Business Leadership Series

Listen to this powerful interview with Dr. David Fajgenbaum who has an incredible new memoir, "Chasing My Cure: A Doctor's Race to Turn Hope into Action". David’s story is truly unique; it’s a tale of learning to live, while dying: a universally relatable story about getting up and fighting back after life knocks you down.A former Georgetown quarterback nicknamed "The Beast," David Fajgenbaum was also a force in medical school, where he was known for his unmatched mental stamina. But things changed dramatically when he began suffering from inexplicable fatigue. In a matter of weeks, his organs were failing and he was read his last rites. Doctors were baffled over a condition they had yet to even diagnose; floating in and out of consciousness, Fajgenbaum prayed for the equivalent of a game day overtime: a second chance.Miraculously, Fajgenbaum survived, but only to endure repeated near-death relapses from what would eventually be identified as a form of Castleman disease—an extremely deadly and rare condition that acts like a cross between cancer and an autoimmune disorder. When he relapsed on the only drug in development and realized that the medical community was unlikely to make progress in time to save his life, Fajgenbaum turned his desperate hope for a cure into concrete action: between hospitalizations he studied his own charts and tested his own blood samples, looking for clues that could unlock a new treatment. With the help of family, friends and mentors, he also reached out to other Castleman disease patients and physicians, and eventually came up with an ambitious plan to crowdsource the most promising research questions and recruit world- class researchers to tackle them; instead of waiting for the scientific stars to align, he proposed to align them himself.More than five years later and now married to his college sweetheart, his hard work has paid off: a treatment that he identified has induced a tentative remission and his novel approach to collaborative scientific inquiry has become a blueprint for advancing rare disease research. His incredible story demonstrates the potency of hope, and what can happen when forces of determination, love, family, faith and serendipity collide.David Fajgenbaum, MD, MBA, MSc is one of the youngest individuals to be appointed to the faculty at Penn Medicine. Co- founder and executive director of the Castleman Disease Collaborative Network (CDCN) and an NIH-funded physician- scientist, he has dedicated his life to discovering new treatments and cures for deadly disorders like Castleman disease, which he was diagnosed with during medical school. He is in the top 1 percent youngest grant awardees of an R01, one of the most competitive and sought-after grants in all of biomedical research. Dr. Fajgenbaum has been recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 healthcare list, as a top healthcare leader by Becker's Hospital Review, and one of the youngest people ever elected as a Fellow of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the nation's oldest medical society. He was one of three recipients – including Vice President Joe Biden – of a 2016 Atlas Award from the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia. Order "Chasing My Cure" at bookstores nationwide or at http://www.chasingmycure.com/Business Leadership Series Intro and Outro music provided by Just Off Turner: https://music.apple.com/za/album/the-long-walk-back/268386576

In this episode Derek Champagne talks with NY Times best selling author Liane Davey. Liane has spent more than 25 years researching and advising teams on how to perform at their best. Known as the “teamwork doctor,” she works with teams from the frontlines to the boardroom, across industries and around the world, from Boston to Bangkok. Through her work with hundreds of teams, including 26 Global Fortune 500 companies (and counting), she has developed a practical, research-backed approach to solving the challenges that prevent teams from working effectively together.Liane is a New York Times bestselling author of You First: Inspire Your Team to Grow Up, Get Along, and Get Stuff Done and The Good Fight: Use Productive Conflict to Get Your Team and Organization Back on Track. She is a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review and a sought-after expert for media outlets including CNN, NPR, USA Today, The Globe & Mail, and Forbes. Her work focuses on increasing productivity, strengtheningengagement, developing leaders, and helping teams navigate conflict in healthier, more effective ways.Liane’s clients have included Amazon, Walmart, TD Bank, RBC, AMD, MD Anderson, Google, Bayer, KPMG, Aviva, UNICEF, and SONY Interactive Entertainment. While she works across a wide range of industries, she customizes every conversation to reflect the realities of each audience.In Thoughtload, Liane tackles today’s most pressing management challenges: over-burdened systems, burned-out teams, and plateauing results. However, contrary to conventional wisdom, Davey argues that the problem is not with out-sized workloads. The root cause of the madness sapping productivity in today’s offices is our excessive thoughtload.Thoughtload is the cumulative and often overwhelming burden of increasing cognitive and emotional demands, worsened by decreasing physical and mental energy. In this brilliant, highly prescriptive guide, Davey lays out the steps for reducing thoughtload, so that managers and their teams feel more focused―and get more done.For free resources and to order a copy of Thoughtload visit: Thoughtload.comBusiness Leadership Series Intro and Outro music provided by Just Off Turner: https://music.apple.com/za/album/the-long-walk-back/268386576

