Unveiling the Real Stories Behind Breakthrough Success.
Innovators Unveiled is the podcast and TV show where founder and host A.D. Edwards sits down with builders, creators, and leaders who turned bold ideas into real-world impact—without the fluff or fake hype.
Turn Inspiration into Action in the Next 7 Days
Podcasts are great—but transformation happens when you start moving. The 7-Day Breakthrough Workbook is a free companion guide that helps you capture ideas from the show and turn them into specific, measurable moves in your own life and business.
Inside, you'll get:
- ●Daily prompts to clarify your next big move
- ●Space to map out decisions, risks, and opportunities
- ●A simple framework for turning ideas into experiments
Start Your Own Innovation Journey
The companion book to the show, Unveiling the Innovator in You!, breaks down the mindsets, frameworks, and real-world habits that today's innovators use to move from "someday" to "right now."
Inside, you'll find practical tools, reflection prompts, and behind-the-scenes insights drawn from the same kinds of conversations you'll hear on the show.
As an Amazon Associate, Ingleside Reviews LLC may earn from qualifying purchases and other affiliate links on this page at no extra cost to you.
Catch the Latest Conversations
New episodes drop regularly, featuring innovators from tech, media, small business, and beyond. Listen on your favorite platform or right here on the site.
Phillip Lanier: From Survival Mode to a Private Equity Exit
INNOVATORS UNVEILED BUSINESS 15 Are you a business that serves other businesses? Attorneys, accountants, marketers, and HR pros can become the exclusive partner in their category with the Innovators Unveiled Business 15. Founding spots are limited. Learn more at innovatorsunveiled.com/partners or email sales@innovatorsunveiled.com. What You'll Learn - How a 2003 recession and shrinking paychecks pushed Phillip into business before he knew he was an entrepreneur - Why he and his wife, Tracy, kept their salary flat for 12 or 13 years, even after the company reached multiple seven figures in revenue - What changed when he stopped doing every job himself and learned to lead and delegate, starting with the billing - How a failed first expansion, and the "autopsy" that followed, set up a five-city footprint and a private equity sale - Why selling the company led to a hard season, and the counseling insight that changed how he sees money and gifts Episode Highlights 02:01 Growing up in poverty and survival mode in Fort Mill, South Carolina 08:03 How running from hunger turned a job-site cleanup gig into a business 13:16 Why Phillip and Tracy kept their salary flat for 12 or 13 years 21:35 Surviving 2008 and hitting a breaking point as the company grew 25:28 The three-night hotel reset that changed how he led 37:04 The coach who pushed him to stop doing his own billing 49:32 Using DISC profiles to fix team communication 58:11 The identity crisis that followed the sale of his company Meet the Guest Phillip Lanier is the author of No College, No Problem: The Road to a Successful Business Starts with Grit, Not a Degree (Mission Driven Press, distributed by Simon & Schuster) and the founder of Core Business Essentials, where he coaches business leaders, and Your Money Essentials, a personal finance class built for people who come from where he came from. Starting in 2003, he built an erosion-control company around Charlotte, expanded it to five markets across the Carolinas, and sold it to a private equity firm in 2022. Tools, Frameworks, and Strategies Mentioned - The one-page HR manual: treat others the way you want to be treated - Personal goal check-ins: asking team members about their one- to four-year personal goals and helping them get there - DISC profile assessments, posted outside each office door so he could adjust how he communicated - The expansion "autopsy": studying what failed before going back into a new market - Hiring experts from the systems you struggle with, and bringing in a CFO at about $8 million in revenue - The E-Myth and its coaching program, where Phillip hired his first business coach in 2008 - Failing Forward by John Maxwell and As a Man Thinketh by James Allen - Learning from mentors including John Maxwell, Dave Ramsey, and Simon Sinek - The waterfall rule: find someone ten steps ahead of you, or someone on their way back Closing Insight "Some of us are so used to surviving the famine that we don't know how to live in the blessing." (Phillip Lanier) Phillip's story is the messy middle in full: building brick by brick, carrying responsibility for a team, and learning what wealth means after the sale closes. If you're building something of your own, take his first step this week. Block off half a day and spend it with someone ten steps ahead of you. Guest Links Get Phillip's book, No College, No Problem: https://amzn.to/3WyAPKL Your Money Essentials: https://yourmoneyessentials.com/ Core Business Essentials: https://corebusinessessentials.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YourMoneyEssentials1 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yourmoneyessentials/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@YourMoneyEssentials TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@philliplanierofficial?lang=en Threads: https://www.threads.com/@yourmoneyessentials Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/BHxCjO9u6Sk Subscribe to our newsletter, The Trailblazer's Journal: https://newsletter.innovatorsunveiled.com Subscribe for more conversations with builders, creators, founders, and leaders: https://bit.ly/PDIRyoutube Download the 7-Day Breakthrough Workbook: https://bit.ly/PDIRworkbook Get the companion book, Unveiling the Innovator in You!: https://amzn.to/4dmgsVW Keep the entrepreneurial drive going by listening to our soundtrack, Ideas in Motion, featuring the show's theme song, Momentum Unveiled: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/inglesidereviews/ideas-in-motion-the-ingleside-reviews--innovators-unveiled-soundtrack As an Amazon Associate, Ingleside Reviews LLC earns from qualifying purchases at no cost to you. 🎙️ Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@InglesideReviewsPodcast 📩 Connect or inquire about interviews: podcast@inglesidereviews.com ✨ Keep innovating. Keep creating. Never stop unveiling the innovator in you!
