Authentic Leadership for Everyday People

Dino Cattaneo / Hoolibean
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Authentic Leadership for Everyday People is the podcast where we investigate the connection between effective leadership and authenticity. If you are looking for inspiration and tips on how to become a better leader by being your true self, you are in the right place. The word authenticity is overused and can feel abstract, but when you look at its true meaning, it has a very practical and pretty clear cut application to leadership. Authentic means “the true self”. Authentic leaders clearly articulate their core values, and use them to guide every action they take. This clarity brings effectiveness, confidence and the ability to be vulnerable. In this interview based show, guests open up about how they discovered and developed their core principles and built a more successful and fulfilled life by being consistent with their values. Filled with candid moments and practical advice, Authentic Leadership for Everyday People is for everyone who wants to become a better leader and a better, more fulfilled human.

  1. 4D AGO

    Eric Stone - Leadership and Workplace Culture

    Eric Stone is the CEO and founder of Clear Path Ventures and the author of Jumpstart Your Workplace Culture. Eric started as a management trainee at Enterprise Rent-A-Car and spent more than 25 years rising through the ranks to become a senior executive in one of the company’s top-performing regions. Along the way, he led large teams across retail and administrative environments, built high-performance cultures, and developed leaders who went on to succeed at every level of the organization. In this episode, we talk about: What you learn from building a career inside one organization for decadesHow to hire and develop great salespeopleWhy belief is the foundation of effective sellingHow to build “culture carriers” inside your organizationThe sequencing of communication during major change Contact Dino at: dino@al4ep.com Websites: clearpathventures.com al4ep.com Additional Guest Links: Website ericdstone.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/eric-stone-clear-path Facebook Profile Intagram: @clearpathventures_ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ericdstone1 Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp Podcast Twitter – @al4edp Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

    46 min

  2. FEB 9

    Lily Zheng - Fixing Fairness: A New Paradigm for DEI

    Today's guest is Lily Zheng, a strategist and consultant who has spent the last decade working with organizations of every size — from small nonprofits to Fortune 500 companies — helping them build workplaces that actually work for everyone. In a field often clouded by ideology, misinformation, and polarization, Lily brings something refreshingly different: data, systems thinking, and practical results. They were a guest on the podcast before, so today we just focus on their new book, Fixing Fairness: Four Tenets to Transform Diversity Backlash Into Progress for All , Lily argues that the conversation around DEI has gone off track — not because fairness doesn’t matter, but because we’ve failed to communicate and implement it effectively. Instead of slogans or superficial programs, they offer FAIR - a framework built around measurable outcomes, systems change, coalition-building, and true win-win solutions. In this conversation, we explore: Why being “pro-diversity” isn’t the same as creating fair systemsThe surprising data gap between support for diversity and belief in DEI programsWhat actually works — and what has failed — over 60 years of workplace reformHow leaders can build coalitions across differenceAnd why fairness may be the language that can move us forward Contact Dino at: dino@al4ep.com Websites: lilyzheng.co al4ep.com Additional Guest Links: Lily on AL4EP LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lilyzheng308 Instagram: @lilyzheng308 Lily on Substack Books: Fixing Fairness Reconstructing DEI DEI Deconstructed Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram –...

    53 min

  3. JAN 12

    Thiago Da Costa - What Makes A Great Startup CEO - Part 2

    This is part 2 of our conversation with Thiago Da Costa, serial entrepreneur and founder and CEO of a Datagrid AI, a company that creates agent and connectors to help companies work more efficiently. In part one we explored Thiago’s journey as a serial founder, and what it takes to scale companies from zero to meaningful revenue. In this second part, we go deeper into what truly separates great CEOs from dangerous ones. We talk about transparency, capital discipline, customer obsession, and the growing risk of the celebrity CEO—leaders who master distribution and attention before they build real products. Tiago shares candid perspectives on motivation, resilience, and why founders who aren’t deeply anchored to the problem they’re solving will eventually burn out. We also shift into a broader discussion on AI—why this moment is fundamentally different from past technology waves, where real opportunities still exist, and why so many AI startups are destined to fail. Contact Dino at: dino@al4ep.com Websites: al4ep.com datagrid.ai Additional Guest Links: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/thiagocosta2 Corporate LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/datagrid-ai/ Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp Podcast Twitter – @al4edp Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

    31 min

  4. JAN 5

    Thiago Da Costa - Serial Tech Entrepreneur and Leader - Part 1

    Today's guest is Thiago Da Costa, a serial entrepreneur with multiple exits and decades of experience building deeply technical companies. His latest venture, Datagrid AI is an enterprise agentic solution that connects data and automates workflows across tools, files, and systems, Thiago brings a rare combination of technical depth, founder instinct, and hard-earned perspective on what it really takes to start, scale, and survive as an entrepreneur. We talk candidly about the realities of founder-led growth, why most early hires fail, how scaling actually works in practice, and why instinct—tempered by experience—often matters more than advice. We also dig into the employee side of the equation: how to evaluate a founder before joining a startup, what questions really matter in interviews, and why effort, ownership, and clarity are the ultimate differentiators in today’s market. Contact Dino at: dino@al4ep.com Websites: al4ep.com datagrid.ai Additional Guest Links: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/thiagocosta2 Corporate LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/datagrid-ai/ Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp Podcast Twitter – @al4edp Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

