Arizona Originals

Jason Isaak
  • 4.6 (18)
  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Arizona Originals is the podcast focused on Arizona's leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs from every walk of life. This podcast allows them to tell their own stories in an effort to inspire, teach, and give practical advice to listeners.

  1. Tom Van Dyke - Author and Artist

    11/21/2019

    Tom Van Dyke - Author and Artist

    Our guest this week is Tom Van Dyke. He lives with his wife, Mary, on their ranch in the foothills of Tonto National Forest, Cave Creek, Arizona. He is the author of "A Cowboy Christmas: An American Tale" which received high praise from Elmore Leonard, Michael Blake, Don Collier, Marshall Trimble, Ken Rotcop, and so many others. Tom created and wrote the American Bicentennial television public service announcements,  "Stand Up and Be Counted", featuring John Denver, the most widely viewed national and international PSAs in the history of television. His creative expression of writing and film production is shared with his creation of fine art. Tom's sculptures, paintings and photography have been exhibited or are in the permanent collections of the NY Museum of Modern Art, the Carnegie Art Institute, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the Henry Ford Museum, the Cranbrook Academy of Art and the Butler Institute of American Art. Tom shares his story and his thoughts on art, creativity, the West, and his love for the great American cowboy.

    42 min
  2. Tom Smith - Wrap Technologies

    11/06/2019

    Tom Smith - Wrap Technologies

    Our guest this week is Tom Smith, President of Wrap Technologies in Tempe, Arizona. A graduate from both the University of Arizona (B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) and Northern Arizona University (Masters of Business Administration), Tom co-founded TASER International (now Axon Enterprise, Inc.) in 1993, and served as President of TASER until October 2006. He served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of TASER from October 2006 until he retired to pursue entrepreneurial activities in February 2012. Tom shares his thoughts on a variety of subjects, including making the transition from a science-based college degree to a career focused on sales, lessons learned in the hiring process, and how losing a bet in college led to an experience that still influences him today.

    51 min
  3. George Weisz - Weisz Ventures and Scottsdale Community Bank

    10/23/2019

    George Weisz - Weisz Ventures and Scottsdale Community Bank

    Our guest this week is George Weisz, the President of Weisz Ventures and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Scottsdale Community Bank. A man of many interests and talents, George is a co-owner of two minor league baseball teams (proud affiliates of the Arizona Diamondbacks) and a partner in Majerle's Sports Grill with former Phoenix Suns All-Star Dan Majerle. George is also a partner in a start-up technology firm dealing with superconductivity, and he has had interests in the film industry, bio-tech, and other ventures. George's public service includes serving as a respected Member of the Arizona House of Representatives (during which George was named one of the ten most effective legislators in the state), Deputy Chief of Staff to one Governor and Senior Advisor to a second Governor, Senior Advisor to the Mayor of Phoenix, and Special Agent investigating organized crime and corruption for four Attorneys General. George also served on an award-winning team of investigative reporters from across the nation probing one of the most heinous murders of our time.  In our conversation, we discuss George's passion for public service, the important lessons he learned from his father, his love for baseball, and so much more.

    1h 3m
  4. Phil Boas - The Arizona Republic

    10/10/2019

    Phil Boas - The Arizona Republic

    Our guest this week is Phil Boas, the editor of the editorial pages of The Arizona Republic. Before that, he was editor of The Republic's Sunday Viewpoints section and editor of its Community editorial pages. He joined The Republic in 1999. Before that, he was metro editor at The East Valley Tribune and a reporter at the Los Angeles Daily News. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University and is married with four children. He and his family live in Gilbert. Phil's story keeps coming back to his love for Arizona, the lessons he learned from his father at the dinner table, and a deep rooted sense of community. You won't want to miss this!

    1h 10m
  5. Chris Ronzio - Trainual

    09/25/2019

    Chris Ronzio - Trainual

    Our guest this week is Chris Ronzio, the founder and CEO of Trainual, a leading SaaS company that helps fast-growing businesses automate their onboarding and training by documenting every process, policy, and procedure in one simple, searchable, teachable system. After helping hundreds of entrepreneurs create scalable systems and processes with his consulting firm that he started in 2013, called Organize Chaos, Chris developed a passion for helping business leaders find the time to do more of what they love by providing a way to document and delegate what they do.

    47 min
  6. Rachel Mertensmeyer - RexPay

    09/11/2019

    Rachel Mertensmeyer - RexPay

    Rachel Mertensmeyer has long been captivated by understanding the consumer mindset and making people's lives better with product innovation. She has a decade of marketing management experience in Fortune 100 companies including Unilever and Avon in New York and BBDO and WPP in Shanghai. Rachel's first professional opportunity supported her entrepreneurial nature as she was tasked with the ground floor development of sales distribution in Eastern Asia for an American wine company. In 2016, while living in New York City, Rachel  experienced medical bill mayhem personally. This experience spurred her to apply her consumer product innovation background to create a better medical payments solution for patients. This is how RexPay was born in 2018. As a leader, Rachel places great focus on creating a holistic, respectful and cooperative work environment for her team. On a more personal note, Rachel places a high value on physical health and wellbeing for herself and for those around her. In her free time, she can be found teaching yoga, trail running in the deserts of Arizona, or making time for her friends and family.

    58 min
  7. Jamie Baxter - Qwick

    08/28/2019

    Jamie Baxter - Qwick

    Our guest this week is Jamie Baxter, the co-founder and CEO of Qwick. He began learning computer programming in the second grade, and by the time he was 16, he started his first company. With the sale of two companies he started under his belt, along with 18 years in major roles with Willis Towers Watson, Jamie has begun his latest entrepreneurial venture here in Arizona. Qwick connects food & beverage professionals who want on-demand work with businesses who need them. And in our conversation, Jamie discusses not only the origins of the business, but also his approach to leadership, team building, and thoughts about the future of work and the gig economy.

    53 min
  8. Rick Smith - Axon

    08/14/2019

    Rick Smith - Axon

    Our guest this week is Rick Smith - the founder of Axon, the company formerly known as TASER International.  We have a broad ranging conversation where Rick shares his thoughts about everything from being a reluctant Harvard student to the differences between being a founder and a CEO to his new book, The End of Killing.

    1h 1m
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4.6
out of 5
18 Ratings

About

Arizona Originals is the podcast focused on Arizona's leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs from every walk of life. This podcast allows them to tell their own stories in an effort to inspire, teach, and give practical advice to listeners.

Information

  • Creator
    Jason Isaak
  • Years Active
    2016 - 2019
  • Episodes
    90
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Arizona Originals