Tanner's Influence Podcast

Anyone who has had the pleasure of meeting Theresa Foxley, quickly recognizes her as someone people want to listen to and immediately like. She humbly describes herself as “the unabashed cheerleader for the State of Utah”, but Theresa is also very strategic, intelligent, and people smart! After her many successes as Deputy Director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), in January Theresa became the president and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah). It seemed so appropriate for us to interview Theresa in EDCU’s conference room with breathtaking views of Salt Lake City, the University of Utah, our Wasatch Mountains, and the “Silicon Slopes” that flow southward into Utah County. Trained as an attorney, Theresa is a passionate leader with a bold, sweeping vision for Utah’s future. Her goals go beyond Salt Lake and Utah Counties and into rural Utah, and her unique accomplishments include convincing numerous companies like Procter & Gamble, eBay, and Adobe to relocat

“Successful entrepreneurs do not wait until the Muse kisses them and gives them a bright idea; they go to work!”  – Peter Drucker Our recent interview with Brad Ouderkirk reminded us that the founders of high-growth companies don’t take no for an answer. In the words of the late Peter Drucker, “they go to work!” Five years ago, Brad was a successful general contractor who hated the leaky gas cans he often had on his job sites. So he began building lots of wooden prototypes of spill-proof gas cans that would be safer and easier to use. After five years of innovation, Brad launched “SureCan.” He has never looked back! Over the past two years Brad’s spill-proof SureCan has won numerous awards, including the “Most Innovative New Product Award” at the National Hardware and the Retailers Choice Award. He has national distribution in thousands of stores like Lowes, Ace Hardware, TruValue, and 300 stores in Utah. His advice to other entrepreneurs is to “keep swimming and ask your self is this impossible or just hard?

We were inspired by the creative mojo we felt during our recent visit with Troy D’Ambrosio and Garrett Holm of the Lassonde Studios. Troy is the inspired Executive Director who worked with one of the University of Utah’s biggest benefactors, Pierre Lassonde, to create a special place where students, researchers, engineers and professors could come together to create new companies. Garrett is the young, determined undergrad that serves as Lassonde’s Company Launch Director. Pierre Lassonde graduated with an MBA from the University of Utah in the early 70’s and became one of the most successful entrepreneurial leaders in the history of mining. He wanted to create an ecosystem for creative thinkers, a place where calculated risks would be celebrated and students pushed themselves to go beyond the obligation of earning great grades and degrees. Troy D’Ambrosio and the students at the U answered the call! This interview with Troy and Garrett is inspiring on multiple levels. It’s obvious that Troy D’Ambrosio loves

Ten years ago, Rhonda Nicoloff became the president of A&K Railroad Materials, the leading supplier of new and used track materials in the United States. But Rhonda’s path to the top of A&K Railroad began in 1991 when she began her career at A&K as an entry level sales professional. She has never looked back! A graduate of Indiana University, Rhonda has always had her feet firmly planted on the ground. She is quick to credit her success to her parents and the recruited mentors in her life. Yes, Rhonda is the president of a big company in a male dominated field. Yes, before that she was, perhaps, the most successful Vice President of Sales in the railroad supply industry. Yes, she even made time to raise a family and earn her MBA at Harvard. Rhonda draws from a deep well, and her personal standards are very high. She is very intuitive and very determined. She is a humble, persuasive business leader who knows how to move others to take action. We hope you enjoy Rhonda’s unique story of success in an

Sometimes you find innovation and inspiration in the most unexpected places. In this week’s Influence Podcast we experienced both as we had the pleasure of meeting with Jeff Miller the Co-owner and General Manager of both Mark Miller Subaru Dealerships and JCO Financial. Jeff and Mark are counterintuitive disruptors in the automotive industry. Their flagship stores, one located in a dealership that Larry Miller closed in 2009, look and feel and smell like a hot technology company. That’s the vibe! Sixteen years ago, Jeff Miller graduated from USC and with his father, Mark, and his wife, Tatiana, began refining their unique culture and reinventing the entire experience of buying a car. They have created a loyal, nurturing, honest environment that brings out the best in every member of their team. “What makes us successful is that we take care of our people, and because we take care of them, they take care of our valued customers.” They have won every national award in their industry–the Subaru Stellar Award fo

