Conquering Columbus Podcast

Summary: The CEO and Founder of the Columbus Idea Foundry, a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Lehigh University, and an all around passionate about knowledge and life individual, Alex Bandar joins us on this episode of Conquering Columbus – Alex talks with us about his childhood and learning to be curious about the …

Summary: Cameron Mitchell is a household name in Columbus, Ohio for delivering some of the finest dining experiences the city has to offer. Not to mention, he’s the epitome of going from the bottom to the top, building a nationwide restaurant empire that does more than $100 million in sales annually and a few billion …

Summary: On this episode of Conquering Columbus we sat down with Zachary Traxler, CEO and Founder of Traxler Printing LLC. Zach walks us through his journey, from his upbringing in Athens, Ohio, to struggling with addiction in High School, and wrapping up with how he built Traxler Printing on the mantra of Buy Local Buy …

Summary: Chet Scott and his team at Built to Lead are leadership and development coaches for some of the most influential leaders across the city of Columbus and abroad. In this episode, Chet takes us through his path to creating Built to Lead, which involved a long stint at Columbus founded CompuServe, how to find …

Summary: Ever wonder what it’s like to take over a family business with no business experience? Have you ever been curious about the path that the peanuts in your peanut butter take before they make it into your kitchen? (hint: it’s way more technical than you’ll ever guess) What about what it’s like running a …

Summary: Mike Lanese is a former Ohio State football player under direct coaching of Jim Tressel, a graduate from the University of Oxford, a Navy Veteran, a member of the Army Reserves, and a serial tech-entrepreneur here in Columbus, Ohio. In this episode we cover it all with Mike, with a heavy focus on his …

Summary: Joe Anstine is the Co-Founder & CEO of PriorAuthNow, a company dedicated to changing the fragmented and broken process of prior authorizations in the personal healthcare space (and single-handedly putting the fax machine industry out of business). With no previous experience or background in healthcare, Joe has grown himself into an expert in the …

Summary: On this episode we sit down with Dr. Steve Smith of Smith Facial Plastics. Dr. Smith is a graduate of the prestigious University of Pennsylvania, where he was a member of the Men’s Varsity Wrestling team. He then went onto attend medical school at The Ohio State University, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. …

Summary: Raised by a father who’s an executive of the 2nd largest insurance company in the world, Andrew took his own stab at the corporate world after graduating law school. He climbed the ranks quickly, but it didn’t take long for him to realize it wouldn’t be his place forever, and when 2008 struck Andrew …

Summary: Kip Morse, President of the Better Business Bureau of Central Ohio, sits down with us to tell us his personal story & path to the BBB of Central Ohio, what exactly the BBB does, who it does it for, why it does what it does, and everything in between! Mile Markers: (00:00:00) Kip Morse …

Summary Andy Barth is a graduate of Columbia University, Summa Cum Laude while being a contributing & well-accomplished member of the Men’s Varsity Wrestling Team. Andy also received his MBA from Columbia, and he is now the President of one of largest Investment Management companies in the world. These days he splits his time between …

Summary: We sit down with Senior Vice President of The Ohio State University, Gene Smith, to talk about his background and childhood, his experiences playing college football, his path to a career in athletic administration, how he excelled in his career through simple practices like sticking to his values / constantly differentiating himself / and …

Summary: President Drake sits down with Conquering Columbus to discuss his path from Chancellor at UC Irvine to becoming president at the Ohio State University. The president tells us about his early career as a doctor and clinic chief, as well as shares the story of what it was like to be at the festival …

Summary: The Columbus Marathon is one of the most well-run marathons in the mid-west, and that world-class experience is orchestrated by a world-class team, backed by Mr. Darris Blackford. On this episode, we sit down with Darris as he takes us through his childhood, experiences as a reporter for the Columbus Dispatch and traveling the …

Summary: Coyte Cooper is an expert on many things, but in the grand scheme of things he just flat out understands people, inside-and-out. In this episode Coyte talks with us briefly about his life and path to reaching an elite level in a D1 NCAA sports program, achieving his Ph.D, how to properly set and achieve your goals, …

Summary: Heather Whaling was just awarded the 2016 Ohio Valley EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award, falling right behind MailChimp for her respected category, and she’s the President & Founder of Geben Communication. In this episode we talk with Heather about her background, path leading up to starting her first company, Geben Communication, what the …

Summary: With a focus on “average is just not that interesting” and “what you put into business and life you get out”, Lisa Stein and Pam Springer are two of the most elite entrepreneurs in the city of Columbus, and they’ve recently combined their talents to build & grow Oris Intelligence, LLC. In this episode …

