loudiamond

Lou Diamond is the Founder and CEO of Thrive, a company focused on helping brands flourish through the power of connecting. He is the host of the Thrive LouD podcast where he interviews newsmakers, entrepreneurs, celebrities, and everyday people doing extraordinary things. Lou is also a consultant and the author of the new book Speak Easy: Connect with Every Conversation.

In this episode...

What strategy can you use to start an engaging conversation? How can you inspire others through those discussions?

One of the best ways to build great connections is through conversations. They can help you close a sale, improve company relations, and build personal relationships. Lou Diamond, a master connector, advises people to think about their unique persona and goals when engaging in a productive conversation. Show gratitude and share information that will help the other person grow and thrive.

In this episode of the Innovations and Breakthroughs Podcast, Rich Goldstein interviews Lou Diamond, the CEO of Thrive, about the art and power of connecting. Lou explains how to be a better connecter, how to treat every conversation as a gift, and how to make a great first impression.

Jess Owens is the founder & CEO at Greenlist. Greenlist reduces retailer costs and negative environmental impact by sending returns direct to another customer.

This peer-to-peer (P2P) approach to returns is creating more profit and less waste.

Hear Jess’s story as she connects with Lou Diamond on Thrive LouD.

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Internationally recognized client-acquisition expert, author, and hall of fame speaker Bill Cates is featured in a Thrive LouD with Lou Diamond minisode.

Pulled from his original appearance, Bill shares with Lou the utter importance of knowing the people you are trying to reach.

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Produced by Adele Williams

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Ryan Early is the controlling owner of Blue Green Ventures, American Wholesale Hemp, Hempyre Genetics, and Can- ek Labs, and the General Contractor for the Northwestern Oklahoma State University Industrial Hemp Pilot Program.

He is also the owner of the Midwest Microbiome Repository, in charge of gathering and testing various strains of hemp and other potentially viable agricultural commodity crops. After testing hundreds of specimens, Ryan discovered the secret sesquiterpene complex that will power the future of natural farming, called BlueMagic.

"Project Hemp for Victory" was founded in early 2018 in partnership with NWOSU and Ryan’s company, Hempyre Genetics, LLC. With the passage of HB2913, which Farmer Ryan was a large part of the language and lobbying for enacted the Oklahoma Industrial Hemp Pilot Program.

 

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As Vice President for Safety & Airworthiness, Bobbi Wells is the Vice President of Safety, Environmental & Regulatory Compliance at American Airlines.

Previously she was responsible for the Air and Ground Safety, Quality Assurance, Quality Control, and Airworthiness Records programs of the FedEx Express fleet and air operation worldwide.

Prior to that she is a 10-year veteran of the US Army.  She is a highly respected leader within the aviation industry and is a huge supporter of opportunities for women in leadership across many different industries.

Enjoy this conversation as Bobbi shares with Lou Diamond on Thrive LouD a little bit about her career, her love of flying and travel and what great opportunities exist today within her industry.

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Mark Herschberg is the author of The Career Toolkit, Essential Skills for Success That No One Taught You. Educated at MIT, Mark has spent his career launching and fixing new ventures at startups, Fortune 500s, and academia. He’s developed new software languages, online marketplaces, new authentication systems, and tracked criminals and terrorists on the dark web. Mark helped create the Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program, MIT’s “Career Success Accelerator”, where he’s taught for twenty years. Mark also serves on the boards of non-profits Techie Youth and Plant a Million Corals.

Lou tries to extract all of the "Swiss Army" tools that Mark has so listeners can understand how powerful and useful his lessons can be.

Breanna (Brea) Gunn is a messaging and funnel specialist, working with business owners and solo-preneurs to create messaging and processes that inspire loyalty, momentum, and action that leverages trust, authenticity, and profitability. Brea uses her more than 10 years of experience with customer service and marketing to uncover the gaps in messaging that lead to lower conversions and plugs them through customized systems, structures, and processes that are bolstered by copy that converts.

From wanting to put away the bad guys to helping small businesses Brea shares with Lou Diamond her 'accidental journey' to help entrepreneurs create a fruitful customer journey for their customers.

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Oh and if you didn't already know, Brea went viral with this fun TikTok video.

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David B. Falk is an American sports agent who primarily works with basketball players in the National Basketball Association. Falk began his career representing professional tennis players for Donald Dell's ProServ and is best known for representing sports icon Michael Jordan for the entirety of Jordan's career.

Besides Jordan, Falk has represented more than 100 other NBA players, and is generally considered to be the most influential player agent the NBA has seen. During the peak years of Falk's career in the 1990s, he was often considered the second-most powerful person in the NBA behind Commissioner David Stern, and in 2000 he had at least one client on all but two NBA teams. He was listed among the "100 Most Powerful People in Sports" for 12 straight years from 1990 to 2001 by The Sporting News, and was also named one of the Top 50 Marketers in the United States by Advertising Age in 1995.

