The Full Potential Podcast by Nick Wagner Sr.

Episode 32 of The Full Potential Podcast features Miracle Olatunji. Miracle and I discuss her career journey as a young professional including her entrepreneurial endeavors and her co-op positions as part of her education at Northeastern.  Miracle is a true inspiration who has been innovating since high school and has a life mission of helping others.  

Episode 31 of The Full Potential Podcast features Ellen Griesedieck, founder of the American Mural Project. Ellen is a painter, illustrator, photographer, and visionary. Early in her career, she photographed for Sports Illustrated, People, Road and Track, Ladies Home Journal, World Tennis, Golf, and more. She also covered major sports events, including NFL Football, Wimbledon, PGA Golf and Masters, and the final five Mohammed Ali fights. Over the years, her paintings have been exhibited at Spectrum Gallery, N.Y.; Seagram’s Gallery, N.Y.; Royal Orleans, L’Art & L’Automobile, N.Y.; Haber Plaut Gallery, Sharon, CT; Gallery Henoch, N.Y.; Gallerie de Poche, Paris. In the 90s she was commissioned to do paintings for Times Mirror Magazines, General Motors, CBS Television, Miller Brewing Co.,The New York Times, and New York Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. She designed the original Newman’s Own labels and serves as consultant for the company's ongoing label designs.  

We discuss her career journey as a photographer that led her to her current project, the American Mural Project. This mural is dedicated to the American worker and is an inspiration for anyone that sees it.  

Season 4, Episode 29 of The Full Potential Podcast features David Conelias, co-founder of Milestone C. This former engineer now runs a company focused on STEM education. We discuss how he combined his passion for engineering and education into the company he leads today. Dave dives deep into the decision to leave his corporate job to start his own business and what went into that decision. He also shares more about the world of ed-tech and how he is empowering educators and inspiring students across the country.  

Episode 28 of The Full Potential Podcast features Rachael Gnatowski and Emily Orzada. We discuss their career journeys as professional dancers and their current venture, the New England Ballet Theatre. These two inspirational women began their careers with professional dance companies and then decided in early 2020 to create their own. Learn about the world of professional dance and their experiences starting their own non-profit dance company in our latest episode.

Episode 27 of The Full Potential Podcast features Harry Moser, founder of the Reshoring Initiative. We discuss his career in manufacturing and the work he does today leading a non-profit. Harry shares some fantastic advice for early career individuals looking to get into the manufacturing industry.   

We also learn how Harry's passion for manufacturing led him to be the president and chairman of a company that had over $100M in revenue his last year leading the organization. In retirement, Harry hasn't slowed down and still focuses on manufacturing leading his non-profit, the Reshoring Initiative.  This organization is a non-profit that helps bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. by providing free tools for manufacturers to compare the costs of offshored and domestically sourced work.   

Episode 26 of the Full Potential Podcast features Kyle Wiley. Kyle is a Human Resources Professional who shares his career journey on this latest episode. We discuss how Kyle found the career path of HR and the great amounts of additional school and training he has been through over the past few years.  We also discuss Kyle's passion for philanthropy and the multiple organizations he volunteers for using his HR skills. Skills based volunteering has been a great opportunity for Kyle to help his community, network and build new skills.  

Episode 25 of season 4 of The Full Potential Podcast features Kelly Yambor. Kelly is an educator focused on gifted students. Kelly shares her journey finding the profession of teaching and then we discuss how she decided to on the specialty of gifted students.  Kelly then discusses her journey of finding her first role in a public school, followed by her current role in a private school. We also discuss the amazing work educators have done over the past 15 minutes during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Season 4, episode 24 of The Full Potential Podcast features Michael Marques, founder of Marques Creative to discuss his career journey including owning his own business and his awesome philanthropic work.  Mike is a visual strategist that has been in the world of photography and media since he graduated from school in the late 90's. His passion for capturing people's stories makes him an inspirational person to work with. Mike discusses his business and his volunteer work and how the two have come together over the past year. Enjoy the episode!  

The Full Potential Podcast is back after a few weeks off. Episode 23 features Vivek Nigam to discuss his career journey through the world of tech. Vivek discusses his startup success and corporate success over his fascinating career. He also shares many great words of wisdom regarding his many zigs and zags over his career. We close the podcast discussing his current startup, BeRemote LLC and how he felt starting another company was something he just had to do.  

