Boardroom Sessions Podcast: Recent Episodes
Mike Miller
Here at Boardroom Sessions we meet Southern California's Best and Brightest Technology Leaders and Executives. We learn about their backgrounds, business models, challenges and goals. Take a listen, join the discussion and enjoy!
About the host Mike Miller
When not in the Boardroom of one of his clients, consulting on Digital Transformation and Platform Architecture, Mike can be found at the beach. He lives in Huntington Beach California with his wife and 3 children. His true passions are Surfing, Stand Up Paddle Boarding, Trail Running and Triathlon. He is a seeker of information and a self-admitted Podcast junkie.
Rino has such an amazing an interesting story and I am grateful for his willingness to share with us here. We have had a tack track going on the value of Customer Service and it's lost art. Please engage with us on LinkedIn and be a part of the conversation. Hope you enjoy! You can find Rino here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rino-caturano-b547b4111/ You can find me, Mike Miller your host here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hbmikemiller/
DAVE and I would be having this conversation regardless of the podcast. We started recording these several years ago and they've become a crowd favorite. Here we discuss strategies and thoughts around how we're going to plan for 2026 and build our visions for the lives we want to live. Reach out to connect with me here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hbmikemiller?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
Sage Burke is a hard charging and accomplished Big Wave surfer. He is also an old soul who is wiser than his age by far. Don't let his humble demeanor fool you, he goes on some of the scariest waves on the planet. He is also an amazing yoga instructor and we hear his story here. Check him out on Instagram @sage_burke and see some of the waves we discussed. Hope you enjoy!
Meet Shane Shepherd, Assistant Professor of Finance and Economics at the USC Marshal School of Business. We go deep from the individual investor’s viewpoint on Tariffs, Bitcoin, what’s new with AI in investing, and Shane’s views on the health of the US economy. We all could use a little perspective here so let’s ask the expert!
I hope you enjoy.
You can find Shane on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-shepherd-b3512b24/
We would have had this discussion with or without sharing with you all. We review last years highlights and how we measure, evaluate our high level Virtues we want to embody for the following year and set goals to walk into them. We walk you through our 2 approaches to our annual year planning. Hope you enjoy and are inspired. I welcome your feedback and happy to connect and discuss.
Mike Miller - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hbmikemiller/
David Rhoads - https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrhoads/
Mark is the CEO of a 23 location Ace Hardware chain called Crown Ace Hardware and a local hero to may of us who know him. Mark and my lives have met on several areas and we dive into them here one at a time. We discuss business, building a service first culture, Being of service to the community, Catalina Channel crossings and other Waterman stuff, father hood and much more. Hope you enjoy!
You can find more on Mark here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-schulein/
In this special Collaboration Podcast I sit down as the first ever guest of “Up Shift Creek Podcast” with the host Mark Redgrave. Mark is Business Transformation Consultant and focuses on the People and Teams structures in companies to help drive improvements. In this podcast we dive into the concept of “It’s not all about Tech”. We discuss the state of business right now as we see it with our current clients, the near future and where is AI actually being implemented. This is a great conversation and has some predictions that I think you find interesting. Hope you enjoy.
You can connect with Mark here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mredgrave/
In this Boardroom Session we meet Eric Ching, recently retired Marine Safety Officer and Captain of the Huntington Beach Lifeguards. When I was 17 years old and working in a lifeguard tower at the beach myself, I thought the Lifeguard Boat Operators were the coolest guys on the planet. Well I got a chance to meet one with Eric and he confirms my beliefs here. Eric and I dive into his journey of becoming a captain, his best day and worst day on the water, how to deal with the public and what a day in life of an ocean lifeguard looks like at one of the busiest beaches in the world looks like. Hope you enjoy! This podcast is produced in partnership with www.podlad.com
Welcome to this annual tradition where my good buddy Dave Rhoads - CEO and founder of Blue Street Capital, and I share our plans and processes for the New Year Goal Planning. We go fast and hard here so you may want to listen with a pen and notebook, seriously. I am super excited about the topics of Goals, Vision and Manifesting as you all know so this a special one for me. Hope you enjoy!
