On this episode of the Superpowers podcast, Bill and Chris talk with Deborah Wahl, Global CMO at General Motors. Growing up, Deborah earned the nickname “Big D” from her siblings for her go-getter attitude and unrelenting pursuit of success. Deborah was born and raised in Detroit. Her father was in the auto industry and she did her first internship at GM back in the 80s. She told Bill and Chris, “I looked around and said ‘wow, this is a tough industry for women.’” Undeterred, she pressed on and triumphed. She received her MBA from Wharton and spent four years in the world of finance, travelling the world while working at Chase Bank. Later, she worked in Paris on a project for an anti-allergy bed sheet company that taught her important lessons on how to grow and develop a business. After 3 years in Paris, Deborah returned to America to seek out marketing jobs that would benefit from her global business perspective. She took an interview back in Detroit at Ford. “They picked us up from the airport and took us directly to the test track,” she told the hosts. The excitement drew Deborah back into the auto industry. She asked to be placed in Latin America and was offered a job as an Advertising Manager in Brazil. Deborah’s passion for marketing led to jobs at Mazda, Mercury, and Toyota. In 2007 she joined Chrysler and moved back to Detroit. That fateful decision changed her career course after the financial distress Chrysler faced the following year, causing Deborah to leave the auto industry for ten years. In 2014 she joined McDonald’s as CMO. Deborah told the hosts, “I couldn’t resist the challenge. It was an American company that needed to transform.” For three years she oversaw health changes in the menu and the implementation of “All Day Breakfast” – a move some considered key to the fast food giant’s turnaround in the 2010s. After McDonald’s, Deborah returned to the auto industry as the CMO of Cadillac in New York. A year leader, she took on her current role as the Global CMO of GM. Deborah has been instrumental in putting safety and electric vehicles at the forefront of GM’s branding. With her guidance, GM is making swift innovations to pursue its goals. Before leaving, Deborah shared advice for young women tackling the auto industry: “Watch who speaks to the room… often women don’t speak up. Take a seat at the table and don’t be afraid to speak up… listen to the other women in the room and build on their statements.” The hosts decided that Deborah’s superpower is the global perspective she’s brought to her hometown, the auto industry, and Detroit, as well as her willingness to take calculated risks with a tenacity that many people are too scared to do.

Superpowers Podcast

Deborah Wahl - Take Calculated Risks. Fearlessly.

On this episode of the Superpowers podcast, Bill and Chris bring on Lizzie Widhelm, SVP Ad Innovation and B2B Marketing at Pandora. Lizzie is a witty and influential executive in media technology whose experiences as a mother have helped guide her career and vice-versa. As she told the hosts, “Raising boys is like running a sales team. You set clear expectations.” Lizzie grew up living the surfer lifestyle in Newport Beach, California before leaving to study finance and accounting at ASU. Her career path was unique. Lizzie worked as a Hooters server until her early 20s with plans to dive into the finance world post-graduation. Just before going off to New York City to take on Wall Street, a friend urged her to apply for a job at CBS Interactive. She interviewed for an assistant position at CBS Sports Line and took it. That marked the beginning of Lizzie’s media career. “I was pretty good at asking the right questions,” Lizzie told Bill and Chris. That mindset soon guided her to Viviendi Universal, where she worked as Sales Director and met her husband. Together, they left Viviendi together and dove into the world of ad tech. “I’m never focused on my feet being in one spot,” Lizzie said. It doesn’t serve you very well.” After two brief stops elsewhere, Lizzie joined Pandora. Soon after, the CEO of Pandora invited Lizzie to meet at their Oakland HQ. “It was a disgusting office,” she told the hosts, but underneath the surface Lizzie also saw the company’s potential. “The listeners kept coming… I wanted to be where people were.” She developed a strategy for using Pandora as a platform for high-value ad buys. “I felt like we could sell at TV level CBMs if we got the user experience right… I bring that spirit into work today.” Lizzie has worn many hats in the 15 years since she joined Pandora. She climbed from VP of Sales for the West Coast to SVP of Ad Innovation and B2B Marketing. She also leads a small sales team for Pandora’s beta products. “I’ve never let go of my love for being in front of clients and selling products,” Lizzie told the hosts. After hearing Lizzie’s personal and professional story, the hosts determined her superpower is her ability to trust others and gain trust from her colleagues. She’s a decisive leader who achieves goals by driving productivity and innovation with talented people.

