March 5, 2022 • 44 mins
Jessica Cunningham Akoto, CEO (KIPP Philadelphia Public Schools); Ljupco Icevski, President & CEO (supply FORCE); Matti Perilstein Burnett, Co-Founder & CEO (Eternally); Hal Real, Founder & President: Co-Founder (World Cafe Live; National Independent Venue Association)
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Episode Transcript
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(00:10):
Welcome to Executive Leaders Radio, yourspot in the corner office, the radio
show where executives share their secrets tosuccess. Executive Leaders Radio. You're listening
to Executive Leaders Radio. Does yourhost herm Cohen with my co host Jeff
mac Newmark, Caleb Hoppus Helen andMatthew Shapiro Obermayer, Jeffy, can you
(00:32):
give us a rundown on who wehave on the show today? Please?
Sure heard, we have a greatshow. Mattie pearlstein Is Burnett is co
founder and CEO of Eternally. JessicaCunningham Akoto is the CEO of KI Philadelphia
Public Schools. Yipko Ai Sepski isthe president and CEO of Supply Force,
and how Real is the founder,president and co founder of World Cafe Live
(00:56):
and National Independent Venue Association. Well, let's get to our first guess.
Maddie Pearlstein Burnett, co founder andCEO of Eternally. Maddie, what is
Eternally? What are you guys doing? Good morning? Eternally is a platform
that provides telehealth for advanced care planning. And where you're from originally? How
many brothers and sisters? And whereare you in the pecking order. I'm
(01:19):
from Terry Hill, New Jersey.I'm the oldest of three of a younger
brother and a younger sister. Allright, in late to fourteen, when
you were a kid eight to sevento thirteen years old? Kind of stuff
were you up to? What wereyou doing? I loved swimming. I
was a competitive swimmer from age seven. I swim at the local outdoor swimming
pool, Woodcrest Swim Club, andI grew up, you know, just
being at the pool all the time, four to five days a week practicing.
(01:42):
My best stroke was butterfly. Gettinga little bit older, I swim
in my high school and I justgot a chance to do swimming. But
also sophomore year, I got achance to be introduced to the sport of
rowing. And let's see, Caleb, you want to get you want to
give us a hymn with interviewing?Yeah, sure, Maddie. How old
(02:05):
were you when you first started makingmoney? That's a great question. I
was a you know, eleven ortwelve year old on the school bus.
I went to a Kelman Academy,a Jewish day school in South Jersey,
and I would hand out my phonenumber two kids on the school bus to
get their parents to call me forbabysitting jobs. And that was my first
time making money. So you gotthis gig babysitting for the kids in the
(02:27):
neighborhood. What did you different tohave a successful business? I knew that
it was important to be nice tothe parents who were going to call me
back, so made sure that Idid right by them, showed up on
time, prepared, and just reallyhustled to get that word out, the
communication with the phone numbers and makingsure kids knew about me. A little
bit of a hustler always important inbusiness. And your business is pretty young.
(02:50):
So how does being a hustler asa babysitter or late to what you're
doing it eternally and making it beso successful. Yeah. So we got
started in early twenty twenty, andevery day as a grind, you know,
something is always coming up, alwaysbreaking, So it's a little bit
of staying on top of everything andhaving all of that managed and just continuing
to press forward each and every day. Every step is good. Matthew and
(03:14):
Maddie in the green room. Iwas struck when you talked about your mom
balancing, being balancing a full timejob and three kids, tell me about
her. Yeah, so, mymom's a nurse by training and she does
consulting work now, but really,when we were kids, she ran a
home healthcare staffing agency and I gotto see her shuttling around nurses two different
(03:34):
opportunities and being in the backseat.I just watched her on the phone,
driving nurses and taking care of businesswhile taking care of three kids. And
did watching her and particularly the nursesup close, like, what impact did
that have on you? These nursesare holding families together. You know,
when your family or your loved oneshealth is declining, it's really really scary,
and you need somebody with that clinicalknowledge and expertise and that comfort and
(03:58):
compassion to help you understand what isabout to happen. So I got to
see how the importance of connecting nursesand clinical resources to families at the right
time, And that's why that shuttling, that hustle is so important to make
sure that families feel supported and cantrust their clinical providers. So I think
the connection between that and what you'redoing now is pretty obvious. But tell
(04:21):
me what you learn from watching yourmom manage all of that that you bring
to you with work today in managinginternally. Honestly, it's really tough,
and our healthcare system is broken.I just know that there's a way to
do it better. And so Eternallyis an intervention that supports families via telehealth.
So we're there for you whenever youneed us. I know that you
(04:42):
can't be everywhere at all times.I saw her try and doing it to
do it. She did a reallygood job. But I just think there's
so much room for improvement. Jeffrey, So, Mattie, you're the daughter
of a two generation family business,Pearls Teamed Glass. Did you ever go
to work with your dad? It'sa business. Yeah, it's much more
than just two generations. It's aboutsix generations long, started in eighteen ninety
(05:04):
eight Pearl Stained Glass. And yeah, my dad actually left me in the
office when I was about two yearsold. I'm the oldest and I was
his only daughter at the time.And you know, I think it must
have slipped his mind. He wasbusy with work. You know. In
the green room, you were tellingus about your grandfather also in the business.
What did you learn from your grandfather? My grandfather treats everyone with kindness,
(05:27):
humility, respect, I learned fromhim how important it is to surround
yourself with people that you care aboutand you can trust. And he showed
that respect to each and every personthat he met, whether it was the
doorman or the person in his executiveroom. And how does that impact how
you run your own company? Peopleare everything? And I know that if
(05:48):
I invest in the right people andI surround myself with people who can make
me stronger, our business will bestronger. I will be stronger. I
can't do it all on my own, and so I really surround myself with
the best of the best and makesure I have people that I can call
to get support. Matthew Caleb.Yeah, Maddie, you've got this great
competitive swimming career too. Do isit? Tell me about the most memorable
(06:10):
meat from when you were a kid. Yeah. So, Cherry Hill is
known for its swimming community. There'sabout thirteen swim clubs in the town.
Every little development has its own town, but there's a Cherry Bowl, a
big competitive meat between all the clubs. And when I was your nine years
old, I won the event thatI was swimming and I got to do
that with my grandparents and parents presenceor just a really proud moment that I
got to share with my family swimming. To be a competitive swimmer, that's
(06:32):
a lot of time on your ownin the pool, doing your own thing.
How does that square with all thatstuff you just told us about like
teams? Yeah, I mean youcertainly have a lot of time to think
by yourself, breathe by yourself,and there's be heads down. I think
when they come up from for air, it's literally so nice to be right
there with other people who are grindingwith you. So I really value that
(06:55):
camaraderie, but balancing with with beingheads down hard at work. Caleb Maddie,
you mentioned that you were pretty goodindividual swimmer. Did you do any
team sports? Yeah? So,I think the first time I did a
real team sport was in my sophomoreyear of high school when I joined the
South Jersey Rowing Club, and crewwas new sport to me. I got
(07:18):
to swim, I got to rowon the Google, on the Cooper River,
on the Mercer River, and whatI learned was that you can't row
without every single person on your boatpresent. It was the first time that
I felt that responsibility of showing upfor other people, and I feel that
now as a business leader, youknow, showing up for my team,
being present and being available to them, because if you don't have your team
(07:42):
members present, you won't succeed.Jeffrey Maddie, your business is relatively new,
a couple of years old. What'sthe future looking like for eternally?
What are the opportunities? We areso excited about the growth we've seen.
Just last December, we completed theCedar Sign Accelerator program out in LA and
that was a huge catapult to ourbusiness. So we are partnering with hospitals
(08:05):
nationwide to support them with advanced careplanning. I look for more opportunities to
continue with hospitals and healthcare organizations,but also just helping more and more people
with this important conversation about who theirtrusted power of attorney is and what kind
of decisions they might want when itcomes to their end of life choices.
So this is a living will thatmost people don't get access to. You
(08:28):
don't have to have in the stateattorney or a financial planner to do this.
Everyone is empowered to make their ownhealthcare choices and we help them with
that. Well, why do weneed to do why do we have to
do. Why should we bother withthis stuff? So when you don't have
an advanced directive or a living will, you know, doctors are program to
(08:48):
treat, tree treat, and todo whatever it takes. And that's not
right for everyone, you know.I think about my uncle who passed away
last year, and in his advanceddirective, you know what he saws and
meaningful life was continuing to play pianoand continuing to live to his fullest.
And when he was unable to dothat anymore, that's when he was able
(09:09):
to, with our family, makethat decision that was best for him.
That's not right for everybody, butthat's what you get to choose when you
have your own advanced directive. It'sa legally binding document that talks about what
you want for your life, sustainingtreatment. Do you think hanging out with
your mom and the car when she'son the cell phone organizing all these nurses
for home healthcare had anything to doany influence on what you're doing nowadays?
