Rebel Leadership®

It’s SuperBowl Sunday this weekend — but no, we’re not talking about commercials or the halftime show. The NFL is filled with parallels to life and leadership lessons. On this episode, Allison Minutillo interviews one of the NFL’s most seasoned quarterbacks… Matt Hasselbeck. He reflects on lessons learned under Andy Reid & Mike Holmgren, advice in amplified pressure, locker room trust, the receipt of hard feedback, learning the lingo, and how to work on you when it matters most. Matt is an NFL Analyst on ESPN’s signature Sunday morning pregame show, Sunday NFL Countdown, and contributes to Pro Bowl and Super Bowl coverage. A three-time Pro Bowler, Hasselbeck played for the Green Bay Packers (1998-2000), Seattle Seahawks (2001-10), Tennessee Titans (2011-12) and Indianapolis Colts (2013-15) during a career that spanned nearly two decades. He threw for 36,638 yards and 212 touchdowns. In 2021, the Seahawks inducted him into their Ring of Honor.

On this episode, host Allison Minutillo had the privilege of talking with Daymond John and Brian Lamb about some of the most important topics of our time. You'll hear their raw reflection on success, failure, and the impact diversity and inclusion has on leadership today. Daymond John is an entrepreneur in every sense of the word. He is the founder and CEO of FUBU, a pioneer in the fashion industry, a Shark on the 4-time Emmy Award-winning Shark Tank, a New York Times bestselling author, branding guru and highly sought-after motivational speaker. Brian Lamb is a Managing Director and Segment Head for Middle Market Banking & Specialized Industries (MMBSI) covering the Northeast for JPMorgan Chase Commercial Banking. Previously serving for two years as the firm’s global head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Brian has been instrumental in driving forward the firm’s $30 billion commitment to racial equity.

Being a leader is about discovering and owning your strengths and having the ability to lean into them in any work situation. For example, a leader hones the intellectual and rational strength to recognize patterns and can de-escalate potentially problematic situations before they erupt. They’ve learned that what may seem normal to someone else might throw up red flags for an experienced leader. As a leader, you are constantly in the driver’s seat—you need to have the strength to control the speed, the direction, and the destination of your team. On today's episode of the Rebel Leadership Podcast, Allison Minutillo talks to Owner of Emphasis Consulting, LLC Ryann Leonard about teaching aspiring leaders to find and lean into their strengths, and about her role in creating culture and developing talent. So, buckle in as we drive right into the heart of what it takes to lean into your strengths as a leader.

Resilience isn’t necessarily an inherent trait. For most of us, it’s learned. As we face challenges and problems, we often assume the worst. But if we can stop and take the time to assess the importance of an issue—is it small, medium or big?—and respond from a pragmatic place, as opposed to emotional, we can create better outcomes for our teams and our clients. Each time we practice this, we take our learnings into the next challenge. It’s not easy, but if you’re willing to learn, the more you go through the reps that build resilience, the more you reveal yourself and work to create the version of yourself that you, and everyone else, deserves. On today's episode of the Rebel Leadership Podcast, Allison Minutillo talks to Account Director Stephanie Sales about building resilience. In her experience as a leader, she’s found that learning resilience is a continuous process requiring giving yourself grace, rising above negativity, understanding that your actions constantly model leadership and that choosing resilience is an hourly, daily intentional choice. Get ready to immerse yourself in what it takes to become resilient.

Workplace negativity can have a snowball effect: Once it starts, it can grow until it gets past your ability to handle it. So, how can leaders effectively mitigate negativity? On today's episode of the Rebel Leadership Podcast, Allison Minutillo talks to Dr. Benjamin Finlayson (he/him), PhD, MFTC, Regis University Assistant Professor in the Division of Counseling and Family Therapy and expert on LGBTQIA identity, solution focused therapy, suicide and medical family therapy (MedFT), and Account Supervisor Sam Manz about countering negativity in the workplace. As leaders, like almost anything else, workplace negativity challenges us to build new skills. Whether it’s about showing up as honestly as possible, listening more effectively, actively seeking feedback or creating space for people to air grievances and responding effectively, the fact is that negativity should be treated as an opportunity. When we create a space where we challenge each other, listen to and act on disagreement (and be willing to live with disagreement), we create a better, more validating workplace environment. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. So, get ready to immerse yourself in the issues surrounding—and solutions to—negativity in the workplace.

