Going Deep With Aaron Watson

Richard Citrin, Ph.D., MBA brings more than 25 years of business leadership and consulting experience to his clients and their organizations, focusing on using a practical and pragmatic approach to his work.   His unique perspective on leadership development, talent management and resilience is based on the idea that by using strengths, assets, and skills, and by aligning them in a purposeful and powerful manner, real change occurs.   Early in his career, Richard worked on Wall Street where he loved the excitement and pace of the financial world, but he also saw how the impact of poor leadership, underutilization of employee capabilities and management overconfidence led to destructive workplaces. His observations helped him decide to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology.   Following his academic work, Richard began his business career. He built a successful healthcare business in the Dallas/ Fort Worth Metroplex in the 1990’s that he successfully sold to a national healthcare company. Richard oversaw multiple aspect

It was a pleasure to interview the 56-year-old co-owner of the Dallas Roughnecks. In their inaugural season, the Roughnecks won the 2016 AUDL championship in dominant fashion, beating the Seattle Cascades 33-27. The win capped an undefeated 17-0 season and the birth of a potential juggernaut.   Jim Gerencser is also the CEO & President of Nationwide Auto Services. Jim started the company in 1982 and has continually refined the process used in overspray removal and administering large-scale claims.      Connect with Jim Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Website   If you liked this interview, check out episode 62 with AUDL Commissioner Steve Gordon where we discuss running the American Ultimate Disc League and the future of pro ultimate.

Mike was most recently the CEO at Green Building Alliance, and was previously the founder of Confluence, Venture Outdoors, and Kayak Pittsburgh.   For the past decade, the Room Leopard team has been searching for places to hold classes, meetings, networking events and lectures. We found this process frustrating and we often depended on our personal network of colleagues and friends. We also noticed the surplus of spaces around the city that owners could utilize more actively. RoomLeopard strives to make it easier to match these unused spaces with the people who need them.   As a guest, be it an hour or a day, RoomLeopard is the spot to connect you with affordable spaces for your next meeting or event.   As a host, be it a conference room, a lobby or an auditorium, RoomLeopard is the spot to put surplus spaces to work for you.   Mike’s Challenge; Invite some people into your home that you normally wouldn’t have over.   Quote from our Interview “Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw bac

Hershey Hilado is not your typical 24-year old. Her difficult upbringing enabled her to develop the resilience and natural drive to find success. Her father was murdered by her own uncle when she was 12. Her own mother traded her for money when she was only 15 and forced her to marry a man 3 times her age when she was 16. After escaping that terrible ordeal, she was homeless for 2 years and eventually moved to Australia. She started her own business 2 years later and now runs a Women's Fashion Label called Ohmagosh, currently sold in over 15 countries across the globe.   Her passion and purpose stretch beyond overcoming adversity and Entrepreneurship. As a philanthropist, she is one of the Ambassadors for The Freedom Hub, a not for profit organization that helps rebuild the lives of survivors of Human Trafficking and Sex Slavery in Australia. She speaks for those who needed a voice. She is a spiritual and passionate human being who chose to live LIFE with so much gratitude, positive intentions, and a purpose

At age 20, Justin is an experienced entrepreneur, consultant, speaker, and best-selling author.Justin began his adventure with the creation of Students4Students College Advisory, a full-service higher education consulting agency. Enjoying his experience helping youth maximize their potential, Justin wanted to further leverage the power of young people.  Millennial Marketing Strategy has evolved into a boutique, digital media strategy consulting agency, assisting Fortune 500 firms, as well as select medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs, leverage powerful marketing tools to grow online.Justin proceeded to launch Next Gen Summit, the premier community for millennial entrepreneurs.  Since its inception over two years ago, Next Gen Summit was more than just a conference. NGS is a mission to bring together the world’s most talented young entrepreneurs to connect, collaborate, and inspire each other, and give them the resources they need to be successful.In December of 2015, Justin published his best-selling bo

Babs Carryer teaches entrepreneurship, provides mentorship and coaching to early-stage companies, and writes about entrepreneurship. At the University of Pittsburgh, Babs works for the Innovation Institute, as Director of Education and Outreach. She teaches the Benchtop to Bedside technology commercialization course to clinicians, researchers.Babs is a co-founder and past chapter chair of Women in Bio. She also teaches at Thrill Mill, educating their teams about entrepreneurship and how to build better businesses. She is also President of Carryer Consulting which provides strategic business planning services to technology companies.Babs co-founded LaunchCyte, which currently has five life sciences portfolio companies, including Crystalplex, Immunetrics, Knopp Biosciences, and Reaction Biology.   Bab’s Challenge; Find 3 women in your life (one younger, one the same age, one older) and give them a hug.   Connect with Babs Twitter LinkedIn Website   If you liked this interview, check out episode 67 with Kit Mue