Season 4, episode 22 features Vijay Jayachandran, CEO of ACW Analytics. We have a fantastic discussion about Vijay's career journey which took him from his home country of India to the United States. Vijay and discuss his passion for education and his continuous learning mindset.  We dive into his 20+ year corporate career and then discuss how he made the pivot to being an entrepreneur. His current venture, ACW Analytics focuses on extreme weather and how to use AI to help utilities keep their infrastructure running smoothly.   

Vijay is also an author and entrepreneur in residence at the University of Connecticut Stamford branch. Enjoy the episode!  

Season 4, episode 19 of the Full Potential Podcast features Elizabeth West. Elizabeth is an inspirational woman who has had a fantastic career journey that has led her to the world of information security.  She shares her journey in this episode along with some other great advice for anyone starting out their career. 

I also love how Elizabeth volunteers outside of work to support organizations and causes she is passionate about. We close the show hearing how therapy has helped her reach her Full Potential.  

Season 4, episode 18 of The Full Potential Podcast features Matt McCooe, CEO of Connecticut Innovations. Matt has had an amazing career journey that involves non-profits, for-profits and higher education. We learn about the importance of education during his childhood, his time working in Mexico and the importance of networking. Matt shares some fantastic advice about finding jobs you love and we close by discussing his passion for helping the world through his role leading the venture capital firm, Connecticut Innovations.   

Season 4, Episode 16 features an amazing women entrepreneur named Lindsay Tjepkema. Lindsay is the CEO and co-founder of Casted. Casted is the only podcast marketing platform built to give marketers a true return on effort through access, amplification, and attribution of their brand podcasts and related content.

Lindsay shares her career journey with us including how she ended up in the marketing, communications field and her big decision to leave her job to start Casted. We also discuss how podcasts changed her career.

Episode 15 features Foster Charles, CEO and founder of Charles IT. Foster founded Charles IT in December of 2006 – while in his senior year of high school. He has grown his team to 44 employees and built Charles IT into a 10-million- dollar company with over 110 contract clients.   

We discuss Foster's career journey which begins with his business starting in high school! Foster shares many fascinating stories from his time as an entrepreneur in this interview.  

Episode 14 of The Full Potential Podcast features Eric Oppong. Eric is an early career professional currently in grad school and looking forward to an internship this summer. We discuss his career journey which includes moving to the United States from Ghana.  

Eric shares details about how he chose his major of business and how joining an extracurricular club in high school helped him make that decision. We also discuss the challenges of graduating from college during the COVID-19 pandemic and how that impacted Eric's decision to attend graduate school.

Season 4, episode 13 of the Full Potential Podcast features our founder, Nick Wagner Sr. being interviewed by our guest host, Leah Calabria. Nick discusses his first book in The Full Potential Book series, Ten Secrets to Success After Graduation.   Leah and Nick discuss the process of creating the book and then dive into each chapter to discuss why it made it to the final copy.  

Season 4, episode 12 features Rick Voight, CEO of Vivid-Pix. Rick has had a fascinating career journey working for some of the biggest corporations in the world to now leading his own business.   Rick shares his journey at Kodak and HP before making the shift to the world of being an entrepreneur. He shares some fantastic career advice and we also have the opportunity to learn quite a bit about the photography business.  

We discuss Rick's business, Vivid-Pix which is a technology company focused on improving photos using artificial intelligence. He shares some of the hard work that went into starting this organization.

In season 4, episode 11, we have the opportunity to sit down with with Matt Connell to hear about his career journey. He has a diverse background including his role as a professor and his current business venture, Yellowbrick. We also discuss the innovative program he manages at Goodwin University, the Entrepreneurial Network (ENet) program, a business certificate program for formerly incarcerated, re-entry populations.  

Matt is a life long learner with 4 degrees and enjoys helping others. If you would like to connect with him, please check out the links below.  

Season 4, episode 10 of the Full Potential Podcast is our 2nd career inspiration episode where we discuss a topic to help you reach your Full Potential in your career.  Leah Calabria and I discuss the CliftonStrengths assessment which helps you understand what your top strengths are by taking an online assessment. Understanding and leveraging your strengths helps you be more successful both personally and professionally.  

Season 4, episode 9 of The Full Potential Podcast features Michael Goldberg. Michael is an HR entrepreneur currently leading his business Hiring Transformed. After a career that included both for profit and non-profit roles in the HR space, Michael made a decision in 2016 to venture out on his own. His knowledge of recruiting enables him to help companies looking to improve their recruiting function. 

We learn about Michael's career journey including those pivot early life moments that made him into the person he is today. If you would like to connect with Michael or learn more about his business, follow either of the links below.

