Lay of The Land

Today we’re running a replay of one of my favorite conversations from 2022 with Lila Mills of Signal Cleveland. Since we last spoke, Signal Cleveland has continuously produced reliable daily journalism across a plethora of local topics and built Cleveland Documenters, a group of nearly 700 greater Cleveland residents, representing nearly every zip code in the county, who are trai

Andre Cisco — Manager for MGK and XX Brands, Brand Strategist and Investor, co-owner of the 27 Club — the coffee lounge and kitchen here in Cleveland — and Managing Partner at Dead Logic, a marketing strategy and brand management firm.Andre is a serial entrepreneur with more than 10 years of entertainment, international logistics, and merchandising experience — Invested in

Rick Stockburger, CEO of BRITE Energy Innovators.Located in the City of Warren, just outside Youngstown in the Mahoning Valley, BRITE was founded in 2010 as a non-profit focused on the acceleration of energy technology in Northeast Ohio. Since then, and under Rick’s leadership, BRITE has helped over 600 companies, creating approximately 2100 jobs, and channeling >$250 million

Kyle Maggard, Founder & CEO of Over Easy.Kyle started OverEasy in the fall of 2018, reflecting on his time as a former college athlete at Westpoint and as an Army Captain where living a healthy and active life wasn’t just his passion, but his job. As a busy father, husband, and entrepreneur, he came to recognize that staying fit and eating healthy were harder than they sounde

Azadeh Hardiman — Business Leader of Level20, the new business incubator of Progressive Insurance, one of the largest insurance carriers in the US (which was founded and still headquartered here in Cleveland)!As the new business incubator, Level20 is focused on addressing the unmet needs of current Progressive customers and the general population, by understanding the real proble

Nick Dadas — Co-Founder of University Tees, SISU Lifestyle, Acton Academy Lakeside, ISI, and MasterPlan Coach.In 2003, still a sophomore at Miami University, Nick co-founded University Tees after trying to organize a t-shirt order for his business fraternity and becoming frustrated with his experience; so he and his co-founder, Joe, decided there had to be a better way and like a

Reilly Berk, CEO of Berk Enterprises.Founded back in 1946 by her grandparents, Suzanne and Harold Berk, Berk Enterprises boasts a diverse history that began with the creation of the "QuicKill" insecticide and the subsequent founding of Berk Exterminating Company in Warren, Ohio. Evolving, the company expanded its ventures into numismatics, leading to the Warren Coin Shop, and later

Mary Cowan, the President of NCS Credit, based here in the greater Cleveland area.The story of NCS Credit is one of family, growth, and success anchored in a belief of uncompromising excellence and ever-advancing technology. Founded in 1970 by Howard V. Cowan as a commercial collection agency, NCS Credit’s goal was to form trusted partnerships and provide exceptional debt recover

Ethan Holmes — founder and CEO of Holmes Mouthwatering, a Cleveland-based manufacturer of all-natural applesauce, made with Ohio-grown apples, pears, and local apple cider. To date, over 50,000 customers have purchased and consumed Holmes’ products, processing over 500,000 pounds of apples and delivering over 250,000 units to consumers across the US. Holmes Mouthwatering apples

Mohamed Kamara, founder and CEO of InovCares.Grounded in a sobering reality: The United States has the highest rates of maternal mortality in the industrialized world. In May 2017, having lost both his sister and aunt to preventable pregnancy-related causes, Mo found himself in a place with the motivation and determination to confront this maternal mortality crisis head-on.Mo ultim