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Past Episodes

August 28, 2025
Banking and the constant improvement process to be a better boss with Synovus Bank's Kevin Gillen

Kevin Gillen has been a market president for Synovus Bank in Florida since 2020, covering the Tampa Bay and Sarasota-Manatee markets, among other regions. He previously held banking leadership positions …

August 21, 2025
Building cool spaces and leading an architectural revival with Jerel McCants

Jerel McCants is a leading architect in the Tampa Bay market, having built his own firm from scratch with a focus on how people use spaces. He founded the company …

August 14, 2025
Boosting the Lakewood Ranch community to new heights with Brittany Lamont

Brittany Lamont was named president and CEO of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance in 2021. Prior to that Lamont, a vocal advocate for the local business and civic communities, was …

August 7, 2025
How to lead with grace and grit with Michael Corley

Michael Corley worked in health care and human resources for some 10 years before starting his own leadership consulting business, The Corley Co., in 2009. The Corley Co. works with …

July 31, 2025
From the financial services C-Suite to leading a national school choice movement with Erika Donalds

Erika Donalds was a COO and CFO for financial services firms before shifting gears to education, first as a mom and later as an elected Collier County School Board Member. …

July 24, 2025
How to navigate a crisis — calmly and coolly with Kaitlyn Perez

Kaitlyn Perez launched her own business, KPC Strategies, in January 2024. Prior to that she was senior director of communications and marketing with the National Policing Institute and community affairs …

July 17, 2025
He bought the whole block and other gutty business success stories with Chris Cunningham

Chris Cunningham, owner of a True-Value hardware store in Tampa and a commercial real estate investor, started his career in lending and financial services. But he soon learned he wanted …

July 10, 2025
Doing good, in the community and in leadership, with Helene Lotman

Helene Lotman has been in the nonprofit human services space for 40 years, and is currently CEO of JFCS of the Suncoast, which works with people in need in a …

July 3, 2025
Building a business around the beautiful game with Justin Papadakis

Justin Papadakis has spent his career in real estate development and soccer, with his most recent position being a bit of both: deputy CEO and chief real estate officer of …

June 26, 2025
Fail Fast, Fail Cheap, & Other Advice from Kevin Harrington, Original Shark on 'Shark Tank'

Longtime Pinellas County resident Kevin Harrington has a stellar resume. Among the highlights: inventor of the infomercial, shark on the first year of the TV show “Shark Tank,” Fortune 100 …

« 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 »

Team

Host

Mark Gordon

Mark Gordon is the managing editor of the Business Observer. Mark has been a business journalist and editor for more than 20 years, and one of his passions is writing about leadership. That led to Mark to start writing a leadership column in 2021 in the Business Observer, called Leadership Matters. It also led to the creation of the From the Corner Office podcast in June 2023.

Producer

Read Corley

Read attended elementary, middle and high school in Manatee County. After graduating from Florida State University and navigating the pandemic, Read joined up with his father to create the podcast I 501(c) You - The Podcast for Nonprofit Board Members. As the podcast has grown, Read has created a path producing podcasts for others, including the Business Observer.

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