The Corporate Couch: Work Stories I Only Tell My Friends

Join me and this week's guest Sue Tetzlaff the co-founder of Capstone Leadership Solutions (www.CapstoneLeadership.net) for her great story of how she helps small healthcare organizations improve their patient and employee experience. We discuss her intellectual "boyfriends" (mentors she has never met who just happen to be all male), her reading of 50-60 books a year, and how the best cultures send their employees home every day with the energy to be fully present with their loved ones. We even get a Brady Bunch discussion that relates to our personal lives :-)   You will love Sue's energy and caring spirit...please enjoy!     Sue Tetzlaff, RN, RHIA, MHA, FACHE, has over thirty years of healthcare strategic planning, leadership development, and execution experience. The transformation of organizational culture, successfully navigating change, developing new programs and expansion of services, strategic planning, training and coaching leaders, employees, and teams are among the favorite aspects of her work. Since co-founding Capstone Leadership Solutions in 2012, Sue has served as a strategist, trainer, and coach to dozens of healthcare organizations undergoing wide-scale improvement initiatives. Before co-founding Capstone, she served as a healthcare executive for more than 20 years as a Vice President of Quality and Safety, Chief Nursing Officer, Interim CEO, and Chief Operating Officer. Sue has degrees in nursing and health information administration from Ferris State University, a master's degree in Healthcare Administration from the University of Minnesota. Sue is a Board Certified Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives.

You will enjoy one of the most unique career journeys of any guest who has appeared on the podcast when you listen to my conversation with Kyle Doherty (linkedin.com/in/kydoherty). We talk about how making clothes was part of his upbringing as his grandmother worked for one of the first female entrepreneurs in the United States making dresses for the incredible Nell Reed (Wikipedia) and how he started sewing at age 4. The story of why he founded his clothing company Charles & Richards is truly inspiring. You will also find out if he was voted best dressed in his high school senior class :-)   For the last 30 years, Kyle Doherty has had his hand in the tailoring world.  He spent time in his teens as a foreign exchange student in Northern Italy.  Falling in love with “la dolce vita” he made it back for a study abroad program in college. Being exposed to Italian manufacturing he was hooked. Post college he worked for several clothiers honing his skills. After years designing clothes for other brands he was drawn back to Italy to create a line stitched by hand providing the perfect marriage of form and function for the guy on the go without compromising the highest standards in quality.   In 2016 he launched Charles & Richard's (Company Website) lifestyle.  He continues to grow the brand catering to the ever-changing office environment giving gentleman the best quality from jeans to tuxedos.  

A fun conversation with Elizabeth Souder (we worked "together" in the early days of Sprint PCS - now T-Mobile). We talk about her love of basketball and her college basketball records, God/Universe moments, why she stopped practicing law and started her own company, being clear on the work you want to do, and her realization that radical adherence to core values guides and informs every action and decision of a healthy corporate culture. Please enjoy!   Elizabeth McJimsey Souder is a “recovering” attorney and organizational health consultant and coach (www.whatsnextbiz.com) who helps companies and leaders realign the disconnect between who they say they are and how they behave. She has worked with some of Kansas City’s leading organizations as they launched, prepared for growth, prepared for expansion, addressed COVID and post-COVID related interruptions, reimagined who they were, restructured how they functioned, and rebuilt the culture in which they worked. Elizabeth also enjoys working with new managers and their teams to build trust, align and operationalize values, empower one another, and win together. Elizabeth brings 20+ years as a corporate lawyer with two of Kansas City’s largest employers where she witnessed and experienced the relationship between an organization’s health and alignment and its success. As a collegiate and lifelong athlete, the relationship between health and performance has always been obvious. The trick was translating what she knew to be true as an athlete and an attorney into a context that impacts organizations. The result led to the realization that radical adherence to core values guides and informs every action and decision of a healthy and successful organization.

