The Unshakeables

Max Siegelman had a logo before he had a brand — borrowed from his father's harness racing stable, Siegelman Stable. The logo felt like it was meant to be on a hat, so when the pandemic hit, Max put $600 down and started making them. No outside money, no rapid scaling. He funded each production run with returns from the last, built buzz with rappers and shipped hats to the NBA Bubble in 2020. Then in 2022, one of his hats ended up on Kendall Jenner during Paris Fashion Week. Max had 15 minutes to get his website ready and he made the moment count.  Join Ben and Kathleen as they talk to Max about building a luxury brand on legacy and scarcity, why limited drops beat mass production, and how travel fuels the aspirational mystique that makes Siegelman Stable impossible to ignore. These are The Unshakeables.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christopher Borgatti learned the business from his father. His son, Christopher, learned it from him. Since 1935, four generations of Borgattis have been rolling pasta in the same Bronx shop through the Depression, through WWII, through changing neighborhoods, through the internet age and through a pandemic. The name on the door has never changed. Neither has the commitment to quality.  But legacy does not mean easy. When bird flu sent egg prices through the roof, the Borgattis absorbed the cost rather than pass it on to their customers. When the ravioli machine broke in the middle of Christmas week, their most critical week of the year, they did not close up shop. They fixed it.  Join Ben and Kathleen as they talk with Christopher and Christopher about what it really means to be a neighborhood institution, why putting customers over profits is both a values decision and a business strategy and how a family pasta shop has outlasted nearly a century of American upheaval. These are The Unshakeables.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Millionaire-making tech start-ups are most often associated with Silicon Valley. But this software revolution begins on a woman’s kitchen table in rural Britain in the 1960s. Steve Shirley faced extraordinary odds. After escaping Nazi Germany as a child, she later encountered workplace discrimination and endured deep personal tragedy. But she persevered to build a business decades ahead of its time, creating opportunities for hundreds of women. Tim Harford is joined by Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business and host of The Unshakeables podcast, to explore the life, legacy and lessons of an overlooked titan of tech.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nubia Perez had a plan for her life — marry abroad, raise trilingual kids and build something global. But when her father fell ill, Gretna Machine Shop needed her more than her plans did. The family business was suddenly without direction, and Nubia stepped in to put out fires. But the business didn’t need a firefighter — it needed a leader. For a decade, both Nubia and the company muddled through what she calls the "dark ages," until one day, a children's movie gave her the answer she'd been looking for.  Join Ben Walter and Kathleen Griffith as they talk to Nubia about stepping up unexpectedly, building an oil and gas business in Houston (it’s a good place for it!), and why flat leadership doesn’t mean leaderless. These are The Unshakeables.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are movies about how a dog can change your life — but for Dr. Laura Surovi and Michael Sivo, it actually happened. Laura had recently built a successful mobile vet practice, but the long drives were exhausting. Then in 2016, they met Chauncy, a rescue with serious injuries and no local rehab options. Watching him struggle they knew their community needed something better. So Laura built a veterinary rehab service herself and business took off. Then Michael pitched something bigger: a 6,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility. It was a bold, risky and expensive move, but just what they needed to scale.  In this episode, Ben Walter and Kathleen Griffith talk with Laura and Michael from Cleveland Veterinary Rehabilitation about going all-in when the market isn't quite ready, building for what's next and trusting your gut when no one else sees your vision yet. These are The Unshakeables.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Terry Iverson grew up in the family machine tool business, eventually becoming the third-generation CEO of Iverson & Company. But as American manufacturing declined, Terry knew the legacy he inherited wasn’t enough — he needed to create something new.     In this episode, Ben Walter and Kathleen Griffith sit down with Terry to talk about what it means to walk away from a century-old business, and why he created CHAMPION Now! to rebuild interest in American manufacturing, using songwriting, youth outreach and hands-on education as tools for change. This one’s about legacy, reinvention and the long game of saving an industry. These are The Unshakeables.