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Absolute Advantage Podcast

The Absolute Advantage is about learning from some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs, leaders, and achievers at the top of their game. When chasing your dreams, a lot of times there isn’t a need to reinvent the wheel. Instead, shorten your path to success by learning from the stories, strategies and concepts shared by our guests. Then shorten it even further by learning about amazing resources (books, webinars, tools, software, events, coaching, etc.) that should be on your radar. You are not alone in the challenges you face! It's my mission to help you walk away with at least one idea you can apply each episode and to offer content that inspires, encourages and helps you grow and progress QUICKLY both professionally and personally.
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May 5, 2021

Author of the national bestselling book You.Are.The.One. and widely considered the next generation leader in the field of personal development by everyone ranging from Larry King, Jack Canfield, Marianne Williamson and more. He has been featured on Larry King Now, Fox and Friends, Dr. Drew, as well, Inc magazine calls him ‘The Mindfulness Guru Billionaires Go To For Advice’.

He recently received a Walden Award in the New Thought Wisdom category that Unity honors once a year to recognize socially conscious leaders who are making the world a better place, past winners in the same category have been Oprah Winfrey and Michael Bernard Beckwith.

A charismatic visionary and transformational teacher, he offers a fresh, bold look at spiritual awareness for a whole new generation. Born in Ghana, West Africa, Coot’s multi-cultural upbringing as the child of a Japanese mother and a Ghanaian father has spanned four different continents. His unique lineage lay the foundation for his approach to breaking down barriers and unlocking an individual’s true gifts and greatness.

His mission is simple: To awaken and inspire people across the planet to access inner freedom, live authentically and fulfill their true life’s purpose.

In this episode, we talk about his new book, “Magic of Surrender – Finding the Courage to let go”.

What you will learn:

  • Kute’s journey to live into his truth
  • How do determine whether it is your instinct or an unlimiting belief that is holding you back
  • How to move you past inner struggle to discover the power of letting go of control and how letting go leads to more
  • Allowing life to lead us instead of needing to KNOW
  • The lies we tell ourselves and how they hold us back
  • What does it mean to “surrender”
  • Why surrender is the most powerful thing you can do
  • The stages in the process of surrendering

Ways to contact Kute Blackson:

Mar 25, 2020

Doug is a retired military veteran of over 24 years. During his time in the military, he held numerous leadership positions to include instructor and manager of 500 personnel to Troop Chief of a hand-selected group of special communicators tasked with supporting and deploying into austere environments with Special Operations Forces. Upon retirement, he supported numerous government agencies as a subject matter expert in non-standard communications and as a business development executive. These experiences have enabled him to pass on the knowledge and lessons of leadership under extreme conditions for companies needing management team building. Pulling from his past experience as an executive-level technology leader, he has built numerous successful teams based on building a common vision that is understood and predicated upon impact and purpose.

What You Will Learn:

  • Doug Ward’s leadership journey
  • How Doug tapped into his leadership abilities by observing his peers
  • Why self-awareness is such an important trait for effective leaders to have
  • How to earn your team’s trust from a position of authority
  • How to find a balance between your leadership position with your team and your leadership position with your family
  • How Doug navigated the transition from military to civilian life
  • The steps Doug takes to combat toxicity in a work environment

Ways to contact Doug Ward:

Mar 11, 2020

Kelly Hatfield and April Taylor are leaders and entrepreneurs at heart. They believe fully in the power of the ripple effect and the opportunity that each of us has to create meaningful, positive and long-lasting impact in the lives of our teams, our clients and all who we serve. They consistently focus on ensuring that this amazing opportunity is realized. Kelly and April have built several successful companies directly connected to helping others live into their opportunity to make a greater impact.

They have been in the recruiting and HR field for over 25 years and love serving others. Kelly and April, along with their amazing teams, have created 4 successful businesses aimed at matching exceptional talent with top organizations. Through Kelly and April’s passion for service and people, their reach has organically expanded into the area of coaching and consulting. With a focus on high-performance, they partner with companies to support and develop their leadership teams and design recruiting and retention strategies. Additionally, their work as hosts of Absolute Advantage Podcast offers a conduit to deep discussions with successful entrepreneurs, executives, and thought leaders across a variety of industries. This has provided them a unique perspective and deep connection to leadership, people, entrepreneurship and high-achieving practices from all viewpoints.

What You Will Learn:

  • The meaning of courage at the Absolute Advantage
  • Why many of us are actually more courageous than we might think
  • How to “put on your damn shoes” and overcome fear, resistance, or friction
  • Why focusing on delivering value will make you more courageous than focusing on yourself
  • How acts of courage are presented in everyday life
  • How to get involved in the discussion on our private Facebook group and our All Access group
  • How to move past the negative connotations associated with failure

Ways to contact us:

Feb 26, 2020

Part CEO, part personal development wonk, and part biohacker info geek, Thom King is a self-confessed serial entrepreneur. While his favorite book list contains many success-oriented and personal-development classics, the traditional definition of achieving success (e.g. make a lot of money) is not what inspires or motivates King. He follows more of a ‘you aren’t doing well unless you’re also doing some good’ line of thinking. King’s company has been built around the simple principle of ‘do the right thing.’ In 1999, Thom’s personal passion for food and his concern over the explosion of metabolic disease led him to found Steviva Brands, now known as Icon Foods, with a mission to help food manufacturers replace unhealthy sugars in their products with natural options. With 20 years of R&D work, Thom has helped hundreds of manufacturers improve the quality of their products. In recent years, his passion for food and optimal health have intersected with his embrace of a ketogenic (low carb, high fat) diet.

Thom King is the founder of Icon Foods and the author of “Guy Gone Keto: How to Lose Weight, Feel Great, and Achieve Lifelong Fitness.” As you can imagine, health and fitness are at the core of everything Thom has built. But he did not develop a health-conscious mentality until much later in his life. He started to question the effects of sugar on our bodies, then sought out a viable alternative with zero calories and no negative effects. It was a pivotal moment that paved the way for Steviva and eventually Icon Foods, enabling Thom to make an impact on manufacturers, consumers, friends, and family to this day.

