A "glow up" signifies a positive transformation, reflecting the journey of becoming a better, more successful version of oneself.

At The Glow Up, we humanize the startup and innovation landscape by focusing on the essential aspects of the entrepreneurial journey. Groundbreaking ideas are often ahead of their time, making resilience and perseverance vital for founders and product leaders.

In our podcast, we engage with innovators to discuss their transformative ideas, the challenges they face, and how they create value for future success.

If you're a founder or product leader seeking your own glow up, or a seasoned entrepreneur with stories to share, we invite you to join our guest list via this link.

Part Two:

Charlie Fink is a veteran of the extended reality (XR) and tech media industries, known for his Forbes column, the AI/XR Podcast, having attended AWE (Augmented World Expo) nine times, written three books, and taught as a professor at Chapman University. His work now blends XR, AI, and storytelling, with a focus on what’s new and breaking in technology.

Key Takeaways:

• Shift to AI: Charlie’s focus has moved from XR to AI, which he believes represents a value creation opportunity on par with the internet and mobile revolutions.
• Wearables and the Future: He sees unlimited potential in wearables, envisioning a future where humans merge more closely with machines, although he remains skeptical about the need for displays in smart glasses.
• Unintended Consequences: While acknowledging the risks and unintended consequences of new technologies, Charlie is pragmatic about the industry’s trajectory, noting that developers and users will inevitably adopt new tools regardless of warnings.
• Teaching and Community: He is passionate about teaching students to use AI effectively and remains deeply engaged with the tech community, both as a consultant and as a speaker.
• Storytelling and Hollywood: Charlie is working on animated and AI-driven content in Hollywood, emphasizing the importance of balancing creative and business decisions to achieve transcendent experiences.
• Podcasting and Media: His podcast, recently rebranded to “The AI/XR Podcast,” has grown significantly, with 50,000 downloads per month, demonstrating the value of longevity and adaptability in media.

Charlie reflects on the evolution of technology, the importance of timing, and the inevitability of most ideas failing despite the brilliance of their creators. He continues to explore new opportunities in tech, media, and consulting, driven by a desire to remain relevant and make a positive impact.

Subscribe for more inspiring stories of innovation.

About Charlie Fink ---

Charlie Fink writes a weekly technology column for Forbes covering AI and XR, and co-hosts its companion show, The AI/XR Podcast. He is the author of the critically acclaimed AR-enabled books Charlie Fink’s Metaverse (2017) and Convergence: How the World Will Be Painted With Data (2019).

Fink teaches emerging media at Chapman University in Orange, CA, and at Arizona State University’s graduate program in Narrative and Emerging Media in Los Angeles. He is also CEO of Sprocketdyne, an AI animation studio he co-founded with film director Rob Minkoff.

Fink's forty-year career at the intersection of storytelling and technology began at Walt Disney Feature Animation, where he famously conceived the idea for The Lion King and subsequently became the studio’s youngest-ever vice president of creative affairs.

A "glow up" signifies a positive transformation, reflecting the journey of becoming a better, more successful version of oneself.

At The Glow Up, we humanize the startup and innovation landscape by focusing on the essential aspects of the entrepreneurial journey. Groundbreaking ideas are often ahead of their time, making resilience and perseverance vital for founders and product leaders.

In our podcast, we engage with innovators to discuss their transformative ideas, the challenges they face, and how they create value for future success.

If you're a founder or product leader seeking your own glow up, or a seasoned entrepreneur with stories to share, we invite you to join our guest list via this link.

Charlie Fink is a leading voice in the world of innovation, extended reality (XR), and technology storytelling. Best known for his Forbes column, the AI/XR Podcast, and a decades-long career spanning Disney Animation, AOL, and multiple startups, Charlie shares his insider’s journey from the VHS era of Disney classics to the frontlines of AI-generated media.

