about their performance metrics and we gonna keep advisors and broker-dealers and asset managers and others in the industry better informed. That was the one singularly focused idea that we had but we've obviously grown from that point in time and we had to. If we did not adapt, then we wouldn't be here today.

- So Stacy, thank you so much for coming up. I'm so super exited about this episode and the reason why is because, when we talk about investing, we talk about REITs and a lot of things like that so, I wanted to kinda get to know you a little bit. So, give me your background, how did you get started on this?

- Now okay well, thank you for being here Chris, I appreciate it. I've been in the industry about 23 years. I started in January of 1997. So, I joined a firm based out of Norcross called Wells Real Estate Funds and really didn't know what I was getting into when I joined the firm. I knew it had something to do with real estate and something to do with investing and I liked the aspect of both.

- [Chris] Yeah.

So, the German by the name of Leo Wales that I had known for a few years and that's how I originally got into the industry and I learned or found out that I enjoyed it.

- Did you like study finance or how did you before that?

No, I did not study finance. I was a, it's really not what we do financiers is technically not yet but I was, I had just recently worked for someone at the time who was a former Congressman well, who was a Congressman, Saxby Chambliss was a former US Congressman. He later became senator of Georgia. But I was his finance director. That's just a fancy word for helping him raise capital, helping him raise money sorry, not capital, helping him raise money for his re-election and so, that's one of the ways that I had gotten to know Leo and I had an interest in politics but didn't wanna work in it any longer. So, I left and Leo was one of the first individuals that I called. So I remember, the Executive Director of Wells, he like told me one day, " You know Stacy, this is really not, "you know this is "really not real estate, "this is more about investors, "this is more of the "securities industry." So, I had a big learning curve but that was interesting to me, it was a pivot from politics into the securities industry and that's how I got started.

- Hmm, so specifically, so let's talk about that like, what does that look like as opposed to just like buying a house or like those types of like, buying just properties and renting them out? Like what is that, when you are investing in securities and doing that type of stuff?

Mar 31, 202030:15
You have already started your company now how do you grow it?

You have already started your company now how do you grow it?

- Because at the heart most companies that are really successful have to have that core element that has some level of innovation or difference or connectedness or opens up a market that's new and in order to do that you're going to have to kind of stay focused and bench press a lot of weight. And the only way that most people can do that is to have the heart in it.

So John, Emmett, I am so excited to have you guys on the show. Today we're gonna be talking about one of the things that a lot of CEOs and visionaries don't think about but it's really important is finance. Both of you guys have big finance backgrounds. So I want to start off, let me get some background on you guys, like how'd you get into all this? Where'd you get started? How'd you meet?

- Emmett and I actually met the first day of college up at Dartmouth and we've known each other for longer than we've known our wives.

- Long time friends.

Long time. But I got out of school and went into a banking career first in New York, then here in Atlanta. The large banks and then started a bank called Atlantic Capital with a couple of other guys and then Emmett spent his 30-plus year career as a CPA and a CFO, and so together when we formed Practical Growth Advisors, focused on serving and working with privately held companies, we find that we bring kind of complementary strengths to the table in serving the companies that we work with and the business owners.

- Yeah, it's great 'cause you're getting from both sides. So let's talk about when people are starting their companies and stuff like that, everybody talks about being set up for success financially, so what are some of the things that you would advise somebody that is looking to start their company, and then also they're trying, they're like at that million dollar mark and they wanna hit that edge, what are some of the key tips, the advice that you would give somebody?

- Well, Emmett started up, in addition to being on the finance team in public companies and private equity owned companies he also started three companies. So I'll kick that one to you.

- I think the biggest mistake people make is they wait too late to take accounting seriously. And you find that if you haven't done a good job of keeping score you can't prove to people how great your company is. And so you do have to have a decent set of books, and as you're passing that million, two million mark you've gotta kinda have some internal resources. You can outsource for a while, but ultimately getting a good set of books is critical for the score keeping. Second, as you start passing the 10 million plus mark, you really have to begin looking much further ahead. You can't be looking back at August when it's September. You really need to be looking forward to February, March, April, May. So beginning to develop some forecasting tools, even if they're just rough in a spreadsheet, you've gotta start doing that as a management team to start avoiding surprises.

- Right, so would you say that, what's the most important, to bring somebody like you guys on, where, is it like right in the beginning, startup phase to bring 'em on to get all their finances in order before they start going, or kinda working through that themselves? I know a lot of entrepreneurs are like I'm just gonna jump in and do it. What would you recommend?


Mar 11, 202032:40
How do you get to the top of the restaurant business? Ryan Pernice has the answers

How do you get to the top of the restaurant business? Ryan Pernice has the answers

How do you get to the top of the restaurant business? Ryan Pernice has the answers

- Despite the fact that there's this mythically high failure rate for restaurants, it is very tough. But if you go into it clear-eyed about what the challenges are, and you've orchestrated your life and your day-to-day to be able to meet those head-on, it's not easier, but your chances of success I think are much greater.

- So Ryan, hey, thanks for coming out man.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- I really appreciate it, this is great. So you've been in the restaurant, hospitality industry for many years, you've got three amazing-

- Many years.

- Many years, three amazing restaurants.

- They're all still open.

- All still open, Roswell, Alpharetta. So give me your backstory, I'm interested in your journey, like how'd you get into it.

- Yeah sure, so I'm a local guy, I went to Roswell High School, we moved down here from New York when I was maybe nine years old, my dad worked for Delta.

- Where abouts in New York?

- So born in Huntington.

- Oh, okay, all right.