Season 4, episode 8 of The Full Potential Podcast features Ojala Naeem to discuss her career journey. Ojala is a problem solver who has used her skills across multiple roles in her short career. We discuss her decision to leave NYC and take a risk to work at a non-profit in her home state of Connecticut. From there we discuss her work at the non-profit and her decision to eventually leave that role for a corporate position.  

Season 4, Episode 6 of The Full Potential Podcast features Alison Wall. Alison is a  management professor at Southern Connecticut State University focused on human resource management and organizational behavior. We discuss her career journey from originally wanted to be a chef to following the path of her parents to become an educator.  Alison provides us a look into the world of obtaining a doctorate as well as an idea of what it is like to be a college professor. 

To connect with Alison, please contact her on LinkedIn or through the Southern Connecticut State University business department page.  

Season 4, episode 5 of The Full Potential Podcast features Megan Clark Torrey, CEO at World Affairs Council of Connecticut. We discuss Megan's career journey that began with her working with the state government of Connecticut after obtaining a degree in International Relations and Affairs.

Her current role as CEO of the World Affairs Council of Connecticut has her leading a non-profit that is almost 100 years told that focuses on building community by bringing the world’s top experts and leaders to engage directly with diverse audiences in Connecticut.

Season 4, episode 4 of The Full Potential Podcast features Matt Lebeck. Matt has such an interesting career journey that includes various roles in the manufacturing space, a role in the U.S. Navy, his own business and a role overseeing a leadership development program while working in human resources.

We discuss Matt's work experience as well as his passion for learning during our interview including the topic of why he choose to to get an undergrad degree, masters degree and PhD.

Season 4, Episode 3 of the Full Potential Podcast features Karen Hinds. Karen is an entrepreneur, HR innovator and an inspirational woman!

Karen shares her career journey that included moving to the United States at 15 for school, finishing college not knowing what she wanted to do and eventually starting her own business.

Karen's company, Workplace Success Group is an HR consulting firm focused on leadership development and diversity, equity and inclusion.

Season 4, episode 2 of The Full Potential Podcast features Marlon Addison. We discuss Marlon's career journey that started as pre-law in college to becoming a sales leader in the healthcare industry.

Marlon discusses his passion for mentoring, networking and philanthropy and explains how all 3 have helped him both personally and professionally. He shares some fantastic advice for individuals early in their careers.

Season 4 of The Full Potential Podcast kicks off with Liz Capants, Founder and CEO of EBC Associates. EBC Associates is an executive search and recruitment firm. We discuss Liz's career journey including the difficult decision to leave the workforce for 10 years to be with her family and the decision to leave a job to start her own business. Liz shares great advice for those of you starting your career or looking to make a career pivot. We also discuss the importance of networking if you have a job or are looking for a job. To connect with Liz, follow either link below. Thanks for listening!

Episode 049 of The Full Potential Podcast features entrepreneur, Chris Allen. Chris has founded multiple companies during his career and recently sold one of those, iDevices just a few years ago.   

He is currently the CEO of iCleanse that is focused on cleaning devices with UV light. We discuss his leadership style and passion for people in this fantastic interview. Chris shares many tips about what has made him successful through his journey.  

Episode 48 of the Full Potential Podcast features Sri Srinivasan. Sri is an accomplished technologists with a passion for learning and mentoring. He shares his career journey with us which took him from India to the United States and began as a journalist. Sri discussed why learning has been so critical to his career as well as having mentors and being a mentor. His career advice on what has helped him reach his Full Potential to close the show is something everyone should listen to regardless of where you are in your career. Enjoy the episode!

Episode 47 of The Full Potential Podcast features SuperDave Bruno. Dave is a successful corporate citizen turned entrepreneur who has lived and traveled around the world. We discuss Dave's career journey, his success, his failures and his passion for extreme sports.

Episode 46 features Erin Hatzikostas, CEO of b Authentic Inc. We dive into her career journey and how she helps people rise in their career. Erin has a fascinating career journey that started as an actuary in corporate America which led to her being the CEO of a company and today, an entrepreneur.

Erin and her company b Authentic are dedicated to change the working world to a radically more authentic, diverse, balanced and a bit unexpected place. Our discussion dives into how she has done this throughout her diverse career while also putting her family first.

Episode 45 of The Full Potential Podcast features Ingrid Goldbloom Bloch. We discuss her diverse career which includes working for herself, being an artist and supporting people across many corporate roles. Ingrid describes herself as having a portfolio of experiences since she typically has multiple jobs at the same time. Ingrid's passion for helping people began when she made her own career pivot and went back to school to obtain a degree focused on career counseling and career development.

