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To kick off 2018, this week's episode of GrowthMinded Milwaukee features Chris Fussell, a former Navy SEAL Officer who served as Aide-de-Camp to then-Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal. Chris held that role in General McChrystal’s final year commanding the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), where they served for a year together in Iraq. Chris witnessed first-hand the Special Operations community’s transformation into a successful, agile network. From his experiences, Chris co-authored Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World with General McChrystal in 2015, as well as the follow-up One Mission: How Leaders Build a Team of Teams, which acts as a field guide for organizations seeking their own transformations. Today, Chris is the Managing Partner at the McChrystal Group and he leads the McChrystal Group Leadership Institute, bringing his Special Operations experience and his expertise in cross-functional collaboration and knowledge sharing to help develop leaders and build effective teams within large, dispersed organizations.

WHR Group and the M7 Regional Talent Partnership have joined forces to create a special subscription offering to businesses of all sizes in the Milwaukee region. Listen as WHR Group President Paul De Boer and Director of Sales & Marketing Rod Pflederer discuss the issue and some of the benefits of the offering.

This week's episode features a discussion with George Blomgren, a regional talent expert focused on attracting great employees to Wisconsin. George shares his insights on how to attract the best talent using an employer brand, and how we can take on the talent gap by strengthening our regional brand.

This week we welcomed Mapquest co-founder Chris Heivly into the Podcast Milwaukee studio. Following a successful exit to AOL, Chris has dedicated almost 20 years to identifying communities to implement startup ecosystems. He has had a variety of roles over his career, and today serves as the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Techstars and as co-Managing Director of The Startup Factory. Chris has a clear understanding of what it takes to build a successful startup community, and sheds light on some of the key factors for markets such as our own to consider.

This episode of GrowthMinded Milwaukee features Julie Huls from Austin, Texas. As leader of the Austin Technology Council, Julie oversaw tremendous growth in the region. (Austin, Texas ranked #3 in creating Tech Sector jobs in 2016.) She is currently helping communities and organizations position themselves to take full advantage of the incredible opportunities brought about by the innovation economy. Julie has been spending some time in Milwaukee and we had a chance to sit down during one of her recent trips. Her passion to help communities, particularly those in the midwest, combined with her experience makes her insight incredibly valuable. Listen to hear her take on Milwaukee's current position, and where we need to go from here – her input could not be more timely!

This week on our show, Todd invited Ed Barthell into the GrowthMinded studio to cover a wide array of topics. Ed is the Founder & CEO of EmOpti, a healthtech startup focused on the success of ER departments for hospitals and their institutions. Ed was also responsible for Em Systems, a healthtech company that developed software to efficiently route ambulances. He is something of a serial entrepreneur in our region, as evidenced by his passion to engage in high-tech solutions in the healthcare industry. Whether you are an entrepreneur, investor, employer or employee, this episode is full of great information to take your career to the next level. Enjoy the show!

Our guest this week is a global authority on innovation. Greg Satell is the author of "Mapping Innovation" and writes over 100 articles per year featured in Inc., Forbes and Harvard Business Review . Todd and Greg discuss the author's framework in "Mapping Innovation," and how the concepts apply to some of the issues facing Wisconsin's business community. Enjoy the show!

Our guest this week is Todd Sobotka, Investment Committee Chair of BrightStar Wisconsin. The brainchild of Wisconsin Angel Investor Tom Shannon, BrightStar is a not-for-profit committed to creating quality jobs in the state by providing additional capital to the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Todd and the team at BrightStar have an active portfolio but are still engaged in a number of innovative projects in Milwaukee and the surrounding region.

This week on GrowthMinded Milwaukee, Todd McLees welcomed in the bestselling author and EOS implementer Rene' Boer. Along with Gino Wickman, creator of the Entrepreneurial Operating System, Rene' co-authored "How to Be a Great Boss." Armed with more than 30 years of experience guiding leadership teams at well-know brands such as Pizza Hut and Jamba Juice, Rene' is now an EOS Implementer who has worked with hundreds of bosses at more than 50 privately-owned companies. Rene’ earned a BS in Communication from The University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, while working full-time. A life-long cyclist, he has helped raise more than $500,000 for foundations supporting Parkinson’s research. Next year, Rene' will ride his bike across America, raising $1 Million for a Charter School in Chicago. Like Rene', this episode is full of energy and wisdom - enjoy the show!

This week's guest on GrowthMinded Milwaukee is Dale Boehm, President and CEO of Caspian Technologies and Owner of the restaurant Artisan 179 on the shores of Pewaukee Lake. Dale has been heavily involved in many of the initiatives in the Milwaukee region, and in his conversation with Todd McLees he explains why Wisconsin is becoming a "fly-in state, not a fly-over state." Enjoy the show!

