Beyond High Street

Matt Golis: Founder and CEO, DraftMates

Interesting few pods ahead with the upcoming start of the NFL Season. Our guest this week Matt Golis is working on helping leverage the excitement around fantasy for social good (and next week, Jeremy Kudon, a betting/gaming lobbyist working on behalf of Leagues and brands to legalize at the state leaves). Matt’s start-up company DraftMates lets users play fantasy sports with proceeds directly benefitting a charity of choice. A true entrepreneurial mind as he has created a fundraising platform taking advantage of the enormous affinity of fantasy. He has spent his career finding digital solutions for users, and has some really great perspective on the unique challenges found there. I really enjoyed the dialogue about his move from the Bay Area to the Midwest and which Miami class has helped him throughout his career. 

 

Rich Wheeless: Global CEO & Angel Investor

Rich is a nothing short of a go-getter. 200+ days on the road a year and has navigated 40 countries in his business travels. No wonder why he has grown and sold businesses and is hot on the next one (Enrich Media). Wait until you hear about his first stock buy of $500 …. At the age of 14. Similar to some recent pods, each of these successful Miami alums have figured out a personal unique proposition that make them indispensable for businesses. For Rich, it is scaling companies, and scaling companies well. It shouldn’t get lost that he acknowledges his parents as his business mentors and advisors along the way (you don’t have to look so far for guidance, keep that in mind!). I was intrigued with how someone who travels so frequently manages their work stream. Rich shares his personal methods of daily exercises and mimicking Jack Dorsey by breaking his day into 30-minute increments each focused on a specific subject matter. Hope you enjoy.

Podcast Notes:

“Anyone can learn a business when it’s good, if you want to make it--you have to find a carved out niche”

“You’re going to have times where things are going to be awful, but it always gets better and you have the ability to determine that yourself”

“Sometimes your big opportunity in life is at times is going to come when you're not the most prepared for”

Managing Across Different Time Zones.

• Try to manage and schedule your days in 30-minute increments.
• Everyone has different times on when they work best- find what time works best for you.
• Finds that doing the heavy work in the morning is best and allows you to work before the day and distractions get started.

Healthy Mind, Healthy Body.

• Exercise is the very important to incorporate in your routine.
• It’s a great way to let off steam.

The Three Essentials for Constant Travel.

1. Noise-canceling earphones
2. iPad
3. Lots of different snacks (because airplane food is boring and unhealthy)

The Skill Needed For Success.

• The skill of compartmentally: being able to do two different things.
• Model your schedule in 30 minutes increments like after Jack Dorsey.
• Don’t take a lot of meetings because they can be a big waste of time.
• Make sure your make time to get your actual work done.

Miami University and its Professors Change Your Life.

• Never forget your great professors and keep in contact
• Miami really prepares you, especially the business school for the real world and the challenges that come with it
• You have to go through the hard things to appreciate success

You Might Have Hard Times... It Gets Better.

• Sometimes your big opportunity in life is at times is going to come when you're not the most prepared for
• Say yes and taking the chance to new opportunities
• Anyone who has gone through hard times know that it’s going to get better and things do change
• You’re going to have times where things are going to be awful, but it always gets better and you have the ability to determine that yourself
• Surround yourself with the right people:  find an executive you admire and listen to them 90% of the time.

Book Recommendation.

• Financial Freedom Explained by Kizzi Nkwocha

Next Steps for Rich.

• Working with a seed school (a school for intercity kids)
• In order to change the future, you have the change the foundation
• Want to focus more on golfing

After Seeing 40+ Countries, See This Country.

• Italy

Rich’s Go-To, High-Street Meal.

• Skipper’s
• Chicken gyro with waffle fries

Summer Crenshaw: COO/CMO & Co-Founder, tilr

Seller of burial plots and a franchise owner of an insurance agency. Did I get your attention yet? That of course isn't what Summer is doing now but each were stops on her business path. A path that has always had the focus on awareness, storytelling, demand generation and thinking about the customer experience. She has used those traits throughout her career to now where she is the COO, CMO and Co-Founder of tilr, a HR-tech company. She has an incredible appetite to learn, and she focuses on subject areas where she doesn't feel up to par. Something brave to admit, and something smart to share. I always appreciate her efforts in getting brands to hire based on skill versus simply a job title. Students should take note and use that in their interviewing conversations too.

Matt Pyatt: CEO, Arrive Logistics

One thing that is clear from my conversation is that Matt is an absolute grinder. Even before Oxford, he was an entrepreneur. Working on a farm making money at the age of 10 and being active in the stock market as a high schooler. He then continued to find new business opportunities, each time using the success of his previous business as the foundation. Matt has used all of this experience to start his current business Arrive Logistics, a modern freight broker and overall logistic solutions company. It was 10 employees in 2014 and now has 500+ and growing). I think you will also enjoy hearing about Matt’s business of selling supplements out of his dorm at Miami. He never stops. Keep thriving Matt!

