From Underdog to Entrepreneur: Building Dreams with Pat Miller

What happens when you discover your father was a footnote in mob history and it's your own name in the index? In this episode of From Underdog to Entrepreneur, Pat Miller sits down with Glenn Wichinsky, a distinguished gaming and business law attorney licensed in Florida and Nevada and author of Things Left Unsaid: My Dad, The Mob, and Growing Up in the Nevada Gaming Industry. His memoir, recently featured at the London Book Fair, traces his journey to understanding the truth about his father, a man whose life intersected with organized crime, the early Nevada casino world, and the formative years of a now-global industry.
Glenn shares the extraordinary story of stumbling on his father's name in a book by Danielle Gomes, daughter of a Nevada Gaming Control Board investigator, and how that discovery led him to review sealed FBI and military records that finally connected the dots on a lifetime of unanswered questions. He talks about growing up around unexplained moments and surveillance in a wedding parking lot, photos pulled from albums, warnings at customs, and how his father, despite his associations, worked hard to shield his son from that world entirely.
What You'll Learn
How Glenn uncovered his father's hidden past through a stranger's book and sealed archival records

Why his father pushed him toward law and away from the family business

How gaming law emerged as a brand-new legal specialty in the 1980s, and how Glenn became one of its pioneers

The story of rebuilding his career and finances from scratch at 51 after an unexpected divorce, including running a casino in Laughlin, Nevada, while living in a $15-a-night motel

How an unplanned pivot into international business and marketing became one of his greatest professional skills

Why trusting your gut and acting on opportunity quickly matters more than overthinking it

How the gaming industry has evolved from handshake deals to heavy regulation, and what problem gambling looks like in the online era

Why Glenn now teaches gaming law and established a scholarship in his father's name for students entering the field

 
About Glenn Wichinsky
Glenn Wichinsky is a distinguished gaming and business law attorney licensed in Florida and Nevada and the author of Things Left Unsaid: My Dad, The Mob, and Growing Up in the Nevada Gaming Industry, a memoir recently featured at the London Book Fair. Glenn originally set out to become a meteorologist before moving to Las Vegas to work alongside his father and later attended law school, where he went on to become one of the pioneers of gaming law as a legal specialty in the 1980s. His career has included running a casino in Laughlin, Nevada, serving as president of a gaming cabinet manufacturing company, and practicing gaming law with a national law firm. Glenn has been teaching gaming law and regulation as an adjunct professor at the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, for nine years and established a scholarship in his father's name for students pursuing careers in gaming law. 
Connect with Glenn Wichinsky
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/glenn-e-wichinsky-attorney-98b460
Connect with Pat Miller
Follow Pat Miller for more conversations with entrepreneurs who share the real stories behind building successful businesses.
Website: https://patmiller.net/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thepatmiller11
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thepatmiller11/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepatmiller11/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePatMiller11/
Subscribe to From Underdog to Entrepreneur: Building Dreams with Pat Miller for weekly conversations with entrepreneurs who share the real stories, lessons, failures, and successes behind building thriving businesses. If you're passionate about entrepreneurship, leadership, business growth, entertainment, and personal development, this podcast is designed to help you build your dream.
New episodes are released regularly.

What do shoveling coal in Pittsburgh, working on the set of Ocean's Thirteen, and helping companies use AI have in common? They're all chapters in the story of Maury Rogow. In this episode of From Underdog to Entrepreneur, Pat Miller sits down with Maury Rogow, CEO of RIP Media Group and author of Sell Your Superpower in an AI World. Maury has produced over a thousand brand films, teaches more than a hundred thousand students on LinkedIn Learning, and has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Success Magazine. 
Maury shares his winding path from a cold childhood in Pittsburgh to sales roles at AT&T and Lucent to helping build a startup that sold to Cisco for over a billion dollars, only to lose it all when the market crashed in 2001. That setback pushed him to reinvent himself, this time moving to Hollywood to work on major film sets before ultimately combining his sales background, storytelling instincts, and love of authenticity into the marketing and AI consulting work he does today.
What You'll Learn
Why the "underdog story" is one of the most powerful tools in sales and marketing

How real, authentic storytelling helps businesses stand out instead of competing purely on price

Why most people using AI are only scratching the surface and how to actually put it to work

How to set up AI "projects" with clear rules, knowledge bases, and no fluff to get sharper, more useful answers

Why businesses need to protect their intellectual property and privacy settings when using AI tools

How live streaming and video add authenticity that helps entrepreneurs build trust with potential clients

Why companies like Blockbuster and Borders failed to adapt and what business owners today can learn from it

The importance of following up after losing a bid or deal to learn and improve, rather than taking it personally

