Employee Max Logo

Chris Glover Co-Hosts

ELRadio logo

The Leadership Journey

March 19, 2021

Episode 01 - 54 minutes

00:00 00:00
Download MP3

Episode Guests

Nathan Niles headshot

Nathan Niles

President & CEO, NexLyte

Nominated by Drew Hanlon,  Telecom Engineering Consultants, formerly Clifton Weiss & Associates (CWA), is a nationally respected design firm specializing public and private communications infrastructure. Mr. Niles has been a senior executive for over a decade as both a CEO and CFO of companies ranging in size from 15 to over 2,500 employees. In past efforts, he has led the growth of a company from its formation to more than $200 million in revenue. He has a BS in Finance from Penn State University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is also a CPA in Pennsylvania.

 

Mason Reiner headshot

Mason Reiner

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, R-Health

50+E, R-Health helps people take better control of their health through unrivaled access to doctors that truly understand their health needs, and helps businesses take control of their finances by offering unparalleled primary care at a predictable, affordable price. “I am a serial entrepreneur, building businesses is in my DNA. I’ve launched and managed growth-stage companies across multiple industries, including renewable energy, information technology, real estate, and healthcare.”

Justin Spannuth headshot

Justin Spannuth

VP/COO, Unique Snacks

“I am not the typical leadership story coming from an emerging brand. I am part of the 6th generation of my family’s business, Unique Pretzel Bakery, Inc. Coming directly out of high school I started in 1999 sweeping floors. I spent 10 years learning all aspects of machines and products. The next 10+ years I’ve spent in business management learning leadership, brand strategy, product development, legislation, building/production expansion, finance, family succession planning, and more. We have developed products that were innovative in a saturated space, upgraded packaging standards, utilized multiple channels of distribution, and created some very strong relationships. Our growth of nearly 1000% over the last 10 years of our 100 year history was with zero investors as we remain 100% family owned. Poised for next level growth as we have rebranded to Unique Snacks and entering our 2nd century of business, we are now thinking far beyond our current walls.”

Richard Jensen headshot

Richard Jensen

CEO, Agora Cyber Charter School

400+E, Agora Cyber Charter School, established in 2005, is an online public school for Pennsylvania students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Rich has served previously as both High School Principal and Assistant Principal at Agora. He is passionate about a school culture centered on being the most effective and positive learning environment for all students. Rich always enjoys a nice hot cup of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee, and when not working, he enjoys reading, spending time with family, and sports.

 

Read the Transcript

Speaker 1 [00:00:09] Welcome to executive leaders radio, your spot in the corner office, the radio show where executives share their secrets to success. Executive Leaders Radio,

Speaker 2 [00:00:21] you’re listening to Executive Leaders Radio, this show host Herb Cohen with my co-host Shannen Layne, who Mark Knight, Frank through Handlin Hanlan, Ethan Miller, Rod Go to David Evolution Financial Group and Chris Glover EmployeeMax. Ethan, can you give us a rundown on who we have on the show today, please?

Speaker 3 [00:00:39] Her we have a great show today, including Richard Jensen, CEO of Agoura Cyber Charter School, just in Spanish, VP and CEO of Unique. Snax Nathanial is president and CEO of Next Light, and Mason Riner, co-founder and chief executive officer of our health.

Speaker 2 [00:00:57] Let’s get to our first guest, Richard Jensen, CEO of Agora Cyber Charter School. Richard, what is like a cyber charter school? What are you guys doing?

Speaker 3 [00:01:06] Sure. We’re a K-12 public charter school in Pennsylvania serving students from across the entire Commonwealth. And all of our learning is done online

Speaker 2 [00:01:14] and where you’re from originally. How many brothers and sisters were you in the pecking order?

Speaker 3 [00:01:19] I’m from Allentown and I have one older sister

Speaker 2 [00:01:22] and eight to 14, what kind of stuff were you up to?

Speaker 3 [00:01:26] I was involved in marching band. I was I enjoyed playing sports. I didn’t do organized sports, but a lot of sandlot. And I was involved in my youth group.

Speaker 2 [00:01:36] Got you.

Speaker 3 [00:01:36] Drew Rich, tell us about the marching band and what inspired

Speaker 1 [00:01:40] you about the marching band?

Speaker 3 [00:01:42] Sure. When I was young, I ended up picking up the trumpet because that’s what my dad played when when he was a kid. And I just stuck with it and played in the band in middle school and then also high school. Did your mom and dad come watch you perform? Oh, yeah. They showed up to all the concerts and they came all the football games. Absolutely. And you mentioned that your parents were both educators. What was the impact of that? Yeah, absolutely, they both really encouraged me to just constantly reach my highest potential, so my mom, being a reading teacher, really wanted to make sure that I had a love for literacy. And that was something that from an early age, she just really instilled in me.

Speaker 2 [00:02:24] Hmm. Ethan, which

Speaker 3 [00:02:26] go back to the stand your sandlot days. What was your role on the sandlot? I just love to play football. So I just went around the neighborhood to try and see who wanted to come out and I brought the Nerf football with me. Who made you the organizer? I think it just was by default. I wanted to play. So I you know, it’s not really a whole lot of fun playing by yourself. So I just went and grabbed as many people as I could that would be interested to join me. What does what does that tell us about your rich and what you’re doing today? I mean, I think I really am interested in serving people and I care about people and I am always looking to kind of have people come around and to get things done.

Speaker 2 [00:03:11] Did you just recently get a doctorate? What was the doctorate in?

Speaker 3 [00:03:15] Yeah, I received my doctorate from Liberty University and it was in caring school leadership.

Speaker 2 [00:03:21] Boy, that goes ahead and proves it.

Speaker 3 [00:03:23] David Rich in the green room. You were talking about your admiration for your parents growing up. You tell us a little bit about that and how it influences you today. Sure. Yeah. Both of them were were wanting to always encourage me to just reach my highest potential. And that actually is part of even our schools vision is is that phrase in preparing all learners to achieve their highest potential. And I think from an early age that that was the driving force. And and, you know, when you’re a kid, you didn’t really respect it as much. But I think later on in life, I clearly see how it had an impact in what I’m doing today.

