People At Pyramid

Pyramid Club

People at Pyramid is the weekly Pyramid Club of Philadelphia podcast spotlighting members, their expertise, and the best ways to collaborate. Each episode introduces a different Pyramid Club member, what they do, who they help, and how to connect for referrals, partnerships, and warm introductions. If you’re a Philadelphia professional looking to grow relationships inside the Club, subscribe and start meeting the people who can help you build your network and your business.

  1. 3d ago

    Assisting Philadelphia's Homeless & Creating Opportunities For The Next Generation W/ Darryl Johnson

    Listen to People at Pyramid wherever you get your podcasts: https://t-sml.mtrbio.com/public/smartlink/pyramid-club Feeding the homeless in Philadelphia started for Darryl Johnson with one bag of sandwiches and a man who knew his name.Our member Darryl Johnson was handing out sandwiches in Center City about twenty years ago when a man pulled back a blanket and said hello by name. They had gone to school together. Darryl's son was standing right next to him.That night is why Beloved Brothers Inc. exists. Darryl and his friends had gone out once, as a church thing, and by the end of it none of them wanted it to be a one-time trip. They started going back every quarter.Going back every quarter is not the same as running a nonprofit, and the paperwork came later. Every time Darryl went to a council member for grant money he heard the same answer: get your 501(c)(3) first. He got it done in 2016, which makes this the organization's tenth year.The financial side of running one was familiar ground for him. Darryl spent his career as finance director for the Child Care Information Services program across Philadelphia with Caring People Alliance. What he had to learn was how to walk into a room and get people to see a vision well enough to fund it. The vision he is proudest of came out of a walk through the City Hall courtyard. Now in its fifth year, the annual dinner seats guests at tables, hands them menus, and has volunteers in black serving the plates. There are donated clothes, a barber cutting hair, and city homelessness offices set up with tables to connect people to services.By the third year of that dinner, the name of the work changed. A man came up to shake Darryl's hand and told him he was no longer homeless but was still hungry, because his budget ran short after medication. Darryl started saying homeless and hungry after that.That dinner is also where Darryl brings the next generation in. The youth who come out serve plates rather than watch. As Darryl puts it, the people the city walks past are the invisible people, and for one day they are told they are seen. CHAPTERS:0:00 - Meet Darryl Johnson3:04 - From One Night to a Nonprofit7:08 - Feeding the Homeless at City Hall11:03 - Not Homeless, But Hungry GUEST LINKS:Beloved Brothers Inc.: https://www.belovedbrosinc.org/Email Darryl: belovedbros@gmail.com ABOUT PEOPLE AT PYRAMID:People at Pyramid is the Pyramid Club's member spotlight podcast. Every episode, host Vince Quinn sits down with one of our members to find out who they are, what they build, and what makes them worth knowing. Stories worth telling, from the people who make up this place. SUBSCRIBE for new episodes every other week. CONNECT:Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/people-at-pyramid/id1784545290Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7alEumoeEpbqgHzaugBPLZWatch every episode: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdd93VlJAwBR_m7jDhPxq3agoS8iLuT4GVince Quinn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincequinn Interested in being featured on People at Pyramid? Register here Want help with your podcast? E-mail Vince Quinn vq@sbxproductions.com Want to learn about Pyramid Club Membership?  Click here.

  2. Aug 25

    Project Manager by Day, Movie Buff by Night W/ Elena Varela

    Be a guest on People at Pyramid: https://feeds.transistor.fm/people-at-pyramid Process improvement, Lean Six Sigma, and the planning that decides a project before the work even starts, with our member Elena Varela. This week on People at Pyramid, we're spotlighting our member Elena Varela, a business manager at Drexel University who spends her days making complicated projects run smoothly. If you have ever watched a big initiative stall, drift, or collapse under its own weight, this conversation is for you. Elena works in process improvement, and she is a believer in the Lean Six Sigma approach and the DMAIC framework: Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control. But the heart of what she does is simpler than the terminology sounds. Before any project starts, she gets the requirements clear and builds a charter everyone can agree on. Skip that planning, she says, and it always comes back later as bloat, rework, and a timeline nobody signed up for. She also talks about the human side of the job. A big part of managing projects is managing people: getting experts in a room, keeping them pointed in the same direction, and building the trust that keeps the work moving. Elena calls it herding cats, and she clearly loves it. We get into where AI tools fit, too. Elena and Vince trade stories about using them for the parts of the work nobody wants to do, and about what happens when you hand them the hard part instead. Then the conversation turns to something closer to Elena's heart: movies, storytelling, and why she is drawn to stories about human connection. Meet Elena, and hear why she is the kind of member who makes this community what it is. CHAPTERS:0:00 - Meet Elena Varela, Business Manager at Drexel3:00 - Project Management Best Practices7:40 - Movies, Storytelling, and Human Connection10:30 - A Show Recommendation and How to Connect GUEST LINKS:Elena Varela on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elenajvarela/ ABOUT PEOPLE AT PYRAMID:People at Pyramid is the Pyramid Club's member spotlight podcast. Every episode, we sit down with one of our members to hear what they do, what drives them, and the stories that make them worth knowing. Hosted by Vince Quinn. SUBSCRIBE for a new member spotlight every other week. CONNECT:Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/people-at-pyramid/id1784545290Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7alEumoeEpbqgHzaugBPLZWatch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdd93VlJAwBR_m7jDhPxq3agoS8iLuT4GPeople at Pyramid: https://feeds.transistor.fm/people-at-pyramidVince Quinn on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/vincequinn Interested in being featured on People at Pyramid? Register here Want help with your podcast? E-mail Vince Quinn vq@sbxproductions.com Want to learn about Pyramid Club Membership?  Click here.

