PODCAST · society
The Disruption Lab
by Kevin McGinnis
Step into the world of innovation with The Disruption Lab live podcast, where groundbreaking ideas and strategic insights come to life. Hosted by Kevin McGinnis and filmed in front of a live studio audience at Keystone Sessions, each episode brings you face-to-face with the visionaries reshaping industries and pioneering new paths in entrepreneurship.Whether you’re an entrepreneur, innovator, or professional eager to fuel your growth and unlock strategic collaboration, The Disruption Lab delivers the tools, stories, and wisdom from top industry disruptors and founders. Join us as we explore the minds of industry leaders to inspire and equip the next wave of disruptors.
Episodes
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There’s a Hospital Bed for the Child. Where’s the Bed for the Mom?
When a child gets a life-altering diagnosis, the hospital has a bed waiting. For the parent who drove through the night from Dodge City or Joplin, or got put on a plane with an hour’s notice, there is no bed anywhere in the healthcare system. That is the gap Ronald McDonald House fills, and in...
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She Sews for Super Bowl Halftime Shows; Then She Moved the Work to Kansas City.
For ten years, Paige Beltowski traveled with her sewing machines in her checked bags. She built costumes for Star Wars, Marvel, 1923, and Super Bowl halftime shows. Almost none of that work is visible. Behind every credit roll, live broadcast, and stadium tour are hundreds of craftspeople, and...
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Kansas City Didn't Leave Out Its African Entrepreneurs. It Didn't Know They Existed.
What happens when a city's entrepreneurs aren't excluded from the economy, just invisible to it? On this episode of The Disruption Lab, recorded live in front of a studio audience, host Kevin McGinnis sits down with Suzanne Gunn. She is a former oncology nurse, med spa owner, couture designer,...
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Building a Business That Heals a Community
Troost Avenue is Kansas City's most infamous boundary — a redlining border named for a man who enslaved six people, and the same line congressional maps are still drawn along today. Chris Goode built Ruby Jean's Juicery, now a national brand carried in over 160 Whole Foods stores, out of a…
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The Masks Weren't the Business, The People Sewing Them Were
In March 2020, John Pryor was standing in a furniture studio he'd just spent a year renovating, watching his business teeter. He launched a face-mask line before he knew how to sew, and sold 15,000 masks in eight weeks. Then the real story walked through his door: dozens of refugee and immigrant...
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What the Network Enables (Part II)
Infrastructure without application strategy is just real estate with electricity. Sprint launched America’s first 4G network — and still lost the 4G era to the translators. Having the infrastructure first is not the same as capturing the era. KC now has $11B+ of announced hyperscale investment.…
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How Kansas City Won a World Cup It Wasn't Supposed to Get
Kansas City is the 33rd-largest metro area in America. It was competing against host cities ranked in the top fifteen nationally and it won anyway. Then FIFA told them they had redefined what a host city does. Cliff Illig, co-founder of Cerner and majority owner of Sporting Kansas City, explains...
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The New Geography of Growth
Every era of economic growth organized around a connectivity infrastructure — water, rail, air, compute. The cities at the nodes captured generational value. Data centers are the ports of the AI economy. And in Kansas City, the infrastructure is not arriving — it has already landed ($11B+…
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The Labor Shortage Is a Lie: How Two Immigrant Founders Built a 96% Retention Company
Reda came to Kansas City from Egypt with almost no English and a fear of heights and took a roofing job anyway. Elvis, a Nigerian immigrant and former R&D chemist, walked away from a corporate career to join him. Together they built what is now Amina Design Build (formerly RK Contractors), a...
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She Ran a $14M Beauty Department, Then Watched It Shut Black Founders Out
Montré Moore spent years managing a $14 million prestige cosmetics department at Neiman Marcus watching brand founders get shut out by red tape, gatekeeping, and unspoken rules about who gets shelf space. Then a night out in downtown LA, searching for a single hair product she couldn't find…
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You Can't Eat IRR: Why Venture Capital's Economics Are Broken
Venture capital loves to talk about returns, but what happens when the returns stop coming? Johnny, a venture investor who has deployed capital inside a $20 billion corporate fund, a top-quartile independent fund, and now a first-time fund backed by a $500 million Kansas City real estate…
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She Grew Up Homeless in Lykins. Now She's Building Homes There
Rosana grew up in Kansas City's Lykins neighborhood, where she experienced housing insecurity as a single mother working double shifts to keep her kids afloat. Today, she's going back to that same neighborhood, this time to build on it. Through her nonprofit Embrace Your Shine and its development...
