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PODCAST

The Heart of Business

"The Heart of Business" podcast, hosted by Mo Fathelbab, is an authentic and insightful exploration of the human side of leadership and professional growth. Through candid conversations with accomplished business leaders, thought leaders, and peer group facilitators, Mo will delve deep into the personal journeys, challenges, and triumphs that have shaped their careers. Mo Fathelbab"s skillful and empathetic approach creates a safe space for guests to share their truths and vulnerabilities, revealing

business management

All Episodes

45:01

Team Powder Donut: A Journey of Hope with Gary Thompson

The Heart of Business ·

2026/10/02

A powdered donut in a minivan sounds like a throwaway moment until you hear what it became. I’m Mo Fathelbab, founder of the International Facilitators Organization, and I sit down with Gary Thompson, chief story catcher and the self-proclaimed donut guy, to unpack how love, loss, and human connection can turn into a mission with real impact. We start with Gary’s path from Ohio to Apple in the early personal computing days, where he meets Maureen, the architect who becomes the love of his lif...

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32:20

Creating Trust and Belonging Through Forum with Nancy...

The Heart of Business ·

2026/09/28

Most people don’t need more advice. They need a place where they can tell the truth. On this episode of Heart of Business, Nancy Koleda, Vice President of the International Facilitators Organization (IFO), joins us to explore how forum peer groups create that space. Drawing on her experience helping grow EO in Europe, Nancy shares why confidentiality, structure, and a shared commitment to showing up honestly can build connection across cultures. Nancy explains what happens inside a forum grou...

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44:11

Justin Ricklefs on Niching Down, Scaling Up, and...

The Heart of Business ·

2026/07/30

In this episode of The Heart of Business, Mo Fathelbab sits down with Justin Ricklefs, founder and CEO of Guild Collective, to explore the entrepreneurial journey behind building a successful customer-first marketing agency. Justin shares how early ventures—including selling concert tickets in college and recovering from a costly $30,000 business mistake—taught him resilience, accountability, and the importance of learning from failure rather than avoiding it. Justin reflects on the pivotal m...

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69:37

When Success Stops Measuring What Matters with Guy Spier

The Heart of Business ·

2026/07/02

In this episode, I sit down with Guy Spier for one of the most honest and meaningful conversations I've had on the podcast. We explore the experiences that shaped his life—from growing up across South Africa, Israel, Iran, and the UK to discovering value investing through Warren Buffett and building Aquamarine with his father as his anchor investor. Along the way, Guy shares his perspective on leadership, why he resists the entrepreneur label, and what he's learned through communities like En...

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51:29

"Charting a Course for Leadership and Innovation"...

The Heart of Business ·

2026/04/27

In our latest episode, we sit down with Deborah Hersman, an emblem of dedication to transportation safety and a vanguard for gender equality in leadership roles. Her journey is nothing short of inspiring, spanning from the corridors of Congress to chairing the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to the innovative realm of self-driving cars at Waymo as Chief Safety Officer. Exploring the relationship between automation, technology, and human interaction, especially as it pertains to ...

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37:20

Aaron Moore: From Contractor to Community Architect

The Heart of Business ·

2026/02/12

In this episode, we sit down with Aaron Moore, President of PPD Painting and Co-Founder of the Commercial Painting Industry Association, to explore how industry-specific peer forums transform insight into action—and relationships into a powerful retention engine. Aaron shares his journey from Chicago startup to buying out a partner, scaling a commercial painting company, and building CPIA around a forum model inspired by EO and YPO. We unpack the structure behind high-performing groups: non-c...

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38:59

Leading With Vulnerability: A Conversation With Dave...

The Heart of Business ·

2025/12/05

This episode features serial entrepreneur and facilitator Dave Ingram, who shares the pivotal moments that shaped his leadership—from his early landscaping business to building a 25-year executive search firm. Dave talks openly about the hard seasons, including the 2008 downturn, and how peer forums became his anchor for real talk and better decision-making. We explore what makes forums work: experience sharing instead of advice, confidentiality that creates safety, and the discipline to be f...

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35:45

The Forum Habit: Practicing Trust, Presence, and...

The Heart of Business ·

2025/11/20

In this episode, we sit down with Dan Hoffman—founder, CEO, and president of Circl.es—to unpack the surprising truth behind real leadership growth: it happens in small circles, not big rooms. Dan traces his path from building M5 Networks and navigating a tough public-company chapter, to a life-changing sabbatical in Barcelona that reframed how he thinks about success. He introduces a simple but powerful idea: small, curated peer forums help people live and lead better. We explore why five to ...

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49:11

How Peer Mentorship Transforms Founders And Startup...

The Heart of Business ·

2025/11/06

What if the cure for founder loneliness isn’t more hustle, but better peers and a new way to mentor? Brad Feld joins us to map the journey from scrappy software shop to mentor-driven ecosystems, sharing how a bootstrapped mindset, structured forums, and a “give first” philosophy can reshape an entire career. You’ll hear about the origin of “We Suck Less,” why owning the full customer experience created trust, and how one room of candid founders at YEO turned isolation into momentum. We unpac...

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36:40

Profit, People, and Purpose: Danielle’s Playbook for...