Speaker 2 [00:04:00] Mm hmm.

Speaker 4 [00:04:02] Rich, I’m curious, back when you were in grade school, did everything come easy for you? Was there ever a subject that you struggled with in math?

Speaker 3 [00:04:10] Was not a strength for me and that that was always a struggle all the way up through through college and even in a doctorate when I had to take statistics. So that was a struggle. But I think it was always there. My parents, again, were like, you just got to put forth your best effort. And and just to get the support or help that you need to make sure that you can be successful.

Speaker 4 [00:04:31] How does going through that struggle with math? How does that affect the way you’re doing things nowadays? Attack or cyber charter school?

Speaker 3 [00:04:38] Yeah, we’re a school that’s really focused on trying to help all learners, again, achieve their highest potential. So we use a multi tiered system of supports to try and make sure that where students are struggling, we make sure that they get the supports that they need so that they can really become lifelong learners and really overcome some of those struggles.

Speaker 2 [00:04:55] Mr. Chris Glover,

Speaker 1 [00:04:58] you mentioned that

Speaker 3 [00:05:00] you spent time at a youth group. Can you tell us your role in that group? Sure. I was very involved, attended every, you know, every week. And then we also had officers and I served as an officer, if I recall, at least one year, if not multiple years. I served as the president of the youth group as well. And so we we made sure that we organized a lot of the youth group activities and in any kind of other, like, mission trips and stuff like that, we were involved in helping to organize those. Do you find any correlation between that youth group involvement in your leadership role now? Yeah, I think it comes back to very much at the core of my leadership style and focus is caring leadership. And I think it’s so central to what makes a good leader is that you’re caring for the people that you work with as well as your your end users, your your customers. Drew. Yeah. Speaking about Korean leadership, you had a back surgery as a teen and had some teachers. It came to the house. What was the impact of that entire experience? Yeah, it was it was a rough year. And I had to for the whole second half of the year, from February to the end of the year, I was laid up at home. So I had to have teachers come in and the school district would provide it. But there were two teachers that I actually had before the surgery who volunteered to come to the home. And again, they modeled that they truly cared about me as a student and they were interested in me as an individual. And that definitely had a huge impact on why I decided to go into education in the first place. But but I think also definitely still impacts my real passion for caring for people. When you’re faced with a tough decision, what do you hear those teachers telling you? Put people first. It’s not necessarily about the you know, the bottom line. It’s it’s put people first. And that is something that I’m always trying to keep in mind, even from simple little things like writing a birthday card to every single employee in an organization. Because that that. Shows that you value them and respect them.

Speaker 2 [00:07:10] Richard, this destruction had back surgery and these teachers really impressed you, these adults really impressed you. What’s that have to do with the business model of Ogura Cyber Charter School?

Speaker 3 [00:07:24] Yeah, we have a lot of students who come to us because there were maybe unmet unmet needs from their previous school. So they’re coming to us maybe because they were bullied or maybe because they do have a health issue themselves that they’re going through. And as a school, I really see that we’re there to try and support every student who comes. We are a school of choice. So when they come, we want to make sure that we’re providing whatever the services are. And when I think back on it, how much of a great opportunity it would have been to have a virtual school in existence when I went through that that back surgery, that was a little too early. I won’t reveal too much how old I am, but it was before the Internet, so that wasn’t available. But how how much of a great opportunity is for our students to have that today?

Speaker 2 [00:08:10] So this is really, truly a mission for you, isn’t it?

Speaker 3 [00:08:15] Absolutely. Like, again, the core of our vision statement starts with preparing all learners to achieve their highest potential. And I believe that goes for everyone in the organization. It’s not just students, but it’s all staff. And I view myself as a lead learner and I want to make sure that I’m modeling that that ongoing lifelong learning mindset that a lot of people mean to you when you see your students graduate. And do you ever have a chance to hear back from them later on life to see where they’ve gotten to? Yeah, absolutely. Before the pandemic, we would always have graduation at the giant center out in out in Hershey. And that was always such a incredible opportunity because you would see students connecting with their teachers, sometimes in person. For the first time, they had developed such tight relationships through the online platform and then they actually get to see their teachers. And having started as a teacher at Igorot before I moved into leadership roles, that was such a memorable opportunity to make those connections. And then when we hear of reports of where this student has now moved on and they’ve done this and it’s really, really exciting to see how we had made a difference in their lives and really are giving them opportunities to succeed.

Speaker 2 [00:09:34] It’s really a passion for you, this is this is the combination of mom and dad both being educators and mom, making sure you read the chapter before you went out to play the discipline of that, as well as that impact that this teachers had when you had your back surgery as a kid. I guess the good thing is because you’re the you’re you’re the CEO of this organization. You get to go in 10, 11 o’clock and come home at three or four o’clock. You have to work weekends. Do you?

Speaker 3 [00:10:03] I wish no, I, I typically am in early and in the office and then I when I head home, it’s typically going back on the computer. There’s always emails that I need to follow up with that I didn’t get to during the course of the day. And yeah, there is always things that I have to do over the weekend.

Speaker 2 [00:10:21] But what’s the what’s the website address for the SEC or Cyber Charter School.

Speaker 3 [00:10:25] A real simple AGD

Speaker 2 [00:10:27] ego or a dog.

Speaker 3 [00:10:30] Correct.

Speaker 2 [00:10:31] Speak with Richard Jensen, CEO of Agora Cyber Charter School here on Executive Leaders Radio Derogative. Visit our Web site, executor’s radio dot com. Back in a moment right after this. Recognize your deserving business advisors on our nation’s leading business with heart radio show executive leaders. Radio. Yes. Recognize you can recognize your deserving business advisors when our nation’s leading business with heart radio show executive leaders, radio dotcom simply visit executive leaders, radio dot com securely, enter their info and we’ll reach out to spotlight your disserving business advisors on our nation’s leading business with heart radio show executive leaders, radio dotcom, don’t wait. This radio and online social media and search engine exposure is quite valuable. Yes, this radio and online social media and search engine exposure is quite valuable to your business advisors who deserve to be recognized. Visit Executive Leaders Radio Dotcom now to nominate your deserving business advisors for free exposure.