Jim Ryan: Former President & CEO, Grainger

Simply put, Jim is a pro’s pro. A simple search of his professional background would show a career filled with experience and success. But maybe more importantly, and what comes through in a phone call, is that he is caring, dedicated, and willing to help others get better. Our conversation spanned from his very limited use of technology in the late 1970’s in Oxford to walking the campus just months ago as his youngest of two graduated Miami (his older son is a Miami grad too). His principles to success are clear: 1) work hard and be dedicated, 2) learn how to work within a team and 3) personal integrity is everything. We dabbled into how he learns, even today, and how her exposes himself to the ‘unfamiliar’ to expand his own thinking. We even touched on the need of mentorship….who knows, maybe I added a new one today.

Michael Markesbery: Co-Founder & CEO, OROS Apparel

This is a great story! We start the conversation talking about Michael’s Astronaut Scholarship. Wait, have you not heard of an Astronaut Scholarship? Don’t worry, neither had I. A light bulb went off in Michael’s head as a young Miamian while climbing a mountain – how do we make better insulated jackets that are not ridiculously bulky? So he and his fellow Miami buddy and co-founder Rithvik Venna went to work. They created and demoed product as students uptown in their apartments and created OROS Apparel. OROS is an ancient greek work for Mountain and to Michael, this is all about the climb, the journey, and giving 110% effort every day. They are crushing it year-over-year and the sky is the limit for them. Especially for two guys who raised 3x the ask on a kickstarter campaign. Nobody does that….well, except for OROS.

Chris Rose: Host, MLB Network's Intentional Talk"

The old saying goes, it’s not where you start but where you finish. Chris Rose's first job out of college was a $4.85 part-time gig at a Cincinnati TV station. Now, twenty-five years later, he hosts shows on the MLB and NFL Networks, and is living out his dreams every day. A Shaker Heights, OH-native, Chris transferred in to Miami and immediately went knocking on the Sports Information Director’s door to inquire about broadcasting Miami sports games on the radio. He continued his work and networking via Miami colleagues and professors through that first job and beyond. His NFL Network colleague Charlie Yook (previously on the pod) and he participate in the annual ‘Bring Miami Kids to Hollywood’ program every year, which he loves being a part of. I enjoyed the moments in the conversation where he talks about finding your own voice and how We could all "Use a Little Kevin Millar In Us". Make sure to follow his reports from the MLB All-Star game next week.

Joe Flannery: SVP Tech Apparel, Newell Brands

How times have changed. From running around with Joe at Skippers, Ozzies and anywhere else our colleagues and buddies took us out at night, to now having a podcast conversation about his twenty-five years of business success and global excursions. Similar to many Miami alumni, he started his professional life via an internship through a connection in MUSF. That led to a project of “finding a business we can invest in”. He did, which sent him to Boulder, CO after school, and he shares in the pod what life was like being part of a start-up (and one that was soon acquired). He has had significant roles at adidas, The North Face, Newell Brands, and many more. He currently is an advisor for OROS (and check out a pod on those guys later in the month). We opened the conversation about the difference of living in Sonoma to being born-and-raised in Middletown, OH.

Todd Henry: Author, Speaker, Advisor

If you haven’t heard Todd Henry speak, go listen. If you haven’t read Todd’s books, go to Amazon and buy. Incredible insight on creativity, productivity and passion for work to help people and teams generate brilliant ideas. He just released book #4, Herding Tigers and already is noodling his fifth. He also hosts The Additional Creative Podcast with millions of downloads. Incredibly, he started the pod a dozen years ago when most didn’t even know what a podcast was. As we have shared before, all paths are different and Todd’s is unique as he spent his first five years post-Miami as a country artist going from county fair to county fair. Hope you enjoy the listen.

 

Dr. David Sabgir: Founder, Walk With a Doc

Dave is an inspiration to me and many around the world. Early in his medical career, he recognized a barrier between patients and doctors that affected his ability to provide the best care. He then turned that into Walk With A Doc, a movement in which there are 376 chapters around the world including 11 in India and in parts of Africa. The premise is simple. Walk with a Doc puts doctors in parks across the country and around the world with the goal of disrupting the current medical system as we know it. Join the community. Talk with doctors, friends and neighbors. Breakdown walls and build conversations. And get some exercise while you are doing so. It’s no surprise U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy used Walk with a Doc as the example for preventative health when addressing audiences. Make sure to check it out www.walkwithadoc.org.