Gisele was born in Rio de Janeiro and immigrated to the U.S. at age eight with her mother and was undocumented for many years. Growing up in the cities, she was acutely aware of the vast inequalities between Brazil and the United States, and between the working-class community that she lived in and the more affluent communities where her mother secured work as a housekeeper.   These days, you can probably find her at the Free Store – a brightly painted converted storage container that Gisele Fetterman stocks with donated or surplus clothing and necessities for her neighbors in Braddock and nearby communities in Allegheny County. The concept was something she imagined as a kid and new immigrant in New York City. Gisele was frustrated by how easily people were willing to throw things away. Now, three years into the endeavor in Braddock, it’s a full-fledged enterprise run entirely by volunteers and serves 1,600 folks monthly.In Braddock, Gisele is a force in her own right behind the good works and progressive ch

Squonk has created and toured our outdoor spectacles around the world, with reviews that include “insane majesty" from The Scotsman, “surreal and poetic” from USA Today and “ingenious, hallucinatory, hypnotic" from The New York Times. Squonkwork is fast, funny, and shameless: our first show was performed in a Pittsburgh junkyard, with choreographed cranes and roaring earthmovers. Squonk creates post-industrial outdoor performances for major civic venues and festivals and have toured to 39 states and 3 continents, and have received 7 N.E.A. grants.   Jackie Dempsey (Artistic Director/Composer/Pianist/Accordionist) has created twelve multimedia productions with Squonk Opera and has been touring nationally and internationally for over two decades. Last year, she was awarded an Investing in Professional Artists grant from The Pittsburgh Foundation and Heinz Endowments. She has worked as composer and sound designer for Quantum Theatre through a Heinz Endowments’ Creative Heights grant and has been awarded five Int

Sean Douglas is a veteran of the United States Air Force, a certified Master Resilience Trainer, and a professional Motivational Speaker. He enlisted in the Air Force in 2001 right after 9/11, has been deployed to multiple locations, and performed a multitude of duties all over the world. Sean gives many speeches throughout the year on various topics, such as Developing Leaders, Leadership Principles, Team Building, Stages of Team Forming, Self-Defeating Behaviors, Decisions, and much more. As a Master Resilience Trainer, he teaches the following skill sets: Counting Blessings, Accomplishing Goals, ABC (Activating Event, Brain's Interpretation, Consequences), Check Your Playbook, Balance Your Thinking, Acceptance, Capitalizing On Strengths, Physical Resilience, Spiritual Resilience, Interpersonal Problem Solving, and Good Listening & Active Constructive Responding.   Sean's passion is Resilience and inspiring others to succeed. His love for helping others achieve their dreams and instilling in them that e

Larry Gioia’s philosophy “Always Be Connecting the Dots” infects all of his relationships. In this episode, we discuss how to grow and connect a network with actionable tactics that he’d recommend to anyone.   Larry and Aaron’s Challenge; Join Connection University on Facebook to continue to learn and grow.   Connect with Larry Twitter LinkedIn

Ray Gastil is currently Director of City Planning for Pittsburgh. Previously, he was an urban designer in Seattle, where his work was focused on connecting innovative program and design concepts to the pragmatic challenges of making extraordinary projects and places, grounded in their communities.   Expertise includes comprehensive city and regional planning, with a focus on planning and urban design guidelines and arts, housing, and public realm incentive frameworks for campuses, mixed-use districts, arts districts, waterfront redevelopment and public spaces. His work has included strategic planning, division and team management, and designer selection including design competitions.   Ray’s Challenge; Recognize most  were decisions. Interactive map of Pittsburgh   Connect with Raymond LinkedIn Twitter ray.gastil@pittsburghpa.gov If you liked this interview, check out episode 125 with Dan Gilman where we discuss city politics and civic duty.

Found a gem that I wanted to share with you.

Radiant Hall founder Ryan Lammie was born in Pittsburgh and educated at the Pratt Institute in New York. In 2011 he was selected for the Yale / Norfolk Summer Residency in Connecticut and graduated in 2012 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Lammie’s sculptural work often assembled from found materials (discarded furniture, old radios, and the like), is driven by two tendencies in tension with one another: a skepticism of exchange value and a love of maximalism.     As an entrepreneur, Lammie has built Radiant Hall into a nonprofit venture that supports over 50 Pittsburgh artists at four locations city-wide. He is also a creative consultant at the new Energy Innovation Center, overseeing design projects that support the EIC’s social and educational goals.   Ryan’s Challenge; Go out of your way to meet a new artist or reconnect with an artist you already know. Unpack their process.   Connect with Ryan Twitter LinkedIn Website   If you liked this interview, check out episode 124 with Baron Batch where we discuss art