  3. Aug 11

    Tax Law by Day, Fixer-Uppers on Weekends W/ Emerald Vaughan

    Be a guest on People at Pyramid: https://feeds.transistor.fm/people-at-pyramid A paralegal, a law student, and a property manager all at once, and a plan built around tax law, with our newest member Emerald Vaughan. This week on People at Pyramid, we're spotlighting our newest member, Emerald Vaughan, who joined the Club just two weeks ago and is already running three careers at once. She is a paralegal by day, a law student by night, and a property manager on the weekends. Emerald walks us through what a paralegal really does, and why the job comes down to being a details person: reading contracts, drafting motions, and catching the small things that keep a client protected. From there she traces her path from debate-team captain to the courtroom-adjacent work she does now, and the moment she asked herself why she was not the attorney in the room. So she went to law school, and she is set on tax law. Her case for tax law is refreshingly practical. She likes finding a deal, and she likes helping people, and reducing what someone owes is one of the most direct ways to do both. For a lot of people, she points out, it is easier to trim expenses than to earn more. Then we get into her weekends. Emerald manages several properties and does much of the renovation work herself, from swapping a faucet to redoing a backsplash. Her advice for anyone intimidated by home projects is to start small and build up, and to remember her golden rule: measure twice, cut once, and if you mess up, call a contractor. Meet Emerald, and see why she is the kind of member you want to know. CHAPTERS: 0:00 - Meet Emerald Vaughan 2:05 - Why Tax Law 4:15 - Real Estate and DIY Renovations 7:00 - Taking On New Projects and How to Connect GUEST LINKS: Emerald Vaughan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emeraldvaughan ABOUT PEOPLE AT PYRAMID: People at Pyramid is the Pyramid Club's member spotlight podcast. Every episode, we sit down with one of our members to hear what they do, what drives them, and the stories that make them worth knowing. Hosted by Vince Quinn. SUBSCRIBE for a new member spotlight every other week. Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/people-at-pyramid/id1784545290 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7alEumoeEpbqgHzaugBPLZ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdd93VlJAwBR_m7jDhPxq3agoS8iLuT4G People at Pyramid: https://feeds.transistor.fm/people-at-pyramid Vince Quinn on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/vincequinn Interested in being featured on People at Pyramid? Register here Want help with your podcast? E-mail Vince Quinn vq@sbxproductions.com Want to learn about Pyramid Club Membership?  Click here.

  4. Jul 14

    What's Next? Finding Purpose Beyond Success W/ Charley Timmins

    What does it take to find purpose once you've already "made it"? This week we sit down with our member Charley Timmins, who has been part of the Pyramid Club for eight years and spends his days helping talented professionals get unstuck and figure out what's next. Charley calls himself the "what's next" guy, and it fits. He works with high achievers who have built careers, companies, and wealth, then reach the moment where they ask, is this all there is? His answer starts with purpose. Not the quota, not the title, but the impact you have beyond yourself. We talked about why community matters more than ever. As Charley put it, the pandemic proved we can't do things alone, and real connection doesn't happen through a screen. We have to be in each other's presence. That belief is a big part of why he values the Club, and why he tells new members to give it a full year before they judge it. The heart of the conversation is a story. Charley walks through how he helped a 62-year-old consultant prove his irreplaceable value to a company that was about to move on without him, using nothing more than a roll of butcher paper and the history of a product only he understood. The outcome changed that man's retirement, and his legacy. It's a warm, generous conversation about purpose, community, and helping people become who they were meant to be. Meet Charley Timmins on this week's episode. GUEST LINKS:Email Charley: cjt@CharlesTimmins.comConnect with Charley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charleytimmins/ ABOUT PEOPLE AT PYRAMID:People at Pyramid is the Pyramid Club's member-spotlight podcast, hosted by Vince Quinn. Every episode, we sit down with one of our members to hear who they are, what they do, and what makes them worth knowing. It is a look inside a community built on the people who make it what it is. SUBSCRIBE for new episodes every two weeks. CONNECT:Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/people-at-pyramid/id1784545290Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7alEumoeEpbqgHzaugBPLZHost: https://linkedin.com/in/vincequinnShow website: https://feeds.transistor.fm/people-at-pyramid

