June 16, 2025 – Digital Disruption Leadership Mike Peterson and AI SEO Jordan Whelan

School for Startups Radio

Mike Peterson – Founder & Managing Partner of Apex Consulting Partners and Author of Leading in the Age of Digital Disruption: Building Resilient, High-Performing Teams in a Rapidly Changing World

Mike Peterson, author of LEADING IN THE AGE OF DIGITAL DISRUPTION, is the founder and managing partner of Apex Consulting Partners LLC. With nearly two decades of experience in HR and IT, he has held global positions at BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc., Zogenix Inc., UCB, and Structure Therapeutics. Mike is a meticulous and versatile professional known for notable leadership capabilities, reliability, and dedication to high-quality work standards. Mike has a focus and interest in enhancing workforce performance and workflow efficiency within HR & IT-related roles and responsibilities across North America, Europe, and Asia. Mike possesses broad HR and IT experience with a proven track record in organizational change, workforce data analytics, and acquisition integration. His professional career includes being the Head of HR & IT at two global pharmaceutical companies and has practiced HR & IT in over 17 different countries around the world.
Jordan Whelan – Founder & President of Grey Smoke Media

Jordan Whelan is the founder of Grey Smoke Media. With a background as a TV and radio producer and a publicist, he has managed over $3 billion in class action claims communications. He spent a decade mastering media buying (managing over $50 million in spend) and digital marketing, achieving the proverbial 10,000 hours of practice. Under his leadership, Grey Smoke Media helped Diamond and Diamond Lawyers grow from a small practice to Canada’s top injury and real estate law firm. Before rebranding Grey Smoke Media as a legal marketing agency, Whelan worked with publicly traded pharmaceutical companies, The Pan Am Games, Brookfield Asset Management, Intact financial corporation and crypto powerhouses such as Coinsquare. Whelan’s insights have appeared in over 100 international outlets, including The New York Post and Forbes. In his personal time, he is an accomplished Singer-Songwriter with over 3 million streams on Spotify. Uniquely, Whelan provides metaphysics based business coaching that blends mindset mastery, wealth expansion and energetic alignment to help his clients unlock their highest potential.