Growing With Purpose

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Eric Jones, co-owner of Adamantine Spine Moving, a local and long-distance moving company based in Iowa.    Eric didn’t always dream of owning his own moving business. In fact, for a long time he didn’t know where he wanted his career to take him. His prior path stretched from coast to coast of the US, and involved time as a teacher and soccer coach at a boarding school, completing an MFA in nonfiction writing from the University of Iowa, and working in the burn unit of a hospital. Eventually, Eric picked up a defunct moving business from a friend, and built it up over time. It wasn’t until 2020, when co-owners Cliff and Emily Wallace opened a new branch in Des Moines, and the pandemic saw a boom to the moving industry, that Adamantine grew at an exponential rate. But with growth comes challenges, and Eric and his team had to evaluate how they’d scale while still maintaining their culture and values.    Tune in to this episo

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Andrew Barry, founder and CEO of Curious Lion.   Andrew got his start on the accounting side of business at KPMG. But as his passion for learning grew, he embraced his own courage by moving from his home country of South Africa to the United States, where he started his own training services business. Even though the road wasn’t always smooth, Andrew had mentors (including several standout female leaders in a male-dominant industry) to back him up, as well as his own curious mindset, to propel him forward. Now, through Curious Lion, he’s helping organizations shift their cultures to ones that are people-focused and embrace change in order for them to thrive and not just survive.    Tune in to this episode to hear Andrew and Paul discuss the dual influences their parents had on each of their leadership journeys, the dynamics of being a thought leader while running a business with its own identity, and the power of storytellin

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Jason Fried, co-founder and CEO of 37 Signals, as well as the co-author of several books such as Shape Up and It Doesn’t Have to be Crazy at Work.   As soon as Jason was old enough to work at the age of 13, his parents encouraged him to do so. From a young age, he was able to observe – and learn from – various management styles. Jason also took on an early interest in developing software, and freelanced and sold his own products throughout college. By the time he co-founded 37 Signals in 1999, he had an informed opinion of what strong leadership looked like.   One of the things that has made 37 Signals stand out is their willingness to share what’s in their (not so) secret sauce. Jason says that he’d rather out-teach his competition than out-spend it, and part of that is being public with their company decisions and thought process. This outlook caused controversy for the company in 2020, but ultimately Jason stands by his a

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Beck Sydow, the Founder of HumanKind Business Leaders, and former CEO of StickerGiant.    Beck’s passion is bringing people-hearted and business-minded leadership beliefs to individuals, teams, and organizations. A self-proclaimed “business geek” as well as a longtime mindfulness practitioner, Beck’s aim is to help people understand the importance of weaving together business and leadership, and to do so by showing up to work as their full selves. And Beck finds that sharing their personal story is a helpful illustration of this belief.   Beck grew up in an evangelical christian household, received a bachelor's degree from Liberty University, a large evangelical school, and later gained one of their master's degrees from Naropa University, a buddhist-inspired school. Beck is also same sex attracted and gender nonbinary, a component of their identity that has taken time to fully embrace and share with others, including their

On this mailbag episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Corey Rosen to answer listener questions about the world of employee ownership. Corey is the founder of the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO), a nonprofit membership and research organization that is an authoritative source on broad-based employee ownership plans.    Corey founded NCEO in 1981 after working as a staff member in the US Senate, where he was first introduced to and intrigued by the concept of employee ownership. As he tells us, employee ownership was legislatively recognized in 1974, and is a unique topic in US politics because ever since its conception, it has been consistently favored by both major parties. Despite employee ownership being politically practical, financially strategic, and allowing economics to become more equitable, there are still misconceptions on the topic hindering it from becoming more widespread.    In this episode, Corey helps us to understand the origins of employe

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Carl Erickson, the recently retired Executive Chairman of Atomic Object, a design and development software consultancy he co-founded in 2001. Previously a tenured professor at Grand Valley State University, he enjoyed teaching, but didn’t so much appreciate the affinity in academia for sticking to the status quo. So, when a former student asked him to help manage a team for a startup, Carl took a sabbatical, and eventually resigned, to pursue the new opportunity. The innovation happening in such a new industry was thrilling. When that startup didn’t make it, Carl took the ashes of that business and created Atomic Object.  Carl takes pride in having formed a team of longstanding Atoms who have helped him to shape the company from the early years into what it is today (their first intern, Mike Marsiglia, is now a co-CEO of the company). And part of that is due to Carl’s self regard, combined with his lack of business training

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Lauren Adams, the Director of Operations at the Center for Financial Planning, a privately held wealth management firm. Lauren has always had a strong work ethic that combines with a passion for working towards a greater good. Even as she pursued education, and then a career, in financials, she wasn’t interested in the large public firms and the Wall Street culture. Rather, she focused on finding a work environment that fit her mission of working towards a greater purpose. And in the two companies she’s worked for since graduating - Morningstar and the Center for Financial Planning - she’s found just that.  Tune in for this episode as Lauren and Paul discuss why Lauren shifted from being a stock analyst to a personal financial planner, how the Center for Financial Planning is unique in its industry, and what helped Lauren to get through the early days of the pandemic - all while she was creating new company policies, going t

