The WEInvested Podcast

Robert Plotkin is a leading expert in leveraging AI to maximize creativity and innovation. His book, The Genie in the Machine, was the first (and still the only) work to address the impact of generative AI on innovation and the patent system. Recognized as a thought leader in human-AI collaboration, Robert empowers individuals with the essential skills they need to harness AI to supercharge their creative abilities.

Anne Lester is a retirement expert, author, media commentator, top-rated speaker and former Head of Retirement Solutions for JPMorgan Asset Management, where she worked almost 30 years. In 2020, Anne was recognized for her extraordinary lifetime contributions to Americans’ economic security with the prestigious Ray Lillywhite Award. She is on a mission to help rising leaders retire on their time and target.

A top-rated speaker, Lester addresses the under-45 crowd as well as professional audiences, including P&I, NAPA, Wharton, plus financial firms and their clients.

Lester is also a media commentator and regular contributor on personal finance and retirement issues. She has been featured on outlets including Bloomberg TV, CNBC, Forbes, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Barron’s. She also co-founded The Aspen Leadership Forum on Retirement Savings with AARP. Her book, Your Best Financial Life: Save Smart Now for the Future You Want (William Morrow, 2024), helps younger savers find long-term savings success by overcoming their behavioral biases.

Greg is an investment banker, angel investor, entrepreneur and regular host of a career podcast about the world of work and business. His day job involves advising corporate clients and business owners as they relentlessly pursue growth at all costs to earn the next million dollars. Working on Bay Street (the Wall Street of Canada) Greg is surrounded by high achieving professionals across law, accounting, venture capital, private equity and the big banks who work 80+ hour weeks to serve their clients. But at what cost to them?

As the host of the Lifetime at Work podcast, Greg is on a mission to explore the world of work, the ups and downs behind taking big risks and the payoffs that come with it. Through his diverse work background, Greg brings a unique perspective that emphasizes the importance of purpose, fulfillment, and personal growth. As a food guy at heart, his time as co-founder, running a restaurant, catering and food e-commerce business during the pandemic was a big lesson in understanding the modern working world and today's “American Dream”.

Nolan Bradbury is a seasoned professional with a passion for helping business owners achieve their dreams through sound accounting and financial strategies. Nolan is on a mission to empower entrepreneurs to achieve their goals and unlock the full potential of their enterprises. He understands that a well-tuned and financially sound business is the key to success, and he works tirelessly to ensure his clients' businesses are positioned for growth and prosperity.

Over the past two decades, Nolan has honed his expertise in both the public and private sectors, gaining invaluable insights into the intricacies of financial management. Now, he has come full circle, combining his accounting acumen with his genuine desire to make a positive impact on others' lives.

Nolan serves as a valuable partner on the journey to success, offering personalized guidance and strategic advice to align ventures with aspirations. His deep understanding of both accounting principles and business dynamics allows him to provide comprehensive and tailored solutions, making him an indispensable asset to any business owner seeking to thrive in a competitive landscape.

Through his unwavering commitment and passion for empowering others, Nolan Bradbury continues to leave a lasting impact on the businesses he supports, making him a sought-after expert in the realm of accounting and finance for entrepreneurs.

Derek Mazzarella, CFP® is a dedicated financial advisor committed to helping individuals pursue financial freedom. With a strong background in management from Bryant University, Derek’s passion for assisting others led him to become a Certified Financial Planner (CFP®).

With a track record of serving hundreds of clients, Derek’s financial acumen earned him the prestigious Five Star Wealth Professional in 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022.* His financial insights have been featured on local news stations as well as reputable financial publications. Derek’s commitment to his community is evident through his support of local nonprofits.

Michael Charles is the founder of Credit Freedom Solutions. Michael began to witness the relentless efforts his parents made to provide him with every possible advantage they couldn't afford for themselves. This experience instilled in him a deep sense of responsibility. He realized that school wasn't just about grades; it was about honoring their sacrifices, so he pushed himself to excel.

Even at the young age of 18, he took on a full-time job while still in high school, not just for his sake, but for theirs. But the most transformative part of Michael's journey was navigating the maze of credit. Initially, he feared the unknown and avoided credit. However, when he decided it was time to transition from being a renter to a homeowner, he understood that a lack of credit can be more challenging than bad credit. So, he embarked on a journey to build his credit profile strategically. This journey led him to a powerful realization: Cash is king, but credit is power.  

