Business Leadership Series

Business Leadership Series

Our audience is comprised of business owners, leaders, and entrepreneurs who desire to learn from our guests’ knowledge, advice, and experience for personal and professional growth. We interview pro athletes, rock and roll hall of famers, best selling authors, and other leaders with an inspiring story. We are also a syndicated  show regionally on ESPN radio. 

  1. Jul 26

    Leadership Beyond Performance with Rennie Curran

    Derek Champagne talks with former NFL player Rennie Curran. Rennie shares stories from his unique upbringing, leadership lessons learned along the way, and more about his new venture: Formr.  Formrapp.com - The professional platform where former athletes build what's next, fans connect for life, and businesses find the most competitive people on earth.Free leadership resources from Rennie Curran: https://renniecurran.com/   Rennie Curran is a former professional athlete who currently serves as an active Keynote Speaker, Author, and the CEO of Game Changer Coaching. Recently inducted into the Gwinnett County Sports Hall of Fame, the Georgia vs Florida Hall of Fame, and the UGA 40 Under 40, he uses his platform to inspire students, athletes, and business professionals to reach their fullest potential.   Born in Atlanta, GA, and the son of Liberian immigrants, Rennie Curran and Josie Curran, he has a diverse background with humble beginnings. He began his football career at Brookwood High School in Snellville, GA, becoming the all-time leading tackler in Gwinnett County history. He was initially considered undersized according to various critics, but quickly silenced the doubters by exploding onto the field as a true freshman at the University of Georgia.   His experiences of overcoming many circumstances to reach his childhood dream of becoming a 3-time All American, Butkus Award Finalist, permanent team Captain a 3rd round draft pick in the 2010 NFL Draft (Tennessee Titans) and transitioning into becoming a successful entrepreneur has given him a unique perspective on what it takes to handle adversity and maximize opportunities while having a positive impact on others.   Through his innovative presentations he teaches individuals, teams and organizations how to transform their personal and professional lives through leadership, teamwork and personal development. Rennie Curran has been counseling and inspiring people for many years. He is the CEO of Game Changer Coaching whose mission is to help business executives and entrepreneurs become high performing leaders by improving performance, personal brand and communication skills.   In 2013, he published a motivational self-help book entitled ‘Free Agent’ The Intangibles for Overcoming Adversity and Times of Transition. This motivational self-help book discusses how to overcome adversity during the times of transition that we all face along our journey to achieve our dreams. He also has a children’s book entitled “What Does It Take to Be a Star” which was co-written with his daughter, Eleana Curran.   He has been featured in The New York Times, USA Today, Fox Sports, ESPN College GameDay, The Huffington Post, and much more.   When Rennie Curran is not speaking, coaching or writing he is usually spending time with his daughter or catching up on one his favorite hobbies, music. He grew up playing the piano, drums and viola. He is also a public servant who spends lots of time giving back through several organizations including. The Boys and Girls Club, Fellowship of Christian Athletes and his foundation. The Game Changers Foundation, which provides resources to student athletes to help them become leaders in sports, business and life through mentorship and leadership development. Curran is a man of faith, humility, integrity and resilience. Business Leadership Series Intro and Outro music provided by Just Off Turner: https://music.apple.com/za/album/the-long-walk-back/268386576

    Leadership Beyond Performance with Rennie Curran
  2. Jul 19

    The Buy-In Advantage with Dave Garrison

    Derek Champagne interview USA Today best selling author Dave Garrison. Dave Garrison is a nationally recognized business strategist and co-founder of Garrison Growth, a leadership development and executive consulting firm. As Chief Navigation Officer of Garrison Growth, Dave helps CEOsand senior leaders generate meaningful buy-in and drive results across their organizations.With more than 30 years of leadership experience — including board roles at companies such as Ameritrade and executive leadership of public and venture-backed firms — Dave brings a rare blend of strategic insight,operational expertise, and on-the-ground leadership to every engagement. A renowned CEO and strategic advisor, Dave is the creator of a groundbreaking framework that addresses the critical ingredients needed for sustainable buy-in. Author of the bestselling book, The Buy-In Advantage: Why Employees Stop Caring ― and How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Give Their All, Dave equips leaders with practical, low-cost tools to build trust, align teams, and unlock performance—especially during times of growth, change, or disruption. Drawing from extensive research and real-world success stories, he reveals howleaders can implement this no-cost methodology to transform their culture and drivemeasurable results.Dave is a sought-after speaker, workshop leader, and trusted advisor to executives across a variety of industries. He has delivered hundreds of high-impact sessions for corporations, nonprofits, and chapters of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) both in the U.S. and abroad. His workshops consistently earn top ratings for their clarity, energy, and immediate usefulness. In addition to his client work, Dave has served as a guest lecturer at leading business schools and as a boardroom coach to CEOs navigating complex growth challenges. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and resides in Tucson, Arizona.In today’s workplace, effort isn’t the problem ― buy-in is. Teams may be showing up, but they’re not fully  engaged. They delay decisions, resist change, and underperform quietly. In The Buy-In Advantage: Why Employees Stop Caring ― and How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Give Their All (Matt Holt Books), executive coach and former CEO Dave Garrison delivers a clear, practical roadmap to help leaders earn real commitment—not just compliance—and build teams that execute with energy, ownership, and purpose. Purchase The Buy-in Advantage bookFree assessments and resourcesBusiness Leadership Series Intro and Outro music provided by Just Off Turner: https://music.apple.com/za/album/the-long-walk-back/268386576

