Off the Record Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal and Platinum Bank

In the professional services industry, relationships are the differentiator. One of the biggest challenges Nikki Rohloff has faced in her career was the sudden loss of her firm’s business partner, she says in this episode of the Off the Record podcast, brought to you by Platinum Bank. 
She’s now the managing partner of Rohloff Associates, but back in 2017, it was Roach Associates — named for her late business partner, Kevin Roach, who passed away in 2021. When it happened, Rohloff not only mourned her colleague, she says, but she worried about his client connections. 
“We weren’t sure if we were going to lose a bunch of clients because their relationship was with Kevin,” Rohloff says. “But the way we built the firm, with being very hands-on, where everyone gets to talk to everybody, our clients were amazing. They literally stood by us. They gave us all the grace in the world to be able to process his passing and work through how we keep things going.” 
Rohloff shares how they kept the lights on during "one of the hardest things ever" and more with hosts Kathy Robideau, market president and publisher of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, and Dave Faust, president and CEO of Platinum Bank, in this episode. Listen to learn more about: 
Growing the firm’s fractional CFO business (19:25). Showing vulnerability to your team as a business leader (21:18).The exciting launch of Canopy Accounting in November 2023 (27:37). Rohloff’s ongoing struggle with impostor syndrome despite her many achievements  (31:38).Seeking balance between building a business and being present for family (36:25). Leaders like Rohloff understand the value of moving quickly and acting creatively, just like Platinum Bank. Learn more about business banking with a different kind of bank.

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Heide Olson, founder and CEO of Accountinuity and Veracity Pros, believes there may be no time like the present to start a business. In her case, she left her job and “threw out her shingle” just before she and her husband were due to have their first baby, Olson reveals in the latest episode of the Off the Record podcast, brought to you by Platinum Bank. 


“My husband thought I was absolutely insane,” she says. But she points to the side business she had been doing all along and the relationships she’d been building as the necessary springboard to get her started. 


“The reality is, you’re never going to be fully ready. You just have to jump. And I would say that to any person who’s thinking about starting a business. You can’t wait until it’s the perfect time or until you have the perfect plan,” Olson says. “You just have to be semi ready, and then make the plunge.” 


Olson talks about her career challenges and achievements in this conversation with hosts Kathy Robideau, market president and publisher of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, and Dave Faust, president and CEO of Platinum Bank. Check out the episode to learn more about: 
The one thing entrepreneurs won’t learn in college (13:52). Hiring for technical skills vs. hiring for core values (16:32). What Accountinuity and Veracity Pros do to attract talent (23:16). The tale of one client whose books “were completely off the rails” — and what Olson learned from that experience (26:51). What gives Olson fulfillment in her work (33:00). Leaders like Olson understand the value of moving quickly and acting creatively, just like Platinum Bank. Learn more about business banking with a different kind of bank.

Never miss an episode of Off the Record. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.


Sara Dziuk still has the pencil drawings she used to do of the stapler and tape dispenser in her cubicle at a previous job. Dziuk, now the CEO of Junior Achievement North, says she keeps those drawings as a reminder of her “aha moment” of realizing she needed a job that would “fill her cup,” she says in the latest episode of the Off the Record podcast.

“The environment just wasn’t the right fit for me,” she says. “I learned a lot, very quickly, about what I need to thrive in an organization and what is important to me.”

Instead, Dziuk realized later how comfortable she truly felt in the nonprofit world. “Where I feel really, truly passionate about the work I’m doing, that’s where I need to be,” Dziuk says.

Listen to the episode to learn how that passion led her to work with Junior Achievement North. Dziuk chats with Kathy Robideau, market president and publisher of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, and Dave Faust, president and CEO of Platinum Bank, about her career journey. Learn more about:
•Dziuk’s one regret from her college experience. (9:08)
•Leadership takeaways from an early career role with the Greater Mankato Chamber of Commerce. (13:30)
•What Dziuk learned about being competitive in the first five or 10 years of her career. (17:10)
•Leading Junior Achievement’s capstone programs, including JA BizTown. (28:51)
•College Possible’s mission and impact in the Twin Cities. (33:22)
•What it was like to join Junior Achievement North as the CEO during the Covid-19 pandemic. (37:06)
•Reimagining the high school experience for students with the new 3DE model. (43:16)

Leaders like Dziuk understand the value of moving quickly and acting creatively, just like Platinum Bank. Learn more about business banking with a different kind of bank.

