When life shifts in ways we never expected, how do we find new strength?
In this episode of The Repivot Project, my friend Ed Hock shares his journey living with Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM) — a rare muscle disease that redefines what it means to be strong, resilient, and adaptable.
We talk about early signs, unexpected lessons, navigating daily life, and why showing up — even when it’s hard — matters more than ever.
Whether you're facing your own pivot or supporting someone you love, Ed’s story offers honesty, hope, and hard-won wisdom.
Listen in. Share widely. And remember: every pivot holds the potential for growth.
The idea for better packaging first sparked when P3RD.EARTH Founder, Ariadne Dimoula, was a kid swimming in the Penobscot River and saw fast food litter everywhere. She went home and asked her mom, Claudia Lowd - a pulp and paper chemical engineer, if paper mills could make better packaging than the styrofoam forever trash. Fast-forward more than ten years to when Ariadne was in Mexico scuba diving with sea turtles and later drinking a coconut with a plastic straw on the beach, when it hit her again, harder. “We are feeding animals trash.” Just like everyone on her sea turtle trip, Ariadne was there to celebrate the beautiful marine life, but was harming it with her tropical vacation behaviors.
Want to learn more about helping our Earth? Go to: https://paramountplanetproduct.com/
Who doesn't like a night out? Except when that night out comes with having to buy a ticket that comes with additional fees that can add up to 20% more to the price of a ticket. Add to that the chance that when you are buying a ticket, you may be getting scammed. There has to be a better way that addresses ticket costs, security and creates a unique and fun user experience in the way of transforming tickets into NFTs. Enter Ticket Tree that is quickly growing its own fan base!
On November 11th, we will reflect upon Veterans' Day. Follow the story of a WWI canteen and the impact all veterans have made for themselves and for us.
Frank McElligott, owner of Eire Wear, knew that there had to be a different approach to Irish clothing, beyond the stereotypical St. Patty's Day hats and "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" shirts. His knowledge of Irish and Celtic symbolism had him thinking there had to be an audience who also wanted more authenticity as well. Turns out Frank was right and Eire Wear has a growing fan base of people from all walks of life. That's the key to entrepreneurship...taking a different look at something and then taking a big leap of faith!
www.eirewear.com
Product discount code: deirdre for 10% off while supplies last
George is a passionate advocate for financial education, helping individuals and families understand and manage money better. As a financial therapist and the founder of nBalance Financial, he focuses on money's emotional and psychological side. Think you don't have an emotional relationship with money? George's 20 years of experience will change your mind and possibly your future...for the better!
www.georgeblount.com
What if you could reframe your relationship to emotional discomfort by the repeated act of acceptance and re engagement in all that this life has to offer you? My guest, Mary Ventura, proposes that by unlearning the habit of resistance, unwanted emotions cease to serve as barriers to realizing the enriching and fulfilling life that we aspire to lead.
Mary is currently an interior architecture student at Endicott College and recently stood on a TED stage to talk about her journey. She's a dedicated advocate for personal reinvention, mental health awareness, and about building meaningful connections through the human experience.
He's caught the eye of Cardi B. and Missy Eliot. Art galleries up and down the East Coast show his work. In this episode, I talk with Kyle Wallack, a pioneer in refined graffiti. Its fair to say that Kyle didn’t start out as a graffiti artist, although he has always been a creative spirit. However, a significant health crisis, dogged determination, a strong work ethic taught by his family and an abandoned easel showed him that even though we may be here temporarily, we all have it within ourselves to create something that lasts forever.
Go ahead...ask yourself a big question like Tori Webster did one day in 2018..."if you had one year to live, how would you be living life differently?" For Tori Webster it was to fully embrace her talent to digitally tell stories for her clients while living life traveling to the some of the most beautiful spots in the world.
www.toriwebster.com
_toriwebster on Instagram
Chef. Restaurant consultant. Food scientist. Senior executive at leading global brands. It would seem like Sheila Jones could now rest on her laurels. That is just not to be. CEO of Whicked Results, Sheila works with businesses to help achieve all that they might dream can be possible...and then asks them to think even bigger. As if that wasn't enough to keep her busy, Sheila's work as a TedX speaker's coach has her helping individual clients reach their own pinnacles of possibility.
Lindsey Singleton, a licensed mental health couselor and founder of Lighthouse Coaching and Consulting, knows a bit about making pivots in life. It's that authenticity that her clients seek her out for...she's value-driven and helps others get very clear on theirs. Whether in her private practice working with individuals or when she is speaking with high school and college audiences, Lindsey's no-nonsense way of culling out the "noise" that we all have in our lives provides the energy for discovering what is real...and good.
To discover more, go to https://www.lighthousecc.info
Big Ass Iced Coffee is a woman-owned online coffee shop for cold brew lovers. Impatient cold brew lovers. In fact, it is exactly that wonderful trait of "impatience" that drove founder Casey Arnold to launch this rising small business. She woke up one morning at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and thought, 'I just want a big ass iced coffee.'