Leaders are essentially mental athletes with no off-season. You're expected to perform on such a high level, in every interaction. Always on display. Always in the game. As leaders, our audience expects us to evolve and upgrade ourselves every day. We're mental athletes, competing, adapting — in Ron & Chris' case, they have someone they're actively playing against (cybersecurity threats). Chris Cochran is the CEO, Executive Producer and Ronald Eddings is the CPO, Executive Producer, both of Hacker Valley Media. In many ways, threat intelligence and many other life experiences have taught them how to challenge yourself and your mental toughness to compete in the big game of life and leadership day in, and day out.

Overcoming the initial anxiety that providing and receiving feedback brings takes courage, trust, and accountability. In receiving feedback in particular, once you get past the potential defensiveness or taking it personally, and understand how to execute on it, you’ll find you have the opportunity to grow exponentially in your career and personal life. Being able to provide and receive feedback goes hand-in-hand with leadership. You shouldn’t be afraid to provide feedback in order to level up those around you. On today’s episode of the Rebel Leadership Podcast, Allison Minutillo talks to VP of Client Services Lora Olivieri and Chief Strategy Officer BJ Kito about the importance of providing and receiving feedback—and overcoming the anxiety that can come with it. When it comes to aspiring leaders giving difficult feedback, you don’t have to be emotionless: try to make it as human as possible and don’t be afraid to be vulnerable, and always deliver it in a kind and strong manner. We’ll explore the process of recognizing when someone is ready to—or needs to—receive feedback and understand that it shouldn’t be taken personally, but that it’s coming from a place of care. Listen to it, learn from it, and act on it in order to grow stronger in your career. Receiving feedback from someone who has experienced both wins and losses—and learned from both—can be a critical part of your growth. Remember, you’re not a leader until you’ve built that foundation of trust and respect for others to learn from you. Ready to get inspired?

Working remotely has become the norm for a lot of people, but what about when it comes to overseeing an entire department from 22 hours away? What may feel impossible to some is thrilling for those who thrive on problem-solving. On today's episode of the Rebel Leadership Podcast, Allison Minutillo talks to Vice President of Client Delivery & Technology Solutions David Givens about the importance of trust and building that trust. For David, it’s not always about seeing an individual's impact from a personal perspective, but about how they impact an entire team from within to do more. We take a dive deep into the passion of problem-solving, working on other people’s time, accepting interruptions, building relationships first, and engaging on the regular. While you’ll hear many stories—insights from David’s life as a line cook and learning the importance of leadership from his head chef is moving—what we see from that story are the very core values he instills in his entire team today. So buckle up, get inspired, and prepare to “trash the trash.”

Change is never easy, but reinvention is another subject entirely. Rebuilding yourself professionally from the ground up takes a level of commitment and belief in yourself that you may not have even known you possess. But if you take on that challenge, the rewards and opportunities can be tremendous. On today's episode of the Rebel Leadership Podcast, Allison Minutillo talks to Content Manager Jon Feld and Content Creator Kyle Wood about the risks and rewards associated with their respective reinventions. Jon came from a non-agency background and Kyle had a long-term retail management career. Both took a love of writing and desire to make a change as the basis to reinvent themselves, to take their own 180-degree professional turns. Together, we explore how the ability to overcome their fears and change, learn, and grow have been key to success and fulfillment they never thought possible. Prepare to learn what it takes to reinvent yourself.

How much does family come into play when developing leadership skills? What about when you’re 1 of 12 kids? Yep, you heard that right — a dozen. For Bryn Tindall, growing up in that big family helped shaped the leader he is today. On today's episode of the Rebel leadership podcast, Allison Minutillo talks to Bryn Tindall, his wife and Rebel’s Chief Legal Counsel & HR Jen Tindall, and Bryn’s mom — the one who raised 12 kids — Mama D. We explore how Mama D’s steady hand, inability to sit still, work ethic, selflessness, and constant ability to love and live in the moment gave Bryn the right foundation to lead Rebel.

What does intimidation mean? How do leaders intimidate (whether they know it or not)? And how can intimidation be overcome? On today’s episode of the Rebel leadership podcast, Allison Minutillo and Content Strategy Specialist MaryKate Caron, discuss the impacts of intimidation—of feeling inferior or “less than”—and what it takes to break down that wall. Self-awareness, authenticity, displaying self-confidence, showing belief in others, mentoring, transparency… they’re all factors in keeping intimidation in check.