Summary: In this episode we sit down with current President & CEO of Wolfe Insurance Group to talk about his path from playing college basketball at Capital University, to eventually completely buying out his dad from the company he built from scratch and recently acquiring one of the most historic homes in Ohio. Wes takes …

Summary: A nice little chat with Rise Brands (16-Bit Bar & Arcade and Pins Mechanical) Founder, Troy Allen – Troy tells us about his path from designing highly flammable, and possibly explosive, snow globes to creating several successful companies like Elevate Thinking & Rise Brands. Troy is a very creative mind, who thinks about things …

Summary: We talk with Chris Warner, one of the world’s most accomplished mountain climbers, CEO of a company that serves over 1 millions customers a year, and an Emmy nominated filmmaker. Chris has climbed nearly all of the world’s tallest peaks, and is one of less than 400 humans to have made the summit of …

Summary: We sit down with the CEO of the Columbus, Ohio based company, Air Force One. Air Force One has hundreds of employees, has been around since 1984, and is known for delivering superior service & quality to all of their customers in the facilities services space. Greg’s father, Bill, founded the company here in …

Summary: President of Fast Switch, one of the fastest growing, privately-held, IT staffing companies in the nation, sits down with us to to talk about his childhood, high school with experience with classmate Brad Pitt, path to an MBA at the University of Michigan, growing his current company, Fast Switch, from $5-million/year in revenue to …

Summary: Interim Director at Connects Columbus, Founder of the Small Business Beanstalk, Partner at Atlas Community Partners, and proclaimed (by former guest Steve Weaver) “Connector of Everyone” (Timothy) Wolf Starr sits down with us to talk about his path from dropping out of college to establishing himself as a high-level leader in several businesses before …

Summary: Former Ohio State NCAA & Big Ten Champion in Men’s Gymnastics, 3x World Team Member, World Medalist, Certified Personal Trainer, and Fitness Cover Model, Brandon Wynn, sits down with us to talk about this path to finding the sport of gymnastics, reaching the pinnacle of the sport, and what his goals are for the …

Summary: Dr. Gayle Gordillo, MD sits down to talk with us about her path to becoming one of the country’s premier researchers and practitioners in the field of plastic surgery. From her start at Stanford to her path to Columbus, we cover Dr. Gordillo’s childhood, what helped drive her through some of the most grueling academic …

Summary: Nancy Kramer, Founder & Chairman of Resource/Ammirati, which was recently acquired by IBM, takes us through the journey of creating one of the largest independently owned digital marketing agencies in the country. We cover everything from Nancy’s childhood and family, to landing Apple as her first customer and what her life is like today …

Summary: Director of Operations for some of Columbus’ hottest spots, including Forno, Standard Hall, and Pint house, Reed Woogerd, sits down with us. Reed takes us through his earlier days, his life under an entrepreneurial father, his wildcard trip to New Zealand, and his path to meeting Chris Corso & helping create and grow Corso …

Summary: Joe DeLoss, Founder & Head Fryer at Hot Chicken Takeover, sits down with us to talk about his background, business successes/failures leading up to Hot Chicken Takeover, the “why” behind creating Hot Chicken Takeover, what his hiring process is like and how he separates those to bring on the team vs those to not, …

Summary: In honor of National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month and in celebration of The Black Lens recently winning the Grand Prize at the Self Published eBook Awards, we welcome Columbus-based author, Christopher Stollar. Christopher has an extensive background in journalism, which he has leveraged over the last 5-years to write an award winning …

Summary: Wil is a serial entrepreneur who started his first company at the ripe age of 19 years old. Since then he’s had numerous successful exits, most with very strong returns, and runs one of the world’s largest startup platforms, startups.co. On this episode we cover a bit of his life story, his take on …

Summary: Co-Founder of TrashCab LLC, a valet recycling service for businesses, apartments, and condominiums sits down with us to discuss his journey from studying accounting at Notre Dame to starting his own business. We cover everything from how studying accounting & Brennan’s first job out of college played a crucial in his ability to start …

Summary: A Harvard graduate & an all around-brilliant individual, Greg Ubert takes us through the creation of Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea from ideation to present day. Greg’s idea started fairly simple with a go-to-market approach of wholesale distribution, but has since evolved to a somewhat “specialty coffee shop consultant” of sorts, by still focusing …

Summary: On this episode we sit down with another wrestling alum and Co-Founder of FloSports, Martin Floreani. Martin takes us through his first few business attempts in college, where some failed and some dissipated on behalf of an unclear vision, up through the founding and creation of the multi-million dollar (and growing) sports media company, …

Summary: We sit down with UFC Welterweight and MusclePharm sponsored athlete, Matt Brown, to talk about his transition from training and living in Columbus, to training and living in Colorado, his battle with drug addiction growing up and how he survived a near-death heroin overdose experience, his fighting career up until now with MMA and …