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Easy To Work With
The difference between having standards and settling. Ecosystem building looks like collaboration from the outside everyone aligned, everyone winning together. This episode is about the part nobody discusses.
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How One Attorney Turned a Broken Divorce System Into an Operating System for Families
Trina spent nearly two decades as a foster care social worker, then an attorney, watching families get "finalized" by the court system and then abandoned to figure out co-parenting alone. So she built BEH2O: an operating system for divorced families, borrowed straight from entrepreneurship...
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The Chemical Keeping Your Fridge Cold Just Got Banned; Here's What Happens Next
There's a chemical in nearly every building, car, and grocery store in America and the world just agreed to phase it out. On this episode of The Disruption Lab, host Kevin McGinnis sits down with Tony and Casey from EARTH, an NSF Engineering Research Center led by the University of Kansas, to...
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The Judge and the Data Scientist Rebuilding Justice From the Inside
Courtney hears 200 domestic violence cases a day. She has six months to work with, structurally, the maximum sentence her municipal court can impose, and she's spent over a decade building intervention programs, wellness courts, and a first-of-its-kind Fathers for Change program inside that...
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85% Want Help. 5% Get It. This Founder Duo Is Closing the Gap.
Brandon has survived 12 strokes. Lindsay has been his care partner for 15 years. Together, they're the founders of Beyond This — a company that didn't exist 90 days ago and is already reshaping how the healthcare system handles disability, intimacy, and relationships. In this episode of the…
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11 Years and Counting: The Creative Chief Who Outlasted His Own Rule
After building some of advertising's most iconic campaigns — Sonic's "two guys," Southwest's "Now Free to Move" — Brian walked away from agency life to become the client. Eleven years later, he's still there, having built Garmin's 110-person in-house creative team from the ground up inside a...
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From Haute Couture to Kombucha: How One Founder Is Growing the Future of Fashion
Nadia trained in haute couture at the Paris American Academy, the kind of centuries-old, precision-driven craftsmanship the fashion world has run on for generations. Then she came home and started growing textiles out of algae and kombucha. On this episode of The Disruption Lab, host Kevin…
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The Innovation Nobody Can Measure
Why do the most promising innovation programs inside big companies keep getting killed — even when they're working? Host Kevin McGinnis shares the story of Hack Friday, a hackathon program he helped build inside Sprint that grew in popularity month after month, only to be shut down for not...
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The Logistics Hub Hiding in Plain Sight: How Kansas City Quietly Powers America
Most people hear "Kansas City" and think warehouses and highways. That's about 10% of the real story. In this episode, Kevin sits down with Chris Gutierrez, President of KC SmartPort, who has spent 23 years building the case for why Kansas City is one of the most strategically positioned regions…
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AI Broke the Grid; Nuclear Is How We Fix It
Everyone keeps saying nuclear is "having a moment." But Kevin McGinnis has heard that before — and this time, the pressure isn't coming from where you'd expect. In this live taping of The Disruption Lab, Kevin sits down with Jason Pottorff of Deep Fission, the company drilling reactors a mile...
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Designed, Not Counted
What if the thing everyone agrees we need more of is the thing that matters least? In this solo episode of The Disruption Lab, host Kevin McGinnis turns a critical eye on his own field — the world of innovation economies and entrepreneurial ecosystems. The diagnosis is always the same: more...
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Ideas Are Cheap; This Is What Actually Builds a City
Jeff spent fifteen years inside one of America's most celebrated startup ecosystems. Then he left Austin for Kansas City — to run a program handing out $20,000 grants. On paper, a step back. In practice, a bet on a different way of building. In this live taping of The Disruption Lab, host Kevin...
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Doing Well by Doing Good: The Lesson That Took 15 Years to Land
This is a different kind of episode. Every solo I've done has been about a framework — a thesis, a system, an argument. This one is about a person. Dan Hesse was my CEO at Sprint and became my mentor. He taught me that business and community are not separate things. I understood it as a value. It...
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The Kids Who Never Got to Practice: How VR Is Teaching Social Skills Schools Forgot to Teach
For decades, social skills training in schools meant one thing: a teacher singling out a student in front of their peers to practice something they don't yet know how to do. Dr. Amber Rowland spent over a decade building a better answer. VOISS — a virtual reality and simulation platform developed...