Thom joins us in the latest episode of the Absolute Advantage to share his journey and bring us full circle with the concepts of health and energy. They are intertwined, and our health has a significant impact on how we show up in the world. Diet and exercise are directly tied to our ability to operate as effective leaders, and they can shape our organizations as a whole. To learn more about the relationship between health, energy, and leadership, listen to the latest episode of the Absolute Advantage.

Click here to listen to the episode, and make sure to visit www.absoluteadvantagepodcast.com for more content that inspires, encourages and helps you grow and make an impact QUICKLY both professionally and personally.

Ways to contact Thom King:

Feb 12, 2020

Kelly Hatfield and April Taylor are leaders and entrepreneurs at heart. They believe fully in the power of the ripple effect and the opportunity that each of us has to create meaningful, positive and long-lasting impact in the lives of our teams, our clients and all who we serve. They consistently focus on ensuring that this amazing opportunity is realized. Kelly and April have built several successful companies directly connected to helping others live into their opportunity to make a greater impact.

They have been in the recruiting and HR field for over 25 years and love serving others. Kelly and April, along with their amazing teams, have created 4 successful businesses aimed at matching exceptional talent with top organizations. Through Kelly and April’s passion for service and people, their reach has organically expanded into the area of coaching and consulting. With a focus on high-performance, they partner with companies to support and develop their leadership teams and design recruiting and retention strategies. Additionally, their work as hosts of Absolute Advantage Podcast offers a conduit to deep discussions with successful entrepreneurs, executives, and thought leaders across a variety of industries. This has provided them a unique perspective and deep connection to leadership, people, entrepreneurship and high-achieving practices from all viewpoints.

Our mental, emotional, and physical energies are directly tied to how we show up in the world. And when we get intentional with our energy—when we are actively managing it—we make a greater impact in everything we do. Like attracts like, so energy management connects us with opportunities and people who will propel us forward. Whether you are leading a team or not, energy is about self-leadership, and self-leadership is something that every single one of us can benefit from!

Energy is reciprocated, and the energy we put out is the energy we will get in return. But it is not possible to operate at 100% capacity 100% of the time. Energy management is about setting ourselves up for success so we can bring the best version of ourselves to the table when it counts most. In this episode of the Absolute Advantage podcast, we dive into the topic of energy management, explore energy from a leadership perspective, and discuss some of the tactics we use to change how we show up in the world.

Click here to listen to the episode, and make sure to visit www.absoluteadvantagepodcast.com for more content that inspires, encourages and helps you grow and make an impact QUICKLY both professionally and personally.

Ways to contact us:

Jan 29, 2020

Chris is the best-selling author of Real Estate on Your Terms: Create Continuous Cash Flow Now, Without Using Your Cash or Credit. He’s also the founder of SmartRealEstateCoach.com and the Smart Real Estate Coach Podcast.

Chris has been in real estate for over 25 years. His experience includes the construction of over 100 single-family and duplex homes (mostly in the 1990s and selectively to date), has owned a Realty Executives Franchise (Massachusetts 1994-2000) as broker/owner which maintained high per-agent standards and eventually sold to Coldwell Banker in 2000. The 2000s included coaching ½ million and higher REALTORs® in order to scale & automate their business throughout the US and Canada. He also participated (and still does selectively) in doing condo conversions (multi-family homes to condos) and “raise the roof” projects (converting single family ranches to colonials in growth neighborhoods).

Chris has been a big advocate of constant education and participates regularly in high-end mastermind groups, as well as consults with private mentors. He runs his own buying and selling businesses with his family team, which buys 2-5 properties monthly, so they’re in the trenches every single week. They also help clients do the same thing around the country.

Chris and his family team have done over 80 million in real estate transactions. They mentor, coach, consult, and actually partner with students around the country (by application only) to do exactly what they do.

Chris Prefontaine and his family mentor, coach, consult, and partner with students across the country to do real estate deals on terms. Between his associates and his own deals, Chris is still acquiring 5-10 properties each month. He controls $20-30M in real estate deals that are all done without using his own cash, credit, or signing for loans. And in this episode of the Absolute Advantage podcast, Chris explains how business leaders and established entrepreneurs can get into real estate with minimal exposure.

Smart Real Estate Coach is all about values mission and purpose because Chris recognizes the common misperceptions surrounding real estate education. There are a lot of programs out there with a significant gap between the time you take the course and the time you see revenue—sometimes it never happens at all. But Chris has built an unbelievable support network to guide his associates through deals using owner-financing and lease-purchase arrangements. If you are interested in getting into real estate so you can build wealth with a community of likeminded business leaders, this episode is you.

Click here to listen to the episode, and make sure to visit www.absoluteadvantagepodcast.com for more content that inspires, encourages and helps you grow and make an impact QUICKLY both professionally and personally.

Ways to contact Eric Kapitulik:

Jan 15, 2020

Kelly Hatfield and April Taylor are leaders and entrepreneurs at heart. They believe fully in the power of the ripple effect and the opportunity that each of us has to create meaningful, positive and long-lasting impact in the lives of our teams, our clients and all who we serve. They consistently focus on ensuring that this amazing opportunity is realized. Kelly and April have built several successful companies directly connected to helping others live into their opportunity to make a greater impact.

They have been in the recruiting and HR field for over 25 years and love serving others. Kelly and April, along with their amazing teams, have created 4 successful businesses aimed at matching exceptional talent with top organizations. Through Kelly and April’s passion for
service and people, their reach has organically expanded into the area of coaching and consulting. With a focus on high-performance, they partner with companies to support and develop their leadership teams and design recruiting and retention strategies. Additionally, their work as hosts of Absolute Advantage Podcast offers a conduit to deep discussions with successful entrepreneurs, executives, and thought leaders across a variety of industries. This has provided them a unique perspective and deep connection to leadership, people, entrepreneurship and high-achieving practices from all viewpoints.