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ron and Kelly Moore started in the family business young — Ron in the warehouse, Kelly on the phones. They built careers expecting to take over one day. But when their father passed away, those plans unraveled. Their stepmother, now in control, shut them out. They went their separate ways until Ron called Kelly with an idea: start again, from scratch.  That call became Moore United Construction which allowed the siblings to rebuild what was taken and even fight new betrayals, including a project manager who quietly siphoned off clients. But they’re not interested in grudges. For Ron and Kelly, it’s about the work, the team and giving back — especially to veterans, a community they’re proud to serve. In this episode, Ben and Kathleen talk with Ron and Kelly about the reality of rebuilding a business, the complexity of family dynamics and the power of a shared mission. These are The UnshakeablesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the basketball court to the corporate boardrooms of the largest global sports brands in the world, to a locker-room–inspired idea that took off, first-time entrepreneur Jasmine Maietta’s Round21 was off to a stellar start. She’d made a quarter of a million dollars in seven days and was the first-ever Web3 company to pitch on Shark Tank—right at that moment, the NFT market bottomed out. Join Ben and Kathleen Griffith as they chat with Jasmine about her innovative approach to branding, sports sponsorship, and apparel; the future of fandom and the arts; scaling while maintaining identity; and the necessary evil of killing off parts of the business you love. These are The Unshakeables.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Nick Richitt, global co-head of Healthcare Services at J.P. Morgan, sits down with Michael Gao, co-founder of Smarter DX and president of Smarter Technologies, to explore how AI is revolutionizing healthcare. Together, they dive into the journey from digitization to true innovation, discussing how AI is transforming clinical reasoning, improving patient records and driving operational efficiency for hospitals and health systems. They also address the challenges of scaling AI responsibly, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and control. What is the future of intelligent healthcare, and how will it amplify the human experience?  This episode was recorded on October 30, 2025. This material was prepared by certain personnel of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its affiliates and subsidiaries worldwide and not the firm’s research department. It is for informational purposes only, is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase, sale or tender of any financial instrument and does not constitute a commitment, undertaking, offer or solicitation by any JPMorgan Chase entity to extend or arrange credit or provide any other products or services to any person or entity. © 2025 JPMorgan Chase & Company. All rights reserved.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Imani Ellis has always believed community is a superpower. What began as a small gathering in her Harlem apartment grew into The Creative Collective NYC and CultureCon — one of the largest conferences celebrating creators of color. But behind the highlight reels and celebrity speakers, Imani’s journey has been defined by burnout, bold leaps and learning when to pause.  In this episode, Ben and Kathleen sit down with Imani and explore what it takes to transform a passion project into a cultural movement. From balancing a demanding career at NBCUniversal with late-night CultureCon planning, to walking away from work at the height of burnout for a self-designed “creative residency” in Paris, Imani shares the realities of leadership, rest and why joy and community must stay at the center of her work.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Samantha Snabes never set out to build a typical company. As co-founder of re:3D and a member of the Air Force National Guard, she launched an open-source 3D printing company that prioritizes access over exclusivity. But when back-to-back hurricanes hit both her team in Houston and her customers in Puerto Rico, it nearly brought the business to a halt. Then came COVID, and a vendor vanished without a trace.   In this episode, Ben Walter is joined by returning guest Ryan Pavel, CEO of the Warrior-Scholar Project, to talk with Samantha about building something bigger than profit, the messy realities of mission-driven entrepreneurship and the moment she hired an Uber driver to help her track down a missing supplier. Together, they unpack what it means to lead an open-source company through crisis, and why leadership sometimes requires breaking the rules. These are The Unshakeables.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What can we do to cultivate more resilience at work? Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business and host of The Unshakeables podcast, thinks about this question a lot. In today’s mini episode, Ben joins Maya to talk about the unique challenges faced by America’s small business owners—and the insights he shares can help anyone who wants to improve their well-being at work. This episode was made in partnership with Chase for Business. Listen to Ben’s podcast, The Unshakeables, here. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.