- So we lived there, zero to nine, dad worked for Delta so they moved us here right before the Olympics, and we grew up elementary, middle school, high school here. Go Roswell Hornets. Then graduated from Roswell, went to school in upstate New York, lived in New York City for a little while and kicked around some restaurant stuff. I did restaurant consulting, which felt a little weird, being 21 and trying to tell restaurateurs what to do.

- So you at 21, you got into the business.

- Well, I got into the business when I was 14. So there's a local restaurant, it by the old mill in high school called The Roasted Garlic, and they actually had one here in Clock Tower, a place right down the road. But anyways, so I worked in that family all through high school, cooking and serving, and doing all sorts of back of house stuff. And at one point, my dad said, "Look, if you really like restaurants, "you know there's a school for that." So I said okay, so we explored Cornell University's School of Hospitality Management, looked at restaurant stuff there. Then graduated, restaurant consulting out of college, felt weird about that after about two years, and so I went, opened a restaurant called Maialino, with Union Square Hospitality Group from Danny Meyer, and that certainly wasn't mine, I was just on the opening team. So there was nine front of house managers when we opened, and I was the Operations Specialist. A great title because it doesn't mean anything. And basically that meant I was the office troll who, while everyone else is having fun upstairs, they had me doing tip sheets, inventory control. We did the restaurant, Maialino's, as well as the rooftop and room service, so every case of carrots we got in was split three ways so I had to build a spreadsheet that would say, okay, we got $100 worth of carrots in, $80 of that is for Maialino, $10 is for the roof, $10 is for housekeeping, or room service rather. So all that sort of foundational, nut and bolts, operations-level stuff, I kind of did all those back then and it was a great boot camp in here's how you do restaurants.

- Right, and that's a huge and important piece.

- Yeah, yeah.

- You got of kind of know where the money's going, where the products are going.

- They call it the restaurant business for a reason, there's two parts of that.

Feb 26, 202028:36
Communication is Key... Monique Russell of Clear Communications coaches us on the best way to communicate in the business world!

Communication is Key... Monique Russell of Clear Communications coaches us on the best way to communicate in the business world!

Communication is Key... Monique Russell of Clear Communications coaches us on the best way to communicate in the business world!


- We're missing connection, that's what we're missing. We're missing connection and all of it is not influenced just at your job, you are a whole person. So you bring all of your life experiences, you bring your successes, your wins, your divorce, your loss, your grief, you bring everything with you to work. So as the leader, it's really selfish of you to think that you can leave that outside the door and just focus on work and produce and execute.

- So Monique, thank you for coming out. You're a speaker, communications coach, which is really cool. And we're gonna hit on that today and a mom. So, tell me a little bit about like, where do you come from your background? How did you get into what you're doing?

- Alright, well first, it's a pleasure to be here. So thank you for having me. And, I guess a little bit about me is something that you must know I am from the beautiful islands of the Bahamas.

- Awesome.

- In case you didn't hear my accents. Sometimes it comes out

- I heard it come out.

- I can camouflage it kind of okay, but, sometimes it comes out

- Don't camouflage.

- [Monique] When I'm excited

- Oh, you gotta let that thing roll, c'mon

- [Monique] Okay just wait

- There you go.

- So the Bahamas and Nigeria, that's my cultural heritage. I grew up in the islands and I came over to go to school. Studied journalism. So pretty much was supposed to be traveling all over the world, covering stories and doing investigative reports, but it didn't work out like that. And I continued my schooling in public relations and advertising. And when I finished I said, I'm getting me a job, I'm gonna go ahead and travel the world, I'm gonna do all the big exposés, all that stuff.

- So publicity like PR for like major corporations and stuff or what ?

- Well, the truth is, so I studied journalism, and then you know, it's all about the objective truth, right?

- Right.

- And then you learn that that's not really the truth. And then I said, well, I'm gonna go on the other side, because the broadcast folks and the PR folks, they don't really mesh well. So I said I'm gonna go on the PR side, I'm gonna bust this thing all the way through once and for all. And I didn't, so I didn't pursue that path. It was really hard for me to get in, especially on the TV side, because, as you know, it's low pay.

- Yeah.

- It's grunt and really, at that time, I already had my first child, and I had a ton of student loans that I needed to get to work on paying, and I just started where I could get in. So that's kind of what I did to get started

- So just straight in, lowest, just to get in a door.

- I found executive support job, and that's what I did. It was temporary in my mind, and I said, that's all I'm doing. I'm coming in here and I'm just gonna start working. But turns out that that was actually my hands on training, which leads to what I do today. I didn't know it then though. It's only in retrospect that I said, wow, this is why I'm so effective in what I do. Because back then when you're an executive support, nobody considers you a threat. But you get to see and hear a lot of things, what makes people tick, what makes leaders tick, what makes them successful, what's makes them disliked. And because I already had that communications background, people would often come to me and ask me for my advice and opinion on how to get people involved, how to inspire the team, how to get engagement, and all sorts of other things like that.

- All because you took the risk, you went into a lower paying job, and you literally got paid to learn

- Pretty much and I never thought about it like that.

Feb 14, 202034:13
Does he have the best job in Sports? Most people will say yes! What does Eric Oberman Do? Find out!

Does he have the best job in Sports? Most people will say yes! What does Eric Oberman Do? Find out!

Does he have the best job in Sports? Most people will say yes! What does Eric Oberman Do? Find out!


- Without our integrity, without our character, what else do we have? You could have 40 years of amazing work experience. If you're not a good person, you don't treat people well, you don't work hard, it's gonna come back to bite you. So those are some of the intangibles that I tell when I'm talking to, to folks who are looking for experience.  