2020 has arrived and it is ripe with opportunity. But as time moves forward, many of us fall further and further out of touch with the entrepreneurial spirit that led us down this path in the first place. How can we bring more fun and more joy into the work we are doing? How will our reinvigoration impact our teams and businesses as a whole? These are questions we should be asking ourselves—not just at the turn of each decade—but every single day!

There are tons of resources and strategies out there to help us set our goals for the new year, but a lot of the content we consume is sugar-coated. Since 2016, April and I have striven to bring you along for the ride in our journey with full-transparency. Being a leader is extremely difficult and sometimes we fall flat on our faces, but even the smallest victories make it all worth while. Think about what has held you back in the last year, what helped you move forward, and why you are doing this. Let’s hit the ground running.

Click here to listen to the episode, and make sure to visit www.absoluteadvantagepodcast.com for more content that inspires, encourages and helps you grow and make an impact QUICKLY both professionally and personally.

Ways to contact us:

Jan 1, 2020

Eric Kapitulik was born and raised in Thompson, CT and attended Pomfret Preparatory School where he was a three-sport varsity athlete. Upon graduating, he attended the United States Naval Academy. While there, he was a 4-year varsity letter winner and played on three NCAA Division I Lacrosse Tournament teams. During his junior year, Eric received the Lt. JG Frank McKeone Award, given to the Navy player who most demonstrated spirit and sportsmanship and who served as the unsung hero. Eric was also named Navy’s Most Outstanding Defenseman and received North-South All-Star honors his senior year at the Academy. He graduated in 1995 and went on to serve as both an Infantry Officer and Special Operations Officer with 1st Force Reconnaissance Company, 1st Marine Division. As a Force Reconnaissance Platoon Commander, Eric led 20 covert operations specialists in Special Forces related missions including long-range reconnaissance patrols, hostage rescue, high altitude jump exercises, ship takeovers, and gas-oil platform takedowns. He left active duty after eight years of service and graduated from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in 2005.

Eric has been extensively involved with the Force Reconnaissance Scholarship Fund, which he established for the children of six Marines who died in a helicopter crash while serving under his command. Since 1999, he has been helping to raise funds and has done so through public speaking engagements covering Leadership and Attacking Adversity and through participation in Iron Man Triathlons and other ultra-endurance races around the world. In addition to finishing 8 Iron Man triathlons, Eric has competed in numerous marathons, the Canadian Death Race Ultra Marathon, the Eco Challenge, the American Birkebeiner Ski Marathon and was a competitor on The Outdoor Life Networks Global Extremes Challenge.

Eric is also an avid high altitude mountaineer. He has summited five of the Seven Summits (the highest peaks on the seven continents); Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. McKinley, Mt. Aconcagua, Mt.Elbrus and most recently Mt. Everest.

Eric sits on the board of directors for the Massachusetts Soldiers Legacy Fund and is the Founder and President of The Program LLC, a team-building and leadership development company for high school and collegiate student-athletes and corporate teams.

As a former D1 lacrosse player and Special Operations Officer with 1st Force Reconnaissance Company, Eric Kapitulik maintains a standard of excellence in every facet of his life. The lessons he took away from those experiences are invaluable, so Eric is paying it forward by teaching structure, discipline, and an unrivaled leadership methodology to athletes and executives who want to take their teams to the next level.

Eric’s program has one mission: to develop better leaders and create more cohesive teams—that’s all they do. He facilitates personal development, leadership development, and team building through shared adversity, and helps individuals and teams grow by stepping outside of their comfort zones. Eric works with collegiate and professional athletic programs and corporations across North America to reinvent their standards of leadership. Then, they commit the lessons to memory through experiential training.

Click here to listen to the episode, and make sure to visit www.absoluteadvantagepodcast.com for more content that inspires, encourages and helps you grow and make an impact QUICKLY both professionally and personally.

Ways to contact Eric Kapitulik:

Dec 18, 2019

Mike Kitko is an Executive Self- Mastery Coach, Speaker, and Author. He found external success in the world through attaining powerful titles, incomes, and material possessions. His family only focused on material wealth as the primary means of trying to find happiness. He ultimately fell into depression, alcoholism, and the near-collapse of his family before he began a journey of internal happiness. Mike now coaches Executive Leaders to feel as powerful on the inside as they appear to those they lead – which creates a fulfilled person and powerful family.

Early in Mike Kitko’s career, he found himself running from fear, inadequacy, and insecurity no matter what he accomplished. His life was crumbling around him and he struggled to maintain a facade of strength and composure. But when Mike took a step back and sought out a path of authenticity, he no longer felt like an imposter. He became the master of his own life and is now helping other leaders to do the same.

Mike and his wife pulled themselves out of the depths and started living the life they always wanted. But it is important to note the relatively short time frame in which the Kitkos’ transformation took place. We are only one decision away from changing our lives for the better and it starts with identifying everything that serves your vision and cutting out the things that don’t.

Mike Kitko wants to help you create a life of your own dreams, not a life someone else designed. It all starts with an internal journey and the ‘right’ path is the path that suits you! Click here to listen to the episode, and make sure to visit www.absoluteadvantagepodcast.com for more content that inspires, encourages and helps you grow and make an impact QUICKLY both professionally and personally.


Ways to contact Mike Kitko:

Nov 20, 2019

Peter Guzzardi has worked in publishing for more than forty years. Prominent books he has edited include Stephen Hawkings A Brief History of Time, Deepak Chopras Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, Queen Noors Leap of Faith, Arianna Huffington’s Fanatics and Fools, and Paula Poundstone’s There’s Nothing in This Book That I Meant to Say. Emeralds of Oz: Life Lessons from Over the Rainbow was published by HarperCollins in May 2019 and marks Peter’s debut as an author. An independent editor and writer, he lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Peter’s book, “Emeralds of Oz: Life Lessons From Over the Rainbow,” is available for purchase now where books are sold. You can see his upcoming events by going to peterguzzardi.com and clicking on “Events.”

Peter Guzzardi stumbled upon a spectacular 75th-anniversary edition of The Wizard of Oz and it sparked an epiphany. It occurred to him that, throughout his forty-year career in publishing, all the lessons he learned from the brilliant minds of his industry were presented in the film.

