Advertise on podcast: Authentic Leadership for Everyday People

Miki Feldman Simon, is an executive coach, speaker, and the author of CORE Leadership: A Four-Step Framework to Lead Yourself, Grow Your Influence, and Amplify Your Impact. Miki's perspective on people, performance, and what it really takes to lead effectively across different environments was shaped by two different lenses. First, a wide range of leadership roles, including marketing, operations, and HR leadership in companies that went through successful mergers and acquisitions. Second, growing up in multiple countries and cultures: from Israel to Australia to the United States. In our conversation, we explore how our assumptions shape the way we lead, the importance of understanding what a role really looks like before committing to it, and why many of us operate on autopilot more than we realize. We also dive into her CORE leadership framework—Clarify, Operationalize, Reflect, and Evaluate—and how it helps leaders move from reactive habits to intentional action. Along the way, Miki shares powerful personal stories and practical examples from her coaching work that bring these ideas to life. Contact Dino at: [email protected] Websites: mikifeldmansimon.com al4ep.com Additional Guest Links: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mikifeldmansimon Instagram: @mikifeldmansimon Facebook: facebook.com/miki.feldmansimon Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp Podcast Twitter – @al4edp Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

Kvon Tucker, founder of Consciously, was first on the podcast a few years ago, when Consciously was still closer to an idea than a fully formed organization. Since then, he has built the Consciously Collective into a growing community of coaches, counselors, and consultants who are aligned around a shared mission: helping leaders become more conscious, more loving, and more effective. I have joined Consciously as one of its co-creators, so part of this conversation is about the work we are building together. We talked about some words that do not always show up in traditional business language — love, liberation, healing, consciousness — and why we believe they are directly connected to leadership effectiveness. We discussed the practices behind conscious leadership, including curiosity, humility, courage, integrity, recovery, mindfulness, and perseverance. We also talked about why leading well is the foundation for leading effectively, how leaders can create organizations where people have the courage to take risks, and why mistakes can become moments of growth rather than punishment. Contact Dino at: [email protected] Websites: al4ep.com consciously.one Additional Guest Links: Contact at: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kvontucker Instagram: @consciously_kvon Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp Podcast Twitter – @al4edp Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

Julie Kratz teaches organizational behavior, decision-making, leadership, and culture at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. She is also a leadership coach, trainer, speaker, and author whose work focuses on allyship — what it means to support people who are different from ourselves, and how leaders can use their power and influence to make workplaces more fair and more inclusive. We talked about her path from corporate life to academia, and how a childhood moment helped shape her lifelong interest in fairness and justice. We discussed why diversity does not work without inclusion, why so many organizations need to look beyond representation and examine the systems that shape hiring, promotion, pay equity, performance reviews, and sponsorship. We also spent time on the central theme of her book: how to engage people with power in the work of allyship. Julie makes a compelling case that allyship is not about guilt or performative action. It is about noticing who is being underestimated, asking better questions, building trust, and using the power we already have in a more intentional way. Contact Dino at: [email protected] Websites: al4ep.com nextpivotpoint.com Additional Guest Links: Book Info: nextpivotpoint.com/wewantyou LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/juliekratz YouTube: youtube.com/@nextpivotpoint Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp Podcast Twitter – @al4edp Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

Jimmy St Louis is a former NFL tight end and currently on his second successful venture leading innovative healthcare companies focused on solving unmet needs. He is the CEO of Agentis Longevity, a healthcare company specialized in performance and longevity medicine. In our conversation, we explored how his experiences in sports shaped his leadership philosophy, particularly his focus on discipline, resilience, and the importance of the journey over the destination. We also went deep into the role that values play in leadership—how defining and consistently applying them became a turning point in his career, and why he believes they are the foundation of effective decision-making. We discussed the challenges of building mission-driven businesses in environments that demand financial performance, including his experience working with private equity partners, and how staying grounded in purpose and values improves your chances of long-term success. Finally, we touched on innovation in healthcare, what it takes to truly change an industry, and why accessibility, affordability, and trust are critical if you want to create lasting impact. Contact Dino at: [email protected] Websites: al4ep.com agentislongevity.com Additional Guest Links: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jimmy-st-louis Instagram: @jimmysstlouisofficial Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp Podcast Twitter – @al4edp Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

