Post by Blaine Bartlett

Join me and my co-hosts David Meltzer and Rhett Power and our guests: Tim Castle, Author, Entrepreneur, Speaker (timjscastle.com) Tim is a bestselling author, award-winning negotiation expert, performance coach, and global speaker who helps leaders and sales professionals improve results through negotiation, emotional intelligence, and AI-powered strategies. Recognized by Global Gurus as one of the Top 30 Negotiation Professionals in the World in both 2025 and 2026, Tim is the only British expert on the list. He is the author of several acclaimed books, including The Art of Negotiation, The Momentum Sales Model—which won a Silver Medal at the 2025 Axiom Business Book Awards—and Be The Lion, a Business Book Awards finalist. We discuss his new book, Magnetic Influence: How to Negotiate and Persuade in a Disrupted World. Shawn P. Walchef, CEO at Cali BBQ Media (betheshow.media) Shawn is a restaurant owner turned media visionary who built a full-scale content studio inside his BBQ brand long before it became industry standard. Through his weekly podcast, he has interviewed top tech founders, hospitality leaders, and hundreds of entrepreneurs, giving him a rare cross-industry perspective on leadership, innovation, and growth. His approach transformed his slow-smoked BBQ business into a storytelling engine reaching millions. Shawn is best known for his mantra, “Be the Show, Not the Commercial,” a philosophy he applies to marketing, partnerships, and company culture. Chieh Huang, Co-founder & CEO at Pelgo (pelgo.com) Chieh is a serial entrepreneur and business leader who has founded and led several successful companies across technology, retail, gaming, and artificial intelligence. He previously served as President of the World Economic Forum’s Global Collaboration Village. Earlier in his career, Chieh co-founded and led Boxed, a publicly traded online retailer, as well as Spresso, an AI-powered pricing optimization company acquired by BlackRock. He also founded Astro Ape, a mobile social gaming company later acquired by Zynga, where he went on to lead the company’s New York mobile studio and helped develop one of Zynga’s early hit mobile games. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Chieh practiced corporate law after graduating from The Johns Hopkins University and Fordham Law School. In addition to his business ventures, he serves on the board of Six Flags, the world’s largest regional theme park operator, and advises organizations including McLaren Racing. His leadership and innovation have earned him recognition from Bloomberg, Crain’s, Goldman Sachs, and Entrepreneur Magazine, which have named him among the most influential and promising business leaders and entrepreneurs in the world. We explore his new VC-funded startup Pelgo...which uses AI not to kill jobs, but to help workers laid off because of AI find new roles, and upskill them. #soulofbusiness #compassionatecapitalism #change #leadershipdevelopment #story #negotiation #media

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