Most people think they need to reinvent themselves to stay relevant. Mikki Williams took the opposite approach—and it worked for decades.

This Chairwaves podcast episode features Chicago, IL-based Chair Emeritus Mikki Williams, a serial entrepreneur whose career spans professional speaking, leading Vistage CEO peer groups, and now building a social media following in her 80s . When asked how to build a brand that lasts, she points to a simple but overlooked idea: your brand is built by paying attention to what makes you different and leaning into it.

Mikki didn’t set out to become a Vistage Chair, but once she did, she built a highly structured environment that drove long-term retention and deep accountability. Now, as a Chair Emeritus, she remains an active voice in the Vistage community while continuing to evolve her own platform in unexpected ways.

You can contact Mikki through her website, via email at mikki@mikkiwilliams.com, or follow her on Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook or Youtube.

What actually drives performance inside a company? It comes down to how well people show up for each other.

In this episode of the Chairwaves podcast, Philadelphia, PA Vistage Chair Chris Donnelly breaks down the kind of leadership that doesn’t show up in the numbers. Drawing from his military background, Chris explains why real camaraderie, relying on the people around you to step up and deliver, has become the lens he uses to evaluate businesses and leadership teams. His path from the Navy to investment banking to leading and exiting his family’s plumbing business shaped how he leads and makes decisions.

Chris also reflects on stepping into leadership during personal loss, building a company that could run without him, and why pushing people, not protecting them, is what makes a Vistage group valuable.

The best way to connect with Chris is on LinkedIn. His contact info is there, and he welcomes texts.

Fenella Kim had no network, no resources, and no roadmap when she arrived in the United States—but she figured it out anyway.

Fenella is a Long Island, NY-based Vistage Chair who went from high-voltage electrical engineer to serial entrepreneur, building and exiting multiple companies after arriving in the U.S. In this episode of the Chairwaves podcast, Fenella shares how a single mentor changed her trajectory and how that experience shaped her commitment to paying it forward. Today, she’s all in on that mission as a Vistage Chair and venture capitalist. Fenella is grounded in a belief that Vistage works—because it helps leaders grow, strengthens families, and creates real impact in the communities they serve.

This is an inspirational episode that shows what’s possible with persistence and an abundance mindset.

The best way to connect with Fenella is via email at fenella.kim@vistagechair.com

There’s a difference between having the answers and knowing how to help someone find their own.

On this episode of Chairwaves, I talk with Machen MacDonald, a Vistage Chair based in Grass Valley, California. Machen is a former financial advisor turned certified coach who works with private clients in addition to leading his Vistage group. In his work, Machen has seen a consistent pattern—leaders either don’t know how to get what they want, or they’re not fully clear on what they want in the first place.

Machen and I talk about his transition from financial advisor to coach, and what he’s learned about helping leaders get clearer on their direction. In his Vistage group, that often shows up through the idea of leading with love—creating a space grounded in trust, vulnerability, and clear thinking. It’s a shift from how most executives were wired, but it’s central to how he helps people grow.You can connect with Machen on LinkedIn, by phone at 530-906-1119, or by email at machen.macdonald@vistagechair.com.

Most business leaders think their challenges are unique. They’re not—and that realization can change everything.

In this episode of Chairwaves, Gary Ostermueller, a Vistage Chair in New Jersey, talks about what changed for him after joining a TEC group. He noticed that even though businesses can look completely different on the surface, they’re all dealing with the same core problems. People issues, cash flow, leadership pressure—it all overlaps more than most leaders realize. That insight became a foundation for how he now shows up as a Chair.

Before becoming a Chair, Gary spent three decades in a family-run manufacturing company, and that experience allows him to relate to leaders at every level. He brings a perspective to his group that spans the shop floor to the boardroom and has built a group grounded in compassion, real care, and a willingness to challenge each other.

The best way to connect with Gary is through LinkedIn or via email at gary.ostermueller@vistagechair.com

If you’re not willing to dig into the details, you’re probably missing the real issue.

In this episode of the Chairwaves podcast, Vistage Chair Michael Edwards, based in Lincoln, Nebraska, talks about how an unexpected path, from grocery stores to law school to building software companies, ultimately led him to Vistage. He shares how his legal background trained him to slow down, listen carefully, and examine the fine details that others often overlook—a mindset that now defines how he leads his group.

What makes Michael’s group different is its blue-collar mix of leaders, many from small towns surrounding Lincoln, bringing practical, hands-on experience into every discussion. It’s a group shaped by leaders from small towns and hands-on industries, and that difference is something he’s proud of.

You can connect with Michael via email at michael.edwards@vistagechair.com, through the Vistage website, or through LinkedIn.

If you’ve got people, you’ve got problems. That’s true no matter where you are in your leadership journey.

Rick Vanasse has built a practice around helping leaders at every level navigate one of the hardest parts of business—leading people and building strong organizations. From emerging leaders learning how to influence, to CEOs learning how to step back and truly listen, Rick sees the same challenges show up again and again when it comes to leading people. Leading well is an ongoing process, not a fixed skill.

In this episode of Chairwaves, we talk through Rick’s journey from manufacturing to healthcare, his work with leaders navigating family business transitions, and how his battle with stage four cancer reshaped how he thinks about resilience, humility, and relying on others.

This is a thoughtful conversation about leadership, transitions, and what really matters.

The best way to connect with Rick is by email at rick.vanasse@vistagechair.com or on LinkedIn.

In a recent Vistage meeting, Atlanta-based Vistage Chair Meredith Jolly’s group worked through issues worth more than $20 million to the companies involved. For Meredith, that experience perfectly captures the power of peer groups: leaders getting perspectives they might never have considered on their own.

On this episode of the Chairwaves podcast, Meredith shares the journey that led her to become a Vistage Chair. She started as a part-time secretary at a fintech startup while in college and worked her way into the CEO role. Along the way she experienced the full lifecycle of a company—from startup growth to exit—and later led a private-equity-backed turnaround before becoming a Chair. Today she co-chairs a group in Atlanta where trust, candor, and a wide range of perspectives shape the discussion. As Meredith notes, there’s a Vistage saying that members come for the Chair but stay for the group—and she’s seen that dynamic take hold as members challenge, support, and learn from each other.

The best way to contact Meredith is by email at meredith.jolly@vistagechair.com or through her website.