Episode 44 of The Full Potential Podcast features Joy Burkhard. Joy is the founder of 2020 Mom, a non-profit closing gaps in maternal and mental health care. We discuss her career journey including her recent decision to leave the corporate world to run her non-profit full time.

Joy shares some fantastic career advice on the topics of internships, changing jobs and having support of your family for large career changes.

Episode 43 of The Full Potential Podcast features Luis Valdez-Jimenez. Luis shares his career journey and some fantastic advice for early career professionals transitioning from college to their first job.  

Luis shares why he moved across the country for school and then again for his first job. We also discuss how networking, philanthropy and mentorship played a pivotal role in his personal and professional development.   

Episode 42 of The Full Potential Podcast features Brent Robertson. Brent is an inspirational entrepreneur shares his career journey including a discussion on owning 2 businesses and launching one of those during this global pandemic. Brent shares some fantastic advice about his company Fathom made a pivot with their business model which made him happier and more successful. We also discuss his latest business venture, Purpose Practiced which is designed to help individuals and families lead a life with more intention.

To learn more about Brent of his businesses, follow the links below:

Episode 041 of the Full Potential Podcast features Jen Oknin who describes herself as a corporate dropout turned entrepreneur. Jen is a lifestyle and health coach with a passion for helping people through her own business, Shift Into Health.  We learn about her career journey during this episode including some big decisions she made in her career including moving across the country and her more recent one of leaving the corporate world for the world of entrepreneurship.   

Episode 40 of The Full Potential Podcast features Ryan Keating. Ryan is an entrepreneur, innovator and philanthropist. He shares his career journey which spans multiple states, multiple jobs and multiple startups. We discuss why Ryan returned home to Connecticut to work with his father in their family business, Keating Agency, an insurance brokerage in West Hartford. Ryan also shares the many ways he gives back to the community through his philanthropic efforts which include Future Leaders of West Hartford (FLOW), The Experience We-Ha Podcast and Finest Hours Hartford. Follow any of the links below to learn more!

Episode 39 of The Full Potential Podcast features Eric Francis. Eric is an innovater, entrepreneur and podcaster. We discuss his career journey including his multiple business ventures including being an aquaponic farmer, running a successful podcast and now supporting entrepreneurs through Techstars. Eric shares advice that helped him make his career pivots and also shares some of the highs and lows of being an entrepreneur.

If you would like to connect with Eric or learn more about his work, follow any of the links below.

Episode 37 of the Full Potential Podcast features Hansford Johnson. We discuss Hansford's career career journey and how he has inspired individuals across his roles in both higher education and the corporate world.  We also dive into Hansford's path from being a college football player to his current role in human resources focused on diversity & inclusion in the talent acquisition space. Hansford has inspired individuals from high school, college and now the professional world in his multiple roles in human resources.  

Episode 35 of the Full Potential Podcast features Dr. Steve Mastrianni. We discuss his career journey through the world of technology including his own business and his work at Fortune 50 companies. Steve is an innovator who loves learning and leveraging technology to make the world a better place. Enjoy the episode and all that Steve had to share during this great discussion.

In episode 34 of The Full Potential Podcast, I had the opportunity to interview Steven Graf. We discussed Steven's career journey that has focused on helping people through product innovation. His passion for people and health began at the University of Connecticut on a mission trip where he volunteered with a non-profit in Africa.  Steven and I also discussed his recent world travels and the future of work being able to work from anywhere with an internet connection. Enjoy the episode and be prepared to be inspired!

Episode 33 of the Full Potential Podcast features Allison Holzer and Jen Grace Baron of InspireCorps. These two successful women share their career journeys with us including the life of an entrepreneur.  We dive into a variety of topics including the difficulties of starting a business while having a family and why finding your inspiration is key to personal and professional success.  

To learn more about each of them and their business, follow the links below:   

Episode 032 of the Full Potential Live Show/Podcast features james wieselman schulman. We discuss his career journey including the topics of design, innovation and more as we discover what James learned at the variety of different career experiences he has had throughout his journey.

In episode 031, we sit down with Audrey McGuckin to hear about her career journey including her current business venture, Audrey McGuckin Leadership Solutions. Audrey is an HR professional who has worked across the global in many different parts of HR. A few years ago she left her successful corporate role to start her own business.

To learn more about Audrey, follow any of the links below.