Talking Business and Life

Jodi Velazquez is a Pittsburgh native who graduated from Robert Morris University with a bachelor's degree in marketing communications, with a focus on writing skills. After experiencing the stress of multiple moves, Jodi wrote the "Slick Move Guide: Secrets You Need to Know When Moving" to help others facing relocation. The book, which offers practical advice, has been purchased by home builders, sports teams, moving companies, and the National Association of Realtors. In 2014, she was interviewed as an "Ultimate Expert" on relocation in Woman's World Magazine's April 24th Edition. Additionally, in 2014, the latest edition of the Slick Move Guide won the 2014-2015 TAZ Award for Business & Reference (Pittsburgh, PA Author Award). In 2022, Jodi released an updated version of the original, the "Slick Move Guide," which includes even more helpful information, has a new cover, and is slightly smaller for the on-the-go reader.

Steve and Claudio had the honor of interviewing the great David Diaz! David is a former boxing champion who left the ring to pursue a career in real estate. However. David was not only a great champion but as you will learn, he is also a great person. He is involved in mentoring the youth in Chicago along with other endeavors which keep him plenty busy. We were grateful he took time out of a very busy schedule to sit down with us. This is truly a great interview!

With the start of the New Year, did you set goals? If so, what are the chances you will complete them? Are they even achievable? Why do people wait for the new year anyways? This is a great talk about helping you set goals and achieving them. Identify things most important to you but more importantly, come up with a plan to achieve them. After all, life is about small steps. This is a great episode designed to help you become a better person one step at a time. We hope you enjoy it.

This may start out a little different but Jeff was a recent guest on our other program, Italian Impact Weekly and it was such as great interview we thought we'd share it. In this week's Italian Impact Weekly / Talking Business and Life shows, We brought in a very successful author and speaker who has spent over 25 years working with different entrepreneurs, business owners, and executives - Jeff Getty. His most recent book, "The Descent is the Real Climb" is a #1 international best seller. This interview presents a lot of very valuable information and hopefully, will help you become more successful in any of your endeavors.

This week we interview Tom Leturgey. Tom is the editor of KSWA Digest, the online news and features home of the Keystone State Wrestling Alliance (KSWA) in Pittsburgh. He is also a husband, dad, 6x Golden Quill Winner/Ring Announcer, Kentucky Colonel. Valley Mirror, Tube City, & Slam Wrestling writer. He has been a radio announcer on many radio stations since he was 16 and brings a wealth of knowledge in the industry. Truly, an informative and entertaining episode!

In this week's episode, Claudio and Steve talk about the challenges of disciplining, and various approaches. They will talk about their personal experiences as well as present several examples of how the greats did it. This is another episode where you will definitely have some things to think about afterwards.

We are very honored to have been invited to interview various small business owners at a local event being held at Today's Organic Market. While at the event, we interviewed Carrie D’Ambrosio who is the proud owner and operator of Today’s Organic Market. We also interviewed Cathy Phillips, the store ambassador for Today's Organic Market. Finally, we interviewed Maddie Owens the Operations Assistant at Today's Organic Market In addition, we interviewed other small business owners: Larissa Russo from The Refillery Espo Wilcox from PA Mushroom Co Laura Codori from Worm Return Composting Cassandra Brown from Rosedale Food Pantry

This week, we interview attorney William 'Bill' Caye II. Bill went to Duquesne University Law School to pursue a career in law for the right reasons. When Bill’s grandfather was killed in an industrial accident, the treatment his grandmother, mother and uncle received from caring lawyers left a lasting impact on him. In this episode, you will learn the importance of passing along a caring attitude to others, and Bill is a very good man trying to make his corner of the world that much better. This is a great interview that we know you are going to enjoy.

In this week's episode, we interview Deb Crowe. Deb was born and raised in Ontario, Canada. She lived in many small rural communities across Ontario during her youth and established roots in London, Ontario, where she still resides. Deb’s 30+ years of global experience, coupled with her diverse life experience, has taught her how to get to the top, hold that senior position, and integrate her career and family. This is great interview and Deb provides our listeners with some great insight.

In this episode, Claudio and Steve talk about the importance of being happy where you are. There is a lot going on in this episode with a lot of personal perspective and some real examples to help you understand the concept of being happy where you are and maybe even what to do if you aren't. As always, we think you will enjoy this one very much.

Keep life and events in perspective! That is the message this week and Claudio and Steve really will teach you how to keep your tough moments in perspective. Again, speaking from their hearts, these guys really know how to help the listener gain valuable insight from real world events.

In this episode, Claudio and Steve provide some real advice on how to deal with uncomfortable situations. It is easy to avoid things that 'scare' us or make us uncomfortable, but the truth is, you don't have to avoid them at all. In fact, there are ways to grow yourself so that you can not only overcome these challenges, but actually push yourself into even tougher situations. In the end, you will only be stronger for it and the power to be a better you is actually in your hands! We hope you enjoy!

In this episode, Claudio and Steve interview the great Gerry Cooney. Gerry is more than just a professional boxer and successful businessman. After he retired, he took the lessons from his career and used them to grow as a person, and just as importantly, to help a lot of others. His philanthropic work is to be truly commended and you will see just how deep his passion for helping others runs. This is a truly inspiring interview with one of the greats, we know you'll enjoy!

This week, Claudio interviews Lee Davis. Lee Davis owns Lee Davis and Associates Consulting. Lee is a great mentor and this is a powerful interview, we know you will appreciate Lee and his approach on life.

How do judges separate personal feelings and emotions from the cases they are ruling on? In this episode, Claudio and Steve interview Judge Cheryl Yakopec. Thanks to Judge Yakopec for taking the time out of her very busy schedule as the district judge of Pennsylvania's Magisterial District 10-1-04 for sitting down with us. This was a great interview in that we asked questions many of you are thinking. Also, in this interview, we learned integrity still matters and there are a lot of good judges out there. We think you will definitely gain some valuable insight into just how judges think and approach cases.

This week we talk insurance and the 'so what'. Our guest, Christopher Gonzalez. is a field agent for the Knights of Columbus. He has years of experience in selling insurance and breaks down the different types of insurance. He also provides some basic guidelines to help listeners understand how to approach what can be a very sensitive topic - death. His insight into how to interact with potential clients is very enlightening and shows the importance of building trust before you even begin to talk numbers. This is a great episode and we hope you enjoy it.

Being new is not new. In this episode, Claudio and Steve talk about adjustments needed for minimizing anxiety for new employees and supervisors while increasing productivity. Most people focus on how to adapt if you are entering a new job/career/team/school, what is often overlooked is how the new supervisor must adapt to their new employee, how the coach needs to adapt to the new player(s), or how the teacher needs to adapt to the new student(s). Understanding again, there can be stress on both sides, but through early and often communication, this building of the necessary relationship can be done much sooner.

So, things aren't going right. The news doesn't look so promising. Now what? In this episode, Claudio and Steve talk from the heart on how and why you keep going. As Steve states very candidly, the storm will pass in your life. You will get through it. This is a great episode which hopefully helps build up your resilience to ride out the inevitable tough times!

In this episode, we interview with Joe Kuklis, the principal owner of Draft Nation. In this interview, he provides a lot of insight into how drafts work and what is causing their explosive viewership. There is a lot of good information packed into this episode and we think you'll enjoy it.

This episode was recorded live from Snappy's in Coraopolis, PA. Our guest was Daniel 'Danny' Hickton, a young attorney who is already doing incredible things. He is a former college club ice hockey player who didn't let injury stop him from making the team and is still "dedicated to helping others enhance their overall standard of living". This is one of those episodes we think you are going to enjoy all the way through.