Rounding The Bases With Joel Goldberg

Dr. Kurt Graham, the Director of the Truman Library and Museum hails from academia and has led an esteemed career that includes doctorate studies at Brown University and instructing at Cal State San Bernardino. After his transcontinental pursuits, it’s only appropriate that he would ultimately land in the Midwest, at the helm of America’s original democratic classroom. Under his direction, the Library has ushered in a new era of transformation, becoming a compelling, modern vehicle for stories that are rooted in our presidential past. With skillful leadership he’s brought change for the better, teaching the lessons that are worth learning and protecting the legacy established by Give ‘Em Hell Harry himself. To hear more from Dr. Kurt Graham please visit https://bit.ly/RTBKurtGrahamYou can find the Truman Library and Museum's website at https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/

Sam Mellinger’s career as a journalist has ranged from high school sports to Final Fours. From Super Bowls to World Series. He’s seen it all as a newspaper reporter and columnist. Sam made a massive pivot last winter, trading in his notebook for a job in media relations as a vice president for the team he used to cover, the Kansas City Royals. Joel talked to Sam about the differences in building trust and relationships in his old role versus his new one, plus leadership, culture and some baseball.For bonus coverage with Joel and Sam please check the YouTube link: https://bit.ly/RTBSamMellinger

We’re now two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, and it would be nearly impossible to find someone who hasn’t been impacted by its challenges. We all felt the collateral damage, but the very people who needed protecting the most may have actually suffered the most. Seclusion helped keep vulnerable seniors from the virus, but it also introduced them to its equally destructive companion, loneliness. Tech entrepreneur Eliot Arnold set out to help our seniors. He is the CEO and co-founder of MoodSpark, a mood-improving digital companion. By disrupting negative feelings and replacing them with emotional memories, MoodSpark actually improves the mental and biological health of its users. He’s widely regarded for his novel approaches to complex human problems, and his latest beta delivers. With a vision based on emotion but backed by science, Eliot and his team have harnessed the power of AI to help make loneliness a thing of the past.

As we wrap up another month with fantastic guests, we circle back to Anita Newton's episode in this month's "Best Of" series. Anita Newton is an innovative entrepreneur and marketing junkie, but perhaps best known as the Chief Innovation Officer of Community America Credit Union. With a proclivity for fun and willingness to say ‘yes’, she introduces groundbreaking ideas that challenge boundaries. She’s even the mastermind behind a first-of-its-kind product that has revolutionized the financial landscape for college-bound students. With her perpetually action-oriented leadership style, she aligns her team towards a singular focus, welcoming each new challenge as an opportunity to create another one of her masterpieces.

Raneem Alasmi is a woman of bravery, of strength, drive, and love. She is a young woman who has overcome more adversity than most of us will in our entire lifetimes. And even though her name probably isn't one you’ve heard before, after hearing her story, it’s one you won’t soon forget. Raneem Alasmi is a Syrian refugee with an insatiable hunger for life. After fleeing her home country, she and her family arrived stateside with no language or money, just the clothes on their backs. In a matter of years, she went from learning English by watching the Disney channel to becoming a KU undergrad, where she’s earning her degree in journalism. She knows she has a voice to promote change and speak her truth, it is up to us to listen.

Laura Sanko is the type of person who looks a challenge in the eye and gives it a wink. And even though she may not look like the fighting type, she shows up every day ready to break down yet another barrier. Over the course of her career, Laura has gone from amateur MMA fighter to promising correspondent. Now, she’s a marquee on-air talent for the UFC. Capturing the title of first-ever female analyst in ultimate fighting was no easy feat, but she always had confidence in what she could do if just given the chance. She may be fancy, but when it comes to fighting, she’ll knock you right out.