From there, Casey bought her own equipment and started experimenting with different formulations. While creating a unique beverage, Casey was also able to nourish her need for creative and entrepreneurial challenges. Casey also works as a marketing manager at NOBULL, a fast growing global athletic apparel and training brand. You'll also learn about her experiences at pitch competitions and will quickly see why she is sought after to speak at workshops and conferences.
If you see yourself as a "creative" and want actionable strategies on how to strive toward a better life/work balance, this episode is for you. And listen for the special promotion at the end of the episode...
www.bigassicedcoffee.com
Ken Nagy knew he enjoyed financial research. Working his way up from being an individual analyst to having a team that oversaw research in the semi-conductor industry, he often thought individual investors would enjoy having access to that expert research.
Enter his pivot.
Ken became a registered investment advisor and founded Northeast Equity Research. His firm takes the approach of institutional money management...but for individuals. Ken and his team manage assets for people who like to participate in their own investment journey.
In this episode, we talk about the head and tail winds coming into 2023 and then delve into Ken's journey from junior analyst to CEO of his own company.
He will also share why you might just want to offer to work for free...if the opportunity is right.
www.northeastequityresearch.com
ken@northeastequityresearch.com
Finding great employees has always been hard. First is the stack of resumes to sift through...a process both time-consuming and inefficient. What if there were someone who could help your HR department sift quickly through the stack and give you the short list of qualified candidates? Rachel Wilson, CEO of ReprezentU, helps you do just that.
"Deciding who will be the most effective employee occurs between the resume and the interview", Rachel states. "My company, ReprezentU, partners with small businesses and HR departments to quickly identify the talent they should be talking to for their job openings. Better candidates means hitting the ground faster and less turnover, both of which have a direct impact on a firm's bottom line."
In addition to HR services, ReprezentU has a broad portfolio of offerings including cover letter writing, resume creation and LinkedIn profile writing, all with a focus toward search engine optimization.
"There are other dreams out there that you don't even know exist yet..."
Those wise words come from Amanda Fox, a special events senior intern at Fenway Sports Management. This episode is for anyone who dares to dream big and isn't afraid of recalibrating that dream to make it even more fulfilling. Amanda's love for all things Disney led her to believe she would one day work for Disney. In fact, she became an influencer as a teenager before the word "influencer" even entered the lexicon. Yet when presented with a situation beyond her control, she took stock of her dream and moved onward and upward.
You can follow her on Instagram at @AmandaMarieFox or contact her directly at Amandamarieadventures@gmail.com
Throw in 1 part marketing maven, 1 part accomplished artist, 1 part Dead Poets' Society fan and add in a liberal sprinkling of family business and you get Sarah Fenerty, the marketing director of Northwoods Brewing Company. Northwoods Brewing is one of New England's most popular breweries and has a fan base as far away as Montana and growing! Sarah, aged 30, talks about her path to the family business which definitely was not a straight line!
"Nik and I pulled a 7pm - 4:30am long haul shift to make sure that when our client opened up his laptop at 9am the next day, everything was there that he needed from us", recalls Ryan Curley, who along with his business partner Nik Kasprzak, are the co-founders of Launch Partners.
The face of digital marketing is changing...what hasn't changed, however, is how a great work ethic trumps all. While the big agencies are still around, scrappy startups like Launch Partners are changing the rules of contemporary marketing. In this episode, Nik and Ryan describe going from a dorm room idea to a now rising marketing agency, with clients up and down the East Coast.
They also talk about the elephant in the room and why you should never, ever subscribe to someone else's label for you.
www.launch-partners.com
Succession planning. It can be a topic filled with drama. Or not. In this episode of the Repivot Project, Rich Weissman makes the case that all businesses, whether public or privately-held, small or large, have to be thinking about succession planning as a way of making a path for your talent. "Figuring out your talent pathways is a way to figure out the gaps and strengths in your organization", Rich states. A seasoned executive with a deep expertise in supply chain management, Rich saw, early on, the connection to a strong supply chain and good succession planning. Having worked for Fortune 500 companies, startups and having owned his own consulting practice, Rich has helped owners/managers look at their organizations with an honest assessment of what is needed...and, just as importantly, what is not.
Zach Servideo of Value Creation Labs is known for helping early stage businesses find their voice and for helping established companies navigate digital transformation. "We get picked over marketing agencies that have ties to the biggest media holding companies in the world...that's because agility always wins in today's fast-paced world". If you want to your business, big or small, to be agile in today's market, Zach will give you actionable insights in this episode. Zach is also the host of the popular "Boston Speaks Up" podcast.
Lisa Ann Santin of LASS Wardrobe works with accomplished and aspiring career and second-act women longing to participate in a personal brand renaissance. Lisa Ann is committed to her client’s success, providing total image transformation to help women show the world what they feel in their heart and dream in their soul.
