Action And Ambition

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Phillip Lanos. Today’s guest is CR Celona. Celona is the Founder/CEO of CLUSTER, a new on-demand social impact platform. It empowers Millennials and Gen Z to create, share, and scale the causes that matter most to them. CR  has 20 years of Digital Media Management experience with National Senior Agency + Client Relationships. Influencer Marketing Founder. He specialized in; Ad Sales, Lean Thinking, Business Development, Social Media, FTC/GDPR Compliance, SaaS Product Development, Scalable Growth, and Emerging Technologies.  You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it! What is CR About? (1:03) A large part of their mission is tied to the idea that people are powerful.  CR believes that the majority of people do not know how powerful they are. For example, CR says, imagine you are taking a selfie and you post that selfie you might get 100 followers and 10 interactions, and that would be an achievement.  Then say you post a selfie of you

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Phillip Lanos. Today’s guest is Lorna Johnson! Lorna Johnson is a spiritual teacher, genius alchemist, transformational coach and author. She teaches SuperConscious Awakening. Lorna was an executive in corporate America for 15 years where she helped build and run multimillion-dollar businesses and then went through a soul death, experienced several nervous breakdowns, became suicidal and was diagnosed with two mental illnesses. She then underwent a profound awakening and the birth of her new soul, which led her to launch her ground-breaking transformational business, bringing it to $1 million in revenue in ten months using unconventional means. You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it! How did Lorna find success during her darkest times? (0:21) Lorna had an excellent career for about 15 years. She was part of corporate America, and during the time of following the path that everyone follows, Lorna was doing well, she sat on boards

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Philip Lanos. Let’s get to it! Today’s guests are Moira and Raynae Taylor. Mother-daughter team Moira and Raynae Taylor are the Owners of Taylor Made Realty based in Atlanta and they work with buyers and sellers, they offer property management services and have their own real estate school. You’re going to love this episode. What advice can Moira give to someone looking to move to Atlanta? (3:00) Georgia is one of the few states that are still fairly affordable to enter into.  Anyone entering would be able to buy an entry-level home for below $200,000. An intermediate buy on their second or third home would probably be able to place home at the mid-two-four hundreds.  Therefore Georgia has a pretty affordable market.  Atlanta is the number one market for anyone looking for jobs.  There are a lot of companies that are headquartered there.  The opportunity for jobs is great and the price of living is low.  Someone could come in on an entry-lev

 Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Today’s guest is Donna Giraud. Donna Giraud is one of Vancouver's most sought-after abstract artists. She strives to tell stories through texture where the viewer can envision a world thriving because of love, hope, and kindness. Donna's work is hanging in private and commercial spaces all over North America. You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it! How did Donna get to where she is now? (1:47) Donna is an abstract painter that lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  She has spent the last 10-15 years, creating a niche for herself in the art world.  She paints large textual pieces, and her vision is to tell stories through the texture that she makes on canvases.  Her words are usually about how we are better together, hope, and kindness.  From the very beginning, art found Donna.  She was always attracted to the abstract form. There is something about standing in front of something that doesn’t necessarily lo

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Today’s guest is Christoph Bertsch. Christoph Bertsch founded Vejo in 2015 after going through a personal journey to improve his health. Through building Vejo, Christoph uncovered many facts about the food industry, ultimately realizing that Vejo would have to develop its entire ecosystem to provide accessible, personalized, and convenient nutrition. How did Christoph get to where he is now? (0:24) Christoph was never employed. He was somewhat the black sheep of the family.  He went straight into building his own business.  By 21, he had his first business and software company in Germany. The company is still around.  A couple of years later, he started a fashion brand that is still around in Europe.  In 2008 he started a company that became the world’s market leader for explanatory. Videos.  Christoph is a free spirit, and he likes to build companies. He enjoys living on the edge. He finds it attractive to see the stages from

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Jonah Allen is a photographic artist based in Northwest Florida who focuses on the relationship between water and light. Jonah's artwork is collected around the USA, and Allen is a rising entrepreneur. You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it! How did Jonah find success in such a niche business? (2:02) Jonah says he lives an incredible life. He forgets the line between his passion and his career.  He is always chasing waves and the relationship between water and light daily. It is a pretty incredible thing to do that.  Jonah lives 100 steps from the beach by lifestyle choice.  He grew up landlocked in Atlanta, Georgia, and he always felt disconnected from that so he moved down to the ocean.  It enables him to work because the beach is where he does, it’s where he makes his images, and it also allows him to surf and just live an overall lavish lifestyle.  Jonah does other artistic mediums, too, but his sole focus is ma

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Today’s guests are Laura Cole and Todd Renard. Laura Cole is passionate about helping businesses connect with their customers. As Vice President of Marketing for Vivial, she uses her entrepreneurial spirit to lead Vivial’s marketing functions, including internal communications, research, branding, public relations, advertising, sales support, go-to-market product strategy, and corporate brand vision.  Todd Renard is the Digital marketing executive for Vivial with an established performance track record for innovation and execution, balancing strategy, tactics, and logistics. Developing innovative digital products that help organizations grow their business is his passion. Todd had spent the last 20 years identifying, evaluating, and bringing to market product and partnership opportunities for leading advertising technology companies.  You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it! What has kept Laura and Todd at Vivial so l