Irina Cozma is an organizational psychologist and executive coach who has spent her career at the intersection of talent, fit, and workplace design. After a long path through academia, consulting, and senior roles at large organizations like Salesforce and Wells Fargo, she built her own practice focused on helping individuals and organizations create better alignment between people and the work they do. In our conversation, we talked about how early experiences shape our relationship with work, why so many people end up in roles that don’t fit them, and what both employees and employers can do to create better outcomes. We also explored practical ways to think about hiring, autonomy, feedback, and the day-to-day conditions that make work either energizing or draining. Contact Dino at: [email protected] Websites: al4ep.com irinacozma.com Additional Guest Links: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/irinacozma Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp Podcast Twitter – @al4edp Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

Stephanie Chung is a C-suite leader and board member with decades of experience in aviation and the first Black person in U.S. history to run a private aviation company. Stephanie really paid her dues to get there: she started her career quite literally on the tarmac, parking airplanes and loading luggage at Boston Logan Airport, then went on to leadership in aviation sales, to president of JetSuite X and Chief Growth Officer and brand ambassador of a publicly traded aviation company. In our conversation we explored how growing up as the daughter of an Air Force Master Sergeant shaped her leadership philosophy—instilling a deep commitment to excellence, accountability, and completing the mission. Stephanie also shared how her background in sales influenced the way she leads organizations, why leaders must learn to balance sales, operations, and finance, and how looking for opportunities in “unlikely places” can transform a career. Finally, we talked about her book Ally Leadership How To Lead People Who Are Not Like You. She emphasized the importance of building trust as a leader, creating psychological safety in teams, and why leadership doesn’t need to be complicated if you simply do what you say you will do. Contact Dino at: [email protected] Websites: al4ep.com stephaniechung.com Additional Guest Links: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/TheStephanieChung Instagram: @TheStephanieChung Fecebook: facebook.com/TheStephanieChung YouTube: @TheStephanieChung TikTok: @thestephaniechung Substack: @yourallyinleadership Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram : @al4edp Podcast Twitter: @al4edp Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

"Michael Stausholm is the CEO and founder of Sprout World, the first plantable pencil. He started his career in shipping, spent over a decade working across Asia in the garment industry, and along the way developed a deep perspective on leadership, culture, and responsibility in business. Eventually, that journey led him to build Sprout World, a company built around a simple idea: what if the products we use every day didn’t become waste, but something new instead? In our conversation, we talk about what he learned early in his career managing teams in very different cultural environments, how that shaped his approach to leadership, and why he believes in giving people freedom while still providing clear direction. We also get into the practical side of building a purpose-driven business, from making decisions about production to balancing commercial success with doing things the right way." Contact Dino at: [email protected] Websites: al4ep.com sproutworld.com Additional Guest Links: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michaelstausholm/ Corporate Links Linktree: linktr.ee/sproutworld TikTok: @sproutworldofficial LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/sprout-europe Instagram: @sproutworldofficial Facebook: facebook.com/sproutworldofficial Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp Podcast Twitter – @al4edp Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