  5. Jun 30

    The Leadership Bridge Between Business & Sports W/ Stephen Novak

    Leadership is the constant that holds steady through AI, economic shifts, and everything else. This week we sit down with our member Stephen Novak, Client Lead at Aiir Consulting, to talk about what that looks like in practice. Stephen spends his days coaching leaders at companies of every shape and size, and he keeps his definition of the job simple: leadership is the act of realizing a clear and compelling vision through others. Everything else is detail. We talked about AI first, because Stephen had just hosted an event on AI and leadership. His take is steady and clear. The tools are changing fast, and good leaders adapt to them. What does not change is that business is still built by people. AI can hold a lot of knowledge, but it does not carry lived experience or judgment, and it only works with the context you feed it. As Stephen put it, your team can tell when a response came from a model instead of from you, because the model does not have your wisdom. From there the conversation turned to sports, home turf for Vince after a decade in sports radio. Stephen, a Pittsburgh guy through and through, drew the parallels between coaching athletes and coaching executives. Even the best in the world keep a coach. Tiger Woods always had one. The demands keep shifting, the game rarely goes to plan, and the ability to adapt in the moment sits at the heart of both sports and leadership. We got into coaching styles and culture, from the burnout that follows a coach who pushes too hard to the patient, culture-first rebuilds that pay off over years. Stephen and Vince talked about coaching trees, the way one strong leader develops people who go on to develop others, and how that compounds across a whole organization. It is a warm, wide-ranging conversation about the parts of leadership that technology cannot touch. Meet Stephen Novak on this week's episode. GUEST LINKS: Email Stephen: snovak@aiirconsulting.com Connect with Stephen on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-novak/ CONNECT: Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/people-at-pyramid/id1784545290 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7alEumoeEpbqgHzaugBPLZ Host: https://linkedin.com/in/vincequinn Show website: https://feeds.transistor.fm/people-at-pyramid Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdd93VlJAwBR_m7jDhPxq3agoS8iLuT4G Follow People at Pyramid wherever you listen. Interested in being featured on People at Pyramid? Register here Want to learn about Pyramid Club Membership?  Click here.

  6. Jun 16

    Financial Planner's Unlikely Path with Steve Melchiorre

    Steve Melchiorre went from carrying a gun as a juvenile probation officer to building wealth plans for everyday Philadelphia families. In this member spotlight, host Vince Quinn talks with Steve Melchiorre — financial planner and co-chair of the Pyramid Club's Young Executive Committee — about a career that zigzagged through law enforcement and carpentry before landing in financial planning. Steve works with everyday individuals, families, and businesses, using the same tax and finance strategies usually reserved for the ultra-wealthy, and he's building an "I got a guy" network to connect Philadelphia's young professionals. Be a guest on the show — if you're a Pyramid Club member with a story to tell, check the show notes and reach out. KEY TAKEAWAYS: An unconventional path — juvenile probation officer, then carpenter — shaped how Steve works with clients todayHe serves everyday people, not the ultra-high-net-worth, with the strategies the wealthy already useFinancial health starts with a mindset shift, not just cutting spendingThe Young Executive Committee is uniting Philadelphia's siloed young-professional groups into one connected networkCommunity in action: volunteering at MANNA and a World Cup Fan Fest watch partyCHAPTERS: 00:00 — Introduction 00:50 — From Probation Officer to Planner 04:52 — Financial Planning for Everyday People 06:26 — The Young Executive Committee 08:28 — Building an "I Got a Guy" Network 11:13 — Martial Arts & Wrap-Up GUEST LINKS: Steve Melchiorre, Financial Planner, Fortune Financial LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-melchiorre-cfp CONNECT: Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/people-at-pyramid/id1784545290 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7alEumoeEpbqgHzaugBPLZ Vince Quinn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincequinn Show website: https://feeds.transistor.fm/people-at-pyramid Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdd93VlJAwBR_m7jDhPxq3agoS8iLuT4G  Click here to watch a video of this episode. Interested in being featured on People at Pyramid? Register here Want help with your podcast? E-mail Vince Quinn vq@sbxproductions.com Want to learn about Pyramid Club Membership?  Click here.

About

People at Pyramid is the weekly Pyramid Club of Philadelphia podcast spotlighting members, their expertise, and the best ways to collaborate. Each episode introduces a different Pyramid Club member, what they do, who they help, and how to connect for referrals, partnerships, and warm introductions. If you’re a Philadelphia professional looking to grow relationships inside the Club, subscribe and start meeting the people who can help you build your network and your business.