(09:31):
Absolutely? I think you know,when she talks about how to be there
for people and how to show upand how to provide the right care at
the right time, that's my ultimatedriver. You know, that's what I
want to be there for people forand it's so hard to know what that
care that you need is. Andso that's why we start with the most
basic conversation, what does valuable lifemean to you? And how can we
(09:56):
help you achieve that? So you'restarting off with that question, you're helping
people think that through, and thenyou're documenting that and hope and making sure
that that's what we get exactly.We document everything electronically and then we share
it back with all of your providersso that it's available and accessible if there's
ever a medical emergency. What's thewebsite address this organization? My eternally dot
(10:20):
com. Let me have that onemore time, my eternally dot com.
We've been speaking with Maddie Pearlstein Burnett, co founder and CEO of Eternally.
You're on Executive Leaders Radio. Don'tforget to visit our website. It's Executive
Leaders Radio dot com. That's ExecutiveLeaders Radio dot com. Stick around,
be back in a moment right afterthis quick break. This is Herbco and
(10:46):
you're host of Executive Leaders Radio.And if you're a business consultant, if
you consult to business owners or tobusiness owners team members. Then we'd like
to speak with you because we're gettingrequests from people all over the country,
from entrepreneurs all over the country thatare starting and building their businesses, where
(11:13):
they're looking for help and maybe wecan help connect you. Why don't you
email us at consult at Executive LeadersRadio dot com. That's consult at Executive
Leaders Radio dot com, and perhapswe can connect you to folks, to
entrepreneurs and their team members all aroundthe country that are looking for help.
(11:37):
That's consult at Executive Leaders Radio dotcom. So we're back here listening to
Executive Leaders Radio this year. HostHerb Cohen like to introduce Jessica Cunningham,
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a KODO CEO of Philadelphia Public Schools. Jessica, what is KIP Philadelphia Public
Schools? What are you guys doing? KIP Philadelphia Public Schools is a network
of public charter schools. We arecollege and career prep K twelve system serving
twenty seven hundred students in North andWest Philadelphia. Who we are from originally?
(12:22):
How many brothers and sisters? Andwhere are you in the pecking order?
Sure? I was born in Washington, DC, raised right outside of
the city in Prince George's County inMaryland, and I am an only child.
What makes an only child special?Many things? I think the first
thing that comes to mind is weare very independent and resourceful, especially those
of us who are gen X alsolatch few kids, and we know how
(12:45):
to self soothe and kind of justget things done on our own and figure
it out. Eight to fourteen yearsold, what kind of stuff are you
up to? What's that list looklike? Sure? I was a music
and dance kid, so I forprobably up through middle school. I played
the cello from elementary school through highschool and DCUTH Orchestra, and I also
(13:09):
played the clarinet in school. AndJeff, give me a hand please.
So, Jessica in the green room, we were talking about your mom and
dad growing up, and your momwas adamant on education. Tell us the
influence of your mom and dad onyour career. They are probably the biggest
influences for several reasons. So,first of all, my parents, particularly
(13:31):
my mom, were huge advocates ofschool choice before school choice became like a
buzzword. I attended a variety ofdifferent school types, so like private,
Montessori, Magnet School, Science Tech, performing arts, comprehensive kind of regular
junior high school. And then Iended up at an all girls Catholic school
for high school. And so thatthat agency that my mom used to get
(13:52):
me into schools that she thought weremore appropriate was really instrumental in me kind
of developing it for perspective around education. I also learned about inequities when you
go to that many different type schooltypes, you see major differences in how
kids in different communities from different backgroundsare educated. And then my dad,
(14:13):
I always say, he played thelong game with me. You know,
my dad made a bet with meabout my SAT scores in the fourth grade.
If I got a certain score,he promised to get me a new
car. But we both made goodon that bet, and so I got
a new car when I went tocollege, which was exciting. But yeah,
they were They were big proponents ofschool that was definitely first in our
(14:33):
home. And you mentioned your dadwas aggressive. I mean he had he
moved you, and I'm sure it'snot easy, you know, running the
kept schools and growing the organization.How did your dad's aggressiveness show up in
you today? In so many ways? So, my dad taught me a
(14:54):
lot I spent a lot of timewith him. My mom worked both day
school and night school, and thatmeant that my dad was really largely responsible
for things like school, lunch,after school, snacks, dinner, you
name at weekend, so shuttling mearound. And so I learned how to
be the captain of my own ship. I learned how to be responsible for
my life and to make the kindof choices that would build the life that
(15:18):
I wanted for myself, which isessentially the mission of KIP in terms of
how we want to set our kidsup and preparing them to make those choices.
We want to make all the opportunitiesthat they want available to them so
that they have that sort of varietyof choice in their lives an agency.
Matthew, Jessica, you just rattledoff the list of schools that you went
(15:39):
to and the inequities that you sawthere. I'm curious how young were you
when you were able to appreciate thedifferences between how the different schools operated.
Third grade? So I happened inthird grade that you got that sure?
So I started out from pre kthrough second grade. I went to a
very small, private monetary school kindof we wrote we had horses. At
(16:02):
my school. We tasted honey suffle. It was yeah, and I thought
that was normal. And then Imoved to a public magnet school for third
grade, and it was academically itwas a good school, was much more
economically diverse. And that was thefirst time I went to school with kids
who did not have lots of advantagesfrom home. And started to see kind
(16:26):
of understand, Oh, people arecoming at this from different perspectives, and
there are lots of kids who don'thave things that maybe I have, our
other kids have, and that seemsreally unfair. So how do tell me,
how do you bring all those differentschools you went to, all those
different things you saw, How doyou bring that with you to work today
(16:47):
as an educator running six schools inPhiladelphia? Great question. Those inequities really
bugged me, particularly as I gotolder. I started to notice not just
not just that every kid doesn't havethe same kind of stuff, every kid
is not equipped with the same kindof education. So by the time I
(17:07):
got to college, I could seethat kids were coming into college thinking that
they knew calculus, when really theyjust knew algebra two or Trigg. And
so I'm very, very passionate,as is my team about ensuring that our
students when they leave us really havethe kind of education that prepares them for
the college and career of their choice. Do you actually talk to the students
(17:32):
like or do you sit in inyour office run into six schools? I
do, sadly, I spent Istill spend a lot of time on zoom,
so I do get to see,you know, I try to get
to schools at least once a weekto just see what's happening in classrooms and
check in on school culture. I'mnot in class I don't get to go
to classrooms nearly as much as Iwould like to, but I do get
(17:56):
in there to check on the pulseof things, and most the most important
thing that I do when I'm inschools is talk to the leader of the
school, because they make the weatherin our schools, and so it's very
important that I am in tune withhow they're making the weather. Caleb,
that it seems like music was abig part of your life growing up.
Tell us a little bit about that. Sure, music taught me. I
(18:18):
mean, it didn't just make meappreciate art, and and it didn't it
certainly expanded and enhanced my love ofmusic. But it also taught me discipline,
Like it's a disciplined way of thinking. Um. It teaches you know,
it teaches you in new music isa different language that you have to
learn. Um. And it alsotaught me the importance of practice and and
(18:41):
spending very intentional time getting good atsomething. So to be to excel in
a program like DCUTH orchestrate, youhave to have a private teacher. That
means you've got a private lesson atleast once a week, you've got a
practice, You've got uh say,you know, we had between the three
days a week of DCU hope showedthat was probably eight hours of time spent
(19:04):
doing that. And so it taughtme about the importance of deliberate practice and
not wasting time and how to getreally good at something. So, what
was your instrumental choice? Cello?And it wasn't my choice and that's kind
that's kind of unique the cellist.So were you just kind of given your
part in the in the shows?Uh? Well, no, I had
(19:27):
to. You have to audition.So for every show upcoming show, you
audition for your chair, which iskind of your seat and first chair is
the premier seat of each section,UM, and so you always want to
be If you play violin, youwant to be first chair UM. And
that means you might get a solo. Even if you don't get a solo,
you're leading your section. They're followingyour what you're doing in your section.
(19:49):
And so I had to audition frequently. So when you audition and you
got that chair, I mean,you really have to make the most of
your opportunities, I'd imagine, right, Oh, absolutely absolutely. It was
definitely prestigious to to get that firstchair spot every time. So when you're
talking to your students, how yourelay at making the most your opportunities so
(20:11):
many different ways. Um. Youknow, I think it's important that kids
understand how precarious and fragile life is. I think they understand that more now
than they ever have. In asad way, but I think one of
the silver linings of what they've experiencedin the past couple of years with COVID
and just the state of the worldis that you can't you can't waste time.
(20:33):
You know, when you get ashot, you gotta you gotta at
least take it, even if youdon't make it. Like you tried,
and that means something and it getsyou prepared for your next thing. Jeffrey,
that's a good tell us. Whatabout one of your biggest challenges challenges
as far as the schools, challengesrunning the schools and what's going on right
(20:56):
now? I mean, i'd sayright now, the challenges kids have,
and especially kids and underresource communities,kids who historically have not been served well
by local systems. Their challenges aregrowing in terms of not just the academic
but their social and emotional needs.And more and more is being put on
(21:18):
schools and other systems to meet thoseneeds and the challenges that we weren't necessarily
set up to meet those needs.And so it's really hard to kind of
fill that gap while you're still waitingon funding systems and other systems to support
that sort of kind of wide rangingsupport. Website addressed for Philadelphia Public Schools
(21:41):
kept Philadelphia dot orgers. We've beenspeaking with Jessica cunning Hemakudo, CEO of
Philadelphia Public Schools here on Executive touse radio stick around by backing the moment.
