How many ceilings can one woman break?

Pat Mitchell stopped counting.

In this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Lisa Champeau sits down with a true original. A woman who did not just rise through the ranks of media, she reshaped them.

Pat Mitchell is a serial ceiling smasher. The first female president of PBS and CNN. The first woman to own and host a nationally syndicated daily talk show. And long before the titles, she was a young woman willing to risk everything to build a life that did not yet exist.

She marched for civil rights. Reported from war zones. Told stories no one else would touch. And when the industry said women’s voices did not matter, she made them impossible to ignore.

But what makes this conversation unforgettable is what comes after the accolades.

Pat speaks candidly about the decisions behind the moments. The instincts she learned to trust. And the responsibility she feels to lift other women as she climbs.

This is a conversation about leadership, yes. But also about courage, mentorship, and the quiet, persistent work of changing what is possible.

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Chef Von on Hustle, Reinvention and Building Something Real

What does it take to bet on yourself when there’s no backup plan?

In this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Greg Frigoletto sits down with Chef Ryan Von Smith, known as Chef Von, a self-taught chef whose journey spans Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, and Macau.

After leaving Scranton, Pennsylvania, in search of something bigger, Chef Von worked his way from the door - as a bouncer - at Tao Asian Bistro into high-pressure kitchens across the country. When COVID shut everything down, he returned home and started cooking out of his mom’s kitchen, turning a moment of uncertainty into Chef Von & Mom, a restaurant rooted in family, community and bold flavor.

Since then, he has stepped back onto the global stage, placing third at the World Master Chefs Competition, winning the 2024 World Rice Championship, and appearing on Gordon Ramsay’s Next Level Chef.

This conversation is about more than food. It’s about risk, resilience, reinvention and the confidence to build something real, twice.

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Beyond the Tank: When the Real Entrepreneurial Journey Begins

Many entrepreneurs dream of appearing on Shark Tank.

But what happens after the cameras turn off?

In this episode of HarmonyTALK, host Lisa Champeau sits down with Scranton native and inventor Kim Meckwood, founder of Click & Carry, the simple but ingenious device designed to make carrying grocery bags, paint cans, sports equipment, and everyday loads dramatically easier.

Kim’s idea began with a familiar frustration. While hauling grocery bags up apartment stairs, she wondered why such a common problem didn’t have a better solution.

That moment sparked Click & Carry.

Turning the idea into a real product required persistence. Kim built prototypes, secured patents, and auditioned seven times before finally landing a spot on Shark Tank, where she secured a deal with Barbara Corcoran and Mark Cuban.

Today Kim is focused on the next chapter of entrepreneurship. She is pitching Click & Carry to major retailers, working to place the product on big box store shelves, and exploring how to move manufacturing to the United States as new import tariffs reshape global production.

Her mindset is simple:

“No just means no for now.”

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.