From Pharma Sales to Logistics Founder: Dave Gulas on Building EZDC 3PL
INNOVATORS UNVEILED BUSINESS 15 Are you a business that serves other businesses? Attorneys, accountants, marketers, and HR pros can become the exclusive partner in their category with the Innovators Unveiled Business 15. Founding spots are limited. Learn more at innovatorsunveiled.com/partners or email sales@innovatorsunveiled.com. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN - How a sudden job loss and a friend's newly bought warehouse became EZDC 3PL - What a third-party logistics (3PL) company does, and when growing e-commerce brands outsource fulfillment - What actually broke early on: a customer drought, an oversized client, and saying yes to the wrong fit - Why Dave warns brands against choosing a 3PL on price alone - How Dave launched Beyond Fulfillment Podcast in under 30 days, and why it started bringing in customers once he stopped self-promoting EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS 03:05 - From teenage telemarketing jobs to two decades in medical and pharma sales 06:59 - How a sudden company closure and an empty warehouse led to EZDC 3PL 08:52 - The service gap Dave saw when brands told him their 3PLs had stopped responding 12:43 - Why some 3PLs turn away emerging brands, and why EZDC takes a closer look 17:28 - The customer drought after his first sale, and what his first trade show taught him 21:37 - The big client his team wasn't ready for, and the lessons it left behind 31:12 - The midnight call to a client in China that kept a long partnership intact 44:44 - What hundreds of founder conversations taught Dave about resilience MEET THE GUEST Dave Gulas is co-founder of EZDC 3PL, a warehousing, fulfillment, and logistics company serving growing e-commerce brands, and host of Beyond Fulfillment Podcast. Before EZDC 3PL, he spent more than 20 years in sales across the medical and pharmaceutical industries, including executive and purchasing roles. TOOLS, FRAMEWORKS, OR STRATEGIES MENTIONED - Warehouse management system (WMS): the software Dave calls a game changer once they found the right fit - EDI for big-box retail and Shopify integration for e-commerce orders - "What's the number?": a results-first sales story Dave attributes to Jim Rohn - Team-based client vetting: bringing operations experts into decisions on which customers fit - Systemizing with an outside industry consultant and recruiters for higher-level talent - Start messy: begin, build momentum, and optimize as you go CLOSING INSIGHT "Don't be afraid to start messy. You don't have to have all the answers, but you're never going to figure things out if you don't get moving." - Dave Gulas Innovators Unveiled shares the mindset, methods, and lessons learned from founders, makers, and leaders, with no fluff or fake hype. Start your own innovation journey and follow the show for more. GUEST LINKS Website: https://ezdc3pl.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davegulas/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeyondFulfillmentPodcast Podcast: https://beyondfulfillmentpodcast.com Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/QBsvjVQ1S4g Subscribe to our newsletter, The Trailblazer's Journal: https://newsletter.innovatorsunveiled.com Subscribe for more conversations with builders, creators, founders, and leaders: https://bit.ly/PDIRyoutube Download the 7-Day Breakthrough Workbook: https://bit.ly/PDIRworkbook Get the companion book, Unveiling the Innovator in You!: https://amzn.to/4dmgsVW Keep the entrepreneurial drive going by listening to our soundtrack, Ideas in Motion, featuring the show's theme song, Momentum Unveiled: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/inglesidereviews/ideas-in-motion-the-ingleside-reviews--innovators-unveiled-soundtrack As an Amazon Associate, Ingleside Reviews LLC earns from qualifying purchases at no cost to you. 🎙️ Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@InglesideReviewsPodcast 📩 Connect or inquire about interviews: podcast@inglesidereviews.com ✨ Keep innovating. Keep creating. Never stop unveiling the innovator in you!