Key Takeaways:

• Decades in Innovation: Charlie started in Hollywood as a production assistant, quickly rising to become the youngest Vice President of Animation at Disney, working on classics like “Beauty and the Beast” and “Aladdin.”
• Full-Circle Creative Career: Though he moved from animation to live-action (and learned the lessons of following one’s instincts in the entertainment industry), Charlie’s career brought him back to animation—now powered by AI and collaboration with industry legends like Rob Minkoff.
• Digital Media Trailblazer: At AOL, Charlie was among the first to shape original, interactive online content and recognized (ahead of its time) the potential for LinkedIn-style social networks within AOL’s platform.
• Hands-On with XR and AI: Today, Charlie produces the AI/XR Podcast, teaches at Chapman and ASU, writes a weekly Forbes column, and advises countless startups. He’s currently working on a new book and a series of animated shorts created with AI.
• Lessons for Innovators: Charlie highlights the importance of helping others without expecting anything in return, embracing the unknown, and not missing new waves of innovation—even if you’re already successful.
• Foundational Influence: As someone who’s both witnessed and helped shape pivotal shifts in media and tech, Charlie’s story is about the power of curiosity, adaptability, and community.

Subscribe for more inspiring stories of innovation.

About Charlie Fink ---

Charlie Fink writes a weekly technology column for Forbes covering AI and XR, and co-hosts its companion show, The AI/XR Podcast. He is the author of the critically acclaimed AR-enabled books Charlie Fink’s Metaverse (2017) and Convergence: How the World Will Be Painted With Data (2019).

Fink teaches emerging media at Chapman University in Orange, CA, and at Arizona State University’s graduate program in Narrative and Emerging Media in Los Angeles. He is also CEO of Sprocketdyne, an AI animation studio he co-founded with film director Rob Minkoff.

Fink's forty-year career at the intersection of storytelling and technology began at Walt Disney Feature Animation, where he famously conceived the idea for The Lion King and subsequently became the studio’s youngest-ever vice president of creative affairs.

Fink's work in immersive technology began in 1992 as COO of Virtual World Entertainment, a groundbreaking location-based VR company founded by Tim Disney.

A "glow up" signifies a positive transformation, reflecting the journey of becoming a better, more successful version of oneself.

At The Glow Up, we humanize the startup and innovation landscape by focusing on the essential aspects of the entrepreneurial journey. Groundbreaking ideas are often ahead of their time, making resilience and perseverance vital for founders and product leaders.

In our podcast, we engage with innovators to discuss their transformative ideas, the challenges they face, and how they create value for future success.

If you're a founder or product leader seeking your own glow up, or a seasoned entrepreneur with stories to share, we invite you to join our guest list via this link.

Dwayne King is the CEO and Co-Founder of Rutabaga, a startup building a decision intelligence engine that turns fragmented, unstructured customer insights into actionable knowledge accessible across the organization.

Rutabaga’s mission is to help companies become genuinely customer-centric by eliminating the barriers between scattered data, institutional memory, and daily decision-making.

Key Takeaways

• From Data to Action: Rutabaga ingests qualitative, unstructured customer data (such as interviews, call transcripts, and research reports) and transforms it into structured, actionable insights directly within existing team workflows.
• Solving Institutional Amnesia: Dwayne observed that companies often repeat research and lose valuable insights due to organizational silos and staff turnover. Rutabaga acts as a persistent, searchable “brain” for institutional memory, so teams don’t lose history or context.
• AI-Powered Speed: Their ingest engine dramatically reduces “time-to-insight”-what previously took a week of manual analysis now takes about an hour, thanks to AI, graph databases for connection mapping, and integrations with tools like Jira and Figma.
• Embedded in Decision Workflows: The team learned it’s not enough to collect and centralize insights; actionable data must appear in the tools and moments where decisions are made, not just in a standalone repository.
• Continuous Customer Feedback: Rutabaga’s roadmap evolves with weekly user research and prototype testing to avoid building a product that only serves their own perspective. Customer feedback consistently shapes functionality and integrations.
• Iterative Product Philosophy: Product vision at Rutabaga evolves through ongoing customer discovery, not from a single “aha” moment-dispelling the myth that tech startups are born fully-formed from a founder’s head.
• Ultimate Goal: Build an intelligence engine that future-proofs institutional knowledge, enables faster iteration, and supports better business decisions at every level.

