Networkwise Presents: Conversations With Connors

Dr. Ivan Misner is the Founder & Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, the world’s largest business networking organization. Founded in 1985 the organization now has over 8,200 chapters throughout every populated continent of the world.  Last year alone, BNI generated 9.8 million referrals resulting in roughly $13.1 billion dollars’ worth of business for its members. Dr. Misner’s Ph.D. is from the University of Southern California.  He is a New York Times Bestselling author who has written 22 books. He is also a columnist for Entrepreneur.com and has been a university professor as well as a member of the Board of Trustees for the University of La Verne.    Called the “Father of Modern Networking” by CNN and one of the “Top Networking Experts” by Forbes, Dr. Misner is considered to be one of the world’s leading experts on business networking and has been a keynote speaker for major corporations and associations throughout the world. He has been featured in the L.A. Times, Wall Street Journal, and New York. Times

Joe Apfelbaum is the CEO of Ajax Union, a B2B digital marketing agency based in Brooklyn, NY. Joe is a business strategist, marketing expert and certified Google trainer. Joe enjoys speaking and writing about marketing, business networking and personal development in his seminars, webinars and articles. Joe is the host of the popular podcasts, The Breakthrough Maze, INC 5000 Podcast and CEO Mojo.  Joe has been featured on popular podcasts including the Entrepreneur.com Podcast and the B2B Revenue Podcast.  He is the producer of GrowTime.tv and has published over 500 Mojovational Street Talk videos on YouTube. Joe is a contributing member of Entrepreneurs Organization in Brooklyn, a group with over 12,000 CEO’s and an active member of Executives Association, a premiere business networking organization in NYC. Joe has lost 95 pounds and kept it off. Joe is a selfie master, he takes 1000 selfies a year with entrepreneurs and makes hundreds of introductions to business professionals in his network. Joe is proud o

Scott Gerber is CEO of The Community Company, an organization that builds and manages community-driven programs for media companies and global brands. He is the founder of YEC, an invitation-only organization comprised of the world’s most successful young entrepreneurs, and Forbes Councils, a collective of invitation-only organizations for world-class executives. He is also sought-after speaker, the co-author of Superconnector, author of Never Get a “Real” Job and an Adweek contributor. Scott has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Bloomberg, Fortune, TIME, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Reuters, Mashable, BBC, NPR, Forbes, The Daily Beast, CBS News, US News & World Report, Fox News, Inc. and Entrepreneur, and has been honored by NASDAQ and the White House

Lawrence Sprung CFP® is the President and Founder of Mitlin Financial, Inc. He entered the financial industry in 1996 and continues to be inspired and energized by the challenge of helping his clients achieve and even surpass their financial goals. Mitlin Financial, Inc. is an SEC Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) that prides itself on facilitating their client's financial future.  Being a fiduciary is a perfect fit for Larry’s personality and business perspective as he puts clients first and consistently helps them make decisions that are right for them. Larry is known as a devoted educator. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and regularly films the firm’s “Mitlin Minute,” which is designed to provided information regarding relevant financial topics. Today, Larry is proud to be serving the second and third generations of his clients. He has seen first-hand how strong financial habits instilled in parents, children and grandchildren, can impact a family’s wealth and wealth stewardship for gene

Andrew Yang is an American entrepreneur, the Founder of Venture for America, and a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. He has worked in startups and early stage growth companies as a founder or executive for nearly two decades. He is the author of Smart People Should Build Things and The War on Normal People, about automation of labor.  In Yang's current bid for the 2020 presidential nomination, one of his main campaign goals would be to implement a universal basic income (UBI) for all American citizens between the ages of 18 to 64.

