HarmonyTALK

Foundation for Harmony Presents
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HarmonyTALK is an inspirational podcast featuring ‘dreamers and doers’ who turned ideas into action. Explore creativity, perseverance, leadership and the human stories behind meaningful success through candid conversations designed to spark reflection, motivation and possibility, and join a growing community inspired to dream boldly and live intentionally.

  1. 1d ago

    The Art of Making People Feel Seen

    What if the secret to a remarkable career isn't proving how successful you are, but making others feel valued? For Tony Garriett, that simple philosophy has opened doors, built lifelong relationships and shaped an extraordinary career spanning more than three decades. Tony spent 31 years at Zegna, the Italian luxury fashion house, where he dressed successful executives, developed lasting friendships and, in some cases, became a trusted presence across three generations of families. His appreciation for personal service began as a boy in Baltimore, shopping with his great-aunt. She introduced him to fine fabrics, beautiful clothing and impeccable tailoring. But Tony was equally fascinated by the way salespeople welcomed her, remembered her preferences and made her feel special. He never forgot those experiences. Years later, an unexpected encounter with a customer at Zegna changed the direction of his career. After 31 years, Tony left the familiar world of luxury menswear to become Director of Member Relations at Aman, an international luxury hospitality brand. The setting had changed, but his approach to people hadn't. On this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Greg Frigoletto talks with Tony about the power of human connection, finding new opportunities later in life and why genuine kindness can be one of the most valuable qualities in business. Tony also shares a simple morning ritual that helps him navigate the demands of his work. Before heading into the bustle of New York City, he spends quiet time on a bench in Central Park, reflecting, watching the ducks and preparing himself for the day. He calls it filling his cup. It's a practice he believes anyone can benefit from, particularly people whose jobs demand constant attention to others. Tony also recalls a moving encounter with a homeless woman on a subway train that deepened his understanding of compassion and generosity. Throughout the conversation, he encourages listeners to reconsider how they treat the people around them, how much time they give themselves and why even the smallest gestures can leave lasting impressions. For Tony, exceptional service has never been about luxury alone. It's about making someone feel that they matter.

    The Art of Making People Feel Seen

  2. Oct 21

    Meet the Man Behind the Monsters

    Every October, tens of thousands of thrill-seekers descend on Reaper's Revenge in Northeastern Pennsylvania, waiting hours for a chance to have the living daylights scared out of them. But few know the man behind the monsters. Paul Kotran is the creator of Reaper's Revenge, a 65-acre haunted attraction in Scott Township ranked No. 3 in the country by USA TODAY. With six attractions, more than 300 employees and visitors traveling from across the country, Reaper's Revenge has become a Halloween destination. But its first season was a near catastrophe. Rain destroyed the trails, tractors became stranded in the mud and customers demanded refunds. Paul was left wondering how he would pay his bills, much less open for another season. He nearly quit. On this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Todd Stephens introduces listeners to the entrepreneur whose path to creating one of America's top haunted attractions was anything but conventional. Paul grew up in the Lehigh Valley, studied mechanical drafting and quickly discovered he wasn't suited to a desk job. He played drums in a rock band that toured Canada, spent 25 years working carnivals and traveled the country operating a mobile bungee jump. Along the way, he learned how to attract a crowd and put on a show. He also opened Paulie's Hot Dogs in Honesdale, bringing the food and spirit of the carnival midway to a year-round restaurant. Those experiences helped shape Reaper's Revenge, which Paul built gradually, reinvesting in new attractions and assembling a team of performers, technicians and staff who return year after year. Today, he's as proud of the community that has formed among his employees as he is of the national recognition. Paul also talks candidly about the sacrifices behind his unconventional career, the time spent away from his children and why giving back to his community has become increasingly important. Now 64, he's still building, experimenting and looking for the next challenge. As he tells Todd, "I'm just getting started."

    Meet the Man Behind the Monsters

  3. Oct 14

    NYC Stylist and Salon Owner Avi Benichou: The Courage to Think Bigger

    Avi Benichou came to New York City from Israel with no plans to stay. More than three decades later, he owns Lovella Salon on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. His journey began at 17, when a chance conversation led him to a hairstyling course. Years later, another spontaneous decision brought him to New York, where he struggled to find work before walking into a salon and convincing its owner to give him a chance. But becoming a talented stylist and building a successful business were two very different challenges. On this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Lisa Champeau talks with Avi about the risks, relationships and unexpected opportunities that shaped his career. A chance connection through Israeli folk dancing introduced him to the Ben Applebaum Foundation, an organization created to support aspiring entrepreneurs. Avi became its first mentee and found a mentor in Dr. Skip Vichness, who challenged him to imagine a future far beyond working behind a salon chair. The foundation never gave Avi money. What he received was something he needed just as much: guidance, confidence and the courage to take a risk. With infant twins at home and limited resources, Avi bought a small salon, built much of its interior himself and began turning his dream into a business. He eventually expanded, weathered the challenges of COVID and helped other stylists develop careers of their own. Along the way, he learned a lesson that many entrepreneurs discover the hard way: being good at your craft doesn't automatically make you good at running a business. It’s a candid, often funny conversation about starting over in America, the difference a mentor can make and why pursuing a dream sometimes means daring to see something bigger than what is right in front of you.

