Plenty of Ups and Downs: Riding the Rollercoaster of a Startup
Release Date: 05/18/2025
Monday Morning Radio
teaches business owners and entrepreneurs the disciplined sequence of steps that lead to lasting success. His wisdom isn’t drawn from an MBA program or corporate leadership seminars — it’s forged from decades on the mats. “Sensei Gary” is a serial entrepreneur, app creator, and a 4th-degree black belt in Taekwondo. Gary’s list of ventures and partnerships is long. Among them, he is the founder of , a martial arts school dedicated to developing leadership skills in students of all ages, and the creator of the app, which helps users build positive daily habits. He also...
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Marcy Syms became the youngest female president of a publicly traded New York Stock Exchange company when she was named to the position with her family’s business in 1983. At its peak, the Syms chain of off-price, brand-name fashion stores operated 46 outlets across 16 states, generating annual sales approaching $350 million. The chain’s slogan — coined by founder Sy Syms, Marcy’s father — was iconic: “An educated consumer is our best customer.” While Syms was not the very first off-price fashion retailer when it opened its original store in 1959, Sy and Marcy Syms went on to...
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In a world awash with free educational videos and paid programs from platforms such as Udemy and Teachable, Damon Lembi and his team at are thriving by delivering impressive results. Their secret? Equipping small and mid-sized businesses with the tools to outmaneuver corporate giants, while helping employees build confidence, sharpen skills, and boost job satisfaction. To date, Learnit has served over 14,000 organizations and helped more than 1.8 million professionals master new skills or improve on existing capabilities. This week, Damon delivers a masterclass on the mindset business...
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Ken Banta is the founder and CEO of , a by-invitation-only community for top-level executives. He and his firm help C-Suite executives and business owners fine-tune their management skills, build valuable new relationships, and elevate the performance of their organizations. One of Ken’s surprising recommendations is that companies do away with long-term strategic plans and instead focus primarily on the immediate horizon. “The way things move today is so quick and so unpredictable that having detailed strategies …seems to me to be really antiquated,” he says, akin to trying to...
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Melissa Dinwiddie doesn’t have an MBA. She’s never worked for a consulting giant, such as McKinsey, Boston Consulting, or Bain. She is a ukulele-playing, jazz-singing, Julliard-trained dancer and improv entertainer. Yet when companies, including Meta, Google, Uber, Intuit, and Salesforce, seek fresh thinking on innovation and team creativity, they turn to Melissa for results. Melissa draws parallels between performance troupes, such as her All That Jazz improv jazz group, and business teams. To be successful, she notes, all members must listen closely, support one another, adapt on the...
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Mitch Weisburgh is on a crusade to get five million people to change their minds. Literally. A lifelong educator and entrepreneur, he helps teachers and students to mindshift away from reflexive reactions to setbacks, obstacles, and low moods. Rather than give in to them, he shows members of school communities how they can adopt a reasoned mentality that seeks solutions and opportunities, and restores optimism. Mitch’s classroom approach works as well, if not better, for business owners, executives, and entrepreneurs facing professional or personal challenges. The next time your computer...
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“Do it before you die.” Those five words sum up Carl Barney’s advice to business leaders and other wealthy individuals to find a deeper level of success and satisfaction by “pre-questing” meaningful gifts to individuals and institutions — not in their wills — but while they can still witness the impact of their generosity. Carl, author of the new book , is a philanthropist who grew wealthy as an educational entrepreneur. He is the founder of the , which identifies and supports independent thinkers who have innovative ideas, work smart, follow through, and achieve results. The...
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Do you suffer from glossophobia? No pill or injection will cure it. But this week’s guest, Ruth Milligan, has a proven antidote for the nearly eight out of ten people who experience anxiety or fear of public speaking — also known as glossophobia. Ruth is the founder and managing director of , a 15-year-old executive communication coaching consultancy. She is also the co-author of the new book “.” Ruth was the force behind one of the earliest TEDx events in the country, TEDxColumbus, where she spent a decade observing both masterful and woeful presenters. That experience laid the...
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What began as a labor of love for Jackie Lapin — traveling the world and taking captivating photos — has blossomed into a thriving business and membership community. Today, Jackie’s offers frequent blog posts, a vast library of images, curated reading lists, historical insights, and exclusive travel resources, all designed for those who share her wanderlust. Jackie is a veteran of multiple fields — including working as a pioneering female sportswriter, accomplished PR executive, and marketing strategist. She champions the idea that turning your avocation into a vocation isn’t just...
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The client list of corporations that Steven Gaffney and his colleagues at the have consulted reads like a Who’s Who of America’s best corporations, including Allstate, Amazon, American Express, Best Buy, Booz Allen, and BP. And those are just some of the “A”s and “B”s on the roster. Steven’s expertise lies in building consistently high-achieving teams and organizations that set goals, overcome obstacles, and achieve their desired results. The founder and CEO of the eponymous consultancy, he asserts that honest communication and the right mindset will overcome most...
info_outlineAfter more than 15 years as an executive at Meta, eBay, and Target, Anya Cheng set out to launch her own venture, Taelor. Her company uses artificial intelligence and personalized styling to rent clothing to men who dislike shopping, but need to look put-together for professional and social occasions.
As she candidly shares this week, her two-year-old company has encountered a full buffet of challenges — from limited resources, both financial and human, to the steep personal transition of relying entirely on her own judgment.
Drawing from her successes and missteps, Anya offers ten actionable recommendations that every new and most established businesses should heed. Be sure to have a tablet or pen available to take notes.
Above all else, Anya’s journey underscores the grit and adaptability required to build and maintain a new business in today’s startup landscape.
Monday Morning Radio is hosted by the father-son duo of Dean and Maxwell Rotbart.
Photo: Anya Cheng, Taelor
Posted: May 19, 2025
Monday Morning Run Time: 47:07
Episode: 13.46
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