The Ultimate Hire

David Laubner is a rare marketing leader who can effectively speak to product, brand and sales – because he gets it.  David possesses a rare combination of extreme technical knowledge and creative, visionary thinking - a duality that leads to a true understanding of how marketing and technologies can best integrate.

Former Amazon marketing executive with proven experience driving rapid growth for B2C & B2B companies from early-stage startups to global enterprise.

• Led a B2C startups sales and marketing program from launch to acquisition by Amazon in less than 2 years and then took the business towards $300M with budgets exceeding $20M
• Head of marketing for a B2B SaaS cloud communications leader Fuze as it more than tripled in size, and secured over $50M in funding
• Exceptionally creative brand and digital marketing expert with over 20 years of leadership experience driving rapid growth for technology and ecommerce companies

Kristy Ingram, EY Global Leader Athlete Programs

Xavier is a dynamic professional with a strong strategic marketing background in the food, consumer and hospitality sectors. Xavier began his career with Kraft Foods in marketing, commercial and product development. After 7 years with Kraft Foods, he joined Club Med as Marketing and Digital Director. Only 3 ½ years thereafter, he was promoted in 2008 to CEO of Club Med North America at age 31 overseeing 3,000 employees from 15 nationalities. He is currently the CEO of Club Med Europe Middle East Africa markets, a region delivering $1.3B revenue per year, 70% of Club Med Worldwide.

Xavier has succeeded in positioning Club Med into a family upscale vacation and turnaround the American region in 2010, unprofitable since 2001 with historic records every year from 2011 to 2019 thanks to a team engagement at the level of top10% companies.

Always engaged in many different sports:, triathlon, tennis, yoga, ski today and, soccer, rugby, fencing, judo, … in the past Triathlon: Age grouper top 15% Olympic distance and Half Ironman. 2 Ironman (1 did not finished, 1 finisher 2 years ago). 10K swims…

Kyin is the President and CEO of Dext Capital. With over two decades of equipment leasing and financing experience Kyin has been a highly effective and global leader with, U.S. Bank, GE and most recently led a number of leasing verticals for TCF Bank. An industry leader with a growth mindset, Kyin is leading the charge in growing a one of a kind Medical Equipment finance business backed By Sightway Capital, a Two Sigma company. In his first year as a leader at Dext Capital he and his team achieved nearly $100mm in origination and this past April was up 300% year over year. A Boston native with a Bachelors from Northeastern and MBA from Columbia, Kyin has now landed in Portland, OR, but has not lost his love for the New England Patriots.

Brett Fedderson An accomplished and results-driven senior leader with a stellar record of success developing and operationalizing strategies, policies, and programs that engage and unite diverse missions and organizations. Brett was recently named the CEO of Acceleratum. Prior to his current role, Brett was the Deputy Director of National Security programs at the FAA, a leader for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Director for the National Security council and held multiple other roles within the Defense sector of the US government.

Craig Sabina joined ZRG Partners in 2019, opening a new office in Sun Valley, Idaho. In addition to being an experienced executive search practitioner, he is an IFR rated pilot as well as a long-time entrepreneur. He started and served as CEO of Summit Projects, a digital marketing and product design firm for 19 years, hiring literally hundreds of employees and contractors, ranging from COO-level team members to highly specialized contractors. He understands intimately the craft of building and running a business, having generated more than $65M in sales over nearly two decades running Summit

Samantha Foster is located in ZRG Partners’ Connecticut office where she leads the US Aerospace and Defense practice. With over twenty years in Aerospace and Defense, she undertakes senior assignments covering a wide variety of functional roles, including C-Suite, Legal, Operations, Engineering, Sales & Marketing, Finance, General Management, Supply Chain and Human Resources

As a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Pence has spent the last fifteen years working with individuals as they peel back the layers of their outer shell, cast aside the unhealthy patterns, and begin to build a new, more resilient and adventurous sense of self. A native of the East Coast, she completed her post-doctoral fellow in Dallas, TX, and then transitioned into private practice where she saw individuals, couples, and families alike for therapeutic services. She quickly became one of the most sought-after therapists in Dallas and supervised various other professionals in the community. In 2018, Dr. Pence moved to Colorado, and came on board as the Chief Mind Doc for SPARTAN, the world’s leading endurance company, where she hosted the Spartan Mind podcast and consulted with the organization on various mindset focused initiatives. She also works as a coach for The Unbeatable Mind, alongside Mark Divine, founder of SEAL FIT. She has been featured in various publications and media outlets such as Good Morning America, the BBC, Glamour, Vogue, WebMD, Psychology Today, and The Huffington Post. Dr. Pence is also the founder of LIGHFBOX, a modern tool to help increase self-awareness and initiate monumental change.

