Earl Martin Phalen is one of K-12 education's most visionary leaders: a founder and CEO of multiple successful nonprofits, his mission is to deliver educational excellence and equity to low-income Black and brown children. Born into the Massachusetts foster care system, Earl was adopted into a large, loving Irish Catholic family at age two. His parents instilled the values that led him to a life of service and growing up Earl was encouraged to see people as they were, not to pre-judge relationships and situations on the basis of color. Earl's education taught him the power of Black self-determination, and the love of his family and community sustained him as he struggled to become the leader he once doubted he could be. Earl's exciting career is a testament to his mission's core message: all children deserve the support, the opportunity, and the self-belief they need to reach for their dreams without hesitation.

On a mission to enhance the quality of life for KC Scholars and students worldwide, his prolific vision has redefined industry standards and revolutionized how we look at education. Inspired by his own commitment to positively impact the global landscape, his work in the last year with KC Scholars has helped make the organization one of the nation’s most effective college scholarship and support programs.

In this exciting new episode, we are talking to Matt Sapaula, a financial coach, speaker, and media personality. He owns Money Smart Guy, a business that provides financial coaching services. Matt joins us to discuss what it truly means to be financially free and shares his backstory on bankruptcy, failed relationships, life as a marine, and what he learned from his failures. He appeared in various media channels such as MSN Money, The New York Times, FOX Business, and Chicago Now. This is a must listen!

Cody Harmon, a Marine Corp Veteran, and the founder and owner of Grindz Coffee. Cody grew up in an abusive household, to the point that the court allowed another family to take him in. By high school he had zero self confidence or aspirations, but always dreamed of a “better me”.  Then came the Marines. It was not hard for them to sell him on the fact that he would become a different person, since that’s all he wanted. College, multiple job aspirations later, still on a journey to finding who he truly was. Today, he recognizes ALL of this as his GRIND. Without the multiple grinding life events, he wouldn’t have found his story. So listen to this amazing podcast interview, keep grinding, and don’t let his story blind you from your own.

Amazing story with Felix Quinones whose passion shines through art and photography which has been a part of his life as long as he can remember. He has always been fascinated by the concept of an image and how it makes others feel.  Felix and his super supportive wife had the opportunity to serve the USA for 12 years in the United States Marine Corps, and you will hear in this conversation about his challenges with mental illness, diversity, finding his passion and about his importance in his family to push him forward. His story is about defiance and fortitude, and how he now lets that shine through his work in photography and art.  In 2020 Felix speaks about working in HR for a major casino in California. Once the Pandemic hit, they were both furloughed. As a father of three children, he knew he was not going to make it very far without making a quick decision for him and his family. Together they decided in the midst of a pandemic to pack up and move to Texas and start a photography business. There were so many risk factors including the cost of the move, no jobs, no client base, a business that requires personal interaction during a massive pandemic and only a small amount of savings to live on. Throughout his time in the Marine Corps one thing that was ingrained in him was “mission accomplishment”. Once you have set your sights on an objective, it must be obtained no matter what!

Mario Ranieri is an experienced retail/wholesale executive with the ability to cultivate and lead an agile organization that adapts to competitive and evolving markets. Solid track record of executing and driving brand strategies to achieve sales, revenue growth, consumer engagement and profitability goals. Proven ability to design and deliver top and bottom-line business objectives and results. Highly skilled in leveraging a global organization's legacy and culture to attract, engage, retain and mentor high performing staff members focused on service excellence, quality outcomes, fiscal accountability and overall customer experience. His humble beginnings started at Nordstrom, and he worked his way up in the organization, leveraging all that he learned to branch out on his own years later and started a clothing line called “Live LIVE” is to Love - Love the life you live, but always aspire to be more! He also donates 5% of all sales to organizations that support mental health.

Matt Cretzman is the founder and CEO of Stormbreaker Digital which is a growth marketing agency for brands looking to grow their online presence with the most innovative strategies and tactics. Think LinkedIn, including tech and cutting-edge hacks that few people know exist and bigger! This heart wrenching but inspirational episode is a must! Matt spent 6 years as a nonprofit founder, forty-five states and a dozen countries later which led him to a defining moment in his life which many would call a tragedy and instead he did something special with it. He has worked with clients including the NHL, NBA, in SaaS, logistics, speakers, and many others.