Season FOUR EPISODES
Brock Mather | Mather Bros. Inc.
On this episode, we sit down with Brock Mather, a former Division 1 linebacker whose life has been profoundly shaped by discipline, family, and competition. Raised in Ridgecrest, California, Brock spent nearly two decades on the football field, fulfilling his dream at Sacramento State University where he helped secure a Big Sky Championship. After college, Brock pivoted to join his family’s legacy in the ice and water distribution business in Arizona. In this episode, Brock delves deep into his childhood, football career, the challenges of academic balance, and his journey of self-discovery post-football. Whether you're a sports enthusiast or curious about how athletes transition into new careers, this episode is a compelling listen.
Sally Harrison | Mesa Chamber of Commerce
This episode features Sally Harrison, President and CEO of the Mesa Chamber since 2013. After a 20-year career helping grow a physical therapy company into 20 clinics and launching a community foundation, she found her calling in chamber leadership—stepping into the CEO role after joining through Rotary.
Raised in a small Washington town, Sally’s service-driven mindset was shaped by civic-minded parents and personal tragedy, losing both of them at 19. She shares how those early hardships, moving her family to Arizona, and navigating life without finishing college formed her relationship-first, ego-free leadership style.
We talk about her mission to protect, promote, and advocate for Mesa businesses, how the chamber evolved during COVID, and how she balances business and political realities through a business lens. Sally also speaks openly about the loss of her son Bryce to suicide at 17, and how that tragedy led her to champion youth mental health and community conversations around teen suicide.
It’s a powerful story of resilience, service, and leading with heart.
Ted Bliefnick | RevIn Growth Solutions
In this episode, Ted Bliefnick opens up about growing up in Decatur, Illinois—where faith, sports, community, and hard work laid the foundation for his life. He shares candidly about battling ADD and depression, the heartbreak of losing close friends to suicide, and the lessons learned from regret, failure, and rebuilding.
From scaling a recruiting firm to tens of millions in revenue to launching a new venture during COVID, Ted unpacks how his leadership evolved—from commanding to coaching—and what it means to lead with questions instead of ego.
We also dive into marriage, raising three boys in a tech-driven world, and how AI is reshaping the future of work.
This one is honest, powerful, and deeply human.
Lawrence Naranjo | LJ Builders
Lawrence Naranjo, founder of LJ Builders, joins the podcast to share his journey from Arizona upbringing to building a growing construction and renovation company grounded in honesty and transparency. Lawrence reflects on his early years in sports and college at ASU, the unexpected turns that led him from pursuing firefighting and EMT work during the 2008 downturn to a 13-year career in plastics distribution, and ultimately into entrepreneurship. He opens up about the risks of launching Efficient Renovations in 2020, the lessons learned from early challenges—including missing payroll—and the decision to earn his KB-1 license and rebrand as LJ Builders. Today, Lawrence is focused on expanding into commercial construction and assisted living projects while building a culture of communication, accountability, and mentorship within his team.
Frank Stirpe Jr. | Above Par Network
From Indian Wells during the 6th annual APN Golf weekend, Frank Stirpe Jr. reflects on how Above Par Network began in January 2019 as his personal “Rolodex” for solving inevitable life and business problems, then evolved into a service-first, relationship-driven community of about 400 members with chapters in Phoenix and Myrtle Beach. He contrasts APN’s culture of “builders over bullshitters” with traditional transactional networking, describing programs ranging from happy hours, lunch mobs, Breakfast of Champions, and roundtables to retreats, majors-style golf events, and unconventional outings, all designed to create connection, experiences, and collaboration. Frank discusses growth through COVID, protecting culture through member referrals and selectivity, expanding cross-chapter opportunities, and future possibilities like more chapters and an annual conference, emphasizing legacy, authenticity, and surrounding yourself with the right people.
Matt Dallas | Stroll _ Val Vista Lakes & Seville
Matt Dallas, a Gilbert resident, shares his journey from growing up in upstate New York and playing baseball through college to selling Cutco, experiencing a serious illness (double pneumonia and Stevens-Johnson syndrome) that led him to move to Arizona, and eventually leaving corporate B2B sales to start neighborhood publications with N2/Stroll in 2014. He discusses building Val Vista Lakes, launching Agritopia (later transitioned after 100 issues), and taking over and revitalizing Seville, including the panic and pressure of producing a new issue every month and how he uses boundaries, systems, automation, checklists, and time-management to sustain the work. Matt explains his purpose-driven mission—connecting neighbors, introducing local businesses, and giving back through nonprofit partnerships—along with how faith and reading shaped his leadership and values.
Matt Dallas | Stroll _ Val Vista Lakes & Seville
Phil Passante | Auto Glass Excellence (A.G.E.)
Phil Passante | Auto Glass Excellence (A.G.E.)
