Business Rockstars

On This Episode : Kym Yancey and Kathryn Goetzke Marketing to your customer can be a mind numbing process, luckily we have the leading expert stopping by our studio to make this an easier and productive tool. Yancey is considered one of North America’s premier marketing experts. He has a legacy of success and brings an avalanche of creativity, passion and business savvy to everything he touches. Previously, Kym was founder and president for 15 years to one of the top multi-cultural advertising agencies in the U.S. and was a finalist for Inc. Magazine’s “Entrepreneur of the Year.” Kym is committed to serving others and believes that success is an empty bag if you are not volunteering and giving back.Can the color of lighting change the way you feel? It definitely can! Our guest Kathryn Geotzke, President and CEO of Mood-factory, created a company built to show consumers how to engage their senses to improve their moods. Initial product launch of Mood-lites included features in New York Daily, New York Magazine

On this Episode : Pirooz Sarshar, Scott Page and Moana Avvenenti It’s not easy being a man, according to prolific men’s lifestyle connoisseur, go-to grooming consultant and self-described, “wingman.” Hailing from Washington D.C and NYC, Sarshar has transformed how millions of American men groom themselves and live their lives.Pizoor Sarshar's irreverent yet deeply informative men’s lifestyle platform at PRZMAN “The Institute of Manhood” -- that gets 40,000 visitors per month -- educates men on how to shave (and groom their private parts), how to stay fit, stock their fridges, make the perfect Manhattan (and cure a hangover), and prepare the perfect filet mignon and spinach for their love interests.Called the “Martha Stewart of Men’s Lifestyle,” Sarshar describes PRZMAN as the place where “the brainy, the brawny and the regular bro can find the tools every guy needs” to be the best brand of man he can be. Sarshar has produced nearly 100 how-to videos for men viewed by at least 3 million viewers. He has also ap

On This Episode : Jon Rollo, Renee Strauss and David Michail Why start another restaurant in LA!? What's the point? There are so many! Anyone out here with that dream has said that to themselves over and over. Enter Jonathan Rollo, one of LA’s top celebrity chefs, he is fired up about the success and growth of, Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop, and is ready to share his journey and explain that you can do this too. Jon trained at Le Cordon Bleu and the Culinary and Hospitality Institute of Chicago, where he began working as a prep cook with The Rosebud Group. Eventually moving back to Los Angeles, he joined The Patina Group one of Southern California’s premiere restaurant groups. He left the group in Spring of 2007 to bring Greenleaf to life and hasn’t looked back since.Renée Strauss is synonymous with weddings. She has guided brides from around the world achieve their personal best and fulfill their vision for their special wedding day. Internationally recognized, Renée styles brides, the bridal party, and the wed

On This Episode : Ashley Borg, Audra Quinn, Fred Joyal (1-800-DENTIST), Jon Kolker and Gareth WilsonAshley Borg, Co-Founder & Creative Director of UNCORKED!.Talented visual designer with 12 years of print, web and mobile app experience for Fortune 100 companies including Electronic Arts, Sony PlayStation, Aflac, Mitsubishi, Disney, and Warner Bros. She has a passion for typography, seamless user experience, and DIY projects.Audra Quinn, Co-Founder & CEO of UNCORKED!.Seasoned copywriter and digital marketer with 10+ years of publishing experience across multiple channels and industries. She a wine-loving wordsmith with a passion for entrepreneurship, social engagement and building the UNCORKED! brand. She also holds an MBA in entrepreneurship from Pepperdine University.Fred Joyal is an entrepreneur who partnered with Gary Saint Denis in 1986 to form the successful dental referral service, 1-800-DENTIST. Today he serves as the CEO of Futuredontics, Inc., which Joyal is widely regarded as one of the lead

On This Episode : Ian Stewart & Marcia WiederIan Stewart devise, stages and films some of the biggest events across the planet. It's a far cry from growing up on a farm in New Zealand, then qualifying as a lawyer and ending up working as a Fund Manager in London. Have you ever thought to yourself "this job is good, but I don't want to be here my whole life?" Ian fills us in on how he made the transition from a Fund Manager to staging and filming the worlds biggest evens. Ian’s work has taken him to all corners of the planet and featured most of the biggest artists in the world, but his true love is creating events from the ground up. His belief is - be creative, productive and keep the vision.As Founder and CEO of Dream University Marcia Wieder travels the world - an ambassador for making dreams real. She's known for giving inspiring and moving talks to notable companies such as AT&T, The Gap and American Express. For anyone starting a new business, or just embarking on a new path in life, Marcia is a