- So Eric, hey, thanks for having me out. This is a pretty impressive office here. I mean, you've got all the, all the basketballs and, and, so, I wanted to learn a little bit more about you, get into your background, you know, and we're gonna talk about a lot of different things, like leadership, and team development, and what, how to identify talent and stuff like. But tell me a little bit about you. Where are you from, and how'd you get into all this? 

 - Absolutely. I'm from Ohio, born and raised. Went to the Ohio State University, very proud of that. And graduated, got into sports communications at a pretty early age. I love sports, and my major was in the school of journalism, so. 

 - Specific, specific sport you were interested in, or just sports in general? 

 - You know growing up in Columbus, the only, I joke, the only pro team we had was college football. 

 - [Chris] Right, right.

  - So, cut my teeth on college football and major league baseball. Ohio State Buckeyes and Cincinnati Reds were my, my two passions. And started at a small agency in Columbus, and from there I moved to Chicago. A lot of my friends wanted the bigger city, so we all moved up there. And my career took off at that point. I realized that communications was, was my passion and anything I could do to bring sports into the mix, I did. So for example, my first client was, was with Procter and Gamble and it was Crest toothpaste.  

- Uh oh. I'm hearing product placement. That's Procter and Gamble. 

 - Well, but Crest sponsored a program tied to the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Indians where, every time one of their players got a base hit, they would donate money to charity. Then they'd get a local sponsor to match it. So even though 95% of the work I did had nothing to do with sports, that 5% that did was really what made it worthwhile to get up and go to work each day. And that, that took me to Chicago, where I worked at Ketchum. I worked on Motorola was a client, and they sponsored the PGA Tour Western Open. So again, 90 something percent was, cellular technology, and cellular phones, new products. But just enough with sports to, to really light the fire and keep the passion going.

Feb 10, 202031:42
Sports and Music go hand in hand. Learn how from Brandon Bissell of Ballpark Music

Sports and Music go hand in hand. Learn how from Brandon Bissell of Ballpark Music

Sports and Music go hand in hand. Learn how from Brandon Bissell of Ballpark Music


- I'm very, very fortunate in that I'm able to marry two things that so many people love each of them. And so many people love both of them. So, being in the middle of all of that, it's really unique. And there's something about music that just, it moves people in ways that and so do sports. I mean, both of those have such passion behind them.

- So Brandon, so thank you for coming out, man. I'm really excited about today's episode because we're gonna be talking about a lot of different things. One of them is like managing large projects, managing large teams, but two topics that a lot of people really enjoy, which is sports and music. And so anybody that has ever been to a sporting event has probably seen a concert and seeing your work.

- I hope so. I hope they come out wonder where they are, yeah.

- So tell me your story. How did you get started all this?

- Yeah, well, so going way back. I used to work for the Detroit Lions. And so we used to do the Thanksgiving Day Halftime Show. I was involved with it from the team side. So just from a basic knowledge of, we could get a stage out there and have a show. That was kind of the first part of it. I knew logistically, we could pull it off. And then when I went to the Braves, was at the Lions for I think nine years. And then I went to the Braves, and they wanted to do a similar thing, but make it more of a ticket driver and have it after the game. So now instead of just a halftime show, which is really entertainment, it's not really meant to sell tickets. Nobody's going because of a five minute halftime show. But if you put a post-game concert in and thats a full show, then you hope people sometimes just buy a ticket just to come for the concert. You obviously want them to see both. But it gives you an opportunity to expose your product to new fans. Maybe they come back one or two. They're not gonna turn into season ticket holders the next day. But maybe they say," Hey, that wasn't so bad," that the parking wasn't bad, all the bad things they might have heard. And then it gives the opportunity for like the Braves have an amazing game entertainment department.

- So there's two separate events.

- That's right, yeah, well, it's one ticket though. But you get them in the building, and you show them what the game looks like. And maybe they're not baseball fans, but they have such a great time. Maybe they come back to a couple more, but in the immediate you want to try to sell some of those tickets that might have gone unsold otherwise. So it's both the entertainment and hopefully you're moving tickets as well.

- So they're buying one ticket for the game. And then they also get access to the concert afterwards.

- Correct.

- So that's a win win.

- Yeah, it's a win win. And really, it comes down to an economic thing too, because if you go to we've had Sam Hunt, Chris Stapleton, those types of guys you're looking at, man a $65, if not a lot more for just the concert ticket. In baseball they have tickets as cheap as $12 or $15. I mean, obviously you can get nicer ones and spend more money. But it becomes such a value proposition of now you're getting a full concert and a baseball game for 15 bucks, if you want, and then even when the concert starts anybody that leaves you can move closer and so it's really for a value for the fan of the artist or the team or both. It's a great set up. That's it just can't get that for, I mean can't go to a fast food place and not spend 15 bucks anymore.

Feb 04, 202028:30
Nick Carse has built a FROZEN empire! Find out how the King Of Pops Co-Founder did it... on C-Level

Nick Carse has built a FROZEN empire! Find out how the King Of Pops Co-Founder did it... on C-Level

Nick Carse has built a FROZEN empire! Find out how the King Of Pops Co-Founder did it... on C-Level

YouTube - Chris DeBlasio=  http://bit.ly/

- Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zi0fJH

Instagram- Chris DeBlasio= : http://bit.ly/2Zirnsg

IMDb- Chris DeBlasio= : https://imdb.to/2ZnBUm5

Twitter @Chris_DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcDdUw

Website- ChrisDeBlasio.com = : http://bit.ly/2Zepz3m

LinkedIn- Chris DeBlasio = : http://bit.ly/2ZcxCh4 


King of Pops:

 Facebook: @KingOfPops 

Instagram: @KingOfPops 

 Instagram: @NickCarse

- You know what's interesting. So you take your failures.

- Yup.