We recently had the pleasure of interviewing Ryan Westwood, the founder and CEO of Simplus, a young, determined SaaS company that is the recognized leader for “quote to cash” solutions. Ryan is the founder of several successful companies, the author of a recent national bestseller, and an angel who helps young companies succeed. He is frequently featured in the Wall Street Journal and Huffington Post but is also a humble, positive giver who goes all out to help others. The Simplus lobby features two life-sized “underdogs” that are symbolic of Ryan’s commitment to push hard for the things he believes in. Ryan has had to work hard and fight for everything, and tenaciously protects the culture that makes Simplus a winning company. Even the most impressive candidates are not hired unless they have an underdog’s history of overcoming significant obstacles. You basically have to be an intelligent and caring “junkyard dog” to join this team of 120 determined people in six offices! Enjoy this inspiring interview with

“When a kindness is done, it has to be paid back 10 times.” – Margo Provost After a successful career in marketing, in 1985 Maxine Turner wanted to raise a family and continue to contribute to make a difference in Utah. So she started a catering company, Cuisine Unlimited, opened a small deli, and very worked hard. Her new company took off, and Maxine’s husband, Marvin, left his corporate career to help her run her rapidly growing company. Cuisine Unlimited was on its way to becoming one of the most decorated and celebrated catering companies in the United States! But Maxine’s success in building her own high-growth company is not the focus of this engaging interview. It’s more about bringing happiness to people and following her passion to create celebrations around food. More than anything Maxine Turner is a giver who, like her friend Margo Provost, the founder of Log Haven, believes that “when a kindness is done, it has to be paid back 10 times.” Maxine serves as the chairwoman for the U.S. Chamber of Comm

“All life is problem solving.” – Karl Popper There is something immediately appealing about Natalie Gochnour, the Associate Dean of the David Eccles School of Business and Director of the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah. As if that’s not enough, Natalie also serves as the Chief Economist for the Salt Lake Chamber. Intellectually gifted and emotionally engaging, Natalie, has spent her career “translating” complex data and bringing together decision makers in the business, policymaking, and academic communities. In short, Natalie is a problem solver with an energy that radiates outward, a humble thinker with a heart! Utah is fortunate to have Natalie’s uncanny ability to identify challenges and opportunities that others don’t fully see, then unpack intelligent solutions and ideas that build consensus. Please take time to listen to this podcast. You may find yourself nodding in agreement or, if you have a different point of view, seeing new points for agreement. Natalie Gochnour has a w

In 2009, Amelia Wilcox had nowhere to go but up. The Great Recession hit hard and her massage therapy practice was leveling off as clients cut costs and prepared for the worst. Her husband’s e-commerce business was also dropping fast. Things were tough. So she sold their inventory (and other things that were even important to her) at a great loss, and with $1,500 started Incorporate Massage. Unlike so many business leaders who are often in the spotlight, Amelia Wilcox is a very humble and determined person. She quickly began to grow her company brand through social media, and a new website. She “traded massages” for a new logo and identity and things started to grow. It wasn’t long before Amelia had so many clients, her strong hands could no longer keep up. She began to screen, interview, and hire the best massage therapists in Utah who shared her vision and passion to be the best. Amelia began winning what she calls “the war for talent”, Incorporate Massage is now in 42 U.S markets, and her husband now calls

After 20 years of practicing internal medicine, in 2007 Dr. Donna Milavetz wanted to dramatically improve care for her patients. She was also, like some of her patients, feeling “healthcare fatigue.”  At the height of her career, this accomplished MD who trained at one of Harvard’s hospitals, worked at the Mayo Clinic, and holds a master’s degree in public health from the prestigious University of Minnesota, decided to walk away from a broken system. Dr. Milavetz made several bold strategic moves.  She left the traditional fee-for-service model behind, raised capital, and made a “cold call” to Susan Johnson, the President of Futura Industries. Six short weeks later, she opened her first clinic at Futura Industries. Futura’s employees loved their personal care, their overall health improved dramatically, and the company enjoyed major cost savings from their new and innovative healthcare.  OnSite Care was born! Ten years later, OnSite Care is a much bigger success story, and Futura Industries, OnSite Care’s fir