At age 28, Tom Hardin was a junior partner at an up-and-coming hedge fund. He was on track to achieve his dream career, but before long, felt like he was falling behind in an increasingly competitive industry. Then, a moment arose when he made a decision to cross a very important line and the rest is history. Tom was later charged with felony securities fraud and, known as "Tipper X," became the FBI’s most productive cooperating witness in Operation Perfect Hedge, a sting setup by the U.S. government during 2008-2012 targeting the hedge fund industry. The sting branched out into the largest insider trading investigation of a generation, leading to over 80 guilty pleas and convictions.  Since resolving his case in 2015, Tom was invited by the FBI to speak to their NYC rookie agent class in 2016 and now consults and speaks on insider trading, conduct risk, ethics and compliance issues from his former frontline perspective through his company Tipper X Advisors. He holds a B.S. in Economics with a Finance concent

Eric Rebhuhn has spent his career building teams through expert networking. And that network he developed has been extremely supportive not only as he coached three consecutive Big East Tennis Championships, it is also proving effective as he embarks on a new career as a consultant. Core Quality Consulting is dedicated to helping companies assess their present position, improve weaknesses, and broaden their strengths to be more successful through quality operations and improved market share. Eric specializes in building teams with people who are goal-oriented and self-motivated with the skill sets to support a common mission – to improve the work environment and develop strategies that increase revenues. Every business starts with a mission, but once it gets into a market that mission can be disrupted. When a company develops a product for a particular market segment, after a few years they have saturated that market with the product…and need a new path. At this point adjustments are needed, and Eric’s skills

Rob Fajardo is a sought-after influencer, speaker, and business accelerator who is the Founder of Leave Normal Behind and one of the viral marketing partners who launched fidget spinners. He is listed as a Top Millennial Influencer to Follow by both BuzzFeed and Everipedia. He's collaborated with top brands like Red Bull and Wyndham Resort Group and has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Inc. Magazine. Rob's main mission is to inspire others in leaving their normal behind to become the best version of themselves – and create things that matter. Today’s Subjects: What it’s like to influence the minds of others who want to be the best they can be through the Leave Normal Behind movement How you need to earn the opportunity to network with the right people The importance of being unapologetically yourself, having a commitment to growth, and keeping your composure Why you must want to be the best of the best while you ask yourself, "How can I make a huge impact today?" Your family – especially siblings –

Chuck Garcia is an author, executive coach, keynote speaker and CEO of Climb Leadership International. He coaches executives on public speaking and leadership communication. A 25-year veteran of Wall Street, he spent several of those in leadership positions at Bloomberg, Blackrock and Citadel. He is also adjunct associate profession at Columbia University where he teaches leadership communication in the Fu Foundation Graduate School of Engineering and Applied Science. Chuck leverages his business leadership experience, as well as his hobby of mountain climbing to provide an effective teaching narrative for professionals applying his tools and techniques. Chuck has an Amazon best selling book in multiple categories and has been translated into Mandarin Chinese. Chuck is a graduate of Syracuse University and has a master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership. Today’s Subjects: Tim Ferris major impact on Chuck on Chuck’s life The parallels of being a mountaineer and climbing professional success. How he implemen

Nick Passarelli has been working in Regulatory Compliance since 2003. Currently, he is the Chief Compliance Officer of a FINRA registered Broker Dealer, a role that he has held since 2009. Nick began his career working in Human Resources at two larger firms. He holds a B.A. from St. John's University and an M.B.A. from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College. He also has the Series 4, 7, 9, 10, 24, 63 and 99 professional securities licenses. Nick has lived in Hoboken, NJ since 2007 and is very active in the community. He has served as a volunteer coach in the Hoboken Youth Soccer League the past five years. He is also involved in the planning of the Swing Fore The Schools golf event, which benefits the Hoboken schools. He’s been involved in this since 2013 and is Chairing the 2018 event. On a personal level, Nick is a big believer in physical fitness. He is either at the gym lifting weights or running on a regular basis. He ran the 2016 NYC Marathon on behalf of the Army Ranger Lead The Way Foundatio