Ready for this quick break. We'reback. You're listening to Executive Leaders
(22:10):
Radio. This your host Herb Cohen. We'd like to introduce Yipko Aevski,
who's president and CEO of Supply Force. Yipko, what is Supply Force?
What are you guys doing? Supplyfor us is a contract management organization that
organizes the fortune five hundred clients inthe industrial supply chain and manages e commerce.
(22:32):
We're one hundred people and we manageapproximately north of half a billion dollars
of business where our members. Well, that's a big business. Where you're
from originally? How many brothers andsister is? Where are you in the
pecking order? I'm born in Macedoniaformer Yugoslavia. At the age of nine,
I moved to Sweden. I amthe only child. So you're an
(22:53):
only child, and what was goingon eight to fourteen? What's the list
of stuff that you were going toeight routine? Well, at the age
of nine, my mom, whowas at the time in Macedonia, had
to for political reasons, moved toSweden. So I moved to Sweden at
the age of nine, which meantthat I came into a new community,
(23:15):
new language, new language, newenvironment. I never really connected very well
with my stepdad and basically built myenvironment with friendship and relationships that you know
led to my development throughout life,and that was both in sports or in
business. Jeffrey, So, yepgo being raised with a single mom and
(23:38):
building your own communities with your friendsand that type of thing. How has
that led to your ability to bea turnaround CEO and a transformative executive?
Well, I think you know it'sit's not only its apply for us has
been at multiple places, and thatis, you know, when you moved
from one country to another, youlearn to understand that there is different cultures,
(24:03):
different different behaviors and different personalities,and it's a question of how you
build that together so we all cango in the same direction. So I
think that started at the young ageand I've replicated it. Not just in
Sweden. I've been in Germany todo that. I've been in Belgium and
various other places as well. ACaleb yipco what kind of jobs that you
(24:27):
have growing up? You know,my first job, it really was at
a young age to make some money. I think it was at ten or
eleven. Already, every year inMay there is spring flowers there are sold
and I started by knocking doors aroundthe communities and selling flowers. And started,
(24:48):
you know, for me to getcommercially savvy. And then I did
some work and what we call alocal kiosk where you bade buy a newspaper,
cigarettes and so on. So Istarted an early age. Was it
all work or did you have timeto play any sports? Do any enjoyable
things? I played both soccer andbasketball. At at first I think,
you know, as much more enjoyingas soccer was fairly good at Soccer didn't
(25:12):
start very well, but you know, I developed over the years and then
basketball evolved into my sport of choice. And by the way, in the
soccer on the basketball side, actuallycontinued to become a basketball coach at the
later age as well. So whatabout soccer? Were you scoring tons of
goals? Did you have a leadershiprole in the team or anything like that.
(25:34):
Now I think it's interesting, youknow, based on what we're talking
about, you know, community developmentand so on. I actually started off
the bench. I was not reallyfor a selection. I was far down
the line. But over the yearyears I worked very hard and at the
end actually I was a defensive midfielder, which in my mind was building a
you know how everyone else could obviouslyperform well, so serve others was basically
(25:57):
what I was doing as a midfielder, and at the end of my career,
I was actually captain of the team. So wait a minute, yep,
go you're selling flowers door to door, you're working a kiosk where you're
selling all kinds of different things.Do you have time to work yourself to
be a bench player to the captainthe team? It sounds like you know
how to prioritize your time pretty well. Well. It is time management.
(26:18):
It's dedication and hard work. Andagain it is as well building you know,
relationships around you, because look,you can't get to that point if
you don't have friends around you thatwork with you in the same direction.
So I think you know, toget to that point, it is,
yes, time management, But ifyou don't want to have people around you
on the team that align with you, you won't get there. Eleven players
(26:41):
on the soccer field, you haveto have them all working together. Does
that relate pretty closely to turn thebusiness around? Yes, I mean that
is exactly the point. And Ithink you know what's interesting is that it's
so relatable to business because I thinkyou know, when you get on a
soccer field. Everyone has different backgrounds. They can have different you know,
families and so on, and theyhave different interests, but you all have
(27:02):
to pull together. And it relatesinto the business as well. You have
to respect everyone that they have differentbackgrounds and you need to build it based
on a common goal that you allstrive towards. Matthew, So, how
young were you yet go when youwere first transforming things? You know,
So it's interesting, you know,if we talk about transformation of something of
the larger scale. I started whatis called gymnasium in Sweden, which is
(27:26):
similar to high school here. Thestudent council had a way of generating funds
to do variety of different activities.One of my closest friends was the chairman
of the council who became a toppolitian politician in Sweden. He expected me,
since we're very close friends, tobuild something which was to collect and
drive, you know, a commercialdevelopment. So we arranged events and the
(27:49):
events were to onboard students when theywere coming in. There was big parties
and so on, and it ranged. I arranged six events that range from
five hundred to one thousand people everyevent, which was huge revenue. Generator
for the State of Student Council.And where did you get the idea in
the sense when you were in highschool or gymnasium as you just called it,
(28:10):
that you could transform something like that. Well, I think I think
it was it was a question oforganization, and everyone had obviously the desire
of getting together and get to knoweach other because we were starting a new
year in school, and it becamesomething which was a natural thing to do.
We called that the kick in eventfor the year, and we pulled
together to a team how to structureit, which was to build bus schedules,
(28:34):
which was how will you pick peopleup? And you know, we
had to organize so we could getin bands and so on. So I
oversaw all of it, and thenI had different team members to obviously pull
strings and help me to get thisto work. And what lessons do you
still bring with you that you learnedfrom transforming that event back when you were
in gymnasium. Well, I think, you know, anything is possible.
(28:59):
I think it all lot of times. We have a lot of organizations go
with this is how we've done thingsbefore, this is what it looks like.
I think, you know, I'velearned through that that nothing is status
quo. It's about you know,developing is going to come with If you
pull all together, you can makechanges no matter where what type of business
you're in. I'm fascinated that whenyou talk about transformation in the context of
(29:22):
business, you always seem to bringit back to team building, to community
building. Is that accurate as businesstransformation actually just about building community. It
is a community, but you needto have a common vision and understanding of
what you're heading towards, right.I think you know it's interesting that sometimes
there is the connection of what youdo today towards the vision and the goal
(29:47):
that you have. Right, ifeveryone understands the vision and the goal,
then you can obviously act correctly toreach what you're all striving towards. But
you need to all pull together,and you need to obviously be as well
receptive to everyone's views as well.Jeffree Cooe, you and I have talked
a little bit about your wife andkids. How's your family supported your professional
(30:10):
career? Well, always been therefor me, So I think you know
it's interesting you should you should bringthat up, Jeff. You know,
I've been in so many different placesaround the world. And if you don't
have the foundation and the family behindyou, you can't execute anything at work.
And they've always been very supported.We have a very strong bond.
(30:33):
What I was missing as a familyat a young age that I was in
a divorce marriage. I think we'verepaired that in my family to be very
close. I have two kids andit has been, in my opinion,
a success and we're very close.Now, well, what have you learned.
What have you learned from your twokids? Yep, from both my
(30:56):
kids, I have learned to behumble and and minded. What do you
mean What do you mean you repairedit? Yeah, with your family,
which you didn't have as a child. What are you talking about, Oh,
you built the community. Well,I did not have my family with
mother and father and so on,right, so I did not have that
(31:18):
proximity. I had to build acommunity around me, which was a different
type of families. I did nothave the mother, father, and kids
and a brother and sister which Inow have. And I think that's been
a very strong bond that I didnot have at an early age. So
your nature is to bring everybody together. It's really to understand what you have
a natural understanding, an intuitive understandingof where people fit in your life,
(31:41):
whether it's in your personal life orin your business life. Don't you correct
so? I think it's a questionof making sure that the community and chemistry
works because it's about everyone within thecommunity that they feel comfortable within it.
What's the website address of Supply Forcesupply Force dot com. We've been speaking
(32:01):
with ipko Aiseevski, who's the presidentand CEO of Supply Force here on Executive
Leaders Radio. Don't forget to visitour website. It's Executive Leaders Radio dot
com to learn more about our executiveleaders. It's Executive Leaders Radio dot com
to learn more about our executive leaders. Stick around when we be back in
the moment right after this quick break, don't go away. This is herbco
(32:23):
when you're hosted Executive Leaders Radio dotcom. Regarding your career, if you're
trying to figure out how to makethe most money and also enjoy your career,
that's enjoy your career, I mean, really enjoy your career and make
the most money. You ought totalk to our CEOs. They've got the
(32:44):
bird's eye view of where the reallyprofitable jobs are, where the really profitable
jobs are going to be and they'rewilling to speak with you regarding their vision
for the future and where you mayfit into it. In order to make
the most money and really enjoy yourcareer, email us consult at Executive Leaders
(33:07):
Radio dot com. That consult atExecutive Leaders radio dot com to get help
from our CEOs regarding where you maywant to go in your career to make
the most money and really enjoy yourcareer. Consult at Executive Leaders Radio dot
com. We're back. You're listeningto Executive Leaders Radio this year HOSTO of
(33:43):
coenlike to introduce How Real, founderand president of World Cafe Live and co
founder National Independent Venue Association. HowWhat is the World Cafe Live? What
are you guys doing? World CafeLive is a independent nonprofit organization featuring live
years, live music, and musiceducation programs in Philly. Were you from
(34:06):
originally? How many brothers and sisters? Where were you in the pecking order?
