Special Episode with Matt Blank - THE BIG GAME

My Dad has been my role model in business and in life. This is his life and career story from his birth in 1947 in Atlantic City to today. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Welcome to Season 2 Episode 10 of the No Code Podcast! My guests for this episode were Heather Andersen, Ron Allen, and Lindsay Allen. Heather has served as President & CEO of Special Olympics of New Jersey since 2015! She has helped manage a growing organization by expanding offerings of new sports for athletes, hosting more and more events each year across the state, and engaging with hundreds of New Jersey companies as event participants, supporters, and donors. I am on the Golf Committee Board for the Annual Garden State Unified Golf Classic, where people of all abilities participate. 2021 marks the 5th Anniversary of the event. It will be held at Tavistock Country Club on Monday September 27th. In the last four years, we have raised over $293,000 in net proceeds after cost, and we are ready to have a record year in 2021 coming off of COVID! Ron and Lindsay Allen have participated in the event each year. Ron is a volunteer and participant and Lindsay is a Special Olympics Athlete. Lindsay is a skilled golfer and, as we discussed, has dropped her father from her foursome since he was holding her back. Lindsay has participated in many different sports of the years from golf to swimming to tennis to equestrian events and more. I had a wonderful conversation with this group of amazing people and I hope you enjoy the episode. Remember – The golf outing is Monday September 27th at Tavistock and foursomes and other sponsorship opportunities are still available!

My guest for this episode is Sean Denham, the Managing Partner of Grant Thornton’s Philadelphia Office! Sean, like myself, grew up at the Jersey Shore and has grown his career to really impressive heights. We had a great discussion about career progression, the importance of mentorship, adjusting our personal values during COVID, returning to the office to recapture culture and collaboration, and a lot more! We also got into Sean's involvement at GT with Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPAC) which will be interesting for all you Wall Street folks out there! Sean is a humble guy that continues to grow as a person and professional while lifting others up in his network. It was a true pleasure to sit down with him and I hope you enjoy the episode! This episode is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube (link below): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHXNoTFSsK6IP5tUX4-aXtw 

Season 2, Episode 8 was VERY interesting and insightful! My guest was Ryan Simonetti, the CEO and Co-Founder of Convene. convene.com Convene is a company that designs and services premium co-working, meeting, and event spaces with a strong foundation in hospitality. They have locations in cities all over the world such as Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, and London. Ryan started the company in 2009 and has gone on an incredible journey, building the organization from start-up to over 1,000 employees just before the COVID-19 pandemic. Our discussion centered around the Convene Leadership Team’s incredibly difficult decisions during the pandemic, as well as their remarkable foresight to make tweaks to the business model so they emerge with a full head of steam once COVID is behind us! Ryan is a true leader in every sense of the word and I hope you enjoy the episode! Special thanks to our mutual friend and JLL Philadelphia broker, Matt Davis, for connecting us! This episode is also available on the No Code YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHXNoTFSsK6IP5tUX4-aXtw 

Season 2, Episode 7 featured an amazing guest; a guy I’ve known since 2008 when we both worked for Liberty Property Trust, Mr. Tony Ewing! Tony has been in the commercial real estate industry since 2004 and has seen a lot change in that time, from the 2008-2009 financial crisis, to the rise of The Navy Yard in Philadelphia, to COVID fallout, and now setting a path forward in his latest role with Shift Capital. http://shiftcapital.us/  At Shift Capital, Tony and his team focus on how their investments can create inclusiveness and foster community growth, especially in areas of the city that have been underserved. We dove deep into diversity in the real estate business and how we, as leaders in the industry, can facilitate D&I initiatives. Tony is truly a great guy and I hope you enjoy the episode! This episode is also available on the No Code YouTube channel:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHXNoTFSsK6IP5tUX4-aXtw 

My guest on this episode is MaryVictoria Barr, Business Development Manager at Daroff Design, a world class architecture and design firm based out of Philadelphia which serves many industries from hospitality to multi-family to aviation and more! MaryVictoria is a very intelligent and hard-working business developer making incredible career progress in the male-dominated world of commercial real estate. We had a great conversation on her career path, obstacles in the road (including her COVID-delayed nuptials), and her support of women in the business including The POWER of Professional Women, a non-profit forum which works to develop the next generation of women leaders in the greater Philadelphia Region. I hope you enjoy the episode!

Back in the summer of 2020, I was in a bit of a rut. Maybe it was COVID. Maybe it was the fact that my wife and I had to hurry out of our house into a crappy AirBNB while our long-delayed home renovations were suddenly back on. One way or another, I need to jog something loose and find a passion outside of the 9 to 5.  Tim Allard had been my business coach since the middle of 2017. He challenged me to find something. A challenge. An opportunity. Whatever it was outside of "the grind" that could help me unleash some creativity. After speaking with him and finishing The Last Dance documentary on Michael Jordan, I was inspired to start something. That "something" wound up being the No Code Podcast! If you are debating working with a business coach, you'd be wise to seek-out Tim! He has been tremendously helpful to me over the years and I truly value his knowledge, insight, and occasional "truth-bombs" that cut to my core (in a good way). You can find Tim on LinkedIn, on his website at timjallard.com, or via e-mail at [email protected]. Enjoy the show!

Welcome to Season 2, Episode 4 of the No Code Podcast with Ian Faber of Faber Tax! Ian and I have known each other since January 2003, when I was a young intern pup at KPMG and he was a slightly older pup working full-time with the company. We are lifelong friends and have had many adventures over the years! We talked about those good times and how they weaved-in with Ian's career path of leaving the Corporate world to start his own company, to be joined soon after by his wife Melissa! Ian is a wonderful person all-around and is an expert in client service. His funny and super-positive attitude really shines through on this pod! I'm certain you will enjoy it! Check it out on YouTube as well! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKNphuBB2Vs&t=675s

Welcome to the show, Ben Eachus! Ben is a tech CEO in Southern California by way of Southern New Jersey. A Princeton grad, Ben is pretty smart. He's also talented, ambitious, and not afraid to take a gamble! Back in 2017 while working for Jessica Alba's Honest Company, Ben ran into a problem:  He needed short-term warehouse space in a BIG hurry and had absolutely no idea where to find it. Brokers didn't want the gig since it wasn't going to pay a big commission and information for this requirement was nowhere to be found online. Instead of lamenting the problem, Ben chose to solve it by creating his company, Flowspace. Originally a digital marketplace to marry-up warehouse owners with short-term occupiers, Flowspace has grown into a true third-party logistics (3PL) company, offering a wide variety of fulfillment, storage, and integrative solutions for its customers. The company is growing at a great clip and now has over 70 employees! Ben's big bet paid off! Check out Flowspace at www.flow.space 

Matty B is back! We're not talking about careers. We're talking about THE BIG GAME on Sunday. Stories from years past, favorite traditions, and legal prop bets! A little friendly competition for each other's charities.