CXO Conversations Podcast
CXO Conversations interviews C suite executives on how they became one, and shares their advice to those who wish to do the same.
Since 2019, Michael Mitchel, founder of OC National Search has been interviewing Chief Executive Officers, Chief Financial Officers, Chief Operating Officers, Chief Sales Officers, Chief Revenue Officers, Board members and other executives to share their experiences, advice and perspectives to emerging Vice Presidents.
Executives from a multitude of sectors are interviewed: technology, SaaS, energy, CPG, utilities, Healthcare, Big 4, management consulting, and occasionally you may hear from an Astronaut.
Please subscribe to CXO Conversations on your favorite platform and if you like the show, give us a review on iTunes.

Highly recommended!
"Ever want to have a one-on-one with key leaders to ask them all of your burning questions? Michael allows you to do this vicariously with his friendly but insightful interviews with leading execs. Highly recommended!"
-Count88
Great info and insights for CXOs
"As the former chief legal officer and senior leadership team member for a transit organization, I find CXO Conversations to be very interesting and insightful. Michael is a talented interviewer of CEOs, CFOs, CLOs and more, from many different industries."
Rolfdenver
Informative and genuine
"Appreciate that Michael has great discussions that dig into c-level topics and naturally flow. Great topics and speakers. Definitely worth a listen!"
Rocky Mountain Eagle
Latest Episodes

Pushing Boundaries Leads to Executive Growth
Carla Fowler, an Executive Coach and founder of THAXA, has gone through the challenge of changing

VP to CCO: the Move from Tactical to Strategic
David Parkhurst is the Chief Customer Officer (CCO) and Managing Partner for Omni Interactions. Additional roles

CEO Insights & Self Care with Chris Younger
CEO Insights & Self Care with Chris Younger: Chris Younger is the CEO of Class

Transitioning from Founder to CEO
Transitioning from Founder to CEO with Raphael Crawford Marks: In a very honest conversation, onsite

The Art of Being a CFO with Eric Lougher
Eric Lougher is a versatile CFO who comes from an investor background. He has served as

Season 4 of CXO Conversations starts next week!
Upcoming interviews include Eric Lougher, of Taskray who discusses the role of today’s CFO and

CEO William Toti, Have Those Hard Conversations to Improve and Advance
Former CEO William Toti, discusses having

Executive Coach Chuck Mollor, The Pressures of the Modern CEO
CEO and Executive Coach Chuck Mollor joins the show

President/Board Director Ray Gogel on needed skills for today’s CEO
Ray Gogel has been a President and Board Director

Brad Feld, VC, Boards; Why be on one, 1st Timers and the Colorado Trail
Venture Capitalist Brad Feld of the <span style="font-weight:

Interviewing to be a Sub Skipper, then CEO with Chuck Melcher
Chuck Melcher is a retired Naval Commanding Officer that has served in various roles including Chief

Christine Gagnon CFO, the importance of being intellectually curious
Christine Gagnon is the Chief Financial Officer of the

CRO Randal Meske on Trust, Talent, Process and Challenges
As summer is in full swing, this is a great opportunity for an excerpt from

General Kevin “Chili” Chilton, Board Member, Astronaut and flying the Space Shuttle
The impressively humble General Kevin Patrick ‘Chili’ Chilton joins the show today to share his

Moving from BigCo to Middle Market
Tom Chittenden started out in technology and discusses how he arrived as CEO of Inovonics

Leading a Company through COVID with Heart
Leading a Company through COVID with Heart and Passion: SVP HR for Re/Max, Susan Zimmerman

Trends and How the CFO Role is Evolving
Tony Engel CFO/COO, has sought opportunities to challenge himself and not be pigeonholed in one

Two Continents and a Commonwealth to Become a CFO
Peter Waziri, CFO of Parkland Community Health Plan, grew up in West Africa, attended university

Career Planning and Strategic Decisions to Become CEO
John Oechsle, CEO of Derive Systems discusses in this week’s episode talks about setting career

Making the Hardest Call – Admitting it’s Not for You
Casey Woo CFO at Landing.com, shares in this week’s episode how pivoting from West Point

C-Suite Perspective in Leading with Authenticity
C-Suite Perspective in Leading with Authenticity with Doug Gattuso. The through line of my chat

The Disrupter CFO with Drew Lyon
Drew Lyon is the Founder and Managing Director of Focused Energy, a CFO and management

The Art of the Turnaround CEO
Jim Shehigian CEO, an executive who has created and led companies in an area few

Jocelyn King Co Founder CMO
Importance of professional associations for career advancement More

Heather Callender-Potters, Founder and Board Member
Founding then hiring a CEO to run your company and Board Member perspectives More

Bob Mulverhill, CEO, Board Chair
VPs Perceptions of getting to CXO and the reality of being a CEO. https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertcmulverhill/ More

ENCORE: Michelle Anastasi — Chief People Officer at Mersive Technologies — on What Drives a Business
Today we’re going to discuss the pros and cons of staying with the same company

Encore: General Kevin ‘Chili’ Chilton — From USAF & NASA to the Board; In depth Board Conversation Part 02
This is Part 2 of the interview with General Kevin Patrick ‘Chili’ Chilton. Tune in