We discussed: 

• Mental health during the pandemic
• Building resiliency
• Looking to the future
• Toughness in our culture

As the former Beverage Division President of TreeHouse Foods (North America’s #1 private label F&B manufacturer), he served as a senior officer of “the biggest company you never heard of,” according to FoodProcessing.com. TreeHouse Foods may not be a household name, but the dozens of top-quality, private-label beverages, meals, baked goods, and condiments they produce in o40 global facilities are familiar favorites to consumers worldwide.

In his most recent position and prior role as Chief Strategy Officer, he developed strategic frameworks, brand roadmaps, product portfolios, team structures, partner alliances, new supply chains, and business/sales models to drive company- and industry-leading category sales and profits.

Pre-TreeHouse Foods, he held Group VP and GM roles for $14B+ divisions of Walgreens, and served in VP/Director positions in the U.S., Canada, and Asia during my tenure with Kraft Foods.

Michael was named Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of rue21, a leading fast fashion retailer, in November 2018. He had been Chairman of the Board. The Board of Directors of rue21 asked him to re-assume the senior leadership of the Company and assume the additional title of Chief Executive Officer on a permanent basis in November 2018. He had served as Interim Chief Executive Officer from October 2017-June 2018. The Board’s decision was based on progress made under Mr. Appel’s interim leadership.

rue 21 declared bankruptcy in May 2017 and emerged from bankruptcy in September 2017.

Mr. Appel has led a successful turnaround of rue21 through a focused program of five key initiatives. These include understanding the customer, upgrading the management team,  fixing the product, using state-of the art technology including data analytics and maintaining a liquidity position. With Michael Appel at the helm, rue21 has the team and strategy that is significantly contributing to its current vitality and on-going success.

What we discussed

• State of the current retail market and challenges for retailers over the next 12-18 month
  
• Follow up: Major turnaround “opportunities” and what are the issues that caused those businesses to go to Chapter 11 or liquidation Include: Neiman’s; JC Penney; Pier 1; J Crew; NY & Co (anticipated)
  
• Views on the current and future of Ecommerce and the direct business
  
• Review of his work at rue21
  
• How should a retail leader approach a turnaround?
  
• Future of retail
• 
  

Wayne’s 30 year international leadership career in leasing has spanned cross 3 continents – Europe, North & South America.

Wayne’s route to his current role of leader responsible for North/South America has taken an usual route. Holding senior roles in bank owned lessors in London to owning/growing and subsequently selling his technology leasing company to his current employer. A successful, albeit rare transition from entrepreneurial CEO owner to International corporate leader.

Now, 11 years later, based in California. He is a senior member of the international management team of global independent lessor, CHG-MERIDIAN.

CHG-MERIDIAN are specialists in providing circular economy solutions in 3 key technology areas – IT, Healthcare & Industrial. The Group has an international presence with around 1,100 employees and operates in 27 countries. By the end of 2019, CHG-MERIDIAN financed and managed a total technology portfolio of $7,5 billion.

We Discussed:

1. International Leadership

2. Selling your company

3. Being an entrepreneur and going into a corporate role and thriving

4. What does being a sales leader mean

Julie is the Head of Executive Coaching for The Toft Group, a ZRG Company and has a passion for coaching and recruiting candidates into top roles. Her expertise in talent acquisition and global executive placement has resulted in countless job opportunities for senior level candidates seeking advancement or making a transition in their careers.