Dan Stoltz took the reins at Spire Credit Union (before it became Blaze) in 2010 — just as the economy was facing some serious difficulties. 
“It was a tough way to start out as a CEO, but I love challenges,” Stoltz says in the latest episode of the Off the Record podcast. “I’ll never forget calling in my leadership group, sitting in a room just like this, and saying, ‘Look, we’ve got to do this. We’ve got to figure this out. That might mean some pay cuts for the short term. It might mean some downsizing. We’ve got to be careful and compassionate about that — but we also have to think boldly.” 
Stoltz then took a step he admits was a risky and unpopular move: he doubled down on advertising. And it paid off, he says. “Long story short, we were $500 million (in assets) in 2010, and with this merger that just happened a couple months ago, we’re at $4 billion.” 
Stoltz shares more details of the credit union’s journey and his own with Off the Record hosts Kathy Robideau, Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal publisher and market president, and Dave Faust, Platinum Bank CEO. 
Listen to the episode to hear more about: 
Advice Stoltz received from his father about business success (18:18).Why leadership is less about doing and more about being (21:26). What worked well about the merger between Spire and Hiway to create Blaze Credit Union (25:07). Being a ‘go-getter’ and a ‘go-giver’ every day (36:31). Stoltz’s experience making a commercial with Minnesota Vikings QB Kirk Cousins (47:23). Leaders like Stoltz understand the value of moving quickly and acting creatively, just like Platinum Bank. Learn more about business banking with a different kind of bank.

Even though Red Wing Shoe Co. is her family’s business, it wasn’t always clear to Allison Gettings that she would eventually become the company’s CEO. She had to prove herself, and she faced her first test during her college years, Gettings explains on this episode of the Off the Record podcast. 


“It was a tough few years in the sense that, like any 20-year-old, I’m doing grunt work, which is exactly what I should have been doing,” Gettings says. “It was the right place to start. That doesn’t mean it was fun.” 


Gettings takes a deep dive into her career journey with hosts Kathy Robideau, market president and publisher of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, and Dave Faust, president and CEO of Platinum Bank. Listen to the episode to hear more about: 
Wrestling with feelings of the heavy responsibility as part of to the family organization. Creating a women’s shoe brand from scratch — and putting it to rest after learning some key lessons.COVID-19’s effect on the Red Wing’s operations.Honoring the company’s 119-year legacy while keeping up with current consumer tastes.Why Getting considers employees, communities and future generations in her business decisions. 

Leaders like Gettings understand the value of moving quickly and acting creatively, just like Platinum Bank. Learn more about business banking with a different kind of bank. 

Never miss an episode of Off the Record. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Traveling abroad as a leader of a youth ministry at age 22 taught Kelly McGrath a few key things about teamwork. As a regular overnight guest in strangers’ homes, she quickly learned to navigate conversations in a way that put others at ease. In her team leader role, she also had to look ahead at logistics to determine where the group would eat, sleep and host the next retreat. 

“I love all the different elements that are part of something (bigger) coming together,” says McGrath, now the general manager and executive director of Xcel Energy Center. “Changing on the fly. That aspect of, OK, that’s not working, let’s do something else. And that absolutely has translated through my career.”

In this episode of the Off the Record podcast, McGrath tells hosts Kathy Robideau, market president and publisher of the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal and Dave Faust, president and CEO of Platinum Bank, about her career story.

Listen to hear more about:
•McGrath’s stint at the MSPBJ.
•A day in the life of someone who oversees operations at a major arena.
•Requests from the riders of performers who come to Xcel for concerts and shows.
•What’s coming with the renovation for “Xcel Energy Center 2.0” — and some major events on the horizon.

Leaders like McGrath understand the value of moving quickly and acting creatively, just like Platinum Bank. Learn more about business banking with a different kind of bank.