On This Episode : Mark Mertens and Jay Samit As the visionary behind A Hundred Years, Marc's greatest passion is leveraging technology to connect people to what matters most and inspire them into action. He's a believer in the power of design to transform the world for the better, and for over 11 years has created immerse digital experiences for some of the world's leading brands. Marc teaches our listeners the importance of technology and people, and how it can create an amazing work environment.Jay Alan Samit is president of ooVoo – the world’s largest provider of social video chat with 50 million registered users. Samit is a leading technology pioneer with over 25 years experience in digital media. Prior to ooVoo, Samit was CEO of SocialVibe, the largest social media technology platform, reaching over 600 million consumers around the world each month for such major brands as Proctor & Gamble, Kraft, Nestle, Toyota, Pepsi, Microsoft, Visa, and Disney. Samit has held global senior management positions at

On This Episode : Victor Benoun, Johnny “Vatos” Hernadez and Ian OrmistonEntrepreneur, Author, Life Coach (and amateur magician) Victor Benoun is a successful entrepreneur and owner of The Mortgage Source, Inc., co-creator of the 13 Hour Clock, and author of three books. As a coach he has helped to empower fellow entrepreneurs open their own businesses, write books and record CD’s. We asked this life coach to help our listeners better understand real estate, why it's still a reliable business, and how you can start your career with a plan! He has worked in the mortgage industry for 35 years and helped thousands of people attain home ownership.Johnny “Vatos” Hernandez’s professional drumming career began at age seventeen with a USO tour to South Vietnam. At nineteen, he was playing in local big bands, the LACC Studio Jazz Band and the Si Zenter Big Band. During the same time, Hernandez played in a variety of pit orchestras and backing acts, like Bob Hope, Billy Daniels and Gordon McCray. In the 1970s, he playe

On This Episode : Parnell Delcham, Darren Kavinoky & David Michail Have you ever wanted to start a restaurant but don't know where to begin? Leading the team behind Ways & Means is Parnell Delcham, president of UCA, having previously captained Domaine Restaurant Group, Straits Restaurant Group, Nice Ventures, and China Grill Management in opening acclaimed concepts that include 25 Degrees, Public Kitchen & Bar, and Asia De Cuba. Parnell gives our listeners invaluable advice and tips regarding the culinary world, and gives you the secrets to his incredible success.Darren Kavinoky is a criminal behavior expert, trial lawyer, TV analyst, author, and keynote speaker, we can truly say that he is an extremely accomplished man amongst all trades.Darren is known as an award-winning criminal defense attorney. The American Trial Lawyers Association has named him one of the “Top 100 Trial Lawyers in California” each and every year since 2007. Los Angeles magazine identified Darren as a “SuperLawyer” in 2010,

On This Episode : Caitlyn Chase, Ryan Blair, Courtney and Gordon Gould At little while back Caitlyn Chase was developing a considerable reputation on the web for her blog entitled Caviar&Cashmere. The site covers the most extravagant lifestyle indulgences from the best yachts to the most decedent private island escapes. Caitlyn fill us in on just how difficult it can be to start a company with your daughter, how they made it work, and what you can learn from their mistakes!We all have our own "skeletons in the closet," and most of us have a hard time thinking we can start a company because of our tarnished past. This is not the case as our guest explains. Ryan Blair‘s path to entrepreneurial success was anything but ordinary; he grew up in an LA gang, lived with a meth addicted father, landed in jail and dropped out of high school his freshman year, yet managed to transform his life. Ryan’s life was changed by a mentor that saw his potential despite his flaws. Mentoring at-risk youth has become Ryan’s gre

On This Episode : Dhana Cohen and Jason Nazar You have a great idea, and now you have successfully made your product. So how do you get it distributed? Dhana Cohen has over 25 years experience in marketing and product development. Earlier in her career she worked in advertising for The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Magazine, a Bonneville radio station in Phoenix and an International Home Design magazine. Dhana explains that her idea blossomed when she was a stay at home mom, Dhana ran her own marketing firm for 10 years creating campaigns for small businesses, and developed some of her own products. Jason Nazar is the co-founder and CEO of Docstoc.com, the premiere online destination to start, grow, and manage small businesses. Docstoc hosts the best quality and widest selection of professional documents (over 30 million), and resources including articles, videos & productivity tools to make every small business better. Docstoc is a top 500 most tracked website worldwide and has over 25 million registered use