Prior to joining The Toft Group, Julie enjoyed a 20-year professional career leading and partnering with US companies internal worldwide human resource efforts, including Life Technologies, Thermo Fisher and NuVasive. She understands what companies are seeking when interviewing for top talent and utilizes this knowledge when guiding clients through the job search process.

Furthermore, Julie is the Founder and President of JA Talent Partners, a company focused on advancing women in the workplace and launching careers for recent college graduates. She is the author of two workbooks, Reviving Careers and Launching Careers, which are step-by-step guides on how to create a successful job search plan.

What we discuss:

1. Executives in transition

2. What are the important components of a coaching program for executives?

3. What are the important components of a job search plan?

· Identifying Your Story

· Sharing Your Story

· Creating Your Story

We are taking a unique approach where we will have two guests on that are industry experts in the Retail, Consumer and Ecommerce markets. The first guest is Fred Lamster.

Kristen is a thought leader, master facilitator and fear/anxiety expert who radically challenges existing norms around the subject of this deeply misunderstood emotion. Her education on this subject comes from practical, real- world experience, starting with being a mogul specialist on the US Ski Team. Kristen then became more notoriously recognized as being the best female big mountain extreme skier in the world, a status she kept for 12 years.

Known for big cliff jumps and you-fall-you die descents, she became sponsored by the likes of Red Bull, Ralph Lauren, and Nikon, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame September of 2019. Her mastery of other danger sports including paragliding, ice and rock climbing, kiteboarding, adventure mountain biking, and flying trapeze also gained her the outdoor industry vote as most extreme “fearless” woman athlete in North America, beating all danger-sports stars, not just skiers.

She wrote one of the best books that I have read addressing Fear and Anxiety, the title of the book is The Art of Fear, Why Conquering Fear Doesn't Work and What To Do Instead

What we discussed:

1. How do and why did you become a fear and anxiety expert?

2. Her teaching tool that she has developed is called Shift: The Game of 10,000 Wisdoms, tell us about that

3. In your book you talk a lot about becoming friends with Fear- that is a very interesting concept

Scott is an Experienced HR professional with a passion for building and optimizing HR and Talent Acquisition teams. He has a demonstrated history of partnering with global and regional leadership to connect business goals to value adding HR and Talent initiatives. He has a Deep expertise in International (executive) Recruitment, Talent Management, Organizational Development, Succession Planning, HR Consulting and Line Management.

Currently he is the Head of Global Talent Acquisition at Endress & Hauser Group In Basel Switzerland. He started at Michael Page and grew into leadership Positions at Hal Allergy, DSM, and Clariant before landing in his current role. He brings a high level of professionalism and leadership to the talent acquisition space.

Discussion Points:

• You are an American living in and leading in Europe, what are seeing in today’s market
  
• How is the pandemic affecting hiring and the overall outlook inside of Endress and outside?
  
• How has leadership changed, or has it?
  
• Where is this going?
  

Cathy is a Managing Director in the Consumer Goods and Human Capital practice groups. The primary functions she has recruited for include Sales, Marketing, Human Resources, Merchandising, Communications, and General Management roles. Cathy has led searches from Director to Senior Vice President, for Fortune 500, mid-sized, and fast growth consumer companies.

Cathy is an active member of the Network of Executive Women, an organization of 13,000+ professionals in the consumer and retail industry and serves on the NEW NY Metro Chapter Steering Committee. She has also served on NEW-HQ Regional Planning Committees.

Benny is a serial entrepreneur with a proven track record in building a global bank with over 30 licenses all over the world. Managing hundreds of employees, thousands of merchants with over $6bn in volume and $120m in revenues. He has founded companies such as Credorax and Jassby.

He is currently the Founder and CEO of Jassby, Jassby is an app by families, for families, originally designed to help reduce the common household arguments around budgets, chores, and money. From there, we've evolved into a world-class shopping experience, and a form of banking for the next generation. It help’s help connect grandparents, parents, and children so that the grandparents and parents can allot funds for a child to save money in a college trust or savings account, do good by giving to charitable organizations, or spend with various retailers and sellers, all in a marketplace controlled and operated by Jassby.