Leaders need to have many things…They need resilience. They need vision. They need strength. They need confidence and conviction. But above all else, one thing has hit home hard lately… and that’s the power of belief. On today’s episode of the Rebel leadership podcast, Allison Minutillo and Bryn Tindall get real and very personal about some recent moments of doubt that led them to fully appreciate the power of believe and the role it plays in being the leaders we strive to be.

Teams are incredibly complex to build. To inspire. To coach. To lead. So we decided to take a break from the day to day and reflect back on one of our highest performing teams at Rebel interactive group: new business. Bryn Tindall, the CEO & Owner of Rebel Interactive and Joe Martin, the Senior Director of Business Development at Rebel Interactive sit down with me to break down the anatomy of our high performing new business team. Everything from constant feedback to live coaching, communication format and trust, team culture and authenticity — leaders of all industries can apply the learnings on this episode to whichever team they lead, or aspire to.

Which words come to mind when you think of a salesman? Car sales? Aggressive? Annoying? Sneaky? On today’s episode of the Rebel leadership Podcast, we’re talking to someone we consider to be a Caring Salesman. Yep, it’s possible. Scott Donofrio is one of our senior business development leads at Rebel Interactive Group and has built a reputation of authenticity, honesty, kindness, trust, and compassion for both his peers and his clients. He not only crushes it from a new business standpoint, but he builds relationships that are real and flourish over time.

Above all the work you produce or professional successes you have, your invisible reputation means the most. This topic hits home for Lora Olivieri, Rebel Interactive Group's VP of Client Services. It's defined in how you make people feel behind the scenes, when no one else is watching. It's the Slack messages you send when you think no one will know. It's how you treat people in moments of stress or crisis. It's the time and attention you give to others; the credit you take (or don't) for their work. It's the texts you send asking how they're doing after you saw them struggle in a meeting. Sometimes career acceleration has more to do with the human than the professional wins. Ask yourself, how will you be remembered?

How annoying is it when someone tells you to be patient? We’ve all been there. Patience in business is more than another way to say…. Just wait. It’s time. It’s trust. It’s knowing that there will be another side to this tough patch you’re going through, and keeping a positive attitude while you wait. On today’s episode, we’re talking to Andrew Hummel, Associate Business Strategist on our Strategy Team at Rebel Interactive Group. We recently bonded over a tough experience, so I asked...

Add leadership to the mix of life’s great balancing act? And It’s a daily game of where to place your time and energy. On today’s episode of the Rebel Leadership Podcast, we’re talking to Michael Diamond, the Academic Director of the Integrated Marketing Communications department at NYU's School of Professional Studies, within its Division of Programs in Business. Between balancing team dynamic, personal & professional shifts, responsibility and training, unlearning and relearning… The juggle is real. “So be sure when you step, step with care and great tact. And remember that life’s A Great Balancing Act. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed) Kid, you’ll move mountains.” ― Dr. Seuss said it best.

Ahhhh the blank sheet of paper. The blank Google Doc. The blank email. The PowerPoint you have yet to start. The paralysis that overcomes us when seeing it. There’s a tool that exists that’s consensus building, an ideas ignitor, a physical place to capture perspectives and challenge them… the whiteboard. On today’s episode of the rebel leadership podcast, BJ Kito, Rebel Interactive Group's Chief Strategy Officer, geeks out with me about the power of the whiteboard.

Of all the emotions that come with leadership, one is most important: courage. When it feels hard. Scary. Daunting. When you feel doubt, uncertainty, stress, unknown. Something inside you draws you in — to lean into that moment and have the courage to do what’s right. On today’s episode, we’re talking to Bess Freedman, the CEO of Brown Harris Stevens. She oversees 55 offices and more than 2,300 agents across New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Florida. Under her leadership, Brown Harris Stevens has grown into one of the largest and most successful privately held real estate companies in the United States. Bess gets raw and real and shows her true courage on this episode.

Vulnerability. It’s a tough topic to understand and even harder to embrace. Especially at work. Vulnerability at work isn’t about sharing your deepest darkest personal secrets — it is at the root of what fuels empowerment, honesty, authenticity… it is a core rebel leadership principle that I explore with our very own Rebel, Nikki Cassells. She’s on our Client Services team and recently joined our company in the fall of 2021. Quickly she has excelled in her role and had a very vulnerable moment on a live podcast recording with our whole company there to watch. We get real about vulnerability and leadership, and the potential impact it can have on all who witness it.