    36 min

  5. 12/29/2025

    Nicolas Darveau-Garneau - Advisor to 1000 CEOs

    My guest today is an old friend, Nicolas Darveau-Garneau. We met in business school a long time ago, and he went on to become Google's chief evangelist. In that role he advised over a thousand CEOs. He condensed all that wisdom in a brand new book that's called Be A Sequoia Not A Bonsaoi. The book explains how the top 5% of companies beat their competitors. Before becoming Google's chief evangelist, Nick also started and sold 4 companies. In this conversation, we talk about how to figure out if you want to be an entrepreneur and how to assess your own strengths to find the right path, what truly differentiates exceptional leaders, why culture is one of the most underestimated strategic assets. Contact Dino at: dino@al4ep.com Websites: al4ep.com nicolasdarveaugarneau.com Additional Guest Links: Be A Sequoia Not A Bonsai on Amazon - Barnes and Noble Books A Million Book Shop LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nickdg Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp Podcast Twitter – @al4edp Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

    45 min

  6. 12/09/2025

    Cat Holt - Brand Is Business

    Cat Holt is a marketer, brand strategist, and business consultant whose path has woven together creativity, psychology, digital innovation, and a relentless curiosity for how people think and behave. She is also the CEO of Coologee, the marketing firm I co-founded with her. Cat started out as a painter, a musician, and a psychology major fascinated by human behavior. That combination eventually took her into the world of advertising during the dot-com boom, where she became the rare strategist who could bridge brand storytelling with data-driven digital performance. Over the years, she had senior roles at major agencies and Fortune 50 company, building a reputation for connecting emotional insight to measurable business impact. In our conversation episode, we dive into her leadership journey — from the mentors who shaped her, to the philosophy that guides her today, and we discuss our own partnership, the evolution of our business, and the core belief that drives our work: Brand Is Business — the idea that brand isn’t a logo or a campaign, but the full 360-degree expression of how a company operates, behaves, and makes decisions. Contact Dino at: dino@al4ep.com Websites: al4ep.com coologee.com Additional Guest Links: Substack: Brand Is Business: catholtcoologee.substack.com/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/catkolodij/ Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp  Podcast Twitter – @al4edp  Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

    42 min

  7. 09/22/2025

    Miles Veth - Leading With Purpose In Sales and Technology

    Today's guest is is Miles Veth, a fourth-generation entrepreneur, founder of the Veth Group, a marketing ans sales services firm. After starting his career at EMC and learning how large companies can scale while still keeping a culture of warmth, he used that influence to shape the ethos of his own company: love your people, serve your customers well, and reinvest in the community. In our conversation, Miles shares how he integrates faith and business, what it means to build a company that tithes 10% of profits to causes his team cares about, and how he navigated both the highs of rapid growth and the challenges brought on by seismic changes in technology and sales. We also go deep into his views on what makes a great salesperson, the importance of transparency and honesty in business, and the unconventional tactics he has used to get attention and grow his company. Contact Dino at: dino@al4ep.com Websites: al4ep.com vethgroup.com Additional Guest Links: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/milesveth/ Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp  Podcast Twitter – @al4edp  Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

    44 min

  8. 09/15/2025

    Sasha Schrode - Leading Change in Women's Health

    Today's guest is Sasha Schrode, CEO of FEMSelect, a women’s health company on a mission to improve quality of life for women around the globe. Sasha survived a cancer diagnosis at age 31, and that crisis pushed her to leave corporate comfort and embrace entrepreneurship. She described in brutal honesty what being diagnosed with cancer at such an early age felt like and how that experience changed her priorities and her life.  We talked about how that experience reshaped her leadership philosophy, the lessons she learned building and selling her first company, and how she thinks about building investor relationships as both a founder and an angel investor. Finally, we discussed the importance of elevating women’s health — an area long underserved — and how Sasha and her team are bringing innovative solutions to market, starting with their breakthrough treatment for pelvic organ prolapse. Contact Dino at: dino@al4ep.com Websites: al4ep.com FEMselect.com Additional Guest Links: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sasha-schrode-28589a13/ Instagram: @fem.select Facebook: facebook.com/FEMSelect Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp  Podcast Twitter – @al4edp  Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

    33 min
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5
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30 Ratings

About

Authentic Leadership for Everyday People is the podcast where we investigate the connection between effective leadership and authenticity. If you are looking for inspiration and tips on how to become a better leader by being your true self, you are in the right place. The word authenticity is overused and can feel abstract, but when you look at its true meaning, it has a very practical and pretty clear cut application to leadership. Authentic means “the true self”. Authentic leaders clearly articulate their core values, and use them to guide every action they take. This clarity brings effectiveness, confidence and the ability to be vulnerable. In this interview based show, guests open up about how they discovered and developed their core principles and built a more successful and fulfilled life by being consistent with their values. Filled with candid moments and practical advice, Authentic Leadership for Everyday People is for everyone who wants to become a better leader and a better, more fulfilled human.

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