Thomas Fuller is a Managing Director with ZRG Partners in the firm’s New York and New Jersey offices, and serves as the Global Practice Leader for the Consumer sector. He is also a member of the firm’s Board, Life Science and Technology practices.  Tom brings a career that spans more than 25 years of executive search consulting and has delivered over 400 board and leadership projects for Fortune 500, Mid-cap and SME’s, as well as private equity, pre-IPO and venture-backed clients in the Consumer & Lifestyle, Life Science, and Technology & Digital sectors.  He is an expert in the digitization of the consumer sector, and has worked extensively in advertising, marketing, mobile technologies and various consumer services entities.

Tom is considered a leading authority on the intangible leadership traits that define talent who are recognized as the top 10% of C-Suite and Board leaders globally. With extensive expertise in talent strategies and leadership competencies, Tom is especially adept at helping client identify talent requirements/gaps mapped to concrete business objectives.

Vaughan joined ZRG Partners in 2017 as a Managing Director based in Hartford, Connecticut. Prior to joining, Vaughan was the Principal and Founder of the M Consulting Group, where over a twelve year period, built a successful boutique recruiting and business consulting firm. Vaughan started this firm after leaving a successful twenty year career in the pension and investment industry. During his tenure, Vaughan held positions in various leadership capacities with industry leaders like CIGNA, Manulife Financial and John Hancock Retirement Services. At ZRG Partners, Vaughan continues to focus his recruiting efforts in the insurance and financial services markets where he has become a recognized industry leader for searches ranging from executive to sales and everything in between. Since merging his practice with ZRG, Vaughan has been able to quickly grow his practice in the C Suite and private equity markets.

Vaughan received his Bachelor of Science degree from Bryant University in Rhode Island and came close to finishing his Masters degree at the University of Hartford. When he is not working, Vaughan enjoys spending time with his wife Gina and their three children, Alexandra, Amanda and Vaughan Jr. In his spare time, Vaughan still plays competitive lacrosse.

As Managing Director, Kevin is responsible for search engagement, strategy and delivery; he offers a unique blend of human capital experience forged over 25 years in the executive search industry. He has successfully completed professional search assignments in nearly every major U.S. market within each significant real estate asset class, as well as working with the world’s largest program and facilities management firms.

Kevin is a nationally recognized subject matter expert in Healthcare and Institutional Real Estate, Development, Investment, Construction + Design Management, Asset Management and Sustainability.

This Episode's Discussion

· Real Estate opportunities / directions.  Distressed RE funds.

· Healthcare Real Estate sector. / Life Science RE sector

· RE executive search practice evolving to capital introductions

· Impacts of companies not paying rents

Jude Rake is the founding principal of JDR Growth Partners, a consulting firm he launched to help corporate boards, chief executives and their leadership teams achieve improved results and sustainable growth. Before founding JDR, Jude served in multiple C-level roles including CEO for eleven years. In each of these roles he built and led successful leadership teams that fueled significant improvements in workforce engagement, collaboration, accountability, and results.

Jude has a 37-year track record of building businesses to create economic value, from well-known companies such as Clorox, PepsiCo, and SC Johnson, to smaller family owned and private equity-backed businesses such as Fellowes and Recycled Paper Greetings. Jude is an independent board director at The Wall Family Enterprise where he serves as Chair of the Compensation Committee. He also serves on the Board of Directors of A Safe Place, a center for the prevention of domestic violence. Jude was recognized by Purdue University with an Alumni Achievement Award. He holds a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering from Purdue, and he received an MBA from The Booth School of Business at The University of Chicago.

We discuss:

1.  Author of The Bridge to Growth, How Servant Leaders Achieve Better Results And Why it matter now more than Ever” can you give us detail of the    book and how servant leadership came about.

2.  9 proven leadership principles, can you tell us what those are and how you implement them?

• Build and orchestrate high-performance teams more powerful than the sum of their parts.
• Focus the organization on strategic priorities, simplify operations, and accelerate progress.
• Champion the people who purchase and use your products and services.
• Cultivate a performance-based culture of innovation.
• Communicate relentlessly.
• See the world through the eyes of others.
• Be the model you want emulated.
• Coach people to achieve more than they thought possible.

