The Unshakeables

Imani Ellis has always believed community is a superpower. What began as a small gathering in her Harlem apartment grew into The Creative Collective NYC and CultureCon — one of the largest conferences celebrating creators of color. But behind the highlight reels and celebrity speakers, Imani’s journey has been defined by burnout, bold leaps and learning when to pause.  In this episode, Ben and Kathleen sit down with Imani and explore what it takes to transform a passion project into a cultural movement. From balancing a demanding career at NBCUniversal with late-night CultureCon planning, to walking away from work at the height of burnout for a self-designed “creative residency” in Paris, Imani shares the realities of leadership, rest and why joy and community must stay at the center of her work. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

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Samantha Snabes never set out to build a typical company. As co-founder of re:3D and a member of the Air Force National Guard, she launched an open-source 3D printing company that prioritizes access over exclusivity. But when back-to-back hurricanes hit both her team in Houston and her customers in Puerto Rico, it nearly brought the business to a halt. Then came COVID, and a vendor vanished without a trace.   In this episode, Ben Walter is joined by returning guest Ryan Pavel, CEO of the Warrior-Scholar Project, to talk with Samantha about building something bigger than profit, the messy realities of mission-driven entrepreneurship and the moment she hired an Uber driver to help her track down a missing supplier. Together, they unpack what it means to lead an open-source company through crisis, and why leadership sometimes requires breaking the rules. These are The Unshakeables. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

When Hurricane Katrina hit, Gary LeBlanc did what he knew best—he showed up to cook. But what he found on the ground was far from comforting. The food being served to survivors wasn't physically or spiritually nourishing. That moment sparked the idea for Mercy Chefs, a faith-based disaster relief organization committed to serving high-quality, home-cooked meals to people in crisis.   In this episode, Ben Walter and Kathleen Griffith sit down with Gary to hear how he built Mercy Chefs from the ground up, often with no money in the bank and no backup plan. They'll also discuss the true price of answering a calling, and what it takes to serve others when the storms just keep coming. These are The Unshakeables. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

What can we do to cultivate more resilience at work? Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business and host of The Unshakeables podcast, thinks about this question a lot. In today’s mini episode, Ben joins Maya to talk about the unique challenges faced by America’s small business owners—and the insights he shares can help anyone who wants to improve their well-being at work. This episode was made in partnership with Chase for Business. Listen to Ben’s podcast, The Unshakeables, here [https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-the-unshakeables-143335977/].  See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.