Lay of The Land
Telling the stories of entrepreneurship and builders in Cleveland and throughout Northeast Ohio. Every Thursday, Jeffrey Stern helps map the Cleveland/NEO business ecosystem by talking to founders, investors, and community builders to learn what makes Cleveland/NEO special.
- Update frequency
- every 7 days
- Average duration
- 55 minutes
- Episodes
- 230
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
#164: Dr. James Kenyon (NASA Glenn) — To the Moon, Mars and Beyond, From Cleveland — The Future of Aviation & Space Exploration
Dr. James Kenyon, Director of NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio
The road to the Moon goes through Cleveland. With a budget of approximately $900 million, a staff of more than 3,200 civil…
#163: Ryan McManus (SHARE Mobility) — Mobility as a Service & The Future of Transportation
Ryan McManus — founder and CEO of SHARE Mobility
Ryan is passionate about solving workforce and rural mobility challenges, creating and affording equitable access to transportation, and ultimately cha…
[REWIND] #89: Lila Mills (Signal Cleveland) — Local Journalism in Cleveland
Today we’re running a replay of one of my favorite conversations from 2022 with Lila Mills of Signal Cleveland. Since we last spoke, Signal Cleveland has continuously produced reliable daily journali…
#162: Andre Cisco (MGK's Manager, XX Brands, Dead Logic, 27 Club) — Killing Ordinary, Art & Business
Andre Cisco — Manager for MGK and XX Brands, Brand Strategist and Investor, co-owner of the 27 Club — the coffee lounge and kitchen here in Cleveland — and Managing Partner at Dead Logic, a marketing…
#161: Rick Stockburger (BRITE) — Unleashing the Energy Revolution
Rick Stockburger, CEO of BRITE Energy Innovators.
Located in the City of Warren, just outside Youngstown in the Mahoning Valley, BRITE was founded in 2010 as a non-profit focused on the acceleration o…
#160: Kyle Maggard (Over Easy) — Fixing a Broken Food System & Disrupting Breakfast
Kyle Maggard, Founder & CEO of Over Easy.
Kyle started OverEasy in the fall of 2018, reflecting on his time as a former college athlete at Westpoint and as an Army Captain where living a healthy and a…
#159: Azadeh Hardiman (Level20 — Progressive Insurance) — Intrapreneurship & New Business Development
Azadeh Hardiman — Business Leader of Level20, the new business incubator of Progressive Insurance, one of the largest insurance carriers in the US (which was founded and still headquartered here in C…
#158: Nick Dadas (University Tees, SISU Lifestyle, Acton Academy Lakeside, ISI, MasterPlan Coach)
Nick Dadas — Co-Founder of University Tees, SISU Lifestyle, Acton Academy Lakeside, ISI, and MasterPlan Coach.
In 2003, still a sophomore at Miami University, Nick co-founded University Tees after try…
#157: Reilly Berk (Berk Enterprises) — 3rd Generation Entrepreneurship
Reilly Berk, CEO of Berk Enterprises.
Founded back in 1946 by her grandparents, Suzanne and Harold Berk, Berk Enterprises boasts a diverse history that began with the creation of the "QuicKill" insect…
#156: Mary Cowan (NCS Credit) — 2nd Generation Entrepreneurship & Getting Paid for Work That You Do
Mary Cowan, the President of NCS Credit, based here in the greater Cleveland area.
The story of NCS Credit is one of family, growth, and success anchored in a belief of uncompromising excellence and e…
#155: Ethan Holmes (Holmes Mouthwatering) — Applesauce Done Different
Ethan Holmes — founder and CEO of Holmes Mouthwatering, a Cleveland-based manufacturer of all-natural applesauce, made with Ohio-grown apples, pears, and local apple cider.
To date, over 50,000 custo…
#154: Mohamed Kamara (InovCares) — Modernizing Healthcare for Women of Color
Mohamed Kamara, founder and CEO of InovCares.
Grounded in a sobering reality: The United States has the highest rates of maternal mortality in the industrialized world. In May 2017, having lost both h…
#153: David Tirpak (Miracle K9 Training) — The Business of Dogs
David Tirpak, founder of Miracle K9 Training — Since founding the company in 2019, David has grown Miracle K9 Training to a thriving 15-person organization, a multi-million-dollar top-line revenue bu…
#152: Jim Pshock (Bravo Wellness)
Jim Pshock, Founder of Bravo Wellness, which he successfully exited to Medical Mutual in 2020.
After 20 years working in the insurance industry, Jim observed a need and a niche for employee wellness i…
#151: Kaleb Dumot (Integrity Power Search)
Kaleb Dumot — founder of Integrity Power Search here in Cleveland, a boutique search firm for technology companies all across the US and Canada.
Since starting Integrity Power Search out of his paren…
#150: Jeffrey Stern on Entrepreneurship, Product Management, Investing, Passion & Ambition, the Race to the Bottom of Attention, Founding Insights, Flanuering and lots more (Wisdom, Wealth, and Wellness Podcast)
Every 50th episode on Lay of The Land thus far, I’ve tried to honor the request I occasionally get, that from time to time, listeners would like to hear more of my own thoughts and flip the proverbia…
#149: Andrew Maurer (Rise)
Andrew Maurer is the co-founder and CTO of Rise Works, an all-in-one compliance and payment platform designed for companies with global workforces. Rise, which is based in Pepper Pike and has raised …
#148: Patrick Ghilani (MRI Software)
Patrick Ghilani, CEO of MRI Software.
Founded in 1971 & based in Solon, Ohio — MRI Software has been a leading provider of real estate software and has been a trailblazer in the PropTech industry for …
#147: Erin Singh (Options Naturopathic)
Erin Holston Singh, founder of Options Naturapathic, the Ohio Association of Naturopathic Doctors (OHNDA), and in private practice since 1999.
She had her first encounter with natural medicine at 15 y…
#146: Megan Mayhugh (People Architects)
Meg Mayhugh, Founder and Managing Partner at People Architects as well as the Head of Talent & people at Ninety.io the leading cloud-based business operating system and only officially licensed softw…