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Red Light, Green Light

Red Light, Green Light

By: Cindy Skalicky
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Hi everybody and welcome to Red Light Green Light, the podcast where we bring you incredible guests in science, technology and innovation to help you understand kind of what's under the hood, right? When we're thinking about red lights and green lights, we're thinking about how to get our audiences to action.© 2026 Cindy Skalicky Economics Leadership Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • S04E30 Are You Married to the Solution, vs Married to the Problem? | With Reamonn Soto
    Oct 20 2026

    Cindy interviews Reamonn Soto, CEO of Sensatek Propulsion Technologies, which develops passive wireless (radio-frequency) temperature and strain sensors—high-temperature "stickers"—for measuring rotating machinery like jet engines where conventional instrumentation is difficult. Soto explains how earlier, more accurate data reduces uncertainty, accelerates design-test loops, improves engine efficiency, durability, and reliability, supports root-cause analysis for fielded industrial engines, and enables continuous monitoring to help predict failures, including in recreational aircraft where many accidents are engine-related. He recounts struggling in math and science in high school, joining the Marine Corps after 9/11, a turning point through faith, then studying physics at Florida A&M, building a low-cost antenna project, and pursuing aeronautics research at Embry-Riddle. Soto shares a major red-light moment: after a 2019 $2M raise, the pandemic and venture "nuclear winter" led to near-cash exhaustion and major team reductions; a green-light followed when strategic investments from Invenergy and Constellation validated his adaptable, problem-first approach. He discusses being selected for DOE lab-embedded programs (including West Gate), gaining funding, access to lab equipment, and communication/storytelling coaching, and previews upcoming sensing technology releases and growth opportunities amid new aviation standards, electric propulsion, and expanded partnerships across OEMs and airframers.

    00:00 Podcast Welcome

    01:14 Meet Reamonn Soto

    02:48 Sensors For Jet Engines

    04:57 Sticker Sensor Benefits

    09:36 Finding His Path

    10:09 From Marines To Physics

    12:57 Jet Lab Breakthrough

    16:13 Faith And Leadership Shift

    20:41 Red Light Cash Crisis

    25:26 Green Light Strategic Backing

    28:27 West Gate Program Wins

    30:39 Communication As Advantage

    33:33 Whats Next For Sensatek

    37:17 Final Thanks And Wrap

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    39 mins
  • S04E29 Drawing Out Your Genius | With Lisa Rothstein
    Oct 13 2026

    Drawing Out Your Genius with Lisa Rothstein | Smile, Slide, Sketch & Visual Storytelling

    Host Cindy Skalicky welcomes Lisa Rothstein, CEO and founder of Drawing Out Your Genius, a cartoonist and visual artist whose work has appeared in The New Yorker and author of the award-winning book Drawing Out Your Genius. Lisa recounts her early love of comics, a long advertising and copywriting career, and how drawing in client sessions helped people understand complex ideas through visualization. She describes pivoting into graphic recording and virtual visual note-taking during COVID to combat "Zoom hell," improve engagement, and help teams remember key points. Lisa explains how advertising honed her ability to distill and extract value from technical detail, shares her "three Cs" framework (character, concepts, context), and introduces "smile, slide, sketch" for keeping presentations engaging. She outlines her book's SKETCH structure, where to buy it, and a free bridge-sketch download.

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    40 mins
  • S04E28 How to Create an Avatar for Your Audience | With Chris McGuire
    Oct 6 2026

    In this episode, Cindy interviews Chris McGuire, an executive producer and writer with 20+ years in late-night TV who now produces "high-stakes live moments" like keynotes, annual events, and founder pitches. McGuire explains how he helps presenters look natural by optimizing teleprompter use, camera placement, briefing, and format so events don't feel scripted or like a "hostage video." Drawing from stand-up and comedy writing, he stresses preparation through extensive reps, obsessing over the opening, and tailoring messages to the specific audience rather than relying on credentials or canned talks. He shares tactics for building trust and engagement, including using humor rooted in audience "Wednesday frustrations," visuals that do the comedic work, and prompts that let the audience generate jokes. McGuire describes his process of reviewing prior events, rebuilding openings, and aligning emotional arcs, and previews work on a large SaaS event plus his four-week "Be a Pain Point Detective" group coaching program.

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    36 mins
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