Today's guest is Carlo Giannone, a graduate student and teaching assistant at the Harvard Kennedy School, researcher in geopolitics and economics, and founder of the podcast Finanza, Pizza e Mandolino. Carlo shares how growing up in Sicily shaped his early interest in economic inequality and public service, and how that led him to study economics at Bocconi, the London School of Economics, and Harvard. He reflects on the role of economics and policy in addressing structural challenges and creating opportunity. The conversation explores Carlo’s leadership experiences across student organizations, alumni networks, and international initiatives. He discusses the importance of representing diverse perspectives, building trust in institutions, and ensuring that leadership remains grounded in the needs of the people it serves. Dino and Carlo also examine practical aspects of leadership development, including balancing high standards with psychological safety, leading in voluntary environments, and maintaining authenticity while making decisions. Carlo shares lessons from his time in consulting and student leadership roles, highlighting listening, emotional intelligence, and creating environments where people can contribute at their best. Finally, Carlo outlines his motivation to pursue a path that combines private sector experience with a long-term commitment to public service, with a focus on contributing to better policy and governance. Contact Dino at: [email protected] Websites: al4ep.com Additional Guest Links: Finanza Pizza e Mandolino Podcast On Spotify On Apple Podcasts Instagram: @finanzapizzamandolino Youtube: youtube.com/@FinanzaPizzaMandolino/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/carlogiannone Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp Podcast Twitter – @al4edp Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

Celeste Warren spent 28 years at Merck, where she rose to become Vice President and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer. Since retiring from Merck, she founded Celeste Warren Consulting, where she continues to advise organizations on leadership, culture, and inclusion. Together with her two children, she also co-founded Destination STEM, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting students pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Celeste has been widely recognized for her work in diversity and inclusion, and she is the author of a new book titled The Truth About Equity: What It Really Is, What It Isn’t, and Why Everybody Wins When They Get It Right. In our conversation, Celeste shares the personal story that first shaped her perspective on equity and leadership, growing up as the daughter of the first Black teacher, principal, and superintendent in his school district. We also explore her unexpected path into human resources, the lessons she learned about leadership early in her career, and why servant leadership and situational leadership are so critical for building successful teams. Finally, we spend time breaking down what diversity, equity, and inclusion actually mean in practice, why the concepts are often misunderstood, and how leaders can approach them in a thoughtful and practical way inside their organizations. Contact Dino at: [email protected] Websites: CRWDiversity.com al4ep.com Additional Guest Links: Contact at: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/celestewarrenllc Instagram: @crwdiversity YouTube: youtube.com/@celestewarren-equity Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Truth About Equity Book on Amazon: mybook.to/TruthAboutEquity Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp Podcast Twitter – @al4edp Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

Today's guest is Miles Spencer is currently CEO and a founder of Reflekta.ai, a Soul Tech company that bridges generations through fully interactive digital legacies. A multi-exit entrepreneur, investor, and storyteller, he is the author of the Amazon bestseller A Line in the Sand, Founder of Kayak for a Cause and former co-host of PBS’s MoneyHunt. Miles has spent his career at the intersection of media, technology, and adventure and human-centered narrative. With Reflekta, he is pioneering a new way for families to preserve voice, memory, and values… turning stories into dynamic, spontaneous connections that endure across lifetimes. Contact Dino at: [email protected] Websites: reflekta.ai al4ep.com Additional Guest Links: Talk to one of Reflekta's reflections LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/milesspencer Instagram: Twitter: Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp Podcast Twitter – @al4edp Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

Matei Zatreanu is the CEO and founder of System2, a data science firm that helps institutional investors make better decision. His family immigrated from Romania, but for the first few years, his parents had to leave him and his brother temporarily behind as they settled themselves in their new country. In our conversation, we explored how early hardship, like growing up separated by your parents, builds a “figure it out” mentality, why storytelling is one of the most underrated leadership skills, and how something as simple as sharing a meal can become the foundation of culture and trust inside an organization. We went deep into the meaning of profit, the tradeoffs entrepreneurs face when considering outside capital, and the importance of understanding your own motivations before chasing growth, money, or status. Contact Dino at: [email protected] Websites: sstm2.com al4ep.com Additional Guest Links: Podcast: on Spotify On YouTube: youtube.com/@system2pod LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/matei-zatreanu/ Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp Podcast Twitter – @al4edp Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