Lizzie Widhelm - Trust is Earned. Not Given.

On this episode of the Superpowers podcast, Bill and Chris talk with Howard Lindzon, Founder and Partner at Social Leverage. Howard is a kind-hearted Canadian entrepreneur, author, and investor whose superpower is his social intelligence and self-understanding. A product of his Jewish upbringing in Toronto, Howard calls himself a “Larry David meets venture capital.” He had a lot of side hustles as a kid and tried his hand at stand-up comedy as a teen. Eventually he earned his MBA from ASU and started his career as a stockbroker in Dallas. One day Howard cold-called an entrepreneur to pitch stocks, but the conversation took a turn. He ended up partnering with the businessman on a stress ball startup called, “The Grip.” That experience taught Howard valuable lessons in running a business, which he applied when founding a hedge fund shortly after, only to discover quickly that he preferred the lifestyle of angel investing. “I had a pretty good eye for picking winners,” Howard told the Bill and Chris. After one of Howard’s investments flourished, he built a relationship with the founder and collaborated with him to build StockTwits, a platform for investors. As Howard described, “It’s basically Twitter for investors.” A year later, Howard founded Social Leverage to advise and invest in promising tech startups. He wanted to invest in the things he cared about that make a positive difference in people’s lives. Social Leverage’s core goals include elevating the conversation on investing and educating more people on how to navigate startups.

Howard Lindzon - Social Intelligence and Self Understanding

In this episode of the Superpowers podcast, Bill and Chris bring on Ian Rapoport, author of the Boston Herald blog, “The RapSheet” and National Insider at the NFL Network. Ian had aspired to follow in the footsteps of his favorite writers at sports-centric publications like Sports Illustrated even before attending Columbia University, where he covered sports for the institution’s storied student newspaper. “I always loved sports,” Ian told Bill and Chris before cautioning young writers who want to follow in his footsteps: “You have to like the writing more than sports.” Ian takes a creative approach to his work that led to the 2008 creation of The RapSheet blog at the Boston Herald, which adds a level of personality and humor that’s often lacking in traditional sports news coverage. Ian also writes daily about the New England Patriots, using every ounce of his creativity to get answers from the Patriots’ notoriously tight-lipped, legendary head coach Bill Belichick. “We came to an understanding pretty early that there are always questions I’m going to ask and he’s either going to answer or he doesn’t… I was also never shy about asking.” Through trial and error, building connections without crossing boundaries, Ian became “a nonstop source of Patriots information.” In 2012, Ian’s reputation as a talented reporter landed him a job at the NFL Network. The transition to TV didn’t come to him naturally. “I was really bad at the beginning - one time I completely blanked on the air.” Over time and with support from the network, he polished off his TV presence and has become an NFL celebrity. Ian’s superpower is his ability to see the patterns in his reporting and apply his social awareness to sources to get top tier information.

Ian Rapoport - Follow the Passion. Not the Dollars.

On this Episode of the Superpowers Podcast, Bill and Chris talk with Matt Lombardi, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of BEAM, a CBD wellness startup. Matt went from winning two NCAA Division I Hockey championships at Boston College, to a brief professional career in the NHL’s minor leagues, to becoming a passionate entrepreneur. Matt shared his experiences playing hockey at BC and how discipline and practice played a massive role in his personal growth. The lessons he learned from his athletic career have helped shape everything that came after. “Sports are the ultimate life metaphor. You learn how to be a part of a team, work towards goals, and leadership.” After suffering a severe concussion while playing for a Pittsburgh Penguins minor league affiliate, Matt left hockey, but took his personal drive and enthusiasm with him to launch a career in business. In 2014, he co-founded DRIVN, a virtual coaching platform that became an essential tool for college hockey teams. However, Matt’s involvement with the venture ended when he had a falling-out with his partner and co-founder. “I was still learning how to be a communicator,” He told Bill and Chris. In 2016 Matt co-founded Grander, another platform for athletes and coaches. Two years later, Matt partnered with his friend and fellow former BC athlete, Kevin Moran, to start BEAM. Matt shared his experience as an athlete struggling to find natural pain relief treatments. “We saw an opportunity to reimagine the CBD space by creating a more wellness-focused brand.” BEAM’s uniquely transparent and holistic approach to CBD helped Matt and Kevin raise $5 million this past fall.