Scott Griffiths is an adjunct professor of marketing who teaches International Marketing to graduate students at Pepperdine University and has taught New Products Development at the business school at Chapman University, and business modeling to senior product designers at Art Center College of Design. Having led or been on the leadership team of more than twenty startups; and, having created, launched and built more than 100 products and brands, Professor Griffiths brings exacting and realistic real world experience to the classroom.A Silicon Valley entrepreneur, investor, speaker and computer security expert, Dave Asprey spent 15 years and $300,000 to hack his own biology. Along the way, he crated an early cloud computing service at the first web hosting company and ran strategic planning for two public companies. He splits his time between helping others upgrade themselves with coaching and on The Bulletproof Executive, and serving as Trend Micro's head cloud computing tech evangelist.

Do you want to create a business that wow's the customer, indulge's their senses, and leaves them begging for more?! The brainchild of L.A.’s most celebrated pastry chef, Waylynn Lucas, and gluten-free baking wiz Nancy Truman, fonuts debuted in August ’11 with a mission to elevate the coffee and donut experience into loftier and tastier realms. Baked and/or steamed and never fried, fonuts replicate the donut taste you know and love, but give it a modern spin, featuring gluten-free and vegan options alongside traditional varieties.Scott Page is a technologist, entrepreneur, musician and songwriter. Page is most recognized as the saxophonist for Pink Floyd, Supertramp and Toto. As an entrepreneur, he formed Walt Tucker Productions an audio video post production company in 1987. In 1992, he Co-founded 7th Level, Inc., a CD-ROM game and educational software company. Later, Page Co-founded New Media Broadcasting Company, a social media and collaborative communications enterpriseSinger-songwriter, Natalie Smith, gr

On This Episode : Tara Guber & Reichart Von WolfsheildYoga Ed. fulfills a lifelong desire of Tara’s to share the benefits of yoga with children in schools across the nation. Now you get the opportunity to hear from one the industries best on how to create a business while keeping your cool! Tara Guber was the co-founder of Education First! a media based, education advocacy non-profit organization, a Points of Light Foundation board member and is a founding board member of The Accelerated School in South Central Los Angeles. And if you are thinking about writing a book, then do not miss this interview! Tara has written two books, Yoga Moves with Alan Finger and Contact: The Yoga of Relationship.Reichart Von Wolfsheild is a technologist, inventor, artist and futurist. Starting in his teens, he designed and built a computer CPU from scratch. In the early 1980s, while helping pioneer music videos for the then-fledgling network, MTV, he started his first successful technology company developing Artificial Inte

No matter how much you "keep up" with our ever changing world there still always seems to be one (or 2) things that just don't make sense. Enter Neil Grossman, he has the rare ability to simplify complicated issues and present them in a clear, concise and unbiased manner. Grossman brings a varied and unique experience to financial and economic matters drawing upon advanced studies in mathematics, physics and law and a career in trading, central banking, fund management and finance. So in other words, "you have questions, we have answers!" Do not miss this great interview!Mr. Landau was responsible for bringing the SPIDER-MAN franchise to Sony. He also managed Sony Pictures Animation. He has grown Sony Online Entertainment into a worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online games. He served as Vice Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. He advises several companies including Animation Lab, iContaqt, and Infinite Memories. Yair has been through a ton of amazing experiences our listeners can greatly be

Alan Fox is the founder, editor, and publisher of Rattle, one of the most respected literary magazines in the United States, and he sits on the board of directors of several non-profit foundations. *PEOPLE TOOLS: 54 Strategies for Building Relationships, Creating Joy, and Embracing Prosperity* is the distillation of his experience in accounting, law, real estate, poetry, three marriages, and raising six children, two step children, and one foster child . Alan shares why he started his groundbreaking magazine, how you can benefit from it, and lessons you can learn and use everyday in your life!Chris Simms is the CEO and Founder of Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar, a leading innovator in the upscale casual dining space with twelve locations throughout Southern California and one location in the Bay Area. Chris explains just how hard it can be to open a restaurant, what steps you can take, and how you can make your menu stand out from the rest! Here is an example; The first Lazy Dog restaurant opened in the Hunting