 
About Maury Rogow 
Maury Rogow is the CEO of RIP Media Group and the author of Sell Your Superpower in an AI World. He has produced over a thousand brand films and teaches more than a hundred thousand students through his LinkedIn Learning courses, with features in Forbes, Entrepreneur, and Success Magazine. His path took him from sales roles at AT&T and Lucent, through a startup sale to Cisco, to working in Hollywood before shifting into marketing and AI consulting. He also serves as Chief Marketing Officer of the Applied AI Association.
Connect with Maury Rogow 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mauryrogowofficial/
Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/MauryRogowOfficial/
Connect with Pat Miller
Follow Pat Miller for more conversations with entrepreneurs who share the real stories behind building successful businesses.
Website: https://patmiller.net/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thepatmiller11
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thepatmiller11/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepatmiller11/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePatMiller11/
Subscribe to From Underdog to Entrepreneur: Building Dreams with Pat Miller for weekly conversations with entrepreneurs who share the real stories, lessons, failures, and successes behind building thriving businesses. If you're passionate about entrepreneurship, leadership, business growth, entertainment, and personal development, this podcast is designed to help you build your dream.
New episodes are released regularly.

What happens when you sell your house to bet on a travel business idea, survive the world's longest COVID lockdown, and still come out building a multi-seven-figure empire? In this episode of From Underdog to Entrepreneur, Pat Miller sits down with Lisa Pagotto, founder of Crooked Compass, an immersive travel company specializing in off-the-beaten-path destinations and experiences for fragile and emerging communities. Lisa is also a keynote speaker on leadership under pressure and a two-time Entrepreneur of the Year winner who gained national attention after appearing on Shark Tank Australia.
Lisa walks through her surprising journey from corporate travel employee to founder, starting with a travel blog that built a loyal following before it ever became a business. She opens up about selling her house with her then-husband to fund Crooked Compass, her surreal 18-month journey to filming Shark Tank Australia, and how a 12-minute segment aired nearly two years later completely transformed her business overnight, even though she walked away with no deal and full ownership of her company.
What You'll Learn
How a "no deal" on Shark Tank still led to massive exposure, mentorship, and business growth  

Why selling everything to bet on yourself isn't for everyone, but conviction and gut instinct matter.                                                                                                                                                    

How Lisa rebuilt her business by launching private plane tours across Australia during the COVID lockdowns, after her original tourism business came to a complete halt.                                                               

Why recognizing you're "stuck" is often the first step toward meaningful change

The importance of taking small, actionable steps to build momentum instead of waiting for a perfect plan 

Why compartmentalizing personal hardship (divorce, financial stress, single parenthood) while staying professional is a skill entrepreneurs have to learn

How intuition and gut feeling have shaped major turning points in her business

Why paying it forward and helping other entrepreneurs is part of the culture Lisa values most

About Lisa Pagotto 
Lisa Pagotto is the founder of Crooked Compass, an Australian travel company specializing in immersive tours to off-the-beaten-path destinations. She's also a keynote speaker on leadership under pressure and has built multiple seven-figure businesses. Lisa gained national attention on Shark Tank Australia, and though she walked away without a deal, the exposure sent her business into rapid growth. During Australia's COVID-19 lockdowns, she pivoted and launched a second business offering private plane tours. Since then, the business has expanded to bring American travelers to Australia for unique travel experiences. She has also been named Entrepreneur of the Year twice.
Connect with Lisa Pagotto.
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lisa-pagotto?originalSubdomain=au
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lisapagotto
Connect with Pat Miller
Follow Pat Miller for more conversations with entrepreneurs who share the real stories behind building successful businesses.
Website: https://patmiller.net/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thepatmiller11
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thepatmiller11/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepatmiller11/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePatMiller11/
Subscribe to From Underdog to Entrepreneur: Building Dreams with Pat Miller for weekly conversations with entrepreneurs who share the real stories, lessons, failures, and successes behind building thriving businesses. If you're passionate about entrepreneurship, leadership, business growth, entertainment, and personal development, this podcast is designed to help you build your dream.
New episodes are released regularly.

From a same-day CBD delivery service to manufacturing over a million gummies a month, this is a business story most people never hear about. 
In this episode of From Underdog to Entrepreneur, Pat Miller sits down with Steven Brown, founder and CEO of Nothing But Canna (formerly Nothing But Hemp), one of the first hemp dispensaries in the Midwest. Steven's path to cannabis wasn't a straight line; he served in the Marine Corps, worked in health and nutrition at GNC, climbed the ranks at T-Mobile, and worked in negotiation for aerospace and defense before launching his own marketing company at 28, where a client in the cannabis space opened the door to an entirely new industry.
Steven shares how his now-wife's success using CBD for migraines convinced him hemp products could genuinely help people and how that belief turned into a business that has weathered credit card shutdowns, COVID furloughs, state regulatory attacks, and a looming federal hemp ban. Along the way, he helped pass Minnesota's first low-dose THC bill legislation that unintentionally sparked the nationwide THC beverage boom now found in liquor stores across the country.
What You'll Learn
The real difference between CBD, THC, and other cannabinoids and why "street weed" today is nothing like it was decades ago