Dave is one of my favorite humans period! I am so grateful for the opportunity to sit and pick his brain on the is podcast. Dave is a legend in the Channel business and has built a very successful business helping many enterprise clients better their business. HE shares some amazing lessons learned her about breaking old patters and paradigms in this new work environment. We also discuss the future of the “vendor agnostic, client advocate consultant” and the value to the modern business leader. Hope you enjoy!!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davedyson/ This podcast is edited by podlad.com
Matt has built an incredibly successful business based on a passion for Art. 1.3 mill Followers on Social Media is unbelievable! His story is so inspirational and full of nuggets that everyone can connect to. We discuss Goals, Vision, and taking the difficult path of following your dream and overcoming self limiting f beliefs. Hope you enjoy! You can see Matt’s art here. TikTok: @tattoo_matt Instagram: @mattvaught_tattoo Web: mattvaught.com
Welcome to a special live recording of a panel event that I hosted at our OCTP (Orange County Technology Professionals) networking happy hours. About once a quarter we have a live panel event to discuss some cool new tech, this event we went deep on Conversational AI aka BOT’s. On this panel I assembled a few of the most relevant folks in this space right now.
- Kristy Thomas – leads the CX vertical at one of the largest Technology Service Broker, Intelisys. She literally vets every vendor in this space to separate the hype from the players.
- Tyson McDowell – a Venture Capital entrepreneur and expert in the space of AI. Tyson has built, sold and runs companies built on AI. His outlook on this technology and it’s future is incredibly well researched and we could give him a mic and go for days.
- Stephen Kennington – is a technical leader at DialPad who is engaged with many clients looking to implement Conversational AI in their organizations. He sees the Use Cases and understands where it fits and may not. DialPad has AI built into their product and is looking to the future of this space.
We had a lot of fun here and since this meeting I have had an incredible amount of conversations with enterprise technology leaders on how AI may help them. Hope you enjoy!
Kristy Thomas - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristy-thomas-bb004a29/
Tyson McDowell - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tysonmcdowell/
Stephen Kennington - https://www.linkedin.com/in/srkennington/
This podcast is produced in partnership with http://www.podlad.com
Danny Nichols is a personal hero of mine for many reasons. First he is a selfless giver and runs one of the most impactful philanthropic organizations I know called Operation OpenWater serving the Veteran and First Responder communities. He is also a full on Bad Ass Waterman, HB Board Riders Team Rider and Coach, and one of the most humble good guys I know. We learn from Danny how he and his partners built their successful company called Ink Right, we hear about his background as a Pro Surfer and most importantly about his organization called Operation OpenWater which makes a life changing impact for so many in the Veteran and First Responder communities. I hope you enjoy.
If you are inspired and want to help please visit: https://www.operationopenwater.org/
This time of year as always we discuss Goal Planning and Vision Boards in the Boardroom Sessions Podcast, but my guest Dave Rhoads takes the mic this year. He flips the show on Mike and we get deep into personal development, process and routines as well as building and developing amazing relationships. Hope you enjoy and please share what you planning in a note to me.
If you are like me you have been hearing a lot of doom and gloom on the economy. I wanted to ask the expert, my friend Shane Shepherd – PhD of Finance and USC Professor of Finance and Economics at USC what is the real story. Shane breaks it down for us simply and leaves you with some good info to use at your next cocktail party so you can sound smart or just simply not freak out that we are heading for an economic nuclear winter. I hope you enjoy and feel a little lighter after this quick breakdown.
Shane’s LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-shepherd-b3512b24/
In this session we meet my buddy JP owner of Russell Surfboards in Newport Beach. I have been a long time brand loyal shop rider for the Russell brand and am a bit of a fan. We dive into the origin story of an iconic Surf Shop in Newport Beach that has been around since the sixties. We discuss surf shop culture, board design & evolution, and how the shop is thriving even through the pandemic. Lots of very energetic exchange here and great lessons shared here as always. Hope you enjoy!
In this Boardroom Session we meet Rick Dellar a true renaissance man and one the Pioneers in the Channel Industry. A few words to describe him - Entrepreneur, Channel Industry pioneer, Real estate Developer, Winemaker, Art Collector, Philanthropist, Family man to name a few. We get some great life advise, discuss the origin story of a company called Intelisys, mindfulness, yoga, spirituality, personal growth and more. Hope you enjoy!
In this BRS we meet Benjamin Gleitzman, CTO and co-founder of Replicant A.I. Replicant is at the front line of the Conversational A.I. space with a very exciting solution for the CX space. We discuss their Thinking Machine and it’s various use cases, the A.I. marketspace and the future. There has never been a time where this technology is more needed to help enterprises as they struggle to deal with staffing challenges and ever-evolving client needs. We dive into Benjamin’s path to a Silicon Valley startup co-founder from his humble beginnings as an MIT grad. I hope you enjoy.