Yeah? Born and raised in suburbanPhilly and I'm the youngest of three
boys, all right, eight tofourteen. What's the list of stuff you
were up to as a kid?Pretty typical. I was really into sports,
but I also was very into music. I played piano and keyboards,
had bands, taught lessons, lovedthe music world. Matthew how I'm curious,
(34:32):
how so how young were you whenyou were going to see live music
as a kid? I started whenI was probably about fifteen fourteen to fifteen.
And was there like a venue that'sparticularly meaningful to you? There is?
There was a great place in Phillyarea and Brent Mare called the main
Point where Bonnie Ray and Bruce Springsteenand Jackson Brown and so many others started
(34:54):
their career. And what wasn't aboutthe Main Point that really attracted you that
that informs what you're doing now withWorld Cafe Live. It really was the
fact that people, the audiences werevery respectful of the artist, even though
they were just up and comers,And it was a very intimate kind of
experience for both artists and audience.So I'm curious, as you do World
(35:15):
Cafe Live, as you think backto the Main Point, do you identify
more with the fans watching the show, with the artists up on the stage,
or with the guy who owned MainPoint? Well? All three,
all three are really important. Itwas also a sort of nonprofit organization as
we are. I know that forthe artists to have a room where they
(35:38):
were respected and listened to, notjust a bar scene, was a big
step up for them and for theaudience. You know, if you were
really a music head like me,to get to really be in a listening
room that had great acoustics, veryspecial. I'm going to change gears on
you a second, because I'm theoldest of three and you're the youngest of
three. So tell me what itbeing the youngest of three d to you?
(36:00):
Um? I guess you know?It gave me a lot of opportunity
to observe and learn since my twoolder brothers were the pioneers in terms of
getting both praise and getting in troubleright, So I learned a lot from
that. And how does what youlearn from being the youngest from observing all
of them? How does that informwhat you do running World Cafe Live?
(36:22):
Uh? You know it's all aboutum people being being observant, trying to
listen and trying to be a peacekeepera mediator. Um. And but on
the other hand, make sure thateverybody has a voice. Caleb. Now,
(36:44):
what kind of job do you havegrowing up? Ah? Well,
I was a babysitter, and Iwas in a band and a lot of
bands, and also I taught musicto UH to other people, to younger
kids. Tell us about your babysittinggig. How big was your company?
Well? I started out just babysittinglike other people. But I was overwhelmed
(37:05):
by opportunity and so I started andby people asking me to find other babysitters.
So in tenth grade, I startedninety night babysitting service. My dad
was a printer, so we printedup cards and posters, and before I
knew it, I had dozens,maybe as many as one hundred, of
babysitters out on a Friday or Saturdaynight, babysitting for people in the neighborhood.
(37:27):
Wait a minute, you went frombeing a babysitter yourself to managing an
entire network of babysitters. Is thatcorrect? Yeah. I was an entrepreneur
at a really young age, andthat's how I bought my first keyboard.
An entrepreneur who sounds like he knowshow to scale a business pretty well,
what has that have to do withhow you're able to grow World Cafe Live.
Well, there's good parallels. It'sa great question, but you know,
(37:49):
I think, for example, rightnow, our education program at World
Cafe Live grew very organically. Westarted it in two thousand and eight when
the schools during the recession and shutdown their music programs, and so we
brought our musicians together and our teachingartists and our donors, and we created
a great program called Brood Sessions,bringing kids in one hundred at a time
(38:10):
for very curated sessions. Now we'rescaling it up through the new organization National
Independent Venue Association to try to bringthat kind of programming to three thousand venues
across the country. What do youmean, tell me more? You know,
I think that the independent venue issort of like an independent bookseller.
Right now, ninety percent of allticket sales for live music performances throughout the
(38:35):
globe are controlled by two big multinationalcompanies. And nobody got their start at
the Wells Fargo Center or other arenas. If you ask Dolly Parton or Billie
Eilish, who started in our smallsmall venue, of our two venues,
they all got their start in independent, small venues, and we never had
a voice. But when the pandemichit, we formed this coalition now called
(38:58):
NIVA, The national independent venue isasociation, and we now have this network
of venues around the country. AndI think that one of the ways that
we can stay independent is that wehave to be more than just nightclubs in
our communities. We have to becultural hubs. We have to be centers
for all kinds of activity, andWorld Cafe Live has that in its DNA.
We've been there since the beginning.So community engagement and music education is
(39:22):
a big vehicle for us to bea lot more in Philadelphia than just a
nightclub, not that there's anything wrongwith that part of what we do.
Jeffrey l who was one of themost influential people in your life? Jeff
Two people come to mind for me. One is most influential was my dad.
And it was my dad because healways sort of put himself down when
(39:45):
we were growing up, because henever had the opportunity to go to college
and he wanted my brothers and Ito be doctors or lawyers, which he
worked out. I have two doctorbrothers and I was a lawyer for about
the first half of my career.But I say he put himself down because
I watched him in the family printingbusiness, and I watched him where every
(40:07):
hat. Every day he was oneday he was an accountant, the next
day he was a lawyer, thenext minute he's being a minister. This
is what it takes to be abusiness leader. You have to be able
to wear all those hats and dothem as well as you can. You
can't have all the answers, butyou have to have the judgment to know
what you know and what you don'tknow. And my dad was an expert
at that. The other the otherinspiration for me was a great Philadelphia in
(40:30):
May rest in peace, Willard RouseBill Rouse. Uh. He was a
client and a friend and a mentor, And the man taught me that if
you don't not passionate about what youdo, then you're not doing the right
thing. And that's what led meto bag my law practice and move into
the music world and create work.So what's Bill telling you every day when
(40:52):
you when you walk into the organization? What's Bill telling you that influences your
day? He's telling me to behonest, be bold, and be persistent.
We have that in common. Youprobably know that, right, yes,
I do. Well, if wewere doing a good interview, what
else do we know about you?That we should be asking about. Wow,
(41:14):
that's a tough question, Herb.I think what we probably haven't talked
about is how how simple I amin terms of all of my dealings with
folks. And it sounds, itsounds ridiculous, but it's all about the
golden rule. It's all about tryingto be fair to others as you would
(41:35):
want them to be to you.And that's always been my north star,
and that's how I try to bewith everybody, from our guests, to
our artists to our staff. Howmany different artists do you think have been
through your indoors? Oh my,Well, we do five hundred ticketed shows
and a couple of hundred free showsa year. Each one of them have
(41:57):
an average of two or more,say, an average of two performances,
bands or performers. So you dothe math. If you've been, you've
helped that, you've helped the careersof thousands of musicians. Well, we
have. Our name comes from theradio show. We partnered with WXPN in
Philadelphia, one of the country's leadingNPR stations, and they have a show
(42:20):
called World Cafe and it's been onthe air for thirty years. We licensed
that name so for fifteen years theywere the virtual World Cafe, and for
the last eighteen years or so they'venow had an extension, which is the
actual World Cafe, and that's US. So this is where artists come to
become known. So Adele's first gigin the US was on our stage.
(42:43):
Fast Forward, Billie Eilish, peoplelike Robert glassper Kamassi Washington, all kinds
of genres, all kinds of artistshave did Matthew last question? What is
it? Yeah? I was actuallywondering is it more important to you that
you have those big artists on thereor I know my kids high school orchestra
has performed on your stage, right, Like, which one of those is
more important and brings you more pleasure? Thanks Matthew. I think what really
(43:06):
distinguishes us is what we call wcl CL originals, and it is working
in the community and doing one offkinds of things. But we're also very
proud that you know, artists whoare known and artists who are rising want
to play on our stages. Soit's really both What's the website address for
World Cafe Live and National Independent VenueAssociation. World Cafe Live is www dot
(43:29):
Worldcafe Live. Dot com, nivais www dot NIVA, so niv A
s s oc dot org. You'vebeen speaking with how Real, founder and
president of World Cafe Live and cofounder of National Independent Venue Association, Jeffrey.
Can you give us a runout onwho we've had on the show today?
Please? What a great show herwe had Mattie Pearlstein Burnett, co
(43:52):
founder and CEO of Eternally, JessicaCunningham with Koto, CEO Philadelphia Public Schools
co. A Sevski, President andCEO of Supply Force, hal Real,
founder and president World Cafe Live andco founder National Independent Venue Association. I
would like to thank my co hostsincluding Jeff mac Newmark, Caleb Hoppus Hanlin,
(44:15):
and Matthew Shapiro Obermeyer for giving mea hand structuring the questions, hopefully
providing our listening audience and educational andthe entertaining show. Like to thank our
listening audience for listening, Otherwise youwouldn't have a radio show. Don't we
get to visit our website It's ExecutiveLeaders Radio dot com. That's Executive Leaders
Radio dot com to learn more aboutour executive leaders. Thank you for joining
(44:37):
us today and have a nice day. Bye bye,
Welcome to Executive Leaders Radio, yourspot in the corner office, the radio
show where executives share their secrets tosuccess. Executive Leaders Radio. You're listening
to Executive Leaders Radio. Does yourhost herm Cohen with my co host Jeff
mac Newmark, Caleb Hoppus Helen andMatthew Shapiro Obermayer, Jeffy, can you
(00:32):
give us a rundown on who wehave on the show today? Please?