Frank L. Napolitani is a Director in the Financial Services Group. With nearly 20 years of experience working with an array of financial services organizations, including a fund of hedge funds, family office and prime brokerage firm, Frank provides business consulting services to investment fund managers in hedge funds, private equity, real estate and venture capital. Frank assists clients during the prelaunch stage by helping them budget their prelaunch and year 1-3 expenses, choose service providers (e.g., legal, fund administration, prime brokerage, outsourced compliance) and handle general infrastructure items such as real estate and IT services. In addition, he helps them develop marketing materials to present to prospective investors. Since 2005, Frank has been involved directly and indirectly with over 100 fund launches; and continues to consult a number of those managers today. Today’s Subjects: How to become a referral engine. He gives advice as if he was part of the company and not just an agent. Ho

When Bill O’Herron isn’t raising money for a money management firm in Austin, TX, he can be found teaching and counseling youths, adults and couples. Bill is passionate about and focused on learning and studying how people become more self-aware. It has been the driving force and theme of his work with clients. Bill’s career spans 25+ years in the financial field as a research sales trader and director of capital markets, having worked in New York, London, Stamford, CT and Austin, TX. Bill is currently finishing up a book about relationships, more specifically on how to better understand the unconscious patterns of behavior that we all bring into our relationships. It is called The Space in Between: Why Great Marriages Thrive, Others Fail. Bill has been married to his amazing and exceedingly patient wife Linda for 20 years. They have 3 teenage daughters and 2 male dogs. He has traveled 46 countries and has lived in a couple of different countries and states, but now calls Austin, TX his home. Bill graduated f

Schery Ramadan has worked in the personal injury profession as a legal assistant, paralegal and law firm office manager all before reaching 22 years of age.  Ms. Ramadan currently brings her 20+ years of experience as a System Implementation Specialist within the legal software industry to SmartAdvocate, a state of the art, award winning case management software.  This will be the third award winning Software Company Schery has worked with (SAGA, Inc & Client Profiles).  As a veteran salesperson, she has been the top seller since joining SmartAdvocate in 2013 driving market share growth and has mastered the art of selling software and professional services to the legal industry.  When she is not either traveling to a convention, performing client onsite training, implementation, go lives and support she is talking shop with other industry professionals. Schery currently resides in Rego Park, New York with her husband of over 10 years and her toddler.  Today’s Subjects: The history of SmartAdvocate a case

Jeremy is a San Francisco based creative and Founder/CEO of the Internet-Media Aggregator, PodSource™️ He is a long-time athlete and an Economics graduate from Georgetown University. Having spent time in Europe and Central America, Jeremy speaks both English and Spanish idiomatically. After graduation, Jeremy spent the summer driving 4,138 miles around the United States before settling down in San Francisco to launch PodSource. When not building the platform, Jeremy can be found sitting with his dog, Jet, reading one of the 50 books on his Kindle. If not, check the armchair for a philosopher. Today’s Subjects: Amblyopia, what it is, how it has affected his life and how it has influenced him i.e. overcoming challenges Driven across the country by himself. He goes alone He’s about experiencing life What is Podsource: 1 stop aggregating platform for Podcasts; a unifying Podcast medium. Think of it as Google and Netflix meet Wikipedia for Podcasts The impetus behind Podsource How Jared Diamond’s “The 3rd Chimpanz

Brandon Steiner is the founder and chairman of Steiner Sports Marketing and Memorabilia, the largest company of its kind in America. Considered a sports marketing guru, Brandon built Steiner Sports from a one-room office, $4,000 and a single Mac computer in 1987 to a $50 million company today. Brandon is a permanent fixture in the media as a regular on ESPN NY Radio 98.7 FM and as host of the Emmy-nominated "The Hook-Up” with Brandon Steiner on YES Network. He has appeared frequently on CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, ESPN, and in newspapers including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. The author of “The Business Playbook”: Leadership Lessons from the World of Sports and “You Gotta Have Balls”: How a Kid from Brooklyn Started from Scratch, Bought Yankee Stadium, and Created a Sports Empire. Brandon devotes time to and supports several charities, including Family Services of Westchester, an organization that helps provide quality social and mental health services. His latest venture is a new TV show called “Pro

