#84 - Escape from Status Quo - Michael Wayne Foster
conventioNOT Podcast
Michael Wayne Foster breaks molds. Foster was a teacher in the high schools of his hometown when he started life after college. Pretty normal, but this larger than life dude is far from normal. It wasn't long after spending time in classrooms that he was presented with an opportunity for love... on season . Earnestly, this dude packed up his things and moved to Hollywood. He didn't find the romantic love of his life on NBC in 2005... she would come much later. What he did find is that his fascination with the entertainment industry was, well... fostered. Fast forward nearly 20...
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#83 - A Father’s Tale - Dan Sinnott Sr
conventioNOT Podcast
Dan Sinnott Sr has experienced more in a single lifetime than most families. He was a young man when he realized that the life of a Detroit Police Officer - and the negative experiences life as a cop brought wasn't for him. Sure, lots of guys switch careers... but this guy, a man with a desire for adventure, decided to be an educator. You'll have to listen to the episode for the details, but Dan eventually moves halfway across the world, young family in tow. It's pretty obvious somewhere along the line, he also honed his talents as a storyteller. Mike and McD appreciate everyone who...
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#82 - Brick by Brick - Taylor Duerr
conventioNOT Podcast
When first stepped onto the professional fight scene, he was already kind of a big deal. Not just because of his size, because of his heart. He's had plenty of nicknames in his career and Duerr, a former cruiserweight champion is the star of a newly released documentary, Taylor joins the guys just before the launch of the film and the fires on about some of the cool stuff that happens when promoting a movie, his true love for his family and opens up about the real struggles he's faced as a recovering addict. Yea, you read that right, one of the Detroit's biggest and baddest fighters faces...
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#81 - Know Your Why - Jim Baudino
conventioNOT Podcast
When first told his friends that he was leaving his acclaimed automotive career to get into the cannibis business, his friends undoubtedly wondered what he was thinking. The thing is, he'd always been looking for something more than traditional route for a kid from metro detroit who went to the University of Michigan and UCLA. Then he got into busines with Snoop Dog. No seriously, Baudino jumped from branding Toyota Camry's to helping a gernerational icon reframe an industry. What listeners will find is that the dude still hasn't looked back and carries his inspiration through to his...
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#80 - Finding Joy - Dana Frost
conventioNOT Podcast
Dana Frost wakes up every day feeling life’s full effect. As a young person, she lost her spouse, Brad to cancer, fought her own battle with the disease and faced the realities that most people don’t see until much later in life. Thankfully, this cheerful guest found time to sit with Mike and McD on this host-favorite episode. The thing about Dana is that she’s channelled the tragedy and has learned to be vulnerable in ways that we thing most listeners should pay attention to. Her husband left her 100 days after he was diagnosed and her inspiration afterward is unbelievable. Frost...
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#79 - Eye of the Storm - Matt Allen
conventioNOT Podcast
lovingly recalls the days when his work was as simple as cleaning up oil spills. This lifelong scientist and creative thinker has now moved on to larger pastures, so to speak. Mike was excited to reconnect with Matt and to introduce Ryan, who he knew would instantly be interested by this guest. Certainly the episodes of conventioNOT lean toward science, data and nature - and this one touches all of our pillars quickly. Growing up in Canada, Matt talks about setting up an executive career that he enjoys today and shares infinite wisdom about traveling the globe from his home outside...
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#78 - Hawaii 22 - conventioNOT Podcast
conventioNOT Podcast
Just like that, conventioNOT is nearing 100 hours of content. Funny to think that through all those interviews, teary stories and podcast bliss - Mike & McD have never recorded in the same room. After almost a decade of residence in Hawaii, Ryan finally made it out to share some sun and surf in the Aloha state. We spent the week consuming all that Oahu has to offer, from Honolulu's Kith Store to Kona beans and somehow Mike convinced Ryan to be on the hot seat and relive his best moments on the island. After poking some fun, we get deep on linking culture, satire and cynicism....
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#77 - Seeking Authenticity - Flint Mitchell
conventioNOT Podcast
is a unique guest who is busy stacking perspective. He’s an engineer, scientist, surfer, podcaster… and now author. What’s really cool about this guy is that he’s humble about the way opportunities arrive in his world. Listeners will find that this guy’s world started in a place that most of us are familiar with, but don’t really understand: the , AKA Silicon Valley. He shares a bit about the very real perspective that growing up in the Valley can create. Just like the factories of Detroit, it’s not all roses. Mike and McD are somehow surprised by this, leading...
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#76 - Endurance Executive - Eric Mannix
conventioNOT Podcast
is a competitor. Lots of senior leaders at big companies are. The CFO of is dedicated to growing the success of the manufacturing plants that he now runs. But there’s something a little different about Eric’s story. What a lot of guys like Eric don’t share when walking the halls of facilities are why they do what they do. This episode sets that old-school mentality aside. Eric operates his life on a really cool philosophy: try something hard every day. When he found himself in a misaligned internship just after college, he deployed that Detroit-bred idealism to start building bridges...
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#75 - Supreme Ability - Justice Richard Bernstein
conventioNOT Podcast
Michigan State Supreme Court Justice joins the guys and holds court about issues near and dear to heart, career and his strong faith. Sure, the guy has been elected to one of the highest courts in America, but that’s only happened over the past few years and this conversation is very special. Prior to his current gig, Bernstein became a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Michigan and earned his law degree from the Northwestern University School of Law. Justice Bernstein has also been elected for an eight-year term on the Board of Governors at Wayne State University. He...
info_outlineWorking with Predators is clearly an exotic topic right now and conventioNOT Podcast joins the big streaming media players with Dave Salmoni, Large Predator Expert from Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Facebook, Jimmy Kimmel and all kinds of other places you might imagine a regular dude living amongst Lions and Bears and all kinds of other scary stuff. Despite what’s displayed recently on Netflix, it turns out it takes much more than a camera and a clown with a crazy haircut to share your life with some of the world’s most dangerous creatures.
Dave’s aspirations while growing up in Sarnia, Ontario weren’t like most small town Canadian kids. His walls were adorned with posters of bears and big cats, not hockey stars. Dave feigned normalcy for awhile, excelling at sports and whatnot, but eventually realized he was still being called by something else, something bigger, literally! Seizing one opportunity after another he was able to realize his dream to study the world’s biggest predators in the most intimate of ways – amongst them and in their environments. Dave’s career has led him to all corners of the world and all sides of ecotourism and damn near every species of animal you would, or probably wouldn’t, ever want to be around.
Join Mike & McD in a deep dive with Salmoni about fame, ecotourism, filming and we as humans develop, nurture, and utilize ego. Dave is an amazing storyteller. He looks like a model and has lived the life of your favorite Disney adventure hero. In other words, he belongs where he is – on TV! Beyond that though the perspective he shared and his level of introspection were not only heartwarming and gratifying to us as hosts, but incredibly enlightening as well. Grab your popcorn or beverage because this is a longer one!