Dona Roche-Tarry is a Managing Partner and leader of the Global Technology practice for ZRG Partners. She is also a member of the Board services, CHRO, and FinTech functional practices. She has over 20 years of experience in talent advisory services and has successfully completed assignments for non-executive Directors, Chairmen, CEOs, C-suite, and Managing Directors across Europe, Asia, and the United States. Dona has assisted large public multinationals and high-growth emerging companies strategically structure their Boards and leadership teams. She is a certified executive coach and advises senior executives across industry sectors.

Prior to ZRG, Dona was the Vice Chairman Huawei Global Talent Acquisition located in Shenzhen, China; Managing Partner Board Services and Technology Practice CTPartners; Director of Human Resources Barclays Commercial Bank, reporting to the CEO; and Global Head of TMT Hedrick and Struggles. In her earlier career, she held the title of General Manager at British Telecom. Further, Dona is the author of the book, What’s Next?: How Professionals Are Refusing Retirement, and was a trustee of The Work Foundation.

Discussion points

1. We are here in the US, you are in Europe, what are seeing different in the how the world is being handled during this pandemic?

2. You wrote a book, Called “What’s Next?: How Professionals Are Refusing Retirement. 

3. In the book you mention key things to consider

• Know thyself
• Business Connections
• Define your passions
• Giving Back
• Family.

For more than 20 years, Summer Anderson has been spearheading executive searches around the globe. She has a proven track record of guiding executive-level leaders to immediate clarity, simplifying complex organizational matters, and building exceptional executive teams. She is a trusted advisor to senior executive clients and candidates within Fortune 500 security, technology, and fast growth companies. Summer is known for her solid network of long-standing relationships and as a catalyst for mindset shifts in corporate leaders which create cultural health and bottom-line growth.

Summer's focus encompasses most aspects of the technology industry, including Cloud- and SaaS-based solutions, hardware, security, digital transformation, AI, and IoT platforms. Her deep experience in this space includes the assessment and placement of C-Suite executives and Board members within the above verticals.

In this episode we will be discussing:

1)  Her book- Start Within.

2) Leading through adversity and uncertainty begins within each leader.

3) Mindset  shift:  Clarity of mind is the beginning of innovation especially in adversity

4) Trust is built when we overcome a shared challenge.  How to build trust right now with your teams

5) Better outcomes are a result of clarity, necessity, trust and courage.

Nicki Cutler, talent acquisition professional most recently with TTEC, a global Customer Experience Company Headquartered in Denver, CO.

Nicki was an All-American on the golf team at Vanderbilt University. She competed professionally on the LPGA and Symetra tours, then went on to coach collegiate golf for 8 years at Vanderbilt, Princeton and the University of Denver.

Nicki transitioned out of collegiate athletics and into the business world in 2015 when she became an executive recruiter. She worked for a boutique agency in the Denver Tech Center that specialized in placing salespeople at Life Sciences/Medical Diagnostic companies. Nicki then joined TTEC (pronounced t-tech), a leader in the Customer Experience Industry, in 2018. She recruited for enterprise Sales and Marketing Roles. Unfortunately Nick was part of a workforce reduction due to COVID-19.

She is here today to share how an athlete’s mindset, and a recruiter’s insights can help you navigate your career search in a pandemic.

Discussion points:

• The shift caused by COVID-19. Candidate market to employer market
• Applying an athlete’s mindset to reframe the pandemic
• Marketing yourself/Effective networking to create opportunities for yourself
• How to qualify opportunities as a job seeker

Peter is a Managing Director at ZRG Partners in Frankfurt, Germany. He has accumulated more than 14 years of Executive Search experience in the industrial sector and has specific knowledge in the industrial equipment, packaging, chemical, food & feed and biotechnological sectors. Peter’s specialization has been concentrated in placing directors and senior executives in executive-level positions within these sectors..

In addition to his extensive search experience, Peter brings with him native English and fluent German language skills. He has strong knowledge concerning cross border, international and global relocation, executive search for specialist roles, and a deep passion for sustainable solutions.

In this episode we talk about the following:

How is the market in Europe?

How has Covid 19 impacted the market?