About Dwayne King ___

Dwayne King is the Founder and CEO of Rutabaga, an AI-native platform helping product teams make smarter, faster decisions by turning scattered customer insights into strategic clarity. With over 20 years of experience in product development, UX design, and human-centered innovation, Dwayne has led transformative work for Fortune 500 companies and high-growth startups alike.

His career has centered on a single theme: helping organizations align around what truly matters to their customers. At Rutabaga, he's tackling one of the most persistent challenges in tech—fragmented decision-making—by building the connective tissue between insight and action. Dwayne is passionate about designing systems, teams, and experiences that don’t just ship faster, but ship smarter.

A "glow up" signifies a positive transformation, reflecting the journey of becoming a better, more successful version of oneself.

At The Glow Up, we humanize the startup and innovation landscape by focusing on the essential aspects of the entrepreneurial journey. Groundbreaking ideas are often ahead of their time, making resilience and perseverance vital for founders and product leaders.

In our podcast, we engage with innovators to discuss their transformative ideas, the challenges they face, and how they create value for future success.

If you're a founder or product leader seeking your own glow up, or a seasoned entrepreneur with stories to share, we invite you to join our guest list via this link.

Johnny Hartman is the founder and CEO of Vision Systems, a company pioneering the use of advanced 3D visualization and neurotechnology to better understand the brain and unlock human performance.

Drawing on his background in both neuroscience and immersive technology, Johnny is building tools that allow researchers, clinicians, and athletes to visualize brain activity in real time, optimize training, and accelerate recovery.

Key Takeaways:

• 3D Brain Visualization: Vision Systems has developed interactive 3D models that map brain activity, making complex neural data accessible and actionable for both experts and non-experts.
• Performance Optimization: The technology is used by elite athletes and trainers to identify cognitive bottlenecks, enhance focus, and personalize mental training regimens.
• Clinical Applications: Clinicians use Vision Systems’ platform to track recovery from injury, monitor therapy progress, and communicate brain health insights to patients and families.
• Bridging Research and Practice: Johnny’s mission is to close the gap between neuroscience research and real-world performance, making brain data useful for everyday decision-making.
• Accessible Neurotech: By combining immersive visualization with user-friendly interfaces, Vision Systems is democratizing access to advanced brain analytics, moving beyond labs and into sports, education, and wellness.

Johnny’s journey began with a fascination for how the brain works and a frustration with the “black box” nature of traditional neuroscience tools. He saw an opportunity to make brain data not just more visible, but more meaningful-helping people understand, train, and heal their minds.

The company’s 3D tools have already been adopted by major sports teams, neurorehabilitation clinics, and high-performance training centers.

Looking ahead, Johnny envisions a future where brain visualization is as common as heart rate tracking, empowering individuals to unlock their full cognitive and emotional potential.

A "glow up" signifies a positive transformation, reflecting the journey of becoming a better, more successful version of oneself.

At The Glow Up, we humanize the startup and innovation landscape by focusing on the essential aspects of the entrepreneurial journey. Groundbreaking ideas are often ahead of their time, making resilience and perseverance vital for founders and product leaders.

In our podcast, we engage with innovators to discuss their transformative ideas, the challenges they face, and how they create value for future success.

If you're a founder or product leader seeking your own glow up, or a seasoned entrepreneur with stories to share, we invite you to join our guest list via this link.

Patty Hayward is the General Manager of Healthcare and Life Sciences at Talkdesk, where she leads innovation at the intersection of AI, technology, and patient experience for healthcare organizations.