Speaker 1 [00:11:42] Our veterans risked it all to protect our freedom, one of the best ways to say thank you is to volunteer to support them at a time in history where kindness is a virtue. Volunteering means a lot for over 47 years. Help Heal Veterans, a not for profit organization with the support of citizens like you, have delivered therapy kits to veterans who need them to volunteer or learn more. Visit Heal Vets dog. That’s Heal Vets dog. When you think Subaru, you think love the 20 21 Subaru outback will make you fall in love with its state of the art, safety features a spacious and comfortable interior and convenient amenities already for any adventure standard, symmetrical all wheel drive, plus up to 33 miles per gallon, eight point seven inches of ground clearance zone with Hill descent control and a direct injected, turbo charged Subaru. Bokser engine will make you love every adventure in your outback love. It’s what makes Subaru Subaru EPA estimated highway fuel economy four point twenty one zero back on Turbo Model reminds me very much. Engine eleven point six inch touchscreen available on select models. Inverted feelings.

Speaker 5 [00:12:42] This is emotional management. He’s Dr Christian Contee.

Speaker 6 [00:12:46] New smartphones have tremendous features that make your phone do some spectacular things. For example, one application or setting is called inverted colors. By pressing inverted colors, everything on your phone instantly transforms into the opposite color. This feature is fascinating. So fascinating, in fact, that my 11 year old daughter Caia, when she was playing around with this feature, said to me, you

Speaker 5 [00:13:10] know, the inverted color app is a really great metaphor for what you can do with negative thoughts,

Speaker 6 [00:13:17] she continued.

Speaker 5 [00:13:18] Wouldn’t it be great if during times when you had negative thoughts, you could just invert those thoughts into something positive?

Speaker 6 [00:13:24] And now I might be a bit biased, but I really believe that’s an absolutely phenomenal idea.

Speaker 5 [00:13:30] And if you’d like help inverting the feelings in your life, listen to Dr. Contis new podcast, Tackling Life with Ray Lewis.

Speaker 2 [00:13:52] We’re back. You’re listening to executive leaders radio this, your host, Herb Cohen, and we’d like to introduce Justin’s vice president and CEO of Unique Snacks. Justin, what is unique snacks? What are you guys doing?

Speaker 7 [00:14:03] We’re one hundred year old sixth generation family business. The manufacturers pretzels

Speaker 2 [00:14:09] already. How large or how small the team

Speaker 7 [00:14:13] or 85 people

Speaker 2 [00:14:14] are ready and reaffirm originally. How many brothers and sisters were you in the pecking order?

Speaker 7 [00:14:22] Born and raised in Reading, Pennsylvania, I have one older brother, Doki drew

Speaker 3 [00:14:28] it, Justin, you told us in the green room your parents were divorced and you kind of grew up with your father. What was the impact of that experience on you?

Speaker 7 [00:14:38] Certainly having one parent as a working parent spent quite a bit of time alone, so I learned how to entertain myself and find things to do on my own.

Speaker 3 [00:14:50] And what was that like being like a self starter like that? And how did that impact what you do today?

Speaker 7 [00:14:58] You know, finding ways to entertain myself was, you know, it’s something I enjoy to do. So back when I was playing with myself and would find games to play outside and figure out how to entertain myself. It was just something that almost. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 [00:15:18] And how did that innovation kind of impact your business today and what you’re doing?

Speaker 7 [00:15:24] Certainly creativity and innovation is something I love to do. It’s my favorite part of my job.

Speaker 3 [00:15:30] Ethan, tell us about your relationship with your brother.

Speaker 7 [00:15:36] Certainly, he’s three years older than me, but we were never terribly close. We still we talk every day, we share an office and but we’re very different. So he was always book smart. He liked to stay inside, play video games, play on a computer, the very beginnings of computers. I was always the other less books for smart, but more people smart, more of a go getter and in certain senses and then like to be outside. I like to do things with my hands a little bit more.

Speaker 3 [00:16:13] How do you leverage the differences between the two of you, the dynamics to benefit your business?

Speaker 7 [00:16:20] So I am the self starter. I am the creative side, the visionary side. The push to grow. My brother is more of the book smart. When something is put in front of them, he can figure it out with a good financial mind. But but I usually bring this starting to David

Speaker 3 [00:16:43] Justin in the green room. You were talking about that. You were very independent, kind of a loner for a lot. And then you also mentioned that you were into team sports and you know, you’re running a company. So what what what gives with that ship or how are you able to do both of those at the same time?

Speaker 7 [00:17:02] So my personality is, you know, very people oriented person. You know, my alone time was sort of a forced upon me type of thing that I had to learn. But my nature certainly brings me to to want to be around people.

Speaker 2 [00:17:18] So my usually

Speaker 3 [00:17:22] doesn’t

Speaker 4 [00:17:23] look up to as a kid,

Speaker 7 [00:17:26] as a child, you know, having a single dad. He was certainly my my role model as a child. He was a hard worker.

Speaker 4 [00:17:35] What’s more about that? How did you what did you see in him? How did you know he was a hard worker

Speaker 7 [00:17:42] with the with the business? I knew what he was doing in the in the company when he would talk about innovating product or, you know, working on machinery when he was at home, you know, he did all of his own landscaping and it was lots of it, you know, edging beds and cutting out beds and building rock walls. And and he was an artist. You would paint, paint large murals or canvas paintings and was just he was always busy.

Speaker 4 [00:18:07] And what did you learn from your dad that you carry with you into work nowadays?

Speaker 7 [00:18:12] Certainly not afraid to get dirty, not afraid to work hard. My my job has evolved. And what the what working hard and getting dirty means is very different from 20 years ago, but certainly learned how to work hard.

Speaker 2 [00:18:28] Hmm. Chris.

Speaker 1 [00:18:31] Kirsten, how old were you when you started with the business?

Speaker 7 [00:18:34] I was 18.

Speaker 3 [00:18:35] And what was your role at the ripe age of 18?