For many, April 13, 2014 was just another Sunday. For today’s guest, it marked the day her life trajectory was altered forever. Headlines circulated around the world when the open fire of an antisemitic gunman took the lives of her father and 14-year old son, leaving her as a grieving mother and daughter with a decision to make. And in the face of unimaginable tragedy, Mindy Corporon chose to respond with - what she calls - courageous kindness, a rare form of bravery that cannot be deterred by pain. She’s the former CEO of a successful wealth management firm whose ambition changed in an instant, pivoting from guiding clients financially to guiding the masses towards tolerance and common ground. Realizing that sadness and joy actually go hand in hand, Mindy began to rebuild her life. Now, she's a successful entrepreneur who uses her platforms as a speaker, author and podcast host to channel heartbreak into healing. Despite her soul shattering loss, she has spent the last seven and a half years making each new

Bringing heart, hustle and a heap of confidence into her every day, LaFarris Risby adheres to one simple tenet in life, which is that the decisions you make today will ultimately affect your tomorrow. She is dynamic, she is results driven, she is the founder and CEO of Loving Arms Enterprises. Today LaFarris boasts an impressive list of credentials, but her success story is actually rooted in necessity. With $50 in her pocket and two young children to provide for, failure was never an option. She had belief in herself and hope for the future, and managed to build a multi-million dollar business from nothing. For more about LaFarris please visit www.lafarris.com

Marquita Miller-Joshua is the Founder and President of Five Star Tax and Business Solutions, best-selling author and powerhouse motivational speaker. While she may be a masterful accountant by trade, her real business is advocating for others on a journey to their own success. A staunch proponent for acting with intention, Marquita has earned herself a reputation for inspiring entrepreneurs and audiences alike to commit. Whether that’s to break barriers or eliminate excuses, she positions them to own their goals and take action, for a result that’s undeniably impactful.

Morag Barrett is described more than as a "people person", but rather she is a "people first" person. Relationships are the cornerstone of everything she does, making it no surprise that she thrives on empowering others to show up as their best selves and maximize their potential to excel. Morag is the founder and CEO of SkyeTeam, the award-winning leadership development firm, and the best-selling author of Cultivate: The Power of Winning Relationships. In Welsh, her name means “great”, and through the power of great relationships, she helps organizations achieve extraordinary results. Calling business the ultimate team sport, Morag teaches that you can’t help but depend on others for your own success. With intention and experience, she is leading the charge on bettering business for people in business, one relationship at a time.

Episode 719's guest is a brilliant creative who delivers perfection but chooses to color outside the lines. Why? In a word, innovation. Anita Newton is a serial entrepreneur and marketing junkie, but perhaps best known as the Chief Innovation Officer of Community America Credit Union. With a proclivity for fun and willingness to say ‘yes’, she introduces groundbreaking ideas that challenge boundaries. She’s even the mastermind behind a first-of-its-kind product that has revolutionized the financial landscape for college-bound students. With her perpetually action-oriented leadership style, she aligns her team towards a singular focus, welcoming each new challenge as an opportunity to create another one of her masterpieces.

Dr. Risa Stein holds a PHD in clinical child and health psychology and an MA in Organizational Leadership, but perhaps her greatest title is mom. While raising a neurotypical child, Dr. Stein identified a need within her own family, ensuring the most vulnerable among us are seen as the extraordinary, unique individuals that they are prompting her to start her business, SeeInMe. SeeInMe assists vulnerable individuals by providing information about a loved one to those around them. Dr. Stein discovered a way to nurture the individual and empower the family, giving a voice where it's needed most showing just how much heart there really is here in the Heartland.

It's time for our "best of" episode for the month of February as we feature Brian Roberts of Lockton Companies. Brian is the Chief Diversity Officer, Executive Vice President and newly-appointed Chief Operating Officer of its Midwest Series where his primary focus is on the talent, and how he can help each and every individual achieve things even they didn’t know they were capable of. Not unlike a sports coach, his commitment to the team is unrelenting. He also equips each player, or in Brian’s case, Associate, with the resources and guidance they need to perform their best. And each win isn’t just one for the team, but a testament to the leader who helped get them there.

