Episodes

Craig Newmark is the founder of Craigslist and someone whose work has shaped the modern internet as we know it. Long before Craigslist became one of the most enduring, important, and frequented platforms on the web, long before the internet even connected all of us, Craig was a computer science student here in Cleveland at Case Western Reserve University — tinkering with early programming languages, studying neural networks and AI, and exploring the frontier of software engineering. The res...

Brad DeHays — Founder and CEO of Connect Real Estate and Connect Housing Blocks. Brad’s journey spans from buying small distressed properties while still in college to leading one of the most ambitious housing manufacturing platforms in the country. Through Connect Real Estate, Brad has revitalized some of Ohio’s most overlooked landmarks — transforming abandoned power plants, trolley barns, and historic buildings into vibrant new community anchors. That same entrepreneurial vision inspi...

Chaya Slain is the Founder, President, and Chief Investment Officer at Virtera Partners. After studying mathematics at Columbia University, she discovered her deeper interest in investing at Goldman Sachs. After several years in New York, she returned to Cleveland and joined Parkwood, the Mandel family investment office, where she spent more than a decade immersed in institutional investing. At Parkwood, she developed a disciplined, process-driven investment philosophy; built relationships w...

Jerry Schill is the founder and CEO of Schill Grounds Management — a company he launched in 1993 with his brother after a chance summer job revealed a passion for landscaping. What began as a two-person side hustle has grown into a large-scale commercial grounds management company, now one of the fastest-growing platforms in the industry. In 2020, Jerry began a bold new chapter—scaling Schill Grounds Management through strategic acquisitions alongside organic growth. Under his leadership, th...

Perry Stancato is the founder and CEO of Signature Sauces and a third-generation operator of the beloved Cleveland institution, Stancato’s Italian Restaurant. This conversation with Perry explores the entrepreneurial journey of someone who grew up in the family restaurant — from standing on a milk crate as a kid making waffles for Sunday brunch to running Stancato’s today while simultaneously building Signature Sauces into a premier national food manufacturing partner. Signature Sauces beg...

Kaitie and Kyle Nickel are entrepreneurs, storytellers, and community builders based in Cleveland. They have grown beloved brands such as Cleveland Vibes, The Cleveland Market, and Cleve or Leave to reach hundreds of thousands of followers and many millions of people. Their work is driven by a shared goal: to connect people, celebrate local culture, and inspire growth. Passionate about empowering small businesses and shaping Cleveland’s cultural identity, Kaitie and Kyle have built a family b...

Nearly a year and a half after our conversation first aired in 2024, Lost & Found in Cleveland is ready to make its way to theaters nationwide on November 7, 2025. When I first sat down with Keith Gerchak and Marisa Guterman, the creative forces behind the film, we explored the decade-long journey that brought this story to life—from writing and directing this cinematic love letter to Cleveland, to raising capital, recruiting a star-studded cast featuring Martin Sheen, Dennis Haysbert, June S...

Nearly a year and a half after our conversation first aired, Aaron Slodov and Atomic Industries have reached an important milestone worth celebrating. Atomic recently announced the close of its $25 million Series A, led by MaC Venture Capital and DTX Ventures, with participation from Narya and others, to accelerate the rollout of its AI-driven manufacturing platform. With this funding, Atomic is expanding its software-defined factory footprint and advancing the AI systems at the heart of its ...

Ralph Lazaro, Co-founder & CEO of INaudio, has spent more than two decades leading high-performing teams and driving innovation. His career began in Fortune 500 companies before he joined Findaway in 2012, where he helped transform the business from a physical device company into a $100M+ digital audiobook powerhouse — a journey that ultimately led to Spotify’s acquisition of Findaway. Now, alongside Blake Squires (who shared his own remarkable entrepreneurial story on episode 206 of Lay of t...

Terry Coyne is an Executive Vice Chairman of Newmark and Principal of Terry Coyne Properties. Over his 25-plus-year career, Terry has become one of Ohio’s most accomplished commercial real estate leaders, negotiating more than 2,000 transactions totaling over $5 billion in value. In Cleveland alone, over the past five years, he and his team have brokered 250 transactions worth more than $1.2 billion. In our conversation, we cover Terry’s unique philosophy and strategy on real estate, risk, an...

Jeff Berlin is the Founder and President of Bridge Industries & Chairman and CEO of TransTech Energy. Jeff’s journey spans from his early days at Parker Hannifin to helping grow Hawk Corporation from a $20 million single-plant business into a $200 million global operation, and ultimately to founding his own company, Bridge — an industrial holding company anchored by TransTech — that has quietly scaled into a multi-hundred-million-dollar enterprise based in Chagrin Falls. In our conversation, ...

On this special episode of Lay of the Land, I’m joined—for the first time—by the two co-founders of The O.H.I.O. Fund, Mark Kvamme and Ray Leach, as well as the fund’s two founding partners, Jill Meyer and Mike Venerable, to share the inside story of how a bold idea became reality. We explore the inspiration and origins behind a first-of-its-kind strategy designed to generate returns while accelerating prosperity and shaping Ohio’s future. We discuss how, in our first year, we closed on over...

