Archives: Episodes

Christina Niemelä Ström is committed to bring values-based decision making and comprehensive thinking on sustainability into the everyday business. Christina is leading the global sustainability agenda for Supply at IKEA, integrating the strategic sustainability ambitions and commitments into the business operations and decision-making across purchasing, transport, wholesale, manufacturing functions and supply chain.

While materials stand for almost half of its climate footprint, IKEA has embarked on what it refers to as a material transformation. It means that IKEA is developing products with a lower footprint and increasing recycled material and renewable material in products and packaging.

With over 5 million fans spread across her social media platforms, New York Times best-selling author Joanne Molinaro, (a.k.a The Korean Vegan), has appeared on The Food Network, CBS Saturday Morning, ABC’s Live with Kelly and Ryan, The Today Show, PBS, and The Rich Roll Podcast. She’s been featured in the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, NPR, and CNN; and her debut cookbook was selected as one of “The Best Cookbooks of 2021” by The New York Times and The New Yorker among others.

The Korean Vegan Homemade is available now (thekoreanvegan.com). Joanne also just launched a Korean Beauty Brand called Korean Vegan Beauty (koreanveganbeauty.com).

John Shegerian: Do you have a suggestion for a Rockstar Impact Podcast guest? Go to impactpodcast.com and just click “Be a Guest” to recommend someone today.
Dr. Keyu Jin is a global economist who was a tenured professor at the London school of economics for 15 years, and is currently affiliated with HKUST and Harvard University. She is the author of critically-acclaimed “The New China Playbook.” She is from Beijing, China, and holds a B.A., M.A. and Phd from Harvard University.

As Chief Impact Officer, Judy Newman leads Scholastic’s efforts to amplify its mission and expand its reach to ensure equal access to book choice and literacy for all children through partnerships with non-profits and other organizations. She drives The United States of Readers, Scholastic’s national literacy program, to activate private philanthropy and alternative sources of funding to leverage Scholastic’s strengths and partner with teachers in under-resourced schools to reach students with the greatest need of literacy support. Since joining the company in 1993, Judy has worked to champion teachers and position Scholastic as a trusted literacy partner to meet their students’ evolving needs.

The Scholastic Philanthropic Impact Report: https://www.scholastic.com/content/dam/scholastic/site/AboutUs/philanthropic-impact-report.pdf

As a seasoned executive and leader in the telecommunications industry, Nancy Clark currently leads an extensive portfolio of prepaid brands including Straight Talk, Total Wireless, Visible, Tracfone, Verizon Prepaid and Simple Mobile as President of the Verizon Value Markets. In her role, she oversees the portfolio of brands serving more than 21 million value-conscious customers. Nancy’s career at Verizon spans over two decades, successfully overseeing significant transformations in customer experience and service delivery.

More on Value Cares: As part of the roll out of Value Cares, we’ll be launching social impact initiatives and programs under most of our prepaid brands including Total Wireless, Visible (launched in 2023), Walmart Family Mobile (launched in May 2025), Simple Mobile and Tracfone. These programs will cater to each brand’s distinct customer segments and create an opening for consumers of all stages and backgrounds to find the connectivity, support and experiences they need at Verizon.

• One of our earliest social impact initiatives was Visible’s award-winning Connection Protection program, which launched in 2023.
• Through Connection Protection, individuals who experience job loss receive a Visible activation code that grants them access to three months of service with costs covered by Visible.
• Since launching in 2023, the program has seen positive results including: 28,500+ months of service provided to participants to-date, with 2 in 5 users accepting a new job offer.

Total Spark is the latest programming to launch as part of Value Cares, aimed at supporting working students. We remain committed to harnessing Verizon’s connectivity to empower people with the reliable connectivity they need to thrive. Throughout the year, there will be announcements of new programming from each of the brands in the value portfolio.

In the coming months, we have Total Spark events planned in several Total retail stores through the summer including an:

• August 20 event in Dallas with the Wilkinson Center
• September 1 event in Chicago with LIFT-Chicago
• September 24 event in Dallas with the Wilkinson Center
• October 27 event in Detroit with TechTown

Anthony Cialone is a veteran entrepreneur and executive with a long-standing focus on sustainability, innovation, and industrial transformation. Over the course of his career, Tony has specialized in turning waste into value, launching and scaling businesses that upcycle challenging waste streams into high-performance, commercially viable products. As Founder and COO of Lehigh Technologies, he helped lead the development of micronized rubber powder from end-of-life tires back into applications such as recycled tires and asphalt. Today, he is applying that same expertise as the Founder and Chief Development & Innovation Officer of Microtec Development & Holdings (MTDH), with a primary focus on AggrePlex – MTDH’s first vertical/innovative company dedicated to transforming post-consumer glass into highly-reactive, activated ground-glass pozzolan (AGGP) that replaces Portland cement, reduces carbon emissions, and enhances the performance of concrete in infrastructure and building applications.

With over 25 years of experience in the IT industry, Joe Flynn, the Modern Workplace Director and Distinguished Technologist at Insight Enterprises, loves that technology constantly changes and provides new challenges, pushing him to learn more every day. As a leader for a vendor-agnostic organization, Joe is equipped to advise clients on the solutions that drive the best value for their business. He is a champion across many technologies and approaches knowledge-sharing not as a one-time project but as a continued mindset.

This podcast is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice or establish a doctor-patient relationship. Information provided here should not replace consultation with a healthcare provider. Always consult your physician or a qualified health provider with any questions about a medical condition or before making health decisions based on this content.

Dr. Tyler Hurst DC, DIBCN is a physician and owner of The Brain Health Clinics, dedicated to the treatment of neurological conditions. He was born and raised in Cambridge, Ohio. He became interested in chiropractic following a high school basketball injury and began pursuing an education in the field. After high school he attended Kent State University and obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Physiology. He graduated from Palmer Florida in March of 2018. During his last two years at Palmer he completed the necessary hours to sit for the IACN Diplomate examination. His passion for neurology and his dedication to the study of the discipline was sparked by his neurological training at Palmer and because of a stroke that his mother suffered when he was very young. He has been Board Certified in Neurology since May of 2018 and been in private practice in Nashville, TN since graduation. In 2022, he and colleague, Dr. Dylan Saulsbery, founded The Brain Health Clinics. This clinic is dedicated to the treatment of neurological conditions such as TBI, stroke rehabilitation, dizziness and balance conditions, developmental disorders and chronic pain.

Sonya Gafsi Oblisk is a seasoned business leader with more than 20 years of experience in retail and consumer goods marketing and brand management. As Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer at Whole Foods Market, Sonya leads merchandising, marketing, communications and e-commerce, as well as oversees digital product management for the company. Sonya is passionate about putting customers in the center of all decision making, and advancing Whole Foods Market’s mission as a company through its product Quality Standards.

Matthew Sekol is a former Sustainability Global Black Belt at Microsoft’s Cross-Industry team. He worked with Financial Services firms to understand their challenges through ESG data. In 2024, Matthew released an award-winning book called “ESG Mindset,” which is a guide for companies to think critically about ESG and take a holistic approach to the business. He also serves on the LP Advisory Committee of Morgan Stanley’s Next Level Fund, which invests in underrepresented startups and is a Senior Advisor for Enzo Advisors, an ESG consultancy. He also writes a weekly Substack called The ESG Advocate and is a contributor to ESG News.