How a small hemp business ended up shaping THC beverage laws now used nationwide

Why the hemp industry is facing a federal shutdown and what that means for small operators

The role lobbying, big pharma, alcohol, and marijuana industries play in hemp regulation 

Why product testing and safety standards matter in a largely unregulated space

The costly lesson Steven learned expanding into the beverage industry and why he stepped back from it 

Why bad business partnerships can derail a company, and how to know when to walk away 

Why fear of failure holds most entrepreneurs back, and how embracing it leads to growth

About Steven Brown
Steven Brown is the founder and CEO of Nothing But Canna (formerly Nothing But Hemp), one of the first hemp dispensaries in the Midwest, specializing in compliant cannabinoid formulations and manufacturing over 1.3 million gummies a month. Before entering the cannabis industry, Steven had a varied career path; he served in the Marine Corps, worked in health and nutrition at General Nutrition Centers (GNC), spent six years moving up the ranks at T-Mobile in the wireless industry, and worked with a negotiation firm in aerospace and defense. He got into cannabis after starting his own marketing company at 28 and taking on a client in the industry, which led him to launch a same-day CBD delivery service in Minnesota in 2018. Steven and his team went on to help pass Minnesota's first low-dose THC bill, legislation that helped spark the nationwide THC beverage trend now found in liquor stores across the country. Under his leadership, the company grew from one dispensary to eleven nationwide in a single year. 
Connect with Steven Brown
Website: https://www.nothingbutcanna.net/pages/team
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/socialthis/
Connect with Pat Miller
Follow Pat Miller for more conversations with entrepreneurs who share the real stories behind building successful businesses.
Website: https://patmiller.net/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thepatmiller11
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thepatmiller11/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepatmiller11/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePatMiller11/
Subscribe to From Underdog to Entrepreneur: Building Dreams with Pat Miller for weekly conversations with entrepreneurs who share the real stories, lessons, failures, and successes behind building thriving businesses. If you're passionate about entrepreneurship, leadership, business growth, entertainment, and personal development, this podcast is designed to help you build your dream.
New episodes are released regularly.

Not every great career story starts with owning the company. In this episode of From Underdog to Entrepreneur, Pat Miller switches things up to spotlight the other side of the journey building a name for yourself while working for someone else. Her guest is Nicholas Verzicco, who runs the construction management staffing division for New Jersey at Actalent (formerly Aerotech), placing hundreds of professionals with general contractors, subcontractors, and AEC firms. A five-time President's Club winner, Nicholas shares how a chance conversation with a former college classmate led him into an industry he never studied for recruiting and how he's built a thriving career in construction staffing just seven years out of college.
Nicholas opens up about his path from Monmouth University, where he studied finance through the Educational Opportunity Fund program, to landing his first staffing role through a simple breakfast conversation and a willingness to take a chance on something unfamiliar. He and Pat dig into networking, mentorship, and what it really takes for young professionals to stand out in a competitive industry like construction.
What You'll Learn
Why networking and relationships can completely redirect your career path 

How AI is being used (and not used) in construction staffing and estimating and why human trust still matters

 Why "blue collar" skills remain valuable and future-proof, even in an AI-driven world 

The importance of mentorship for the next generation entering the workforce

 Why energy, effort, and enthusiasm can set you apart in any role 

How giving back  through mentorship programs and organizations like Professional Women in Construction (PWC) helps open doors for the next generation 

Why staying true to yourself and tuning out critics is essential to long-term success

About Nicholas Verzicco
Nicholas Verzicco runs the construction management staffing division for New Jersey at Actalent, where he places professionals including project managers, superintendents, assistant project managers, and estimators with general contractors, subcontractors, and AEC firms. He has placed hundreds of people in the industry and has won the President's Club for five consecutive years. Nicholas is originally from Mays Landing, New Jersey, and attended Monmouth University through the Educational Opportunity Fund program, earning a degree in finance while serving as president of his Student Government Association, senior class president, and president of the club lacrosse team. He entered the staffing industry through a college connection and has spent close to seven years building his career at Actalent. Outside of work, Nicholas is involved in mentorship, participating in a program for high school students through the Lena Harris Foundation and supporting organizations like Professional Women in Construction (PWC).
Connect with Nicholas Verzicco
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-verzicco-76a404151/
Connect with Pat Miller
Follow Pat Miller for more entrepreneurial insights, business strategies, and inspiring conversations with successful founders and business leaders.
Website: https://patmiller.net/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thepatmiller11
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thepatmiller11/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepatmiller11/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePatMiller11/
Subscribe to From Underdog to Entrepreneur: Building Dreams with Pat Miller for weekly conversations with entrepreneurs and professionals who share the real stories, lessons, failures, and successes behind building thriving careers and businesses. If you're passionate about entrepreneurship, leadership, career growth, and personal development, this podcast is designed to help you build your dream.
New episodes are released regularly.