Derek Champagne interviews Quang X. Pham. Quang is a biotech executive, war veteran, author, speaker, and community leader with a remarkable journey shaped by resilience, service, and entrepreneurship. He made history as the first Vietnamese American to earn naval aviator wings in the Marine Corps and lead an initial public offering (IPO) on Nasdaq.His inspiring American underdog journey, told in first person, is unlike any other. Born in Saigon, South Vietnam, Quang and his family fled as refugees when he was 10, while his father, a Republic of Vietnam Air Force pilot,remained and was imprisoned for more than a decade. After earning a degree from UCLA, Quang served seven years on active duty, flying CH-46 helicopters in the Persian Gulf War, Somalia, and the Reserves. Following his military career, Quang transitioned into business, founding multiple pharmaceutical companies. In 2000, he launched MyDrugRep.com (which became LathianSystems), an innovative online platform for physician marketing engagements, which was later acquired. In 2015, he founded Espero Pharmaceuticals and Jacksonville Pharmaceuticals. His leadership and entrepreneurial success earned him the Florida EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2018. Today Quang serves as Chairman and CEO, Cadrenal Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CVKD).Quang is also the author of the award-winning father-son memoir, A Sense of Duty: Our Journey from Vietnam (Penguin Random House), and his new book, Underdog Nation: Zero In on Effort and Results for Success (Forbes Books).Committed to giving back, Quang has served on the boards of private companies, veterancharities and educational organizations. He lives in Florida with his family, continuing tolead and inspire.Order Quang's new book here: https://quangxpham.com/books/Business Leadership Series Intro and Outro music provided by Just Off Turner: https://music.apple.com/za/album/the-long-walk-back/268386576

Derek Champagne talks with Rich Horwath. Chief Executive Magazine describes Rich as "The world’s foremost expert on strategic thinking.” Rich has been featured on ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, CNN, and CNBC, and has worked with organizations such as ESPN, Google, Intel, FedEx, Bank of America, and many more. Rich is the founder and CEO of the Strategic Thinking Institute where he facilitates strategy workshops to help leadership teams think, plan, and act strategically to set direction, create advantage, and maximize their leadership performance. He is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of eight books on strategic thinking, including his newest book: STRATEGIC: The Skill to Set Direction, Create Advantage, and Achieve Executive Excellence.For free resources and to order STRATEGIC visit: https://www.strategyskills.com/Business Leadership Series Intro and Outro music provided by Just Off Turner: https://music.apple.com/za/album/the-long-walk-back/268386576

Derek Champagne talks with Lou Shipley, author of Unlikely Entrepreneurs.Lou brings more than three decades of experience in enterprise software as an executive, entrepreneur, and sales leader. Previously, Shipley was President and CEO of Black Duck Software, where he repositioned the leader in open source license and compliance software into an open source security company which led it to a successful acquisition by Synopsys. Prior to Black Duck, Shipley served as President and CEO of Turbonomic (acquired by IBM), and Reflectent Software (acquired by Citrix Systems). Shipley serves on the boards of Wasabi, Fairmarkit and CustomerGauge. He serves on the advisory boards of Exodigo, Teamworks, RapidSOS, SpoilerAlert, Tomorrow..io and Logz.io.Shipley holds a degree in Economics from Trinity College-Hartford (where he also a Trustee), and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is currently a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School where he teaches four separate classes in Entrepreneurial Sales and go to market strategy. In Unlikely Entrepreneurs: Wins, Losses and Crucial Advice in Building Great Companies, the authors―who hail from Harvard Business School and MIT Sloan School of Management―combine expert insights, elements of the case study method, and an engaging story-telling style to take a deep dive into the key challenges that founders face. They set the stage for each profile-―including those of entrepreneurs helming billion dollar companies to mom-and-pop businesses―whose colorful, unlikely stories showcase entrepreneurial best practices that readers can adopt to succeed. Order Unlikely EntrepreneursBusiness Leadership Series Intro and Outro music provided by Just Off Turner: https://music.apple.com/za/album/the-long-walk-back/268386576

In this episode Derek Champagne, CEO of The Artist Evolution, interviews Melissa Lay.Melissa shares how she started her unique clothing company, her experience when she found her product in Target stores nationwide, being on Shark Tank, and growing her national lifestyle brand.Learn more at www.sandilakeclothing.comBusiness Leadership Series Intro and Outro music provided by Just Off Turner: https://music.apple.com/za/album/the-long-walk-back/268386576

In this episode, Derek interviews Shark Tank veteran Ben Zvaifler. Ben is the co founder and CEO of PupBox. PupBox landed a deal with Shark Tank personality and entrepreneur Robert Herjavec. Ben talks with Derek about his entrepreneurial journey, and how they landed a deal on Shark Tank.Learn more at www.Pupbox.comBusiness Leadership Series Intro and Outro music provided by Just Off Turner: https://music.apple.com/za/album/the-long-walk-back/268386576

Derek Champagne interviews Mike Caprari. In addition to being the stars of a highly watched episode of MSNBC's popular tv show The Profit, Mike Caprari is a passionate musician and entrepreneur. Mike is the SVP of Marketing and Co Founder of SJC Custom Drums. His product is played and endorsed by some of the world's top musicians and bands.Mike talks with us about his journey of building his business, his experience on The Profit, learning from mistakes, developing authentic customer relationships, engaging with customers on social media, and building the right team. Learn more at www.sjcdrums.comBusiness Leadership Series Intro and Outro music provided by Just Off Turner: https://music.apple.com/za/album/the-long-walk-back/268386576