Peter shaped the lessons into sixty-two insights that parallel events in the Wizard of Oz. Then, he distilled the insights into nine substantial takeaways dubbed the “nine emeralds.” The nine emeralds can be used to address particular issues in your life and work through them. They are extremely useful in a leadership position, especially as you learn to speak the language.

Each emerald is linked to an iconic moment in the film because Peter’s goal is to take you through an emerald circuit similar to Dorothy’s. The emeralds are intended to facilitate a transformation and help you step into the best version of yourself. Being your best self is not just about improving your own experience; it is about creating a richer and more rewarding experience for your employees as well. You will make a tremendous difference just by showing up that way.

Click here to listen to the episode, and make sure to visit www.absoluteadvantagepodcast.com for more content that inspires, encourages and helps you grow and make an impact QUICKLY both professionally and personally.

Ways to contact Peter Guzzardi:

Nov 13, 2019

David Hauser has built a number of successful companies in the startup space, both organically and inorganically. He is the founder of Grasshopper, which was acquired by Citrix after he bootstrapped the company to $30M+. David founded Chargify and made it profitable, securing a Mark Cuban investment. He founded ReturnPath and is a founding member of National Entrepreneurs’ Day (http://entrepreneursday.org). David is an angel investor in Intercom, Unbounce, Munchery, Groove and more. He is a public speaker at FOWA, Big Omaha, LessConf, SuperConf, Entrepreneurs Organization, and has received major media coverage by CNN, Fox, Inc. Magazine, Fortune, Entrepreneur, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Inc. 30 Under 30.

As leaders and business owners, we prioritize other people’s needs. It is part of what makes us great leaders in the first place. You signed up for long days and late nights when you entered this world, but you can only operate at full capacity when you put your oxygen mask on first. Sometimes, to help others, you have to help yourself. David Hauser explores that notion and more in his new book, Unstoppable.

We preach the importance of health and wellness, but we don’t always practice it ourselves. David Hauser struggled to prioritize self-care in the hustle-hard culture of modern entrepreneurship—a position that many of us are in right now. You have to recognize that there is no ‘right’ time to start practicing self-care and stop putting it off. When you achieve balance and become the best version of yourself, your business will reflect that. Health and wellness is a great place to start.

In this episode of the Absolute Advantage podcast, David Hauser joins us to share his journey of personal development. He discusses the key principles in his book, “Unstoppable,” such as the optimization mindset, the myths surrounding diet and exercise, and the top things you should be paying attention to on your own journey.

Click here to listen to the episode, and make sure to visit www.absoluteadvantagepodcast.com for more content that inspires, encourages and helps you grow and make an impact QUICKLY both professionally and personally.

Ways to contact David Hauser:

Nov 6, 2019

Jennifer Brown is an award-winning entrepreneur, dynamic speaker and diversity and inclusion expert. She is the founder, president, and CEO of Jennifer Brown Consulting (JBC), a strategic leadership and diversity consulting firm that coaches business leaders worldwide on critical issues of talent and workplace strategy. Brown is a passionate advocate for social equality who helps businesses foster healthier, more productive workplace cultures. Her book Inclusion: Diversity, the New Workplace & the Will to Change (2016) will inspire leadership to embrace the opportunity that diversity represents and empower advocates to drive change that resonates in today’s world. Jennifer’s second book, How to Be an Inclusive Leader, is available everywhere!

Many of us look at leadership and say, “I don’t see anyone that looks like me or shares my story.” We leave parts of ourselves at home for fear of not being accepted. Jennifer Brown has been a member of the LGBTQ community for 22 years, and she struggled with her self-image in almost every role. Today, she is working with businesses and leaders across the country to eradicate that fear.

As a consultant and speaker, Jennifer has worked with Fortune 500 corporations like Wal-Mart and Microsoft to help them integrate strategies of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. But small businesses are starting to adopt these practices as well. Companies need a culture that promotes inclusivity because they will only recruit and retain the top talent if people can bring their full selves to work. It is a significant competitive differentiator.

In this episode of the Absolute Advantage, Jennifer Brown discusses the “full self” and the advantages of bringing it to work. She explains the impact that building a culture of inclusivity has on small businesses and Fortune 500 companies alike. Click here to listen to the episode, and make sure to visit www.absoluteadvantagepodcast.com for more content that inspires, encourages and helps you grow and make an impact QUICKLY both professionally and personally.

Ways to contact Jennifer Brown:

Oct 30, 2019

John Waid has thirty years of sales and sales leadership experience in Fortune 500 companies and twelve years of senior consulting experience in the learning and development field. John earned his MBA in International Business from a top program and is fluent in three languages which has allowed him to work in Europe, North, Central and South America. He started his own firm, C3—Corporate Culture Consulting, to work with leaders and their companies on their cultures.

John Waid is the founder and CEO of C3, a firm that specializes in aligning an organization’s culture with its strategic goals. In his experience, culture represents the relationship of values and behaviors within an organization. When your organization’s values are well-defined, employee behavior is the best indicator of how the values are being exemplified.

Values are implemented by profound leaders, and leaders are people that others follow voluntarily. Leaders are responsible for the culture, coaches are responsible for the growth, and managers are responsible for operational excellence. Although all of those components play a role in the organization’s success, you cannot achieve growth and operational excellence with a frail culture.

The most well-run companies put their employees first, their customers second, and their profits third. At the top of the pyramid is your leader or the ambassador of your culture, and at the base is your results. Everything in between determines how much you are going to grow. However, many organizations do not have a structure like that in place.

In this episode of the Absolute Advantage, John Waid explains the direct link between a company’s culture and its performance. He shares his methodology and talks about the role of culture in recruiting, growth, and ultimately, profit. Click here to listen to the episode, and make sure to visit www.absoluteadvantagepodcast.com for more content that inspires, encourages and helps you grow and make an impact QUICKLY both professionally and personally.