Benjamin’s LinkedIn profile:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gleitz/
Welcome to the second annual Goal Planning session with Dave Rhoads, President and CEO of Blue Street Capital. We hope to inspire you and give some direction as to how we go about our goal setting for the New Year. Make it simple, stay inspired and most of all Live With INTENTION!
Feel free to reach out to Dave or I for accountability and get after it.
Mike Miller - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hbmikemiller/
Dave Rhoads - https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrhoads/
John has held positions in Healthcare as the CIO & CEO. He has been an advisor at Gartner and currently an Industry Principal at RingCentral. We dive deep in to the changing landscape of Technology that the Healthcare industry is looking at to help their organizations. We discuss here A.I., Bots, Self Service and many other topics. Hope you enjoy!
John Poli - https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-poli-profile/
Why should the Enterprise care about Social Media? We dive into the many reasons why and how companies are using Social today. We meet with Tyler Altrup of Sprinklr, a Social Media Marketing and Engagement Platform that is helping change the way companies are connecting and engaging with their clients. Hope you enjoy!
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyleraltrup/
https://www.sprinklr.com/
Duane is an expert in the field of Search having worked at Microsoft with Bing and now with Yext. We all search many times a day but do you really know how it works? We dive right in here.
Duane’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dforrester/
In this BRS Podcast we meet Brent Totty of Volv. Brent is building a Tech Start Up that uses AI to help Coaches, Trainers and Advisors build habits among their subscribers and followers using Text Messages. We have a very spirited conversation around how to build a startup and advise for how to marry your life passion with your work. There is a lot of content here and amazing positive NEW SCHOOL advise for how to embrace the Passion Economy. Hope you enjoy!
Brent Totty – Volv – www.volvapp.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brenttotty/
Tyson McDowell is a serial entrepreneur in the tech space, a programmer, Venture Capitalist, a TEDx speaker, and extremely knowledgeable in all things Artificial Intelligence. We get into it very quickly with enterprise applications for AI, the hype vs the reality and where to get some gains now. We also cover the social issues with AI and how you can make changes to your personal online presence to change the AI to feed you more relevant info. Tyson gives some great advise to tech leaders on how to stay relevant and pivot toward AI in your career. I hope you enjoy.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tysonmcdowell/
In this special Boardroom Session we dive deep into 2021 Goal Planning and Vision Boards with two of my favorite people. We first meet with Dave Rhoads of Blue Street Capital and discuss Goal Planning and the strategies we employ. We also meet with Bob Groux of Coast Brands where we dive deep into to concept of Vision Boards and Morning Routines to create the life you want. I hope you enjoy.
Please feel free to reach out if you want to discuss any of this further: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hbmikemiller/
Join us for a special panel discussion on A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) and the real world use cases. Our guests include:
- Andreea Bodnari – PhD form MIT and Product Lead at Google Cloud
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- https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreeabodnari/
- Brent Collins – ai4biz group leader and VP at Pangeanic
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- https://www.linkedin.com/in/brentwcollins/
- Rob Mumford – Product Lead at Marchex
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- https://www.linkedin.com/in/rbmumford/
We discuss what A.I. solutions each of the guests are seeing hit the market and actually being used to solve real world problems. Hope you enjoy!
Bill Burke is your classic overachiever and a super humble guy. Bill had a very successful career in Law and raised a family here in Orange County. At retiring at 60 he decided to knock a few things off his “to do list” including the 8 highest summits in the world, Mt Everest from 2 different routes, the Mississippi river by Kayak and many more. Just wait till you hear what he has planned next…
This guy is a real Hard Charger in all facets of life and I am excited to share our conversation. Ken is a Managing Partner at ZRG Partners, an executive search firm and lives outside of Boston. He also leads an highly public life where he runs the Ultimate Hire Blog and Podcast, the Executive Athletes Podcast and group, is a US Olympic Committee career advisor, and endurance and adventure race athlete as well as a family man. We explore all of this in a high energy exchange that I think you will like. Hope you enjoy!
klubin@zrgpartners.com
http://www.kenlubin.net/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/klubin/
Meet Ed Tyson, Executive Coach, Consultant and Author. Ed runs an Executive Coaching business called PerSynergy Consulting and can often be found holding coaching sessions in his mobile Conference Room, a Sprinter Van decked out for this specific use. Ed is publishing a book that will hit the market this summer called From “Expert to Executive, mastering the SOP’s of leading”. We dive into the Framework and Methodology in which Ed uses and talk about the challenges of the modern executive.
