Driven: Unscripted Success

This episode dives deep with Shel Hart, a powerhouse entrepreneur, fractional CEO, and the founder of Florida Venture Catalyst. From surviving a tough upbringing in upstate New York to becoming a sought-after growth expert and C-suite whisperer, Shel shares the gritty truth behind his rise — and what it really takes to scale and exit companies with purpose.
Whether you're a founder at an inflection point, a team leader trying to build culture, or someone who just loves stories of grit and reinvention — this one will inspire you to think bigger, dig deeper, and lead smarter.
💡 Key Takeaways:
Why “knowing thyself” is the most underrated leadership skill
How emotional intelligence plays a critical role in business success
The pivotal moments that shaped Shel’s leadership and coaching philosophy
Why AI should empower people, not replace them
Shel’s approach to building winning teams rooted in culture, not just credentials
His #1 advice for aspiring CEOs (Hint: it’s not glamorous, but it’s real)
 
---------------------------------------------------------- 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.

Nareman sits down with Trent to unpack how a championship pedigree in Major League Baseball shaped his playbook for building “leading, winning teams.” He opens up about imposter syndrome, why self-discipline beats talent, and how alignment—not agreement—drives execution. Trent also shares his daily routine, growth coaching at Bloom, investing in “unsexy” small businesses, and why curiosity and hyper-learning keep teams sharp.
Key Takeaways
Beat self-doubt: Use comparison as a carrot—but don’t let it define you.
Discipline wins: Time-blocking, batching, and clear priorities protect your best energy.
Alignment > agreement: Debate ideas, then unite behind the plan and execute.
Train like pros: Teams perform at their lowest level of training—raise the floor.
Mindset & diversity: Hire for curiosity and complementary thinking, not clones.
Scale safely: Growth can break companies—build processes and people first.
Lifelong learning: Books, mentors, experiences, and reps fuel “hyper learning.”
 
 
---------------------------------------------------------- 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.
 

Alison walks us through her pivot during COVID—from process-heavy consulting at ALS Group to founding Unconvention, where she practices “uncoaching” and “unconsulting.” She explains why high-achieving leaders need space to be human, how her “Un-Word Effect” helps clients see themselves in new, powerful ways, and why strong partnerships require clear expectations on both sides.We dig into risk-taking, evolving leadership from “just get it done” to collaborative and caring, and practical routines that protect energy (hello, daily bike rides). Alison also talks about launching her podcast UnConversations, building passive income, uplifting women founders, and advice she’d give her 30-year-old self: trust your gut, take the shot, and enjoy the process.
What you’ll learn
How to balance business goals with the “human stuff” inside teams
A simple language exercise (the Un-Word Effect) to reframe your strengths
Why not every client is a fit—and how to set expectations for real change
The shift from traditional consulting to holistic, people-first advisory
Daily practices to maintain clarity and momentum as a leader
Building wealth and impact: passive income and investing in women-led ventures
 
---------------------------------------------------------- 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, Sandra shares how she took the leap from working for others to building a business of her own—and how she’s expanding it across Florida and beyond. She opens up about leadership, personal growth, entrepreneurship, time management, and how grit and discipline—not just motivation—are the true fuel for long-term success.
Sandra discusses the power of community events for education, how data drives decision-making at Vmax, and her mission to make Medicare easier and more human for seniors. You’ll also hear how she balances life as a mom, wife, entrepreneur, and leader—all with a touch of humor and brutal honesty.
Key Takeaways:
Why Sandra pivoted from being an executive to starting her own agency
How Vmax is different from typical insurance firms
The role of failure in innovation and leadership
Building a dream team and encouraging creative thinking
How to juggle work, family, and your own mental health
Future plans for national expansion and passive income strategies
 
---------------------------------------------------------- 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.