ENCORE: General Kevin Patrick ‘Chili’ Chilton — on Preparing Tomorrow’s Leadership, Building Strong Teams and Flying Nice Birds
The impressively humble General Kevin Patrick ‘Chili’ Chilton joins the show today to share his

Michael is hiking the Colorado Trail.
Michael is solo thru hiking the 485 mile Colorado Trail this summer. More

Bobbi McPherson Chief People Officer IMA Financial
Bobbi discusses pivoting among different industries and the future of HR. More

CEO John Kelley- How being a CEO has changed in last 10 years
John discusses being acquired by Brocade when he was CEO of McData, how being CEO

CEO Tim Keating Investor perspective- public and private ceos; differences + observations of success
Tim discusses the difference between a public and private CEO, his observations of successful CEOs

Scott Kellicker Chief Architect Officer’s role at Wowza Media Systems
Scott discusses the role of Chief Architect Officer, and the emergence of the technical role

Tony McDonald- CEO of Surna on the importance of a sales background
Tony discusses why CEOs need to have a strong sales background and how the acceptance

CISO Anna Ilg, Executive Leadership & Board Responsibilities
Anna talks about the emergence of the CISO role within the executive leadership and responsibility

CRO Carlos Perez, Building a Sales Org from Scratch
Carlos discusses the role of CRO and the changing nature of sales/revenue leadership, how sales

CEO Kyle Schultz, Turning off the Lights After Selling the Company
Kyle Schultz served as a CEO that wound down a company after a sale and

CSO Shannon Carter, Becoming a CEO Early in Your Career
Shannon Carter serves as the Chief Strategy Officer for American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

CPO/GC Patricia Elias, Being in the Middle of a Career Pivot
Patricia Elias has a unique title at ServiceSource: Chief Legal and People Officer. She joins

VP HR Leslie McInstosh, Making Your Career Fit You
Leslie has worked in financial services, engineering, Energy, ski industry, health care, and technology and

CFO Jordan Conley, Transitioning from IT to HR
Jordan Connely joins the show today as the President of Obsidian HR and CFO of

CPO Bennie Covington, The Evolution of HR
Bennie S. Covington, Chief People Officer for Integrated Financial Settlements, comes on the show to

CRO Randal Meske, Continous Learning & Tackling Turnaround Situations
Randal Meske, CRO of ConstructConnect, joins the show today to talk about how he approaches

CEO Steve Joanis, Getting Noticed for C Level & by VCs
Our guest today is Steve T. Joanis, CEO of PlanetIQ. He comes on the show

CMO/EVP Scott Miller, Learning From Your Mistakes & Leadership Success
Scott Miller, EVP of Thought Leadership at Franklin Covey and author of the recently released

EVP/GC Jamey Seely Being a Blue Collar LGBTQ Executive
Today Jamey Seely joins the show to talk about being a Chief Legal Officer —

CDO John Vranas, Creating New Programs & Partnerships
John Vranas is Chief Development and Marketing Officer for the Humane Society of the United

CTO Tim Branahm, Consulting Background Advantages
Timothy Branham had a non-traditional path to the CTO desk. He started out in sales

CEO Bill Wosilius, Why and How to Prepare for CEO Chair
Bill Wosilius joins the show to discuss matters ranging from declaring your role and how

CEO Mary Beth Loesch, Being Fearless & Leaving the Job Better than You Found it
Today, Mary Beth Loesch joins the show to talk about how she knew she wanted

CEO Ben Deda, Changing Industries and Building Communities
Today’s guest served as a Marine for seven years before making his way from plant

CPO Irma Lockridge, Mentorship Importance, Having 3 CEO Bosses
Irma Lockridge joins the podcast today from the CoorsTek Headquarters in Golden Colorado to discuss

CPO Michelle Anastasi, Pros & Cons of Long Tenure at Same Company
Today we’re going to discuss the pros and cons of staying with the same company

CEO/CTO Al Rosabal, Overcoming C Suite Challenges
Al Rosabal joins the show to share his thoughts on leadership, bettering yourself, and overcoming

BoD Kevin Chilton, Discusses the Board Role & Reaching C Suite pt2
This is Part 2 of the interview with General Kevin Patrick ‘Chilli’ Chilton. Tune in

SVP Jean Landsverk, Pivoting & Scaling the Executive Ladder
Today we will discuss how to successfully transition between different verticals while continuing to move

CEO Ray Schiavone, Learning from Executive Mistakes & Perservence
Welcome to Part 2 of this discussion with CEO Ray Schiavone. During this episode, we

CSO David McDougall, The Management Skills for Success
David McDougall joins the show to share his 20- year-plus expertise on what it takes

CAE Mary-Margaret Henke, The Importance of Fostering Strong Relationships
This episode is Part 1 of 2 of a fascinating interview with Mary-Margaret Henke, a

CAE Mary-Margaret Henke, Aiming and Reaching the C Suite Part 2
This episode is Part 2 of the interview with Mary-Margaret Henke. Today we discuss her

COO/CFO Todd Siegler, Focus on Impact, Not Money
Todd Siegler joins the show today to shed some light on the differences in C-suite