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. American Film Maker: Larry Kasanoff

    1d ago

    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

    35 min
  2. Shark Tank Veteran & Entrepreneur: Beau Oyler

    Jul 5

    Shark Tank Veteran & Entrepreneur: Beau Oyler

    In this episode Derek Champagne, CEO of The Artist Evolution, interviews Beau Oyler.Beau talks with Derek about his experience on Shark Tank, building a successful company, and some valuable lessons he has learned along the way.Having founded Enlisted Design and Urbio, he has created rich product and brand experiences for fortune 500's and small startups. He pioneered the design cooperative movement and has a unique ability to truly collaborate with his partners. His designs have received every major design award including Red Dot, Spark, IDEA, GOOD Design, TheDieline, Wired Editor’s Choice and Best of Show at Dwell on Design.Business Leadership Series Intro and Outro music provided by Just Off Turner: https://music.apple.com/za/album/the-long-walk-back/268386576

    37 min
  3. Race For The Cure

    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

    25 min
  4. CEO of The Weather Company

    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

    37 min
  5. NY Times Best Selling Author Liane Davey

    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

    38 min
  6. NBA Champion Trent Tucker

    Jun 7

    NBA Champion Trent Tucker

    Derek talks with 93' Chicago Bulls NBA Champion Trent Tucker. Trent talks with Derek about leadership skills necessary to build a championship team, how to manage egos, having Phil Jackson as a coach, the Trent Tucker Rule, and what it was like playing with his friends Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Derek also talks with Trent about his 9 years playing with the NY Knicks.

    26 min
  7. Former WWE Co-President: George Barrios

    May 31

    Former WWE Co-President: George Barrios

    Derek Champagne talks with George Barrios, former co-president of WWE, about the deal he made to reshape the global company, his public firing by Vince McMahon, the future of the sports industry, and his approach to leadership (and coping with public failure).   Barrios tells his story in his new book Sometimes Wrong but Never in Doubt.  ABOUT SOMETIMES WRONG BUT NEVER IN DOUBT At a time when leadership is under scrutiny and industries are being reshaped at breakneck speed, stories of bold decision-making and personal reinvention have never felt more essential. Readers are hungry for narratives that go beyond corporate gloss—stories that show how transformative deals actually unfold, how leaders make high-stakes decisions, and how grit still propels people to the highest levels of business.   In SOMETIMES WRONG BUT NEVER IN DOUBT: How a Cuban Kid from Queens Transformed WWE (Skyhorse Publishing; June 2, 2026), George Barrios—son of Cuban immigrants, former co-president of WWE, and architect of the largest transaction in sports history—offers exactly that kind of story. With unfiltered honesty and cinematic detail, Barrios traces his journey from a cramped Queens apartment to the boardrooms where he helped reshape a global entertainment company. Told with the humor, swagger, and introspection of a leader who has lived many careers in one lifetime, the book blends memoir and business insight to reveal how an outsider learned to trust his instincts, move decisively, and lead through uncertainty.   Barrios brings readers inside the world of WWE: from his twelve-year partnership with Vince McMahon, to the media-rights revolution that redefined the company, to the personal and professional fallout of being fired in front of the entire industry. But the story reaches far beyond wrestling. It is equally a story of immigration, family resilience, cultural identity, and the relentless pursuit of upward mobility.   Barrios reflects on: ·       High-stakes leadership, including how he learned to take bold action despite backlash, uncertainty, and public scrutiny. ·       The making of a massive sports deal, and the pressures, strategy, and behind-the-scenes dynamics that shaped an industry-defining negotiation. ·       Immigrant grit and the American Dream, and how his parents’ escape from Castro’s Cuba shaped his path and worldview. ·       Reinvention after public failure, including the firing that could have ended his career and the personal reckoning that followed. ·       The cultural forces inside major entertainment companies, with unvarnished insight into ego, power, and the real cost of winning.   Written with the immediacy of a ringside story and the heart of a family saga, SOMETIMES WRONG BUT NEVER IN DOUBT is more than a business memoir. It is a testament to risk-taking, reinvention, and the belief that anyone—regardless of where they begin—can shape their own future.Order book here: https://georgebarrios.com/Business Leadership Series Intro and Outro music provided by Just Off Turner: https://music.apple.com/za/album/the-long-walk-back/268386576

    44 min
  8. An Entrepreneur's Guide to Freedom

    May 24

    An Entrepreneur's Guide to Freedom

    Derek Champagne talks with Mark Rampolla, Founder of ZICO Coconut Water. Mark is also the author of the book High-Hanging Fruit and new USA Today bestseller: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Freedom.  Mark built ZICO Coconut Water from nothing, sold it to Coca-Cola for over $200 million, then made a decision most people thought was insane. He bought it back and now he’s scaling it toward a billion-dollar brand. The hardest leadership moment wasn't the exit or the early grind. It was deciding to come back after he had already "made it." That required convincing himself first, then his team, then everyone who thought He had lost my mind. For free resources mentioned on the podcast and to order Mark’s new book: https://www.markrampolla.co/ Business Leadership Series Intro and Outro music provided by Just Off Turner: https://music.apple.com/za/album/the-long-walk-back/268386576

    42 min
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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. 

Information

  • Creator
    Business Leadership Series
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026 Business Leadership Series
  • Show Website
    Business Leadership Series