Key Takeaways

• Deep Personal Motivation: Patty’s passion for patient experience stems from her family’s struggle navigating complex healthcare for her mother. This drives her mission to simplify and humanize patient journeys.
• Transforming Contact Centers: Talkdesk is applying AI to rethink traditional healthcare contact centers. By integrating electronic health records, smart routing, and agent assist tools, they aim to ensure every patient feels known, supported, and guided from their first call.
• Empowering Agents: The goal is to upskill contact center agents-reducing time-to-proficiency, increasing job satisfaction, and creating healthcare career growth. AI handles routine queries, while agents focus on complex, human-centered needs.
• AI for Patient Experience: Patty draws compelling analogies to Amazon and Delta, envisioning healthcare systems that anticipate patient needs and minimize frustration. She argues that a truly great patient experience requires patients never have to repeat themselves.
• Critical AI Adoption Considerations: The democratization of AI (especially LLMs) is making advanced solutions accessible to organizations without deep IT resources. Yet, Patty stresses the importance of rethinking processes-“don’t automate a bad process”-and keeping trust, privacy, and clinical care at the forefront.
• Balancing Innovation and Trust: Patty acknowledges that while rapid AI adoption is exciting, healthcare’s primary goal is always quality clinical care. Any patient engagement technology must build trust, ensure safety, and ultimately improve-not complicate-outcomes.

About Patty Hayward

Patty Hayward, GM of healthcare and life sciences at Talkdesk, has over a quarter century of industry strategy experience, including at organizations such as McKesson, Medicity, and Humedica. She is an expert in HIE, population health, pharmacy, process redesign for healthcare systems, and increasing access to patient information.

A "glow up" signifies a positive transformation, reflecting the journey of becoming a better, more successful version of oneself.

At The Glow Up, we humanize the startup and innovation landscape by focusing on the essential aspects of the entrepreneurial journey. Groundbreaking ideas are often ahead of their time, making resilience and perseverance vital for founders and product leaders.

In our podcast, we engage with innovators to discuss their transformative ideas, the challenges they face, and how they create value for future success.

If you're a founder or product leader seeking your own glow up, or a seasoned entrepreneur with stories to share, we invite you to join our guest list via this link.

Julie Smithson is the CEO of MetaVRse and co-founder of 6ix Ventures, a mission-driven family of companies building an ecosystem for the next generation of educational innovation. Recognized as a pioneering entrepreneur, Julie brings a unique blend of hands-on experience from launching 200+ immersive projects and a personal commitment to preparing future leaders to thrive in a world shaped by emerging technology.

Key Takeaways:

• Family of Purpose-Driven Ventures: 6ix Ventures unites MetaVRse, Unlimited Awesome, and a sovereign data solution, all under a mission to inspire and educate the next generation-to think and act with social, economic, and environmental sustainability, using cutting-edge tools.
• Immersive, Curriculum-Integrated Learning: Unlimited Awesome tackles the gaps left by traditional education: perseverance, teamwork, social impact, environmental literacy, and financial skills. Their curriculum is delivered through immersive, interactive digital experiences powered by MetaVRse.
• Experimental R&D, Powered by Clients: 200+ MetaVRse projects with global brands like Mars Wrigley, spanning healthcare training, consumer engagement, and gamified learning have fueled innovation and validated new models for spatial education and community.
• Technological Convergence: Julie’s vision fuses spatial computing, AI, and blockchain/Web3 to build learning ecosystems and commerce that mirror how youth already play, collaborate, and transact online-bringing game mechanics, digital rewards, and avatars into education and training.
• Digital Identity & Sovereign Data: Avatars become not just game characters, but digital identities, linking learning, collaboration, and commerce. Julie advocates for sovereign data ownership, enabling users to carry their credentials and assets across platforms while retaining control.
• Community-Building & Inclusion: Julie is also a co-founder of XR Women, building the world’s largest global network of women in spatial computing. She believes the future of education and commerce must be inclusive, collaborative, and values-driven.

About Julie Smithson

Julie Smithson’s personal mission is to ‘inspire and educate people to think and act in a socially, economically and environmentally responsible way’.

