The Junto Institute: Flourishing Together

“I would say having confidence is really key. Making sure that you're feeling comfortable talking about the technology and being confident in what you're actually talking about…Also confident that you're going to probably be the only woman in the room most of the time.” – Nikki Martin

The telecommunications industry is dominated by men. In addition to the difficulty of the actual work, women holding leadership positions in ...

Have you ever felt like an outcast? Most people have at one point or another, but for Kris Krisco, Chief Customer Officer at Buildout, feelings of being an outsider made him feel disconnected from family and friends. In time, he realized this was a strength. For our first conversation, Kris reflects on how feeling strange helped him better understand employees and customers on a human level.

For our second conversation,...

Catherine Jelinek is the co-founder of The Junto Institute. Yet in the first few cohorts, she was often the only woman in the room. Things have changed dramatically since those early days and we’ve just completed our first year of JuntoWomen, a personal and professional growth network of women for Junto Apprentice and Alumni companies. Today on Flourishing Together, Catherine discusses feminine leadership and how the world...

2019 was a year of renovation for Raman and The Junto Institute. As the year comes to a close, Raman decided to take some time to reflect on the challenges faced in 2019 and share his goals for Junto in the new year.

Be the first to learn about The Junto Institute’s brand new online program and hear about upcoming changes to the Flourishing Together podcast. Raman closes by discussing the personal challenges he faced last y...

Vera Kimmi is the VP of Sales at Forte Group. For Vera, the arts, particularly theater, nourish her soul. By embracing her need to be creative and perform, she has found that she’s a lot better at connecting with people at work. 

Our second guest, Kevin McShane is the Chief Revenue Officer at Affinitiv as well as a mentor at the Junto Institute. Kevin shares how reciprocity is key to his purpose. His goal is to mentor and h...

Aaron Fazulak co-founded DESIGNATION, a startup dedicated to design bootcamps. Amidst profound personal upheavals, Aaron personally financed the school to keep it afloat. His fortunes changed considerably when DESIGNATION was acquired by WeWork’s Flatiron School and he was finally able to spread the financial support to his employees. Now Aaron is back to the drawing board after a painful layoff from the company he helped ...

On this episode of Flourishing Together, Raman talks to Dan Klein, CEO of Tiesta Tea. Dan shares a time where he found his response to a co-worker didn’t leave much room for discussion or creativity. He realized that if he listened and used more emotional intelligence in his approach, employees and co-workers would have more space to speak up about their ideas.

Next, Raman sits down with Josh Chapman, the COO of LandscapeHu...

Jen Davis recently became a Partner at The Junto Institute after going through the program and identifying areas of her life she knew she needed to change. Jen talks to Raman about how she got stuck in a painful pattern of being a human-doer rather than a human being both at work and in her personal life. It wasn’t until she embraced self-care that she found herself switching jobs and putting her health and happiness first...

Mark Murrell is the Founder & CEO of Get Maine Lobster and Black Point Seafood. As an alumnus of the Junto Institute, Mark has reflected a lot on what empathy means. He talks to Raman about how empathy has evolved into three types: cognitive, emotional, and compassionate. Mark also discusses why all business leaders should encourage empathy among employees in addition to commerce and customers.

Next, Raman talks to Junt...

Chris Campbell is the founder and CEO of ReviewTrackers and a travel enthusiast. Chris shares his formative leadership experience of running a lemonade stand and discusses how travel helped him find and identify his true self. Chris and Raman dive into what the true self is and the deep work it takes to find it.

Next, Raman is joined by Bryan Jurewicz, COO & CRO of Arrow Payments. Bryan is a lifelong athlete, even achie...

This week’s episode of Flourishing Together challenges you to be true to your values. It takes a healthy dose of introspection and self-awareness to recognize when you’re not standing up for your convictions in both business and personal settings. Joe Rice, Co-founder and Managing Director of Acliviti, and long-time mentor Brian Burkhart sat down with Raman to discuss why it’s vital that you stay true to your beliefs, even...

Kathy Steele is the CEO and Founder of Red Caffeine a growth consultancy that builds brands people want to work with and for. Red Caffeine was in one of the earliest Junto cohorts, going through the program as it continued to grow and evolve as a consultancy. Kathy and Raman dive into how she’s evolved herself as a leader over the last several years, which include difficult topics like a partnership fallout and succession ...

This week on Flourishing Together we’re going back to the beginning to talk with two of the original members of The Junto Institute family.

First is Dave Dyson is the CEO of Eclipse Telecom and alumni of one of the earliest Junto cohorts. Dave takes Raman through his growth journey, both professionally as well as personally. Then they discuss what it’s like to go through a separation with a business partner and how to embra...

Flourishing Together brings together two special guests in this episode. First up is Kristi Zuhlke, founder and CEO of KnowledgeHound. Kristi was the first woman founder to go through the Junto program and has been involved with the program as a mentor ever since. They discuss her first recollection of leadership and how she approaches personal growth and leadership.

Next, Kayne speaks with longtime Junto mentor Kayne Grau....

In this week’s episode of Flourishing Together, Raman Chadha sits down with Junto alumnus Chris Ruder, Founder/CEO of Spikeball Inc to discuss his commitment to listening and building self-awareness, the roots of his activism and philanthropy, and how his team at Spikeball loves out their company values day-to-day. 

Raman also talks with Junto mentor Grant Gochnauer, Co-Founder & CTO at Vodori Inc, about translating pe...

In the latest episode of Flourishing Together, Raman sits down with Michael Patak, CVO of TopstepTrader, to talk about his journey from trader to founder/CEO and why he ultimately decided to step down as CEO. They discuss leadership, spirituality and the vulnerability critical to Michaels success.

Raman then sits down with Gaye van den Hombergh, Sr. Consulting Partner at Partners in Leadership. They have a frank conversatio...

In this week’s episode of Flourishing Together, Junto founder Raman Chadha sits down with Junto alumnus Patrick Tannous, Co-Founder and President of Tiesta Tea and Junto mentor John Barnes, Chief Technology Officer at Infutor Data Solutions, to discuss how self-management, discipline, and repetition build habits to strengthen the practice of emotional intelligence.   

• [02:07] Conversation with Junto alumnus Patrick Tann...

In this first regular episode of Flourishing Together, Junto founder Raman Chadha shares engaging conversations with two members of the Junto Tribe. The first with Deborah Jackson, Founder, and CEO of Arrow Payments and a Junto alumnus. And a second conversation with Rich Lyons, CEO  & President of Lyons Consulting Group, A Capgemini Company, and also a longtime mentor with the Junto Institute. 

Listen to hear how both ...

In the conclusion of Flourishing Together’s premiere episode, interviewer Jeff Leitner asks Junto founder Raman Chadha to talk a bit about his background, including his start in banking, falling in love with entrepreneurship, and teaching at DePaul University. Raman also dives into how he came to appreciate the human side of business and the profound impact of discovering and practicing greater emotional intelligence has h...