Sure heard, we have a greatshow. Mattie pearlstein Is Burnett is co
founder and CEO of Eternally. JessicaCunningham Akoto is the CEO of KI Philadelphia
Public Schools. Yipko Ai Sepski isthe president and CEO of Supply Force,
and how Real is the founder,president and co founder of World Cafe Live
(00:56):
and National Independent Venue Association. Well, let's get to our first guess.
Maddie Pearlstein Burnett, co founder andCEO of Eternally. Maddie, what is
Eternally? What are you guys doing? Good morning? Eternally is a platform
that provides telehealth for advanced care planning. And where you're from originally? How
many brothers and sisters? And whereare you in the pecking order. I'm
(01:19):
from Terry Hill, New Jersey.I'm the oldest of three of a younger
brother and a younger sister. Allright, in late to fourteen, when
you were a kid eight to sevento thirteen years old? Kind of stuff
were you up to? What wereyou doing? I loved swimming. I
was a competitive swimmer from age seven. I swim at the local outdoor swimming
pool, Woodcrest Swim Club, andI grew up, you know, just
being at the pool all the time, four to five days a week practicing.
(01:42):
My best stroke was butterfly. Gettinga little bit older, I swim
in my high school and I justgot a chance to do swimming. But
also sophomore year, I got achance to be introduced to the sport of
rowing. And let's see, Caleb, you want to get you want to
give us a hymn with interviewing?Yeah, sure, Maddie. How old
(02:05):
were you when you first started makingmoney? That's a great question. I
was a you know, eleven ortwelve year old on the school bus.
I went to a Kelman Academy,a Jewish day school in South Jersey,
and I would hand out my phonenumber two kids on the school bus to
get their parents to call me forbabysitting jobs. And that was my first
time making money. So you gotthis gig babysitting for the kids in the
(02:27):
neighborhood. What did you different tohave a successful business? I knew that
it was important to be nice tothe parents who were going to call me
back, so made sure that Idid right by them, showed up on
time, prepared, and just reallyhustled to get that word out, the
communication with the phone numbers and makingsure kids knew about me. A little
bit of a hustler always important inbusiness. And your business is pretty young.
(02:50):
So how does being a hustler asa babysitter or late to what you're
doing it eternally and making it beso successful. Yeah. So we got
started in early twenty twenty, andevery day as a grind, you know,
something is always coming up, alwaysbreaking, So it's a little bit
of staying on top of everything andhaving all of that managed and just continuing
to press forward each and every day. Every step is good. Matthew and
(03:14):
Maddie in the green room. Iwas struck when you talked about your mom
balancing, being balancing a full timejob and three kids, tell me about
her. Yeah, so, mymom's a nurse by training and she does
consulting work now, but really,when we were kids, she ran a
home healthcare staffing agency and I gotto see her shuttling around nurses two different
(03:34):
opportunities and being in the backseat.I just watched her on the phone,
driving nurses and taking care of businesswhile taking care of three kids. And
did watching her and particularly the nursesup close, like, what impact did
that have on you? These nursesare holding families together. You know,
when your family or your loved oneshealth is declining, it's really really scary,
and you need somebody with that clinicalknowledge and expertise and that comfort and
(03:58):
compassion to help you understand what isabout to happen. So I got to
see how the importance of connecting nursesand clinical resources to families at the right
time, And that's why that shuttling, that hustle is so important to make
sure that families feel supported and cantrust their clinical providers. So I think
the connection between that and what you'redoing now is pretty obvious. But tell
(04:21):
me what you learn from watching yourmom manage all of that that you bring
to you with work today in managinginternally. Honestly, it's really tough,
and our healthcare system is broken.I just know that there's a way to
do it better. And so Eternallyis an intervention that supports families via telehealth.
So we're there for you whenever youneed us. I know that you
(04:42):
can't be everywhere at all times.I saw her try and doing it to
do it. She did a reallygood job. But I just think there's
so much room for improvement. Jeffrey, So, Mattie, you're the daughter
of a two generation family business,Pearls Teamed Glass. Did you ever go
to work with your dad? It'sa business. Yeah, it's much more
than just two generations. It's aboutsix generations long, started in eighteen ninety
(05:04):
eight Pearl Stained Glass. And yeah, my dad actually left me in the
office when I was about two yearsold. I'm the oldest and I was
his only daughter at the time.And you know, I think it must
have slipped his mind. He wasbusy with work. You know. In
the green room, you were tellingus about your grandfather also in the business.
What did you learn from your grandfather? My grandfather treats everyone with kindness,
(05:27):
humility, respect, I learned fromhim how important it is to surround
yourself with people that you care aboutand you can trust. And he showed
that respect to each and every personthat he met, whether it was the
doorman or the person in his executiveroom. And how does that impact how
you run your own company? Peopleare everything? And I know that if
(05:48):
I invest in the right people andI surround myself with people who can make
me stronger, our business will bestronger. I will be stronger. I
can't do it all on my own, and so I really surround myself with
the best of the best and makesure I have people that I can call
to get support. Matthew Caleb.Yeah, Maddie, you've got this great
competitive swimming career too. Do isit? Tell me about the most memorable
(06:10):
meat from when you were a kid. Yeah. So, Cherry Hill is
known for its swimming community. There'sabout thirteen swim clubs in the town.
Every little development has its own town, but there's a Cherry Bowl, a
big competitive meat between all the clubs. And when I was your nine years
old, I won the event thatI was swimming and I got to do
that with my grandparents and parents presenceor just a really proud moment that I
got to share with my family swimming. To be a competitive swimmer, that's
(06:32):
a lot of time on your ownin the pool, doing your own thing.
How does that square with all thatstuff you just told us about like
teams? Yeah, I mean youcertainly have a lot of time to think
by yourself, breathe by yourself,and there's be heads down. I think
when they come up from for air, it's literally so nice to be right
there with other people who are grindingwith you. So I really value that
(06:55):
camaraderie, but balancing with with beingheads down hard at work. Caleb Maddie,
you mentioned that you were pretty goodindividual swimmer. Did you do any
team sports? Yeah? So,I think the first time I did a
real team sport was in my sophomoreyear of high school when I joined the
South Jersey Rowing Club, and crewwas new sport to me. I got
(07:18):
to swim, I got to rowon the Google, on the Cooper River,
on the Mercer River, and whatI learned was that you can't row
without every single person on your boatpresent. It was the first time that
I felt that responsibility of showing upfor other people, and I feel that
now as a business leader, youknow, showing up for my team,
being present and being available to them, because if you don't have your team
(07:42):
members present, you won't succeed.Jeffrey Maddie, your business is relatively new,
a couple of years old. What'sthe future looking like for eternally?
What are the opportunities? We areso excited about the growth we've seen.
Just last December, we completed theCedar Sign Accelerator program out in LA and
that was a huge catapult to ourbusiness. So we are partnering with hospitals
(08:05):
nationwide to support them with advanced careplanning. I look for more opportunities to
continue with hospitals and healthcare organizations,but also just helping more and more people
with this important conversation about who theirtrusted power of attorney is and what kind
of decisions they might want when itcomes to their end of life choices.
So this is a living will thatmost people don't get access to. You
(08:28):
don't have to have in the stateattorney or a financial planner to do this.
Everyone is empowered to make their ownhealthcare choices and we help them with
that. Well, why do weneed to do why do we have to
do. Why should we bother withthis stuff? So when you don't have
an advanced directive or a living will, you know, doctors are program to
(08:48):
treat, tree treat, and todo whatever it takes. And that's not
right for everyone, you know.I think about my uncle who passed away
last year, and in his advanceddirective, you know what he saws and
meaningful life was continuing to play pianoand continuing to live to his fullest.
And when he was unable to dothat anymore, that's when he was able
(09:09):
to, with our family, makethat decision that was best for him.
That's not right for everybody, butthat's what you get to choose when you
have your own advanced directive. It'sa legally binding document that talks about what
you want for your life, sustainingtreatment. Do you think hanging out with
your mom and the car when she'son the cell phone organizing all these nurses
for home healthcare had anything to doany influence on what you're doing nowadays?
(09:31):
Absolutely? I think you know,when she talks about how to be there
for people and how to show upand how to provide the right care at
the right time, that's my ultimatedriver. You know, that's what I
want to be there for people forand it's so hard to know what that
care that you need is. Andso that's why we start with the most
basic conversation, what does valuable lifemean to you? And how can we
(09:56):
help you achieve that? So you'restarting off with that question, you're helping
people think that through, and thenyou're documenting that and hope and making sure
that that's what we get exactly.We document everything electronically and then we share
it back with all of your providersso that it's available and accessible if there's
ever a medical emergency. What's thewebsite address this organization? My eternally dot
(10:20):
com. Let me have that onemore time, my eternally dot com.
