Driven: Unscripted Success

What really happens behind the scenes when business partnerships fall apart? How do you protect yourself before a contract dispute ever starts? In this episode, attorney Yasir Billoo joins the Driven Podcast to dive deep into what smart business owners need to know about legal risks, contracts, business “divorces,” and how mindset shapes success.
As the Managing Partner at International Law Partners LLP, Yasir brings over 20 years of litigation and transactional experience. He opens up about why he left a successful firm to start his own, how he builds trust with clients, and the leadership lessons he’s still learning today. Plus, we explore how AI is impacting the legal world—and what happens when lawyers rely on it too much.
If you’re a business owner, entrepreneur, or just someone navigating high-stakes decisions, this episode is packed with insights on risk, growth, and being smarter in business.
 
-------------------------------------------------------- Be a Guest: Are you a successful Naples-area business owner, entrepreneur, or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest at Driven: Unscripted Success and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

In this compelling episode, Dr. Gesenia Sloan-Peña takes us inside the world of forensic neuropsychology. As a bilingual clinical and forensic neuropsychologist, she breaks down what her work looks like—evaluating everyone from infants with birth injuries to elderly adults with dementia, and testifying in civil litigation cases like medical malpractice and personal injury.
Dr. Sloan-Peña discusses her unique journey into the niche field of neuropsychology, the pivotal mentors who shaped her path, and why her Spanish-speaking background plays a critical role in serving an underserved population. She also talks about pivoting into academia, mentoring future neuropsychologists, and leading a growing team at NOVA Southeastern University while still managing her thriving private practice.
The conversation explores her leadership style, her approach to risk-taking, balancing family and business, using time-blocking to get it all done, and her candid views on AI’s evolving role in psychological assessments. We also dive into her passion for creating opportunities for the next generation of Spanish-speaking professionals and her innovative work in NICU follow-up clinics for infant survivors.
 
-------------------------------------------------------- Be a Guest: Are you a successful Naples-area business owner, entrepreneur, or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest at Driven: Unscripted Success and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

In this fascinating conversation, Stefano Gulbalis shares how his mission to humanize technology led him to launch Nebulai—a digital transformation company combining AI, blockchain, and smart contracts to build a better future. With roots in education, real estate, and enterprise innovation, Stefano brings a visionary perspective on the intersection of emerging tech, purpose, and leadership.
What we covered:
How Stefano’s early work at Miami Dade College laid the groundwork for his entrepreneurial path
The “ikigai” approach to career and innovation
What WebAI marketplaces are, and how smart contracts empower global talent
Why blockchain is critical for trustworthy AI
Thoughts on the risks, ethics, and existential challenges of AI
How Miami is becoming the next major hub for AI development
Stefano’s personal journey as a cancer survivor and his vision to build AI agents for healthcare support
Insights on leadership, passion, learning, and building diverse, innovative teams
-------------------------------------------------------- Be a Guest: Are you a successful Naples-area business owner, entrepreneur, or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest at Driven: Unscripted Success and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

What happens when a former Amazon exec takes a leap into the dental world? In this episode, Daniel Jimenez shares how he's transforming dentistry through cutting-edge tech, high-performance leadership, and a bold, patient-first approach.
💡 What You’ll Learn in This Episode
Why Daniel left a lucrative career at Amazon to co-found Stride Dental Group
How he’s using AI and automation to eliminate admin burden and elevate the patient experience
What sets Stride’s model apart: insurance expertise, same-day appointments, and ultra-clear protocols
Why he believes attitude beats experience when building a team
How Daniel leads with tough love, data, and a no-fluff culture of accountability
Insights on passive income, learning strategies, and building a dental startup that’s profitable in just 4 months
 
-------------------------------------------------------- Be a Guest: Are you a successful Naples-area business owner, entrepreneur, or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest at Driven: Unscripted Success and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

What does it take to build an unforgettable brand presence at a convention or trade show? In this episode of Driven: Unscripted Success, Mike and Nareman sit down with Scott Maheu, COO of Exhibit Experience, to explore the creativity, logistics, and leadership that go into building world-class exhibit booths.
Why Should You Listen?Scott shares how his unique blend of military discipline, Amazon operational excellence, and creative marketing makes him a powerhouse in the event space. You’ll learn how his servant leadership style is helping transform company culture and how ownership, problem-solving, and organization drive results in a competitive industry.
What We Covered:
How Exhibit Experience turns ideas into engaging booths for trade shows and sporting events
Scott’s leadership evolution from the Air Force and Amazon to his current role
Why servant leadership and one-on-one development are key to building strong teams
How encouraging ownership and solutions-first thinking empowers employees
The importance of organization, removing barriers, and creating standard work
What sets Exhibit Experience apart in a crowded event marketing space
Scott’s take on tangible ROI, facial recognition tech, and where the industry is heading
 