Ways to contact John Waid:

Oct 2, 2019

Erik Salzenstein’s story is one that truly shows the power of change and what’s possible. From greed and addiction to purpose and fulfillment. Erik found himself facing life in prison, with his back against the wall where he finally had to face his worst enemy up until that point…himself.

What stands out that he had to go to prison to find freedom and realized he was in his own prison long before actually being behind bars. He then went on to spend 4 years relentlessly pursuing personal growth, coaching, speaking, running workshops and even being published in a newspaper all while in prison. He developed a 4 step process using the acronym ROCK that allowed him to tap into his full potential and develop the ROCK solid foundation needed to transform and build his life on. He’s since used this process with much success to his clients lives.

Erik is a powerful and sought out speaker and transformational coach who shares his signature talk “From Prison to Prosperity” and takes people through his ROCK process and helps them break free from the constructs of their own prison.

Erik Salzenstein was facing life in prison at just 23 years old, but as his freedom was being ripped away, Erik realized that he was never free in the first place. None of his decisions were made in a heightened state of mind because fear, doubt, and insecurity fueled his M.O. The deeper he crawled into that hole, the higher the stakes became, and Erik finally realized that to grow as a human being, he had to believe that he could achieve something more.

At that point, he was able to embark on a journey of personal transformation, bringing as many others as he could along with him. By tapping into his own experience of self-discovery, Erik could help others step into their greater selves by making choices that align with their core values and beliefs.

In this episode of the Absolute Advantage podcast, Erik Salzenstein joins host Kelly Hatfield to share his story and talk about helping people understand who they really are so they can make decisions that embody the best version of that. Click here to listen to the episode, and make sure to visit www.absoluteadvantagepodcast.com for more content that inspires, encourages and helps you grow and make an impact QUICKLY both professionally and personally.

Ways to contact Erik Salzenstein:

Sep 25, 2019

John Livesay, aka The Pitch Whisperer, is a sales keynote speaker and shares the lessons learned from his award-winning sales career at Conde Nast. In his keynote Better Selling Through Storytelling, he shows companies sales teams how to become irresistible so they are magnetic to their ideal clients. After John speaks, the sales team becomes revenue rock stars who know how to form an emotional connection and a compelling sales story with clients. His TEDx talk: Be The Lifeguard of your own life has over 1,000,000 views. His best selling book is Better Selling Through Storytelling.

He is also the host of The Successful Pitch podcast, which is heard in over 60 countries. These interviews make him a sales keynote speaker with fresh and relevant content. Audiences love him because they know hes been in their shoes.

John has been interviewed by Larry King and appeared on TV as an expert on How To Ask For What You Want And Get A Yes. John currently lives in Los Angeles with his King Charles Spaniel, Pepe, who welcomes him home after he returns from being a sales keynote speaker, reminding him of the importance of belly rubs.

As a leader, the right direction is not always clear, but establishing a personal brand will give you parameters that you can always fall back on. John Livesay taps into his background in advertising to provide strategic insights for building your brand and communicating it through the art of storytelling.

Storytelling is what makes us memorable, and whether you are making the first touchpoint or trying to close, creating an emotional connection is the key to playing the long game. Crafting a compelling narrative is one of the most effective methods to accomplish this, and with the proper strategy, your sales team will be able to attract key prospects at a point in the sales cycle when they are ready to spend.

In this episode of the Absolute Advantage podcast, John Livesay joins host Kelly Hatfield to share his story and talk about the fundamental components that make storytelling an effective pitch strategy. If you tell the best story, you’re going to get the ‘yes,’ so find out how to move “from invisible to irresistible,” with John Livesay.

Ways to contact John Livesay:

Sep 18, 2019

Ric Lindberg is a freelancer who helps global organizations with business intelligence and team development based on coaching, metrics and KPIs. He is a deep technical data-nerd who understand the desire to replace tools and processes for better results, but having worked within business intelligence for 24 years, Ric learned that it’s never about the tool. The path to better and lasting change requires leadership way more than tools.

He’s been podcasting for more than 5 years about self-leadership, focus and relationship building on the show Relationship Power at work and has now turned into a beginner YouTuber helping parents better connect to their computer gamer children.
Ric helps you Connect and Levelup.

By helping businesses harness the power of advanced analytics and team development, Ric Lindberg works with his clients to build a stronger connection between the employees and their work. Lindberg’s process combines a technical background in computers with intra-organizational analysis to create custom strategies based on the unique business problems of each client.

As a freelance consultant, Lindberg has spent years refining the skill of empathic listening which allows him to construct metrics-based solutions with a deep understanding of a business’s functionality. His approach is very data-centric, but software and tools are only a small part of the work he does.

When leaders become more vulnerable and start to understand the worldview of others, it opens a pathway for connection that yields higher productivity and better team chemistry. Ric Lindberg is helping leaders tap into that by eliminating the traditional power dynamic and coaching them to unlock the full extent of their teams’ capabilities.

Ways to contact Ric Lindberg:

Sep 11, 2019

Joe Williams helps coaches, consultants and entrepreneurs become world-class communicators!

Joe is the Founder of Creative Performance Group, where he helps people get their message out to the world in the most powerful way possible. He created the Master Your Message Bootcamp, an intensive training that has created hundreds of other successful speakers, coaches, consultants, and authors. In addition to live events, consulting, and corporate programs, Joe lead the Impact Entrepreneur group a high-end mentorship program for professional speakers, coaches, and consultants.

His new book “The Impact Awakening: How to go from having a calling to changing lives”, focuses on how to master your message, communicate it powerfully, and scale it into an Impact Business.

Joe is a passionate student and trainer of personal and professional development techniques he has worked with and spoken for peak performance coach Anthony Robbins for over 20 years.

Joe’s work has led him to consult with companies in a number of fields such as financial services, aerospace, retail business, internet and software, direct sales, publishing, entertainment, and the federal government. Joe is professionally responsible for helping his clients create over $50 Billion in new business.

Both of Joe Williams’ parents went to prison for tax evasion when he was just a teenager, and his drive to produce results was born almost instantaneously. Williams had a knack for entrepreneurship and managed to take his company public at only twenty-six, but it didn’t take long before he realized that shuffling around an office was not his passion.

