The Corporate Couch: Work Stories I Only Tell My Friends

Britney Valas (see bio below) has lived enough chapters for three memoirs, two Netflix docuseries, and possibly one CrossFit workout no one should attempt without medical supervision.

In this episode, Jeff talks with Britney about resilience, reinvention, faith, family, leadership, and what happens when life hands you the business-owner version of a flaming casserole.

Britney’s path started with a seven-year plan she created ...

Shari Noonan (see bio below) has built a career by stepping into complexity and figuring out how to move it forward.

In this episode, Jeff talks with Shari, CEO and co-founder of Rialto Markets, about a career that started with summers at Lake of the Ozarks, waiting tables, reading through the local library, and becoming an accounting major partly out of spite after a professor suggested s...

Anna Redmond’s story starts with a mountain lion in her yard.

Seriously.

Before Jeff and Anna (bio below) get into entrepreneurship, physical security, challenge coins, blockchain, Harvard, venture capital, and leadership, Anna explains how a mountain lion turned her neighborhood into a national news story and trapped her family in the house for hours. Not your typical podcast warm-u...

In this Special Edition episode, Jeff welcomes friend and Kansas City connector Noorah Nachbor, founder of Palm and Light (Her Website) and The Leap, for a conversation about career pivots, energy, intuition, healing, entrepreneurship, and what happens when the corporate grind no longer fits.

After nearly two decades in recruiting, talent acquisition, and HR, Noorah stepped away from corpo...

Jeff welcomes his friend, former Sprint PCS colleague, and fractional CMO Lori Wiles (see bio below) to The Corporate Couch for a conversation about career pivots, marketing strategy, leadership, AI, and finding new energy in the next chapter.

Lori’s career started in broadcast news, where she was a 10 o’clock news anchor and reporter in Garden City, Kansas. That chapter included chasing tornadoes, interviewing a self-p...

Dave Patrick was one of the earliest guests on The Corporate Couch, appearing way back on episode seven.

More than 200 episodes later, he returns to the couch to go deeper on one of the topics that made our first conversation so memorable: why CEOs often struggle to understand marketing, and why that disconnect can lead to a lot of expensive activity that looks productive but does not actually drive the business.

Dave brings the pe...

What happens when your podcast guest hands you a 15-page dossier about himself before the interview starts?

You know you’re in for a different kind of conversation.

Jeff recorded this episode in person at Kendall Schoenrock’s (see bio below) podcast studio in Lenexa, Kansas, where they talked about entrepreneurship, AI, family, fear, legacy, and what it means to build things th...

In this Special Edition episode, Jeff reconnects with Ed LeBeau, founder of Heartland Golf Schools (Website) and one of the most influential teachers in Jeff’s own golf journey.

Jeff first met Ed in 2003 while attending Heartland Golf School, and over the years Ed has become a bit like Jeff’s own Bagger Vance: part golf instructor, part philosopher, part calm voice on the lesso...

Maki Moussavi is back, and she officially becomes the first guest to return for a full-length episode.

No pressure, Maki. Just podcast history :-)

In her first conversation, Maki talked about career journeys, leadership, and the idea of success conditioning, the way high-achieving professionals are trained to chase goals, promotions, validation, and the next “big thing,” often without stopping to ask whether any of it i...

What happens when three guys with almost no retail experience decide to open a local goods store?  

In Keith Bradley’s case, you get Made in KC.

Keith, co-founder of Made in KC, shares the story of how a 300-square-foot pop-up featuring 15 local artists grew into one of Kansas City’s most recognizable local brands, with more than 15 locations, including a store in the Kansas City airport. And yes, the founders&rsqu...

What do 11 kids, Jesuit college night, Charlie Hooper’s, plumbing supplies, private equity, faith, family, and a guy named “Billy the Turd” have in common?

Billy Hodes (see bio below).

Billy grew up in Kansas City as the youngest of 11 children in a big, faith-filled family where business lessons were often served at the dinner table. His father built a national plumbing supply distribution company, taught him the...

What does a former choker setter in the Washington woods have to do with leading one of the country’s largest healthcare technology companies?

More than you might think.

Bill Miller (see bio below), Chairman and CEO of WellSky, shares a career journey that started far from the executive suite: growing up in a big Midwest family, running a paper route at seven years old, chasing football dreams, getting injured, and unexpected...

What do baby chicks, broken feet, youth sports, elementary school classrooms, and precision manufacturing have in common?

Katherine O’Toole (bio below).

Katherine’s career journey starts in the classroom, where she spent 11 years as an elementary educator, and eventually leads to her current role as Executive Director of the Kansas City Chapter of the National Tooling & Machining Association. Along the way, she disc...

In this May edition of *It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere*, Marc Shaffer and I are back with another happy hour-style conversation about what’s working, what we’re learning, and why the best connections often happen when you least expect them. 

We start with the aftermath of Searcy Financial’s 50th anniversary celebration, including a harmless little parking lot prank involving Marc’s car. From there...

What does it take to turn a company losing millions into a high-performing organization with hundreds of millions in revenue?

Ron Cox (see bio below) has lived that story.

But his leadership journey started long before the turnaround.

In this episode of *The Corporate Couch*, Ron shares a powerful story of resilience, reinvention, and purpose. He opens up about overcoming deep personal hardship, including childhood abuse, serious h...

What if the best leadership lesson of your life didn’t happen in a boardroom…but in a preschool?

That’s exactly what happened for Kori Bloom​ (bio below).

In this episode, Kori shares how her journey from high school art teacher to corporate trainer, pharmaceutical sales professional, parent, author, speaker, and leadership coach helped her discover one powerful truth:

We don’t lead in pieces. We ...

What’s the one question a former Federal Reserve President gets asked at every happy hour?

“What’s the Fed going to do with interest rates?”

According to my guest, Esther George (see bio below)… the honest answer is:

“Yes.”

In this episode of The Corporate Couch, Esther, former President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and a voting member of the Federal Open Market Commi...

What do rock climbing in Thailand, stand-up comedy, Walmart leadership, and an apartment complex full of strippers have in common?

Frank Niles (bio below).

In one of the most entertaining and unexpectedly insightful conversations on The Corporate Couch, Frank shares a career journey that refuses to fit inside a neat corporate box.

He was kicked out of private school. Barely graduated high school. Became one of the youngest paramedi...

In this April edition of It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere, Marc Shaffer and I have another happy hour-style conversation about what’s working, what we’re learning, and why playing the long game matters.

Marc shares the shocking secret behind his zero calcium heart score: Mountain Dew and Skinny Pop. Medical professionals may disagree.

We also talk about:

• The incredible success of Run for the Roses and Growing Futu...