Julie is the Co-Founder and CEO of METAVRSE, a 3D creation platform the spatial web, akin to ‘Canva’ for immersive experiences. Julie Smithson is also Co-Founder of Unlimited Awesome, a venture focused on implementing success principles to drive digital innovation.

As Co-Founder of XR Women, Julie Smithson leads the world’s largest global community dedicated to empowering women in virtual platforms. Over the past four years, she and her team have organized more than 192 immersive events, featuring prominent women speakers from the industry and engaging a diverse, growing membership of over 1,200 women across 60+ countries.

A "glow up" signifies a positive transformation, reflecting the journey of becoming a better, more successful version of oneself.

At The Glow Up, we humanize the startup and innovation landscape by focusing on the essential aspects of the entrepreneurial journey. Groundbreaking ideas are often ahead of their time, making resilience and perseverance vital for founders and product leaders.

In our podcast, we engage with innovators to discuss their transformative ideas, the challenges they face, and how they create value for future success.

If you're a founder or product leader seeking your own glow up, or a seasoned entrepreneur with stories to share, we invite you to join our guest list via this link.

Ashley Coffey is the CEO of Coffey and Consult and host of the Coffey and Code podcast. She specializes in bridging the gap between technology and people, helping small and medium-sized businesses—especially in Oklahoma and the Midwest—leverage emerging technologies like AI for efficiency, profitability, and empowerment.

Key Takeaways:

• Making Tech Accessible: Ashley founded Coffey and Consult to bring innovation and technology consulting to businesses in Oklahoma, eliminating the need for local founders to seek coastal agencies for modern expertise.
• AI and Tech Adoption: She demystifies AI for business owners, focusing on practical adoption, minimizing “tech overwhelm,” and maximizing efficiency with the right tools.
• Industry-Agnostic Approach: Ashley works across sectors, emphasizing that technology and AI are universal enablers. She often finds companies overspending on fragmented, redundant software stacks and helps them consolidate and optimize instead.
• Education First—Teaching to Fish: Ashley’s consulting goes beyond tool recommendations. She teaches organizations how to critically assess their business problems and technology needs (not just “what’s the best tool?” but “what’s the best tool for our outcome?”), fostering sustainable, independent tech decision-making.
• Championing Human Connection: Despite AI’s rise, Ashley believes the “human touch” is at a premium—helping clients see technology as an enabler for more meaningful work, not a replacement for human insight.
• Impact-Driven and Iterative: She measures her success by how empowered her clients become—tracking increased efficiency, reduced software bloat, and improved confidence and independence in tech decision-making.
• Empowering with AI Literacy: Ashley highlights a knowledge gap: many business owners (and even younger generations) struggle to use AI effectively. She provides hands-on workshops to move clients from AI “search engine” users to strategic AI partners, emphasizing clear articulation and thoughtful prompting.

About Ashely Coffey

Ashley Coffey is an emerging technologies subject matter expert with over a decade of experience in the technology industry, including roles in both the public, private and non-profit sectors, and is recognized by the Journal Record in the 2022 Powerlist of Innovative Women in Oklahoma.

Ashley interweaves her lived experience and diverse background across industries to help companies achieve greater efficiency and profitability by leveraging technology in meaningful ways.

Ashley is a TEDx speaker and has presented professionally on emerging technologies nationwide, including Harvard and SXSW-EDU. She serves on the Boards of the American Marketing Association, Oklahoma Chapter, and SXSW Pitch. In addition, she volunteers as a mentor in the OKC community for young women pursuing careers in technology.

A "glow up" signifies a positive transformation, reflecting the journey of becoming a better, more successful version of oneself.

At The Glow Up, we humanize the startup and innovation landscape by focusing on the essential aspects of the entrepreneurial journey. Groundbreaking ideas are often ahead of their time, making resilience and perseverance vital for founders and product leaders.

In our podcast, we engage with innovators to discuss their transformative ideas, the challenges they face, and how they create value for future success.

If you're a founder or product leader seeking your own glow up, or a seasoned entrepreneur with stories to share, we invite you to join our guest list via this link.