Williams developed a friendship with Tony Robbins in the late 90s who gave him the opportunity to discover his true passion; public speaking, mentorship, and coaching. Now, Williams works with people who are trying to reinvent themselves and helps them take their calling, story, message, or gift, and create an action plan to bring it to the world.

In this episode of the Absolute Advantage Podcast, Williams joins host Kelly Hatfield to share his story and discuss the methodology he uses to make transformational strides with his clients’ endeavors. Click here to listen to the episode, and make sure to visit www.impactawakeningbook.com for a free pdf of Williams’ new book.

Ways to contact Joe Williams:

Sep 4, 2019

Jonathan Keyser is the founder and thought leader behind Keyser, the largest tenant rep commercial real estate brokerage/consulting firm in Arizona. Through his disruptive focus on selfless service, Jonathan is re-shaping the commercial real estate industry, and his firm has quickly become one of the fastest-growing CRE firms in the country, representing companies globally across multiple industries.

Jonathan is thrilled to share his journey and mission of selfless service through his highly-anticipated book, You Dont Have to Be Ruthless to Win (hitting bookshelves in mid 2019). A strong supporter of the Conscious Capitalism movement, Jonathan is eagerly working toward the upcoming launch of The Keyser Institute to inspire and equip the next generation of selfless leaders. Jonathan is passionate about helping and empowering others, and has been involved in many different executive and nonprofit organizations, including the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Phoenix and several business leadership organizations in Arizona. He is also spearheading an initiative to connect Arizona business leaders, alongside Arizona Governor Doug Ducey (www.arizonabusinesscommunity.com).

On the personal side, Jonathan prioritizes family. He is a loving and devoted father to wife and four children. Jonathan is extremely committed to personal development and self-improvement, and he stays active with mountain/water sports, spin, and hiking.

With a background that instilled concrete values and a strong moral compass, Jonathan Keyser had a difficult decision to make when he entered the world of commercial real estate. It wasn’t necessarily that Keyser had ill will, he just didn’t know how else to succeed in that industry other than to become a ruthless prick. After years of clawing his way up the food chain with one self-serving act after another, Keyser eventually attended a conference that flipped his perspective on building relationships by revealing the success that can result from helping people.

Keyser is not hustling an instant-gratification, get-rich-quick scheme. His methodology focuses on creating long-term, sustainable success by nurturing relationships through selfless service. It was a grueling transition for him to make, but Keyser is a completely different person now. He is the founder of a commercial real estate brokerage that is built on the principle of succeeding by helping others succeed, and he trains all of his team members to live out that value in all facets of their lives.

In this episode of the Absolute Advantage podcast, Jonathan Keyser joins host Kelly Hatfield to share his journey and discuss the challenges and successes he experienced on the path of selfless service. Keyser breaks down his philosophy and highlights all of the key principles that business leaders can follow to reach a higher level of happiness and success. Click here to listen to the episode, and make sure to visit www.absoluteadvantagepodcast.com for more informative episodes about pushing the boundaries of your leadership potential.

Ways to contact Jonathan Keyser:

Aug 28, 2019

Carey Jenkins had an unconventional path to CEO of Substantial, a Seattle-based digital product studio that has worked with companies like Amazon, Mercedes Benz, and the Wall Street Journal. In 2012, Carey joined the client services team, and six short years later she became the CEO. As the sixth female employee and first mother hired at Substantial, Carey is proud that Substantial has grown the female employee base to 37% overall and 40% on the leadership team, and she is committed to empowering other women to seize more leadership opportunities.

Beyond the excitement of graduating from college, many students wander out of the auditorium as lost souls. Their failure to recognize opportunity in disguise creates a void of purpose, but it is important to acknowledge that no one in history had a road map to success. Carey Jenkins’ story emphasizes the importance of framing adverse situations differently to become more resilient. Ironically, her success story is more of a collection of failures than successes, but in this episode of Absolute Advantage, she explains how a will to learn from them will only tear you down and rebuild you stronger.

Jenkins’ toolbox as a CEO includes project management, people management, writing, and public speaking, but not a single one of those skills came from her experience in one role or industry. They are the culmination of all her past experiences and failures, which led to greater opportunities that she was already prepared for. Jenkins faced many challenges climbing the ranks to become a female executive, but she made it to the top because of her capacity to lead and adapt to adversity—any one is capable when they start asking “why not me” instead of “why me.”

Throughout her journey, Jenkins was always hungry for feedback and coaching, but what set her apart was the ability to step into really uncomfortable situations and recognize her value to the company. This relentless mindset drove her to fight tooth and nail for the CEO position when the opportunity presented itself, and it proved that you can always pull yourself up if you’re prepared to do so.

Ways to contact Carey Jenkins:

Aug 21, 2019

After their business crumbled due to a sudden illness that had Joeel bedridden for a year, Joeel (jo-ELL) and Natalie Rivera (ri-VAIR-uh) decided they never wanted to be in that situation again. So they dedicated themselves to converting their training and speaking programs into online courses that would outlive them and would provide passive income. They reached over 100,000 students from 191 countries in only 3 years. They believe that entrepreneurship is the ultimate form of empowerment. Today they teach INDIEpreneurs how to create a purpose-driven business in this new economy so they can monetize their passion and live life on their terms.

Joeel and Natalie Rivera both had entrepreneurial dreams early on, but what brought them together was their desire to help others, create a legacy, and make an impact on the community. After their paths merged, Joeel and Natalie found a collective calling to establish a multitude of platforms that would help business leaders in the community grow. As fate would have it, their devotion to the cause quickly caught up with them and Joeel fell severely ill, completely incapacitated and unable to work.

The adversity Joeel faced culminated a desire to build something that would outlive him, so Joeel and Natalie began converting all of their content into videos that were accessible to a much larger audience. All of their students have an expertise that they haven’t acknowledged yet, so the Riveras thrive on helping students identify their passions in order to monetize and share them with the world. The courses are not necessarily complex and a lot of them are built around simple skills that other people are hungry to learn; if it is something you can teach, it is something you can turn into a passive income and anything is possible.