- Or what you think is a failure, right. Because I don't actually love all of our pops.

- Right.

- And you put that out there to the world and it is somebody's favorite pop.

- [Chris] Yes.

- And they're gonna remember it forever.

- Yup.

- And so, it's kind of like, I don't know, in your industry, a bad movie or a bad advertisement that you think, like, "We went the totally wrong way with that."

- Right.

- Someone is gonna remember it and quote it forever.

- [Chris] On this episode of C Level, I'm chilling with the king himself, Nick Carse, co-founder of King of Pops.

- I'm super excited about this episode, because it focuses on a lot of people that, they have a career already, and they have a business idea, and making that decision that, you know, making that decision to actually go after their passion.

- Yeah.

- But for the small people, the small amount of people that don't know who you guys are,


Jan 23, 202028:40
Do you want to know what makes sales both EASY and HARD at the same time? Find out on C-Level with Guest expert marketer and salesman Ryan Sauers of Sauers Consulting Strategies

Do you want to know what makes sales both EASY and HARD at the same time? Find out on C-Level with Guest expert marketer and salesman Ryan Sauers of Sauers Consulting Strategies

Do you want to know what makes sales both EASY and HARD at the same time? Find out on C-Level with Guest expert marketer and salesman Ryan Sauers of Sauers Consulting Strategies

- [Chris] On this episode of C-Level, I'm speaking with Ryan Sauers, President and CMO of Sauers Consulting Strategies.

- So Ryan, so thank you so much for coming out. You got several books out, you've got a consulting firm, you do a lot of speaking. I'm really excited about today's episode because we get to talk about sales and marketing and how that plays in the workplace. But I'm really big on people's journey. So tell me yours. Like, how did you get started? How did you get into all this? Where you from?

- Absolutely, well, thanks for having me, Chris. I appreciate it. I'm actually an Atlanta native.

- [Chris] Cool.

- So, in today's world, that's the outlier, I guess. But, yeah, I always had an interest in sales, communications, human behavior, marketing. And even when I was an undergraduate, I kinda parlayed communications, public relations, marketing courses to get to kinda what I thought I would do. And yeah, these things you name have come together because I have a passion for improving human performance and all the things you named. And so my story has been year by year, step by step, person by person, relationship by relationship, and it's kinda led me to where I am now, which is crazy, it's busy, but it's a good busy. It's fun. I stay, I have my hands on a lot of things but I love it. I absolutely love it.

- So where in Atlanta are you from?

- Originally, I was in like the Decatur-ish area.

- [Chris] Yeah, yeah.

- And then I lived in another part of DeKalb County. I now have raised up three daughters. One in college at Georgia Tech, one a junior who's gonna play soccer in college, and then my baby, I call her, she's 12. And she's in middle school. My wife of like 23 years, but we are now in Gwinnett. So, one time, long-term I'm gonna to get to Florida and live by the water. That's my final.

- [Chris] Yeah, there you go.

- But, I promised the family we would be here for the while but yeah, that's where we are.

- [Chris] It's cool. So, what was it about, was it something early on that you knew that you wanted to learn more about sales and learn about marketing? Did this start like before school, while in school, out of school?

- You know, that's a great question, Chris. I remember my dad telling me on the trip to college, he was showing me like we'd get to a fast food restaurant and he said, "Somebody sold that concrete, "somebody sold that building, "somebody sold this real estate space, "somebody sold this sign." And I kinda halfway listened. But I realized even when, like at high school, I did the yearbook sales. And I did it mainly, for anybody listening, when they're all tuned in later. I did it because you could get out of three class periods and go off-campus.

- [Chris] Right? But I'd get a way to get out.

Jan 14, 202031:06
Workplace Culture? The Workplace Therapist tells us the secret to a good workplace

Workplace Culture? The Workplace Therapist tells us the secret to a good workplace

Workplace Culture? The Workplace Therapist tells us the secret to a good workplace

- On this episode of C Level, I'm hanging out with The Workplace Therapist, Brandon Smith and the podcast host of The Brandon Smith Show. So Brandon, thank you for coming out.

- I am so thrilled I get to come here and hang out with you.

- I'm really excited, so you've been on several networks, you were on Ted Talks.

- [Brandon] Right, I have, yup.

- You have a show called The Workplace Therapist.

- [Brandon] I do.

- And I'm really excited about this episode because we get to talk about the emotion of a leader and how it affects the workplace, the culture of a company, and that's a big thing, so I want to hear your story. So where did you get started? Where are you from?

- Oh, wow, so okay, so yeah, so today, what I do is basically help organizations and leaders to create healthier workplaces. So I'll tell you how that kind of got started for me. So I'll come jump into middle portion of the story. So I went to Vanderbilt undergraduate and got a degree in Communications, and like most good Communication majors, I was unemployed at graduation, wondering what am I gonna do with this thing? And I went looking for a job, looking for a job, and I ended up getting this job with this chain of retail stores. It was a family-owned business and it was privately held, so they've got 15 stores kind of around the metro area, and they hired me to be the assistant manager of one of these stores. So to give you a little backdrop into this business, it was a family-owned business, and the woman who started the business, her daughter marries this guy, and he becomes my boss, so the son-in-law of the business. So I show up on the first day of work and he greets me at the door. He says, "Brandon, I'm really excited to have you here. "You're gonna be the assistant manager of the store, "but before you get started, I have a task for you. "Waiting for you in the back room "is the current assistant manager of the store, "but he doesn't know you're coming, "so your job is to go back there and fire him "and you get his job."

- [Chris] That's awesome, first task.

