1 Jul 2026 · 33 min
EP126: Why the Best CEOs Treat Every Employee Like a Volunteer
CEO John D. Smith on corporate transformation, leading through change, and building a culture people want to be part of.
Podcast · Business
Success Beneath the Surface
by Deborah S. Fell · English · Business
This podcast is aimed at helping CEOs dig beneath the surface to find new pathways to increased profitability. Deborah Fell from Chief Outsiders, will seek to challenge and inspire leadership teams and provide immediately actionable solutions to unlock growth.
- New episodes
- Weekly
- Typical length
- 28 min
- Latest
- 1 Jul 2026
- Language
- English
Latest episode
Earlier episodes 29 most recent
-
E125 · 21 Apr 2026 · 32 min
EP125: Ravi Venkatesan on Moonshots, Disruption, and the AI Threshold
Ravi Venkatesan, CEO of Cantaloupe, on moonshot leadership, business model disruption, and why AI is a bigger threat than most CEOs admit.
-
E124 · 9 Apr 2026 · 35 min
EP124: Two Companies, One Marriage, and a Book About Almost Losing It Al
Nancy and Ron Bogart built two companies, raised four kids, and figured out what actually makes a business last. Real talk from 36 years in.
-
E123 · 25 Mar 2026 · 26 min
EP123: Strategy Without Empathy Is a Wasted Idea
Brian Garish, Global Chief Client Officer at Mars Veterinary Health, on why strategy without empathy is a wasted idea and what it takes to lead at scale.
-
E122 · 11 Mar 2026 · 23 min
EP122: Every Four or Five Years Something Will Try to Break You
Gene Holtzman built Mitchell Martin from a Wall Street startup to an ESOP staffing firm. He shares 40 years of resilience, succession planning, and AI.
-
E121 · 25 Feb 2026 · 27 min
EP121: The Loneliest Job in the World and How to Thrive in It
David Johnson, Vervent CEO, on building a fintech powerhouse, no-excuses leadership, and why the CEO role is the loneliest job in the world.
-
E120 · 10 Feb 2026 · 27 min
EP120: Trade Schools Died and Manufacturing Is Paying the Price
CEO Kevin Stevick reveals why investing in people like equipment drives profit, lowers turnover, and solves manufacturing’s hiring crisis.
-
E119 · 2 Feb 2026 · 31 min
EP119: The Jagged Edge of AI and Why 95% of Pilots Fail and How to Beat the Odds
AI consultant Dan Hou on why mid-market strategy beats enterprise bloat, the cultural shifts that make pilots succeed, and what world models mean for robotics.
-
E118 · 21 Jan 2026 · 37 min
EP118: The Venture Studio Model That Launched 285 Companies
Michael Poisel left a successful venture capital career in the United States to become Executive Director of the Melbourne Entrepreneurial Centre. His mission is transforming Australia's economy through innovation and company creation. After launching 285 companies at the University of Pennsylvania, Michael brought his venture studio model to Melbourne. He helps researchers commercialize their work without becoming entrepreneurs themselves. The approach builds companies for them, finds the management teams, and handles the complex business infrastructure that turns research into viable…
-
E117 · 7 Jan 2026 · 25 min
EP117: How One CEO Cleaned Up His Cap Table in Six Months
Thomas Jensen explains how Alarity Therapeutics uses precision medicine to predict cancer treatment outcomes and why he cleaned up his cap table in six months.
-
E116 · 18 Dec 2025 · 44 min
EP116:The $100 Million Decision - Choosing Patient Outcomes Over Private Equity
Detroit nurse builds world’s largest perfusion company, turns down millions to keep investing in better surgery outcomes. You’d want him in the OR if you or a loved one needed it.
-
E115 · 2 Dec 2025 · 37 min
EP115: Beyond Recruiting: How One Family-Run Staffing Firm Evolved into Global Workforce Solutions
Staffing industry CEO Brett Howroyd shares succession insights and how multi-generational leadership navigates economic challenges at ActOne Group.
-
E114 · 29 Jul 2025 · 27 min
EP114: The Red Tape Crisis: A Cancer Care CEO's Fight for Patient Access
CancerCare CEO Christine Verini shares 30 years of purpose-driven leadership lessons, from personal tragedy to transforming healthcare access.
-
E113 · 16 Jul 2025 · 30 min
EP113: The 90% Rule - How Much of Yourself to Show as a Leader
CEO Ticki Favaroth reveals how to lead authentically, build legacy, and focus on what you control in uncertain times. Transform your leadership.
-
E112 · 9 Jul 2025 · 44 min
EP112: How Great Leaders Create More Footprints, Not Bigger Shoes
The golden thread of great leadership: 8 CEOs share why empowering others beats controlling everything. From humble succession to radical transparency - discover the common thread connecting this quarter’s most transformative CEOs.
-
E111 · 26 Jun 2025 · 9 min
EP111: Why the Key to Rapid Growth is Subtraction
From Jeff Grass’s story: The key to rapid growth is subtraction. Deborah Fell on focus, culture & defying market trends when times get hard.