What is leadership doing in the EU vs. US

What are the timelines you are hearing in EU?

David Rhoads is the CEO and founder of Blue Street Capital and brings 18 years of financing and IT experience. Prior to founding Blue Street Capital in 2004, David was Vice President of Sales at a prominent national financing company. In his 8 year tenure, he became a recognized expert in technology, setting up financing programs for solutions providers and OEMs who specialize in the sale of technology and technology related products.

Dave’s leadership philosophy focuses on understanding his customers’ business models to provide financing solutions that help them simplify and improve their business models. This is ultimately what drove Dave to start Blue Street Capital.

A passage in the book Shorter- About the 5 Hour Work Day.

David is the CEO of Blue Street Capital, a California-based company that arranges financing for enterprise IT systems. He’s also an avid surfer. So when he saw an article about how Tower Paddle Boards – an online, direct-to-consumer company that sells stand-up paddleboards – had moved to a five-hour workday, he was intrigued.

In this episode we talk about the following: 

1.  Leadership during the pandemic

2. Planning, or changing your plans

3. Where do you see this thing going?

4. What are you doing differently

Joe De Sena - the founder and CEO of Spartan Race, the world’s leading obstacle racing company – has demonstrated his entrepreneurial drive since his pre-teens. From selling fireworks at age eight, to building a multimillion-dollar pool business in college, to creating a Wall Street trading firm, and now the world’s fastest growing sports movement, De Sena is a living definition of the word entrepreneur.

Following a successful career on Wall Street, De Sena moved his family to Pittsfield, Vermont to operate an organic farm, a bed and breakfast, and a general store for hikers. It was here his passion grew for ultramarathons, adventure races, and endurance events; and thus the idea for the Spartan Race was born.

In this Episode we spoke about:

• Resiliency in Today's Market
• Thinking Outside of the Box
• The importance of staying active

This week’s guest is the CEO (Chief Eternal Optimist)

Kevin Rutherford in the CEO of a product that I love, Nuun Nutrition.

What impresses me about Kevin is that he has been instrumental in growing the company to a $30mm+ player in a hyper competitive space, he has been voted Outside Magazines one of the top places to work,  and has created an amazing culture while making a huge social impact.

In doing some research, I love what you said on Mark Patisons podcast.

The truth is, we need to find the issues and fix them, and so I think sometimes when people see a title like ‘Chief Eternal Optimist,’ self-proclaimed by the way, I don’t know if my team agrees with me, hopefully they do, it doesn’t mean that everything is rosy, right? I think that is the myth. An optimist believes that we can solve it and we can continue to move forward. But, it doesn’t mean that everything is always great. In fact, far from it on many occasions. But, it takes the optimist to see the solutions. Otherwise, you’re only going to see the problems and you’re only going to stay stuck there.”

Fred joined ZRG Partners in 2019 and is a veteran Human Resources and Staffing professional whose career spans more than 25 years. He has worked across all retail apparel and fashion segments, including department and specialty retail, ecommerce, and catalogue retailing. Fred has used his expertise in organizational design and efficiency to help a number of major retailers through turnarounds, mergers, acquisitions, and major business transitions. Throughout his career, he has transformed HR teams from tactical and transactional departments to strategic and results-oriented teams.

He takes pride in helping companies build a diverse set of HR programs that will attract key hires while also retaining and cultivating leadership talent. Fred approaches each search from the perspective of the End Customer. Rather than simply “filling a job,” Fred’s goal is to build better organizations and better executive teams so that organizations achieve better results.

You can connect with Fred Directly at flamster@zrgpartners.com 

If you are on linked in, and are a sales person he is someone you need to be following!

Seth Thompson is currently a manager of Strategic Partner development for Time Payment in Boston and has a strong track record of success within the equipment finance space where he started his career with Great America Financial services.

Seth is an expert in personal branding, social media engagement and driving revenue using Linked in and other social media channel. He brings a level of charisma and level of authenticness that is hard to come by.

Rahul Kapur he is a Managing Director at ZRG Partners, focused on the lending, payments, capital markets, and Fintech sectors, and leads the Global Blockchain practice. Rahul brings over 23 years of experience and a track record of success helping clients across financial services and technology with talent organizational, growth, and operational issues.