Speaker 7 [00:18:40] I was a clerk in our retail store.

Speaker 3 [00:18:44] Have you held several roles since then?

Speaker 7 [00:18:48] Absolutely, yeah. I was a clerk and then I went into production. I learned how to work on the machine to learn how to make our product. And then I came on the business and learned marketing, learned business strategy, product development, innovation and leadership.

Speaker 3 [00:19:07] Three very familiar

Speaker 2 [00:19:09] themes.

Speaker 3 [00:19:10] Drew, I just it’s interesting, you know, you were in the chorus, you were in the band, you were in the weightlifting and on the football team. What’s that? What’s that tell us about your ears, like a wide variety of activities.

Speaker 7 [00:19:25] Yeah. Yeah. I wasn’t I wasn’t the football guy picking on the other kids. I had a very wide range of friends. I got along with everybody, no matter their personality types. And that definitely made me one of the more different kids in school. I played football. I tried to be very good at it. I was good at chorus. I really enjoyed that. But I really created a wide range of friends.

Speaker 3 [00:19:51] You have like a real love and desire to continue to learn. Where did that come from? I mean, was you always inquisitive or.

Speaker 7 [00:20:01] Yeah, I’ve always had an inquisitive mind for things that intrigued me, you know, and certainly I have a passion for what I do and I love my job. So, you know, wanting to be the best version of of what I do is is really important. And I got to see a lot of mistakes that happened as well. Being a six generation family business, I got to see why we didn’t grow more than we did on those previous generations. So. So I try and teach myself everything that I know I need to know on how to make it better.

Speaker 2 [00:20:34] Mm hmm. You mentioned that you were, you know, self starter as a kid. I’m trying to figure out how that’s translated into products for the company. This this innovative instinct of yours has just shown up in terms of products for the business.

Speaker 7 [00:20:50] Absolutely. So in 2010, I invented pretzel shells, you know, and the innovation comes from what are our strengths? I have to understand yourself in your marketplace. What what can you do and what can’t you do when it comes to putting establishing a presence in the market and what you can afford to do internally?

Speaker 2 [00:21:10] So that’s a shelf.

Speaker 7 [00:21:12] Yeah. So the shelves are a hollow pretzel nugget bite size. You know, we need something.

Speaker 2 [00:21:17] What else have you invented? Aside from

Speaker 7 [00:21:19] that, we just invented a sour dough craft beer pretzel

Speaker 2 [00:21:24] ring. So your your innovation as a kid yourself, starting as a kid, showing up in terms of products for your food business, for food related business. I got another question, which is that you were involved with football and weightlifting and course you got along with everybody. What’s that have to do with building this business?

Speaker 7 [00:21:44] Yeah, I think being able to have relationships with everyone that you meet and really being able to to connect with someone on it on a really nice level, deep level, that they they entrust you. You know, I’ve have several people that work in our company that were relationships I’ve made throughout the years. And they’re a phone call away when I go. I now have a position for you and they’re really great people.

Speaker 2 [00:22:13] So you have relationships that continue for many, many years because people trust you, it sounds to me like the relationships are really important to you. Am I correct about that? Absolutely. Mm hmm. Is that important in terms of your customers as well as your employees?

Speaker 7 [00:22:31] Absolutely, yeah, we can relate to the people you’re selling to or the people that are buying from you and as well as your employees, you can relate to them and have conversations with them and be real with them. You know, I think a lot of people forget that the people they’re talking to, a real

Speaker 3 [00:22:49] if we went back and asked, you know, the kids on the football team or in the chorus, if we said, hey, can you describe Justin to us, what would they tell us about you?

Speaker 7 [00:23:02] By the descriptions between Chris and football are very different. Football, I was pretty tenacious or the defensive tackle. I was on the all Burk’s football team on our undefeated high school football team. So, you know, my side of the line, I closed it down.

Speaker 2 [00:23:20] What’s the what’s the website address for this organization known as Unique Snacks? Your website,

Speaker 7 [00:23:25] Unique Snacks that come.

Speaker 2 [00:23:27] Let me have that one more time.

Speaker 7 [00:23:28] Unique snacks that come

Speaker 2 [00:23:30] from unique snacks that can we were speaking with Justin and vice president and CEO of Unique Snacks here on Executive Leaders Radio. Don’t forget to visit our Web site. It’s executive leaders radio talk to learn more about our executive leaders, its executive leaders, radio dot com. Learn more about executive leaders. We’ll be back in a moment right after this quick break.

Speaker 1 [00:24:02] What can give you a competitive edge in today’s red hot housing market rocket can that’s because rocket mortgage can give you a verified approval. It could help your author stand out because when you find the perfect home, you don’t want to lose it to anybody else. Rocket technology provides a rock solid verification of your income, assets and credit, giving sellers and their agents greater confidence in you. We’ve already helped over one million clients just like you, reach their home financing goals this year alone. So remember this. What can help you buy the home you really want? Rocket can go to rocket mortgage dotcom or call us today at eight three three eight rocket. That’s rocket mortgage dotcom or call eight three three eight rocket. A verified approval is based on another Reuters analysis of your individual financial information appraisal entitled Report Comcast Information Age Conditions Equal Housing Better Licensed in All 50 States and MLS Consumer Access Tag Number Thirty. Need cash, fast figure can help a figure, personal loan is a smart, fast way to get up to 50000 dollars from the comfort of home. Just go to figure dotcom and apply online in minutes. You can check your rate without affecting your credit. Whether you need cash for past, present or future figure can have you funded in as few as two business days, still paying those sky high interest rates and consolidate debt at a lower interest rate. Just go to figure dotcom. That’s figure dotcom. Figure linearly equal opportunity lender Animala 1779 24 terms and conditions apply. Figure dotcom. What can give you a competitive edge in today’s red hot housing market rocket can. That’s because rocket mortgage can give you a verified approval. It could help your offer stand out. Rocket technology provides a rock solid verification of your income, assets and credit, giving sellers greater confidence in you. Go to rocket mortgage, dotcom or call us today at eight three three eight rocket approval based on an analysis of your financial information appraisals that call for cost information housing license in all 50 states and that work for their 30

Speaker 4 [00:25:59] OK indeed knows unexpected

Speaker 1 [00:26:01] demand can stretch your business then speaking like a licensed plumbing. Sorry. Quick as we can get. There is next Friday to stay

Speaker 5 [00:26:09] out of hot water. He needs to get started hiring right right away. I need indeed. Indeed you do. And the moment you sponsor a job and indeed you get a short list of quality candidates from our resume database visit and dot com credit and get a seventy five dollars credit for your first sponsor job, post terms and conditions apply.

