Driven: Unscripted Success

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.

In this inspiring conversation, Dr. Farah Laurent (RN, educator, entrepreneur) walks us through her journey from bedside nursing to leadership and business owner. After getting laid off—twice—she doubled down on personal branding, service-driven leadership, and consistent content creation. Farah now coaches new graduate nurses to break into competitive specialties with confidence, run standout interviews, and build careers they actually want. She also creates nurse-focused conferences, masterminds, and digital courses that make the jump to entrepreneurship feel doable and fun.
What You’ll Learn
How Farah turned doubt into fuel—and why mindset coaching is key for new nurses
The exact habits that move careers forward (hint: consistency beats intensity)
Servant leadership in action: creating psychological safety and “fun vibes” at work
Building a personal brand on LinkedIn without being “salesy”
Taking smart risks: launching a conference in weeks and self-publishing a book
New ways nurses are creating income: digital products, courses, partnerships, speaking
 
---------------------------------------------------------- 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 heartfelt and inspiring episode of Driven: Unscripted Success, Mike Mannino Sr. and Nareman Hamdan sit down with Kari-Anne Spiller, founder and CEO of Surrender House, a sober living community that’s rewriting the rules of addiction recovery. Kari-Anne shares her deeply personal journey from addiction to action — starting the first female sober living house in Cape Coral, Florida, using her income tax return and unwavering faith.
Listeners will gain insight into what sets Surrender House apart from other treatment centers, how Kari-Anne balances compassion with accountability, and what it really takes to help someone rediscover their life after addiction. From daily routines and life skills training to encouraging clients to think outside the box, Kari-Anne offers a raw and real look into the heart of recovery.
She opens up about the emotional toll of leading people through transformation, the power of surrender, and how nurturing recovery requires patience, structure, and grace.
 
---------------------------------------------------------- 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.

Dr. Albert Bramante—talent agent, professor, and author of Rise Above the Script—joins Mike to talk about standing out in an oversaturated acting market, why “type” and branding matter, and how relationships drive every career. He shares an eye-opening behind-the-scenes look at TV talk shows, the gap between on-camera personas and real people, and what the ratings game can do to guests.Albert opens up about burnout while juggling full-time teaching and agency work, losing a tenure-track role, and how that setback became a turning point. He explains his research on self-sabotage among performers, turning that dissertation into a book, and simple systems like time blocking to beat procrastination. We also dive into passive income ideas—from hypnosis audio libraries to online courses—and his next book on gaslighting at work, Untwisting the Truth, plus a new hybrid coaching mastermind.
 
 
---------------------------------------------------------- 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 powerful and insightful episode of Driven: Unscripted Success, Mike Mannino sits down with Martin Cody—a lifelong learner, healthcare veteran, and passionate student of philosophy and leadership.
From his early days in Chicago’s healthcare scene to his pivot into digital health and leadership coaching, Martin brings raw honesty and wisdom gained through real-life experiences. He opens up about the impact of self-chatter, the philosophy that changed his approach to adversity, and why being a "never-ending student" is his secret to continuous growth.
You’ll hear:
How stoicism and ancient wisdom shape modern leadership
Why failure is the best teacher
How to confront fear and embrace discomfort for growth
Martin’s surprising approach to passive income and giving value first
His next big goals—career, martial arts, and mastering golf in sunny Naples
---------------------------------------------------------- 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 Josh Perez, founder of Naples Smart Home Watch. From his early days in the Bronx to Naples, Florida, Josh takes us through his journey across industries—from installing security systems and working in electrical trades to spending 20 years in pastoral ministry.
Josh shares how a background in technology, paired with a deep passion for serving people, led him to create Naples Smart Home Watch—a business that brings smart home tech and peace of mind together for homeowners.
He opens up about how the wireless revolution in home security changed the game, and how his workshops in gated communities are helping people understand the power and simplicity of smart home devices. You'll hear how Josh built his confidence through hands-on learning and what he would have done differently if he could go back in time.
 
 
---------------------------------------------------------- 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.

Jonathan King shares his unconventional path as a founder, educator, and social entrepreneur. From launching King Creto Experience to teaching entrepreneurship at Florida Gulf Coast University, Jonathan gives us a masterclass in overcoming adversity, staying teachable, and building community through action.
Learn how martial arts, mindset, and mentorship all play a role in his unique journey. Jonathan gets candid about the challenges of being a gay, Black, Jewish entrepreneur and how he channels every part of his identity into driving real change. You’ll hear about his student successes, like the high schooler who started a sustainable pickleball recycling business, and his belief that confidence—not just strategy—is key to becoming an entrepreneur.
This conversation is packed with real talk, real stories, and real value.
 
 
---------------------------------------------------------- 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.