Rahul has deep experience in all aspects of commercial, retail, and wholesale banking and payments. His clients have included many of the top tier financial institutions, credit card issuers, transaction processors, and payments technology providers. A recognized payments industry expert, Rahul has presented multiple industry events on payment innovation and how banks play in the emerging payments ecosystem. Rahul has also authored several articles on the future of payments, the retail bank, customer centricity in banking, and enterprise centric payments.

Rahul earned his MBA from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia, and his BS in Applied Mathematics/Operations Research from Carnegie Mellon University.

He is also a Pittsburgh steelers fan, but we won’t hold that against him.

Michael O’brien was a long time sales and marketing executive I the life sciences business. Where he held Sr. level Position and was a catalyst for growth and change while leading one of the fastest growing divisions of the company. not unlike Many of us he burdened by much of the same stress that you and your team feel every day. There were many days when he  just wanted to survive. But while trying to release some of that stress at National Sales Meeting in AZ, he went for a bike ride and on On July 11 2001 his life changed. He was struck head on in a serious cycling accident which changed his life forever. Where he held several life threatening and structural injuries, he had time to reflect. He calls that day he Last Bad Day

Before his Last Bad Day and the release of book Shift. He was a young sales and marketing leader who was chasing happiness. Like many leaders you see in your office, playing in the park with their kids, working out at the gym, or behind you in-line at the store.

He was living a lifestyle of Do, Have, and Be. Hewas working super hard (DO) to have that title, new car, bigger salary, or whatever (HAVE), so I could eventually be happy (BE). At least that’s what I thought. Does it sound familiar?

The sad thing is that he didn’t know what he was chasing back then. He already had many wonderful reasons to be happy. He was a proud, new dad of two wonderful daughters, A loving wife who was and still is his best friend, I was healthy, and I had a career filled with promise. But I rationalized my chase and, in hindsight, made up ego-based reasons why I had to keep living that way.

Many times, I caught happiness, but like a dog chasing its tail, I didn’t know what to do when I caught it. I was happy for a moment. It validated my pursuit, but then it floated away. So, I got back to stressfully chasing. I was exhausted but couldn’t tell anyone because I was the leader at work and the provider to my family.

I knew there was a better way, but I couldn't see it

This weeks guest is Matt Philips he is a former professional athlete and business professional with extensive experience in Operations, Accounting, and Finance, having worked and consulted for numerous Fortune 500 companies in the United States and Europe during his 15+ year corporate career now consults corporations on how to build high performance teams to crush their financial and strategic goals.

The way he does it.. He has eveloped a unique business model, a 5-step process called 'Ignite Your Mindset', a Mental Toughness and Leadership Development program that will completely change the game for you, your company and team....helping form powerful habits to unlock their potential, realize what is possible, and drive forward towards RESULTS

For the first interview of The Ultimate Hire podcast during these crazy times, I figured who would be better to have on than a mental toughness guru.

This is Ken Lubin and welcome to the inaugural episode of The Ultimate Hire Podcast

What is the Ultimate Hire?  The Ultimate Hire is the professional that every business, team or leader needs in their organization.  This is the high performance individual that always rises to the top, brings the team to the next level and can significantly add to the bottom line.  The Ultimate Hire is the person that you can't afford to be without.  Finding, Attracting, Hiring and Retaining these professionals is critical to the success of your business.  We have identified these traits and can help you find these top professionals.

A little bit about me. I am a Managing Director and longest tenured employee with ZRG Partners, I am the creator of The Ultimate Hire Blog, Founder of Executive Athletes, a US Olympic Committee Career Advisor, and endurance athlete. As well as following my true passion of being a husband, father, and son. I love to get people out of their comfort zone while helping them achieve their dreams and companies achieve their goals by helping them realize the importance of living a high performance life.

This podcast will feature hiring strategies, interview tips, conversations with key business leaders as well as other search professionals.  This  is designed to give individuals and organizations tools and tactics to have a competitive advantage for career growth, business growth and insights to the most important resource, the people.