    NYC Stylist and Salon Owner Avi Benichou: The Courage to Think Bigger

  4. Oct 7

    The Stories That Connect Us

    Long before Carla McCabe became a media executive, she was watching history unfold outside her front door. Carla grew up in Belfast during the Troubles, when soldiers on the streets, bomb scares and curfews were part of everyday life. She also witnessed something very different: the beginnings of peace. Those experiences would follow Carla into a career built around telling stories and understanding the people behind them. On this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Greg Frigoletto talks with the President and CEO of WVIA, Northeast and Central Pennsylvania’s affiliate station for PBS and NPR, about a journey that began in Northern Ireland, took her to the BBC and independent television production, brought her across the Atlantic to American public media and ultimately led her to Northeastern Pennsylvania. Carla didn’t set out to work in television. A temporary job at the BBC changed that. There, she saw television examine conflict, reconciliation and history through the experiences of the people who had lived it. One documentary would make that work deeply personal. After losing her brother to suicide, Carla helped produce Breaking the Silence, telling the stories of families affected by suicide with a deliberate focus on respect rather than sensationalism. Watching the finished film alongside those families changed the way Carla thought about media. Storytelling could have impact. That belief now shapes her leadership at WVIA. With local newsrooms shrinking and public media facing enormous change, Carla has pushed WVIA deeper into local journalism and community storytelling. Reporters spend time in the communities they cover. They build trust. They follow stories rather than simply moving on to the next headline. And they make room for different perspectives, giving audiences the information to decide what they think for themselves. From Belfast to the BBC to WVIA, Carla has seen what can happen when people are divided. She has also seen what can happen when we listen.

    The Stories That Connect Us

  5. Sep 30

    Finding Something More

    Tucked into 400 acres in the Pocono Mountains is a place where tens of thousands of people have come simply to sit quietly. The Himalayan Institute has called Honesdale, Pennsylvania, home for almost 50 years. What began with yoga and meditation has grown into a global nonprofit devoted to wellness, education, humanitarian service and the belief that people can reach their fullest potential. But what are all those people looking for? On this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Lisa Champeau talks with Retreat Center Director Brian Fulp about the enduring appeal of a place that has spent decades inviting people to slow down and look inward. Brian takes us inside the Institute’s Sri Vidya Shrine, a meditation hall intentionally left open for visitors to bring their own beliefs and practices. He talks about the Institute’s roots, its humanitarian work around the world and the surprisingly entrepreneurial history that helped introduce the Neti Pot to millions of Americans. But Brian’s own journey may say the most about the place. He discovered yoga as an 11-year-old Boy Scout in Indiana. As a teenager without money for classes, he asked if he could work in exchange for them. His teacher told him to take the classes and promise to pay the Institute back someday. Twenty-nine years later, Brian jokes that he is still working on it. What began as an interest in yoga became a life built around service, community and a place he says gave him something he had been missing: purpose. It is a conversation about what happens when we make room for stillness, what service can give back to the person doing it and why, after more than half a century, people continue to find their way to a quiet corner of the Poconos looking for something more.

    Finding Something More

  6. Sep 23

    What Animals Teach Us About Healing

    On 100 acres in Dalton, Pennsylvania, nearly 200 rescued animals have found a home at Indraloka Animal Sanctuary. But something unexpected began unfolding there. Those who care for the animals all too often discover that the animals have something to offer them, too. That idea is at the heart of Indraloka and the life’s work of its founder, Dr. Indra Lahiri, an organizational psychologist who spent years studying human behavior, leadership and culture before bringing those insights into a very different setting. On this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Greg Frigoletto talks with Indra to explore the connection between the two worlds she knows best: people and animals. What can an animal teach us about trust? Why does simply being around another living being sometimes change the way we feel? And what can people who have spent their lives caring for others learn about caring for themselves? For Indra, those questions are not abstract. She has watched broken animals arrive at Indraloka after traumatic experiences and gradually learn that they are safe. She has also watched the people around them slow down, reconnect and begin looking at their own experiences differently. That has led Indra to expand Indraloka’s mission beyond animal rescue. Today, the sanctuary also works with people and organizations on leadership, teamwork and communication, along with burnout, compassion fatigue and secondary trauma. And when it comes to healing, Indra has learned something else from the animals around her. What happens to us becomes part of our story, but it doesn’t have to become our entire story for the rest of our life.