Today, Michael's mission is simple: to debunk myths around credit and guide others on their financial journeys.

Dr. Rob Scranton teaches people how to use their current debts and expenses to grow their wealth outside of the traditional approaches like scrimping, saving, and denying themselves the lifestyle that they want. He leverages his extensive background in accounting, finance, and his experience as the former chief financial architect of a cutting-edge financial firm to offer a unique perspective on a highly effective financial strategy known as the Infinite Banking Concept, or IBC. With over two decades as a serial entrepreneur, Dr. Rob combines his expertise to showcase the power of this little-known approach.

Jordan Berry is the Founder of Laundromat Resource and a multi-Laundromat store owner. Jordan works hard to make LaundromatResource.com a community that is dedicated to teaching one another, learning from one another, growing together, and succeeding together! #laundromat #laundromatbusiness

BEYOND FORMATION offers a holistic, hands-on, Agile approach to building, running, and funding a world-class business into easy-to-follow, customizable, results-oriented steps and strategies. GEOFF BLAISDELL teaches audiences how to align stakeholders, turn innovation into action, and attract talent and capital at any stage of growth.

TAYLOR LOHT is an experienced Multifamily and Self Storage real estate investor, who decided to break into real estate in 2015 following Wall Street’s major correction that year. In the time since he made the shift, Taylor has acquired, invested in, partnered on, or otherwise had a hand in over $250 million dollars in Multifamily & Self Storage Real Estate Investment Deals.

Taylor began investing in real estate after becoming tired of the constant ups and downs of the stock market, and found real estate as the best way to create sustainable, long term wealth and passive cash flow. He now teaches investors how to escape the Wall Street Casino and build wealth on Main Street by investing in real estate.

For over 40 years, DR. KUNI BEASLEY has been helping students reach their college goals. Since 2011,Dr. Beasley and his team have helped students earn over $300 million in scholarships and grants, with students admitted to the top institutions in the country to include the Ivy League (Harvard, Cornell, etc.), Service Academies (West Point, Annapolis, etc.), and Top Tier colleges (MIT, Stanford, Duke, etc.).

His SAT/ACT Prep program has been used in public and private schools in over 20 states. Dr. Beasley was the Dean of the New College Preparatory Academy with 22 sites across the country from Springfield, MA, to Hot Springs, AR, to Palm Springs, CA.

Dr. Beasley has a BS from Texas Christian University (Go Frogs), an MBA from Oklahoma City University, a Doctor of Ministry from Tyndale Seminary, and Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Arlington. He went to college 22 years and paid for only one semester.

Dawn is the founder of “Productive PressureTM”, a philosophy and method that masterfully balances the drive for success with a safeguard against burnout. Her experiences in nurturing her veterinary practice, spearheading growth, fostering strategic alliances, and orchestrating its successful acquisition by a large aggregator, have fortified her with an understanding of the intricate dynamics of business expansion and exit planning.

Armed with an MBA and decades of hands-on experience, Dawn has worked with hundreds of practice owners, immersing herself in an in-depth analysis of profit and loss statements and balance sheets. Her diligent exploration uncovered a universal thread of challenges faced by businesses of all sizes and across various locations. It inspired her to design the Practice Freedom Accelerator method, an innovative system that empowers practice owners to step back from being the epicenter of their businesses, freeing up precious time to pursue passions and increase practice value for future transitions.

Since earning a bachelor’s degree in finance, cutting his teeth in the financial industry, and earning a master’s degree in environmental science and management, Owen’s been on a professional rampage, pushing complacency and bureaucracy aside and decarbonizing our economy at an impressive rate.

As a Global Energy Manager for a Fortune 500 company for three years, Owen implemented $60 million of clean technology. Combining his experience in fuel cells, solar PV, energy storage, LED lighting, and HVAC optimization, Owen left to launch lumeo, a niche ESCO. Within three years, lumeo hit eight figures in revenue and helped forty school districts implement energy efficiency and renewable energy.

After a successful exit from lumeo, Owen looked for his next opportunity. After nearly a decade in the clean technology industry, Owen concluded there’s too much attention given to developing new clean technologies and not enough focus on rapid deployment of existing technology. It doesn’t matter how efficient a solar module is if only 3% of American buildings have them installed.

Owen started ZNE Capital and pivoted to buying commercial real estate for the purpose of decarbonizing it. In just three years, Owen acquired and partially decarbonized $96M of multifamily properties. While ZNE Capital proves to have a successful business model, the rampant inauthenticity within the institutional impact investing space made it challenging for ZNE Capital to make impact at scale.

