Leading Visionaries Podcast

What happens when you spend years learning how to lead, knock on 9,000 doors, and discover that the conversations happening face-to-face are dramatically different from the conversations happening online? In this episode of Leading Visionaries, host Anjel B. Hartwell sits down with Christopher Rivers, former Army Officer and author of You Shouldn’t Have to Kill to Get Ahead.
Christopher shares what he learned from knocking on thousands of doors, why he believes meaningful change starts with everyday conversations, and how his book became the foundation for a larger mission to make complicated policy and political conversations more approachable.
You'll also hear how Christopher is turning his ideas into multiple formats, including an audiobook and digital experiences, while building a mission-driven business.

What You Will Learn:
How having a clear vision differs from being able to see the path to achieving it.
Why your vision may develop through experience rather than appearing fully formed.
How a 1% improvement mindset can help develop leadership over time.
Why leadership is built through consistent personal growth rather than a single workshop or title.
What Christopher learned from knocking on 9,000 doors during his political campaigns.
How information overload can make it harder to find the information needed to make good decisions.
Why face-to-face conversations can help people navigate disagreement and different perspectives.
Two questions that can create more productive conversations around difficult issues.
How a book can become the foundation for a larger mission-driven business.
Why entrepreneurs need to meet people where they are and create multiple ways for people to engage with their ideas.
How speaking, books, digital products, and educational tools can become revenue streams for a mission-driven organization.

FAQ:
How does the 1% mindset help develop leadership?
The 1% mindset focuses on becoming a slightly better version of yourself each day. Christopher Rivers believes that consistently improving yourself over time can develop the discipline, experience, and personal growth required for leadership.

What can knocking on 9,000 doors teach you about leadership?
Knocking on 9,000 doors created an opportunity to speak directly with people across different political perspectives. Those conversations showed Christopher that many people's personal concerns and conversations were different from the broader conversations happening through media and online platforms.

How can people have better conversations when they disagree?
Two questions can help create more productive conversations: "What would you have to see to change your mind?" and "How would you feel if it happened to you?" These questions encourage people to consider whether they are genuinely open to new information and how an issue might affect them personally.

Connect with Christopher Rivers
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Leading Visionaries Podcast
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What if the biggest thing standing between your big vision and the life you want isn't a lack of ambition, but a lack of a road map? In this episode of Leading Visionaries, host Anjel B. Hartwell sits down with Jason Clark, Chief Marketing Officer of Tectonic. Jason helps organizations connect branding, technology, marketing, and growth strategy.
Jason challenges some common assumptions about marketing and visibility. Marketing doesn't create value where none exists. It amplifies the value that's already there.
Hear Jason's perspective on ego, collaboration, knowing when you're truly ready to sell a business, and why getting out of your own head may be one of the most important leadership practices of all.

What You Will Learn:
How road mapping can turn a big vision into practical milestones.
Why BHAGs need benchmarks and smaller steps along the way.
How to lead and support other visionaries without taking over their vision.
Why ego can become an obstacle to long-term success.
How relationships and community contribute to achieving ambitious goals.
Why marketing works best when it amplifies proven value.
Why likes, followers, and visibility do not automatically create cash flow.
How founders can recognize when they are ready to sell or exit a business.
What changes when a founder moves from business owner to C-suite leader.
Why disconnecting from work can help leaders gain perspective.
How legacy, family, and presence can shape a leader's definition of success.

FAQ:
How do you turn a big vision into an actionable plan?
Start by defining the desired outcome and then work backward to identify the milestones required to reach it. A large goal becomes more manageable when it is broken into benchmarks, timelines, and measurable steps.

How can leaders help entrepreneurs achieve their vision?
Leaders can help entrepreneurs by bringing experience, perspective, strategic guidance, and an understanding of potential roadblocks. Rather than telling someone exactly what to do, effective leadership can help them anticipate challenges and create a practical path forward.

Does marketing create value for a business?
Marketing primarily amplifies existing value. Strong marketing can increase awareness, improve messaging, support sales, and create momentum, but marketing cannot compensate indefinitely for an offering that has not demonstrated real value in the marketplace.

Connect with Jason Clark
Team Tectonic
Leading Visionaries Podcast
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What happens when a personal problem becomes the doorway to a much bigger purpose? In this episode of Leading Visionaries, host Anjel B. Hartwell sits down with Carmine Del Sordi, founder and president of Pure and Easy Tea, a luxury tea company built around purity, transparency, quality, and purpose. Carmine shares how self-discovery shaped his approach to leadership, why he believes vision and visualization are two distinct but connected practices, and how he learned to turn what he could see into a roadmap for action.
If you've ever had a vision that wouldn't leave you alone, this conversation offers a powerful reminder: sometimes the thing that begins as a solution for yourself is actually the beginning of something meant to serve others.

What You Will Learn:
Why self-discovery is foundational to intentional leadership.
How knowing your core values and principles can strengthen your leadership.
The difference between receiving a vision and using visualization to bring that vision into reality.
How to turn a vision into a practical roadmap for action.
How a personal challenge can become the starting point for a business idea.
Why curiosity and experimentation are important parts of the innovation process.
How to recognize when an idea feels like a calling rather than simply an opportunity.
Why purpose can provide the persistence needed to navigate the difficult seasons of entrepreneurship.
How ritual can create space for gratitude, reflection, release, and intentional creation.
Why entrepreneurs need to recognize the financial investment and opportunity cost involved in bringing a vision to life.
How Carmine built Pure and Easy Tea around purity, transparency, quality, and function.
Why staying committed to a vision can matter when early business results are discouraging.

