’Mid the Pines Podcast

Episode 017: Dan Creston ’81 - Investing in Start-Ups and Engaging with Students

Dan Creston ’81 graduated from Grove City College with a B.A. in Business Administration and started his career working in sales. Later, he landed as Chief Operating Officer at Alpha Packaging Inc. and partnered with the CEO to open 9 plastic packaging plants - selling the company 3 times to private equity firms. Dan is currently the founder and owner of Creston Consulting, a small business mentoring and Angel investing firm.  Dan shares his story of how he has invested in start-up, empowered new ideas, and continues to engage with current students looking for new business ventures.

Episode 016: Joe Dorris ’11 - Spreading the Gospel Through Art

Joe Dorris ’11 is a missionary living in Guatemala working with The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM).  This episode delves into Joe's passion for videography and how he's seeing God use it in unique ways to spread the gospel.

Episode 015: Rusty Chadwick ’04 | Sharing a Passion for Nurturing Successful Teams and Fulfilled Team Members

Rusty Chadwick ’04 literally “takes one for the team” every day! As Director of WinShape Teams, one of five arms of the WinShape Foundation that was established in 1984 by Truett and Jeannette Cathy (also the founders of Chick-fil-A), Rusty makes it his mission help teams of every shape and size to become the very best version of themselves. In our latest ‘Mid the Pines podcast, Rusty shares about his unique career experiences, including his latest project, a documentary series called Teams Made Well. Learn how a guy from West Virginia found himself driving cattle in Colorado and later drove a camper van across the mountains of New Zealand – all part of the unexpected but divinely orchestrated path that led him to discover his true calling.  

 

Learn more about the Teams Made Well documentary series and check out Rusty’s book, Team Work: 13 Timeless Principles for Creating Success and Fulfillment as a Team Member.

Episode 014: Lissa (Swanson ’10) Yanak | Empowering Mindset, Attitude, and Habits to Transform Adversity into Opportunity

Join us for an inspiring chat with Lissa (Swanson '10) Yanak about her journey from Grove City College to a career as a Licensed Professional Counselor, and her recent shift into Life Coaching.  Lissa is passionate about empowering others and explores how our mindset, attitude, and habits transform adversity into opportunity – something she's learned from her own journey as a two-time Cancer "Thriver."

Episode 013: Rob Kunst ’19 | Career Networking: Brick-by-Brick

Rob Kunst '19 graduated with a major in Finance and an Analytics minor, and he's now working at Protiviti as a Senior Consultant for the Risk & Compliance practice in New York City.  How did Rob go from Butler, PA to a consulting job in NYC?  In this episode, Rob will share how he took the vision and values of the Wolverine Football team off the field and networked with alumni to land his current career. 

Episode 012: Dr. Randy Wilber ’76 - Initiating International Peace Serving Team USA, Olympics

2013 Jack Kennedy Memorial Alumni Achievement Award winner Dr. Randy Wilber '76  is a senior physiologist at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. He has served Team USA athletes at 11 Olympic games, including elite athletes like Michael Phelps, Apollo Ohno, Katie Ledecky, Ryan Lochte, and many others. His work with athletes focuses on altitude training, heat/humidity acclimatization, blood chemistry analysis, over training, international air travel jet lag, and exercise-induced asthma. In this episode of the 'Mid the Pines podcast, Dr. Wilber discusses how he landed in his dream career due to a coffee table book he read at age 8 and the philosophy of the Olympic games that continues to resonate with him today.  

Episode 011: Laura Fryan ’11 and Aubrey Patton ’10_Designing Life Together

Laura Fryan '11 and Aubrey Patton's '10 friendship has taken them from Grove City College to Northeast Ohio, where they have supported each other as their families have grown and are now working together to grow their shared hobby of interior design into a start-up consulting business, the Love Living Here Design, Co. We’re going to explore their experiences together in business and also be sure to leave our listeners with some practical interior design and home remodeling tips and tricks!

Episode 010: Falco Muscante ’20 | Why Return

After completing his degree in Business Management at Grove City College, Falco Muscante '20 went on to law school at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh where he is currently completing his Juris Doctor degree and working as a Summer Associate for K & L Gates, a multinational law firm spanning five continents, one of the top international law firms in the world.

While the pandemic provided an unexpected ending to Falco’s senior year, he returned in 2021 to walk the stage and share a commencement message titled “Why Return” - emphasizing gratitude to those who make Grove City College an amazing place.  Our conversation today will encompass his career journey and his personal pursuit of hard work and dedication.  I’m excited to hear his perspective on being a life-long learner, learning not just from professors or managing partners, but also from the people we interact with daily.

Episode 009: Bill Smith ’69 | Co-founding Smith Micro Software, Inc

Bill Smith, class of 1969, is one of our most accomplished alumni and is a past recipient of the Jack Kennedy Memorial Alumni Achievement Award. After graduating from Grove City College with a degree in Business Administration, Bill launched his career with companies like RCA Computer Systems, Xerox Data Systems, and Rockwell International Corporation before co-founding Smith Micro Software, Inc. in 1982. Guided by his visionary leadership and savvy business acumen, Smith Micro developed a reputation as a trusted software solution provider to wireless carriers and cable companies. Throughout the company’s 40-year history, Bill has overseen more than 25 strategic acquisitions and has built Smith Micro into a multi-national company in the rapidly evolving global telecommunications industry.  Recently, in 2021, Smith Micro made the largest acquisition in company history, making it a market leader in delivering mobile family safety software solutions to wireless carriers.

 

Episode 008: Don Shockey ’63 | The Improbable Journey

Dr. Don Shockey, class of 1963, has lived a life that many people would consider fascinating, and that Don himself calls “The Improbable Journey.” How did this Pennsylvania farm boy find himself researching shock wave physics and materials fracture science, working for the Stanford Research Institute, consulting for NASA, and pursuing hobbies like working with the ski patrol at Lake Tahoe and diving for abalone off the coast of California? We’ll find out today as we chat with Don, who was Grove City College’s Man of the Year and Sportsman of the Year in 1963 and who went on to become a Jack Kennedy Memorial Alumni Achievement Award winner in 2010.