For the most part, a lot of the information being taught is already out there, but the reason people pay for these courses is because Joeel and Natalie’s students provide packaged content that is taught step by step. A lot of changes are taking place as the capacity to do business online grows, so people are searching for more niche information as they develop new skills to keep up with the shift. That demand is only growing with people looking to make a greater impact in this world, by stepping into themselves and assuming a growth mindset. In this episode of Absolute Advantage, Joeel and Natalie explain how you can accomplish that by uncovering your passions and sharing them with others. Click here to listen to the episode.

Ways to contact Joeel and Natalie Rivera:

Aug 14, 2019

Kathleen Trotter is a fitness expert, media personality, personal trainer, writer, life coach, certified Pilates and ELDOA instructor, and overall health enthusiast. Her passion is motivating others to find their fit. Kathleen does this through writing, regular TV and media appearances, working with clients (ranging from athletes of all ages to individuals living with Parkinson’s disease and osteoporosis), and speaking engagements.

Kathleen holds an M.Sc. in Exercise Science from the University of Toronto and a nutrition diploma from the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition. She is a C.H.E.K. Level 3 trainer, a Level 2 Fascial Stretch Therapist, Level 1 ELDOA practitioner, and a certified Pilates Equipment Specialist.

Kathleen started her work as a fitness writer at Chatelaine in 2010. Shortly after, she started blogging for the Huffington Post and filming and writing for the Globe and Mail. Kathleen has published articles in magazines, such as Canadian Running, Glow, Todays Parent, Healthy Directions, and Impact Magazine.

Kathleen is regularly interviewed as a fitness expert for multiple news outlets including Global News and the Toronto Star. She also makes regular TV and media appearances on Breakfast Television Montreal, Rogers Ottawa, CTV News, CHCH Morning Live Hamilton, the CBC, ABC News 7, and many others. Kathleen has been a guest on numerous radio shows, podcasts, and is a regular on Zoomer Radios The Tonic.

Her new-found passion is motivational speaking. Kathleen’s speaking engagements have included a series of motivational lectures at the Toronto Public Library, guest lectures at the University of Toronto and Concordia University, Lunch and Learns at the University of Toronto, and corporate presentations, including her recent Cisco Women of Influence keynote talk.

Kathleen loves her job. Her mission is to inspire as many people as possible to adopt (in an intelligent way) a healthier lifestyle and to make healthier choices because they love themselves, not because they hate themselves. Kathleen does not believe in body shame. Kathleen does believe in goals and results. She does not believe in being easy on yourself or letting negative brain propaganda win. She does believe in self-compassion and holding yourself accountable. Kathleen does not believe in being active to create a whole new you. Kathleen does believe in being you, but working toward creating a you who has more healthy habits. She believes in learning and growing, passion, gratitude, and actively finding pockets of joy. Most important, Kathleen believes in actively creating the version of yourself that you want to be, and that the key to health success is finding YOUR fit hence the name of her first book, Finding Your Fit.

Kathleen Trotter is a speaker, author, and media personality set out to help people ‘find their fit,’ but this process requires a lot more involvement than starting a diet or getting a gym membership. Unless you are willing to act to change, your future self is just going to be a version of your current self. Trotter’s approach focuses on making fundamental changes to your mindset in order to prioritize self-care and become the best possible version of yourself.

It is all about small wins because your health and well being is just an aggregate of every decision you make in the moment. If you can assign more value to health and exercise, you will be able to make small adjustments in real-time that make a significant difference in the long run. You cannot effectively lead others if you are not leading yourself first, and by taking Trotter’s initiative you can start to replenish your energy, self-confidence, and overall happiness that will see a major shift at work and in the household.

The growth mindset assumes that there is no experience good or bad as long as you learn from it. In this episode of Absolute Advantage, Trotter joins host Kelly Hatfield to talk about creating a system to hold yourself accountable and grow as an individual in your pursuit of better health. Learn some of the strategies that Kathleen has used to successfully transform the lives of her clients’ lives.

Ways to contact Kathleen Trotter:

Aug 7, 2019

Drew Tarvin is the world’s first Humor Engineer teaching people how to get better results while having more fun. He has worked with thousands of people at 200+ organizations, including Microsoft, the FBI, and the International Association for Canine Professionals. He is a best-selling author, has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and TEDx, and has delivered programs in 50 states, 20+ countries, and 6 continents. He loves the color orange and is obsessed with chocolate.


The term ‘humor engineer’ might seem completely foreign, because Drew Tarvin coined it himself. His work focuses on becoming effective with humans, and he is driven by the discovery that similar skills are needed to be successful in both comedy and leadership.

In this episode of The Absolute Advantage, Andrew Tarvin discusses a powerful shift in mentality that can generate positive momentum in the workplace and the direct benefits of integrating humor into your communication.

You can use humor to get your team to pay attention, and if you do that consistently people want to experience it in your meetings. But, although it is not a perfect strategy in every situation, humor can be used more than we realized to change perspectives and get people to experience a change of state.

Tune in to this week’s episode of The Absolute Advantage podcast to learn how you can start implementing strategic humor to make a difference in the workplace.

Ways to contact Drew Tarvin:

Jul 31, 2019

Tevis Trower is the founder and CEO of Balance Integration Corporation, focused on helping build corporate cultures that allow employees to thrive. Their remarkable client list includes companies like Google, Yahoo, Disney, Viacom, AOL, Soros, Bloomberg, Morgan Stanley and more. Tevis is considered a pioneer and leader in the field of cultural transformation at work, with significant expertise in imposter syndrome, trust, innovation, emotionally sustainable leadership, and fostering an environment of resilience. She has been featured in prominent media outlets such as Forbes, Business Week, Fortune CIO, The New York Post, Yoga Journal and many more.