Hugo King is the President & CEO of USA Brokers. USA Brokers is a power brokerage company that represents manufacturers from bakery, prepared foods, grocery, wine & spirits, manufacturing firms to players in the diamond jewelry industry and beyond. His company ensures that their clients' products make their way into national and big box retailers and club warehouses. Hugo brings over thirty years’ experience in the food industry and beyond.  He was formerly the CEO of KK&W Food Brokers from 1993 – 2008.  As the current CEO of USA Brokers, he brings a wealth of knowledge, a proven track record, strong relationships and valuable partnerships in the food retail industry, client services, and club store entry. Through these valued and trustworthy relationships, USA Power Brokers places products and services within regional and national large-scale retailers.   Hugo has ensured the success of many companies, boosting them from local to regional and national and international distribution and services.

Dr. Sammy Masri is an exceptional physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of non-surgical sports and other musculoskeletal injuries. He easily gains the trust of his patients – and others – through his honesty and supportive nature and is the type of person who consistently makes himself available to help others succeed. Dr. Masri has an extensive background in sports since being a varsity starter on his high school’s baseball and football teams, and then moved on and played American Legion baseball and had an opportunity to play for a NJ semi-professional football team. In 2003, he received his Internal Medicine degree from The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, and following his residency was accepted into a very competitive fellowship program in Primary Care Sports Medicine at Jersey Shore Medical Center. It was there that Dr. Masri was able to learn from one of the founding fathers of this new and growing field of medicine. He also worked as an assistant to the

Bob is currently the CEO and co-founder of Teleport, one of the first companies built on Uber's API. He is also a Venture Partner with Social Starts, a venture capital fund that invests in early stage technology companies. Before Social Starts, he worked at Ziff Brothers Investments in a variety of roles across different groups including Family Office, Private Markets & Strategy, and Executive. He is also the founder of Asian American Tech Entrepreneurs (AATE), which brings together the top Asian American entrepreneurs and investors in NY. He has written for Fortune Magazine and NextShark on entrepreneurship and leadership. Bob is the co-founder and former President of Taiwanese American Professionals - New York (TAP-NY) and also the former President of Taiwanese American Citizens League (TACL). He has also held non-profit board positions with Amigos de las Americas - NY Chapter and the Council of Urban Professionals (CUP). In his free time, he teaches financial literacy to high school students through Ju

Jesse Kay is a 17-year-old high schooler, podcaster, speaker and entrepreneur from NJ. Jesse is focused on sharing practical lessons and stories from some of the best minds on the planet to help inspire young men and women to become tomorrow’s entrepreneurs. Jesse along with his podcast, 20 Under 20s have been featured in a variety of global publications including HuffPost, Entrepreneur, and Business Insider. In the 11 months since beginning the show, Jesse has amassed over 100,000 listeners and guests including Gary Vaynerchuk, Grant Cardone, Jeff Hoffman, Bonin Bough and others. The Huffington Post called the show, “a podcast interviewing successful young entrepreneurs across the globe, distilling practical lessons and stories from the brightest millennial men and women paving the way for his generation.” Jesse was born into an entrepreneurial family and started his first business at 9 years old flipping sneakers on eBay. Along with hosting his podcast, Jesse has spoken across North America and runs a digit

Mike Rego doesn’t have your traditional background, nor is he your “normal” guy.    Prior to getting into the legal cannabis space, Mike was a decorated man of the shield.  He spent almost 20 years ascending through the ranks of the Newport Police, working in various departments such as, the Juvenile Division, Criminal Investigation Division, Special Response Team, Crisis Negotiations and eventually Vice / Narcotics Division.  Mike has advised on cultivation sites, worked with medical marijuana grow facilities, in multiple states, been involved in policy and cannabis applications, as well as, being a keynote speaker. Mike is a consummate student.  He received his masters in Administrative Justice from Salve Regina University and was an adjunct instructor there as well, but continues to read and better himself through various management and personal development. When Mike’s not spending time with his two sons he can be found either playing tennis or tearing up the drums on the local Newport night scene.   Toda