“PEOPLE SPEND TOO MUCH TIME READING THEIR BUSINESS CARDS” An Influence Podcast with Susan Johnson, President, engineer, and humanist It was our recent pleasure to sit down and talk with Susan Johnson, the outgoing President and CEO of the most profitable metal extruder in North America, Futura Industries. Over the past 22 years, Susan has led Futura Industries to national prominence by investing in the future and exceeding the expectations of Futura’s employees and the loyal customers they serve. A graduate of  Cal Poly where amazingly smart people “learn by doing,” Susan is a brilliant business leader, one of the very best. She also has amazing instincts when it comes to inspiring and leading people. Susan has spent her life building companies by providing new opportunities for her family of employees to grow and taking care of clients. She knows everyone’s name, and “has never forgotten what it’s like being at the bottom looking up.” Under Susan’s steady leadership, Futura Industries has enjoyed incredible

“BIG LESSONS: STAY CALM & GET THINGS DONE FAST!” This week, we interview a former BYU student entrepreneur who in 1996 began building websites at the dawn of the Internet, John Pestana. His earliest company was JP Interactive, a company that he sold all his (and his wife’s) wedding gifts to buy a computer for, a company that eventually became Omniture. John and Josh James, his partner, put everything on the line to survive the dot-com crash, raise money, meet payroll, and land Fortune 500 clients. Through sheer determination and grit, they built Omniture into a successful public company that was acquired by Adobe Systems in 2009 for $1.8 billion dollars. Early investors in Omniture enjoyed 100x+ returns and hundreds of others, became multi-millionaires! Most founders would have immediately retired. John, like Josh, did not! John Pestana went on to co-found ObservePoint, a SaaS company based in Provo that improves the technology and data quality of clients engaged in online marketing. Even though he is ver

INNOVATION AND BRANDING GURU – JEREMY ANDRUS Everyone who knows Jeremy Andrus–one of the most innovative and charismatic CEO’s on the planet–is glad he decided to move to Utah in 2005! Jeremy graduated with a B.A. from Brigham Young University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School before joining Skullcandy, an edgy headphone company.  Under his energetic leadership, Skullcandy went from a startup with a few million in sales to $300 million before their successful IPO in 2011. He was and is the right leader at the right time! It’s difficult to label Jeremy. He was an “entrepreneur in residence” when he was just a kid, a title he later had with Solamere Capital after eight amazing years at Skullcandy. He is an impact player that has left his mark at Marriott, Monitor Company, BYU, Harvard, Lehman Brothers in London, and Skullcandy where he blew the brand through the roof with the Vans Warped Tour and funky music events with rapper Jay-Z. For the past three years, Jeremy has led Traeger Wood Fired Grills ou

“STRATEGY ON A SPREADSHEET” Lately, it seems like the Wasatch Front is home to more startups per capita than any other mid-size market in the United States. Just a few weeks ago in downtown Salt Lake City, the Silicon Slopes Summit drew over 5,000 techies together to connect and learn and celebrate what we are building. It is against this backdrop that we had the pleasure of interviewing Kent Thomas, the founder of Advanced CFO Solutions. Kent launched Advanced CFO Solutions 20 years ago and is highly respected by many the leading founders of Utah’s most impressive high-growth companies. Always quick to recognize his awesome clients and his friendship with CEOs like Paul Allen (Ancestry.com) and Jeremy Andrus (Skullcandy & Traeger), Kent Thomas is a recognized thought leader who has had a huge impact as a trusted advisor to many of the best executives in our growing ecosystem. More than anything, Kent has been successful in “putting strategy on a spreadsheet” and helping the founders of Utah’s most dynami

The Other Side Academy: An innovative, self-help academy and residence where some of the most disadvantaged (and incredible) people in our community are learning new ways to succeed. We weren’t with Tim Stay, CEO of The Other Side Academy, very long before he suggested that we talk with one his students. Within five minutes we had the pleasure of meeting Shawn, who looked street-smart and was very people-savvy.  Tim talked about things like being in “the safest place I have ever been” and a culture of “pulling each other up.”  It was inspiring to meet Shawn.  The inspiration continued with Tim as he talked about keeping it pure and building a sustainable model so even more lives can be changed. It wasn’t long before Parley, “the rescue dog”, joined our conversation by walking into the meeting room with his tail wagging. Even Parley has a mission: to make people happy and feel loved. It’s a positive irony that Joseph Grenny, the world renowned change agent for the Fortune 500, recruited Tim Stay so they could

