Michael welcomes Gracie Pfaff, founder of Harvest 107 and a digital marketing consultant with Influentialist Marketing to the Walk On Podcast for the final episode of 2025. Gracie founded an international nonprofit to end hunger (Harvest 107) at 12 years-old, transitioned into a successful pageant participant, and now helps individuals and brands connect with audiences in the digital world. Gracie was named a ONEderWoman by the One campaign among other accolades. She and Michael...

Welcome to the first bonus episode of Walk On Podcast Season 5 featuring Kevyn Rustici, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Boulter Industrial Contractors, Inc and Co-Founder of the Timeout with Leaders Podcast. Kevyn states clearly that leadership isn't a title, it's an action. He empowers leadership teams to turn challenges into opportunities by transforming their people, processes, and cultures through a unique blend of expertise, data, and human-centered design. His caree...

Michael welcomes Joanne Schell, founder of Blueberry Nutrition to the final episode of Season 5 where they discuss health and wellness, the power of small choices, latest wellness trends and more. Joanne is a multi-certified Healthy Habit Counselor who works to help people find happiness and health through better eating, physical activity and the psychology of good habits. Fun fact, Michael and Joanne attended Hobart and William Smith Colleges together, both majoring in Political...

Season five of the Walk On Podcast continues with Jim Anderson, CEO of Beacon Software, which is using the power of AI to transform government (especially DOTs). We talk about his career progression from engineering to software and entrepreneurship; how we engage and lead people; and the state and role of AI in the workforce and government.an AI company You may have seen Jim providing commentary on complex technology topics ranging from social media to artificial intelligence to...

Michael continues season five of the Walk On Podcast with Paul Leone, Executive Director of the New York State Brewers Association. "Believe in your dream, it may come true. Believe in yourself and it will come true." Paul began his career as a multi-media producer for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. He soon moved on to editing, shooting, and producing several series for cable television and later worked in the studio, agency, and advertising in...

Michael continues season five of the Walk On Podcast with Audrey Roberson, Associate Professor of Education at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Audrey, who is also married to our host, is a PhD Linguist, trained at Georgia State University. She specializes in language acquisition and leverages that expertise to train a future generation of professionals to teach non-native speaking students. Michael and Audrey discuss her path to education, the critical role of empowering teach...

Michael continues season five of the Walk On Podcast with his friend and fellow Hobart College alum, New York State Senator Jeremy Cooney. In this clip Michael and Jeremy discuss poverty in the region. Senator Cooney is Chair of the Transportation Committee, and focuses on modernizing New York's infrastructure, increasing street safety, and advancing new forms of mass transit, including high speed rail. In 2021, he was named co-chair of the Marijuana Task Force for the Black, Puerto ...

Michael kicks off season five of the Walk On Podcast with Erica Paolocelli, a partner at Three Brothers Wineries and War Horse Brewing, and founder of Synergy Social Wellness. Erica is a stalwart of the Finger Lakes wine industry with a remarkable record of advocacy, volunteer service and business leadership. She recently made the decision to bring about a new wellness business tied to her deeply held beliefs and health practices. Michael and Erica discuss giving permission to ...

Michael welcomes his first multi-guest team onto the podcast with Steve Nigri and Walter Hoffmann from NXTMOVES payments company, which concludes Season 4. Steve and Walter are payments processing and financial services experts who took the entrepreneurial leap (again) within the last two years to start a company in the ever evolving payments processing landscape. Michael and the guys discuss entrepreneurship, the critical nature of payments in today's society, and creating culture wi...

Michael welcomes Rochester TV legend Ginny Ryan to the latest episode of Walk On Podcast Season 4. Ginny served as a reporter and news anchor at WHAM 13 for 35 years before signing off and transitioning to a community relations career with Canandaigua National Bank. Ginny is a member of the New York State Broadcasting Hall of Fame, and recipient of the Keeper of the Flame award from the National Women’s Hall of Fame. She is now Director of Community Engagement at Canandaigua National Bank. Mi...