Driven: Unscripted Success

In this episode of the Driven: Unscripted Success Podcast with Mike Mannino Sr. and Nareman Hamdan, Dr. Steven Hochwald—Chief of Surgical Oncology and Director within the Mount Sinai cancer program—pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to move cancer care ahead. He shares why he chose to focus on complex GI cancers (stomach, esophagus, pancreas, liver), the power of pairing surgery with research, and how picking the right patient with the right tumor biology can be life-changing.
We dive into leadership lessons from the OR and the lab: building trust with high-performing physicians, communicating relentlessly, and creating a culture that chases “what’s next” instead of settling for status quo. Dr. Hochwald also opens up about staying physically and mentally strong for marathon-length surgeries, learning new tech and therapies through experts, and what it means to design patient-centered care—like Mount Sinai’s upcoming integrated cancer center that brings imaging, radiation, medical oncology, clinical trials, and supportive services together under one roof.
You’ll also hear a grounded take on career risk, program building, option-trading for personal passive income, and two leadership reads that shaped his approach: Who Moved My Cheese? and True North.
 
---------------------------------------------------------- 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 high-energy conversation, Dr. Paulie Gavoni—Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling author, international speaker, and founder of Heart and Science International—breaks down how behavior drives every result we care about. He traces his path from social work to ABA, from Golden Gloves champion to striking coach, and from turning around failing schools to transforming organizational cultures.
Paulie shares how adversity and one tough love moment at home pushed him back to school for leadership degrees and a doctoral-level ABA certification. He explains why “positional authority ain’t leadership,” and walks us through the four hats of leadership:lead (inspire with the why), train (build skills), coach (generalize skills in the real world), and manage (sustain with systems and reinforcement).
You’ll hear practical takes on feedback (separate praise from correction; replace the “great… but” with “great… and to make it even better”), building consistent habits aligned to values, and taking calculated risks—from stepping into a boxing ring to writing a radically vulnerable book. Paulie also previews The Compass Room, a values-based alternative-to-suspension software designed to keep students learning while improving school culture.
 
 
---------------------------------------------------------- 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 jumping out of airplanes to leading financial strategies, Jason Watkins has lived a life built on discipline, adaptability, and vision. In this episode of Driven: Unscripted Success, Jason shares his journey from serving in the U.S. Army — including a career that began with payroll duties and ended with assignments at the White House — to building his own financial services company.
Jason opens up about the lessons he learned in leadership, why listening is the most underrated skill for success, and how he’s helping businesses save money and grow through smart consulting, bookkeeping, and automation. He also breaks down how he built multiple streams of passive income, why staying curious is key, and what motivates him to keep pushing forward.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a veteran transitioning into business, or just someone chasing big goals, Jason’s story is full of wisdom, practical tips, and inspiration.
 
 
---------------------------------------------------------- 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.

Lisa joins Mike and Nareman from Ocala, Florida to talk about her new role as President of Dental Sleep Solutions and the mission behind it: helping dentists implement proven systems—software, medical billing, and education—to treat obstructive sleep apnea with custom oral appliances. She explains how these devices work, why more payers expect patients to try dental solutions before certain surgeries, and what “whole-practice” support looks like for teams.
Beyond the business, Lisa gets personal: moving from Kentucky to Florida to pursue opportunity, rebounding from divorce, and learning to slow down and celebrate wins. She also opens up about leadership—empowering teams with an “bring options, not just problems” mindset, keeping an open door, and jumping in when members need help. We wrap with habits for work-life balance (No-Meeting Wednesdays, stacking meetings on Mondays, blocking gym time), books that shaped her thinking (Good to Great), and what’s next: bringing back in-person events with top KOLs to expand access to care.
 
---------------------------------------------------------- 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.

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.