We've been speaking with Maddie Pearlstein Burnett, co founder and CEO of Eternally.
You're on Executive Leaders Radio. Don'tforget to visit our website. It's Executive
Leaders Radio dot com. That's ExecutiveLeaders Radio dot com. Stick around,
be back in a moment right afterthis quick break. This is Herbco and
(10:46):
you're host of Executive Leaders Radio.And if you're a business consultant, if
you consult to business owners or tobusiness owners team members. Then we'd like
to speak with you because we're gettingrequests from people all over the country,
from entrepreneurs all over the country thatare starting and building their businesses, where
(11:13):
they're looking for help and maybe wecan help connect you. Why don't you
email us at consult at Executive LeadersRadio dot com. That's consult at Executive
Leaders Radio dot com, and perhapswe can connect you to folks, to
entrepreneurs and their team members all aroundthe country that are looking for help.
(11:37):
That's consult at Executive Leaders Radio dotcom. So we're back here listening to
Executive Leaders Radio this year. HostHerb Cohen like to introduce Jessica Cunningham,
(12:01):
a KODO CEO of Philadelphia Public Schools. Jessica, what is KIP Philadelphia Public
Schools? What are you guys doing? KIP Philadelphia Public Schools is a network
of public charter schools. We arecollege and career prep K twelve system serving
twenty seven hundred students in North andWest Philadelphia. Who we are from originally?
(12:22):
How many brothers and sisters? Andwhere are you in the pecking order?
Sure? I was born in Washington, DC, raised right outside of
the city in Prince George's County inMaryland, and I am an only child.
What makes an only child special?Many things? I think the first
thing that comes to mind is weare very independent and resourceful, especially those
of us who are gen X alsolatch few kids, and we know how
(12:45):
to self soothe and kind of justget things done on our own and figure
it out. Eight to fourteen yearsold, what kind of stuff are you
up to? What's that list looklike? Sure? I was a music
and dance kid, so I forprobably up through middle school. I played
the cello from elementary school through highschool and DCUTH Orchestra, and I also
(13:09):
played the clarinet in school. AndJeff, give me a hand please.
So, Jessica in the green room, we were talking about your mom and
dad growing up, and your momwas adamant on education. Tell us the
influence of your mom and dad onyour career. They are probably the biggest
influences for several reasons. So,first of all, my parents, particularly
(13:31):
my mom, were huge advocates ofschool choice before school choice became like a
buzzword. I attended a variety ofdifferent school types, so like private,
Montessori, Magnet School, Science Tech, performing arts, comprehensive kind of regular
junior high school. And then Iended up at an all girls Catholic school
for high school. And so thatthat agency that my mom used to get
(13:52):
me into schools that she thought weremore appropriate was really instrumental in me kind
of developing it for perspective around education. I also learned about inequities when you
go to that many different type schooltypes, you see major differences in how
kids in different communities from different backgroundsare educated. And then my dad,
(14:13):
I always say, he played thelong game with me. You know,
my dad made a bet with meabout my SAT scores in the fourth grade.
If I got a certain score,he promised to get me a new
car. But we both made goodon that bet, and so I got
a new car when I went tocollege, which was exciting. But yeah,
they were They were big proponents ofschool that was definitely first in our
(14:33):
home. And you mentioned your dadwas aggressive. I mean he had he
moved you, and I'm sure it'snot easy, you know, running the
kept schools and growing the organization.How did your dad's aggressiveness show up in
you today? In so many ways? So, my dad taught me a
(14:54):
lot I spent a lot of timewith him. My mom worked both day
school and night school, and thatmeant that my dad was really largely responsible
for things like school, lunch,after school, snacks, dinner, you
name at weekend, so shuttling mearound. And so I learned how to
be the captain of my own ship. I learned how to be responsible for
my life and to make the kindof choices that would build the life that
(15:18):
I wanted for myself, which isessentially the mission of KIP in terms of
how we want to set our kidsup and preparing them to make those choices.
We want to make all the opportunitiesthat they want available to them so
that they have that sort of varietyof choice in their lives an agency.
Matthew, Jessica, you just rattledoff the list of schools that you went
(15:39):
to and the inequities that you sawthere. I'm curious how young were you
when you were able to appreciate thedifferences between how the different schools operated.
Third grade? So I happened inthird grade that you got that sure?
So I started out from pre kthrough second grade. I went to a
very small, private monetary school kindof we wrote we had horses. At
(16:02):
my school. We tasted honey suffle. It was yeah, and I thought
that was normal. And then Imoved to a public magnet school for third
grade, and it was academically itwas a good school, was much more
economically diverse. And that was thefirst time I went to school with kids
who did not have lots of advantagesfrom home. And started to see kind
(16:26):
of understand, Oh, people arecoming at this from different perspectives, and
there are lots of kids who don'thave things that maybe I have, our
other kids have, and that seemsreally unfair. So how do tell me,
how do you bring all those differentschools you went to, all those
different things you saw, How doyou bring that with you to work today
(16:47):
as an educator running six schools inPhiladelphia? Great question. Those inequities really
bugged me, particularly as I gotolder. I started to notice not just
not just that every kid doesn't havethe same kind of stuff, every kid
is not equipped with the same kindof education. So by the time I
(17:07):
got to college, I could seethat kids were coming into college thinking that
they knew calculus, when really theyjust knew algebra two or Trigg. And
so I'm very, very passionate,as is my team about ensuring that our
students when they leave us really havethe kind of education that prepares them for
the college and career of their choice. Do you actually talk to the students
(17:32):
like or do you sit in inyour office run into six schools? I
do, sadly, I spent Istill spend a lot of time on zoom,
so I do get to see,you know, I try to get
to schools at least once a weekto just see what's happening in classrooms and
check in on school culture. I'mnot in class I don't get to go
to classrooms nearly as much as Iwould like to, but I do get
(17:56):
in there to check on the pulseof things, and most the most important
thing that I do when I'm inschools is talk to the leader of the
school, because they make the weatherin our schools, and so it's very
important that I am in tune withhow they're making the weather. Caleb,
that it seems like music was abig part of your life growing up.
Tell us a little bit about that. Sure, music taught me. I
(18:18):
mean, it didn't just make meappreciate art, and and it didn't it
certainly expanded and enhanced my love ofmusic. But it also taught me discipline,
Like it's a disciplined way of thinking. Um. It teaches you know,
it teaches you in new music isa different language that you have to
learn. Um. And it alsotaught me the importance of practice and and
(18:41):
spending very intentional time getting good atsomething. So to be to excel in
a program like DCUTH orchestrate, youhave to have a private teacher. That
means you've got a private lesson atleast once a week, you've got a
practice, You've got uh say,you know, we had between the three
days a week of DCU hope showedthat was probably eight hours of time spent
(19:04):
doing that. And so it taughtme about the importance of deliberate practice and
not wasting time and how to getreally good at something. So, what
was your instrumental choice? Cello?And it wasn't my choice and that's kind
that's kind of unique the cellist.So were you just kind of given your
part in the in the shows?Uh? Well, no, I had
(19:27):
to. You have to audition.So for every show upcoming show, you
audition for your chair, which iskind of your seat and first chair is
the premier seat of each section,UM, and so you always want to
be If you play violin, youwant to be first chair UM. And
that means you might get a solo. Even if you don't get a solo,
you're leading your section. They're followingyour what you're doing in your section.
(19:49):
And so I had to audition frequently. So when you audition and you
got that chair, I mean,you really have to make the most of
your opportunities, I'd imagine, right, Oh, absolutely absolutely. It was
definitely prestigious to to get that firstchair spot every time. So when you're
talking to your students, how yourelay at making the most your opportunities so
(20:11):
many different ways. Um. Youknow, I think it's important that kids
understand how precarious and fragile life is. I think they understand that more now
than they ever have. In asad way, but I think one of
the silver linings of what they've experiencedin the past couple of years with COVID
and just the state of the worldis that you can't you can't waste time.
(20:33):
You know, when you get ashot, you gotta you gotta at
least take it, even if youdon't make it. Like you tried,
and that means something and it getsyou prepared for your next thing. Jeffrey,
that's a good tell us. Whatabout one of your biggest challenges challenges
as far as the schools, challengesrunning the schools and what's going on right
(20:56):
now? I mean, i'd sayright now, the challenges kids have,
and especially kids and underresource communities,kids who historically have not been served well
by local systems. Their challenges aregrowing in terms of not just the academic
but their social and emotional needs.And more and more is being put on
(21:18):
schools and other systems to meet thoseneeds and the challenges that we weren't necessarily
set up to meet those needs.And so it's really hard to kind of
fill that gap while you're still waitingon funding systems and other systems to support
that sort of kind of wide rangingsupport. Website addressed for Philadelphia Public Schools
(21:41):
kept Philadelphia dot orgers. We've beenspeaking with Jessica cunning Hemakudo, CEO of
Philadelphia Public Schools here on Executive touse radio stick around by backing the moment.