On Rounding the Bases, there’s one topic that continues to be a cornerstone of the stories we tell, and that is culture. Jeff King is the CEO of Barkley, an award-winning advertising agency who knows the significance of culture in business. Jeff has made a point of building his company around one very simple concept, which is to "add good." Add good to ideas, add it to a brand, and most importantly, add good to the lives of those around you. From his acclaimed diversity initiatives to his tireless work with area youths, Jeff adds a healthy serving of good wherever he goes, balancing purpose with profits and leading by example. In doing so, he imparts real change, not just within the creative genius keeping Barkley clients happy, but in his community, the industry, and arguably, the world. For more about Barkley visit: https://www.barkleyus.com/

LaTonya Wilkins is someone whose ambition is to disrupt traditional business culture in order to make a difference. As a queer woman of color in corporate America, she knows first hand that for some companies, the phenomenal culture it boasts is purely superficial. She is the founder of The Change Coaches and global thought leader on corporate culture. Her expertise is so rich that she in fact wrote the best selling book on it, called Leading Below the Surface. Using her lived experience, she now coaches executive management on how to create thriving, deeply inclusive and radically authentic workplace cultures once - and finally for all.

If good, honest journalism has the power to change the world, our latest guest on Rounding the Bases is a great mind for the record books. Ebony Reed is equal parts formidable journalist and modern-day civil rights advocate who has built a career on diversity and social issues. Her mission of bringing visibility to inequalities has spanned many platforms, including as co-author of the forthcoming book “The Black Dollar” and as a former Wall Street Journal talent. Ebony most recently ascended to the position of Chief Strategy Officer for The Marshall Project. Under her tutelage, the Pulitzer Prize winning group has continued to spark important conversations about criminal justice reform. She is a voice for all of us paving a way to a hopeful future.

Luke Fedlam is the Leader of the Porter Wright Sports Law Practice as well as Founder and President of Anomaly Sports Group. He’s a protector of possibilities who understands the business of athletics in a way that few others do. After watching one too many athletes fail to transition to the next phase of their career, he resolved to become part of the solution. With nearly two decades of legal expertise and a penchant for Name, Image and Likeness education, he’s become the vanguard for student and professional athlete life skills development. By equipping them with the tools they need, game plans are made for their careers and beyond, transcending their sport to become anomalies. For more information on Luke Fedlam, check out https://www.porterwright.com/#s.1 or http://anomalysportsgroup.com/ For more on Joel Goldberg, visit his website: https://joelgoldbergmedia.com/

Episode 712 features a look behind the bench with the amazing Honorable Brian C. Wimes, US District Judge for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri, who has served with distinction since his 2012 appointment under the Obama Administration. He’s the first to admit that the gravity of being a federal judge requires he view himself with a sense of humor, while being careful to balance the work itself with the care and seriousness that it demands. Outside of his chambers, he’s passionate about reciprocating the mentorship bestowed upon him early in his career to the next generation of legal professionals.

Sports and a championship mentality are at the forefront of Rounding the Bases. And in our latest installment, Joel Goldberg chats with a soccer pro turned coaching phenom, though maybe not in the sense you would expect. Brian Roberts is Lockton Companies’ Chief Diversity Officer, Executive Vice President and newly-appointed Chief Operating Officer of its Midwest Series. In Brian's sports career he played defender and in his new role, he continues to play defender of its culture and market position. Brian has played a first-hand role in coaching others to achieve their own potential. Not unlike a sports coach, his commitment to the team is unrelenting. He also equips each player, or in Brian’s case, Associate, with the resources and guidance they need to perform their best.

We love rounding out the month with a listen back to one of our favorite episodes of the month! This guest helped kick off season 7 with a bang. He's a Kansas City native who makes the crowds go crazy, has a reputation for being one of hip-hops most unconventional rappers, and his signature rapid-fire flow has earned notoriety around the world. With credits that include 17 studio albums, a BET Nomination and repeat appearances on the Forbes list, his accolades kick almost as hard as his bone fide beats. Stomp your feet and clap your hands for the City of Fountains’ very own platinum recording artist, Tech N9ne.