Earth Consultants: Recent Episodes
Brion Hurley: Lean Six Sigma for Good
In this episode, I share an interview with Evan Unger, who is a change leader with expert facilitator that helps leaders transform their virtual teams to dramatically increase collaborative decision-making, buy-in and results. He shares his professional journey from a leadership role at Merck to becoming an expert in collaborative leadership and facilitation. He introduces Continue Reading
In this episode, I share an interview with Travis Keener (the “Spill Plan Man”) from November 2025. He is a licensed engineer specializing in spill prevention, control, and countermeasures (SPCC) for industrial facilities. He explains that federal EPA regulations require sites storing over 1,320 gallons of oil-based liquids to maintain rigorous spill plans and secondary containment systems, such as earthen berms or Continue Reading
In this episode, I share an interview with Dr. Yvonne Howze from December 2025. She specializes in Personal Mastery Leadership along with Organizational and Operational Excellence. She shares her remarkable journey from kindergarten lessons to becoming a nationally recognized leader in education, quality, and nonprofit improvement. With professional experiences spanning education, healthcare, transportation, and major Continue Reading
I share a presentation I gave in July 2025 at the Practical Symposium in Beaver Creek Colorado. The topic was titled “Operations Management – Make Practice More Efficient” which described my experience working with two dermatology clinics. In the presentation, I explain my background in healthcare improvement using Lean and Six Sigma methodologies. I explain Continue Reading
In this episode, I share an interview with Anthea Rowe, corporate communications and PR expert. She discusses her career trajectory and the application of Lean Six Sigma principles to non-technical fields like communications and philanthropy. She details a major project she led at 3M, where she utilized the DMAIC process and a Pugh Matrix to Continue Reading
In this episode, I share an interview with Mike Wrathall, where I explore his background in strategy, agile methods and sustainability. His early career involved building digital services, primarily for government and social housing organizations, such as streamlining the process for getting people who are homeless or victims of domestic violence into safe housing quicker. Continue Reading
A distillery wanted to eliminate MAV (Maximum Allowable Variation) violations and reduce overfill waste without compromising quality. They looked at implementing statistical process control (SPC) into their operations to better monitor and control the variation. SPC gave them real-time alerts on quality issues and process variation and made it easier to collect the data (moving Continue Reading
In this episode, I share an interview with Ines Garcia, who is one of the creators of the Agile Sustainability Manifesto. She emphasizes the importance of adapting sustainable behaviors to individual lifestyles and advocating for change through personal example rather than pressure. She stresses that meaningful change starts with individual willingness to be part of Continue Reading
In this episode, I share an interview with Chelsie Azevedo, who has a masters in Public Health and is a Registered Dietician (RD), and was previously the Nutrition Technical Advisor for Rise Against Hunger. She shares the story of a powerful multi-year project she helped lead in South Sudan with students at Hope for South Continue Reading
In this episode, I share an interview with Patrick Adams, founder of Lean Solutions based in Michigan. We met virtually during the pandemic in the Lean Communicators Network, and later in-person at the Lean Six Sigma World Conference. He hosts an annual conference called Lean Solutions Summit that will take place in a few weeks Continue Reading
Two egg omelette restaurants run by Nima and Faraz Ghorbani in The Netherlands utilize Lean to successfully grow their business, thanks to the training and coaching they received from René Aernoudts of the Lean Management Instituut. One of their challenges was to improve cleaning and operational efficiency. Different equipment and brands made it challenging, so Continue Reading
In March of 2024, the Iowa Sustainable Business Forum (ISBF) and Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS) were still separate organizations, and they agreed to host a joint webinar to promote Energy Efficiency and Lean. I was fortunate to connect up with Paul Lemar, Jr. from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), who has Continue Reading
Continuing our discussion on Lean Six Sigma and ESG, I brought back last episode’s guest, Erin Bauer (Product Development Manager at ASQE) and added a new guest, Beth Cudney. She is a Professor of Data Analytics and the Program Coordinator for Data Analytics at Maryville University. She received her B.S. in Industrial Engineering from North Continue Reading
I had a great interview with Erin Bauer, who is the Product Development Manager at ASQE, which is a trade association created by ASQ to provide benchmarking assistance to corporations within ASQ. One of their key products is the Insights on Excellence® (IoE) Benchmarking Tool. The benchmarking survey results are available to members and nonmembers Continue Reading
Faced with increased production volumes for processed vegetables, this Dutch company realized the need to improve its processes by developing people skills. In September 2023, the leadership team participated in a Black Belt course with Lean Management Instituut. The next step was to involve front-line staff through an Orange Belt course. Here are some of Continue Reading
I had a great interview with Aleshia Jordan a few weeks ago, to discuss how she transitioned from finance to Lean and Six Sigma consulting, and how she is now taking her Master Black Belt skills and over 20 years of experience into her firm Virtualocity, LLC to help organizations, nonprofits and individuals in their Continue Reading
ISO 50001:2018—Energy management can help your organization create an approach to assessing its energy practices through PDCA and continuous improvement tools. While many organizations suffer from the unexamined and wasteful costs of energy consumption as part of their hidden factory, many don’t have trained staff to help assess and reduce these costs. Unfortunately, they miss Continue Reading
Making a real difference in your organization can be a struggle, but there is a way to leverage powerful tools and strategies to drive positive change, while also boosting your own career development. In this episode, I introduce you to Sarah Tilkens, a former biologist turned operational excellence leader, who cracked the code on impactful Continue Reading
Sally worked many years in the hospitality industry applying Lean Six Sigma, and she shares...
In this podcast, I share the presentation I gave virtually at the Lean Global Connection...
In this podcast, I share an interview I had with Reed Harrison, Executive Director of...
In this podcast, I interview Kerry Lewis Bass, who has many years of experience improving...
In this episode, I speak with David Saunders, who is a retired Quality consultant and...
In this interview, I talk with Katie Anderson, a leadership coach who has extensive lean...
I’m very excited about episode 100, it’s a great milestone in any podcaster’s journey. Thank...
In this podcast, I interviewed Jenelle Zito, who is the Director Of Continuous Improvement at...
In today’s episode, I share a presentation from the IISE Seattle conference on May 23,...
In today’s episode, I interviewed Elisabeth Swan, who has over 30 years of process improvement...
In today’s episode, I interviewed Tracy O’Rourke, who has over 20 years of process improvement...
Our guest is Hugh Alley, an experienced lean practitioner and industrial engineer, who has experience...
My good friend Matt Horvat is the founder of Lean Portland, and has extensive experience...
In this podcast, I talk with Lauren Neder, Industrial Engineer and lean consultant working with...
In this podcast, I talk with Brad Jeavons, lean and Agile consultant with SA Partners....
In this podcast, I facilitated a webinar on engaging employees to gather innovation and improvement...
In this podcast, I interview Deondra Wardelle, whom I’ve had the pleasure of getting to...