Ready for this quick break. We'reback. You're listening to Executive Leaders
(22:10):
Radio. This your host Herb Cohen. We'd like to introduce Yipko Aevski,
who's president and CEO of Supply Force. Yipko, what is Supply Force?
What are you guys doing? Supplyfor us is a contract management organization that
organizes the fortune five hundred clients inthe industrial supply chain and manages e commerce.
(22:32):
We're one hundred people and we manageapproximately north of half a billion dollars
of business where our members. Well, that's a big business. Where you're
from originally? How many brothers andsister is? Where are you in the
pecking order? I'm born in Macedoniaformer Yugoslavia. At the age of nine,
I moved to Sweden. I amthe only child. So you're an
(22:53):
only child, and what was goingon eight to fourteen? What's the list
of stuff that you were going toeight routine? Well, at the age
of nine, my mom, whowas at the time in Macedonia, had
to for political reasons, moved toSweden. So I moved to Sweden at
the age of nine, which meantthat I came into a new community,
(23:15):
new language, new language, newenvironment. I never really connected very well
with my stepdad and basically built myenvironment with friendship and relationships that you know
led to my development throughout life,and that was both in sports or in
business. Jeffrey, So, yepgo being raised with a single mom and
(23:38):
building your own communities with your friendsand that type of thing. How has
that led to your ability to bea turnaround CEO and a transformative executive?
Well, I think you know it'sit's not only its apply for us has
been at multiple places, and thatis, you know, when you moved
from one country to another, youlearn to understand that there is different cultures,
(24:03):
different different behaviors and different personalities,and it's a question of how you
build that together so we all cango in the same direction. So I
think that started at the young ageand I've replicated it. Not just in
Sweden. I've been in Germany todo that. I've been in Belgium and
various other places as well. ACaleb yipco what kind of jobs that you
(24:27):
have growing up? You know,my first job, it really was at
a young age to make some money. I think it was at ten or
eleven. Already, every year inMay there is spring flowers there are sold
and I started by knocking doors aroundthe communities and selling flowers. And started,
(24:48):
you know, for me to getcommercially savvy. And then I did
some work and what we call alocal kiosk where you bade buy a newspaper,
cigarettes and so on. So Istarted an early age. Was it
all work or did you have timeto play any sports? Do any enjoyable
things? I played both soccer andbasketball. At at first I think,
you know, as much more enjoyingas soccer was fairly good at Soccer didn't
(25:12):
start very well, but you know, I developed over the years and then
basketball evolved into my sport of choice. And by the way, in the
soccer on the basketball side, actuallycontinued to become a basketball coach at the
later age as well. So whatabout soccer? Were you scoring tons of
goals? Did you have a leadershiprole in the team or anything like that.
(25:34):
Now I think it's interesting, youknow, based on what we're talking
about, you know, community developmentand so on. I actually started off
the bench. I was not reallyfor a selection. I was far down
the line. But over the yearyears I worked very hard and at the
end actually I was a defensive midfielder, which in my mind was building a
you know how everyone else could obviouslyperform well, so serve others was basically
(25:57):
what I was doing as a midfielder, and at the end of my career,
I was actually captain of the team. So wait a minute, yep,
go you're selling flowers door to door, you're working a kiosk where you're
selling all kinds of different things.Do you have time to work yourself to
be a bench player to the captainthe team? It sounds like you know
how to prioritize your time pretty well. Well. It is time management.
(26:18):
It's dedication and hard work. Andagain it is as well building you know,
relationships around you, because look,you can't get to that point if
you don't have friends around you thatwork with you in the same direction.
So I think you know, toget to that point, it is,
yes, time management, But ifyou don't want to have people around you
on the team that align with you, you won't get there. Eleven players
(26:41):
on the soccer field, you haveto have them all working together. Does
that relate pretty closely to turn thebusiness around? Yes, I mean that
is exactly the point. And Ithink you know what's interesting is that it's
so relatable to business because I thinkyou know, when you get on a
soccer field. Everyone has different backgrounds. They can have different you know,
families and so on, and theyhave different interests, but you all have
(27:02):
to pull together. And it relatesinto the business as well. You have
to respect everyone that they have differentbackgrounds and you need to build it based
on a common goal that you allstrive towards. Matthew, So, how
young were you yet go when youwere first transforming things? You know,
So it's interesting, you know,if we talk about transformation of something of
the larger scale. I started whatis called gymnasium in Sweden, which is
(27:26):
similar to high school here. Thestudent council had a way of generating funds
to do variety of different activities.One of my closest friends was the chairman
of the council who became a toppolitian politician in Sweden. He expected me,
since we're very close friends, tobuild something which was to collect and
drive, you know, a commercialdevelopment. So we arranged events and the
(27:49):
events were to onboard students when theywere coming in. There was big parties
and so on, and it ranged. I arranged six events that range from
five hundred to one thousand people everyevent, which was huge revenue. Generator
for the State of Student Council.And where did you get the idea in
the sense when you were in highschool or gymnasium as you just called it,
(28:10):
that you could transform something like that. Well, I think I think
it was it was a question oforganization, and everyone had obviously the desire
of getting together and get to knoweach other because we were starting a new
year in school, and it becamesomething which was a natural thing to do.
We called that the kick in eventfor the year, and we pulled
together to a team how to structureit, which was to build bus schedules,
(28:34):
which was how will you pick peopleup? And you know, we
had to organize so we could getin bands and so on. So I
oversaw all of it, and thenI had different team members to obviously pull
strings and help me to get thisto work. And what lessons do you
still bring with you that you learnedfrom transforming that event back when you were
in gymnasium. Well, I think, you know, anything is possible.
(28:59):
I think it all lot of times. We have a lot of organizations go
with this is how we've done thingsbefore, this is what it looks like.
I think, you know, I'velearned through that that nothing is status
quo. It's about you know,developing is going to come with If you
pull all together, you can makechanges no matter where what type of business
you're in. I'm fascinated that whenyou talk about transformation in the context of
(29:22):
business, you always seem to bringit back to team building, to community
building. Is that accurate as businesstransformation actually just about building community. It
is a community, but you needto have a common vision and understanding of
what you're heading towards, right.I think you know it's interesting that sometimes
there is the connection of what youdo today towards the vision and the goal
(29:47):
that you have. Right, ifeveryone understands the vision and the goal,
then you can obviously act correctly toreach what you're all striving towards. But
you need to all pull together,and you need to obviously be as well
receptive to everyone's views as well.Jeffree Cooe, you and I have talked
a little bit about your wife andkids. How's your family supported your professional
(30:10):
career? Well, always been therefor me, So I think you know
it's interesting you should you should bringthat up, Jeff. You know,
I've been in so many different placesaround the world. And if you don't
have the foundation and the family behindyou, you can't execute anything at work.
And they've always been very supported.We have a very strong bond.
(30:33):
What I was missing as a familyat a young age that I was in
a divorce marriage. I think we'verepaired that in my family to be very
close. I have two kids andit has been, in my opinion,
a success and we're very close.Now, well, what have you learned.
What have you learned from your twokids? Yep, from both my
(30:56):
kids, I have learned to behumble and and minded. What do you
mean What do you mean you repairedit? Yeah, with your family,
which you didn't have as a child. What are you talking about, Oh,
you built the community. Well,I did not have my family with
mother and father and so on,right, so I did not have that
(31:18):
proximity. I had to build acommunity around me, which was a different
type of families. I did nothave the mother, father, and kids
and a brother and sister which Inow have. And I think that's been
a very strong bond that I didnot have at an early age. So
your nature is to bring everybody together. It's really to understand what you have
a natural understanding, an intuitive understandingof where people fit in your life,
(31:41):
whether it's in your personal life orin your business life. Don't you correct
so? I think it's a questionof making sure that the community and chemistry
works because it's about everyone within thecommunity that they feel comfortable within it.
What's the website address of Supply Forcesupply Force dot com. We've been speaking
(32:01):
with ipko Aiseevski, who's the presidentand CEO of Supply Force here on Executive
Leaders Radio. Don't forget to visitour website. It's Executive Leaders Radio dot
com to learn more about our executiveleaders. It's Executive Leaders Radio dot com
to learn more about our executive leaders. Stick around when we be back in
the moment right after this quick break, don't go away. This is herbco
(32:23):
when you're hosted Executive Leaders Radio dotcom. Regarding your career, if you're
trying to figure out how to makethe most money and also enjoy your career,
that's enjoy your career, I mean, really enjoy your career and make
the most money. You ought totalk to our CEOs. They've got the
(32:44):
bird's eye view of where the reallyprofitable jobs are, where the really profitable
jobs are going to be and they'rewilling to speak with you regarding their vision
for the future and where you mayfit into it. In order to make
the most money and really enjoy yourcareer, email us consult at Executive Leaders
(33:07):
Radio dot com. That consult atExecutive Leaders radio dot com to get help
from our CEOs regarding where you maywant to go in your career to make
the most money and really enjoy yourcareer. Consult at Executive Leaders Radio dot
com. We're back. You're listeningto Executive Leaders Radio this year HOSTO of
(33:43):
coenlike to introduce How Real, founderand president of World Cafe Live and co
founder National Independent Venue Association. HowWhat is the World Cafe Live? What
are you guys doing? World CafeLive is a independent nonprofit organization featuring live
years, live music, and musiceducation programs in Philly. Were you from
(34:06):
originally? How many brothers and sisters? Where were you in the pecking order?
