Podcast Row

Sammy is a cofounder and COO of Fitspot Wellness -- a fully managed solution for companies and properties, bringing on-site and digital workplace wellness programs and amenities to engage employees and tenants through community experiences. Sammy is an attention-to-detail aficionado who brings a blend of grit and imagination to the zillions of tasks that confront every startup. She has always thrived in operations, working as a production assistant in LA and managing operations in the fashion industry. Sammy wears many hats at Fitspot, doing everything from sketching app screens to managing the customer experience. Sammy has a B.F.A. from the University of Miami, and hails from Australia.

As founder and CEO of iMiller Public Relations (iMPR), Ilissa Miller brings nearly two decades of experience in sales, marketing and product development to her clients in an effort to help them differentiate their messages and achieve notoriety within an ever expanding and evolving industry. With a wealth of experience and knowledge in the emerging global telecommunications and technology industries, her extensive expertise and practical skill set have allowed her to implement and spearhead and launch many companies as well as global product and marketing campaigns including that of international private line and networks, IP transit, peering, IPVPN, hosted PBX, cloud computing, Ethernet, managed services, colocation and data center products and solutions. She is a recognized leader in the global telecom and technology space where her knowledge and insights provide strategic guidance that enhance performance resulting in a remarkable reputation for effectiveness and client satisfaction. In addition to her aforementioned role, since 2013, Mrs. Miller has also served as the President of NEDAS where she functions as the driving force for the association’s annual programs including conferences, training sessions and networking socials. A key ingredient to the Association’s success is the Advisory Council, which was formed in 2013 consisting of industry executives and thought leaders who actively interact with the highly dynamic landscape of the in-building wireless industry. In 2012, Mrs. Miller was elected to public office as Trustee in the Village of Mamaroneck where she successfully ran for re-election in 2014. As Trustee, she sits on the Village’s Board with legislative and policy decision-makers, governing over 19,000 local residents and serving her community with steadfast dedication. Mrs. Miller holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Writing and Literature from SUNY Potsdam where she also studied voice performance at Crane School of Music.

Jezzibell is a co-founder and SVP of Business Development of PacketFabric. From their web site: PacketFabric redefines how companies build and use network services. The PacketFabric network-as-a-service platform provides instant connectivity between colocation facilities, to major cloud providers, and Internet Exchanges. PacketFabric is simple, cost-effective, and scalable network connectivity and all of our services are provided via our portal and API. She was an early stage employee of AboveNet Communications and Akamai Technologies, and previously served as VP of Operations at RoamData, as well as VP of Business Development for GTT.

In his words, JV Bharathan cares about every single human being on the planet and celebrates the greatness of being human. He is an accidental author. He holds a BS in electrical engineering from India and received double masters of science degrees in software engineering and management from Brandeis University. JV is an avid traveler, people lover, and enjoys working with people from cross-cultures and around the world. He is passionate about motivating people to their greatness and remains committed to creating collaborative community settings.

Aaron is the president & CEO of the NJ Tech Council and founder of Propelify---the Propelify Innovation Festival. Propelify empowers the community of innovators who act. He launched Propelify in 2016 to inspire the tech and innovation community and those who act---who propel. Propelify welcomed over 8000 attendees in 2016 and over 10,000 in 2017, making it one of the largest tech events ever, earning a headline from Forbes calling the Propelify Innovation Festival the SXSW of the Northeast. Past speakers include Gary Vaynerchuk, Arianna Huffington, Joanne Wilson, Gerard Adams, Marcus Weldon, Peter Shankman, and CEOs/founders of livestream, MakeSpace, media.net, Enigma, Gimlet Media, FullContact, Bionic, Andela, and more. Its media partners include Entrepreneur Magazine and Cheddar. Past sponsors include Bell Labs, Google, Jet, ADP, Samsung NEXT, Staples, and more. As Propelify's motto states: idle ideas don't fly. New Jersey Tech Meetup is the state's largest and fastest growing technology community with over 6500 members. Aaron has been invited to speak at the White House and has been covered by Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, BetaBeat, Entrepreneur Magazine, NJ.com, and more.

I felt a special bond with Ani before interviewing him. He introduced himself telling me that he read my Inc article What a Year Without Flying Taught Me About Responsibility, Empathy, and Community over a year before and, agreeing with it, challenged himself to avoid flying. He was 14 months into avoiding flying. He joked, "I hate you and I love you," because the challenge was so great but so was the reward. More about Ani, from his page: Ani helps entrepreneurs and high impact leaders feel aligned inside out, so you can create from a profound sense of calm, clarity & comfort, and translate your limitless potential into a wildly successful and meaningful life & business aligned with your true purpose. He has spent decades studying how the human mind works, and perfected a set of tools that can help you break free of the programming that limits you and keeps you in a constant state of stress, anxiety, fear, and overwhelm, and master your mind so you fall in love with who you really are, feel seen and understood by those around you and actually enjoy the success you have worked so hard for. His work as a coach and speaker has helped hundreds of people destroy the hidden blocks that limit them, unleash their unique superpowers, and permanently rewire their brains for epic success & happiness.

Shana is the founder, CEO, and Lead Trainer at Yadid’it! Dog Training, the Executive Director at Yadid'it! Sustainable Dog Rescue and an ABCDT (Animal Behavior College Certified Dog Trainer). She is, in her words, super quirky, a loving dog-mom, an eldest sister to two loving siblings, and a sexual trauma survivor. #metoo Growing up a practicing modern orthodox Jew and attending a yeshiva day school from elementary through high school, Shana always had a strong inclination towards the concept of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world). Tikkun Olam, the Jewish concept defined by acts of kindness performed to perfect or repair our broken world, is the driving force behind her founding the two Yadid'it! companies. Tikkun Olam is often implemented when discussing issues of social policy, ensuring a safeguard to those who may be at a disadvantage, as in the case of people that have experienced sexual force or violence of any kind. Yadid'it! is the overarching brand-name for Shana's for-profit dog-training company and non-profit dog-rescue organization. The two sister companies work together to cultivate healthier lives for trauma survivors, human and canine alike, as her personal contribution to Tikkun Olam. She always had a special bond with animals, especially the misunderstood. Using her unique bond with dogs, she has trained over 500 dogs and their owners over the course of her six year dog-training career. She has also rescued six of her own dogs, and helped to get countless foster dogs adopted. Reading Temple Grandin’s "Animals in Translation, Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior" shortly after turning 21 proved a pivotal life point. Her understanding of her relationship with animals began to unfold. She identified therapeutic benefits between rescue animals and human survivors of sexual traumas, eager to see if all the clarity she felt flipping through the pages of Grandin's book was more than just an idea.