This is one of the most fun interviews on The Corporate Couch with my friend Ray Ruecker. His journey starts at the end of the Vietnam War on the steps of an orphanage. We talk about everything from the almost tragic (the plane he was supposed to be on from Vietnam to the US to live with the parents who adopted him crashed), to his daily, habit started 23 years ago of journalling every day (approximately 8400 days), to college/pro football. Ray is also the author of "How to Score from First Base! (In Sales)" (Ray's Book), one of the best tactical sales prospecting books ever. Please enjoy my conversation with Ray!   Ray Ruecker is the Managing Director of Connect 5000 (Connect 5000), a Kansas City-based lead generation, prospecting training, and sales consulting company. Since March 2010, Connect 5000 has helped countless software, technology, and consulting companies boost sales revenue with effective lead-generation campaigns, sales prospecting strategies, and inside sales management. In addition to providing support to existing company leadership, Ray has also served as a firm's interim sales leader until they found a permanent solution.   Ray holds two Bachelor's degrees from Washburn University in Business Administration with an emphasis on marketing and management. Born in Saigon, Vietnam, and raised in the rural Midwest, Ray now lives in Kansas City Metro with his wife, Kate, their two children, Olivia and William, and their mischievous Goldendoodle, Millie.

This is a very fun conversation with David Voorhees the founder/CEO of True Captive where we talk about learning about healthcare by accompanying his grandfather while he made house calls to his patients, why he stayed in college so long, how he learned to be confident, being driven by in the same way as Michael Jordan, and his thoughts on the HR function in an organization. You will love David's passion to revolutionize the healthcare industry.    Meet David Voorhees (the founder/CEO of True Captive - truecaptive.com), a progressive, award-winning business leader with a mission to revolutionize healthcare. As a passionate leader, David has led countless implementations of uncomplicated but sophisticated healthcare programs for his clients nationwide, creating win-win solutions for employees and business operators. Growing up, David saw what uncomplicated healthcare looked like while going on house calls with his grandfather and believes in implementing solutions for companies that can uncomplicate healthcare and deliver savings to businesses. With a proven track record in benefits strategy, self-funded insurance, risk analysis, and leadership, David has sat in the seat of his clients, running Human Resources and Operations for organizations ranging from small-to-medium size businesses to Fortune 500 organizations in the US and Overseas. He understands the needs of the business and the employees and is committed to making healthcare less complicated, more transparent, and cost-efficient. When not working to bring stability and control to companies’ healthcare expenses, David enjoys spending time with his family and traveling to new places.  

Join me in a mini-course in organizational leadership with one of the best CEOs in Kansas City, Reinhard Mabry of the not-for-profit organization Alphapointe. Please consider helping Alphapointe with your time, ideas, or donations - https://www.alphapointe.org/.   Bio: Reinhard Mabry has been the President & CEO of Alphapointe since 2007, which is headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Alphapointe is one of the largest employers of people who are blind in the United States, with principal operations in Kansas City and New York City. Alphapointe provides employment opportunities for people who are blind through light manufacturing, injection molding, retail, and call center services for federal, state, and commercial customers. Alphapointe is the only Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Education Center for people who are blind or visually impaired in the state of Missouri, serving over 7,000 people annually in its various programs. Reinhard is a past president of the Board of Directors of The National Association for the Employment of People Who Are Blind. He has served on the Board of Directors of the National Industries for the Blind. Reinhard currently serves on the Kansas Advisory Committee for the Blind & Visually Impaired, and the Board of Directors of the VisionServe Alliance. Reinhard began his career in the field in 1994 when he joined RESPECT of Florida, Florida’s state use program, where he was soon appointed as the Director by the Governor’s Commission for Purchase from the Blind and other Severely Handicapped. During his tenure at RESPECT, the program’s sales doubled. Under contract, Reinhard also held the position of Director of Georgia Enterprises, Georgia’s state use program, during a transitional period for that program, growing  its sales and employment for people with disabilities. He was a Vice President for the Winston-Salem Industries for the Blind, responsible for Marketing, Business Development, and Base Supply Stores for the agency before joining Alphapointe in 2006. Reinhard received his Bachelor of Science in Political Science and his MBA from Florida State University. He is married and has two sons.

