Success Beneath the Surface

Welcome to another episode of Success Beneath the Surface, where we uncover the secrets of effective business leadership. In our last episode, we had the pleasure of hosting Peter Schwartz, a seasoned Vistage chair with over 30 years of experience in nurturing early-stage concepts and companies to fruition. Peter's remarkable achievements, having won numerous awards twice over, speak volumes about his expertise.
During our conversation, Peter highlighted a topic close to my heart: the profound impact of a leader's presence and the essentiality of mastering inner and outer game skills in today's complex work environment. He emphasized that as leaders, we have full control over how we show up and shape the weather for our teams. Peter's fascination with leadership development began in the mid-90s and has since evolved into a passion.
Peter introduced the concept of the inner game, a term coined by Timothy Gallwey, which focuses on expanding the complexity of the mind to effectively navigate the increasing intricacies of the world. He discussed the importance of evolving our relationships with others, shifting from a focus on likability to respect and performance.
Join us as we continue to explore leadership journeys and the transformative power of personal growth with Peter Schwartz. Let's unlock the secrets to successful business leadership together.

In this episode, we learn from Peter Schwartz, CEO Coaching & Development | Master Chair Vistage, about his journey and insights into leadership. Through his personal experiences, he emphasizes the importance of embracing leadership and influencing outcomes. Peter's involvement in an internet startup was a turning point that made him realize the significance of creating a positive environment as a leader. As a Vistage chair, he creates a supportive space for CEOs to explore diverse perspectives, uncover performance gaps, and engage in collective problem-solving. Peter highlights the power of well-run Vistage groups in fostering connections and supporting individual growth journeys, emphasizing the combination of outer game skills and inner game mindset shifts in effective leadership development.
Links from today's episode:
Peter D. Schwartz on LinkedIn Vistage
Deborah Fell on LinkedInChief Outsiders

In today's episode of Success Beneath the Surface, we welcome back Herby Duverné, founder and CEO of Rise Development and Construction and principal and CEO of Windwalker Group. In last week's episode, we heard about his journey, starting from the trenches and growing his businesses. But today, I want to focus on one key lesson from our conversation - the importance of finding opportunities in challenges.
When faced with obstacles, it can be easy to feel defeated and give up. But Herby believes that challenges are a natural part of life and business and that there is always an opportunity to be found. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many businesses were struggling to survive, Herby's companies grew and thrived by focusing on internal investments and being prepared for the opportunities that would arise.
The full episode from this commentary is here.
And the previous half of this session with Deborah and Herby can be heard here.
 
Links from this episode:
Herby Duverné on LinkedInWindwalker
Deborah Fell on LinkedInChief Outsiders

In this episode, Herby Duverné continues sharing his journey of building a business on solutions by understanding needs and pivoting towards growth opportunities. He emphasizes the importance of hiring the right team members and creating an environment where people can be themselves, leading to better performance and a special sense of belonging within the organization. Despite the ups and downs of the business world, Herby believes that challenges are a necessary part of the journey and advises other CEOs to embrace them and look for the opportunity to provide new, unique solutions.
Listen to the first half of the episode here.
Links from this episode:
Herby Duverné on LinkedInWindwalker
Deborah Fell on LinkedInChief Outsiders

In this commentary episode, Deborah emphasizes a key point that Herby made about his evolution as an entrepreneur, which was shifting from doing everything himself to focusing on company culture. Herby shares his belief that it's not enough just to make money, but you need to make an impact. He emphasizes the importance of creating an environment where employees can be themselves and enjoy what they do, which he believes results in unbreakable bonds and exponential growth for the business.
Herby's story of invention, disruption, and reinvention is truly remarkable, and next week's episode will delve deeper into his journey. Through his story, listeners can gain valuable insights into entrepreneurship, leadership, and the power of culture.
Herby Duverné is the founder and CEO of Rise Development and Construction and the principal and CEO of Windwalker Group. Herby shares his inspiring journey from being a young immigrant who didn't speak the language and was homeless to CEO of two companies and recently named as one of the 150 Most Influential Bostonians.
Listen to the full episode here.
Links from this episode:
Herby Duverné on LinkedInWindwalker
Deborah Fell on LinkedInChief Outsiders

Deborah welcomes Herby Duverné, a successful real estate developer and founder of Rise Development and Construction. Duverné shares his story of growing up in Haiti with a single mother who worked long hours in a factory to provide for her children. He credits his mother's optimism and hope for his success in life, along with his ability to turn setbacks into opportunities. Herby also discusses how he met his business partner, who was once a dissatisfied client, but through transparency and authenticity, they built a trusting relationship and formed Rise Development and Construction. The company has since grown to a 2.7 billion dollar development firm in just three years. He attributes their success to their ability to connect with people, bring value to the table, and maintain an optimistic mindset.
About Deborah's guest:
Herby Duverné, Founder and CEO of RISE Development & Construction and the Principal and Chief Executive Officer for Windwalker Group, a client-focused, award-winning, Minority-owned 8(a) small business. Since becoming Windwalker’s CEO in 2012, Mr. Duverné has increased the organization’s workforce and introduced new business offerings in cybersecurity, physical security, and professional services. He has led the company’s efforts to earn a Defense Security Services top-secret security clearance, expand operations in multiple states, and build contracts with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense. Mr. Duverné has 25 years of experience in infrastructure protection, intelligence, law enforcement, investigations, security and loss prevention, crisis and risk management, and aviation and port emergency management.  
Links from this episode:
Herby Duverné on LinkedInWindwalker
Deborah Fell on LinkedInChief Outsiders

