Vance Morris

The entrepreneurial journey for Dennis Balonze began when he was 12, sweeping floors in his uncle’s barbershop in Paterson, New Jersey. He was inspired by the sense of community and business hustle, eventually earning his hairdresser license while still in high school. After graduation, Dennis worked in salons to master his craft and, in 2001, he purchased an 80-year-old barbershop in Montclair, New Jersey. That shop grew into multiple locations and sparked his interest in real estate investing. At 22, Dennis bought his first two-family investment property in Belleville, New Jersey. Managing and renovating it taught him the power of passive income and appreciation. In 2005, he used a 1031 exchange to expand, which led him to Huntsville, Alabama, and the founding investment career. He later invested in Fort Benning, Georgia, and partnered with firms like Borland Capital to underwrite deals and scale his knowledge. After two decades in the barbering business, Dennis sold off his shops to focus fully on real estate—specifically real estate investing. Check out Dennis’ YouTube channel, BarberUPP!

5 Touko 1h

Margie Oleson, Ed.D. helps leaders crush their goals with better clarity and alignment among teams. As the founder and CEO of Oleson Consulting, she is a dynamic speaker and leadership expert who shares knowledge from her education and decades of experience in corporate America – from a variety of industries, including American Family Insurance, Ameriprise, Cargill, Catholic Charities, Ecolab, Securian Financial, St. Jude Medical, Target HQ, UCare, Lockheed Martin, and more. Leaders aren’t set up to develop or adopt the right leadership skills and behaviors. Left to ‘make it up as they go’, most learned from past leaders… who were also making it up! Dr. Oleson helps leaders develop the right leadership capabilities to grow and maintain high-performing teams, which is the single greatest strategic advantage for any organization.

1 Touko 1h 2min

Cheri Quinn is a brand and marketing strategist who specializes in asking open and honest questions and listening with an open heart and mind. As the Director of Brand Strategy at Mercury Creative Group, Cheri is a master at discovering and communicating an organization’s essential value. With a wealth of experience in brand strategy, strategic planning, marketing, and communications, she has helped numerous organizations discover their unique value and voice.

28 Huhti 59min

Kara Kenan is the founder & CEO of the Cancer Wellness Institute, where she trains and certifies cancer coaches globally. A passionate advocate for cancer survivorship, Kara has developed evidence-based programs that empower patients, survivors, and health professionals. She also serves as the Executive Director for Going Beyond the Pink, a North Carolina-based breast cancer support nonprofit, and Marketing & Communications Manager at the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS). Kara is actively involved in cancer policy and advocacy with NCCS and the Society for Integrative Oncology, and has been a treatment guideline reviewer with American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO). Leveraging AI, she has scaled her online courses, enhancing accessibility and support for cancer coaches worldwide. With over a decade of experience in coaching, advocacy, and curriculum development, Kara is dedicated to bridging gaps in survivorship care through education, innovation, and policy work.

21 Huhti 1h

Bianca Best is a woman of impact. She is an award-winning global business leader, best-selling author, founder and CEO of  The Burnout Business and Energy-SCAPE™ method, certified coach, keynote speaker, and solo parenting mother of four who is passionately eradicating the world’s burnout epidemic at scale. She is the author of Big Impact Without Burnout: 8 Energizing Strategies to Stop Struggling and Start Soaring. Click here to purchase.

17 Huhti 39min

Rich Horwath is the founder and CEO of the Strategic Thinking Institute where he facilitates strategy workshops to help executive leadership teams think, plan, and act strategically to set direction, create advantage, and maximize their leadership performance. He is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of eight books on strategic thinking, including his new book: STRATEGIC: The Skill to Set Direction, Create Advantage, and Achieve Executive Excellence. Click here to purchase STRATEGIC.

14 Huhti 59min

Bofta Yimam is an Emmy Award-Winning Journalist, International Speaker and the Founder of StoryLede®, a fractional marketing and communications agency that uses storytelling to position companies and their CEOs as industry leaders so they can skyrocket their visibility, impact, and growth.  Before launching StoryLede, Bofta worked as a local and national TV correspondent for more than a decade, including reporting from the White House for CBS News. She is the first Ethiopian-American newscaster to receive an Emmy award and is a sought-after speaker who’s spoken in London, Africa, as well as across the U.S. Bofta is the recipient of multiple awards, including the 2023 Women Enterprising Women award. In 2025, Bofta was selected to be on the national forum for WBENC - the largest certifier of women-owned businesses.

10 Huhti 1h 2min