Confessions of a Vistage Chair

Welcome to Confessions of a Vistage Chair, a podcast by Talent Harbor, where we have real, behind-the-scenes conversations with Vistage Chairs. They share honest stories and practical insights on leadership growth, peer advisory groups, and what actually happens in Vistage meetings.
 
Let's pull back the curtain!
 
In this episode, Ryan sits down with Carlos Garrido, Vistage Chair, sales consultant, and self-described "trifecta" of the Vistage world (member, speaker, and chair). Carlos shares his refreshingly bold take on AI: "We're not living through an Industrial Revolution, we're living through a Renaissance."
 
Carlos breaks down the real difference between selling and order-taking, why a great seller's job is to inspire decisions people wouldn't make on their own, and how AI is becoming the ultimate exoskeleton for salespeople by handling the drudgery so humans can focus on high-value impact.
 
Whether you're leading a sales team, running a Vistage group, or just trying to figure out where AI fits in your business, this one is for you.
Timestamps
04:12 AI: Industrial Revolution or Renaissance?
14:44 AI in Sales: Relationship vs. Challenge
17:44 Selling: More Than Order Taking
22:50 Parenting and Sales: An Analogy
36:48 AI: Freedom, Best Practice, and Execution
45:07 Starting Your AI Journey: A Practical Approach
58:04 Navigating AI: Balance and Cohort Learning
01:05:56 Selling the Value of Engagement
Guest Links
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlosgarrido2024/
https://linktr.ee/sandlermiami

Welcome to Confessions of a Vistage Chair, a podcast by Talent Harbor, where we have real, behind-the-scenes conversations with Vistage Chairs. They share honest stories and practical insights on leadership growth, peer advisory groups, and what actually happens in Vistage meetings.
 
Let's pull back the curtain!
 
In this episode, Ryan sits down with Kirsten Yurich, behavior analyst turned CEO turned Vistage Chair, for a conversation that is equal parts hilarious and genuinely thought-provoking. Kirsten has a gift for cracking a joke and then immediately making you think harder about something that matters. From the fear behind delegation to what actually makes a great manager, to why her group is referral-only and requires no goat sacrifice (mostly), this one covers a lot of ground and does it with a lot of heart.
 
Check it out!
Timestamps
05:53 Instrumental Success in Vistage
08:00 The Founder’s Trap: Letting Go
16:00 Integrating Personal and Professional Life
22:51 Effective Communication & Management
26:46 The Essentials of Great Management
35:40 Defining Success and Delegating Effectively
40:20 Scaling Leadership and Avoiding Micromanagement
42:45 AI: Adoption and Implementation
53:13 The Group is the Prize
Guest Links
https://www.kirstenyurich.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirstenyurich/
The Results Center: https://theresultcenter.com/
Vistage Website: https://app.vistage.com/sites/s/chairs/0032E0000355CfFQAU/kirsten-yurich

Welcome to Confessions of a Vistage Chair, a podcast by Talent Harbor, where we have real, behind-the-scenes conversations with Vistage Chairs. They share honest stories and practical insights on leadership growth, peer advisory groups, and what actually happens in Vistage meetings.
 
Let's pull back the curtain!
 
In this episode, Walter Paulsen brings a perspective that is rare in the Vistage world. Walter has spent his career at the intersection of strategy and growth. He was there when Redbox was spinning out of McDonald's. He has watched companies raise too much money too soon and destroy themselves with it. And now he works with mid-market CEOs to help them do the thing most founders never slow down long enough to do: think strategically about the right problems.
 
In this conversation, Walter breaks down why grit alone will only take you so far, where strategy actually lives inside a growing company, and why culture, strategy, and execution are not competing priorities but a holy trinity that only works when all three are in place.
Timestamps
05:07 Redbox Strategy
11:00 The Essence of Strategy
15:47 When Grit Isn't Enough
26:59 The Right Problem and Humble Confidence
38:56 Sequencing Problems: Apollo 13 Mindset
45:21 AI, Urgency, and Strategic Thought
53:03 Trader Joe's and Costco's Distinct Cultures
Guest Links
Walter.Paulsen@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/walterpaulsen/
Vistage Website: https://app.vistage.com/sites/s/chairs/0032E0000349Xl5QAE/walter-paulsen

Welcome to Confessions of a Vistage Chair, a podcast by Talent Harbor, where we have real, behind-the-scenes conversations with Vistage Chairs. They share honest stories and practical insights on leadership growth, peer advisory groups, and what actually happens in Vistage meetings.
 