In this episode, Deborah gives commentary on our last episode's interview with Brian Williamson, the Brand and Video Leader, and Chief Story Seller at Google and YouTube. Brian shares his insights on modernizing brand strategies and the importance of a full-funnel data-driven approach in today's market. He emphasizes the need for companies to have a clear mission, vision, and values that are current and relevant to the current ecosystem, and to tell an authentic story that connects with customers across channels.
Brian also discusses the challenges of measuring the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and the importance of identifying signals and health indicators to track progress. He stresses the need for companies to focus on the top of the funnel, not just the bottom, to fuel growth and build a strong customer base.
Deborah highlights the importance of supporting prospects and customers throughout their research and buying process, even at the problem identification phase, to become their trusted advisor and gain a competitive edge. Join her for this episode of Success Beneath the Surface, "Measuring Marketing Effectiveness: Tips from a Google Expert.
Listen to the full episode here.
Links from this episode:
Brian Williamson on LinkedIn
Chief OutsidersDeborah Fell on LinkedIn

Today's guest on Success Beneath the Surface is Brian Williamson, a digital media veteran with 20 years of experience in digital marketing and video. He also happens to be Brand and Video Leader and Chief “Story Seller” at Google and YouTube. 
Brian inspires customers to modernize their brand strategies, emphasizing a full-funnel data-driven approach.  He walks us through what that means and why it’s critical to growth-oriented businesses today.  Brian shares his journey from growing in a farm town in New York to becoming the brand marketing evangelist at Google, interacting with and impacting businesses and marketers around the world.
Williamson shares his journey and passion for video and storytelling, emphasizing the need for a clear mission, vision, and values. He also stresses the importance of proactive branding investments and balancing performance marketing with brand marketing. Williamson advises CEOs to have realistic objectives and be patient for branding investments to pay off in the long term. Overall, this episode provides valuable insights into the world of branding and its impact on a company's growth.
Links from this episode:
Brian Williamson on LinkedIn
Chief OutsidersDeborah Fell on LinkedIn

In this episode, Deborah Fell interviews Chris Yeung, co-founder of Vimbley Group. This company acquires profitable but inefficient companies and optimizes them for even greater profitability. Chris shares his insights on seeking profitability, the synergy between business units, and identifying inefficiencies to improve operations. Deborah encourages companies to look for gold bricks that they may be stepping over and to seek out the wisdom of their employees in finding and fixing processes that can drive profitability and improve engagement.
Listen to the full episode here.
About Vimbly Group:
Vimbly Group is a technology-oriented business-growth company. We believe that technology is the key ingredient to better than linear growth. As such, Vimbly Group partners with businesses from an ever-widening range of categories to identify inefficiencies in their operations and then develop unique technologies that resolve them and realize significant sources of new revenue.
About Chris Yeung:
Chris's passion for automation started in asset management, where he was responsible for building portfolio management systems at BlackRock.  His journey ultimately led to Vimbly Group, where he now takes pleasure in applying technology to build businesses across a variety of industries.
 
Links from today's episode:
Vimbly GroupChris Yeung on LinkedIn
Chief OutsidersDeborah Fell on LinkedIn

Deborah's guest is Chris Yeung, Founder and CTO of Vimbly Group. Deborah and Chris discuss his approach to identifying businesses where he can leverage his strengths in IP and technology to optimize them. Chris believes in being opportunistic and making strategic decisions. He discovered his strengths lie in operational efficiency and unlocking additional value based on his understanding of processes. He shares his experiences, from his role as a lowly analyst at BlackRock to how he and his partner founded Vimbly.com, a platform for discovering and booking recreational activities. The platform was born out of Chris and his partner's frustration with trying to book a photography class in NYC. They realized that their strengths in IP and technology could add value beyond Vimbly.com, and they began consulting for other organizations. The value they brought was their entrepreneurial mindset to problem-solving, which helped improve operational efficiency for their clients. Chris emphasizes the importance of trust in relationships, which is the most important thing for him.
About Vimbly Group:
Vimbly Group is a technology-oriented business-growth company. We believe that technology is the key ingredient to better than linear growth. As such, Vimbly Group partners with businesses from an ever-widening range of categories to identify inefficiencies in their operations and then develop unique technologies that resolve them and realize significant sources of new revenue.
About Chris Yeung:
Chris's passion for automation started in asset management, where he was responsible for building portfolio management systems at BlackRock.  His journey ultimately led to Vimbly Group, where he now takes pleasure in applying technology to build businesses across a variety of industries.
 
Links from today's episode:
Vimbly GroupChris Yeung on LinkedIn
Chief OutsidersDeborah Fell on LinkedIn