-------------------------------------------------------- Be a Guest: Are you a successful Naples-area business owner, entrepreneur, or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest at Driven: Unscripted Success and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

In this episode of Driven: Unscripted Success, hosts Mike Mannino Sr. and Nareman Hamdan sit down with Dr. Paola Ballester, a board-certified pediatrician and co-founder of EasyPA. With over a decade of clinical leadership experience and a strong background in healthcare operations, Dr. Ballester is on a mission to solve one of the biggest frustrations in modern healthcare: prior authorizations.
Dr. Ballester explains how EasyPA is transforming the archaic prior auth and appeals process using AI and automation. She dives into the burnout physicians face when dealing with insurance companies, the hidden inefficiencies that delay care for patients, and how EasyPA centralizes and simplifies the entire system—ultimately recovering lost revenue and improving access to care.
Listeners will also get a behind-the-scenes look into Dr. Ballester’s non-traditional path into medicine, her leadership philosophy, and how she juggles life as a physician, entrepreneur, and single mom.
 
 
-------------------------------------------------------- Be a Guest: Are you a successful Naples-area business owner, entrepreneur, or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest at Driven: Unscripted Success and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

What happens when a cardiologist and a frustrated dad teams up with tech experts and a pediatrician friend to fix a broken part of healthcare? You get Blueberry Pediatrics—a revolutionary telehealth solution putting pediatric care in your pocket.
In this episode, Dr. Jonathan Kahan joins Mike Mannino to share how his personal parenting struggles led to founding a tech-driven healthcare company that offers unlimited pediatric care for families at a fraction of traditional costs. From his medical training in Israel and New York to navigating the startup world without a business background, Jonathan opens up about the challenges and breakthroughs that shaped his mission.
 
-------------------------------------------------------- Be a Guest: Are you a successful Naples-area business owner, entrepreneur, or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest at Driven: Unscripted Success and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

In this episode of Driven: Unscripted Success, hosts Mike Mannino Sr. and Nareman Hamdan sit down with tech consultant and former Google engineer, Javier Cortavitarte. From humble beginnings in Caracas, Venezuela to Silicon Valley boardrooms, Javier shares how he navigated his path to success through curiosity, community, and calculated risks.
Javier dives into how his early fascination with technology and communication systems led to opportunities at Google, and later into the world of startups and consulting. He talks about the tough decision to leave the comfort of corporate life and place a bet on his own abilities—and why it paid off.
 
-------------------------------------------------------- Be a Guest: Are you a successful Naples-area business owner, entrepreneur, or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest at Driven: Unscripted Success and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

In this inspiring episode, Mike sits down with Nick Abbott, a driven nursing student turned medical product entrepreneur, to unpack how an everyday problem in dermatology sparked a business idea that became the Cut to Fit Bandage. With no formal business background, Nick shares his story of launching a medical product from scratch—from testing fabrics in dermatology clinics to navigating the hurdles of Amazon sales, branding, and product packaging.
Nick opens up about the challenges of competing with legacy brands like Band-Aid, and how he and his partner, Dr. Spencer Bezalel, leveraged their frontline experience in skin cancer surgeries to create a simple, customizable solution for wound care. Learn how Nick taught himself logistics, pricing, and marketing using books and YouTube—and how he’s turning risk into reward while growing a company from the ground up.
 
-------------------------------------------------------- Be a Guest: Are you a successful Naples-area business owner, entrepreneur, or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest at Driven: Unscripted Success and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.

In this inspiring episode of Driven: Unscripted Success, hosts Mike Mannino Sr. and Nareman Hamdan talk with Cat Holt—former head of marketing strategy at Progressive and now founder of her own marketing firm.
Cat takes us on her journey from the corporate world to entrepreneurship, sharing how her background in psychology, advertising, and art helped shape her path. She dives into how AI is changing the marketing game, why multidisciplinary fluency is a must-have skill, and why “working in your talents” beats trying to be good at everything.
 
-------------------------------------------------------- Be a Guest: Are you a successful Naples-area business owner, entrepreneur, or professional with insights to share? Apply to be a guest at Driven: Unscripted Success and share your expertise with a wide audience eager to learn about you.