Let's pull back the curtain!
 
In this episode, Angelo Sisco brings one of the most remarkable life stories we have had on this show. His father went to federal prison when Angelo started kindergarten. He opened his first pizza restaurant at 17. He ran a poker game through his early 20s. He lost 100 pounds in seven months and built a CrossFit empire across multiple gyms, a nutrition company, and an online programming business before selling everything three weeks before the COVID lockdown. Then he moved his family to San Clemente, leveled up his business perspective, returned to Chicago, turned around a friend's $15 million company, joined Vistage, and launched his own group in December of 2025 with 10 members.
 
But the real story is not any of that. It is how Angelo figured out that his business was just a mirror reflecting back his own internal state, and what happened when he finally stopped operating in fear. 
 
You're not going to want to miss this one!
Timestamps
05:39 Lessons from the Pizza Business
15:13 The Power of Feeling Seen
22:02 Coaching Identity and Leadership
26:03 Shifting Away from Fitness
39:54 The Secret Ingredient for Growth
46:37 Detaching Self-Worth from Numbers
52:04 Overcoming Fear
Guest Links
angelo@siscoadvisors.com
https://siscoadvisors.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelosisco/
Vistage Website: https://app.vistage.com/sites/s/chairs/0032E00003Nv9ObQAJ/angelo-sisco

Welcome to Confessions of a Vistage Chair, a podcast by Talent Harbor, where we have real, behind-the-scenes conversations with Vistage Chairs. They share honest stories and practical insights on leadership growth, peer advisory groups, and what actually happens in Vistage meetings.  
Let's pull back the curtain!
Bob Murray is the type of person who went from wiring data centers as an electrician in Saskatchewan to leading billion-dollar turnarounds at one of the world's largest mobile companies. In this episode, Bob unpacks what three decades of turnaround work taught him about fixing people before fixing businesses, why toxic culture almost always comes down to a small handful of people, and how building an organization where people bring their hearts to work is the only strategy that actually scales. Timestamps00:00 From Electrician to CEO: Early Culture02:32 Unexpected Path to Leadership06:03 Core Excellence and Values Alignment15:02 Building Culture Through Small Actions22:07 Vision and Direction in Turnarounds25:28 Leadership Assessment: Vision & Foxes31:56 Owner Meddling and Schizophrenic Culture34:45 Surgical Approach to Toxic Culture40:28 Unlocking Potential and Life’s Purpose44:46 Vistage Members and Imposter Syndrome
 
Guest Links
https://robert-murray.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertsmurray1/
https://tec-canada.com/our-speakers/robert-murray/
 

Welcome to Confessions of a Vistage Chair, a podcast by Talent Harbor, where we have real, behind-the-scenes conversations with Vistage Chairs. They share honest stories and practical insights on leadership growth, peer advisory groups, and what actually happens in Vistage meetings.
 
Let’s pull back the curtain!
 
In this episode, Christine Spray breaks down the difference between EOS and Vistage in a way I've never heard explained before. She also tackles why you shouldn't have to choose between them and what she's learned about leadership, resilience, and never doing it alone, over a career unlike anyone else's in this space.
 
This one is a masterclass from start to finish.
Timestamps
02:57 Adversity, Resilience, and Self-Help
12:57 Overcoming Fear and Continuous Improvement
19:54 Lessons from Public Speaking and Boards
25:59 Strategic Networking and Leadership Growth
32:07 Effective Coaching and Sales Development
39:52 Hiring Sales Talent and the EOS/Vistage Dynamic
43:59 EOS vs. Vistage: Distinct Values
 
Guest Links
Vistage Website: https://app.vistage.com/sites/s/chairs/00380000018bSb0AAE/christine-spray
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinespray/
EOS Website: https://implementer.eosworldwide.com/christine-spray/

Welcome to Confessions of a Vistage Chair, a podcast by Talent Harbor, where we have real, behind-the-scenes conversations with Vistage Chairs. They share honest stories and practical insights on leadership growth, peer advisory groups, and what actually happens in Vistage meetings.
 
Let's pull back the curtain!
 