Speaker 1 [00:26:28] Now’s the time to earn your bragging rights and rule the road in a powerful Dodge vehicle with enough style horsepower and performance to make your muscle car dreams come true. It’s no wonder J.D. Power named Dodge, the number one ranked brand in initial quality and driver appeal for mass market brands. Join the Brotherhood and experience the strength of Dodge Muscle today. Visit Dodge Dotcom or see your local Dodge dealer for great deals tied for initial quality study for JD Power. Twenty twenty award information. Visit JD Power dot com slash awards.

Speaker 2 [00:27:11] You’re listening to executive leaders, radio talk show host Herb Cohen, and we’d like to introduce Nathan Niall’s president and CEO of Next Life. Nathan, what is next? What are you guys doing?

Speaker 3 [00:27:21] The next line is a telecom engineering consulting firm. So we designed the infrastructure with fiber optics as the backbone for Wi-Fi, cellular communications, public safety systems, mainly in transit. So SEPTA is a client of airports in the mid-Atlantic region from Boston down to D.C..

Speaker 2 [00:27:40] And how did you get involved with this company?

Speaker 3 [00:27:43] I bought the company about a year and a half ago.

Speaker 2 [00:27:45] All right. Where you from originally? How many brothers and sisters were you in the pecking order?

Speaker 3 [00:27:49] So I am the youngest of two brothers. I grew up being Great Valley, Pennsylvania,

Speaker 2 [00:27:54] which is a suburb of Philadelphia. And how young were you? Eight to 14 when you took control?

Speaker 3 [00:28:00] I mean, I would say that I was in seventh grade or so captain of football and basketball teams, so yeah, 12 or so, 12, 13,

Speaker 2 [00:28:13] Drew,

Speaker 3 [00:28:14] Canadian sports had a lot of influence on you as a youngster. What’s the key take away from playing sports? You remember most? Yeah, the biggest thing is, you know, whether you’re ready or not, the game is starting, right. So on football, the game starts at one o’clock. The whistle is going to be blown and the kickoff happens and then you have to be prepared. So whether you’re prepared or not, the game is going to go. So the impact of those lessons on what you do every day. So it’s just like any business meeting, right? The meeting starts at 10 o’clock in the morning. And you’re either prepared or you’re not prepared and prepared doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re presenting, but you should be an active listener, whatever the case may be. But you have

Speaker 1 [00:28:55] to be ready.

Speaker 3 [00:28:56] You told us that your mom and your mom and dad came to to watch you participate. What was the impact of looking over and having mom and dad there just a support system? Right. So knowing that, you know, my parents were there for me, were supportive, you know, never critical after a game. I always supported that. They give me certain comments if I need them. But it was very helpful to have them there always.

Speaker 2 [00:29:19] Mm hmm. Ethan.

Speaker 1 [00:29:22] Ethan, what

Speaker 3 [00:29:22] was your role on the teams that you played on so football? I was more the running back on offense and then outside linebacker on defense. So very involved in the play basketball. I was really a role player. You know, I would be the rebounder, the defensive guy. You know, they weren’t running any place for me, but I was still always an impactful player. I think you mentioned earlier in the green room that basketball is more challenging to you than in football, right? Yes. Yes. Of basketball. You know, I didn’t really have any formal training before I tried out for the team in seventh grade, so I was really through all, so to speak. So it took a lot of effort for me to to get good at shooting and all those things. But I was athletic. So, you know, I was able to get away with things early on. And I was always told, tell us about you the fact that you even though you’re really good at football and then went after the challenging sport in spite of that, what does that tell us about you?

Speaker 1 [00:30:15] That I saw something that

Speaker 3 [00:30:16] I liked and it was it meant something for me to work for. And I listened. I saw the results to the right. I saw myself getting better. So the more I put into it, the more I got out of it. So David Nathan, in the green room, you were talking about going to work with your dad. How old were you when you started doing that? And what did you observe? Yeah, it’s about six or seven. So he had real estate properties, so rental, real estate and also did some small time real estate development where he would buy land and then subdivide it deals with houses. So on it was just work ethic. And then to us all the freedom that he had over his schedule. So that was that was important. It was also good to see how other people lived. Right. So when we cleaned up apartments, etc., from one to to the next, you kind of saw what was going on. And one apartment in particular, I remember seeing

Speaker 1 [00:31:07] all these paintings and just wondering what the

Speaker 3 [00:31:08] person was doing and throwing money away. Anything to do with who you are today, what you do today. So a couple of things. One is just a variety. So between the rental properties and then doing the real estate development where he would build the property, he was essentially the GC. So he was in charge of, you know, obviously getting the financing for lining up the different contractors. So there’s a variety of the things that he did in that job that I like. You know, I like what I do now and see the variety of things that I do and have seen in my career.

Speaker 2 [00:31:41] And I just think you played different sports. You well, you enjoy variety in your life. Yes.

Speaker 4 [00:31:47] Shannon, I think you tell us a little bit about your mom and what she was like when you’re growing up.

Speaker 3 [00:31:53] Yeah, my mom was great. She was a very hard worker, very loving and supportive. So, you know, in the morning she was making us breakfast. She’d go to work. She was an executive assistant for a consulting firm in the Great Valley area. And then at night, you know, if she wasn’t watching weather or sports, she would be making dinner and really a very hard worker and a great mother.

Speaker 4 [00:32:18] And in the green room, you mentioned the sacrifices that she made to have kids and raise you guys and take the time and effort that she put into it. Can you tell us more about that?