Matt Lombardi - Grit.

In this episode of the Superpowers podcast, Bill and Chris talk with Jeff Nicholson, the charismatic and fiercely passionate CEO of the data processing platform, Tracer. A Boston native and former basketball standout at Babson College, Jeff has an entrepreneurial spirit that led him from starting a small lobster business with his dad to becoming a top name in data software. When his first post-college job in finance failed to inspire, Jeff had an epiphany: He didn’t want his career to “be sitting in a cubicle with no direction.” So, he joined an MIT incubator and over four years, developed two successful AdTech companies that sold for millions. He then moved to New York to help build Social Code, an AdTech firm that became the first-ever Facebook Ads API partner, pioneering digital-first marketing. Jeff was still eager to do something bigger, and soon began building the platform that became Tracer, which helps clients join disparate data sets in order “to answer the questions you want to answer.” Buoyed by Jeff’s superpower – his endless, focused hustle – Tracer’s team success is deeply personal to its Co-founder and CEO: “I want to make people know I care about them,” Jeff told Bill and Chris. “I sat at those cubicles at those jobs and I knew no one cared about me and it was the worst feeling in the world and so I try to make it the opposite. I try to meet their parents if I can, I try to invite them to my home. Everyone knows that I care.”

Jeff Nicholson - Success is a Journey. Enjoy It.

On this episode of the Superpowers podcast, Bill and Chris have a passionate conversation with the infectiously optimistic David Kidder, New York Times Best-selling author of The Startup Playbook and The Intellectual Devotional, and the co-founder of Bionic, a company that installs models and strategies to help large businesses grow. David’s professional journey began at the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he studied industrial design, played lacrosse and began his decades-long career as a founder and entrepreneur. A self-proclaimed “interdisciplinary nerd” with a love for making things, by age 28 David had founded and sold personalized mobile content provider Smart Ray for $40 million. David then embarked on his journey to becoming a writer. “I started doing back-to-back interviews with entrepreneurs.” He wanted to learn the keys to making a successful business. “I would ask them two questions, how do you bet your life and what do you do in the first five years not to die? That became the Startup Playbook.” In 2013, David started Bionic. As he told Bill and Chris, “It’s a service company that helps large enterprises grow and we do that by installing growth operating systems. It’s the idea that venture capital and entrepreneurship are forms of management.” Today, Bionic takes in over $20 million annually in revenue with 55 employees and 10 clients. Through all of his successes, David has relied on his superpower – an ability to act on his obsessions and turn them into passions: “My philosophy is centered around the concept of ‘overcoming’…it’s all about falling in love with the grind, it’s the learning, it’s the ugliness of it. If you can’t get your spirit to be satisfied with that, you’re going to be very dissatisfied with the decisions you make in your life.”

David Kidder - Act on Passionate Obsessions

In this episode of the Superpowers podcast, Bill and Chris talk with the hilarious Terence Kawaja, Founder and CEO of the investment bank LUMA Partners. Terence brightened the video conference with his engaging storytelling and unique views on the intersection between digital media and marketing. A native of Quebec, Terence was an entrepreneur from an early age. From running a paper route at 9 years old to building a prominent investment bank, he has always been a driven and creative problem solver. Terence graduated from the University of Western Ontario, then went on to both law school and business school before starting his career on Wall Street at 26. After a decorated career as a manager at Salomon Brothers and other Wall Street heavyweights, Terence decided to build his own company. He started LUMA Partners in 2010 and has helped it grow into an influential investment bank that advises top businesses and overseas M&As of dozens of companies every year. Terence’s superpower is his comedic skill and ability to tell stories that captivate audiences. He’s also a giver. As he told Bill and Chris, “95% of the things that don’t accrue to LUMA’s benefit, I believe in giving” without monetizing. That’s why LUNAScapes, which breaks down the supply chain of various parts of the digital media ecosystem with engaging graphics and data visualizations, is free at LUMA’s website along with other information resources.