David connects with Lou Diamond in a "TBT" special Thrive LOUD episode pulled from the  "WHY THEY LISTEN" podcast.  David shares how through his hard work, amazing experiences and powerful connections has earned him a life where he is "living the dream."

Two-time NBA All-Star, Olympic Gold Medalist and Philanthropist Allan Houston is featured on THRIVE LOUD with LOU DIAMOND in an episode pulled from the "WHY THEY LISTEN" podcast.  Allan founded FISLL - a social impact brand providing leadership training, legacy development and consumer products. FISLL exists to engage, equip and inspire people to Live Better, Perform Better, and Lead Better.

FISLL actuates 5 essential values of Faith, Integrity, Sacrifice, Leadership, & Legacy as language to promote healthy mind, body and spirit.

Listen in as Allan shares the focus of how The FISLL brand; FISLL's media channels and digital learning platform, publications, podcasts, virtual events and the FISLL mobile app; FISLL’s merchandising division are all engaging and empowering its users.

Through the Allan Houston Legacy Foundation (AHLF) - a multi-dimensional organization created to work with any individual, program, business, or institution that serves the community.  AHLF manages The FISLL Project (TFP) which serves as its signature social impact arm. The FISLL Project focuses on Youth Voice and Leadership cultivation, combining the model of leadership teaching and restorative behavioral science with mentorship, character development, media content, events, and programming.

In this episode, you'll learn why everyone should listen to the Allan and the initiatives around the FISLL project.

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Charles Byrd is a human lead magnet 🧲  and super-connector with a deep background in joint ventures, leadflow, and is a frictionless systems expert.  He is an entrepreneur, speaker, author, trainer, and strategist.

Charles Byrd CEO and founder of www.CharlesByrd.com specializing in joint venture strategies.

Master connectors UNITE on this fun episode of Thrive LOUD as Lou and Charles connect.

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Part strategist, part storyteller, part English-to-English translator, Tamsen Webster helps experts drive action with their ideas. Tamsen honed her trademark Red Thread approach in and for major organizations like Johnson & Johnson, Harvard Medical School, and Intel, as well as with hundreds of individual founders, academics, and thought leaders. She's a former TEDx Executive Producer and current Idea Strategist. She's also author of Find Your Red Thread: Make Your Big Ideas Irresistible. 

Tamsen catches up with Lou and the two discuss Tamsen's passion for pulling out big, irresistible ideas!

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Charmaine Hammond has been in the business of changing lives for more than 25 years. This former Correctional Officer (yup! She worked in jails) and Corporate Dispute Resolution Expert now travels the world teaching the principles of leadership, business success, and collaboration. In business 21 years, she has owned several businesses in Canada and the US. She is a co-founder of the Evolutionary Business Council whose collective reach exceeds 140 million. She is also co-founder and co-host of the Global Influence Summit. She has sat on all four sides of the sponsorship table (as a Director of nonprofits seeking sponsorship, a specialist in government responsibility for funding/sponsorship portfolio , as an entrepreneur like you seeking sponsorship, and as a sponsor for other people's events, projects, and dreams).

As a bestselling author (of five books & featured in six others) and Certified Speaking Professional (CSP), she has had tremendous success in finding corporate sponsors to fund her printing, graphic design, venues, travel, media, technology, hotels, even her pet food and dog poop bags! She has developed sponsorship relationships with 100’s of companies.

Her latest project which is near and dear to her hear is the important film called "Back Home Again" (the promo video link is below)

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz-QJhm5uKI[/embedyt]

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Sonny Melendrez is in the business of making people happy. Inspiring others has always been an important element in the life of this dynamic radio and television personality, author and speaker. Twice named Billboard Magazine's "National Radio Personality of the Year," Sonny was inducted into the Texas Radio Hall Of Fame, The San Antonio Radio Hall of Fame and included in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as one of the Top 100 Radio Personalities of All-Time. He has entertained on some of America’s greatest radio stations, both in Los Angeles and San Antonio and his popular radio program and podcast, The Sonny Melendrez Show, delivers much needed inspiration & entertainment to a worldwide audience.

After the two met at the Grow Retreat in San Antonio in early January, Lou felt that it was his moral imperative to get Sonny to come on Thrive LOUD and share his incredible journey, voice and passion for life each and every day.

 

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Cited by Oprah Magazine as “one of our favorite creative thinkers…”, improvisor, comedian, coach and Army veteran Dion Flynn, is best known as Barack Obama (and other characters) with over 100 appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. If Dave Chapelle and Eckhart Tolle had a son who did improv, it’d be Dion. An expert in fun and innovative ways to help people connect with themselves and others, he’s led scores of people through his Improv Recovery Workshops.

After performing on the same stage at the 2022 Grow Retreat, Dion talks with Lou all about his unique path, improv skills in business, and a very, very V.I.P. pops into the episode to share the brilliance and importance of the air fryer.

 

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Jessica Mead is the Founder and CEO of Brandlync, a managing partner of Drivonic, and the co-founder of The Epek Companies and Mead Holdings Group. This all has a combined valuation toppling 100 million and a portfolio of angel investments that encompasses more than 20 companies.