Phil Passante shares why he prefers “excellence” over “expert,” framing it as a continual pursuit, then traces his journey from an idyllic childhood outside Milwaukee to moving to Arizona in 1986 seeking better weather and opportunity. After early work selling high-end men’s clothing, he learned the auto glass business from the ground up—sales, installation, leadership—and in 2001 launched Auto Glass Excellence, emphasizing responsiveness, integrity, and service. He describes early challenges including 9/11, industry changes, and major personal and financial betrayals: a builder taking $200,000 in 2008 and a trusted employee embezzling nearly $1 million over about a decade, discovered in 2016. Anchored by faith, family support, and regained health, he kept the business moving, expanded into window tint, and defines success as love, family, and his grandchildren—living the “dash” between life’s dates.
Adam Baugh | Withey Morris Baugh
Adam Baugh, partner and co-owner at Withey Morris Baugh, shares how lessons from his LDS mission in Atlanta—speaking Spanish, living on a budget, learning empathy, and developing door-to-door communication skills—became the foundation for his career helping developers and business owners navigate City Hall, zoning, and land use approvals in Arizona. He recounts a childhood moving frequently with an Air Force father who later worked in city management, his surf/skate/punk-rock years in Southern California, and the winding path to law school internships that sparked his interest in zoning. Adam discusses building his firm through relationships, integrity, and customer service, learning from mistakes and occasional losses, managing public opposition and misinformation, defining leadership as service, and hoping to pass grit, entrepreneurship, and values to his five children.
Adam Baugh | Withey Morris Baugh
Alia Gauthier | Tinted Salt
Alia Gauthier, co-founder of Tinted Salt in Chandler, Arizona, shares her journey from leaving Iran at 11 during the revolution and draft pressures, migrating through Turkey and claiming refugee status in Toronto, to building a career in aesthetics and entrepreneurship. She describes learning English in Canada, dropping out of psychology studies, buying and turning around a struggling salon, and meeting her husband Steve online before marrying within six months. Alia explains how manifestation and energy work influenced Steve’s eventual Toronto Police courts job and her own shift into holistic healing after a severe H1N1-related viral thyroiditis nearly killed her, which she says improved through supplements and holistic care. She outlines Tinted Salt’s personalized approach using the Harmonic Egg, VibroAcoustic beds, red/infrared light, and a Himalayan salt halotherapy room to help reset the autonomic nervous system, plus goals for expansion.
Alia Gauthier | Tinted Salt
Tank Giles | Athletes In Training
Tank Giles, a Daytona Beach native, shares how sports helped him navigate a challenging childhood, including family violence that led to being taken from his parents twice and periods living with a football coach and later with his sister. He explains earning the nickname “Tank,” excelling in football, missing a Division I opportunity due to credits, taking a gap year, then moving to Arizona in 2012 to play at Mesa Community College, where an ankle injury ended his playing career and led to a dark period. Tank describes finding purpose coaching at Athletes in Training, eventually becoming owner after serving as YMCA sports director and returning during COVID, and outlines AIT’s recess and after-school multi-sport programs across 73 schools. He also discusses Humble Savage club basketball, Humble Cares nonprofit support for kids in need, leadership challenges, and his mission to teach hard work, discipline, respect, and character.
Tank Giles | Athletes In Training
Elisha Kameyama | Red Crane Digital
Elisha Kameyama, CEO and co-founder of Red Crane Digital in Phoenix, shares how embracing discomfort fuels growth, then traces his journey from growing up in California and Colorado as a pastor’s kid through joining the Navy two weeks after high school, serving eight years with deployments tied to 9/11-era operations and later humanitarian work in South America. He explains how a separation from his wife led him back to faith, inspired by the film “Fireproof,” ultimately restoring their marriage after months of intentional courtship, and why he left the military to prioritize family. Elijah discusses therapy, self-development, CrossFit and completing around 20 Spartan races in 2024, leading men’s ministry during a church plant and COVID, and pivoting from a failed wholesale real estate attempt into launching a video marketing agency that helps service businesses and events with social media, ads, and content systems, now beginning to scale with a first full-time hire
Elisha Kameyama | Red Crane Digital
Brian Riley | Lippy McGingersniffs / BUILT DIFFERNT RESTORATION
Recorded remotely from Brian Riley’s garage pub hangout, this episode follows Brian’s path from growing up in Enfield, Connecticut and playing football and baseball to a life shaped by “saying yes,” including a chance retail interview that launched a 20-year career with Structure/Express, where he met his wife Cheryl and focused on developing teams. Brian contrasts today’s club “super team” sports with neighborhood development, explains why time and relationships matter more than money, and shares how COVID pushed him into business development and restoration. He discusses prioritizing trust over selling, rejecting referral-fee kickbacks in trades, helping customers avoid unnecessary insurance claims, and Built Different Restoration’s emphasis on accessibility, ownership, and doing the right thing. Brian defines legacy as being a good person and a great dad, advocates kindness, community, and travel, and describes his dream of owning a community pub.
Brian Riley | BUILT DIFFERTN RESTORATION