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Taylor Vanden Hoek, a delivery lead at Atomic Object, a custom software consultancy. Along with one of her colleagues, Taylor is currently working towards opening and managing Atomic Object’s fourth office, which will be located in Raleigh, NC.  From a young age, Taylor had a love for art, largely thanks to her dad’s own passion for creativity. But it wasn’t until her senior year in high school, when she enrolled in a graphic design program at a tech center, when she really hit her stride. After studying at the Art Institute of Chicago, Taylor went on to have design jobs at various companies with different angles on the role of designer. Through this diverse experience, she was able to learn that she loved the parts of design that prioritized the end user and strove to problem solve with them in mind (also known as human centered design). With this self-awareness in mind, she found a place where she could thrive and pursue h

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Devyn Bachman, Vice President of Research at John Burns Real Estate Consulting.  Devyn grew up surrounded by the entrepreneurial spirit. While her parents ran a 20-seat hair salon in Colorado, Devyn grew to love the idea of creating something on your own, but also to respect the relentless hard work that it takes to make a business a success.  Devyn was the first in her family to attend college, and, for the majority of her academic career, was also a dancer on the Denver Nuggets dance team. This terrific opportunity allowed to travel the world, all while pursuing her passion for dance. And she didn’t stop traveling after that. When Devyn’s now-husband proposed to her during their senior year of college, he was also just about to begin his career in the NHL. This meant moving houses, cities, and even states, at an alarming rate for over a decade. “You wouldn’t believe the people I have met along the way. It’s absolutely been

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Lauren Eckhardt, founder and CEO of Burning Soul Collective.  Lauren grew up in rural Missouri with plenty of space to let her imagination roam. She took a detour from her creativity in college, and began her career in Human Resources roles. And while she enjoyed certain aspects of HR, like identifying and celebrating individual’s strengths, her priorities shifted after the birth of her first child, and she knew she wanted to do something different. After a scary bout of covid in the early days of the pandemic, Lauren was forced to look at her life path and where she wanted to take it into the future. By this point, she had already published her own books and done some ghost writing, and people would often ask her to help them with their own stories. So, in the wake of a pandemic, Lauren decided to take her skills and passions, and turn them into a business aimed at helping people write their own life stories.  Tune in as La

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Aaron Montgomery, the CEO of Montgomery Development Group, Co-Founder of CarLotz and author of Suspend Your Disbelief: Short Stories That Are Long On Wisdom.  Aaron grew up in Detroit, raised by his mother, as well as her large family. From them, he learned the value of education and stories, and even got a lifelong, prophecy-filling nickname: Mr. President. After going to a private high school thanks to a scholarship, and eventually Harvard Business School, Aaron recognizes that he’s benefited from experiences and environments that aren’t available to everybody. But he’s also seized opportunities when they’re available. In high school, he asked a friend’s dad if he could work at the man’s car dealership during his summer holidays. Through this, Aaron was able to learn the ins and outs of car sales, which eventually led to him co-founding CarLotz. He and his co-founders strove to make CarLotz a different kind of dealership,

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Hai Nguyen, Co-Founder and Head of Product at Text-Em-All, an automated call and text company.  For a man with such a calm, even presence, Hai’s life began with a lot of turbulence. When he was very young, and with the fall of Saigon, he and his family fled Vietnam. It was a dangerous journey to get to America, and one that took longer than anticipated, but fortunately, he and his family made it safely to Pennsylvania. While he only remembers the journey through the stories told by his older relatives, Hai does believe that the experience was a formative one. “Now, as I’m older and hopefully wiser, I look back and it does give me a lot of strength. When I’m going through something tough, I think back at what my parents went through and it doesn’t seem to measure in comparison.” Listen to this episode to discover how Hai and his opposites-attract business partner have worked together to create a meaningful culture at Text-Em-

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman speaks with Massimo Backus, Chief Coaching Officer of Massimo Backus Leadership.    Massimo’s path to leadership was not a straightforward one, and was heavily influenced by his struggles with dyslexia growing up. As he says, “that challenge both motivated me and put a chip on my shoulder.”   Despite having a supportive family, he felt “othered” in school, and so, understandably, his relationship with academia was fraught with resistance. After entering and then dropping out of college, he picked up several jobs which led him to his curiosity in psychology and how teams organize themselves. He then went on to get an undergraduate degree in Psychology, and a master’s degree in Organizational Behavior Psychology. This eventually led to his passion for working with leaders to fulfill their potential, and practice self compassion.   Listen to this episode to discover the three components of self compassion Massimo lives by, and how, when hi

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Valerie Webster, President of HealthWorks, a Cincinnati based health and well-being company.    When Valerie first stepped into the role of president in a new company, she took it upon herself to meet with every employee for a one-to-one conversation within the first 30 days. For her, trust is one of the most important aspects of being a good leader and building a successful team.   Even though Valerie is still fairly new to her current position, she’s had a long road of ups and downs that have led her to be a formidable and compassionate leader. From being one of the youngest of seven siblings, to deciding early on that she did not want to fit into the mold of working in the automotive industry like most in her Metro-Detroit community, Valerie knew since high school that she wanted to carve out a career that gave her purpose.   Fast forward to now, and she’s doing just that. Valerie talks to Paul about the eight dimensions o