With offices in California, Washington, Indiana, Arizona, Brazil, the Netherlands, and India, Jessica is a non-traditional wife and mother who runs her business empire pretty much from wherever she chooses. She is seldom seen without her children as she homeschools them full-time: pioneering curriculum that is enviable by both traditional teachers and alternative education experts.

She has been featured alongside Richard Branson, Shaquille O’Neil, and in publications like Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Yahoo Finance. Regularly, Jessica is asked to comment on the power of the female investing dollar, public school reform, homeschooling children while advancing one’s own career, and how to scale companies from the inside out without giving up control. With two amazing children, a 20-year marriage, a budding business portfolio, and an emerging women’s empowerment movement appropriately titled Still Orbiting, Jessica exudes business and life mastery.

Her latest book, FIREWORK HUMANS, teaches readers how they can live an extraordinary life full of fireworks and steadily control their own orbit.

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Tom McCarthy is a father of two, husband of 30 years, CEO or Board Member of 8 companies, early stage investor in over 40 companies and worldwide philanthropist.

After a successful career with a Wall Street firm, Tom found his true passion in the field of helping people in business, athletics and life, breakthrough their limitations and step into their full potential. Tom has been the peak performance coach for athletes who have won World Championships and Olympic Gold Medals. 

In the corporate world, Tom’s clients include Cisco Systems, Microsoft, Wells Fargo, Salesforce, Met Life and many others. He has also helped several CEO’s and Executive Teams realize their dream of taking their companies public.

Tom has been called the World’s #1 High Stakes Performance Coach and he has been selected by Forbes as an expert and thought leader in the areas of leadership, communication, and peak performance for their Knowledge Innovation Center. When the stakes are high, Tom is the coach that the world’s leading companies  and peak performers call on to help them win!

 

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On June 18, 2015, Frank Kitchen was fired by his employer at a Lunch Meeting.  His son was 2 years old and his wife was 7 months pregnant with their second child. It was Father's Day weekend! That weekend, he got hungry and committed to living the Professional Speaking Dream he had been "talking" about for years.

He founded his own company, Frank Kitchen Enterprises and developed the “I Live F.R.E.S.H.” recipe which he now teaches to audiences and clients around the world.

When Frank is not speaking, he practices what he teaches by volunteering with the Non-Profit organization Hustle PHX as a Board Member and mentor for aspiring entrepreneurs; and by raising millions of dollars annually for non-profits as one of the First African American Fundraising Ambassadors/Auctioneers in the world.

Frank let's Lou into his kitchen and the two of them drum up some F.R.E.S.H. recipes that you're certain to savor.

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Pamela (Pam) McCord got a late start in writing, but has made up for it with several published novels and at least one more on the way.

​A serendipitous conversation with a writer friend launched her literary career, and the fact that she might never have had that particular conversation is enough to make her believe that fate played a hand in sending her down her best path.

She’s lived in Southern California most of her life and is thankful to have a loving family and supportive friends.

​Spending time at home during the COVID pandemic has advanced both Pam's writing and her relationship with her My Cat From Hell TV star, Allie, who manages to exude just enough affection to make her scary feral ways tolerable.

Pulled from the Bedside Reading's Authors That Thrive Podcast - and from the Pai Gow tables of Las Vegas - Pam shares her passion for writing, her cat and some other-worldly spirits with Lou Diamond on Thrive LOUD.

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RALF SPECHT is a visionary business leader, highly sought-after speaker, and creator of the Soul System™, a framework that aligns value-creating employee action with broader corporate strategy through shared understanding & shared purpose. As a founding partner of Spark44, he was the architect of an innovative, industry-first joint-venture with Jaguar Land Rover, which he grew to a global revenue of $100+m and 1,200 employees before it joined forces with Accenture Interactive in 2021.

Previously, he consulted with global companies and brands for more than two decades with McCann Erickson. He is the author of Building Corporate Soul: Powering Culture & Success with the Soul System™ from Fast Company Press, and the forthcoming, Beyond the Startup: Sparking Operational Innovations for Global Growth. His driving vision is to make soulless companies a thing of the past.

Ralf connects with Lou and discusses how the Soul System™ can apply to any organization on Thrive LOUD.

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Randall Crowder is passionate about new venture creation and the innovative spirit that fuels entrepreneurs and advances technology.

As an active investor and entrepreneur, he understands what it takes to successfully launch and grow new businesses.  He is currently the Chief Operating Officer of Phunware (NASDAQ: PHUN), a technology company in Austin, TX providing brands with a fully integrated cloud platform for mobile, including a blockchain-enabled data exchange and mobile loyalty ecosystem powered by PhunCoin.

He is a co-founder and Managing Partner at TEXO Ventures where he focused on tech-enabled health services and he is the sole founder and Managing Partner at Novē Ventures where he focuses on companies leveraging blockchain technology.

Listen in as Randall chats with Lou about two hot areas in the world today: blockchain and health services.

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