Benas Leonavicius: Fired After Two Months, Then He Built Avium
INNOVATORS UNVEILED BUSINESS 15 Are you a business that serves other businesses? Attorneys, accountants, marketers, and HR pros can become the exclusive partner in their category with the Innovators Unveiled Business 15. Founding spots are limited. Learn more at innovatorsunveiled.com/partners or email sales@innovatorsunveiled.com. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN - What actually broke before SEO worked, from Amazon books to e-commerce and content sites - How getting fired after two months shaped the way Benas works with clients today - Why retainer-based offers can pull freelancers out of the feast and famine cycle - How referrals built his client list of keynote speakers and authors (Benas says 80 to 90 percent of his current clients came through referrals) - What visibility infrastructure means and why Benas says your website, social channels, YouTube, and newsletter should work as one system EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS 02:46 – Why Benas planned on Apple and Google before freelancing found him 05:58 – Fired after two months as an SEO manager, and the decision that followed 08:39 – Amazon books, e-commerce, and content sites: what failed before SEO 19:05 – The years-long shift from freelancer to business owner 22:33 – How freelancers get out of the feast and famine cycle 28:16 – How referrals built a client list of keynote speakers and authors 33:29 – The outreach mistake that taught him to always ask first 41:37 – What visibility infrastructure means for founders in the age of AI search MEET THE GUEST Benas Leonavicius is the founder of Avium, a personal branding and visibility agency that helps experts, speakers, authors, and founders become easier to find online through SEO and AI search. He began writing SEO articles for pocket money as a university student, freelanced full time after a short stint as an agency SEO manager, and spent years working directly with clients before publicly launching Avium. TOOLS, FRAMEWORKS, AND STRATEGIES MENTIONED - Visibility infrastructure: Benas's approach to connecting a website, social channels, YouTube, and newsletter so each platform supports the others in search and AI tools - Voice profile: documenting how a client talks, thinks, and communicates so published content sounds like them - Retainer-based offers: aiming for three to five ongoing monthly clients at roughly 5 to 10 hours each - Systemized delivery: Benas keeps sales and client communication, and his team delivers the work through workflows he designs - Referral-first networking: talking to people every day on LinkedIn and asking for introductions - Buffer: a cross-posting tool; Benas says tailoring content to each platform usually performs better than posting the same thing everywhere CLOSING INSIGHT Benas spent years seeing himself as a freelancer before he gave himself permission to build an agency his own way. As he put it, "I understood that I can actually build an agency the way I want the agency to be built." His story is a reminder that resilience often shows up as steady decisions made one at a time. Follow Ingleside Reviews: Innovators Unveiled for more real stories from builders, doers, and everyday innovators. GUEST LINKS Avium: https://avium.vip/ Benas's website: https://benasleo.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benasleo/ YouTube (where Benas documents his agency-building journey): https://www.youtube.com/@benasleo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benasleo/ Substack: https://benasleo.substack.com/ Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/TjCZ9q0vEkw Subscribe to our newsletter, The Trailblazer's Journal: https://newsletter.innovatorsunveiled.com Subscribe for more conversations with builders, creators, founders, and leaders: https://bit.ly/PDIRyoutube Download the 7-Day Breakthrough Workbook: https://bit.ly/PDIRworkbook Get the companion book, Unveiling the Innovator in You!: https://amzn.to/4dmgsVW Keep the entrepreneurial drive going by listening to our soundtrack, Ideas in Motion, featuring the show's theme song, Momentum Unveiled: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/inglesidereviews/ideas-in-motion-the-ingleside-reviews--innovators-unveiled-soundtrack As an Amazon Associate, Ingleside Reviews LLC earns from qualifying purchases at no cost to you. 🎙️ Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@InglesideReviewsPodcast 📩 Connect or inquire about interviews: podcast@inglesidereviews.com ✨ Keep innovating. Keep creating. Never stop unveiling the innovator in you!
A Show for Builders, Doers, and Everyday Innovators
Innovators Unveiled was created for founders, creators, and professionals who know they're meant to build something bigger—but want the real story, not the highlight reel.
Each episode, A.D. Edwards goes beyond the polished bios to ask the questions most people are afraid to ask:
- ●What actually broke before things worked?
- ●What sacrifices were made behind the scenes?
- ●How do you keep going when the dream feels heavy?
If you're serious about growth, legacy, and impact, this is where you'll feel seen, challenged, and equipped.
Meet the Guests
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Music for People Turning Ideas into Reality
The Ideas in Motion: The Ingleside Reviews – Innovators Unveiled Soundtrack was created for people building something before the world notices. It follows the journey from the first spark of an idea, through doubt and long days at a regular job, to the discipline of the side hustle and the confidence that comes from staying the course. It's the official soundtrack for the Innovators Unveiled community and a musical reflection of the stories told on the show.
Listen to the Album
From Podcast to Screen
Innovators Unveiled is expanding from audio into visual storytelling. Watch select episodes and highlights on YouTube, and catch the TV adaptation on BraveheartsTV.
Part of the Ingleside Reviews Network
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