This week on GrowthMinded Milwaukee, Todd McLees sat down with Brad Bateman, Founder and Principal of Pivot4 Consulting. Prior to founding his own business, Brad was responsible for growing the top line for significant parts of Johnson Controls over his career that lasted around two decades. Those who know Brad hold him in high regard and consider him to be one of the best sales leaders around. Brad and Todd’s conversation will give you a glimpse into what it means to think about growth at a strategic level. Brad is a tremendous critical thinker who uses a direct and candid approach to assessing business situations.  There is plenty to learn from this episode, so enjoy the show!

GrowthMinded Milwaukee’s guest this week is Joe Poeschl, a force in the entrepreneurialism and talent ecosystems in Milwaukee. Joe is the co-founder of both Startup Milwaukee and The Commons. The Commons is a bold collaboration between 24 Southeastern Wisconsin colleges and universities, the regional business community, and the region’s entrepreneurs. The program blends startup ventures with corporate innovation, and layers in over 200 mentoring professionals. The Commons has provided a truly unique, real-world experience for hundreds of students just a few years in. In his spare time, Joe has involved himself in an initiative that’s built up a lot of steam in the region, called Marshaling Our Resources. He’s leading a work group that’s focused on making resources more accessible to the region’s entrepreneurs. Todd and Joe have a wide-ranging conversation filled with positive energy about what’s going on in the region, and where opportunities might lie for you, our audience. Enjoy the show!

This week, host Todd McLees welcomed Paul Hansen into the GrowthMinded Milwaukee studio. Paul is the co-founder and CEO of Remugio, a Madison based company making powerful video analytics available to the masses. Remugio is all about optimizing video content, which is becoming more and more critical for both internal and customer facing communication. The good news is that their offering is free to use for the time being. In their conversation, Todd and Paul cover practical uses and value props of the Remugio solution, Paul's experience working with the gBeta team, and Remugio’s plan moving forward as they enter the growth phase. Enjoy the show!

This week’s guest on GrowthMinded Milwaukee is Mark Fairbanks, co-founder of Islands of Brilliance. Islands of Brilliance is a learning experience developed specifically for children and young adults on the autism spectrum. On this episode of GMMKE, host Todd McLees sits down with Mark to recap how Islands of Brilliance got its start and the ways the program has grown over the last decade. Mark also shares some of the incredible discoveries they’ve made along the way about a percentage of kids on the autism spectrum, like their ability to be extremely productive as graphic designers, web designers, and software developers, and what that could mean for the regional economy. Enjoy the show!

This week’s episode of GrowthMinded Milwaukee features Chad Raube. Chad is the CEO at Info-Pro Lender Services, and he has over two decades of experience as a senior executive, venture capitalist and board member in primarily technology and service business. His career accolades include being named one of the Top 100 most influential people in UK internet, and one of Europe’s top 50 executives in broadband and paid TV. Chad’s story includes early entrepreneurial activities in New Zealand and the UK, where he worked for Richard Branson under the Virgin Media Brand. In London, Chad also co-founded the venture group Dawn Capital, and was responsible for launching the Harvard Business School Angels of London. In his discussion with GrowthMinded MKE host Todd McLees, Chad shares his thoughts on what it takes to be an entrepreneur and a strong leader, as well as his take on Milwaukee and the surrounding region. We hope you enjoy this episode of the show, and have a great week!

Episode 11 of GrowthMinded Milwaukee features Jeff Koser. In 2008, Jeff wrote "Selling to Zebras: How to Close 90% of the Business You Pursue Faster, More Easily, and More Profitably," and founded a sales consultancy and software company of the same name here in Wisconsin.

Check out Amber Regan & Julia Burns on GrowthMinded Milwaukee with host Todd McLees! The duo are co-founders of Pathways High, a new high school in Milwaukee set to launch its inaugural school year in the Fall of ’17. Pathways uses a project-based learning model focused on developing real world skills for the next generation of the American workforce. In fact, over 60% of today’s kindergarteners will have jobs that do not currently exist. Enjoy the show!

This episode of GrowthMinded Milwaukee features John Holland, renowned sales trainer and author of CustomerCentric Selling.

On the 8th installment of GrowthMinded Milwaukee, host Todd McLees welcomes Dick Hensley into the GrowthMinded Studio. Dick has had a very successful banking career right here in Wisconsin, and has seen countless companies rise and fall. Today, Dick serves as Regional President for National Exchange Bank & Trust, a growth-oriented bank based in Southeastern Wisconsin.

Episode 7 of GrowthMinded Milwaukee features Steven Kotler. Steven is the co-founder of the Flow Genome Project and author of Rise of Superman and more recently, Stealing Fire.