James Andrew Miller is an award-winning journalist who has worked in politics, media, and entertainment in a career spanning more than 20 years.   In 1985, he wrote the bestselling book RUNNING IN PLACE: Inside the Senate. Later, he and co-author Tom Shales wrote LIVE FROM NEW YORK: an Uncensored History of Saturday Night Live, which spent more than four months on the New York Times bestseller list and was named by Fortune as one of the top 75 “Smartest Books We Know.” In 2011, he co-authored with Shales, THOSE GUYS HAVE ALL THE FUN: Inside the World of ESPN, which was an instant No. 1 New York Times bestseller.   He newest book is Powerhouse: The Untold Story of Hollywood's Creative Artists Agency. Through interviews with more than five hundred industry movers and shakers --- a virtual Who’s Who of Hollywood that includes, for the first time, the entire current leadership of the notoriously secretive CAA as well as nearly three dozen top agents, many of CAA’s most aggressive competitors, and scores of major

Derrius Quarles makes things happen. Having grown up in a financially humble background and as an alumnus of foster care, his journey to becoming an award-winning entrepreneur and a globally recognized social change maker has been complex. His turning point came when as a high school student and he made the decision that he wanted to become the first in my family to go to college. Living in poverty at the time, scholarships were an invaluable resource to his pursuit of higher education. Before entering Morehouse College, he gained over one million dollars in scholarship awards.   He graduated disenchanted with the state of higher education access for low-income youth and those who have experienced foster care. The led him to become the Founder & CEO of Million Dollar Scholar, an ed-tech social venture that provides a high-impact low-cost scholarship and financial aid curriculum to decrease financial barriers to higher-ed.   He is now a sought-after speaker in the areas of scholarship education, youth/fost

Dan Gilman is currently serving his first term as City Council member for the 8th Council District of Pittsburgh. Gilman has been very active in his first year on Council, having passed two pieces of legislation and a resolution aimed at reducing the discrimination and stigma pregnant women and nursing mothers continue to face. He has also been active in imploring the PA legislature to support the PA Women's Health Agenda.   The Councilman worked extensively with the Mayor’s office to implement smart technology that will vastly improve City services such as snow removal, paving, online permitting, and the 311 system. He also called for online auctioning of unused equipment—including vehicles—as a revenue generating measure for the City; an idea that the mayoral administration has started to pursue.   Gilman has received many awards and accolades for his hard work. He was selected as one of only twelve leaders nationwide to join The New DEAL, a national network committed to highlighting innovative ideas from s

Baron Batch is a cultural icon, community builder, dot connector, conceptual multimedia artist, and entrepreneur based out of Homestead, PA. He rose to fame through his street art and currently serves as Creative Director of Studio AM.   Studio AM is a multifaceted creative collective that specializes in guerilla marketing, unique private events, and is a production facility for his “Angry Man Salsa”. He has an extensive background in public speaking is a graduate of Texas Tech.   Baron’s Challenge; Practice Stoicism.   Connect with Baron Twitter Instagram Website   If you liked this interview, check out episode 114 with Dan Bull where we discuss giving inmates a second chance through entrepreneurship.

Tucker Max is an American author and public speaker. He chronicled his drinking and sexual encounters in the form of short stories on his website TuckerMax.com, which has received millions of visitors since Max launched it as the result of a bet in 2000.   I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell was a New York Times #1 Bestseller and made the Bestseller List each year from 2006 to 2012. It has sold over one million copies worldwide, including 400,000 copies in 2009 alone. In 2010, he released a book titled Assholes Finish First, and in 2012 marked the literary releases of both Hilarity Ensues and Sloppy Seconds: The Tucker Max Leftovers. He was a 2009 Time 100 finalist based on internet votes, although he did not make the magazine list   His new company, Book in a Box, is a service for helping busy experts transfer their wisdom into book format. The company interviews clients in a systematic way that properly structures their ideas. They then turn those words into a book. All clients need to do, as the author, is answ

Kris Reid is the founder of Ardor SEO and Media Factory. He founded the company after losing his job as a software engineer, opening offices in Cambodia and the Philippines.   Ardor Media Factory is a multi-national backlink building company. They help businesses achieve success in their respective niches by offering a wide range of services including search engine optimization, search engine ranking, and link building. They also produce high-quality content for business websites through informative articles and free services such as keyword research and web analysis.   Kris’s Challenge; Do something that you are scared of. Step out of your comfort zone and do something that makes you nervous.     Connect with Kris  kris@ardorseo.com   If you liked this interview, check out episode 93 with Phil Laboon where we discuss entrepreneurship, digital marketing, and lifestyle design.

John Thornton is the CEO of Astrobotic, a company aspiring to be the logistics company for Space.   Astrobotic delivers lunar payload and services to government and commercial customers. The company’s first Moon mission will carry customer payloads, win the $20M Google Lunar XPRIZE, and explore a possible cave entrance on the surface of the Moon. Astrobotic has 17 prior and ongoing NASA contracts, strong partnerships, and world-leading staff and technology for the development of robotic landers.   John’s Challenge; Find the darkest place you can and look up at the stars.   Connect with John Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Website   If you liked this interview, check out episode 27 with Henry Thorne where we discuss building a technology company and building businesses.