Guest: Ted Tindersmith

"I was recognized by one of the trade publications as one of the top-ranked venture capitalists in the country for 1995 to 1999 – which were good years to be good at it. I loved every day. But as I got further into it, I realized that a lot of the companies we backed were developing products and solutions to make customers far more productive. And that seems to be a really good thing.

"But at a certain point, I realized that if you make a few people really productive, you may be laying off a bunch of others, which gets me to AI and why I am so focused on things today.

"As I looked back on my business career, every day was really fun, but I didn't feel a sense of purpose. Now, every day, I feel a deep sense of purpose by fighting for different priorities in schools and fighting for helping kids find their strengths – instead of putting students on the narrow conveyor belt that leads right into the jaws of AI."

Recommendation to listeners: "Find the things you love to do. Be resourceful in terms of connecting your passions with ways to support yourself financially. Take chances and be bold. And leverage technology. You will never look back and you are going to be in great shape."

Ted Dintersmith is a best-selling author, education advocate, and former venture capitalist who believes math has been weaponized—and it's time to set things right.

His professional career has been immersed in the world of technology-driven education, giving him a ringside seat to the advances of integrated circuits, robotics, and Artificial Intelligence.

For the past fifteen years, he has focused on the world of education, forming an education non-profit, authoring best seller books, and setting a mission to help catalyze and accelerate progress in our schools and equip our children with skills and mindsets that are essential in a world defined by rapidly-advancing innovation.

Ted graduated from the College of William and Mary with High Honors in English and Physics and then got a PhD in Engineering from Stanford. In 2012, he was appointed by President Obama to represent the U.S. at the United Nations General Assembly, where he focused on education and youth entrepreneurship.

Scott Robison, a retired U.S. Army Special Forces veteran with 23 years of service, is a founding partner of Kingswood Defense Group and Cadet Holdings and the founder of Camp Cowboy, a nonprofit supporting veterans with the use of equine therapy.

Scott specializes in consulting for military and commercial sectors, leveraging deep expertise in emerging technologies and defense strategy, and managing rapid acquisition initiatives.

When he retired from the Army, he decided that he wanted to do something for those who struggle with issues from military and public service. That resulted in creating Camp Cowboy in Kemper, Texas. It is operated by veterans to provide FREE Equine Assisted Growth Programs to Service members, Veterans, First Responders, Family members and Gold Star Family members. Through equine-based experience, education, and knowledge, they help participants navigate and overcome stressors and a vast multitude of "life's scars," allowing for a reconnected, well-balanced life change for those in need.

His military career highlights include leading the Special Weapons Testing Task Force at Fort Cavazos and overseeing over 300 major defense acquisition programs. He has also led counterterrorism efforts in Iraq and counter-drug operations with federal agencies.

Robison holds degrees from the New Mexico Military Institute and University of Colorado and certifications from Defense Acquisitions University.

Kahlil Wyche became disillusioned with the restaurant industry when he found himself handling all the responsibilities of a store manager but the chain was only paying him assistant manager wages. "I've always liked money and numbers, so I looked into an entry level position at a bank," Kahlil recalls. "I knew God has His hand on me about 40 days in. I overheard a co-worker who was frustrated with her computer. During my military time and after I'd been certified in some Microsoft software and taken some courses." Kahlil offered to take a look at her computer. He fixed it. The next morning, she offered him a job in the information technology (I.T.) department. He received steady promotions. On weekends he developed a catering business which eventually developed into Catering to Your Whims. He had come full circle back to entrepreneurship and the food business.

Kahlil Wyche is an entrepreneur, local marketing and social media expert who has been connecting people and products through technology for 19 years. As founder of Catering to Your Whims, Inc., and KGW Enterprises, he draws on his experience in marketing, sales and business development to create a platform for professionals to promote their work, share their expertise and interact with consumers.

Liz Chism has been an entrepreneur for over 11 years. She started out her entrepreneurial journey by starting a craft brewery with her husband and being the COO and Head Brewer. After that journey ended, she started Systems into Freedom where she is a business operations coach who strategizes with business about how to organize and streamline their operations so they can create freedom through their business.

Liz seamlessly fits coaching around helping her husband in his real estate business, running the house, raising their three children, and homeschooling.

"It wasn't until my husband and I decided to start a craft beer brewery that I found my passion for organizing, streamlining and strategizing–how to go from point A to Point B in the fastest way possible.

"My husband and I fell in love with brewing, the science and the art mixture. And we fell in love with the community aspect that it brought, the ability to bring people together. What's interesting is that most people didn't think that I would be the brewer. They always put the male as the brewer and the female as the admin/marketing person. It turned out I had more talent for organizing and operations, repeating success and creating the recipes. In the end I was the brewer and did all the operations. My husband's talents were more of that CEO mentality, that visionary, and he handled the business side.

We ran it for almost five years but ended up closing down in 2018 and filing bankruptcy in 2019. And that's actually when we pivoted. There's a lot of things about the brewery that we liked, but some aspects weren't a match for where we wanted to be and what we wanted to do with life. It was actually a moment where we could redesign our life however we wanted to.

Based on what my husband and I learned while building the brewery, I started a coaching business called Systems into Freedom. It is designed to really help business owners put the systems in place so they will not get burned out. Those systems need to be incorporated into the culture of the business and leverage their employees to become leaders.