Speaker 3 [00:32:28] Yeah. So my parents were older when I was born. My mother was 40 and my father was 47. So, you know, that always had an impact on me because all my friends had younger parents. Right. So my parents were usually 15 years on average, older than a lot of my friend’s parents. So my parents could have been going into retirement. And here they are helping to save up for college, et cetera, and spending money on us and and spending the time that they could have been spending like my friend’s parents. Right. As they were in their 40s and 50s, enjoying not having kids in the house. So it always made me appreciate what they were doing for my brother.

Speaker 4 [00:33:01] And I if you’re you know, it comes across, you’re really self aware. And I’m wondering how that helps your clients nowadays.

Speaker 3 [00:33:10] Yeah, I would tell you that one of the things that I always think about is, am I making a good impact on the client or the customer and always trying to make sure that I’m doing a good job for them. Right. So it’s not just about are we doing. Are we doing well for ourselves? What are we doing well for our clients to see? When I think of a job, I’m not thinking of just the fiber optic cable. It’s what does this have to do? Right. So from a public safety system, when you break it down, if this system doesn’t work and when the cops need to talk to each other, if there’s an emergency, then I haven’t done my job. So it’s not just about laying the wire out of drawings and everything else. It’s about what this represents, what is what is this function and what is this system going to perform in the future? And I want to make sure that we do a great job so it does what it’s supposed to do.

Speaker 2 [00:33:58] Chris?

Speaker 1 [00:34:00] Anything you tell us a little bit about the relationship with your brother? Yeah, my brother and I had a great

Speaker 3 [00:34:05] relationship to different people. So he was very I would say I’m an introvert, but he’s more so an introvert. So he was very happy to spend time at home tinkering with his remote control cars. And they’ve always very mechanically inclined at this point now is not tinkering with remote control cars and motorcycles, but very supportive of each other. And he was a very good weight lifter, which is a very, you know, individual sport. And I always supported him going to his appointments for power lifting, etc.. So great relationship with my brother, just two different people in having

Speaker 1 [00:34:41] a relationship with the opposite or a different person. Do you think that

Speaker 3 [00:34:45] translates into your ability to communicate now as a leader? I think so. You have to find some commonality that you have with everybody. So that’s something to talk about where you understand their interests and where they’re coming from and being able to talk. I think on a lot of different subjects with a lot of different people as important as a leader, and you can’t shut yourself in your office and talk to nobody. You have to be able to get along with your people and see what interests them and find some commonality to draw upon. And thinking along those lines, I find it interesting that, you know, you said after sports games, you know, your parents would give you advice, but they were never critical. How how have those conversations impacted the conversations you’re having today? Yeah, I’m not a screamer. Right. So somewhere along the line, I’m not going to be critical of somebody, but I will point out some of the things that I think they can do better, what we as a company could have done better or even perhaps what I could have done better so that they can learn from me, too. And I’ve never been a person that responded to a coach that yelled and screamed. It’s just not who I am. And I don’t think people need to be that way either. Some people respond to that. And when you’re faced with a tough decision, what do you hear your dad whispering in your ear? That’s a great question. He always said, listen, you got to put the pressure on yourself or keep up the pressure, always, you know, strive to do to do more, to do better, be disciplined. So when it comes time to make a tough decision somewhere along the line, it’s like you just have to do it right. You can’t you can’t shrink from the

Speaker 2 [00:36:25] moment you mentioned that when your dad was 38, he went back to school. What was the effect of that on you? Was the effect of that on you?

Speaker 3 [00:36:32] Yeah, I mean, a very inspirational that at 38. Right. Not at 18. So 20 years after most people go to college, he decided he didn’t want to go to college and get a degree and went to Penn and got a Masters. So in 1971. So that has always been in the back of my mind with education

Speaker 2 [00:36:51] so that you can put whatever you put your mind to. You can do you

Speaker 3 [00:36:54] correct

Speaker 2 [00:36:54] what is a website address that you know, this organization known as Next Light.

Speaker 3 [00:36:58] So the next like tech concert, any X or Y ttc com.

Speaker 2 [00:37:03] We’ve been speaking with Nathan Niall’s president and CEO of Next Slide here on Executive Leaders Radio Derogative. Visit our website. It’s Executive Leaders Radio dot com. Learn more about our executive leaders, executive leaders, radio dot com. Learn more about our executive leaders. Stick around. We’ll be back in a moment right after this quick break. You now can recognize your deserving business advisers on our nation’s leading business with heart radio show executive leaders, radio dotcom. Yes, recognize you can recognize your deserving business advisers on our nation’s leading business with heart radio show executive leaders. Radio dotcom simply visit executive leaders, radio dotcom securely. Enter their info and we’ll reach out the spotlight. Your disserving business advisors on our nation’s leading business with heart radio show executive leaders, radio dotcom don’t wait. This radio and online social media and search engine exposure is quite valuable to your advisors. Yes, this radio and online social media exposure is free and quite valuable to your business advisors who deserve to be recognized. Visit Executive Leaders Radio Dotcom now to nominate your deserving business advisors.

Speaker 1 [00:38:22] This report is sponsored by IBM Climate Change, a pressing issue that is compromising our planet. But can technology be used to find new solutions through call for code? A powerful tech for good platform, IBM and partners are working to unite developers and problem solvers to create applications with iCloud and other modern technologies that can help tackle our current climate crisis. Ruth Davis, director of Call for Code

Speaker 8 [00:38:44] Climate Change, is one of the most pressing issues of our time. We must apply our collective ingenuity and cutting edge technologies to make a lasting difference. I encourage every developer and innovator around the world to seize this opportunity to answer the call.