Heather Anderson is the type of person who said yes to coaching a sixth-grade field hockey team, having never seen a field hockey game. In this episode, Heather unpacks what she learned taking a 2-and-10 team to 10-and-0 and how those same leadership principles show up in every boardroom she walks into. She gets into why toxic culture always traces back to the leader, why emotional intelligence starts with self-awareness, and what her secret sauce has been for two decades of success.
Timestamps
 04:19 Coaching Without Expertise
07:05 Cultivating Team Culture
11:53 Peer-Led Culture vs. CEO Culture
28:11 Self-Awareness in Leadership
39:12 Three-Perspective Exercises
44:29 Vistage Chair Success Secrets
Guest Links
Vistage Website: https://app.vistage.com/sites/s/chairs/0038000000slKqPAAU/heather-anderson
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-anderson-72230b/

Welcome to Confessions of a Vistage Chair, a podcast by Talent Harbor, where we have real, behind-the-scenes conversations with Vistage Chairs. They share honest stories and practical insights on leadership growth, peer advisory groups, and what actually happens in Vistage meetings.
 
Let’s pull back the curtain!
 
In this episode, Brian takes us from enlisting in the Air Force at 18, through the Reagan-Gorbachev summits, the birth of the internet, a radio show that got him one-phone-call access to any CEO in DC, and eventually to becoming a Vistage Chair. He also gets brutally honest about the one decision he regrets most: not joining a peer group before the recession hit.
 
This one is packed with wisdom, war stories, and the kind of perspective that only comes from actually living it.
Timestamps
04:44 Path to Becoming an Officer
12:47 Transition to Civilian Life
17:59 Military Skills in the Civilian World
24:34 Resilience Through Career Challenges
28:06 Entrepreneurial Journey: 9/11 and Beyond
43:55 Recession and Business Collapse
47:36 Becoming a Vistage Chair
54:27 The Entrepreneurial Struggle
 
Guest Links
brian.roberts@vistagechair.com
Vistage Website: https://app.vistage.com/sites/s/chairs/0038000000slWEfAAM/brian-roberts
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianrobertscroix/

Welcome to Confessions of a Vistage Chair, a podcast by Talent Harbor, where we have real, behind-the-scenes conversations with Vistage Chairs. They share honest stories and practical insights on leadership growth, peer advisory groups, and what actually happens in Vistage meetings.
Let's pull back the curtain!
Chris Quinn’s path to Vistage Chair is anything but conventional. He went from shaving his surfer hair at Officer Candidate School to commanding infantry platoons in the Middle East, serving as aide-de-camp to a two-star general, and eventually becoming president of a public biotech company, all before his wife sat him down and told him he was flat-out unemployable.
In this episode, Chris gets real about what the Marine Corps actually teaches you about leadership that no MBA ever could, why empathy and sympathy are not the same thing, and what it means to run a Vistage group the way a great coach runs a team. 
Tune in! You won't want to miss it.
 
Timestamps
00:00 Military Beginnings
03:52 Military Deployments and Aid Role
12:30 Simplicity and Agility in Leadership
16:32 Key Leadership Behaviors and Self-Control
20:50 Challenges and Reflections on Military Life
26:21 Embracing Entrepreneurship and Values
32:08 Personal Growth and Career Redirection
36:09 The Power of Vistage and Peer Advisory
41:59 Transition to Consulting & E-Learning
45:34 Marketing Readiness Diagnostic
 
Guest Links
Vistage Website: https://app.vistage.com/sites/s/chairs/0038000002BRNSKAA5/chris-quinn
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-quinn-ceoadvisor/

Welcome to Confessions of a Vistage Chair, a podcast by Talent Harbor, where we have real, behind-the-scenes conversations with Vistage Chairs. They share honest stories and practical insights on leadership growth, peer advisory groups, and what actually happens in Vistage meetings.
 
Let’s pull back the curtain!
 
Julie Reinganum has lived one of the most unconventional paths I've ever heard of: from studying Chinese on a whim to landing at the UN during the early days of U.S.-China diplomatic relations, to leading AT&T's first international deal in China, selling her own consulting firm, and becoming a Vistage Chair. She didn't follow a plan. She followed her instincts.
 
In this episode, Julie gets honest about what it actually means to create a sacred space within a Vistage group and why planning with assumed uncertainty is the only strategy that works in today's environment. Tune in! You won't want to miss it.
Timestamps
03:13 - U.S.-China Relations and Early Career
11:18 - AT&T and the Business School Impact
17:18 - Launching a Consulting Firm
23:27 - Selling a Business and Peer Groups
32:01 - Transition to Vistage Chair
37:16 - Evolving Business Challenges and Leadership
44:31 - Planning Amidst Uncertainty
57:04 - Vistage Connect: Virtual Groups
Guest Links
Email: Julie.Reinganum@vistagechair.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliereinganum/