Season 1

Join host Ryan Heckman and Samantha Citro Alexander, CEO and co-founder of Bitewell, as they discuss her journey from theater major to stints at Bridgewater Associates and Estée Lauder to founder of a groundbreaking nutrition technology company. Samantha shares how Bitewell is revolutionizing healthy eating through their innovative “food health score” and online ‘farmacy’ while building a thriving business leveraging an emerging concept, ‘food as medicine’.

The conversation offers candid insights into both the business challenges and personal toll of being a start-up founder, including valuable lessons on maintaining mental health and building support systems while pursuing audacious and sometimes lonely goals.

In this episode of the Founders’ Journey podcast, we had the opportunity to speak with Robert Wolfe and Edward Norton (yes, the legendary actor, director, and producer), co-founders of Zeck. Zeck is on a mission to revolutionize board meetings through its online workspace, which cuts preparation time by over 50%, enhances collaboration before and after meetings, and provides a transformational experience for both board members and executive teams alike.

Half of this episode is devoted to framing the need for a tool like Zeck with laughable stories of traditional PE firms torturing executive teams in board meetings and ends with Edward providing a really interesting perspective on his career from actor to entrepreneur.  Edward opens up about his life experiences at the intersection of creativity, bigger purpose and entrepreneurship.

You will be inspired by Zeck’s calling to improve society by improving board meetings, and their witty humor will bring us all levity as we close out the year.

In this episode of The Founders’ Journey podcast, we welcome Haley Rushing, Co-Founder and Chief Purposologist of The Purpose Institute. Haley shares her insights on how purpose-driven businesses outperform their peers, drawing from her work with companies including Wal-Mart, Whole Foods, and Southwest Airlines.

We explore the “purpose paradox” – how focusing on purpose for profit sake does not actually work – and discuss Rallyday’s own purpose journey. Haley’s passion for helping leaders articulate and activate their purpose is infectious, reminding us why we started Rallyday and our commitment to empowering leaders.

This conversation isn’t just for founders; it’s for anyone who believes business can be a force for good. Join us for a thought-provoking discussion that might inspire you to start your own purpose journey and elevate your personal and professional life along the way.

In this special episode of The Founders’ Journey podcast, we welcome Dr. Frank Corvino, an exceptional entrepreneur who partnered with Rallyday as our first portfolio company in our first fund, and has now recently joined us as our newest managing partner.

Frank’s journey from a young, ambitious kid from Yonkers, N.Y. to a successful healthcare leader is a story of resilience, adaptability, and innovation.  He leveraged his unorthodox childhood, his physics Ph.D, and numerous mentors to eventually co-found Genesis Research with a vision to revolutionize healthcare research. Over fifteen years Genesis Research transformed from a boutique Hoboken consultancy to a global leader in the sector.

A lifelong learner and teacher, Frank shares his calling to support the next generation of entrepreneurs as the newest member of the Rallyday team.  His journey reminds us that success in entrepreneurship comes from embracing uncertainty, building strong cultures, choosing the right partners while living a life of learning and growth with a healthy chip on your shoulder.

In this episode of The Founders’ Journey podcast, the founder of the Container Store and author of the book “Uncontained”, Kip Tindell, shares his 30 year journey of building a new category in retail, challenging the very foundations of modern management principles while leading an emerging movement called, “Conscious Capitalism”. You will enjoy listening to this inspired leader as he challenges us to step up to a higher calling in service to others as we pursue our entrepreneurial dreams.

On this episode of the Founders’ Journey Podcast, we welcome Poornima Ramaswamy who is a veteran of digital innovation and founder of Pivot X Advisors that brings strategic data wisdom, including AI, to the middle market.  A native of India, Poornima rose through the ranks during a 20-plus year career at of Cognizant, the global consulting firm specializing in IT services, digital transformation, and business process outsourcing with over 300,000 employees worldwide.

Like many founders, Poornima wanted to go big her own way and founded PivotX Advisors in 2023 after being part of the leadership team to grow the data & AI unit at Cognizant from less than 200 employees to over 20,000 employees worldwide.

Poornima will help us better understand the past, present and future of digital transformation from a practical perspective for middle market companies and share her secret sauce as she made the leap from ‘big company’ executive to entrepreneur.  Poornima will share her aggressive and humble journey and inspire us all to go even bigger with a founder’s mindset.

Join us for another inspirational founder’s journey interview with Jonathan Vaughters, Founder and CEO of the EF Pro Cycling Team, a US-based Tour de France cycling team with approximately 200 employees and represented by athletes from 21 countries worldwide. “JV” shares his adventures beginning with riding his bike as a young 12-year-old to visit his first love, winning a stage of the Tour de France in 2001, his calling and resolve to eliminate the infamous doping culture personified by Lance Armstrong and his quest to humanize professional cycling with a maniacal culture focused on honesty, inclusion, sportsmanship and, of course, winning. You will be captivated by the depth of leadership excellence that has made JV an international icon in the business of sports management and his many kernels of wisdom that you can use in your personal and professional life.

The Founders’ Journey podcast welcomed Dr. Geoff Smart, the celebrity executive recruiting thought leader and founder of ghSMART.  In this episode, Geoff tells his story that began with submitting his business plan to the ‘father’ of management performance, Peter Drucker, and the 30 year overnight success of his extraordinary organization.

Geoff shares some pearls of wisdom relating to how to hire the best and his own growth and development as a founder and CEO along the way.

In this episode of the Founders’ Journey podcast, we will dive deep into conversation with Cindy Jordan, the high-profile founder and CEO of Pyx Health.  Inspired by Cindy’s daughter who chronically struggled with loneliness until her tragic passing, Pyx is the nation’s leader in providing a tech-enabled care model to solve the growing loneliness epidemic.  Cindy shares her gripping story as a DC cop to becoming the PE-backed CEO of one of the hottest companies in the HealthTech industry.

Join us for Rallyday’s inaugural 60-minute interview with Kenny Goldman, Co-founder and CEO of our newest portfolio company Kicksaw.  Kenny shares his textured upbringing with an immigrant’s mindset, his dreams for Kicksaw and how his company is changing the rules in consulting as a Salesforce implementation partner.