Episode 6 -- Keleigh Veraldo-Zucchero '23
Best Leadership Podcast Ever
Keleigh Veraldo-Zucchero, Leadership Portage County Class of 2023, is our guest for episode six of The Best Leadership Podcast Ever! Keleigh is a longtime Kent resident, community volunteer, and real estate advisor who spent more than two decades in elementary education before transitioning into real estate during the COVID-19 pandemic. In her conversation with Andra, Keleigh shares her personal journey of putting down roots in Kent after attending Kent State University, meeting her husband Sean, and raising their daughter in the same community that has come to feel like home. She...
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Episode 5 -- Randy Griffith '05
Best Leadership Podcast Ever
Randy Griffith, Leadership Portage County Class of 2005, is our guest for the fifth episode of The Best Leadership Podcast Ever! As the Superintendent of Maplewood Career Center, Randy is a leader in public vocational education. In his conversation with Andra, Randy describes his winding professional journey, starting with his undergraduate experience in computer programming at the University of Akron, and then moving toward education, as he became a certified middle school math and history teacher while coaching in Southwest Ohio. Randy shares how he returned to Northeast Ohio to work...
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Episode 4 -- Shannon Zemba '25
Best Leadership Podcast Ever
Shannon Zemba is our guest in Episode 4 of The Best Leadership Podcast Ever. Shannnon is a member of Leadership Portage County's Class of 2025. Shannon is a wife, mother, and owner of downtown Kent's Over Easy at the Depot. Shannon shares with Andra her experience growing up in Streetsboro, graduating from Maplewood Career Center, and then moving to St. Croix to assist her mother and stepfather with managing hotels and restaurants they owned there, eventually falling in love with the service industry. Shannon describes the process of returning to Portage County in 2010, her goal of owning her...
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Episode 3 -- Leighann Fink '22
Best Leadership Podcast Ever
Leighann Fink from the Leadership Portage County Class of 2022 is our guest for our third episode of The Best Leadership Podcast Ever! Leighann is a mom, wife, and accomplished attorney who works at Ohio's Ninth District Court of Appeals and who regularly volunteers throughout the county. She is the President of Leadership Portage County's Board of Directors while also serving on the boards of Habitat for Humanity of Portage County and CASA of Portage County. Leighann describes her experience growing up in a coalmining family in eastern Pennsylvania and then shares how she moved to...
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Episode 2 -- Will Duck '25
Best Leadership Podcast Ever
Will Duck from the Leadership Portage County Class of 2025 is our guest for our second episode of The Best Leadership Podcast Ever! Will is a husband and dad, and he serves the Portage County Combined Health District in the position of Environmental Health Supervisor of Water Quality. In their conversation, Will shares with Andra how a conversation he had while earning is biology degree and working in the Grounds department at Kent State University first led him to the Health District. Andra and Will discuss the importance of active listening and building a strong, positive culture in a...
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Episode 1 -- Janet Dix '92
Best Leadership Podcast Ever
Our first guest on The Best Leadership Podcast Ever is none other than Janet Dix from the inaugural Leadership Portage County Class of 1992. Janet is a wife, mom, and a new grandma, retired therapist, and philanthropist. In their conversation, Janet shares with host Andra Polasky how she came to plant roots in Portage County, her experience as a member of the first LPC class, and how her own diagnosis of attention deficit disorder that was discovered while serving as a therapist deepened her connection with her clients. Janet also describes her love of reading, balancing her community...
info_outlineLeighann Fink from the Leadership Portage County Class of 2022 is our guest for our third episode of The Best Leadership Podcast Ever!
Leighann is a mom, wife, and accomplished attorney who works at Ohio's Ninth District Court of Appeals and who regularly volunteers throughout the county. She is the President of Leadership Portage County's Board of Directors while also serving on the boards of Habitat for Humanity of Portage County and CASA of Portage County. Leighann describes her experience growing up in a coalmining family in eastern Pennsylvania and then shares how she moved to Portage County by way of Columbus, falling in love with both her now-husband and our welcoming community. Leighann and Andra discuss Leighann's multi-generational household and her close relationship with her father.
Leighann recounts her own experience in Leadership Portage County, noting that it helped her make friends and understand what Portage County residents care about. In their conversation, Leighann and Andra explore the freedom that practicing authentic leadership provides, the importance of evolving as a human being every day, the need to be able to ask for help, and Leighann's favorite quote.
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The Best Leadership Podcast Ever is a project of Leadership Portage County in Northeast Ohio and showcases alumni from the program. Guests share stories of leadership successes and challenges. Follow "The Best Leadership Podcast Ever" wherever you get your podcasts.