    What Animals Teach Us About Healing

  7. Sep 16

    Behind the Main Event: Jordan Mendal’s Life in WWE

    What happens when your dream job turns out not to be your dream career? For Jordan Mendal, the answer eventually involved The Rock, John Cena, Stone Cold Steve Austin, nearly three decades at WWE, and one unforgettable run-in with Mick Foley’s Mr. Socko. But none of that was part of the original plan. On this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Todd Stephens steps behind the curtain with Mendal, an award-winning sports and entertainment producer and WWE’s Vice President of Special Projects, for a funny, candid conversation about persistence, rejection and finding your place in an industry you love. Growing up outside Chicago, Mendal wanted to become a sportscaster. He made it to Syracuse University’s legendary Newhouse School, where he was surrounded by future broadcasting stars and began to realize that his own path might lead somewhere other than the announcer’s booth. Call it a career pivot. In WWE language, maybe it was a power flip. What followed was hardly a straight shot to the main event. Mendal started his career making $100 a week. He applied to NBA Entertainment and got rejected. He tried again. Another rejection. On the third attempt, he landed the job. Then came an opportunity at WWE, despite one fairly significant complication. He wasn’t really a wrestling fan. WWE needed a producer. Mendal knew how to produce. The rest, he figured, he could learn. Nearly 30 years later, he has helped create the stories around some of WWE’s most recognizable Superstars and worked across a sports entertainment operation that moves from RAW and SmackDown to WrestleMania and beyond. He also knows what happens when the person behind the camera suddenly becomes part of the show. One night, Mendal was drafted into a live television segment opposite The Rock and Mick Foley, playing a media critic and WWE “heel” in front of a sold-out arena. His reward? Mr. Socko. Mendal survived the segment, and the fans even recognized him afterward. But behind the laughs is a career built on something much less theatrical: persistence. This is a conversation about hearing “no,” coming back anyway, learning from extraordinary people and staying open to opportunities that look nothing like the future you originally imagined. Because sometimes the dream you start with is only the opening match. The real main event comes later.

    Behind the Main Event: Jordan Mendal’s Life in WWE

  8. Sep 9

    The Sound of America: How Marko Marcinko Found His Life in Jazz

    Growing up in Archbald, Pennsylvania, Marko Marcinko lived in a house where music was everywhere. His father was a professional musician. His entire family was rooted in the arts. And while other kids were discovering video games, Marko was discovering the instruments around the house. He thought they were his toys and so he started playing. What happened next would take that curious kid from Northeastern Pennsylvania into a remarkable life in jazz, studying with one of the greats, touring the world, sharing stages with legendary musicians and eventually coming home to help keep the music alive for a new generation. On this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Lisa Champeau sits down with Marko on the lawn the outdoor amphitheater Harmony in the Woods in Hawley, Pennsylvania, just before his public radio benefit performance with the Keystone Jazz Septet. Their conversation starts with childhood and quickly moves somewhere bigger. Why does jazz still matter? What happens if we stop teaching and performing it? And as America celebrates its 250th anniversary, what can this uniquely American music tell us about the country that created it? Marcinko has a fascinating answer. He sees jazz as more than an American art form. He sees something democratic in the way the music itself is created. Everyone gets a voice. Everyone has to listen. One musician steps forward, then makes room for another. Individual expression thrives, but only when everyone contributes to something larger. It is an idea that may change the way you hear the music. And for Marcinko, it all traces back to a childhood home filled with instruments that became his toys and a family that gave him room to explore. How did those childhood discoveries lead to a life on stages around the world? And why is Marko Marcinko more determined than ever to keep America’s music playing? Tune into  “The Sound of America: How Marko Marcinko Found His Life in Jazz” and hear the story on this week’s HarmonyTALK.

    The Sound of America: How Marko Marcinko Found His Life in Jazz
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Ratings & Reviews

4.8
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

HarmonyTALK is an inspirational podcast featuring ‘dreamers and doers’ who turned ideas into action. Explore creativity, perseverance, leadership and the human stories behind meaningful success through candid conversations designed to spark reflection, motivation and possibility, and join a growing community inspired to dream boldly and live intentionally.

Information

  • Creator
    Foundation for Harmony Presents
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    152
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Foundation for Harmony Presents
  • Show Website
    HarmonyTALK