Early in Tevis’s business career, she recognized that there is a need for more human-focused leadership in today’s business world. Many companies say “people are their most valuable asset”, but not enough companies focus on creating powerful people-focused cultures that allow their employees to shine. Tevis believes that the key to being a stronger, more effective and empowering leader is to recognize and embrace the reality that you bring your whole self to work, both your strengths and your weaknesses.

Tevis sees imposter syndrome as a sort of “default human state” that we all experience, created by our fear of failure and our strong need for success. She believes that what pushes many high performers to succeed is not a desire to win but a drive to avoid failure and the stigma associated with it. In her work, she helps people recognize their focus on the things that create discontent rather than the things that bring them joy, and she helps them reconnect with their heart and with the things they love.

There is a tremendous amount of pressure that every leader has to face, but the reality is that much of that pressure comes from within. From imposter syndrome to fear of failure, from being honest about our weaknesses to the constant need to bring our best selves to work every day, we often create our own obstacles that get in the way of stepping into our potential as great leaders. How can we face these challenges in an emotionally honest and authentic way?

For this episode of Absolute Advantage, I invited Tevis Trower to speak with me about these very challenges. Tevis is the founder and CEO of Balance Integration Corporation, an organization that helps top companies like Google, Yahoo, Disney, Viacom, and many others build great cultures and empower their executives to thrive. Tevis is an expert in imposter syndrome, trust, innovation, emotionally sustainable leadership, and fostering an environment of resilience. She has been featured in prominent media outlets such as Forbes, Business Week, Fortune CIO, The New York Post, Yoga Journal and many more.

During the episode, Tevis discusses the mental and emotional challenges that leaders have to deal with, and she shares some surprising statistics about the expectations employees have for their leaders. She discusses the importance of authenticity and the vital skill of allowing ourselves to admit our weaknesses, and she offers smart strategies for coping with the pressure of being a great leader. I hope you enjoy our conversation and learn much from Tevis Trower’s wisdom.

Ways to contact Tevis Trower:

Jul 24, 2019

Tommy Baker is a writer, speaker, author, coach, consultant, and the host of the Resist Average Academy. He is the CEO of Tommy Baker Fitness and an entrepreneur who believes in people’s endless potential and whose goal is to help them achieve their purpose and potential. After beginning his career in the financial services sector, Tommy had an awakening during the 2008 economic crash and realized that his life was on a path he didn’t want to follow.

Tommy realized that he was “in it” for the wrong reasons, and so he made major life changes, took on a new mindset, and began a journey of self-discovery and growth that led him to his current work. This clarity and willingness to listen to his own internal voice were transformational for Tommy, pushing him to create the life he truly wanted for himself and achieve his personal and professional goals.

Tommy believes that developing the right mindset is the key to making a change, especially for ambitious and driven high-performing leaders. In his work, Tommy teaches skills related to mindset, intentionality, and emotional intelligence and resilience to create transformation, strengthen leadership and help business leaders and entrepreneurs make a greater impact.

Mindset is such an important factor for strong leadership, and having the right foundation and habits is the key to developing a powerful mindset. However, with a world full of chaos and distractions constantly pulling for our attention, it can be difficult to develop the right practices to strengthen our mindset. It can often be too easy to shrug off meditation or to say we don’t have time for journaling, yet these activities can be transformative tools if we are willing to invest in ourselves.

For this episode of Absolute Advantage, my guest is Tommy Baker. Tommy is a writer, keynote speaker, coach, and author. He is the host of the Resist Average Academy and the companion podcast of the same name, and he is the CEO of Tommy Baker Fitness. His goal is to help empower others by setting them on a more mindful, purpose-driven path. Tommy believes in limitless human potential and in the long-term transformational power of emotional intelligence and emotional resilience.

During the episode, Tommy shares how he realized that his own life was on a path he didn’t want, and he discusses the steps he took to change his mindset. He offers strategies to help you find clarity of purpose, and he explains why clarity is one of the true keys to being a more effective leader or entrepreneur. I hope you are engaged and enlightened by Tommy Baker’s wisdom and that you are able to implement his strategies into your own life.

Ways to contact Tommy Baker:

Jul 17, 2019

Juliana Stancampiano is the CEO of Oxygen, business leader, and strategist whose work involves helping business leaders and their teams modernize workplace education. With more than 15 years of experience, Juliana has helped leaders translate their company’s sales and business strategy into tangible achievements for people in sales, service and delivery, and retail channels. Juliana is the author of Radical Outcomes: How to Create Extraordinary Teams that Get Tangible Results.

In her role as CEO, she and her teams partner with clients in large companies including Fortune 500 companies like Microsoft, Sony, Big Fish Games, Starbucks, Expedia, Western Digital, and many more. As a business development and strategy expert, Juliana believes in helping unburden themselves of distractions and challenges so that they can better focus, excel in their jobs, and create success for themselves and their organizations.

Juliana believes that building and supporting great teams and giving them the resources and support they need to thrive is the key to business success. Part of her work involves helping organizations find ways to maximize the potential of their teams while making the workplace be an enjoyable experience rather than a grind.

Many companies say “our people are our greatest resource”, but the sad fact is that too few companies behave that way. Strong, cohesive, effective teams can accomplish incredible things, but many companies don’t give enough thought to how to best support their employees and structure their teams to maximize their success.

For this episode of Absolute Advantage, I was joined by Juliana Stancampiano. Juliana is the CEO of Oxygen, a consultancy that helps Fortune 500 businesses strategize, modernize, and enable their employees for success. Juliana is also the author of Radical Outcomes: How to Create Extraordinary Teams that Get Tangible Results, where she offers readers a blueprint for a new way of collaborative, fast-paced and highly effective working using modern tools and strategies.

On this episode of Absolute Advantage, Juliana shares why the modern workplace has changed and collaborative team efforts will be the key to business success and innovation going forward. She shares why the “old” way of doing things can’t keep up with today’s highly stressful, distracted, competitive environment, and she offers strategies for creating camaraderie and a supportive environment where teams can flourish. I hope you find tremendous value from Juliana’s knowledge that you can implement into your own teams.

Ways to contact Juliana Stancampiano:

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