Yeah? Born and raised in suburbanPhilly and I'm the youngest of three
boys, all right, eight tofourteen. What's the list of stuff you
were up to as a kid?Pretty typical. I was really into sports,
but I also was very into music. I played piano and keyboards,
had bands, taught lessons, lovedthe music world. Matthew how I'm curious,
(34:32):
how so how young were you whenyou were going to see live music
as a kid? I started whenI was probably about fifteen fourteen to fifteen.
And was there like a venue that'sparticularly meaningful to you? There is?
There was a great place in Phillyarea and Brent Mare called the main
Point where Bonnie Ray and Bruce Springsteenand Jackson Brown and so many others started
(34:54):
their career. And what wasn't aboutthe Main Point that really attracted you that
that informs what you're doing now withWorld Cafe Live. It really was the
fact that people, the audiences werevery respectful of the artist, even though
they were just up and comers,And it was a very intimate kind of
experience for both artists and audience.So I'm curious, as you do World
(35:15):
Cafe Live, as you think backto the Main Point, do you identify
more with the fans watching the show, with the artists up on the stage,
or with the guy who owned MainPoint? Well? All three,
all three are really important. Itwas also a sort of nonprofit organization as
we are. I know that forthe artists to have a room where they
(35:38):
were respected and listened to, notjust a bar scene, was a big
step up for them and for theaudience. You know, if you were
really a music head like me,to get to really be in a listening
room that had great acoustics, veryspecial. I'm going to change gears on
you a second, because I'm theoldest of three and you're the youngest of
three. So tell me what itbeing the youngest of three d to you?
(36:00):
Um? I guess you know?It gave me a lot of opportunity
to observe and learn since my twoolder brothers were the pioneers in terms of
getting both praise and getting in troubleright, So I learned a lot from
that. And how does what youlearn from being the youngest from observing all
of them? How does that informwhat you do running World Cafe Live?
(36:22):
Uh? You know it's all aboutum people being being observant, trying to
listen and trying to be a peacekeepera mediator. Um. And but on
the other hand, make sure thateverybody has a voice. Caleb. Now,
(36:44):
what kind of job do you havegrowing up? Ah? Well,
I was a babysitter, and Iwas in a band and a lot of
bands, and also I taught musicto UH to other people, to younger
kids. Tell us about your babysittinggig. How big was your company?
Well? I started out just babysittinglike other people. But I was overwhelmed
(37:05):
by opportunity and so I started andby people asking me to find other babysitters.
So in tenth grade, I startedninety night babysitting service. My dad
was a printer, so we printedup cards and posters, and before I
knew it, I had dozens,maybe as many as one hundred, of
babysitters out on a Friday or Saturdaynight, babysitting for people in the neighborhood.
(37:27):
Wait a minute, you went frombeing a babysitter yourself to managing an
entire network of babysitters. Is thatcorrect? Yeah. I was an entrepreneur
at a really young age, andthat's how I bought my first keyboard.
An entrepreneur who sounds like he knowshow to scale a business pretty well,
what has that have to do withhow you're able to grow World Cafe Live.
Well, there's good parallels. It'sa great question, but you know,
(37:49):
I think, for example, rightnow, our education program at World
Cafe Live grew very organically. Westarted it in two thousand and eight when
the schools during the recession and shutdown their music programs, and so we
brought our musicians together and our teachingartists and our donors, and we created
a great program called Brood Sessions,bringing kids in one hundred at a time
(38:10):
for very curated sessions. Now we'rescaling it up through the new organization National
Independent Venue Association to try to bringthat kind of programming to three thousand venues
across the country. What do youmean, tell me more? You know,
I think that the independent venue issort of like an independent bookseller.
Right now, ninety percent of allticket sales for live music performances throughout the
(38:35):
globe are controlled by two big multinationalcompanies. And nobody got their start at
the Wells Fargo Center or other arenas. If you ask Dolly Parton or Billie
Eilish, who started in our smallsmall venue, of our two venues,
they all got their start in independent, small venues, and we never had
a voice. But when the pandemichit, we formed this coalition now called
(38:58):
NIVA, The national independent venue isasociation, and we now have this network
of venues around the country. AndI think that one of the ways that
we can stay independent is that wehave to be more than just nightclubs in
our communities. We have to becultural hubs. We have to be centers
for all kinds of activity, andWorld Cafe Live has that in its DNA.
We've been there since the beginning.So community engagement and music education is
(39:22):
a big vehicle for us to bea lot more in Philadelphia than just a
nightclub, not that there's anything wrongwith that part of what we do.
Jeffrey l who was one of themost influential people in your life? Jeff
Two people come to mind for me. One is most influential was my dad.
And it was my dad because healways sort of put himself down when
(39:45):
we were growing up, because henever had the opportunity to go to college
and he wanted my brothers and Ito be doctors or lawyers, which he
worked out. I have two doctorbrothers and I was a lawyer for about
the first half of my career.But I say he put himself down because
I watched him in the family printingbusiness, and I watched him where every
(40:07):
hat. Every day he was oneday he was an accountant, the next
day he was a lawyer, thenext minute he's being a minister. This
is what it takes to be abusiness leader. You have to be able
to wear all those hats and dothem as well as you can. You
can't have all the answers, butyou have to have the judgment to know
what you know and what you don'tknow. And my dad was an expert
at that. The other the otherinspiration for me was a great Philadelphia in
(40:30):
May rest in peace, Willard RouseBill Rouse. Uh. He was a
client and a friend and a mentor, And the man taught me that if
you don't not passionate about what youdo, then you're not doing the right
thing. And that's what led meto bag my law practice and move into
the music world and create work.So what's Bill telling you every day when
(40:52):
you when you walk into the organization? What's Bill telling you that influences your
day? He's telling me to behonest, be bold, and be persistent.
We have that in common. Youprobably know that, right, yes,
I do. Well, if wewere doing a good interview, what
else do we know about you?That we should be asking about. Wow,
(41:14):
that's a tough question, Herb.I think what we probably haven't talked
about is how how simple I amin terms of all of my dealings with
folks. And it sounds, itsounds ridiculous, but it's all about the
golden rule. It's all about tryingto be fair to others as you would
(41:35):
want them to be to you.And that's always been my north star,
and that's how I try to bewith everybody, from our guests, to
our artists to our staff. Howmany different artists do you think have been
through your indoors? Oh my,Well, we do five hundred ticketed shows
and a couple of hundred free showsa year. Each one of them have
(41:57):
an average of two or more,say, an average of two performances,
bands or performers. So you dothe math. If you've been, you've
helped that, you've helped the careersof thousands of musicians. Well, we
have. Our name comes from theradio show. We partnered with WXPN in
Philadelphia, one of the country's leadingNPR stations, and they have a show
(42:20):
called World Cafe and it's been onthe air for thirty years. We licensed
that name so for fifteen years theywere the virtual World Cafe, and for
the last eighteen years or so they'venow had an extension, which is the
actual World Cafe, and that's US. So this is where artists come to
become known. So Adele's first gigin the US was on our stage.
(42:43):
Fast Forward, Billie Eilish, peoplelike Robert glassper Kamassi Washington, all kinds
of genres, all kinds of artistshave did Matthew last question? What is
it? Yeah? I was actuallywondering is it more important to you that
you have those big artists on thereor I know my kids high school orchestra
has performed on your stage, right, Like, which one of those is
more important and brings you more pleasure? Thanks Matthew. I think what really
(43:06):
distinguishes us is what we call wcl CL originals, and it is working
in the community and doing one offkinds of things. But we're also very
proud that you know, artists whoare known and artists who are rising want
to play on our stages. Soit's really both What's the website address for
World Cafe Live and National Independent VenueAssociation. World Cafe Live is www dot
(43:29):
Worldcafe Live. Dot com, nivais www dot NIVA, so niv A
s s oc dot org. You'vebeen speaking with how Real, founder and
president of World Cafe Live and cofounder of National Independent Venue Association, Jeffrey.
Can you give us a runout onwho we've had on the show today?
Please? What a great show herwe had Mattie Pearlstein Burnett, co
(43:52):
founder and CEO of Eternally, JessicaCunningham with Koto, CEO Philadelphia Public Schools
co. A Sevski, President andCEO of Supply Force, hal Real,
founder and president World Cafe Live andco founder National Independent Venue Association. I
would like to thank my co hostsincluding Jeff mac Newmark, Caleb Hoppus Hanlin,
(44:15):
and Matthew Shapiro Obermeyer for giving mea hand structuring the questions, hopefully
providing our listening audience and educational andthe entertaining show. Like to thank our
listening audience for listening, Otherwise youwouldn't have a radio show. Don't we
get to visit our website It's ExecutiveLeaders Radio dot com. That's Executive Leaders
Radio dot com to learn more aboutour executive leaders. Thank you for joining
(44:37):
us today and have a nice day. Bye bye,
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