Terry Zelen, President & Creative Director of Zelen Communications, joins Mike and Nareman to talk about building custom, highly animated websites, running a lean team across time zones, and using AI to boost research, content, SEO, and reporting. He walks through career pivots (from marine biology to marketing), lessons from the 2008 downturn, and why “someone who knows AI will take your job—not AI itself.” Terry also previews where marketing is headed as AI converges with CGI, AR/VR, and agentic assistants.
What you’ll learn:
How early adoption (from the first Macs to today’s LLMs) became a competitive edge
Practical AI uses in an agency: research, keyword planning, blog drafting, image/video ideation, analytics, and reporting
Leadership lessons: give autonomy, own mistakes, hire self-taught learners, and keep curiosity high
Why websites will evolve toward solutions and agents—and what that means for clients
Building resilience: shifting from traditional to digital during market shocks
 
---------------------------------------------------------- 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 the Driven: Unscripted Success Podcast, Mike Mannino Sr. and Nareman Hamdan sit down with Catherine Jadot, a marine biologist who turned her passion for the ocean into a mission to find real-world climate solutions. Catherine shares her journey from Belgium to the Caribbean and Florida, moving from academia into consulting, where she works with governments, private investors, and communities to restore reefs, protect coastlines, and fund sustainable ocean projects.
She opens up about the challenges of starting fresh in new fields, how experience often outweighs degrees, and why translating between science, government, and private capital is key to solving climate issues. Catherine also reveals her latest project — a book titled How It Doesn’t End: Empowering Solutions for Climate Change — along with her efforts to create training courses that will help governments and investors support the “blue economy.”
 
 
---------------------------------------------------------- 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.

Kadie leads a large nonprofit serving children in foster care across Miami-Dade. She explains what it means to “stand in the gaps”—from everyday needs like haircuts, braces, and zoo trips to deeper advocacy that shortens time in care and supports reunification or adoption. Kadie walks us through trauma-informed practices, building positive childhood experiences, and creating core memories that spark hope.We talk about mission trips with BLUE Missions, helping youth gain perspective while serving abroad, and college tours that help students “see themselves” on campus. Kadie shares her famous “bubbles on Park Avenue” story—finding a joyful, creative way to solve problems—and opens up about stepping into the CEO role, mindset, and leading a passionate team.You’ll also hear about The Dream Collective (a co-located, collaborative model for services), fundraising as sales, planning through budget uncertainty, investing in talent and upskilling, and exploring revenue-generating ideas inspired by programs like Homeboy Industries. Finally, Kadie and Mike discuss reframing dyslexia and ADHD as superpowers, building grit, and why growth lives outside the comfort zone.
 
---------------------------------------------------------- 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.

From Bonita Springs, FL, Steven walks through building a nine-figure cybersecurity company, then expanding into skip tracing and background checks. His core playbook: pay for performance, protect data differently, and make “win-win” the rule with employees, customers, and vendors. He explains why classic encryption is under pressure from advancing compute, how his team “changed the game” with a random, non-repeatable approach, and why culture you can hear over the phone becomes a growth engine.Steven also opens up about surviving a near-catastrophic legal crisis, the weekly leadership cadence that keeps oars rowing in sync, and his criteria for durable businesses: recurring revenue, automation, honesty, and positive energy. We close with what’s next—decentralized identity/KYC on-chain and verified IDs for everyday users—and his advice for younger founders: keep learning, stay transparent, and bet on your people.
 
---------------------------------------------------------- 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 conversation, Jennifer Ohlman, Strategic Growth Manager at Compass in Southwest Florida, walks us through her path from big-firm consulting to startups, property management, and ultimately agent growth and brokerage partnerships. She covers what Compass offers agents (supportive tech, local culture, and community impact), how she evaluates fit, and what she’s seeing across Naples and beyond—from spec-home lifestyle design to fast-rising neighborhoods.Jennifer gets candid about career inflection points: bootstrapping a short-term rental business, navigating COVID shutdowns by partnering under existing vendors, and learning to “lead from behind” with clear communication and public kudos. She also shares her go-to books and podcasts, her daily routine built around fitness and networking, and how she builds passive income through buy-and-hold real estate. We wrap with what’s next at Compass (AI tools to reduce agent busywork) and Jennifer’s personal travel plans.
 
 
---------------------------------------------------------- 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 candid conversation, Lisa shares how each book takes about a year from idea to draft, why she’s a strict plotter, and how a daily word-count keeps her momentum. She contrasts TV forensics with real work—mostly fingerprints and reports—and traces her path from Cleveland’s coroner’s office to Cape Coral PD. Lisa also unpacks the publishing roller coaster: the early CSI boom, the “pub-pocalypse,” the rise of ebooks, and why marketing now matters more than ever. For aspiring writers and future crime-scene pros, she offers practical advice: intern, read the best in your genre, join critique groups, and be patient with your path to publication.
 
 
---------------------------------------------------------- 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.