Speaker 1 [00:39:01] This year’s ongoing global initiative, launched on March 22nd, together with new partners like Heifer International and Charity Water, the winning team will receive a prize of 200000 dollars and support from IBM, the Linux Foundation and other partners to further develop and deploy their solution in communities where its most needed visit. IBM Dotcom Call for code to submit your solution. Finding great candidates to hire can be like, well, trying to find a needle in a haystack. Sure, you can post your job to some job board, but then all you can do is hope the right person comes along, which is why you should try zip recruiter for free at zip recruiter dotcom free zip recruiter doesn’t depend on candidates finding you. It’s powerful technology identifies people with the right experience and actively invites them to apply to your job. You get qualified candidates fast. So while other companies might deliver a lot of hey zip recruiter finds you what you’re looking for. The needle in the haystack, four out of five employers who posted jobs. If recruiters get a quality candidate through

Speaker 2 [00:40:01] their site

Speaker 1 [00:40:02] within the first day, zip recruiter, the smartest way to hire. And right now you can try zip recruiter for free. That’s right. Free. Just go to this exclusive web address. Zip recruiter dotcom slash free that zip recruiter dot com slash free zip recruiter dot com slash pre progressive motorcycle presents road wisdom

Unidentified [00:40:24] from the motor. Motorcyclist’s.

Speaker 1 [00:40:30] Is everything you want it to be, everything, as long as what you want is road to ride your motorcycle.

Speaker 2 [00:40:40] Progressive Motorcycle also presents basic policy starting at seventy nine dollars a year.

Speaker 1 [00:40:44] Progressive motorcycle for those who were born to ride the first casualty insurance company, the premium for basic liability policy is not available in all states. This is Renee. Happy to be here. She’s not some influencer. She’s more of a groundbreaker. Turning her for a girl got into a

Speaker 8 [00:40:58] little slice of heaven behind the wheel of a John Deere one series tractor. Renee runs with us because the most important job is the next one. That’s all I got. Nothing runs like a deer in one series tractor for just 99 dollars per month at your John Deere dealer today. For additional cost information, please call toll free eight by five, six, three, three, two, three, one, five.

Speaker 2 [00:41:35] We’re back, you’re listening to Executive Leaders Radio this year, host Herb Kohl, and we like to introduce Maysam Reiner, founder and chief executive officer of an organization known as Our Health. Maysam, what is our health? What are you guys up to?

Speaker 3 [00:41:48] We operate high touch, advanced primary care health centers for employers that want to offer an amazing benefit to their employees while also reducing their health care costs. And our mission is to ensure that everyone has convenient access to a real relationship with a personal primary care physician, because that’s the key to achieving our optimum health.

Speaker 2 [00:42:07] And how did you get a job with this company?

Speaker 3 [00:42:09] I started the company

Speaker 2 [00:42:11] and where you’re from originally. And how many brothers and sisters were you in the pecking order?

Speaker 3 [00:42:16] Long Island. And I’m the middle child and older brother and a younger sister already Drew. It may seem you told us you worked at a deli in seventh, eighth grade, and at the end of the day, you would come to the front, play Jeopardy with the other adults. What does that tell us about you? I think that tells you that I have a real passion for learning new things across a wide variety of topics, and you also mentioned that you were in a leadership group at your synagogue. What was that experience? Yes, I was very involved as a child, as I guess as a young person in my in my synagogue youth group. And I really took on multiple regional leadership positions that spanned not only my synagogue, but also other synagogues in the greater New York area where I grew up. What was the key takeaway of that experience? I think a key takeaway experience from that experience was that too often people are hesitant to step into a leadership role when leadership is sorely necessary. So if you see an opportunity where you know, where folks aren’t willing to step up, it’s really critical that you that you embrace that and step into that into that leadership role.

Speaker 2 [00:43:24] David?

Speaker 3 [00:43:26] So, Mason, from our conversation in the green room, it’s coming back to you, you have a passion for making sure that the greater good is taken care of. And and tell us a little bit more about where that comes from. So I think that comes from, you know, a real. Focus on living with purpose, that in life we have to really understand and focus on what’s important to us and what we’re going to really look back with pride on and say, you know, I’m really happy that I accomplished that in life. I really feel good about having accomplished that in life. And that’s typically not going to be about whether I just was able to amass a lot of money or a lot of, you know, a lot of material possessions. That is much more about much more about purpose and meaning. And Ethan Mason, where did this entrepreneurial spirit in you originate from? So I think it probably originated with some early conversations as a kid that I had with my father, you know, where we talked about different different types of businesses and what they did and why they did it and why they were not successful. And I think that really instilled within me a passion for dissecting and understanding businesses and then looking for opportunities to to create new ones. How did that prepare you for your being leader today? So I think that being a leader, you know, you have to be able to see the big picture and understand and really set the vision for the organization and inspire those around you in pursuit of in pursuit of a vision, because people really feel again, going back to my earlier point, they really feel that they’re making the most impact when they’re united behind behind a vision I believe in.

Speaker 2 [00:45:13] Shannon.

Speaker 4 [00:45:16] And outside of your immediate family that you looked up to as a kid, Mason.

Speaker 3 [00:45:20] I think it would definitely be the rabbi of my local synagogue was somebody that I really looked up to.

Speaker 4 [00:45:26] And what about him? Tell us more about that,

Speaker 3 [00:45:29] because I think he really embodied the notion of living with purpose, of really understanding that our role in this world is not just for ourselves, but it’s for greater good to impact those around us and to do things that that we can be proud of. And he really lived that and demonstrated that on a day to day basis

Speaker 4 [00:45:46] and how that show up when you’re at work and in our health.

Speaker 3 [00:45:52] I think that what I’m trying to do each and every day with, you know, with the with the teammates that we have and, you know, sort of we call it Yahel family, is that everybody should really understand and be clear about that. There is a purpose to this organization. The organization exists or for a reason for vision and really impact and have a positive impact on people’s lives day in and day out. And we hear that from our patients. How they say how you’re engaging with our health has been really a life changing experience for them. And that’s and that’s really what the organization is all about.

Speaker 2 [00:46:24] Mm hmm. Chris. Up your unit there, Chris.

Speaker 3 [00:46:30] In the green room, you mentioned integrity, where did you pick up that theme that again came out? I think very much like to my father, you know, he demonstrated integrity each and every day. I can’t I don’t have a single memory of my father doing something, anything which lacked integrity. And he always said to me, he said, when you look back on your life, you don’t want to regret anything that you did. Don’t make any decisions that you’re going to regret later and say, hey, you know, I wish I hadn’t done that. And I think he really has always embodied the integrity that that I look up to and try to emulate. Do you feel you carry that same thought into your leadership now? Absolutely. I mean, I tried to each and every day treat the folks on our team, the patients that we interact with and our clients with respect and honesty, because I think that that ultimately is something that we can all we can all be proud of.

