HeyJaredDistressed to Success: Conversations with Community Transformation Leaders
Distressed to Success is a podcast that discovers how savvy investors and entrepreneurs are profitably transforming underserved communities through strategic investment and innovative business models.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 6
- Latest publication
- Sep 16, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 8, 2026
Latest episodes
Managing for Profit & Purpose: Michael Poon of Redleaf Property Solutions on Caring for Communities (opens the original)
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In this episode of Distressed to Success, Brian speaks with Michael Poon, a property investor-manager based in Hamilton, Ontario. Michael walks us through his unlikely journey from anthropology researcher to real-estate entrepreneur, showing how he turned a secondary market often overlooked by big-name investors into a thriving, ethical business. Along the way, he discovered that real estate is rarely the passive income stream it’s made out to be, and that the key to true profitability lies in d
Synecdoche’s Lisa Sauve on the Power of Architectural Equity and Community Revitalization (opens the original)
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In this episode of Distressed to Success, Brian speaks with Lisa Sauve, principal and co-founder at Synecdoche, a firm pioneering the concept of “architectural equity.” Lisa takes us back to her early days launching Synecdoche in 2009, right out of architecture school when the market was bleak, and explains how she and her partner taught themselves to form an LLC, win projects on Craigslist, and turn an undergrad side hustle into a thriving design practice. Along the way, she shares how Synecdoc
Investing in Impact: Brian Abernathy & Convergent’s Blueprint for Successful Capital Raises (opens the original)
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In this episode of Distressed to Success, Brian speaks with Brian Abernathy, General Manager of Convergent. Brian Abernathy walks us through his journey from youth outreach and education policy in Atlanta to leading a national fundraising consulting firm that helps communities unlock the last piece of capital needed to transform underutilized or blighted assets. Together, they explore how Convergent’s “investment-driven” model reframes charitable giving into strategic funding partnerships, bring
Breaking Ground & Barriers: Mike Norris, Southeast Iowa RPC & David Miller, Homes for Iowa (opens the original)
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In this episode of Distressed to Success, Brian speaks with Mike Norris and David Miller about an inventive public‐private partnership that’s reshaping Iowa’s rural housing landscape. Mike, Executive Director of the Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission, and David, Executive Director of Homes for Iowa, walk us through how a 2014 conversation with Iowa Prison Industries bloomed into a statewide nonprofit in 2019. They explain how incarcerated men nearing release receive hands-on training in
Empowering Economic Growth with Mike Norris of Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission (opens the original)
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In this episode of Distressed to Success, Brian speaks with Mike Norris, Executive Director of the Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission. Mike kicks things off by explaining how his agency operates dual roles as both a program administrator, overseeing public transit, housing trust funds, revolving loan funds, and regional transportation planning, and as a consultant under contract to help local governments with mapping, grant writing, and grant administration. He also shares how a chance
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