Southern California's CEOs You Should Know

Paul Corvino sits down with CEO of Union Mission, Mark Hood. Union Rescue Mission welcomed nearly 10% of the 75,000 people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County over the past year through its three sober living facilities. On an average night, they have 1,300 precious souls under their roof, with 900 being moms, dads, and kids and over 100 seniors. Charity Navigator gives them a perfect 100 rating, and 86 cents of every dollar donated goes to life-changing programs.

Paul Corvino sits down with CEO of Bigo Live, Eric Kim. Bigo Live is a free social media app that allows users to live stream and chat with others around the world. It's known for its diverse user community and is popular with gamers, aspiring performers, and vloggers.

Paul Corvino sits down with Mike Colonna! He is the Ceo of Norms Restaurants. Norms Restaurants is a well-known chain of diner-style restaurants in Southern California, founded in 1949 by Norm Roybark. The first location opened near the corner of Sunset and Vine in Los Angeles. Norms quickly became popular for its promise of "great food, great service, and great value". Now with 23 locations across Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside counties, with plans to expand into Las Vegas.

Paul Corvino sits down with Faribroz Rodef and his partner Pyiam. They specialize in treating children with special needs and provide employment opportunities to people with disabilities.

Paul Corvino sits down with John Kao! John Kao is the founder and CEO of Alignment Health, a consumer brand name of Alignment Healthcare (NASDAQ: ALHC).

Paul Corvino sits down with Anuj Bhalla. Anuj Bhalla is the Founder & CEO of serviceMob, an analytics software company for the customer service industry powered by Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

Paul Corvino sits down with the CEO of Lucys Pet Food. Lucy Pet Products is a super-premium pet food company based in Westlake Village, California, USA. They own and operate our their pet food plant, Breeder’s Choice in Irwindale, CA. Breeder’s Choice manufacture Lucy Pet Formulas for Life dog and cat foods and dog food rolls. Lucy Pet is the Leader in Gut Health and their “Formulas for Life” feature prebiotic balanced fiber that nourishes your dog and cat’s total health.

Paul Corvino sits down with Rob Towles! Robert is a successful consumer product and mobile gaming entrepreneur and investor with multiple multi-million dollar exits. He has an eye for investing, analyzing trends, asset acquisition and a diverse sales and marketing background. Robert is often a lead investor in the gaming space, one franchise alone now generating 27MM MAUs and $1.2MM in daily revenue.

Paul Covrino sits down with John Terzian and Brian Toll, Co-Presidents of h.wood Group. The h.wood Group is a Los-Angeles based hospitality and lifestyle company with a diversified portfolio of upscale nightlife & restaurant venues.

Simon Davies, Executive Director of Teen Cancer America and Hon DEd sits down with Paul Corvino! Since it was founded in 2012 by Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend of the legendary British rock band The Who, Simon has led Teen Cancer America. It is the only national charity working directly with hospitals to advise, support and fund them in the development of specialized programs and facilities for adolescents and young adults with cancer. The charity is built on the successful model of Teenage Cancer Trust, UK where Simon was CEO for 13 years before moving to the US.

Paul Corvino sits down with Bita Safari! Bita Safari is the founder and CEO of GIGO Clean Technology. GIGO Clean Technology provides a platform for an application that works like Uber for the cleaning industry. Starting from a small office in Santa Ana, California, the company plans to provide services nationwide by 2028.

Paul Corvino sits down with Market President Chris Paz from Trophy Automotive Group. Trophy Auto Group has proudly served the Los Angeles community for over a decade, operating five premier auto dealerships throughout LA. 2 Mercedes locations – Mercedes of Encino and Mercedes of Valencia Universal City Nissan 2 Kia locations – Kia of Carson and Kia of Downtown LA. Kia of Downtown LA is currently building (probably) the largest, most glamorous indoor Kia service and showroom in the world! It’s 4 stories tall and 40,000 square feet per floor. 160,000 square feet!

Avner Gat has been a public adjuster for over 15 years, fighting on behalf of clients in front of large insurance companies that are often trying to avoid their responsibilities. He has personally trained the team at Avner Gat Inc. in both negotiations and in understanding complex insurance contracts and other legal documents. We are confident when we say that you will be working with the most knowledgeable, ethical, and hardworking group of adjusters you will ever meet.

Paul Corvino sits down with the CEO of MiraMar Health, a company inside the MacArthur Group. MiraMar Health's mission is to free veterans from America's Mental health and addiction crisis. As well as empower them to create a better future for themselves and their families.

Paul Corvino speaks with CEO of F&M Bank, Henry Walker, this week on Southern California's CEOs You Should Know.

Sinan Kanatsiz is the Founder & CEO of KCOMM, a full-service marketing agency based in Irvine, California. The company has had over 1,500 clients from progressive startups to well-known fortune 100 brand. The firm is known for its expertise in Internet Marketing, Government Affairs, Public Relations, and Strategic Relationships. Sinan is also the Founder and Chairman of the Internet Marketing Association (also known as “IMA”), which has gained over 1.5 million members and hosts an annual conference called ‘IMPACT’ which this year registered over 127,000 professionals. In its 37th episode, the company has its own TV series called ‘IMPACT SHOW’ and has an app which targets the top 1% of LinkedIn, focused on personal, one-to-one connections, where users meet at Starbucks, WeWork and via Zoom. His belief in the power of entrepreneurism and politics led him start Generation NeXt in 2004, a network of young business and community leaders committed to making a difference by empowering others for the betterment of the next generation. Sinan is also founder of the International Executive Council (IEC) which has a founding membership roster of over 150 leaders throughout Southern California. The group meets monthly and is one of the most influential leadership groups in the country. As a graduate of Chapman University with an undergraduate degree in public relations with a minor in Computer Science, and a Master’s in Organizational Leadership with an emphasis in Human Resources, Sinan founded Chapman50, a unique group of alumni donors under the age of 50 who provide student support through mentorships and scholarships. The group has raised millions for Chapman and is one of Sinan’s proudest organizations. Recognized for his philanthropic involvement, Sinan was appointed a Knighthood and became one of the youngest members of the Royal House of Savoy. He also received the 2019 Ellis Island Medal of Honor for his work in non-profit organizations, public relations, and internet marketing. Other notable achievements include being Chapman University’s young alumnus of the year, founding member of the board of Pretend City Children’s Museum, a member of the Board of Governors of Chapman University and a Member of the Graziadio Board of Directors for Pepperdine University. On a personal note, Sinan enjoys coding websites to this day, building news distribution platforms, playing golf with friends, and spending time with his wife and children in their hometown of San Clemente. Sinan credits his success to four pillars, Personal Integrity, Family, Mentors and Education.

