The Safety Leadership Collective

The Safety Leadership Collective is a podcast by the Portage County Safety Council, bringing people together to elevate workplace safety, leadership, and well-being. Based in Ravenna, Ohio, we spark meaningful conversations with safety and leadership experts from across the nation—sharing insights, inspiration, and practical ideas that help build stronger cultures and safer workplaces for all.

The Safety Leadership Collective is a business podcast hosted by Portage County Safety Council, with 200 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Portage County Safety Council hosts The Safety Leadership Collective, a business show with 200 episodes published.

Our AI reads these to draft pitches. Use them as grounding for a pitch that cites a real guest and a specific topic.

• 

  The Safety Leadership Collective

  Beyond the Court: What Basketball Teaches Us About Safety Leadership

  Aug 12, 202626 min

  Episode 318: Former pro athlete Josh Young joins the Safety Leadership Collective to explain how leadership, environment and belief shape behavior and organizational culture. He connects lessons from high-performance sports to workplace safety, arguing leaders must demonstrate values, create psychological safety, and prioritize people to drive safer outcomes. The episode highlights practical steps—shift from punitive accountability to growth-based accountability, probe daily behaviors instead of only celebrating outcomes, and encourage speaking up to prevent normalization of risk. To learn more about Josh, check out his website at: https://joshyoungspeaks.com/ For more information on the Portage County Safety Council, please visit our website at: https://portagecountysafetycouncil.com/

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  The Safety Leadership Collective

  Leaking Strength: From Bedridden to Record-Breaker

  Jul 22, 202639 min

  Episode 317: Justin DeFlumeri, the CEO of Optimal Safety Inspections , shares his harrowing story of a botched lumbar puncture that caused a CSF leak, leaving him bedridden for months before finding expert treatment and reclaiming his life. He discusses the physical and emotional challenges of recovery, the power of perseverance—"keep digging"—and previews his book Leaking Strength while offering hope and resources for others facing long recoveries. To connect with Justin on LinkedIn, you can do so at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-deflumeri-ms-president-ceo-5271a7b8/ To learn more about Optimal Safety Inspections, check out their website at: https://www.optimalsafetyinspections.com/ For more information on the Portage County Safety Council, please visit our website at: https://portagecountysafetycouncil.com/

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  The Safety Leadership Collective

  From Blame to Learning: Seven Practical Steps to Better Safety

  Jun 15, 202636 min

  Episode 316: Jake Mazulewicz joins hosts Nic Coia and Mike Thompson to explain shifting from a control-based, blame-focused approach toward a learning-based safety culture. He outlines his seven practical steps including building psychological safety, leading after-action reviews, transforming investigations into non-punitive event reviews, applying classic defenses, improving systems, and building resilience. Listeners get practical examples and immediate actions to apply on the job, plus resources to learn more at reliableorg.com and in Jake's book, Seven Practical Steps . To learn more about Jake, check out his website at: https://www.reliableorg.com/ For more information on the Portage County Safety Council, please visit our website at: https://portagecountysafetycouncil.com/

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  The Safety Leadership Collective

  When Safety Goes Wild: Lessons from the Akron Zoo

  Jun 9, 202645 min

  Episode 315: In this episode, we are joined by Brenna Erjavec , Senior Manager of Safety & Security at the Akron Zoo , to talk about balancing animal care, public protection and employee safety. Highlights include combating complacency with monthly trainings and live drills, using a two-person lock-and-key system and spotters for high-risk tasks, and aligning leadership to make safety a priority. The episode also covers trauma-aware drills, working with emergency responders, and simple conservation and public involvement programs listeners can join. To learn more about the Akron Zoo, please visit their website at: https://www.akronzoo.org/ For more information on the Portage County Safety Council, please visit our website at: https://portagecountysafetycouncil.com/

  ListenShow Notes
• 

  The Safety Leadership Collective

  EQ at Work: Why Emotional Intelligence Changes Everything

  May 27, 202638 minS0

  <p>Episode 314: In this episode, Mike Thompson sits down with Executive Coach, Gary Fowler, to explore why EQ is one of the most important skills for building safer workplaces, stronger leaders, and healthier organizational cultures.</p> <p>Together, they break down what emotional intelligence really means and why it directly impacts communication, trust, performance, and employee well being. Gary shares compelling research showing that every one point increase in EQ can translate into an average $1,300 increase in income, highlighting the measurable value of emotionally intelligent leadership.</p> <p>The conversation introduces practical frameworks including SNAP, CUT, SCARF, and the clarity...

  ListenShow Notes

Recent guests on The Safety Leadership Collective. Study who booked and why before you pitch.

Based on semantic analysis of episode topics and host coverage, this show is a strong guest fit for executives in:

Industry fit is computed by PitchCentric using vector embeddings of the show's episode catalog.