- First day, first task, I didn't walk in the door yet, and he says, "Go back there and fire that guy, you get his job," and that was how my boss rolled. He'd come in, he loves surprise visits. So part of where I became so passionate about this work that I do is by having a world-class, horrible boss. So he did all the things that bosses shouldn't do. He loves surprise visits, he loved trying to catch you doing something wrong. So he would come in and surprise visit and he'd say, "I don't like what Sharon's wearing, go fire her." So I had to do more layoffs in the first six months of that job than any other time in my career, even now. And so during the time I kind of realized, really, three things. First, I realized work should not have to suck. It should be a source of fulfillment and meaning and purpose, not a source of anxiety and stress and depression. I mean, it is work. I mean, you're gonna get some of that stuff, but it should be more of the good stuff. Second, if my boss was any indication of the state of leadership today in the workplace, there was a real need, so I wanted to try and tackle that. And then third, that was where my purpose was born. I said, man, I want to fix all workplace dysfunction everywhere forever, having no idea what I just signed up for. So back in those days--

Jan 13, 202030:16
If you have a Job you need to hear what this Lawyer has to say

If you have a Job you need to hear what this Lawyer has to say

If you have a Job you need to hear what this Lawyer has to say!

On this episode of C-Level, I speak with Chandra Davis, attorney and co-founding partner of ELS, The Employment Law Solution Firm.

- So, Chandra thank you so much for being on the episode. I'm excited about this episode because, one of the biggest things when an entrepreneur or somebody scales you're gonna need to hire people, right? And you are the expert in this field, and you're gonna give a whole background and everything on the right and wrong ways of doing it. But first, I'm very interested in people's story. So give me your background, where'd you start, where'd you grow up, and how'd you get into law, and what are you doin' right now? .

- Well my background.

- Yeah.

- I'm a Jersey girl born and raised.

- Yep, Bloomfield.

- Plainfields.

- There you go, okay.

- And spent 18 years of my life in New Jersey. I went to a very small private school called the Pengrey School in New Jersey. And I knew I wanted to live somewhere else different. I loved growing from Jersey, I'm glad I'm from there, but I was ready to experience some different aspects of life.

- Did you miss the cold, like the snow and stuff?

- I miss seeing the snow.

- Yeah. I don't miss the snow.

- I don't miss being in the snow, per se, especially as an adult. But I miss snow days, like snow days were the bomb.

- Right, right .

- Which is really ice, ice, and then snow on top of it. Then you were good.

- Yeah, scratchin' it off in the morning.

- Absolutely right. But when I decided to look at colleges, I went and looked at lots of different colleges. I probably was the college advisor's favorite kid, because I was in there all the time, trying to decide where I wanted to be. And I went to, my small school in the '80s and '90s, did not have any African-American students at all. So I wanted to date, so I decided I was gonna go to a place where there were more African-American males. And so I came down to Atlanta, went to Emery university, but we have the Morehouse college and lots of other universities in the area. And did not find my husband there, but I loved Emery. And from Emery I have worked in higher education field. And so I went to the university of Georgia for my master's degree in higher ed.

- Mm-hmm, bulldogs.

Dec 30, 201930:25
How do you get things around the world quickly and safely? Answer: Have a good team!

How do you get things around the world quickly and safely? Answer: Have a good team!

How do you get things around the world quickly and safely? Answer: Have a good team!

- [Chris] On this episode of C Level I talk with Brian Oxley and Enrique Alvarez of Vector Global Logistics. So tell me a little bit about you guys and your business.  - So, my name is Enrique Alvarez. I'm originally from Mexico city. I came to the US in 2004 to study B-School. I went to Wharton, Philadelphia. Graduated in 06, and then came down to Atlanta to work for the Boston Consulting Group. That's where I met Brian. We were both doing consulting for almost three years, where we wanted to start something on our own. We thought about different projects and different potential ventures, and we looked into logistics, and for us, logistics was a very interesting industry.  - So why logistics? What interests you the most?  - Well, after conducting a couple of weeks of due diligence, and just interviewing some people, and really getting to know the industry well, after a project that we did for a company down in Mexico, we realized that the industry was very fragmented. There's a lot of mom-and-pop shops out there. There's a lot of large international companies that are doing logistics, but even those big players are not, uh-- don't account for a lot of the market share in the industry. So it was very fragmented. The other thing that we found is that the economy wasn't very good. It was really a lot of companies going under, unfortunately. So, time-wise, we thought that that could be an opportunity. And, I guess I'll take a step back, and I'll just tell you a bit more about what our company is, and what kind of industry we're participating in. I mean, we're an NVOCC, which is a Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier which is a logistics company, an international logistics company, and what that basically means is we have contracts with a lot of different suppliers, a lot of different contracts and contacts with agents around the world, and we're shipping ocean containers for our clients. So, someone calls us and tells us that they need to ship 10 containers from Savannah, Georgia, to Nigeria, Lagos, and we not only coordinate loading the container, making sure the container gets there on time, making sure that it's loaded in the two hours that we have, but then also making sure the container returns to the port, goes to the other end of the world, and then we do the same thing at the other end of the world with our agents.  - I can't imagine how difficult it is. I mean, I can't even plan a company party with my office, let alone, like, shipping something across the world, so--

- When we got into it we found-- in looking at different opportunities beyond logistics, we found that logistics was a good opportunity for us because, as Enrique started to mention earlier, it was, you know, very fragmented, a lot of smaller companies, it was kinda like the Wild West where people were moving freight, doing whatever they wanted to do, but their mindset, what we found in the industry, is just people don't-- people did it okay. They didn't do it well. They didn't communicate to the customer and be proactive, and the freight companies would try and price gouge the clients where they would try and charge an exorbitant margin. They were trying to maximize their margin on each and every shipment, versus thinking about the long-term value of the client. And, for us, when we got into the industry that was our approach, right? And coming from our roots of BCG, it was all about thinking about the long-term value of the client. And, so we don't wanna ship with that company for this shipment, or the next shipment, we wanna ship with them for the next-

Dec 20, 201928:33
How do you get a Tech Start-up off of the ground?