Owen founded Rayven to decarbonize existing buildings at scale. Rayven is the world’s first net zero real estate investment platform. Every property we buy is converted to true net zero (no offsets involved). By partnering with thousands of authentic, retail impact investors, Owen, Rayven, and every single investor will decarbonize the world, one apartment building at a time.

Jermane Cheathem is the founder of Creators Learn. He helps solopreneurs start & scale their own lending business using the system he created to close over $50 million in sales.

DAN THOMPSON is a seasoned Financial Advisor and Business Owner, with almost four decades of experience. He started his career as a stockbroker in 1986, but after witnessing the 2001 stock market crash, he realized the need for safer and more predictable investment strategies. He researched and discovered unique strategies, including the “Infinite Banking Concept,” which he uses by combining specially designed whole life insurance policies to build cash value and access tax-free loans.

Dan also developed principles for “Ultimate Cash Flow,” which involve combining time,compounding, safety, leverage, and tax advantages to appreciate assets. He wrote several books, including his latest book “The 4 Keys to Building Wealth,” to educate others on these strategies.

Dan values tax advantages, access to capital, and controlling the flow of money and is dedicated to helping clients find strategies that fit their needs.

RJ Burr, 48, is a third generation producer of American oil. Born into the industry, Mr. Burr was on his first location before he could walk and has been fascinated by the production of oil his entire life. Within 3 months of graduating high school, Mr. Burr funded his first partnership and never looked back. RJ is the Sr. VP Corporate Operations at Panex. With a main focus on the Gulf Coast, Mr. Burr’s companies have raised and deployed over $300 million in upstream development and have partnered with some of the largest oil and gas companies, namely Shell, BP, and Marathon, to develop several million barrels in reserves.

After Graduating Arizona State University, Amanda Kay has spent the last 16 years helping Fortune 50 companies and individual investors meet their financial targets.

She has managed nearly 1,000 client portfolios through operating her own branch as a Financial Advisor in Gilbert, AZ and working for a private investment oil and gas firm in Dallas, TX.

After years of working with wealthy investors, Amanda concluded there was not a centralized source of professional information to help direct affluent and income driven individuals to the right asset managers.

Passive Income Investors Group is a solution to giving the market what it needed.

Amanda is passionate about client success and committed to a solution driven company that provides what investors are eagerly seeking.

Brad Barrett is a Managing Director and Partner at One Capital Management, LLC, a private wealth advisory firm managing $5 Billion in Assets. With nearly 20 years in the financial services industry, he is passionate about finding new ways to educate investors.

He Having the heart of a teacher, He shares his knowledge and experience through his weekly YouTube, Podcast and Radio Show, “Make Your Money Matter”. His show aims to change the way people think about financial advice, so they can make better decisions with their money.

A sought-after public speaker, Brad has educated thousands of people planning for financial freedom across the country. His book, Retire Right, hit the shelves in 2021 and serves as a guideline to aligning goals and objectives when it comes to investment and financial planning.

Brad has a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Political Science from Arizona State University.

He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERTM and member of Kingdom Advisors.

Melissa Widner is the CEO of Lighter Capital, the pioneer and leader in revenue-based financing for tech startups, founders, and companies. Seattle-based Lighter Capital is backed by National Australia Bank and Silicon Valley Bank as well as US VCs. 

Previously, Melissa was the Managing Director of NAB Ventures, the VC arm of the National Australia Bank, and a General Partner at Seattle based SeaPoint Ventures. She was the founder and CEO of 7Software, a Silicon Valley based enterprise software company acquired by Concur (Nasdaq: CNQR, acquired by SAP). She was also the CEO of Northwest Industrial Supply. Under her leadership, both companies generated over a 10X return to investors.

She is the co-founder and Chairperson of Sydney-based Heads Over Heels, an organization that supports women entrepreneurs running companies with high growth potential.

Alex Sonkin is the founder of The Due Diligence (DDP) ProjectTM and The Virtual Family Office (VFO) HubTM, a revolutionary platform of vetted resources that supports hundreds of leading Tax-Focused CPA firms and the Family Offices around the country.

Mr. Sonkin has authored a book, called “The Due Diligence ProjectTM” and has been published in “Money Matters-Volume #2”, both available on Amazon. Alex has been quoted in a number of articles regarding the evolution of the CPA industry published in “Accounting Today” and has been interviewed on popular radio programs, including“It’s Your Money and Your Life!” Alex also hosts The Due Diligence Project PodcastTM.