Summary: On this episode we were fortunate enough to sit down with Definitive Homecare Solutions (DHS) Founder, Stuart Crane. With the help of his partner, Stuart bootstrapped their company to a $43 million exit, and split the cash right down the middle. There’s something special and inspiring about the story of their successful company, maybe …

Summary: Unfortunately, Mike had to miss out on this episode due to unforeseen circumstances, but Josh was fortunate enough to sit down with Jungle Jack Hanna and capture a great look inside the life and mind of the Columbus Zookeeper and TV Personality. Jack is one of the most authentic people you’ll ever meet, and …

Summary: On this episode we sit down with Ryan Frederick: Principal at AWH, Director at Startup Grind (Columbus), Advisor at Rev1 Ventures, Advocate at i.c.stars, Principal at Stepside Co. LLC, and an all-around household name in the Columbus startup community! We cover everything from Ryan’s background (up to where he is today), his current role …

Summary: On this episode we sit down with Nichole Dunn, CEO of The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio. Nichole Dunn talks about how she got to where she is today, what The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio stands for, the initiatives that they’re involved in, some of the things we as a community in Columbus can …

Summary: On this episode we were fortunate enough to catch up with Pelotonia’s CEO, Doug Ulman – Doug is a 3x cancer survivor, former collegiate athlete, graduate of Brown University, creator of a very successful non-profit (The Ulman Cancer Fund), former CEO/President of Livestrong, and the current CEO of Pelotonia; not to mention, Doug (which …

Summary: On this episode we sit down with Serial Social Entrepreneur, CEO of CleanTurn, and candidate for OH State Representative, Mr. John Rush. John is an extremely intelligent individual that is well versed in a variety of fields – During our time together we cover how to create a successful social enterprise (from raising money, …

Summary: In this episode, we interview former Division 1 NCAA Wrestling Champion and openly gay male, Mike Pucillo. Mike is one of the most accomplished wrestlers to ever set foot on an Ohio State Wrestling mat. In high school, he was a 4 time OHSAA state placer, 3 time finalist, and a 189 lbs State …

Summary: On today’s episode we’re fortunate enough to sit down with Jeni Britton Bauer, founder of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams. Some of the key areas we cover are Jeni’s childhood, how crucial her sense of smell has been in her life, how she made it into Ohio State with a hand-written letter (in pencil), how …

Summary: We sit down with Vegan, Health Blogger, and our Webmaster’s (Joe) WIFE, Sara Grandominico, to talk about the benefits of a plant-based diet, growing a successful blog and social media following built around your passion, and the keys to living a healthy lifestyle and maintaining that lifestyle with a busy schedule. Timeline: 00:00 Intro …

Summary: “What problems do you want to solve? What do you love doing? Who do you want to be around?”… This week we’re fortunate enough to sit down with Talent Partner at Drive Capital, Robert Hatta – Robert holds experiences from some of the most successful startups (or at least what once were) in the …

Summary: You’re sitting in the space shuttle for the first time ever and it begins to countdown from 10, what’s going through your mind? We received the amazing privilege to sit down with veteran, U.S. Astronaut, and all-around extraordinary individual, Captain Dominic Gorie. In this episode, we cover everything from the thoughts that went through …

Summary: Water, Hunger, and Human-Trafficking – Nobody should die of preventable water-borne diseases, nobody should starve to death, and nobody should lack freedom. We sit down with Kenny Sipes, the Founder of The Roosevelt Coffeehouse here in Columbus, Ohio to talk about his (faith-based) leap from a trusted & sustainable career into entrepreneurship, all inspired …

Summary: From Princeton grad & military helicopter pilot, to running 7 marathons in the Sahara desert and recovering from losing over a billion dollars in the 2008 crisis, Mr. Mike Novogratz takes us through his life journey. We also cover how athletics, primarily the sport of wrestling, helped shape him into the man he is …

Summary: On probably one of the most fun episodes we’ve had to date we sit down with good friends, Alex and Lacey Picazo, to talk about their unique paths to entrepreneurship, what it took to create several successful and sustainable businesses, focusing on providing value in all aspects of your life to open up opportunities, …

Summary: How to break ties with business partners that you care about, start a company from the ground up, and turn a company into something sustainable are just a few of the topics that we cover with Blake Compton, founder of Compton Construction, on this episode. Compton Construction has evolved itself into one of the …

Summary: We sit down with Mike Sorboro, Founder and CEO of Mikey’s Late Night Slice, to talk about his path to Columbus, the story of his restaurant, and what the future looks like for him and Late Night Slice. Show Mile Markers: 00:00 – Patreon support & Conquering Columbus intro 02:30 – Typical day in …