We hope you enjoy.
http://www.persynergyconsulting.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ed-tyson-332a557/?msgConversationId=6660689630544957440&msgOverlay=true
A special Mid Quarantine podcast with some of my favorite people and mentors. They share their thoughts and advise on how to THRIVE during this collective pause in our lives. Some amazing content shared here and super excited for you to hear it.
We hear from Risa Groux of Risa Groux Nutrition, Dave Rhoads CEO of Blue St Capital, Jeff Harden of Ingram Micro, Bob Groux of Coast Brands and Kristan Sergeant Consultant and Therapist at Kristansargent.com
In this episode we meet my good friend Susan Kenny. Susan has spent the last 17 years working for some amazing and productive organizations such as the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), the Ronald McDonald Hose of OC and now CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates). We discuss her journey to this rewarding line of work, the different organizations and their causes. We talk about the various ways her and the team generate donations and resources for the cause. I know everyone who listen will take something away from this one. Hope you enjoy.
You can reach Susan here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-kenny-80b6988/
Evan Jafa is the CEO of Cloudify, Inc. a cloud services brokerage, consultancy, and solutions company. He is also the founder of InnovateOC , an Orange County based startup incubator and also acts to help Start Ups and the investor community. Prior to Cloudify, Evan served as the CIO of First American Corporation and CIO of CoreLogic. With this corporate IT Leadership experience Evan gives us a lesson in the homework needed to make a move to the Cloud. You can find Evan here:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/evanjafa/
http://www.cloudifyinc.com/
This is one amazing and energetic lady! I just loved the time with Carole. She is an Author (Love Them, Encourage Them, Tell Them About Me!) Philanthropist and Entrepreneur. We had an amazing time learning her story and I am sure you will enjoy as much as I did. Please see here Missions Project here and help if you can. http://www.agapemissionprojects.org/
In this re-visit (Dave was my first guest) we catch up on the phenomenal growth at Blue Street Capital and Goal setting for the New Year and for life! We break it down in good detail so hope you have a note book nearby. Enjoy and get after it!
Meet Dan Connor, former Marine One Helicopter pilot to Presidents Bush 42 and Obama. Dan and I met at Cal Poly Pomona when we were in school and are both lifelong members of Sigma Chi fraternity. We discuss Dan’s rise through the ranks of the Marine Corps to the elite position of Marine One pilot. Dan is now part of Rams Head Consulting (http://ramsheadsolutions.com/) where they offer Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) or Drone, consulting, operational, training and education, and program management services. We get deep in to the Drone and UAS market and current state. Hope you enjoy.
Don has such an amazing energy and light about him that is very event in this podcast. I know him as an IT Security Professional who is incredibly knowledgeable and super well connected. What we learn here in this conversation is that he is a multi-faceted man. We discuss his refugee story from Viet Nam, his illustrious career in the US Military, private sector vs public sector and most of all his life dedicated to service. I know you will want to meet Don after this and the good news is everywhere. Hope you enjoy.
Don’s LinkedIn profile is: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donciso/
Tony Petros – Partner at LSA & Associates a very well respected Environmental Planning firm here in OC. Tony is true renaissance man with success in so many facets of his life, as a business leader, public servant, Public Policy expert, educator, innovator and athletic Bad Ass! Proud to call him a friend and mentor. We cover topics like the homeless problem, compassion, what’s wrong with politics, triathlon and urban planning. Hope you enjoy.
In this Boardroom Sessions episode we go on the job site to a Spec Home building site where we meet Nick Lind, Owner and President of Revere Real Estate and his media guy Nick Kosta Managing Director of Revere Media. We explore this residential real estate venture project currently underway in Huntington Beach. Everyone has seen the older houses in their neighborhood get torn down and replaced with newer, larger houses that sell for far more. We dive deep into this business model and how Revere is making their splash in the market. Hope you enjoy.
www.revererealestateco.com
Nick.lind@revererealestateco.com
nrkosta@gmail.com
On this Boardroom Session we meet Pernille Sires-Lopez in a very engaging and candid conversation around Personal Growth and lessons learned from leading the iconic company IKEA. Pernilla is the author of an amazing book that I am a huge fan of called Design Your Life and we go deep into the tools she lays out for you to use to improve your life. Currently she serves as the Chairman of the Board of two large Non Profits - Homeboy Industries and Save the Children International, and two major for profit corporations – ECCO and Meijer Corp. You can see more about Perille and her book at her company site called Good Life Designed https://goodlifedesigned.com/
Sports Wear Industry Veteran, Retired Pro Surfer (still a ripper), Huntington Beach Icon, Podcaster and friend of mine! We discuss the state of the Sports Wear Industry, the move to a Retail, branding and brand loyalty. We of course cover all the fun stuff like the life of a Pro Surfer, Sponsors, International Surf Travel and fatherhood. Hope you enjoy!