Jim McCarthy Jr. is a filmmaker and the director of the new documentary Mr. Football, and David Conwill is the Executive Vice Chairman and former CEO of Redwood Living as well as an executive producer of the film. Dave’s career spans two decades of building Redwood Living into a national leader in single-story rental neighborhoods—scaling from a handful of units in Northeast Ohio to more than 20,000 homes and multi-billion dollars’ worth of developments across nearly a dozen states. Alongside...

Ivy Zelman is one of the most respected voices in American housing, co-founder of Zelman & Associates, and now Executive Vice President at Walker & Dunlop, which acquired her firm in 2021 as the leading institutional research, advisory, and investment banking firm dedicated exclusively to the U.S. housing industry. Over the last three decades, Ivy has built a reputation for bold, contrarian analysis—famously calling the top of the housing market in 2005 and the bottom in 2012—moments that cemen...

Ryan Kelly is a filmmaker, entrepreneur, and partner of Substance, a film and television production company based in Cleveland. What if Northeast Ohio had the infrastructure to support large-scale film productions? That question first took root when Ryan found himself on the set of Cherry—a feature film shot in Cleveland by the Russo Brothers, the acclaimed Cleveland-born directors behind Avengers and Captain America—soaking in the experience of working alongside Hollywood heavyweights in his...

Andrew Hurst is the founder and CEO of Delivered, a fast-scaling logistics platform revolutionizing parcel shipping with faster, more reliable deliveries at lower costs. He also serves as CEO of Ark Transportation, where he led a fivefold revenue increase in just five years, and is the founder of Veroot, a compliance platform now trusted by thousands of logistics teams nationwide. Under his leadership, and across all three companies, Andrew is bringing an entrepreneurial lens to the freigh...

Dale Wollschleger is the Founder and former CEO of Cleveland-based ExactCare Pharmacy and the developer of the ExactPack™—a patient-specific medication packaging system designed to simplify complex medication regimens. This O.H.I.O. Fund Report conversation with Dale dives into the unlikely journey of a pharmacist-turned-entrepreneur who started in the back of a small Cleveland pharmacy and built a billion-dollar organization serving patients across the country. ExactCare’s meteoric growth—fr...

Sanjay Singh is a thoughtful strategist, seasoned executive, and business philosopher whose journey to leading the iconic Cleveland brand Mace Security—and his reflections on it—are remarkable. Sanjay’s story weaves together a deep appreciation for manufacturing and a career shaped by curiosity, resilience, and a knack for doing hard things—ultimately culminating in a personal philosophy grounded in introspection and presence. From navigating activist shareholders during a turnaround at Ma...

Kelcey Lehrich is the Co-Founder and CEO of 365 Holdings, based in Akron, Ohio. 365 Holdings acquires and operates consumer products companies, with a focus on eCommerce and a goal of long-term ownership. In our conversation, Kelcey shares his path to entrepreneurship and his evolution from making his first acquisition to becoming a seasoned operator. He weaves in lessons from challenging ventures, unconventional acquisitions, and the earned wisdom of building durable businesses in the compet...

TJ Dembinski is the co-founder and CEO of Eagle Electronics, dedicated to on-shoring America’s critical technology supply chain, starting with the IoT and automotive-grade cellular modules! This journey traces a fascinating arc — one that begins with the macro and geopolitical forces shaping global commerce and lands in a Northeast Ohio advanced micro-electronic manufacturing floor where Eagle Electronics is domestically building one of the most critical pieces of our digital infrastructure: ...

Ibrahim Mohmed is the founder of CourtSide Media Group and the co-founder & CEO of Taja AI. His entrepreneurial journey began right here in Ohio, where he launched CourtSide Media, a digital media agency that serves influencers with audiences ranging from 1 million to 75 million followers across various social platforms. Through CourtSide Media, Ibrahim has collaborated with high-profile clients including NBA legend Kevin Garnett, Cleveland’s FutureLAND annual conference, and prominent influence...

Carey Jaros joined GOJO in 2014 as a board member, later taking on executive roles as Chief Strategy Officer—where she oversaw Marketing, Product Management, and Innovation—and as Chief Operating Officer, before becoming President and CEO in January 2020. Our conversation today covers Carey’s call to lead—shaped by a lifelong passion for solving problems and telling stories—her reflections on leadership and decision-making, GOJO’s extraordinary legacy, and its ongoing commitment to innovation...

Today, we’re picking up with the second part of my conversation with Jodi Berg, the former President & CEO of Vitamix. In Part 1, we explored Jodi’s career, the history, evolution, and family legacy of Vitamix, and her leadership journey in growing the company into the global brand it is today. In Part 2, we continue with her reflections on stepping away from the business—and dive deeper into her philosophy of purpose, the DANCE framework she’s developing to help others lead more intention...

Jodi Berg, PhD recently retired as the fourth-generation President and CEO of Vitamix, having joined the family business in 1997 with the directive to lead the company’s overseas expansion, later serving as director of international, household and commercial divisions, and then ultimately as Executive Vice President in 2007, President in 2009, and CEO in 2011. Under her leadership, Jodi built on the 100+ year history and legacy of her family’s business, — founded in 1921 and headquartered in ...