How do you get a Tech Start-up off of the ground?

How do you get a Tech Start-up off of the ground? 

- On this episode of C-level, I talk with Michael Sengbush, CEO and Co-founder of Eletype. So, Mike, thanks for coming out. So I'm really excited because we get to talk about two of my biggest passions, which is start-up companies and tech. And the ecosystem in Atlanta, what does it look like with the future of tech that's coming here now. And how Georgia's growing as a whole. So thank you for coming out.

- Thanks for having me. I mean, I love this topic. I love what you guys talk about on this program and I think we'll have a great conversation.

- Yeah, absolutely. So give me your background. Give me your story.

- Yeah, well, I guess I'm a software developer by trade. I'm not originally from Atlanta. I moved down to Atlanta in 1996 for the Olympics and if anybody was here in '96, you know in '96 things were boomin'; it was happening.

- I think the Olympics had a lot to do with pulling a lotta people down here. They started experiencing Atlanta.

- I mean, it was the catalyst for kinda what's been driving the city over the last 25 years, right? And so just being here the whole time, seeing it go from the Olympics to where it is now, has been amazing. I moved down, went to Georgia Tech, I got a computer science degree, spent the first half of my career being a software developer. Went from software development into product development and product management. And then got the entrepreneurial bug and started working in technology start-ups here in Atlanta. And in the last year and a half or so, I started my own company. And we are currently based at Ponce City Market. Again, talking about what things booming in Atlanta, if you've been to Ponce City Market, it's the spot to be.

- Amazing. Oh yeah. Yeah they'd redesigned the whole place and...

- It's a great spot to be.

- Yeah, it's awesome. So where did you move from? I didn't catch that.

- I moved down from Rochester New York.

- Oh, okay, cool. I'm from Jersey, so.

- Okay. Well, so are you going back any time soon or?

- For a wedding. That's about it.

- I moved down in '96 because I had an uncle that lived down here. And summer vacation, for me, was always coming down to Atlanta. And as soon as I graduated high school, I was like, packed my bags and I was like, "I'm out." And stayed 'cause Atlanta's a great spot to be. It's not just a great spot to go to school, but it's a great spot to start a career, start a family, and there's really not a lot of great reasons to leave.

- Right.

- It's just a good spot to be.

- You have everything here. That's what I love about this city is unlike New York, I mean, yeah you have your New York, I love New York. I do, I love New York a lot 'cause I spent a lot of time in New York and then in LA, but what's cool about Atlanta is you've got the city, but then the farther out you go, it starts getting country, which is kinda cool. And then if you go south, I mean, four hours, five hours, you're at the beach.

- You're at the beach.

- So it's like it's a cool spot. Not to mention the international airport. I mean, literally, you can just hop on a plane. I mean, we do a lot of stuff filming in New York and LA. I hop on a plane, I can go out to New York. I can go out to LA. It's not a big deal.

- Yeah, I think Atlanta, it's a really balanced city. And just kind of typical Atlanta, we're always really good at a lot of things. We're never the best at anything, whether it's sports or whether it's business, or whatever it might be. We're always just pretty close, but we're really good in everything.

Dec 12, 201928:54
This is the life and business advice that the Dr. ordered

This is the life and business advice that the Dr. ordered

This is the life and business advice that the Dr. ordered

- [Chris] On this episode of C Level, I talked with Doctor Shelton Goode, President and CEO of Icarus Consulting.

- So Shelton, thank you for having us come out. I know a little bit of your background and today, we're gonna be talking about diversification of workplace and team building and stuff.

- Right.

- And I wanna hear it from you. So, how did you get-- Where did you come from, grew up, how did you get started, how did you get into all these?

- Okay, so, let's go backwards.

- [Chris] Yeah.

- Let's go to backwards. So I'm currently the CEO and president of Icarus Consulting. Icarus Consulting is a veteran-owned firm, and we specialize in human resource management consulting.

- [Chris] Okay.

- But our superpower is helping companies recruit in a very competitive landscape. Make sure that they get their share of the talent. But we do some a little bit better than some other folks. We also concentrate for our clients on their current workforce. So many companies are so focused on getting you know, that talent in.

- Right, right.

- It's diverse, it's young, it's people of color, it's women, and everybody's so focused on that, that sometimes their current workforce feels like they're being overlooked. So we make sure that while they're trying to get that diverse talent from the emerging workforce, that they think about and focus on their current people. And then, once they do get that workforce, that talent in, that they keep it.

- Right.

- Because it's really competitive, and it's almost cheaper and easier to poach from other companies than go out and source for new talent so we make sure that companies have an inclusive workplace which we believe is the secret sauce to retaining employees.

- Yeah, absolutely. And I love the fact that your current employees, right? That's important too.

- Yes.

- 'Cause you're bringing new talent and sometimes people that have been around for a long time, it's like, oh there's this new talent coming in, so making sure that they still feel as important.

Dec 04, 201930:09
What is a REIT and how does it make YOU money?

What is a REIT and how does it make YOU money?

- On this episode of "C-Level," I'm visited by my good friend Brad Thomas, the CEO of iREIT, and the author of "The Trump Factor."

- So, tell me, what exactly is a REIT? You're a REIT expert, so tell me a little bit about that.