TECH SAVVY & STREET SMART – INSIGHTS FROM SILVERVUE’S ERIC SMITH We live in a fast-paced, complex, and sometimes careless world. And it’s rewarding when we can learn from someone who is tech savvy, street smart, and amazingly successful. It’s also impressive if that same person has the ability to connect with people and, in spite of their success, hasn’t gotten caught up in what Tom Wolfe calls “The Bonfire of the Vanities.” This week’s podcast features just such a rare person, Eric Smith, an entrepreneur and technical visionary who is the co-founder of SilverVue, one of Utah’s most promising high-growth companies. Over the past 20 years, Eric and his business partner, Will West, have successfully launched several leading companies. SilverVue is a company that reflects the vision and experience of Eric and Will, a software care platform that solves complex problems, like providing a simple dashboard that monitors and coordinates patient care in and out of the hospital! Eric has a real gift for developing

Our recent conversation with Ryan Larsen and Dr. Darin Vercillo, two co-founders of Central Logic, and Todd Dalberg, their CMO and brand marketing guru, was both enlightening and inspiring! Central Logic is the innovative leader in providing real-time data intelligence that helps hospitals and healthcare systems improve patient care and solve big problems. The payback for their clients is just three months, and with a 95% retention rate, Central Logic moving fast. We have lift-off! Central Logic solves complex problems, and the past 10 years have been both demanding and rewarding for their exceptional team. This is a company that is full of sneaky smart people, card-carrying geniuses like Ryan, Darin, Todd, and Jennifer Holmes, their CEO. But as we listened to these three leaders, we were taken back by their creativity and humility and perspective. They are as proud of Central Logic’s “like a family” culture as they are of their mind-blowing ability to solve big problems in healthcare. Central Logic is a grea

“WHASSUP HOMIE?” –  A TALK WITH HOMIE CEO, JOHNNY HANNA Homie, a rapidly growing startup focused on automating the home selling / home buying process, is getting a lot of attention these days. In just six short months, Homie’s peer to peer marketplace is saving home buyers and seller’s valuable time and thousands of dollars in commissions. Homie is taking off! We recently had the pleasure to talk with Johnny Hanna, Homie’s CEO and charismatic homeboy, who is leading this scrappy startup that is already having a big impact in the real estate industry. As one of the founders of Entrata, formerly Property Solutions International, a red hot SaaS company that created the best property management platform in the world, Johnny Hanna knows where he is going and how to get there. Enjoy Johnny’s insights. He is humble but very determined, a true homie that is always down for the cause, always looking for a new way to disrupt and improve the world!

This week’s Influence podcast features Clint Betts, the authentic, committed protagonist of tech in Utah. Clint is the Founder, CEO, and Editor-in-Chief of Beehive Startups. He is also a very powerful voice for Utah’s burgeoning technology ecosystem. Many of the most influential tech CEO’s in Utah support and respect Clint and the major impact he has had over the past three years in spreading the gospel of tech. Even from the beginning, Beehive Startups has always been bigger and bolder and more committed to the core because of Clint! But Clint is also humble enough to use his connections and influence to raise $12,000 for a 15-year-old beekeeper named Bryce who had his hives stolen. “We had to. We are Beehive Startups, how could we not?” He cares about tech in Utah, but he also cares about the thousands of children from low-income families in our state that don’t have books to read. So in addition to being the catalyst for over a dozen huge tech gatherings and numerous podcasts, in-depth articles, and Silico

We recently had the pleasure of meeting Isaac Barlow, the inspirational entrepreneur and president of a thriving workforce analytics company in St. George called BusyBusy. After 15 years of successful business management experience in the construction company, Isaac launched BusyBusy with the goal of helping construction and service companies automate time cards and daily progress on BusyBusy’s innovative mobile SaaS platform. He has never looked back! Isaac refers to the construction industry he knows so well as “organized chaos.” He saw a real opportunity to help contractors and service companies have greater success by giving them better information to make better decisions in real time. Isaac’s hero is Thomas Edison and it shows in his persistence and commitment! He is always “prototyping new ideas to make sure that they work”, and BusyBusy is rapidly growing with customers in 45 states. We hope you enjoy this inspiring interview with Isaac Barlow who is leading BusyBusy’s team of innovators on their ques