Check out Jay’s Podcast – L8night with Choccy - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l8nightwithchoccys-podcast/id1456553813
Rob is leading Hoffman Southwest through a Digital Transformation and making exciting technology changes. We dive into the thought process behind where to start making changings, quantifying those changes in cost savings and realizing the benefits of change in the organization. We go a bit deep on this one so hold on tight and give it a listen.
Tony Everett is the Founder and Chief Play Maker at PureGame, a Non Profit that is changing the lives of our Youth. He is brining a method of learning and development through play, that teaches youth that they can achieve, that they can create and become the persons they dream of. I got so pumped up talking with Tony and hearing his message that I was bouncing in my seat. His program is making a difference in lives of so many kids and teaches life lessons that we could benefit from. I hope you like it!
You can contact Tony and find out more about his amazing program at Tony@thepuregame.org
www.ThePureGame.org
In this Boardroom Session we meet my great buddy and networking mad man Devin Hornick of KORE1. He is one of the most connected individuals I have ever met. We discuss the state of the jobs market in Orange county, some emerging technologies that are trending right now, we dish out some great career advice and even dish out some style tips for the modern work place. Hope you enjoy.
In this Boardroom Session we meet Mostafa Khairzada the Director of Clinical and Emerging Technologies at Pacific Dental Services. PDS is innovating at an incredible rate and much of these endeavors are being lead in Mostafa’s shop. We discuss How to build a Dream Team, Cutting edge Retail Healthcare technology, Oral Systemic Health and A.I. and M.L. Mostafa’s passion for Technology and the Patient journey is inspiring. Hope you like it.
David Dowsett is essentially the Global Head of Technology Strategy at Invesco, a Global Investment powerhouse. Dave’s role is to look and plan for the next Big thing. He has a team of researchers who look at new, disruptive technologies. They break them apart, build them, buy them or partner if they think it can help them make money. We discuss all sorts of topics here like A.I., Micro Funding, Disruptive Business Models and Crowd Funding to name a few. Hope you enjoy!
Rob Shanahan is “THE” Music Photographer with a massive portfolio of work with artists like Ringo Star, Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Van Halen, Slash, Lady Gaga, Shakira, Avril Lavigne, Sting and Barry Manilow to name a very few. Rob and I go over his 30 years of working with “A” listers, Mastering the Craft of Photography, his business models such as Books, Documentaries, Speaking Engagements and Social Media. Rob is an amazing person and it was truly a pleasure spending this time with him. I hope you like it.
You can see more about Rob and contact him at: www.robshanahan.com
Risa is a Media Maven with regular appearances on Good Morning LA and The Hallmark Channel. She is currently working on a Book deal and has a massive following on Social Media. She also runs a very successful business called the Newport Beach Cleanse and is expanding into new ventures such as CBD. Her passion for Nutrition is infectious and I am sure you are going to be inspired. Give it a listen and enjoy!
We welcome Frank Cittadino, CEO of QOS Networks and discuss building a start up from scratch, how Frank overcame adversity early in life and the value building culture in a new organisation.
In this amazing exchange we meet Bob Groux who made his mark in his industry with launching Snapple in Southern California and later Texas. He now runs one of the premier Consumer Brands distributorships anywhere. Bob is a Visionary and Manifester and we go deep on “Holding the Vision and Dropping the How”. Hang on tight as this one goes deep.
Up close and personal with the brightest technology leaders and executives. In this Boardroom Sessions Podcast we meet David Baker CEO of Pacific Dental Services. David is a passionate technology leader and Digital Transformation advocate. We discuss the Platform Revolution, driving Organic Growth and Concierge Medical. Hope you enjoy.
Up close and personal with the brightest technology leaders and executives. In this Boardroom Sessions Podcast we meet Dave Rhoads - CEO of Blue Street Capital financing company that focuses on the Technology sector. Dave is a man of action with a plan. We discuss Entrepreneurship, the 5 Hour Work Day, Leadership and Mentors. Give it a listen and let us know what you think.