FAQ:
How do you turn a vision into reality?
Turning a vision into reality starts with clearly seeing the desired outcome and then creating a practical roadmap to move toward it. Visualization can help clarify the destination, while intentional action, experimentation, persistence, and planning help transform the vision into something tangible.

What is the difference between vision and visualization?
Vision is the ability to see or receive a clear sense of what could be created or accomplished. Visualization is the intentional practice of mentally seeing the desired end result and using that image to help construct a path toward it.

Why is self-discovery important for leadership?
Self-discovery helps leaders understand their core values, principles, motivations, and identity. Knowing who you are makes it easier to lead with intention and create a vision that is authentic to you.

Connect with Carmine Del Sordi
Pure and Easy Tea
Leading Visionaries Podcast
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What if changing the way you see yourself could change the way you move through one of the hardest seasons of your life? In this episode of Leading Visionaries, host Anjel B. Hartwell sits down with Amanda Goodwin, founder of Cancer Sharks, a storytelling and advocacy platform inspired by her experience with stage four melanoma. A longtime communications and leadership professional, Amanda has led nonprofit initiatives, fundraising campaigns, childcare organizations, and a technology startup.
Amanda shares how Cancer Sharks is evolving through storytelling events, merchandise, publishing, and speaking, while staying rooted in its larger purpose: creating connection when people need it most.
This conversation is about far more than cancer. It is about trusting your knowing, advocating for yourself, and having the courage to let a vision grow before you know exactly where it will lead.

What You Will Learn:
How self-leadership can become a powerful form of advocacy when navigating difficult circumstances.
Why advocating for yourself sometimes requires researching decision-makers and understanding what matters to them.
How years of leadership experience can become unexpectedly valuable during a personal crisis.
Why vision isn't always visual and can instead emerge through intuition, awareness, feeling, or a deep sense of knowing.
Why changing the language we use around difficult experiences can change how we relate to them.
How storytelling can create connection and vulnerability in places where people often feel isolated.
Why a vision does not have to be perfectly formed before you begin bringing it into the world.
How Amanda is building Cancer Sharks through storytelling, events, publishing, merchandise, and speaking.
Why entrepreneurs and visionaries need to be willing to experiment, learn, and allow their original vision to evolve.
How the words used by leaders, healthcare professionals, and caregivers can profoundly affect people during critical moments.
Why no one should have to swim alone when navigating a difficult season.

FAQ:
What is Cancer Sharks?
Cancer Sharks is a storytelling and advocacy platform founded by Amanda Goodwin following her experience with stage four melanoma. The platform uses storytelling, community, merchandise, events, and speaking to create a more empowering way for people to connect around cancer.
How can storytelling help people going through difficult experiences?
Storytelling can help people feel less isolated by creating opportunities for shared vulnerability and connection. Amanda found that sharing Cancer Sharks stickers and cards in medical settings often encouraged people to open up and share their own stories.

Why is the language used during critical care important?
Words can significantly affect how people experience vulnerable and frightening situations. Amanda's keynote, The Weight of Words in Critical Care, explores how communication can either increase fear or provide reassurance, connection, and empowerment.

Connect with Amanda Goodwin
Cancer Sharks
Leading Visionaries Podcast
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How can you stand out in a world where everyone sounds the same? In this episode of Leading Visionaries, host Anjel B. Hartwell sits down with Judy J. Winslow, the Brandologist, pioneering brand strategist, two-time international best-selling author, and founder of TEDx Sarasota. With three decades of experience helping visionary CEOs and founders become unforgettable brand leaders, Jay brings a refreshingly holistic perspective to branding, leadership, vision, and human connection.
The conversation then moves into what it really means to build an unforgettable brand. Jay challenges the traditional way we think about branding and explains why a powerful brand is about much more than logos or marketing tactics.
What You Will Learn:
How leadership can emerge before we consciously recognize ourselves as leaders.
Why observing and listening can be powerful forms of leadership.
How authentic leadership differs from performative influence.
Why branding is about more than logos, visual identity, and marketing.
The four aspects of becoming an unforgettable brand leader: visionary, catalyst, creator, and coachable/coach.
Why leaders need to consciously evolve their vision as they grow.
How leaders can energize and activate people around a shared vision.
Why culture and team development are essential parts of sustainable leadership.
How coaching and mentoring can help create more leaders within an organization.
Why authenticity is increasingly important in the age of AI.
How human relationships and community can become a competitive advantage.
Why building a brand for longevity requires more than creating a temporary burst of attention.
How local relationships and community involvement can strengthen a leader's brand.
Why the way a leader is being can be just as important as what the leader is doing.

FAQ:
What is authentic branding?
Authentic branding is the process of consciously building a brand around a genuine vision, identity, voice, values, and way of showing up rather than relying on manufactured positioning or tactics that do not reflect who the leader or organization really is.

What makes a brand unforgettable?
An unforgettable brand is built around a distinctive vision and authentic positioning rather than simply visual design. It requires leaders to consistently communicate and embody what makes their vision different while building meaningful relationships with the people they serve.

What are the four aspects of becoming an unforgettable brand leader?
The four aspects discussed are being a visionary, catalyst, creator, and coachable coach. A visionary owns and evolves the vision, a catalyst activates people around it, a creator brings the vision into reality, and a coachable coach develops both themselves and others.

Connect with Judy J. Winslow
Unforgettable Brands
Leading Visionaries Podcast
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