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Today’s guest is Angie Tebbe. Angie Tebbe is the Co-Founder of Rae Wellness, a cult-favorite collection of affordable, evidence-based wellness products. Since its founding in September 2019, Rae has experienced triple-digit-growth by building off of a unique and successful launch strategy as well as maintaining an attainable and affordable presence. Rae was sold exclusively online and quickly garnered a robust digital company among consumers, allowing them to expand their footprint with Target nationwide in January 2020. You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it! How has Angie mitigated toxic workplace cultures through her brand and personal life? (1:22) Angie believes it the authenticity of her brand and who Angie is as a person that helped her move forward and start a movement through her brand. Two years ago, Angie was at a place where she had an impressive corporate career and with two lovely sons at home.  But she

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Today’s guest is Jay Ives. Jay Ives is the founder of Jives Media. Jay lives at the crossroads of storytelling, design, data, and tech. As a lifecycle marketer, his goal is to strengthen the relationship between businesses and customers by turning engagement opportunities into meaningful, profitable moments. From Fortune 500 organizations to high-growth startups, Jay has led marketing teams to increase awareness, activation, and retention by better understanding their customer. You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it! What advice has Jay been teaching during the pandemic? (1:16) Jay says the stats are as follows; there are about 30 million small businesses that employ nearly 60 million workers in the U.S. One in 5 small businesses has shut down since January.  Jay wants to do as much as he can to help these local businesses.  The truth of the matter is that they’re not getting the proper funding from the government r

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Today’s guest is Josh Luber. Josh Luber is the co-founder and CEO of the disruptive stock market-modeled online sneaker marketplace, StockX. Within a short timespan, Josh has transformed sneaker resale and turned StockX into a $1 Billion business. Luber founded many online companies before StockX, including Servinity, that went bankrupt due to the financial crash in 2008. Luber worked a consulting job after that, and in 2012, he used sneaker sales data to launch Campless, the precursor to StockX. He is also the founder and CEO of Stealth Trading Card companies and is moving on to his 5th and 6th startups.  You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it! What was the process like for Josh while starting his businesses? (3:32) Looking back, Josh says he had some kind of corporate job between each of his startups.  His life also changed exponentially between each of his startups as he started a family.  Starting a business is a

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Today’s guests are Dr. Shawn Dill and Dr. Lacey Book. Dr. Shawn Dill and Dr. Lacey Book, D.C. are coined as small business superheroes for helping more than 700 businesses boost their revenue with tried and true strategies. They grew and scaled a multi-million dollar franchise and specialize in helping service providers pivot into lucrative entrepreneurs with an innovative strategic methodology that teaches marketing, sales, and mindset skills. Their goal is to help transform service providers’ business to create a lasting impact and value on the community it serves by developing relationships.  You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it! Was Shawn practicing while he was in Costa Rica? (1:48) Shawn graduated from chiropractic college when he was 24 years old.  He says, just like any 24 years old, he thought he knew everything. There are no more life lessons you feel like you can learn. He moved to San Jose, Costa Rica,

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Today’s guest is Stephane De Baets. Stephane De Baets is a Belgian investment, real estate, and hospitality entrepreneur. He is founder and president of the international asset management firm Elevated Returns, which controls the Aspen St. Regis Resort in Aspen, Colorado and other commercial properties in the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia.,NA You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it! Where is Stephane right now? (1:00) Stephane used the pandemic to take stock f his private life.  In his family, they decided that COVID-19 has taught them that quality of life is something to cherish and promote. They took the painful, but right decision to leave New York and move to Colorado. They bought an old estate from John Denver, Stephane always had assets in Aspen Colorado because they bought a property there 10 years ago.  Re super excited to live in the historical estate, it has original stained glass from John Denv

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal.  Ashok Wahi is the Chief Inventor and CEO of Trutek Corp. He is the inventor of NasalGuard® patented technology for the filtration of microscopic particles from entering nasal passages. He has acquired several patents in the US and internationally for this unique electrostatic topical gel that acts as a preventative method for the effects of breathing contaminated air. Since then, over twelve million units of NasalGuard products have been sold worldwide so far.  Before Trutek, he has been a senior consultant to Fortune 25 pharmaceutical companies, hospitals/medical facilities, and higher education institutions in the US for over 40 years. He has specialized in designing state-of-the-art R&D and high-tech laboratories. You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it! What are Ashok and his business about? (0:13) Ashok is an entrepreneur, even though he is an undergrad in Engineering and has a Master of Science degree. He

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Today’s Guest is Eliot Buchanan.  Eliot Buchanan is the CEO and Co-Founder of Plastiq. Eliot is responsible for defining the strategic vision and industry-changing innovation at Plastiq. He is a creator of disruptive business model innovations and has been actively engaged in several ventures driven by that imperative.  You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it! How did Eliot get into FinTech? (0:40)   FinTech has become quite a trend in the business world.  Admittedly, Eliot did not initially choose FinTech but instead chose a problem that he found interesting, and it so happened to be financial services.    Eliot grew up in Canada and came to the US for school, and one of the problems he ran into was that he had no credit score.  If you are new to the US, one way to establish a credit score is by getting a credit card. As a student, this is what Eliot did to build his score almost ten years ago.  Credit cards had

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Today’s guest is Ross Shanken. Ross Shanken is the founder and CEO of Jornaya. He is a thought leader and business builder within Information Services, interactive markets, and display advertising. Ross has broad knowledge and experience in leading sales, marketing, business development, and launching new businesses.  You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it! How did Ross know he wanted to solve complex problems when he was young? (0:40) Ross always loved brain teasers as a kid. He would spend hours as a kid just sitting and solving complex and advanced puzzles.  When he was around ten years old, somebody released the Rubik’s cube, and Ross thought it was the most relaxed, most challenging thing in the world.  Ross had solved it by the time he was 11 after spending many hours on it. Puzzles were something that Ross couldn’t do.  That’s where his love for problem-solving started, and as he got older, it began to expand

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Today’s guest is Robert Schlien.  Robert Schlien is the Founder and CEO of Buddy Custard Inc. Robert is a cancer survivor of 13 years and had the good fortune of being introduced to the Budwig Protocol seven years ago.  At that time, he had already decided to forego the conventional treatment of chemotherapy prescribed to him.  Instead, he employed this simple, sensible technology.  It is his personal experience that inspired him and co-founder Katherine Schlein to use that protocol to develop Buddy Custard, a frozen treat additive to foods for dogs.  You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it! Who is Robert, and how did he get to where he is now? (0:01) Robert founded a company called Buddy Custard. It is a unique company in that it produced an initially established product in the human care industry about 60-70 years ago.  Robert, being a cancer survivor, stumbled on a treatment protocol that was developed by Dr. Joan

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Today’s guest is Julius Makarewics. Julius Makarewicz is the CEO of Nude Beverages, British Columbia's fastest-growing alcohol beverage company. Nude launched nationwide in the States a month ago and has made massive waves. You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it! What was Julius’ journey to get to where he is now? (1:02) Julius started in a very different industry initially. He was working in many various industries instead of just one.  He grew up in a small town and dropped out of university, starting to work shortly after.  He worked for many technology firms, mining firms, etc., but the whole time he was looking for an idea. He knew he wanted to start a business and be an entrepreneur and do something great.  Back in 2013, Julius saw a gap in the market, and everyone was going to be healthier people, choosing healthier food and non-alcoholic beverages that we’re more nutritious than others.  Julius noticed that

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Today’s guest is Tanner Chidester. Tanner Chidester is a self-made millionaire and successful entrepreneur. He has grown and scaled two 7-figure online businesses: Elite CEOs and Fit Warrior that has generated $16 million in less than three years. He is a five-time winner of the "2 comma club" award from ClickFunnels, which signifies doing a minimum of $1 million in a sales funnel, and an 8-Figure Award recipient for one billion in the sales.  You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it! How did Tanner get started with his businesses, and how did he scale them so quickly? (1:11) Throughout school, Tanner was bullied as a kid.  Tanner eventually found his niché in fitness, and that started to build his confidence to start going in that direction.   It was kind of like he worked out and got results, and suddenly people were respecting him. So he figured if he worked hard at school and girls and all those other things, it w

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Today’s guest is Jeff Radway. Jeff Radway is the CEO and co-founder of SKYMINT Brands. (Formerly Green Peak Innovations). Before launching Michigan’s largest vertically integrated cannabis company, Radway built and sold J. America, one of the largest privately-owned licensed apparel companies in the U.S. You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it! Were the exits that Jeff had previously change anything for him in his life? (1:37) Jeff considers his first exit to have been life-changing.  When Jeff was in high school, he started a landscaping and lawn keeping business, and he sold it to his partner to pay for college.  He says he was too young to realize back then how much work he had put into that business and didn’t translate the same work ethic in College.  He screwed around through most of college and blew all of the money he had earned on paying for it. His second exit taught him a valuable lesson as he had exited w

Welcome to another episode of Action & Ambition with your host, Andrew Medal. Today’s guest is Michael Miller.  Michael Miller co-founded Brightway Insurance in 2008 with his brother, David Miller. As President and CEO of Brightway, Michael’s day-to-day focus is setting the strategic agenda for the company, helping Brightway continue to innovate in ways that help everyone associated with the business grow and prosper.  You’re going to love this episode. Let’s get to it! How did Michael find success in his industry? (0:44) Initially, they were a very small nationwide captive insurance agency in Jacksonville, Florida. They bought the business from a man named Ray Jennings and he actually had the business for 42 years. It took Ray 42 years to grow the business to annual sales of $2.3 million, which in their industry is a very average size.  Now, Michael and his brother managed to grow the business to about $715 Million in annual sales.  Right now Michael and his older brother David are the sole owners of th