Inside Track: Johnson is right at home

After her first career and raising a couple kids, Holly Johnson was bitten by the philanthropy bug and found her true professional passion. Johnson, now...

Inside Track: CIO focuses tech career on people

Even after years of working with technology and digital innovation, Sulabh Srivastava said his job really is all about people.

Inside Track: Bridging the opportunity gap

Via his work in Mexico, Spain and now West Michigan, Guillermo Cisneros has come to understand a key truth: People need help to grow...

Inside Track: Mall owner strikes a balance

Baked into Nancy Quero Ramirez’s retail store and online business is the hope that fostering an appreciation and understanding of Mexican culture will arise.

Inside Track: Carrying on the family business

The Embassy Suites in the Monroe North district was at a do-or-die crossroads in fall 2016. Peter Beukema had just taken over as CEO of...

Inside Track: Professor comes full circle

Born on the heels of the civil rights movement, Tracey Brame, an associate dean and professor at West Michigan University Cooley Law School, always had a passion for activism.

Inside Track: Transition from food to beer started early for Crank

In the 1990s, Jim Crank spent a lot of time thinking about craft beer. He and his wife, Elizabeth, visited the breweries of Oregon where...

Inside Track: Amenta creates his destiny with site-specific projects

Paul Amenta believes in creating his own opportunities. As an assistant professor at Kendall College of Art & Design, he tries to instill that...

Inside Track: Fiorenzo helps employees do more than just survive

Leslie Fiorenzo’s goal is simple — she wants to make Mondays more popular. She cites a Gallup poll that revealed nearly 80 percent of American...

Inside Track: Kim settles into hospital presidency

Hyung Kim said he was raised to be a physician. According to the traditions of his native country of South Korea, his parents laid out...

Inside Track: Bringing a ‘welcoming spirit’ to tough issues

As in the business world, one of the main barriers to diversity and inclusion in higher education circles is ignorance, Alicia Lloyd said. The recently...

Inside Track: Tech business owner faces challenges head on

As Ryan Leestma drifted back into consciousness, he had no idea how lucky he was to still be alive. It was early October 2014. Leestma,...

Inside Track: Price wants leaders to get clear about vision

Born and raised in Lansing, Rodger Price said West Michigan is geographically close by, but culturally it’s worlds apart. As a leadership coach and former engineer, he believes it is fertile ground to be a hotbed for leadership development.

Inside Track: HR leader shaped by discovery of past

Jane Newton didn’t know the family history that died with her father until a trip to Cambodia in 2019 unearthed buried truths.

Inside Track: Still looking ahead and embracing the future

One challenging aspect of interviewing business leaders is they often prefer talking about their team rather than themselves. Mark Tanis, president of The Image...

Inside Track: Best of both worlds

Driving around a mountain bend in December 2006, Megan Odegaard was involved in a head-on collision that set her life on a different course...

Inside Track: Hope professor spends sabbatical as intern

Open Systems Technologies’ “Intern Ryan” is quite possibly one of the most educated and experienced interns you’ve never heard of. “Intern Ryan,” as he’s called...

Inside Track: Hunt’s path less traveled

As president of the largest public relations and investor relations firm in Michigan, Don Hunt took an unorthodox path to the top. This year, he...

Inside Track: Flexibility breeds success

Some of Open Systems Technologies’ “peculiar culture” is a result of Chief Innovations Officer Jim VanderMey’s unorthodox leadership. Since the company’s formative years, VanderMey...

Inside Track: Saying ‘yes’ to people work

Jamon Alexander said he chose the path he is on to help individuals whose stories contain echoes of his own. Growing up in a mostly...