On this episode of the Growing With Purpose podcast, Paul Spiegelman talks to Eric Rieger, founder and CEO of WEBIT Services, a people-focused IT strategy, service, and support company based in Naperville, IL.    After working for other software companies with poor culture, Eric decided to take matters into his own hands and start his own company. 25 years later, WEBIT Services is a Better Business Bureau accredited company, and has made it onto the Inc. Best Workplaces list.   “There’s harmony and vision and unity with the leadership team, which then translates down to the rest of the company,” says Eric. “The gears are really starting to align, and we’re gaining traction because of it.”   Eric moved his company to open book management in 2016, and as of last year, transformed WEBIT into an ESOP. He wanted to make sure that he had an exit strategy in place that would benefit the people who have made his company a success over the years.    “My purpose for starting the company was to help make lives b

On this episode of the Growing With Purpose podcast, Paul Spiegelman talks with Andy Fowler, CEO of Nutshell, an all-in-one CRM and email marketing platform based in Ann Arbor, MI.   “My trajectory in life was never to start a business, or even to lead a business,” says Andy. “I was always motivated by my own curiosity and making things, that’s what always made me tick.” This curiosity for learning was instilled in Andy at an early age. He was homeschooled by his mother all the way through high school, which gave him the flexibility to really dive into topics that he was most curious about. One of these was computers, which led him to intern, and later work at a local dialup internet company. It was there that he learned the fundamentals of computers and software, and where he met three friends who ended up being his co-founders in eventually creating Nutshell. One of these friends, Guy Suter, was CEO until other business ventures took more of his time. They then brought in a CEO from the outside, and just

On this episode of the Growing With Purpose podcast, Paul Spiegelman talks with Kate McCrea, CEO and “Chief Caramel Visionary” of McCrea’s, a quality candy confectioner. Kate is also a longstanding member of the Small Giants Community.  At a glance, Kate’s road may be a very windy one. From being an avid dancer as a child, to training as a scientist and living in places like remote Alaska to conduct fieldwork, to now being at the helm of a rapidly growing candy company, Kate has worn a lot of hats in her life. But to her, these transitions haven’t been huge leaps, but rather, stepping stones. After Kate’s husband, Jason, a fellow scientist, lost his job in 2008, he started making caramel in his kitchen, working with sugar molecules to stabilize the candy rather than using preservatives. Before long, it turned into a family business. “It’s easy to look back now, and see we had this itch to step into the business world to be makers,” says Kate. “Once Jason had this amazing formulation… it was not a huge step

On this episode of the Growing With Purpose podcast, Paul Spiegelman talks with Angela Barbash, CEO of Revalue Investing, a values-based investment advisory firm.  She is also a current participant in the Small Giants Leadership Academy as well as a recipient of our inaugural LIFT scholarship. For Angela, all roads lead to making an impact. Growing up, she observed how her separated parents both struggled financially to navigate a society that didn’t allow them access to resources or knowledge. This, along with her love for math and the stories from her activist grandmother, Maria Elena Lucas, set Angela on a clear path. She wanted to work in finance, but she wanted to do it differently. She wanted to make the industry accessible for people of all different socioeconomic backgrounds. After years of traversing the industry to understand how it worked from the inside out, and then more time researching and developing, Angela and her team launched Revalue Investing in 2013. They are a boutique investment firm

On this episode of the Growing With Purpose podcast, Paul Spiegelman talks with Mel Gravely, majority owner and CEO of TriVersity Construction. He is also the author of nine books, including his most recent, Dear White Friend. As a self-proclaimed product of Affirmative Action, from an early age Mel understood not only that his presence as a black man in professional settings was met with negative perceptions, but also that the intentionality of inclusion offered him opportunities that the systems in this country would not have naturally led to. After a successful career at IBM, earning his PhD, and starting several other companies, Mel went on to lead TriVersity Construction, which is a consistent member of the Deloitte 100 list of the largest privately owned companies.  After writing eight business books relating to his PhD in entrepreneurship focused on African Americans, Mel felt compelled to contribute to the social justice movement with his book Dear White Friend (in which he intentionally left out hi

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Conni Reed, founder and CEO of Consuela.  Starting with a computer science degree, Conni had a steady career in the corporate tech world. But she was feeling uninspired, unhappy, and, in her own words, “I was pretty much just un.” After a self-proclaimed “early mid-life crisis at 35,” she left her job to start her own business. What began as making one-of-a-kind art in her garage has grown into a multi-million dollar company selling joyously colorful handbags, as well as the mission “make today ridiculously awesome!”. In this episode, Connie explains how hearing many “no’s” helped her to understand her values even more, the personal importance of working with artisans in Mexico, and the strength that empathy has given her throughout her life. After you listen, head on over to the Consuela website for some accessory eye candy and heartwarming messages.