You will enjoy this conversation with Yoav Snir as we discuss his outstanding tech career that began in his homeland of Israel for one of the biggest telecom tech companies (30,000+ employees) and why he left to go to an 18-person startup to satisfy his entrepreneurial passion.   With 24 years of Startups and Fortune 500 international leadership in technology sales, product engineering, global strategy, partnerships, channels, and alliances,  Yoav Snir (linkedin.com/in/yoavsnir) has been crafting dynamic solutions and delivering multimillion-dollar results at every turn. He has built and led teams of up to 400 people with $100M P&L and early-stage startup teams. He is an entrepreneur, works with startups as a mentor (with TechStars and Pipeline Entrepreneurs), started a nonprofit, and even within the big corporation, he ran “start-up-like” initiatives. In his last role as the chief partnership officer for a Fintech startup (Novel Capital), he created a partner ecosystem from the ground up. He rolled out a nationwide channel partners program, generating 19% of new customer deals within a year. Before that, he ran global partnerships for a $4B multinational product and services company (Amdocs) where he oversaw 100 partners, generating $30M. Yoav is a creative partnerships and alliances guru known to drive revenue growth through partnerships by building relationships and using cross-functional leadership. On the personal side - Yoav moved to the US from Israel in 2008 with his family. He served in the Israeli Defense Forces and is also an aspiring musician.

You will truly enjoy this conversation with Terri Jordan where we talk about her fear of picking the wrong career, not being afraid of taking the lowest level job to learn about a new industry, her bout with cancer and other illnesses, her superpower of observation, and much more... As an entrepreneur, Terri Jordan (https://www.linkedin.com/in/terrijordankc/ ) has successfully started/scaled six companies and brings over 25 years of strategy, sales, technology, and marketing leadership including extensive experience in legal, medical, tech, e-commerce, retail, restaurant, B2B, and B2C. Terri’s passion is growth strategy - helping her clients uncover and realize their next phase of growth through WizeWebz (Founder and CEO) and High Performance Marketing Boot Camps (President and Partner). She serves on the Mentor Advisory Board at UMKC, and the Marketing Advisory Board at JCCC. Terri finds fulfillment in working with aspiring entrepreneurs.

Please join me and Tammie Osborne (linkedin.com/in/tammieosborne) as we have a great conversation talking about how an ER nurse changed her life, being a female healthcare tech pioneer, pivoting from nursing to Corporate America, the importance of relationships, and starting two companies (one during the pandemic in an industry she had no experience).   Tammie L. Osborne is an established healthcare executive and experienced small business owner with a passion for equipping others to succeed. Tammie has 30 years of experience in healthcare as an enterprise technology executive leader, EHR/EMR consultant, and clinician. In 2012, noticing a need for additional support for healthcare organizations as they implement and adopt new technology, Tammie founded Bridgemore IT (bridgemoreit.com ), a healthcare IT consulting, where she continues to lead as CEO. Through her healthcare consulting firm, Bridgemore IT Consulting, Tammie has managed change and new technology adoption for multi-million and billion-dollar projects by leading the world’s most top-tier organizations. Bridgemore IT also supports the Department of Defense’s EHR modernization Project. She has been helping these organizations streamline their operations and improve patient outcomes for over 12 years. In 2020, while experiencing the challenge and changes of professional isolation brought on by the worldwide pandemic, Tammie saw an opportunity to support other female entrepreneurs in her community and tapped into her expertise by providing a coworking and event space. In response, she founded The Sapphire Suite( thesapphiresuite.com ), a luxe coworking environment where women can focus, grow, and connect in their busy professional and personal lives. With her extensive  leadership experience, her career-long focus on innovation, and her commitment to collaboration, Tammie was uniquely equipped to build a space that not only helps women be productive but also provides the support and a community of seasoned professionals to help them succeed. She is a wife and mother of three adult children, one of whom has special needs and she enjoys cooking, traveling, and spending time with her friends and family.

This special edition episode features William Godwin (see bio below) as we discuss business transformation initiatives. William lends his expertise to what is most critical, what companies struggle with, what employees find most challenging, and how leaders can help ensure a successful transformation. Please enjoy my conversation with WIlliam!   ​William Godwin ​(linkedin.com/in/william-godwin ) is an executive Leader with 20+ years of experience with iconic brands, small, mid-size, and large companies. His ability to leverage insights in novel ways based on a keen understanding of sound business principles consistently leads to transforming businesses and unmatched operational excellence. His background includes everything from sales, training, and service, to internal and field operations. He is known for leading business transformation initiatives that optimize companies which leads to driving sustainable revenue and profits. William is a big fan and student of continuous learning and is passionate about leading, motivating, and inspiring people to be their personal best so that the company can be its best. One of his mottos is “Let’s stretch to be better tomorrow than we are today.” He embraces challenges, solves problems, and has a reputation for succeeding where others could not and being counted on to do the impossible.