    The Buy-In Advantage with Dave Garrison
  3. Jul 12

    American Film Maker: Larry Kasanoff

    In this episode Derek Champagne talks with Larry Kasanoff. Larry Kasanoff, Chairman/CEO of Threshold Entertainment, as a studio head or producer, makes movies, animated movies and location based entertainment/theme park attractions. He is the Producer or Executive Producer of MORTAL KOMBAT, including three Number One films, a television series, an animated series, platinum selling soundtracks, direct to dvd, and a live tour, with a new Mortal Kombat movie coming Summer '26. Larry is Executive Producer of the box-office smash film, TRUE LIES, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and directed by James Cameron. As president and co-founder of Lightstorm Entertainment, Larry supervised production, marketing, publicity and merchandising for the four-time Academy Award winning hit, TERMINATOR 2 JUDGMENT DAY, directed by James Cameron. He is Executive Producer of movies, STRANGE DAYS and BLUE STEEL, with Academy Award winning director Kathryn Bigelow. Larry - as a producer or studio head - has made over 200 feature films, including the biggest selling multi artist sound track in history, DIRTY DANCING, and Academy Award Winning Best Picture PLATOON. He has raised well over a billion dollars in the film business. He makes animated movies:  LEGO STAR WARS THE EMPIRE STRIKES OUT; and BOBBLEHEADS THE MOVIE starring Cher. Larry also makes location based entertainment, or theme park, attractions, including STAR TREK THE BORG EXPERIENCE; MARVEL SUPERHEROES 4D; and THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF SPIDERMAN. In the music world, Larry has packaged or produced video projects with several of the world’s biggest talents, including Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones and Elton John. For Terminator 2, he produced MTV’s top video of the year, “You Could Be Mine” with Gun’s ‘N Roses. He produced and directed the feature documentary, MINDFULNESS: BE HAPPY NOW, starring Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and Deepak Chopra. It is available on Amazon. Larry is the author of  A TOUCH OF THE MADNESS - How To Be More Innovative by Being a Little Crazy (Ben Bella Books via Penguin Random House). Larry holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania  and a BA from Cornell University. Order A TOUCH OF THE MADNESS HEREBusiness Leadership Series Intro and Outro music provided by Just Off Turner: https://music.apple.com/za/album/the-long-walk-back/268386576

    American Film Maker: Larry Kasanoff
  4. Jun 28

    Race For The Cure

    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

    Race For The Cure
  5. Jun 21

    CEO of The Weather Company

    Derek Champagne talks with Rohit Agarwal, CEO of The Weather Company.Rohit Agarwal is the CEO of The Weather Company, the world’s most accurate forecaster. In this role, Rohit is responsible for setting the strategic vision that spans the company’s digital consumer properties, including The Weather Channel app and weather.com, as well as its enterprise business across media,advertising, aviation, defense, and a variety of other industries. He stands behind the belief that high-performing teams are critical to innovation, growth, and impact, and diverse backgrounds and thinking benefit the end customer.Prior to joining The Weather Company, Rohit was the chief product and revenue officer at SoundCloud, the world’s largest online community of artists, bands, DJs, and audio creators, where he led the vision, strategic execution, and revenue. This included overseeing business and product strategy, delivery and operations, design, product marketing, and growth. Through Rohit’s leadership, SoundCloud refactored the product, doubled its subscriber base, and meaningfully improved its ads business, leading the company to its first profitable year in its 16-year history.Rohit previously served as chief product and growth officer at CNN. Throughout his career, he has driven 2-3x user and revenue growth across leading companies in industries including music (Last.fm, CBS), media(CNN/WarnerMedia, The Economist, Bild), banking (HSBC), B2B SaaS (Trustpilot, Akamai), and consumer internet (AOL). Rohit is a frequent speaker at leading conferences (Google I/O, SXSW, CES, RISE, WebSummit, Product Summit), an active advisor and investor in startups, and launched his own startup in the past. He is also a committed supporter of diverse and inclusive education initiatives – both as a board member of the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and as a board member of Leap Year, a unique program based in metro Atlanta dedicated to improving college access and early adolescent reading skills to under-represented youth.Rohit lives in Atlanta with his wife and two daughters. An avid sports fan, he also enjoys playing soccer and tennis, painting, and cooking, and he acknowledges that his creative endeavors make him a better leader.Business Leadership Series Intro and Outro music provided by Just Off Turner: https://music.apple.com/za/album/the-long-walk-back/268386576

    CEO of The Weather Company
  6. Jun 14

    NY Times Best Selling Author Liane Davey

    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, strengthening engagement, 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

    NY Times Best Selling Author Liane Davey
5
out of 5
107 Ratings

About

Our audience is comprised of business owners, leaders, and entrepreneurs who desire to learn from our guests’ knowledge, advice, and experience for personal and professional growth. We interview pro athletes, rock and roll hall of famers, best selling authors, and other leaders with an inspiring story. We are also a syndicated  show regionally on ESPN radio.