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The Hidden Influencers: What Analysts Know, What AI Just Changed, and What It Really Costs to Build Something Worth Stepping Away From
Andrew Hsu spent more than a decade building Spotlight, a market intelligence and analyst relations firm that helped some of the most recognized names in enterprise technology figure out how to be understood, not just seen, in the markets they were trying to shape. But this conversation isn't…
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The Corporate Antibody: How Big Companies Kill Innovation (And What Actually Works)
Every Fortune 500 company says they want to work with startups. Almost none of them actually can. The problem isn't intention. It's infrastructure. When a corporation scales, it builds immune systems—legal, compliance, IT, procurement—designed to protect the core business. Those same systems…
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The Quiet Revolution: Why Animal Health Is America's Overlooked Superpower
Most people don't realize that the food on their table and the medicine keeping their pets alive flow through a system few understand. Kim Young, President of KC Animal Health Corridor, has spent 15 years at the center of that system building Kansas City's Animal Health Corridor into a $90…
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The Growth That Counts
Why high-growth entrepreneurship is a different kind of economic infrastructure — and why most regions don’t have a strategy for it. I recently published an essay arguing that every startup is a headquarters. The data behind that claim is compelling — young firms create virtually all net new…
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They Were Wrong by 50% Every Time — Inside the Invisible Crisis Running America's Food Supply Chain
Across agriculture, mining, and construction, billion-dollar supply chains still run on a phone call and a guess. Someone walks outside, eyeballs a pile of feed, and tells the truck dispatcher what they think is left. They're wrong by 30 to 50 percent — and that error ripples into spoiled...
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From the Capitol to the Startup: Why a State Senator Quit Politics to Fund Founders
Travis Fitzwater spent 12 years in the Missouri legislature building the policy infrastructure behind the state's innovation economy — the Right to Start Act, the Office of Entrepreneurship, STEM workforce mandates. Then, instead of running for reelection, he walked away from the chamber to lead...
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The Mayor Who Refuses to Play Small: Rebuilding Trust in an Underestimated City
What does it take to lead a community that's spent decades being treated like a stepchild? In this episode of The Disruption Lab, host Kevin McGinnis sits down with Mayor Christal Watson — the first Black woman to lead Kansas City, Kansas and Wyandotte County — for a candid conversation about...
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Inside the Food Access Model Cities Are Getting Wrong: Corner Stores, Redlining, and Feeding a City
Most people who see a broken food system either accept it or complain about it. Max Kaniger did something different — he walked into 70 corner stores and got told no by every single one before finding a partner willing to take a chance on fresh produce. Today, Kanbe's Markets operates in 125...
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Stop Calling It Charity. Affordable Housing Is Infrastructure.
What if everything you think you know about homelessness is wrong? Forty to fifty percent of people experiencing homelessness in America are employed. They're working. They're contributing. And they still can't afford a place to live. That single fact dismantles most of the narratives we tell...
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The Money Isn’t the Problem
Everyone assumes that underinvested communities, early-stage ecosystems, and emerging innovation hubs need more money. More grants. More venture. More philanthropic dollars. But the evidence from 50+ conversations on this show tells a different story. The communities and companies that are…
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From Grammy Stages to Kansas City Creative Economy
Jo Blaq left Kansas City because the infrastructure for a music career didn't exist. He went to LA, built one anyway — Grammy nominations, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, private jets — and then came back. Now he's building what he calls ground zero for creatives, a multimedia creative hub in the...
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The Bottleneck Is Never What You Think It Is
After 50+ conversations on The Disruption Lab, one pattern keeps surfacing: the thing that slows down innovation is almost never the technology. It’s the invisible friction — trust gaps, procurement processes, cultural resistance, systems not designed to absorb change at the speed it arrives. In...
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95% of It Goes Through China — And We Can't Do Anything About It
The U.S. offshored its critical minerals processing decades ago. Now 95% of the world's nickel runs through China — regardless of where it comes out of the ground. Jamie Andes and William Highsmith from Critical Materials Crossroads break down what that dependency actually means, why Kansas City...
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The #1 Bottleneck in Drug Development Isn’t Science
Why do new drugs and medical breakthroughs take so long to reach real people? In this episode of The Disruption Lab, we sit down with Kyle McAllister, founder of trially, an AI-driven clinical trials company, to unpack the uncomfortable truth: the biggest bottleneck in clinical trials isn’t...