On This Episode : David Wurth & Scott Moore David Wurth is Founder / Publisher of C-Suite Quarterly (CSQ) and Founder / CEO of its parent company C-Suite Media Incorporated, a company dedicated to producing content for the C-Suite Executives business and lifestyle interests. He is responsible for all aspects of the publication as well as the media company’s supportive divisions including custom publishing, digital media, events, memberships and creative services. Some of CSQ’s notable partners have included Ernst & Young, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo Private Bank, Latham & Watkins, HUGO BOSS, NetJets, Burgess Yachts and The Peninsula Beverly Hills.As President, Broadcast, Scott Moore is responsible for overseeing the programming, production, regulatory, engineering and distribution of Rogers Media’s suite of TV and radio assets, comprised of 12 conventional television stations, including City and OMNI Television, 12 specialty stations, including Sportsnet and FX Canada, and 55 AM and FM radio stati

Known as “the Hypnotists Hypnotist,” Ken Dubner is a hypnotherapist, life coach, educator, and speaker. He has been involved in training hundreds of Certified Hypnotherapist in the United States. Ken is certified behavioral hypnotherapist and master hypnotist, and has been filmed by HBO documentaries, Discovery Science Channel, Discovery Health Channel, American TVs EXTRA, and the Armed Forces Network. Richard “Ribbs” Gibbs is an American film composer and music producer whose credits include the films Sweet Hearts Dance, Dr. Dolittle, Big Momma's House, The Book of Stars, Queen of the Damned and the television series Battlestar Galactica. Gibbs was the keyboard player for the New Wave band Oingo Boingo from 1980 to 1984. He was also a session player, performing on over 150 albums for artists as diverse as War, Tom Waits, Boy Meets Girl, Living in a Box, Robert Palmer, and Aretha Franklin. He also started with Michael Jochum the band Zuma II, which had an eponymously titled record released by Pasha/CBS Recor

Michelle McCloskey is the founder, president and co-owner of Run Around Betties, a convenient and affordable personal assistance firm covering the greater Los Angeles and Orange County areas. In this role, she oversees and manages all aspect of the organization, including but not limited to client and employee relations, new business, bookings, and general administration. McCloskey initially got the entrepreneurial bug at the age of 21 when she created her very own stationary line, Michelle Lane, and again in 2007 when she launched and managed an online vintage clothing store, Hourglass Vintage, for three years. In 2011, she officially launched Run Around Betties, the result and combination of her 10-plus years as a personal and executive assistant, and her desire to find a fun, cost-effective and dynamic way to help time-strapped professionals and everyday folks. James Sun is the CEO of Pirq where he sets and leads the overall business strategy, communication, and execution. Previous to Pirq, he was the F

What's the best approach to being disruptive? How do you take a simple idea and make it fantastic? Mr. Ojanperä will help us better understand these techniques as our guest today! Tero has a strong and versatile 20+ year long experience in mobile industry; he had been focused on stimulating innovations, developer activities and building new businesses for most of his professional life.Vision+ has developed an unique financing model to investing in IPR industries to maximize the value to both developers as well Fund’s for investors. Vision+ funding will create an opportunity for new players to take part in the value chain and help developers to improve their share of the value chain and keep the IPR’s. While obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship from Babson College, James Siminoff founded Your First Step International, Inc., a company that assisted entrepreneurs in bringing ideas from concept to fruition. In 2000, the company pivoted to building and operating global wholesale Voice over IP networ

Brad Johnson is a leading force in the Culinary world. So how do you stand out in a world with a restaurant on every block? This is how Post & Beam was born, a concept he and and acclaimed Chef Govind Armstrong came up with, serving moderately priced California comfort food. The restaurant features a wood burning oven, open hearth cooking, open kitchen, patio and on-site garden. And Brad doesn't stop there, he is also the owner of Brad Johnson & Associates, a Restaurant management company dedicated to improving restaurant performance through cost effective operations, marketing and purchasing programs, comprehensive training, and sales development at the local level. Other services include concept development, site selection, design, build and project management consultation, and startup planning and implementation. Do not miss this incredibly informative interview!Mark Verge Founder and owner of Westside Rentals, a listings service for Southern California renters and landlords. Based in Santa Monica