The Heart of Business ·

2025/10/16

Danielle’s entrepreneurial journey begins in Nashville, where early roots shaped her Maverick mindset. From founding her first agency to taking risks that most would shy away from, she carved her own path with bold decisions and relentless drive. That spirit would ultimately fuel her transition from scrappy beginnings to leading multiple companies valued at over $50 million—all while working just ten hours a week. A defining lesson came from the infamous “Larry” mishire, which taught Danielle...

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27:29

Consensus, Courage, and the Quiet Power of Knowing...

The Heart of Business ·

2025/10/02

What if the soft stuff is actually the hardest—and most valuable—work leaders do? We sit down with Stephanie Ford, director at Warren Whitney and IFO-certified facilitator, to explore how a career built on banking rigor, board governance, and deep facilitation turns messy conversations into decisive progress. Stephanie shares how early years in commercial banking taught her to see the whole system—operations, financials, risk, and relationships—and why that end-to-end perspective makes strate...

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41:00

From Farm to Forum: Dusty Holcomb on Purpose-Driven...

The Heart of Business ·

2025/09/18

Dusty Holcomb’s story begins on a farm, where the simple truth that “cows need milking 365 days a year” instilled an unshakable work ethic. Those early lessons in responsibility and persistence carried into his entrepreneurial ventures as a child—creating a town newspaper at eight and running a landscaping business by eleven. These formative experiences shaped a lifelong commitment to connecting hard work with meaningful purpose. After spending 21 years at AAA and nearly three decades in corp...

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30:51

Be Yourself, Build Boldly: Mike Michalowicz on...

The Heart of Business ·

2025/08/26

In this episode, Mike Michalowicz opens up about his entrepreneurial highs, devastating lows, and the creation of the Profit First system that has transformed over a million businesses worldwide. From launching his first company in 1996 and joining EO Forum — where he discovered the unmatched value of honest peer connection — to losing everything in 2008, Mike shares the raw lessons that reshaped his outlook on business and life. Determined to end “entrepreneurial poverty,” Mike reveals how h...

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36:48

Janet Carlson: Reinvention, Resilience &...

The Heart of Business ·

2025/08/07

In this episode, Janet Carlson—CEO and Creative Director of 1.11 Group—takes us on a journey through three decades of fearless entrepreneurship. From learning negotiation skills at just 9 years old to building the first pharmaceutical website without any prior experience, Janet’s story is a testament to grit, innovation, and the power of reinvention. She opens up about losing 98% of her business after 9/11 and rebuilding with the help of an SBA loan, creating groundbreaking programs for healt...

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45:46

Finding Your True Purpose: Conversations with...

The Heart of Business ·

2025/06/26

Andro Donovan shares her remarkable path from motivating disadvantaged youth in London to transforming organizational cultures worldwide. Her passionate approach to helping leaders find their true essence rather than chasing external symbols of success creates a compelling framework for anyone feeling stuck or unfulfilled despite outward achievements. The conversation reveals powerful concepts like distinguishing between "form" (material success) and "essence" (deeper meaning), the life-chan...

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30:16

Chuck Hall’s Journey of Resilience, Relationships,...

The Heart of Business ·

2025/06/12

In this episode, entrepreneur and founder Chuck Hall takes us on a powerful journey—starting with his earliest days mowing lawns and delivering newspapers, to building a national construction company that now operates across 14 states and specializes in senior living facilities. After rising through the ranks at top construction firms, Chuck's trajectory took a dramatic turn when he was fired in 1998. But instead of spiraling, he saw an opening—leveraging grit, creativity, and a well-timed op...

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53:50

Dan Heuertz: Finding the Light IN the Tunnel

The Heart of Business ·

2025/05/29

In this powerful episode, Dan Heuertz takes us on a journey through decades of entrepreneurial highs and lows—from launching his first bar in college to building and exiting businesses in the restaurant and hotel industries. Along the way, he shares the critical lessons that shaped him, including how a paper route taught him the power of consistency and how intuition helped him navigate shifting market demands. A 25-year member of Entrepreneurs Organization, Dan opens up about the profound im...

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15:13

Building Community in the Digital Age: Leah Litman's...

The Heart of Business ·

2025/04/17

Leah Litman, the youngest certified facilitator with the International Facilitators Organization (IFO), is on a mission to transform the college experience through structured peer forums. In this thought-provoking conversation with host Mo Fatalbab, Leah reveals how her psychology background at Tulane University intersects perfectly with her passion for creating authentic connection among students. The digital generation faces a unique paradox – constantly connected yet profoundly isolated. ...

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28:36

Share Experiences, Not Advice: Empowering Through...

The Heart of Business ·

2025/03/26

Yuval Yeret has been "tweaking systems" his entire life. From modifying computer operating systems as a teenager to optimizing organizational structures as a leadership coach, his journey reveals the powerful parallels between technological and human systems. In this deeply insightful conversation, Yuval shares how his early exposure to psychology (through typing his mother's academic papers) subtly prepared him for understanding human dynamics in organizational settings. His pivotal moment ...

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42:06

How Peer Groups Transform Leadership: A Conversation...

The Heart of Business ·

2025/02/27

Unlock the transformative power of peer groups in leadership development with Leo Bottary in our latest episode. Explore how collaborative environments foster growth, curiosity, and psychological safety, providing leaders with the support they crave amidst today’s fast-paced challenges. Leo shares his journey into peer facilitation, highlighting the invaluable lessons he learned at Seton Hall University. Throughout the conversation, we address how peer groups help leaders gain fresh pe...

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39 results

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