Tara Blythe serves as Chief People Officer for Infotech, Inc.  In this role, she leads organizational development, people operations, innovation, and communications helping to cultivate the people-centric culture that has been present since its founding.

Recently I interviewed Rennie Curran for the LION 40 Podcast. Rennie is the son of Liberian immigrants and, indeed, he has seen his share of ups and downs. Even though Rennie was considered by most coaches and television announcers to be undersized for his position in football, the first half of Rennie’s life was dedicated to a highly successful career in the SEC and NFL. The public’s characterization and pressure over his size shaped his mindset and dedication to exceed beyond what anybody expected. Now, in the second half of his career, Rennie uses his experience and God-given talents to speak to audiences about how to lead well, persevere, and be resilient when life gets challenging.

Dr. Jerome Lubbe, a South African-born Congolese immigrant who came to the States on asylum status as a refugee with a hundred bucks, two suitcases, a bipolar grandmother, and a parrot. He tells us tells how coming from nothing and his own health issues, has shaped his leadership journey as patient, provider, parent, and partner.

BJ Ganem, who was raised in Savannah Georgia within a close-knit Lebanese family that has owned and operated a local store since 1939. After a year at Georgia Southern, BJ joined the Marine Corps and served until he sustained combat injuries suffered in Iraq. After struggling upon his return, he used his experiences growing up and skills from the Marines to continue his leadership journey. He built Sierra Delta in 2017 with the goal of helping veterans while also rescuing dogs. BJ has run marathons, climbed mountains, been painted by President GW Bush, been a guest on Letterman, Drew Barrymore, and so much more.

Dr. Ben Levy is a physician, musician, and public health advocate who grew up at times feeling like an outsider. He has since used his skills and love of music to create an innovative way of organizing concerts to raise awareness for critical health issues.

This week on the Lion 40 Podcast, I speak to Chris Sims, who is a Christian, husband, father, entrepreneur, and a Marietta, GA business owner with ClearVue Glass and Mirror Company. Chris spent 23 years in the Army on active duty and in the national guard. The majority of his time was spent as a green beret.

Diagnosed with a heart condition in his teenage years, Dr. Jason Young wasn't 100% certain he would make it through each day. Because of this, his mindset leads him to embrace each day with unique enthusiasm.

Erika Page spent much of her life visibly standing out from the crowd because she lived the majority of her adolescence and young adulthood, as she so gracefully calls it, “dappled.” Others call it living life with spots. Doctors call the skin condition – vitiligo. And like other great leaders that we will interview in this season of the LION 40, she had her turning point.

In this episode on The Lion40 Podcast, I talk to Kate Dramis, an Atlanta-based writer and former copywriting agency owner whose obsession with fantasy worlds and escaping into a good love story eventually drove her to chase her dreams of being an author.

Altovise Pelzer, an author, speaker, podcaster, and visionary speaking up for INTROVERTED LEADERS. Yes, indeed, introverts have a powerful leadership voice, and in this episode, she unpacks exactly what that can look like. No doubt you will feel empowered not only to make your YES a true YES through listening, you will also feel empowered to say NO, to receive a NO, and to change your mind with confidence. This is one you're are going to want to listen to time and time again.

Brandy Simula grew up with many kinds of differences that she wasn’t quite sure how to handle. Not just in her upbringing but in how she felt as a person, greatly impacting her leadership journey. Using her skills from growing up with differences and knowledge from her four degrees including sociology, Brandy learned what it truly meant to be a leader and what is so often overlooked but needed for company success.

Laurie Curtis, Director of Children's Ministries, who grew up feeling like she didn’t quite fit in even within her own family and that something was missing. It wasn’t until later that she found what she was looking for, which would forever impact her future and shape her leadership journey. Building on her experience of how she felt growing up, teaching, and ministry, Laurie now leads a dynamic team by empowering others to discover their gifts and utilize them for maximum impact.

Randy Walton spent most of his life standing out from the crowd because he lived the first 40 years of his life with ADD but didn't know it. On the outside, everything seemed fine but on the inside, he was endlessly frustrated, and like other great leaders he then had his turning point.