Leadership Huddle with Geoff Welch
Leadership Huddle is a resource for developmental leaders who value communicating clearly, helping others smash limiting beliefs, and drawing the best work from themselves and those they lead. Covering topics related to personal and developmental leadership, self-management, delegation, and healthy mindsets, Geoff Welch uses each episode to help leaders like you enrich their people and build winning teams.
Episodes
August 27, 2025 • 50 mins
When a COO admits she hates flying but plans the next trip before the wheels touch down, you know you’re in for a candid conversation. In this episode, I sit down with Amber Zins, Chief Operating Officer at Northrim Bank, to talk about building leaders by growing your own, setting clear guardrails, and giving people runway. Amber traces her path from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, south to KPMG in Anchorage, and onto...
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August 24, 2025 • 19 mins
I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I really didn’t. But I just couldn’t help myself.On a recent camper trip, Nicole and I found ourselves across the path from a pair of couples with tents.On the morning of their departure it was fascinating to watch both couples go about dismantling their tents to pack everything into a pair of Jeep Wranglers.One couple was orderly and rehearsed. They had what appeared to be a checklist and were methodica...
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August 20, 2025 • 40 mins
Today’s episode features Heather Handyside, President and COO of Thompson & Co. Public Relations, who joins me to talk about leadership, culture, and making big career transitions. Heather’s career spans high-profile roles in government, corporate communications, and now agency leadership, and she brings a wealth of perspective on building strong teams and maintaining high standards while fostering genuine support for her ...
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August 17, 2025 • 15 mins
A friend of mine* has recently been waking around 4AM and struggling to fall back asleep.I’m no sleep expert, but we chatted about how he responded to this nocturnal frustration and something struck me.Every time he woke up unexpectedly, he grabbed his phone and scrolled social media in an attempt to settle his mind and return to sleep.And he scrolled and scrolled, night after night, unable to find rest.Regardless of how you rate t...
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August 13, 2025 • 45 mins
In this episode of the Leadership Huddle, I sit down with Dr. Luke Meinert, Superintendent of the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District. With over two decades of experience in Alaska’s public schools, Luke brings both strategic clarity and a deep sense of humanity to a role that is equal parts challenge and opportunity. We talk about baseball as a metaphor for leadership, what leaders can learn from kindergarten teacher...
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August 10, 2025 • 14 mins
The other night I had this dream in which I realized I was married to Kelly Clarkson.There was a legitimate feeling of increased status and cachet in having such a direct connection to a rich, famous, superstar.Except there was one big problem.In addition to the fact that Dream Geoff had no recollection of ever having met Kelly, he was also married to our actual wife, Nicole, of whom we are both quite fond.Dream Geoff was trying to...
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August 6, 2025 • 56 mins
In this episode, I talk with Jesse Finkelstein, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Page Two Books, a publishing firm that’s redefining what it means to bring a book to life. Jesse shares her journey from bilingual camp counselor to publishing executive, and why she and her co-founder built a company that treats authors like CEOs—with a C-suite behind them. We dig into what makes Page Two’s hybrid model so compelling for thought leaders ...
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August 3, 2025 • 17 mins
I can fall down a rabbit hole from time to time watching videos about music production.I love hearing about how a certain song uses a sample from a James Bond movie, but they reversed it and chopped it up and turned it into a hook that most people would never know wasn’t wholly original.And it’s wild to me to think that every song I’ve ever loved was built on a foundational palette of 12 tones.The piano sitting next to me has 88 ke...
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July 30, 2025 • 36 mins
In this episode, I talk with Angie Spear, Director of the Alaska International Airport System, about what it really takes to run not one—but two—of the most vital airports in the state: Ted Stevens Anchorage International and Fairbanks International. Angie brings the energy and insight you’d expect from someone who never turns off her “airport radar”—whether she's traveling or just checking out a new terminal’s carpet pattern.We di...
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July 27, 2025 • 16 mins
Once upon a time there was a couple named John and Jane and their marriage was in big trouble.They wanted to fix things, so they went to see a marriage counselor.The marriage counselor listened to their problems and advised them to wait 6-months until Valentine’s Day, go have a spectacular date – really pull out all the stops, and that should fix things. John and Jane were taken aback.”Isn’t there anything we should be working...
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July 23, 2025 • 34 mins
Marc Luiken has held leadership roles that span the skies, the state of Alaska, and the private sector—and in this episode, he brings a wealth of insight from all three. Marc began his career as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force, later served as Alaska’s Commissioner of Transportation, and today directs business development at Michael Baker International.We talk about what real servant leadership looks like, why preparation is ...
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July 20, 2025 • 16 mins
Luke Skywalker wouldn’t have saved a galaxy far, far away without Obi Wan Kenobi. Or Yoda.Neo wouldn’t have escaped the Matrix (and did whatever the hell he did in the second and third movies) without Morpheus.Do we really think Katniss and Peeta survive the Hunger Games without Haymitch – flawed as he was – as their guide?To those you lead, you are a guide. You help them see opportunities they may not see and master abilities they...
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July 16, 2025 • 50 mins
In this episode, I sit down with Anna Gould, Director of Sales at GCI Communications and unofficial holder of the title “Person Most Likely to Know the Answer to Your Problem.” Anna’s career is a masterclass in growth through grit, humility, and relentless curiosity. From swapping physical tapes at her parents’ wireless cable company in Fairbanks to leading a statewide sales team, she’s never stopped learning—or leading.We talk abo...
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July 13, 2025 • 17 mins
At the beginning of June I spent a week on a cruise ship, intentionally cut off from the internet.Before I left, I diligently tied up loose ends and set up my out of office email so that I wouldn’t leave anyone hanging.It was a blissful week of sun, sand, and sea. And naps.And then I came home and reconnected to all the things.I was greeted with a couple of text messages – a medium with no out of office functionality – from a clien...
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July 9, 2025 • 43 mins
This week on Leadership Huddle…I sit down with Dean Caravelis—Founder and CEO at Blezoo—to talk about what it really means to lead with intention, creativity, and a deep respect for both your team and your customers. Dean has spent nearly two decades helping brands show up in unforgettable ways, and he’s just released his first book, The Experience in a Box Playbook, a brilliant resource for marketing managers and leaders alik...
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July 6, 2025 • 16 mins
I can now get a Mountain Dew at Subway.The sandwiches are the same as they’ve always been, but now I can get a delicious, ice cold Mountain Dew to accompany the meal.That changes my calculus when choosing a spot to grab a quick bite to eat.In a similar way, your leadership can be the frosty Mountain Dew that pairs with the work someone on your team loves doing.(Is this a monumental stretch?)Just like my restaurant choice can be inf...
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July 2, 2025 • 44 mins
In this episode, I sit down with Amy Nordrum, Executive Editor at MIT Technology Review and one of the sharpest minds working at the intersection of journalism, technology, and leadership. Amy shares what it’s like to lead a newsroom that covers emerging tech while producing some of MIT Tech Review’s most influential projects — including the “10 Breakthrough Technologies” list and “35 Innovators Under 35.”We talk about what drew he...
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June 29, 2025 • 16 mins
I recently saw a video of a guy learning to surf.He was clearly very new to the sport and spent the majority of the video in the ocean instead of on his surfboard.Every attempt to stand was a battle between his body, his board, and a massive uncaring ocean.Stiff arms and wobbly knees, fighting for balance and control.Meanwhile his instructor was gliding around on the same ocean, on the same waves, with no difficulty.The instructor ...
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June 25, 2025 • 52 mins
What do Michael Phelps, Pearl Jam, and Arctic engineering have in common? This conversation with Dr. Brock Anundson, Athletic Director at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, weaves them all together in the most delightful way. Brock shares stories from his early days working with Olympic athletes (including a great Phelps anecdote), playing in garage bands, and climbing the ranks of college athletics administration.We talk about ho...
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June 22, 2025 • 13 mins
On a recent camper adventure, Nicole and I were talking about what we enjoyed most about camping.My answer: having the explicit license to not be productive.I am often so compelled to be working on something that spending AN ENTIRE WEEKEND without a project is a rarity.It’s not that I can’t find a way to kill a rainy afternoon on the couch watching movies, but that in the back of my mind I usually have a nagging sense that I should...
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