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Past Episodes

October 30, 2025
Getting to yes utilizing patience and purpose with real estate executive John Burpee

John Burpee has been in the Florida commercial real estate market for more than 30 years. He consults with national investment firms, financial institutions and private investors, and has brokered …

October 23, 2025
How Erin McLeod leads with humility, humor and a huge heart

Erin McLeod has worked in public relations, communications, consulting, health care, hospitality and the club industry. She’s been with the Senior Friendship Centers in Sarasota since 2004; she has been …

October 16, 2025
Grit, goals and good valuations with Benchmark International's Dara Shareef

Dara Shareef is the managing partner of Benchmark International, where he oversees the transaction team in the firm’s U.S. headquarters in Tampa. Benchmark recently made a big splash in the …

October 9, 2025
Hope is not a strategy but good planning is with Sophia Shaw

Sophia Shaw has had many interesting roles, from leading the Chicago Botanical Garden, to being an Adjunct Professor at the Kellogg School of Management. After all that, her work is …

October 2, 2025
Hitting a home run in nonprofit leadership with Doug Staley

Doug is the executive director of the Child Protection Center of Sarasota, a nonprofit dedicated to prevention, intervention and treatment of child abuse. Doug has been with the organization for …

September 25, 2025
Three decades in real estate and still going strong with Bob Glaser

Bob has been president and CEO of Smith & Associates for some 30 years. The firm is one of the largest independent real estate brokerage firms in the Tampa Bay …

September 18, 2025
Successfully mixing passion and purpose with Shep Englander

Shep has been CEO of the Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee since 2021. He previously worked for Federations in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati; in Ohio he was CEO of the Jewish Federation …

September 11, 2025
The no jerk hiring policy and crafting a top homebuilding company with Ian Schmoyer

Ian Schmoyer has helped lead the homebuilding company he founded eight years ago, Christopher Alan Homes, to become both one of the largest privately-owned homebuilding firms in Lee County and …

September 4, 2025
Running the Organization that runs the roads with Tampa Highway Honcho Greg Slater

Greg Slater has had a 30-year career in highways and transportation, the last three or so in Tampa as CEO of the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority. Before that he was …

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 …

« 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 »

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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