Karina Anderson's story–from a violent upbringing in Denmark to finding her true purpose in South Africa–is a testament to resilience, spiritual enlightenment, and the power of trusting one's journey.

"More and more I realized that if I can do this, maybe more can do this. And I started writing down the first pieces of my story, which is about how you navigate challenge and how you turn.

"That's why I say I am an alchemist. I'm an alchemist in my own journey, turning lead to gold, regardless of how tough it looks. This is the moment you want that challenge. This is where heroes and heroines are born.

"Everything I've achieved on this journey has been because I've listened. I have shown up. I've been called to go. And, I've learned to trust the process. I know this because I do it every day and I've done it since I arrived here in South Africa."

Intuitive Depth Coach, Alchemist and Change Specialist, Karina Anderson goes to places where most do not dare venture. Together with her Team of Change Agents, she helps switch on lights in some of the darkest corners of the human experience. Her work has taken her from prisons to boardrooms. As the Founder of SmilingOne and Circles of Change Academy, she has spent 17+ years honing a unique change recipe in the homeland of her heart–South Africa, and turning personal adversity into impactful change.

Otto E. Stallworth, Jr, MD, MBA, an anesthesiologist and then a cosmetic surgeon, was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama during the 1940s, fifties and sixties. He crossed the Alabama state line for the first time at sixteen to attend college and was the first college graduate in his family. This was followed by a medical degree at 24 and later an MBA outside of medicine.

He has had several businesses, including Oh Yes! Management and Hollywood Fries Restaurant. In 2022, he began the Stallworth Oh Yes! Foundation, which has awarded four-year full scholarships to students at Howard University and Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, his alma maters. He published his memoir in 2023. Look soon for his first murder mystery.

"When I got into med school, it was even better than anything I could imagine. Every day was a new adventure because you learn about all these different diseases and study the human body. Studying all of this was very intriguing. As a child I just wanted to have this skill to be able to help people. You see someone that is sick and think about if you could cure them or help them get cured or give them the right advice–that seemed like an amazing and very powerful thing."

Sarah Ohanesian is a keynote speaker, productivity strategist, and former Chief Marketing Officer who now helps high-performing professionals and teams do their most important work…without burning out.

Her keynotes and workshops leave audiences energized and equipped to eliminate busywork, prioritize high-impact tasks, and make real impact.

Sarah is the co-founder of Super Productive, a neuro-inclusive productivity consulting company, where she helps teams cut through the chaos by building clear workflows, organizing projects in tools like Asana, and making sure everyone knows what to do and when to do it–so the most important work actually gets done.

You'll walk away from this episode with a truly fresh perspective.

"I had been thinking about Productivity. I have been a student of productivity. I love productivity. I do podcasts about productivity. I read about productivity. I just love it so much. And at the same time, everyone I was talking to, when I would say 'Hi. How are you?' they would answer, 'I'm busy. I'm stressed out. I'm burned out. I'm overwhelmed.' It was like every person I'm talking to is feeling this way. So what can I do about it? And I had this idea, maybe I should start a productivity company. I had no idea what that actually meant. I just thought I have an idea. And a few people said to me, it's a good one. And I had one person say to me, 'What if you did?' I will say that moment changed everything."

Courtney Bagby Lupinin, CEO and Founder of Little Red Management, is the go-to talent manager for reality TV stars from shows on ABC, CBS, MTV and Netflix including The Bachelor Franchise, Big Brother, Love is Blind, and the Circle. She began her career in the corporate sector at Oracle in San Francisco, managing internal communications and events. A yearning for the celebrity side of influencer marketing led her to Los Angeles where she volunteered her time and built relationships within the reality TV world before taking the leap to launch Little Red Management in 2019 at the age of 25. Courtney has also activated partnerships for huge brands including Disney, FOX, Hallmark, Nike, Adidas, Amazon, and more.

"I don't remember who told me this, and I wish I did because I feel like it was the best advice I've ever learned. It was to figure out how you can help those people who you want to work with and bring something to the table for them, but don't expect something back.

"At this time I wanted to do side things that would help me meet people and build my resume. One thing I did was volunteer for a nonprofit event called Reality Rally, which is held every year and all the reality TV stars come to that event to support their cause. I tweeted some of the stars from Survivor, Big Brother and other reality TV shows and volunteered to manage their social media in the off-season. And people accepted. That was super helpful because then when the event came along, I could meet them in person and they knew who I was.

"Another thing I did was to go after a contestant on The Bachelor who I really wanted as a client. I would tweet at her every time I was in L.A. and ask her to get brunch with me. She would always respond, telling me that she couldn't do it–but she would still respond. One time I left her a message to meet me at The Grove that day, which is a fancy mall in L.A. She didn't respond to that, but I ended up running into her there that afternoon. She totally knew who I was from the emails and tweets I had sent her. We sat down together and I asked her all sorts of questions.

"I had tried to reach out to some talent agencies and even social media agencies at the time, but no one would respond to me. So, it turned out for me that my best way of learning was from the talent themselves!

"Nowadays I own my own talent management business, and I always respond to anyone who wants career advice and tips on how to get into the business because I know what it is like to be so hungry for industry information."