Eric Stone is the CEO and founder of Clear Path Ventures and the author of Jumpstart Your Workplace Culture. Eric started as a management trainee at Enterprise Rent-A-Car and spent more than 25 years rising through the ranks to become a senior executive in one of the company’s top-performing regions. Along the way, he led large teams across retail and administrative environments, built high-performance cultures, and developed leaders who went on to succeed at every level of the organization. In this episode, we talk about: What you learn from building a career inside one organization for decadesHow to hire and develop great salespeopleWhy belief is the foundation of effective sellingHow to build “culture carriers” inside your organizationThe sequencing of communication during major change Contact Dino at: [email protected] Websites: clearpathventures.com al4ep.com Additional Guest Links: Website ericdstone.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/eric-stone-clear-path Facebook Profile Intagram: @clearpathventures_ YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ericdstone1 Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp Podcast Twitter – @al4edp Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

Today's guest is Lily Zheng, a strategist and consultant who has spent the last decade working with organizations of every size — from small nonprofits to Fortune 500 companies — helping them build workplaces that actually work for everyone. In a field often clouded by ideology, misinformation, and polarization, Lily brings something refreshingly different: data, systems thinking, and practical results. They were a guest on the podcast before, so today we just focus on their new book, Fixing Fairness: Four Tenets to Transform Diversity Backlash Into Progress for All , Lily argues that the conversation around DEI has gone off track — not because fairness doesn’t matter, but because we’ve failed to communicate and implement it effectively. Instead of slogans or superficial programs, they offer FAIR - a framework built around measurable outcomes, systems change, coalition-building, and true win-win solutions. In this conversation, we explore: Why being “pro-diversity” isn’t the same as creating fair systemsThe surprising data gap between support for diversity and belief in DEI programsWhat actually works — and what has failed — over 60 years of workplace reformHow leaders can build coalitions across differenceAnd why fairness may be the language that can move us forward Contact Dino at: [email protected] Websites: lilyzheng.co al4ep.com Additional Guest Links: Lily on AL4EP LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lilyzheng308 Instagram: @lilyzheng308 Lily on Substack Books: Fixing Fairness Reconstructing DEI DEI Deconstructed Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp Podcast Twitter – @al4edp Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

This is part 2 of our conversation with Thiago Da Costa, serial entrepreneur and founder and CEO of a Datagrid AI, a company that creates agent and connectors to help companies work more efficiently. In part one we explored Thiago’s journey as a serial founder, and what it takes to scale companies from zero to meaningful revenue. In this second part, we go deeper into what truly separates great CEOs from dangerous ones. We talk about transparency, capital discipline, customer obsession, and the growing risk of the celebrity CEO—leaders who master distribution and attention before they build real products. Tiago shares candid perspectives on motivation, resilience, and why founders who aren’t deeply anchored to the problem they’re solving will eventually burn out. We also shift into a broader discussion on AI—why this moment is fundamentally different from past technology waves, where real opportunities still exist, and why so many AI startups are destined to fail. Contact Dino at: [email protected] Websites: al4ep.com datagrid.ai Additional Guest Links: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/thiagocosta2 Corporate LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/datagrid-ai/ Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp Podcast Twitter – @al4edp Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com

Today's guest is Thiago Da Costa, a serial entrepreneur with multiple exits and decades of experience building deeply technical companies. His latest venture, Datagrid AI is an enterprise agentic solution that connects data and automates workflows across tools, files, and systems, Thiago brings a rare combination of technical depth, founder instinct, and hard-earned perspective on what it really takes to start, scale, and survive as an entrepreneur. We talk candidly about the realities of founder-led growth, why most early hires fail, how scaling actually works in practice, and why instinct—tempered by experience—often matters more than advice. We also dig into the employee side of the equation: how to evaluate a founder before joining a startup, what questions really matter in interviews, and why effort, ownership, and clarity are the ultimate differentiators in today’s market. Contact Dino at: [email protected] Websites: al4ep.com datagrid.ai Additional Guest Links: LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/thiagocosta2 Corporate LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/datagrid-ai/ Authentic Leadership For Everyday People / Dino Cattaneo Dino on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/dinocattaneo Podcast Instagram – @al4edp Podcast Twitter – @al4edp Podcast Facebook: facebook.com/al4edp Music Susan Cattaneo: susancattaneo.bandcamp.com