Speaker 2 [00:47:21] Mm hmm. You spoke about purpose and meaning in your life. And I got the sense that that’s that you that that’s who you are and that’s what you ought to do business. Give me a little bit more about that as opposed to or instead of or how that directs your life or your time spent. Give me a better feel for that.

Speaker 3 [00:47:44] So I tried to I think that really manifests itself in recognizing that you, as a business owner and a business leader, you can become consumed by your business and do nothing else. And I think that that’s that’s not healthy and not something, you know, you don’t want written on your tombstone at the end of your life. He was a great business leader. You want it to be more than that. So it’s important to carve out in your day time for those things that make you a deeper and more and more holistic person.

Speaker 2 [00:48:13] And I got the sense when we were speaking in the green room that faith plays a great deal in your life of my. Am I correct about that?

Speaker 3 [00:48:23] I think that’s very, very perceptive. I do you know, I do live my life with a strong faith and it’s a foundation of our family. And I think it’s, again, really important to understand that what we do as part of is part of it should be part of a greater good and a greater mission, just, you know, just beyond ourselves.

Speaker 2 [00:48:41] Does that does that faith based? Is that does that faith does that integrity you spoke of is that purpose and meaning that lend itself to business?

Speaker 3 [00:48:51] Absolutely. I mean, I think that that people, both coworkers and clients, you know, they do appreciate that. They respect that. And they’re attracted to that. You know, when you when you live your life with integrity, with purpose, that’s something that that other people want to be a part of. And I think that leads ultimately to business success as well.

Speaker 2 [00:49:13] So you believe that this faith, that this purpose, that this mission is one of the reasons that you’re able to attract quality teammates and also get and keep clients?

Speaker 3 [00:49:26] Absolutely. I think I think I think vision and purpose and mission are very empowering, are very empowering, are contagious. So if you if you lead with clear vision and you lead with clear purpose and clear mission, I think others rally around that and want to be a part of that. When you walk through the doors of our how do can you feel like your dad and the rabbi kind of acquiring the culture there? I can definitely see that. I think that they’re definitely inspiring me. Absolutely. And I think by extension, that, you know, that they’re making a big imprint on the culture. I don’t know that that my coworkers would say that they see my dad and my rabbi. But but, yes, I do think that by extension, they’re feeling the effects of that.

Speaker 2 [00:50:14] Uh. So the rabbi and your dad, these people had major impacts on you. Is your dad aware of your business success nowadays?

Speaker 3 [00:50:25] Yes, he is. And he’s he’s very proud of it. And, you know, we do speak about we do speak about it.

Speaker 2 [00:50:31] And why is he proud of. Has he been to your office?

Speaker 3 [00:50:34] Yes, he has.

Speaker 2 [00:50:35] How do you think he felt visiting your office and why?

Speaker 3 [00:50:38] Well, I’ll tell you, interesting. He’s actually more than just visiting my office. He’s actually had a fair amount of interaction with other folks on our team. And he’s and he’s commented to me how impressed he is with the quality and integrity, frankly, and professionalism of the people that are that are part of our leadership team at our health. And that that really means a lot to me that he respects the people that that are part of our part of our team.

Speaker 2 [00:51:02] So you basically took the baton and ran with it and created a team that you felt your dad would respect and a business model that that you would respect and like. Correct about that?

Speaker 3 [00:51:13] Yes, definitely.

Speaker 2 [00:51:16] What’s the website address for this organization? Doonas or Help?

Speaker 3 [00:51:20] So it’s the letter R Desh Health DOT M.D..

Speaker 2 [00:51:24] Let me have that one more time.

Speaker 3 [00:51:26] The letter R Dash Health HGL T.H. Dot M.D..

Speaker 2 [00:51:31] We’ve been speaking with Mason Ryner, co-founder and chief executive officer of Oral Health here on Executive Leaders Radio Eating. Could you give us a rundown of who else we’ve had the opportunity of speaking with, please?

Speaker 3 [00:51:42] Sir, we had a great show today, including Richard Jensen, CEO of Agoura Cyber Charter School. Justin Spannaus, VP and CEO of Unique Snacks. Nathanial is president and CEO of Next Light. And Mason Reiner, co-founder and chief executive officer of RL,

Speaker 2 [00:52:01] like to thank my co-hosts, including Shannon Lynn, Mark Knight, Frank Drew Hanlon, Allen, Ethan Morad, go to David Jackel, its Evolution Financial Group, and Chris Glover EmployeeMax for giving me and structuring the questions, hopefully providing for our listening audience and educational entertaining show. We like to thank our listening audience, otherwise we wouldn’t have a radio show. But don’t forget to visit our website. It’s Executive Leaders Radio dot com. Learn more about our executive leaders, its executive leaders, radio dot com and learn more about our executive leaders. Thank you for joining us today. Have a nice day. Bye.

Speaker 5 [00:52:50] It’s totally normal to be constipated with belly pain, straining and bloating again and again,

Speaker 1 [00:52:54] no way you could have a chronic condition called irritable bowel syndrome with constipation or IBC, Linzess or Lanark. The tide is a prescription that treats IBS and adults. Linzess works differently than laxatives to help relieve belly pain and let you have more frequent and complete bowel movements. Individual results may vary. Do not give to children less than six and it should not be given to children six to less than 18. It may harm them. Do not take Linzess. If you have a bowel blockage, get immediate help if you develop unusual or severe stomach pain, especially with bloody or black stools. The most common side effect is diarrhea, sometimes severe. If it’s severe, stop taking Linzess and call your doctor right away. Other side effects include gas, stomach area pain and swelling. Talk to your doctor today. You may be able to save on Linzess and make fewer trips to the pharmacy. See if you’re eligible to pay as little as thirty dollars for 90 days. Visit Lindsy Face.com or call one 800 Elyon Zests sponsored by AbbVie and Ironwood Pharmaceuticals.