- Sure. Well first off, you got it right, it is REIT, and it rhymes with beet, rhymes with sweet, all that, so I get, that's the first misconception is, "How do you pronounce it?" REIT stands for real estate investment trust. A REIT is an investment vehicle, like a stock, essentially, so it's a real estate stock, a real estate security. The REIT laws were formed in 1960, so over 50 years ago, actually during the Eisenhower administration, as part of, actually the Cigar Act, and don't ask me why it was under the Cigar Act, but that's what it was, I guess there was a lot of cigars at the time, or people were celebrating. But it was also the period of time in which President Eisenhower was paving the way, paving this country with infrastructure, highways, and so it's really interesting that not only did President Eisenhower pave the way for us to drive across the country, but really, he's paved the way for individual investors to get access to institutionally held commercial real estate, so that's precisely how the laws, or why the law was created over 50 years ago, so that individual investors could enjoy owning a piece of the Empire State Building, or a mall, or a shopping center, or a data center, or a number of other property sectors, so it's really designed for an individual investor, not the institutional investor, so that's really important. So the big thing that I wanna talk about as it relates to REITs, and why this law was structured, I guess the most important characteristic for this REIT is REITs pay out higher dividends than most ordinary stocks. Why is that? Because REITs must by law, that law that was created, again, in 1960, REITs must pay out at least 90% of their taxable income, most pay out close to 100% of their taxable income, so that means that most REITs are gonna yield, that average yield today in the REIT sector in the US is something in around 5%, 4 1/2 to 5%, whereas the ordinary S&P 500 is much less than that, about a half of that, so a lot of retirees have really gravitated to this space, because of the income element and really the flight to quality of income and the thirst for yield, so that's what really makes this a really important asset class.

- Awesome. I've invested in real estate, so I started out really young, like I bought my first property at like my early 20s, or 23, or something like that, and then my strategy was like just buying up these properties myself, like single-family homes and stuff like that, and then renting it out, so what, in your opinion, for somebody instead of just buying up retail properties and renting them out themselves, what are some of the benefits that a REIT could provide the trying to manage everything yourself?

- Sure. Well I did that too, and I've had a lot of duplexes and a lot of that type of property over the years, and so, you suffer the same thing that I suffered, which we call, "The three Ts." Three Ts stands for toilets, trash, and taxes, so those are the things that you have to deal with as a landlord, and they made it very frustrating, it's very stressful. It's hard to sleep well at night, your phone rings all the time, the toilet breaks, the roof breaks, number of other things, so I think that's really one of the things that has really made me, really my passion for this REIT space, because there's a couple of attributes that REITs have today that have always had, that differentiate themselves from ordinary private stock.

Nov 21, 201925:54
Hear how voice of the Atlanta Hawks got started behind the microphone at the age of 12!

Hear how voice of the Atlanta Hawks got started behind the microphone at the age of 12!

Hear how voice of the Atlanta Hawks got started behind the microphone at the age of 12!

- On this episode of C Level, I talk with Bob Rathbun, announcer for the NBA Atlanta Hawks. So Bob, thank you for coming down.

- My pleasure.

- So, I know a little bit of your background but for the small percentage of people that don't know you, give me your story, how did ya get started out and...?

- Sure, I grew up in Salisbury, North Carolina.

- [Chris] Okay.

- My dad was transferred in the company he worked for, and it turned out to be probably the greatest thing that ever happened to the family and to me. And one day, when I was 12 years old, I don't remember being prodded by my parents, I just did it on my own, I picked up the telephone and I called the radio station in our hometown.

- At 12?

- [Bob Rathbun] At 12-years-old.

- Okay.

- WSTP, Salisbury, North Carolina. And I told the announcer on duty, now remember this is a teeny, tiny station. And the announcer on duty, a gentleman with the name of John Bulser answered the phone, and this is a thousand years ago, right? And I said to him I love the station and I like listening to sports and all that. He said, "Well, come on down, I'll give you a tour." So my mom and dad took me down and I got a tour of the station and instantly fell in love with it. And that turned into an every Sunday ritual, where John would be announcing and I would go down and I would do stuff that 12 year old kids would do, took out the garbage, you know.

- Do what you could, sweep the floor, right?

- Right, exactly. And did things that now, nobody knows what you're talking about. I filed records.

- [Chris] Oh wow, yeah.

- And I cleared the wire. You say that to somebody today, cleared the wire?

- What are you talking about? Right.

- But, you know, those of us who know, it's the teletiming, and that's how the news came in. So that's what I did and one Sunday, the sportscaster showed up and he said, "Well, if you love sports and you love radio, help us broadcast these American Legion baseball games." We had a great team, a state championship team. Everybody in town loved them, high school kids. And they packed the park to watch them and that's why the games were bring broadcasted on the radio. And I would keep stats and get the guy a hotdog and that was it until one day, at age 12, the announcer says, "Well," and I'll tell you his name in a minute. He said, "Are you ready to make your debut?" And I said, "Well, I guess I am." and I got the mic in the bottom of the seventh inning of this baseball game. And this team hit three home runs all season, two inside the park and one when I had the mic. Our first baseman, big left-handed hitting guy named Joey Brown turns on. Oh this is forever ago, and he turns on one and skys it over the fence, over the scoreboard, over the Coke sign, gone, home run, and I got to call it. I have no idea what I said.

- It's the excitement.

- The announcer got the mic back at the top of the eighth inning and he said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I've been waiting all season to call a home run." He said, "When we hit one, I got this 12 year old kid on the mic."

- That's awesome.

- And that's how it started for me. The announcer was Marty Brennaman. And if you're, any baseball fans in the audience know him as the Hall of Fame announcer for the Cincinnati Reds, who is going to retire in 2019 at age 77. Still going strong, but he's gonna finally call it quits. And he was just beginning his career at that point, coming out of college, and so that's how we got linked at that age. And my voice was a little higher than him

- Just at 12, you know?