Highly sought after, Mr. Sonkin has been invited to provide thought leadership throughout the United States, Canada, Germany, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, and Norway. Mr. Sonkin began his career as a derivatives (options) trader and market maker as a member of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), and the Chicago Board of Options Exchange (CBOE).

Mr. Sonkin is a partner in San Diego Social Venture Partners, and actively supports a number of other charitable organizations around the country. Mr. Sonkin lives in San Diego with his wife Jola and their four children. Mr. Sonkin is a graduate of University of Michigan Business School, in Ann Arbor, where he received a Degree in Finance and the Branstrom Award, a prestigious designation assigned to the top 5% of each graduating class.

Songwriter. Ambassador. International Business

Sabrina is a 29 year old female entrepreneur in the real estate space that co-founded Techvestor, a short-term rental fund that raised $21m in the last 12 months.

Before Techvestor, she worked at Apple in the engineering space as a project manager for the Airpods product line, while helping thousands of people in tech learn about real estate investing. Since 2021, she has flipped, designed, and furnished over 65 houses, built Techvestor’s operational infrastructure, and has been nominated for Forbes 30 under 30, 2023.

Solomon Floyd is a Real Estate Developer, Investor and Equity Specialist, and Mentor and Economic Advisor.

Solomon is the Principal of Reunion Investments, a boutique real estate investment firm with a focus on providing a strategic approach to buying property in tertiary and military markets across the United States. Investors can expect consistent returns provided by a secure tenant/buyer base.

Chris Malta has been a successful business owner for more than 47 years, starting at the age of 15. He’s spent more than 30 of those years in Ecommerce and online marketing.

Chris developed the world’s most popular wholesale directory for online business owners, WorldwideBrands.com. He’s owned a wholesale supply company in western NY and built an Affiliate Program with over 27,000 members.

Chris has also designed the most comprehensive Ecommerce Education in the world and has been teaching it for over a decade. He has taught over 800 live online Ecommerce workshops, totaling more than 6,000 hours of live Ecommerce mentoring.

Chris is also a published business author whose paperbacks and eBooks have been read by at least 7 million people.

Chris has spoken at national internet conventions, hosted two business talk radio shows for Entrepreneur Magazine, and worked personally with top level executives from Amazon, eBay, UPS and others.

Fred Moskowitz is a sought after speaker, advisor, and trainer on a variety of topics relating to entrepreneurship and investing. Fred has positioned himself as an authority on investing in alternative assets and on building wealth using Self-Directed IRA accounts. Fred combines a 15 year career devoted to entrepreneurship and investing with a mission to helping people attain a higher level of financial literacy, resulting in the perfect combination of wisdom and experience providing value to aspiring investors from all walks of life. #noteinvesting

Simon Ree has worked as a professional in the financial markets since 1992, when he started his career as a futures broker. He loves studying the markets,

trading the markets and he loves traders, too.

During his 28 year career, Simon worked at Goldman Sachs where he founded and headed-up the Markets Desk in Sydney. He subsequently held senior

positions at Citibank in Singapore. During this time, he developed considerable expertise in financial markets, with a particular emphasis on stocks and options.

Simon is the author of the #1 Amazon Best Seller, The Tao Of Trading: How To Build Abundant Wealth In Any Market Condition.

Simon’s passion extends beyond trading the markets, to analyzing the markets, talking and writing about the markets and teaching others how to trade the markets.

Since 2017, Simon has successfully mentored hundreds of aspiring traders on the simple techniques he uses to generate consistent cash flow from the stock

market.

Emmanuel Daniel is a global thought leader in the future of finance. He is an entrepreneur, writer, and listed as a top 10 global influencer in the "Fintech Power50" list for 2021 and 2022. Much of Emmanuel's writing covers the future of finance, with a special focus on how cryptocurrencies, blockchain, gaming, and other technologies are opening the doors to new transactional opportunities. Emmanuel travels widely and has visited more than 100 countries and is working on his next book tentatively titled “The Winning Civilization.” As an entrepreneur, he was previously a member of the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO), a prestigious grouping of young business owners worldwide. Emmanuel was trained as a lawyer, has degrees from the National University of Singapore and the University of London, and attended a course on economics at Columbia University in New York. He travels widely and divides his time between Singapore, Beijing, and New York.