From navigating everyday team operations to carrying maximum impact in the boardroom, visionary leaders have used their experience to create success.
Listen to Luminate: Navigating the Unknown Through Creative Leadership as the Schmidt Associates’ team speaks with executives and leadership experts to uncover their achievements, watershed moments, and the turning points that have shaped their careers. Along the way, you’ll hear about their influences, discover what it takes to build strength and stability at the top, and learn lessons anyone in business can appreciate.
![]()
CEO Sarah Hempstead sits down with Wendy Muston—concert harpist and former school board president—for a conversation about leadership, service, and the lasting impact of the arts in education. With a career that spans international concert halls and 25 years of public service in The Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township, Wendy shares how her experiences as a musician shaped her leadership style and fueled her advocacy for equitable arts education. From navigating challenges on stage to leading through a pandemic, her story is one of resilience, integrity, and a deep commitment to community.
![]()
Guest host Audra Blasdel speaks with Dan Robison, director of the Jackson County Chamber, about returning home, building ecosystems, and leading rural transformation through connection and creativity. After nearly two decades in Florida, Robison made the bold decision to return to Seymour, Indiana—just days before the pandemic hit. What followed was a reimagining of community leadership rooted in servant leadership, entrepreneurship, and a relentless belief in the power of people.
![]()
CEO Sarah Hempstead sits down with Dr. Carolyn Gentle-Genitty, inaugural dean of Founders College at Butler University, to explore how visionary leadership and lived experience are reshaping access to higher education. Dr. Gentle-Genitty shares her journey from growing up in Belize to serving as dean of a bold new college model designed for high-ability, low-wealth students. With stories that span grassroots youth leadership, systemic change in U.S. higher education, and her role in leading a program built on access, equity and purpose, this conversation is a masterclass in servant leadership, innovation and resilience.