Nov 13, 201927:42
Do you want to have a career in sports? Find out how Brad Olecki the CEO of Trenches Sports got in the Industry

Do you want to have a career in sports? Find out how Brad Olecki the CEO of Trenches Sports got in the Industry

- On this episode of C Level, I speak with Brad Olecki, CEO and founder of TRENCHES Sports & Entertainment Consulting. So Brad, so welcome, so tell me--

- Great to be here.

- Yeah, thank you for coming out. So tell me a little bit about like your background and, you know, just how you got started.

- You know, I've played sports my whole life and I went into college thinking that I was gonna go in and kinda follow my dad's footsteps of being the sales guy in the industrial sales industry, right. Selling toilet paper and napkins and those kind of things--

- Is that what he did?

- I mean that's what I did working in his warehouses, you know, prior to high school and middle school and what not.

- Right

- So, I went in knowing I wanted to be in sales, I didn't know a whole lot about the sports industry. Went to college to play football, got into marketing, fell in love with kinda the brand aspect of things. And then as I was coming out of college I still didn't know what avenue to take to get into sports. So, I was interviewing with, you know, big companies, like 3M and those types of places.

- For sales? For sales jobs?

- Yeah, for sales. General sales jobs, selling, I mean boring stuff. You know, janitory and sanitation products and that kinda stuff. Real, wonderful--

- It's like what do you do? I sell toilet paper.

- Look, you make a lot more money doing that than probably what I did starting off. And a good example of that is I got offered this job by 3M to, you know, make $48,000 a year and a company car and I could go to one of these four cities they offered. And instead of doing that, I took this internship with the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and worked for a pretty great group of guys there that taught me a tremendous amount about the business. So I started as a glorified intern, with the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl here in town. And then you know, from there, just got more into the brand sponsorship side, had a couple mentors that helped me along the way that got me into working for a group that Paul Allen owned, called Action Sports Media. They had a cable channel up in the Pacific Northwest and they were putting in video boards in university football and basketball stadiums and arenas prior to athletic directors wanting to buy the biggest and the best. I don't know if you can remember, back then that everybody had one and athletic directors didn't wanna put the expense together, so

- Right.

- They would install them and we maintained the rights for the signage and the video content. So I started in the fulfillment side of the business, learned a tremendous amount from a mentor of mine named Bill Hodge. And then we, you know, learned how to sell this stuff, learned how to sell, you know, sponsorships. And from there went into another great company with College Sports and ISP Sports, which is now Learfield IMG College after a couple of mergers. Worked in the pro side for a few years with the Hawks and Thrashers. Miss the Thrashers, live hockey is incredible. And then left there and I went to the College Football Hall of Fame. So there's kind of this journey of working on incredible properties that gave me the chance to do what I do now, which I love with Trenches.

Nov 12, 201936:11
Why does Marvel & Stranger Things look so good? Find out on C-Level: Guest Chris LeDoux Crafty Apes

Why does Marvel & Stranger Things look so good? Find out on C-Level: Guest Chris LeDoux Crafty Apes

Why does Marvel & Stranger Things look so good? Find out on C-Level: Guest Chris LeDoux Crafty Apes

- People look at us like we're nuts and they're like, the thing is, I love it. They're like, well don't you just wanna go home sometime and watch television? I'm like no, I wanna make television.  - [DeBlasio] On this episode of "C Level", I sit down with my good friend Chris LeDoux, founder and VFX Supervisor of Crafty Apes, the VFX company behind "Stranger Things", "Jumanji", "Doctor Strange" and many more. For the very small percentage of people that don't know who Crafty Ape is and who you are, gimme a little of the background. How did you get started, where are you from, what's Crafty Apes about?  - Originally from an island in Alaska called Kodiak Island and that's where I originally hailed from and my family hails from 'cause it's a family business and I had moved to San Francisco in 2004 and did my first visual effects job there for movie called "Sin City".  - Yup, very familiar, yeah.  - And it was fun because I loved it, fell in love with the business and in 2005, moved to Los Angeles. So in 2005, moved to Los Angeles, spent about a year in a random city called Santa Maria, where we made "Pan's Labyrinth" and did some other movies and then went back to L.A. and then in 2007, we started the, sorry, 2011 we started the company. We started in, actually, technically for three months, we started in Venice at this 200 square foot trailer park. Very humble beginnings.  - A lot of people had those humble beginnings.  - It was just me, Tim and Jason and Mark in an office and couple months later, we went to Culver City and while we were there, one of our first clients was Lionsgate and Tyler Perry specifically. So that started drawing me to Atlanta and I started filming here in 2012, 2013 and while I was here, I started learning about the actual tax credit and how it worked and I started, you can almost smell the buzz in the air, feel it. There was like man, there's something happening here and I looked around, there wasn't any other really VFX companies of a certain caliber and went back to California and I told everyone I said hey, I think we should expand to Atlanta, let's go for it and it took some convincing, there was some back and forth but my brother Tim was strongly on board with it and he's the one who actually did the first operation out here. So we got a call in March of 2014 for a pilot and it was a colleague of ours who was doing a TV show and said hey, I heard you guys were in Atlanta and we're like, totally. And we filed the paperwork, Tim and our other colleague Josh jumped in a truck and drove across the country with a bunch of computers and we started downtown. And I'm not even, it was close to underground and close to gunshots and they did the pilot and then I was already doing a TV show that was based out of here but we weren't here officially yet. I started filming in May and I was like okay, we gotta be out here. I called my wife and she'd just given birth to our child. By the way, we're moving to Atlanta. - And pump, here it is!


Oct 31, 201921:39