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The Overlooked Mental Health Barrier No One Talks About: Pets, Trauma & A 100% Return-Home Solutionn
What if one of the biggest barriers to escaping abuse or entering mental health treatment wasn’t money, fear, or access? In this live episode of The Disruption Lab, we sit down with the co-founders, Matt Krentz and Andy Bond, of BestyBnB, a fast-growing social impact startup that’s tackling one…
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Building in Public: How Radical Transparency Is Changing Real Estate, Cities, and Power
What if the fastest way to build better cities wasn’t behind closed doors—but out in the open? In this episode of The Disruption Lab, we sit down with Zach Molzer, Founder of Molzer Development, who is challenging every traditional rule of development by building in public—documenting projects in...
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What Happens to Work When AI Knows Almost Everything? (And What That Means for You)
What happens to work, dignity, and human purpose in a world where AI can write, diagnose, advise, and automate faster than most people ever could? In this episode, we sit down with Ed, a longtime social enterprise leader and Goodwill CEO, to unpack one of the most urgent questions of our time…
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Building Autonomy and AI for National Security in Kansas City
Artificial intelligence and autonomy are no longer future concepts in national security—they’re shaping real-world decisions, operations, and outcomes today. But while AI technology is advancing rapidly, the real challenge lies in data, culture, trust, and speed of adoption. In this special…
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If Your Team Isn’t Listening, It’s Not Them—It’s This One Leadership Mistake
We have more ways to communicate than ever… so why does it feel like nobody is actually hearing each other? In this live episode of The Disruption Lab, Kevin sits down with communication strategist and executive coach Eric Morgenstern to break down what’s really going wrong in leadership...
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The Truth About Gentrification: Can Development Help Without Displacement?
What if gentrification isn’t the real problem? In this episode of The Disruption Lab, host Kevin McGinnis sits down with Erik Murray, founder of Eastside Innovations, to unpack how we can invest in historically overlooked “east side” communities without pushing people out. From Kansas City…
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From Grants to Growth: How KC GIFT Is Rewriting the Rules of Economic Development
What happens when community capital and culture move in lockstep? In this live episode of The Disruption Lab, we sit down with Brandon Calloway to unpack how KC GIFT is revitalizing Kansas City’s East Side by funding Black-owned businesses—and how his creative venture, Blurred Media, is rewriting...
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AI Isn’t Killing Us—We Are: How to Use Robots Without Losing Your Mind (or Your Community)
Are robots and AI actually making us smarter—or just outsourcing our brains? In this conversation with John McElligott, we unpack why technology isn’t the story—people are. From the first “tech” (domesticated wolves) to today’s cognitive offloading to phones and ChatGPT, we explore how to adopt…
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The Power of People: How Benny Lee Built Global Companies—and a Legacy of Giving
What does it take to build a life — and a legacy — from scratch? In this live episode of The Disruption Lab, Kevin McGinnis sits down with Benny Lee, engineer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist, to explore his remarkable journey from Taipei to Kansas City, where he turned bold ideas into thriving...
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Smart Cities 101: How Tech, Safety & Equity Are Redefining Urban Life
What if a city could completely reimagine how technology shapes daily life—not just for convenience, but for public safety, economic growth, and citizen trust? In this episode of The Disruption Lab, we sit down with Mike Grigsby to uncover how Kansas City became a national model for smart city...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Step into the world of innovation with The Disruption Lab live podcast, where groundbreaking ideas and strategic insights come to life. Hosted by Kevin McGinnis and filmed in front of a live studio audience at Keystone Sessions, each episode brings you face-to-face with the visionaries reshaping industries and pioneering new paths in entrepreneurship.Whether you’re an entrepreneur, innovator, or professional eager to fuel your growth and unlock strategic collaboration, The Disruption Lab delivers the tools, stories, and wisdom from top industry disruptors and founders. Join us as we explore the minds of industry leaders to inspire and equip the next wave of disruptors.
HOSTED BY
Kevin McGinnis
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Disruption Lab have?
The Disruption Lab currently has 93 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Disruption Lab about?
Step into the world of innovation with The Disruption Lab live podcast, where groundbreaking ideas and strategic insights come to life. Hosted by Kevin McGinnis and filmed in front of a live studio audience at Keystone Sessions, each episode brings you face-to-face with the visionaries reshaping...
How often does The Disruption Lab release new episodes?
The Disruption Lab has 93 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to The Disruption Lab?
You can listen to The Disruption Lab on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Disruption Lab?
The Disruption Lab is created and hosted by Kevin McGinnis.
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