Timeout With Leaders

We hope you are ready for this TIMEOUT with Ann Banks, President of DebtBlue in Richardson, Texas. 

Join in as we talk about meeting Michael Jordan, Walter Payton, and Ann's brother out at Wrigley Stadium as we jam out to So Lonely by the Police. Ann Banks shares how being an English teacher, and principal while enjoying life has helped her to become the leader she is today. 

Listening is not something many are doing right now, Ann admits that we must own our own ignorance in order to hear and value what others have to share in order to change perspective. It can be as simple as just following through with what you say you are going to do, just follow through. 

Make leadership fun again!

Timeout with Leaders takes a TIMEOUT with Michelle Ashby, the inspiring founder, and CEO of Tipping Point Communications. As we learned that we would be sitting with Ghondi, MLK JR, and Michelle's mother at her own funeral, we got a sense of who Michelle was.

Leadership is all about having fun, Michelle says and in her own journey, she has reprioritized her definition of success and failure, a message we all can learn from today.

Life is moving fast and feels like it is speeding up every day. Hit the pause button, get off the hampster wheel, and figure out who you are FIRST, to get back to having fun again in leadership.

We all need to take our foot off the gas from time to time in order to reflect, learn and grow.

We grab our saddles and head out to the old Western Front with Jeff Sinsebox, President of Empowering People's Independence. A few other cowboys have decided to join the trek including FDR, Bob Dylan, and Robin Williams, as Jeff perfects his Clint Eastwood voice. 

Jeff is a t-shirt and jeans kind of guy, but he had mentioned his own personal evolution of knowing who he was but realized he was not 100% comfortable being himself in leadership. This "wall" was blocking him from truly connecting with his people which has now become a bit of a superpower for him. 

Jeff shared his passion for the work EPI does for the community as he sees work as the great "equalizer" in our community to bring people together. 

“Economic Self-reliance is the empowerment of marginalized communities, giving them the power of choice, more choices than they previously had the privilege of making” 

4th quarter, down by 2, 3.5 seconds to go… TIMEOUT!!!!! With the President of US Ceiling Corp, Melissa James-Geska

What’s our game plan team? That’s an easy one coach, give the ball to Melissa James-Geska and get out of her way!!!

We had the opportunity to sit down with Melissa and find out what gets her out of bed in the morning and most importantly, what she’s learned from her experiences in life.

She was very open with us about her struggles and how she overcame them and can only imagine how many women’s lives she's helped by simply telling her story. "Truth always and trust in always" is a powerful statement on how she is able to build real connections for real feedback and insights from her team, to continuously improve.

And if yall haven’t heard about Melissa’s birthday parties for herself... you might want to tune in because you’re missing out. We are hoping for an invite to her next birthday!

What a way to wrap up Women in Construction week with Melissa James-Geska, thank you for your time and we MUST do this again next season!!!! You’ll be on the top of our list!!!!

We blew the whistle and from the opening question we knew that Roseann Schmid was different. She was unapologetically herself, not afraid to share her personal side and how that factored into everything she does as a leader.

"Be kind to everyone because you don't know what they are going through"

Roseann Schmid, works as CEO of Fisher Associates, here in Rochester however what is most impressive is that she doesn't use her position for power but to empower her team. The winner of the 2022 Woman of Excellence could have not gone to a better role model and leader in our local community, that realizes life is much bigger than work. 

Let us be vulnerable and build meaningful relationships with others because we all could use a listening, understanding ear right now. 

A special thank you to all our current military service and veterans. We take a Timeout with Mike Klemmer, CEO, and Founder of Aerial Resupply Coffee, a courageous military veteran focused on the front-line workers who are commonly forgotten or overlooked.

Sometimes we suffer from paralysis from over-analysis in today's informed world, preventing us from taking that leap of faith, betting on ourselves and our passion to begin our self-learning journey. Mike suggested once he feels he has achieved 80% of the achievement mark that he will figure out the last 20% because if he waited for 100% he would never do anything. 

"I wanted to do something that would give back to the veteran community" is the intention Mike needed in order to build his successful startup.

His passion to take care of the people behind the scenes comes from his experience in the U.S. Army as he was responsible for beans, bullets, and beds. His biggest lesson is in order to be successful on the battlefield that there are so many others involved in order to get the job done!

Feeding into that narrative that you are always responsible for the person to you right and left, regardless of diversity, title, or role because we all have a role to play. 

As we get back into the swing of things after a new addition to the Timeout with Leaders family, Tyler White and Kevyn Rustici sit down with Daniel Bajus, Owner of Limitless Physical Therapy in Rochester, NY.

"I find it ironic that in healthcare our number #1 problem today is burnout." said Dan, continuing to say "We take care of people but we can't take care of people at the same time."

From the opening whistle, Dan took us to school on what lessons he learned coming from a family of seven, growing up on a farm, and embracing his faith to supercharge his leadership intention as well as company culture.

He realized very early on that there is more to the person than just their professional contributions, that they must be holistically healthy in order for them to thrive individually, yielding better patient experiences, and outcomes.

We can only do this if we ourselves are willing to block out the time for self-reflection and gratitude journaling. Because when our bucket is not full how can we expect to fill anyone else's?

This week Kevyn has a one-on-one conversation with Mike Colyer, Chief Executive Officer of Foundry in Rochester. 

Foundry has exploded since Mike Colyer started as employee number 1 to now over 170 employees, mind you this was all during a global pandemic. Mike shared that growing up he remembers seeing and missing opportunities during the dot-com era because he was afraid to take a risk.

That all changed when he learned more about blockchain and how it could help to create a better world for all by leveling the playing field, this time he jumped head first. 

Finally taking control of his own destiny, chasing his passion, purpose, and vision while helping others to achieve their full potential.

This week we take a TIMEOUT with Shan Foster basketball legend, the all-time leader in both points and three-pointers made at Vanderbilt University, drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in 2008.

Today Shan Foster is Co-Founder and CEO of Fostering Healthy Solutions committed to taking the lessons he learned on and off the court to inspire others. Focusing on creating safe spaces to have difficult conversations to change the paradigm of how we view our differences.

"When you push past your own discomfort you tap into your true potential" Shan shared what he learned early on going from being the 397th player ranked in the country to the #9 small forward in the country a summer later. 

Shan shares that when you meet adversity, the times that make you question if this really is for you, having you think if you just like it or love it, is when you give yourself the ability to learn and grow. 

We take a timeout this week with Tom Ulbrich, President & CEO of Goodwill of Western New York. 

Did I Live, Did I Love, Did I Matter

This is the billboard that Tom would put up on I-90 for all of us to read, to ensure we are the best leaders we can be at home, at work, and in the community in which we all live and work. Tom shares that his goal as CEO and President has always been to create a business that is not "about" the leader. From his time working with entrepreneurs, and teaching in higher education, and business he has seen how egos can interrupt and impact the overall performance of a company when it is ALL about the leader.  

Tom's Top 4:

1. Look in the mirror 

2. Build a great team that doesn't need you

3. Predict the future by constantly innovating 

4. Always remember it is about momentum