Terence Kawaja - The Stand Up Investment Banker

In the first virtual episode of Superpowers, Bill and Chris are joined by Michael Katz, CEO and Co-Founder of mParticle. From his first job at ZEFER, starting just four days after his college graduation, Michael has been in “go mode.” As a Student of the Game, he continues to leverage what he learns from his experiences, and has since pioneered the tech industry through executive roles at companies like Accenture, Interclick, and his most recent venture, mParticle...

Michael Katz - Student of the Game

In this episode of Superpowers, Bill and Chris talk sports, sales, and successes with powerhouse Deirdre Lester, Chief Revenue Officer of Barstool Sports. From CNET, to ESPN, to Whistle, and MLB (plus some more in between), Deirdre’s Diligent Passion has scored her 20 years of experience in media sales, sponsorship marketing, and sales management. In this week’s episode, Deirdre speaks to her experiences with taking time off, seeking out opportunities, and the value of predictive insight…

Deirdre Lester - Diligent Passion

To kick off season 2 of the Superpowers podcast, Bill and Chris invite Beeswax CEO and AdTech pioneer Ari Paparo to discuss how his whit, transparency, and skillful communication have guided him to extraordinary success at both start-ups and tech giants. Ari shared his story, starting with his upbringing in New York and college days at Georgetown, followed by his time at Double Click and Google, then the runup to his founding of Beeswax, a first-of-its-kind AdTech product for large enterprises. Like most innovative ideas, Beeswax began with the identification of a problem. During his time at the AdTech firm AppNexus, Ari “kept hearing the same thing over and over again which is, ‘It’s great what your platform does, but I kind of want to own my own tech’… I said to myself, ‘Well… what can I build that would solve this problem?’” Ari took on the challenge and developed a product called “Bidder-as-a-Service.” “It was a full AdTech stack in the cloud. So, we founded the company, Beeswax… It’s a buy-side solution for buying ads, it’s very customizable. We have customers that write their own algorithms.” In 2014, Ari and his two co-founders raised $1.3 million in seed funding to start building Beeswax. To make the most out of that money, Ari and the other founders didn’t take any salary. As Ari put it, “it was just going to increase our burden enormously to have three high paid employees.” By 2019, Ari and his team had raised $28 million in total. With real resources in tow and a highly skilled team with experienced leadership, Beeswax is off and running. “Now we have 91 employees and about $30 million in revenue,” Ari told Bill and Chris.

Ari Paparo - Bee Authentic, Bee Transparent

This week on Superpowers, Bill and Chris are joined by Ali Wyatt, President and Co-Founder of Girlboss - a community of strong, curious, and ambitious women redefining success on their own terms. An experienced business leader and strategist, Ali has contributed to a few organizations you may recognize: InStyle Magazine, ELLE, Refinery29, not to mention Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop. In this week’s episode, we learn how Ali built an ecosystem filled with impactful relationships, wisdom, and powerful women.

Alison Wyatt - Build Your Ecosystem

On this throwback to our first episode of Superpowers, Bill and Chris are joined by CEO & Co-Founder at Zenrez, Matt Capizzi. From college in Cali to an MBA at Carnegie Mellon, Matt is now revolutionizing the fitness industry via the power of revenue management. You won't want to miss his story!

Matt Capizzi - Irrational Confidence

On this episode of Superpowers, Bill and Chris are joined by Nick Jordan, Founder at Narrative I/O.

Nick Jordan - Find the Winners

On this episode, Bill and Chris are joined by Felicity Conrad, Co-Founder and CEO of Paladin.

Felicity Conrad - Maintain the Social Equlibrium

Everyone has a superpower…. We’re here to uncover it.

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Superpowers Podcast

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