CEO Patrick Herning of 11 Honoré is Jane Wells' latest guest on CEOs You Should Know. Herning is the founder and CEO of the first multi-designer e-commerce platform for the 'plus' customer. What does that mean? It's for customers who wear sizes 12-24 who want to shop for comfortable casual weekend essentials, as well as dresses that can suit any occasion. From big formal wear events, to workwear essentials and flowy feminine dresses, the dresses are from some of most sought after designers in the world including: Marc Jacobs, Mara Hoffman, Tanya Taylor, Christian Siriano, Milly, Jason Wu and Monique Lhuillier. Herning says he knows he'll never understand what life as a plus-sized woman is like, but he can relate to the marginalization they must feel, due to his experience as a gay man. "A gay man in his 40s is very different from a gay man coming up professionally today," Herning said. "And having that sense of judgment around who you are, for being who you are. I share that with the customer and it's that bond that has connected me to her, much more so, than the clothes themselves." When asked if he always wanted to be a entrepreneur, Herning pauses, before answering with a smile. "I don't know if I always wanted to be an entrepreneur, I just knew I didn't like having a boss," he said.

If you grew up wanting to learn how to play guitar, the drums, or any other type of musical instrument, then you don't need any kind of introduction to Guitar Center. With 13,000 employees and around 293 Guitar Center stores and another 225 Music & Arts stores, the $2.2 billion company is well-known around the country as a place for music enthusiasts get the gear they need. Ron Japinga, the CEO of Guitar Center is Jane Wells' latest guest on CEOs You Should Know and tells us the history of the company that was originally founded in 1959 as "The Organ Center." "Wayne Mitchell, he was selling organs, and all of a sudden, guitars started to happen with The Beatles," Japinga said. "So he started carrying a few Vox amplifiers and some guitars and then the rest is history." Guitars, music and retail weren't on Japinga's mind for what he wanted to do as a career. In fact, he tells Jane Wells that he initially went to school to be a pilot and run an airport, but those dreams were diverted when the CEO of Macy's offered him a different line of work. "I sent a resume to the CEO of Macys (Ed Finklestien), to fly his corporate jet, and he was dismantling the corporate jet program and said, 'How about an opportunity at retail?'" Japinga said. "I went and interviewed and everybody said 'You can run your own business' which was important to me at that time. And I started the executive training program at Macy's and the rest is history," Japinga said.

Jeff Dailey of Farmer's Insurance, is Jane Wells' latest guest on CEOs You Should Know. With more than 30 years of experience in the insurance business, Dailey worked his way up, starting as an adjuster, and moving through a variety of management and leadership roles during his illustrious career. Originally from Detroit, Dailey attended college at the University of Wisconsin and earned a bachelor of science degree the university's Economics program, and went on to earn his Masters of Business Administration. After leaving his first job for Progressive in 1981, Dailey was promoted several times during his 14 year tenure with the company, where he ultimately was appointed the President of their Northeast Division. In May 2001, Dailey went on to join Bristol West Holdings Inc. as their Chief Operating Officer and was later promoted to the president of the company and Chief Executive Officer. When Bristol West Holdings Inc. merged with Farmers Insurance in July 2007, Dailey was retained by the new company as the President of Personal Lines at Farmers Group, Inc. "I would say that was the first time in my career, outside of the company I started, that I ever really had the goal of being the CEO," Dailey said of the merger between Bristol West Holdings Inc. "The idea of going into a big company and not being the CEO, was something that wouldn't have worked very well for me."

Chris Simms, the CEO and founder of Lazy Dog Restaurant and Bar is Jane Wells' guest this week on CEOs You Should Know. Simms, a "fourth-generation restaurateur," describes Lazy Dog as the "next generation of casual dining," where a people-focused, innovative restaurant can provide all-scratch cooking for guests who are welcome to come as they are. With 36 restaurants and roughly 5,000 employees, the chain has seen enormous success with over $2 million in sales this year. After attending Cornell University's prestigous Hospitality Program, Simms says he didn't want to work for his father and decided to strike out on his own. At one point, Simms recalls a great lesson taught to him by Paul Fleming (the P.F. in PF Changs) when he was working as a manager at their location in La Jolla. "[Fleming] walks in one night, and I'm managing in La Jolla and it's about 10 o'clock and the place looks like a bomb went off," Simms says with a chuckle. "And he walks me around the restaurant and it was a great lesson." Simms says after Fleming pointed everything that was wrong, he told Simms that "A person who comes in at 10 o'clock is paying the exact same amount of money as someone coming in at 7 o'clock, why would they deserve an experience that is so messed up and dirty?" Learn more about Simms' experience as the CEO of Lazy Dog in the latest episode of CEOs You Should Know.