-
E110 · 18 Jun 2025 · 27 min
EP110: From 95% Revenue Loss to $100M - A Comeback Blueprint
How do you survive losing 95% of your business overnight? Hungry Marketplace CEO Jeff Grass shares his playbook for crisis innovation & growth.
-
E109 · 11 Jun 2025 · 9 min
EP109: Activities vs. Outcomes: Why Most Teams Miss the Mark
Why your hardest workers might be missing the mark—and the one cultural shift that transforms both businesses and lives.
-
E108 · 4 Jun 2025 · 28 min
EP108: The Process Approach to Leadership
Fix the process, not the person.” How one CEO’s philosophy created a thriving remote company decades before virtual work was accepted
-
E107 · 28 May 2025 · 11 min
EP107: Not the Shoes, But the Footprints: Redefining CEO Leadership
Deborah Fell reflects on CEO Jonathan Moody’s radical humility, which involves building an executive team instead of trying to be the central driving force.
-
E106 · 20 May 2025 · 37 min
EP106: THE LONG HANDOFF Leadership Lessons from Moody Nolan's Decade of Transition
Jonathan Moody shares how a decade-long leadership handoff prepared him to lead one of architecture’s most innovative firms through uncertain times.
-
E105 · 13 May 2025 · 16 min
EP105: Reflected Light: Leading Through Your People
Deborah Fell reflects on Brian ”Lex” Luther’s leadership wisdom: Success comes through empowering your team, not just issuing directives.
-
E104 · 6 May 2025 · 28 min
EP104: Navy Leadership Principles in a 145-Year-Old Startup
President and CEO, Brian ”Lex” Luther shares how military leadership principles transformed Navy Mutual’s technology in a bold three-year renovation.
-
E103 · 1 May 2025 · 10 min
EP103: The Power of Humble Listening in Leadership
Discover the power of humble listening as Ryan Frederick shares how assumption-driven leadership fails while curiosity drives innovation.
-
E102 · 17 Apr 2025 · 30 min
EP102: Client-Centered Technology Why Your Tech Advisor Shouldn't Be Selling Solutions
What makes this conversation valuable is Ryan’s candid reflection on failures and how ego-based assumptions derailed even previously successful ventures. His advocacy for ”continuous not knowing” offers a counterintuitive but powerful framework for leaders.
-
E101 · 10 Apr 2025 · 31 min
EP101: Success Beneath the Surface: Leadership Insights from Q1 2025
This summary episode and playlist feature transformative discussions with leaders who have mastered the art of building thriving organizations through unconventional wisdom and authentic leadership.
-
E100 · 2 Apr 2025 · 36 min
Grit, Not Glory: 100 Episodes of Uncovering True Leadership
Welcome to the 100th episode of Success Beneath the Surface. This is a podcast where we dig into what lies beneath the surface of a CEO's success, your success, and insights deeply rooted at times in family, beliefs, or a drive that's just always been there. Our top downloaded episodes include Lessons from Navy Seal Kyle Buckett, number 57, who challenges the notion of leadership from the top, and gives life-saving reasons to build leadership capability at all levels, or at least business-saving reasons. James Hyman's episode number 64 gave fodder for a discussion on leading leaders, because…
-
E99 · 26 Mar 2025 · 11 min
EP99: Workplace Wisdom - Culture Creep and Generational Bridges
Carl Satterwhite reveals how ”culture creep” affects workplaces and shares practical wisdom for bridging five generations while preserving organizational identity.
-
E98 · 19 Mar 2025 · 30 min
EP98: Guided Vision - Where Faith Meets Business Leadership
Carl Satterwhite, President and Owner of The RCF Group, offers invaluable insights for seasoned CEOs and emerging leaders as workplaces evolve post-pandemic with five generations working side by side.
-
E97 · 12 Mar 2025 · 19 min
EP97: The ROI of Human Connection - Beyond Networking to Lasting Partnerships
In a world obsessed with ROI and KPIs, the most valuable asset might be sitting across from you at lunch.” This bonus conversation between Deborah Fell and Harold Green reveals something we often overlook in our digital-first world.
About Success Beneath the Surface
This podcast is aimed at helping CEOs dig beneath the surface to find new pathways to increased profitability. Deborah Fell from Chief Outsiders, will seek to challenge and inspire leadership teams and provide immediately actionable solutions to unlock growth.
Success Beneath the Surface is a English business podcast from Deborah S. Fell. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.
- Publisher
- Deborah S. Fell
- Language
- English
- Category
- Business
- New episodes
- Weekly
- Typical length
- 28 min
- Latest episode
- 1 Jul 2026
- Feed
- RSS — paste into any podcast app
- Apple Podcasts
- podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1675961326
- Rights
- Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
More English business
-
" Your Financial Future" with Nick Colarossi
Nick Colarossi
-
"Econ 102" with Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg
Turpentine
-
"Tech Finance" with Sasha Orloff: B2B Fintech | AI | Finance Tech
Puzzle, Turpentine
-
#AgileWay
Zuzana Zuzi Sochova
-
#RealTalk With an EOS Implementer
Mark O'Donnell
-
#vxinsight
The ValueExchange
Take it with you
The Melo app keeps playing with the screen off, works in the car and on your watch, wakes you to your station, and browses the whole catalogue offline. Free, no ads, no account.
