Shout Out to Five Inspiring Leaders: Nancy Temple, Robert Benun, Howard Sutker, Travis Guerra, & Micheal Weis 9-20-25 - Becker Business

Summary3 min read

Becker Business Podcast Episode Summary

Episode: Shout Out to Five Inspiring Leaders: Nancy Temple, Robert Benun, Howard Sutker, Travis Guerra, & Micheal Weis
Host: Scott Becker
Date: September 20, 2025

Overview

In this concise and uplifting episode, Scott Becker takes a break from news updates to celebrate five inspiring leaders in the business and professional services community. The focus is on individuals who have demonstrated resilience, entrepreneurial spirit, and positive leadership. Each leader comes from a different background, and Becker explains what makes their contributions unique and admirable.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Tribute to Five Leaders

Scott Becker gives a personal shout out to the following individuals, highlighting their achievements and qualities:

Nancy Temple
- Renowned attorney; founder of her own law firm, Katten Temple.
- Admired for “backbone like nobody else” and ongoing, impressive professional success.
- [00:35] “Tremendously impressed by her every day.” – Scott Becker
Robert Benun
- Spent 20 years at Lakeshore Entertainment before founding his entertainment law practice.
- Noted for “astounding work” in the entertainment field and remarkable perseverance.
- [01:03] “A remarkable story of perseverance and drive.” – Scott Becker
Travis Guerra
- Founder of Onward, an executive search firm in Nashville specializing in private equity and healthcare clients.
- Praised for drive, energy, positivity, and uncommon leadership among search firms.
- [01:33] “What he has done and his drive and energy, his positivity – again, is something you just don’t see very often.” – Scott Becker
Michael Weiss
- Co-founder of Weiss Bernie, a boutique business law firm.
- Described as an “old fashioned fantastic business lawyer,” known for hands-on approach and helping clients navigate complicated transactions.
- [02:05] “Just remarkably good people. We love working with them, we love watching what they’re doing.” – Scott Becker
Howard Sutker
- Founder of Sutker Moran (now Sutker Marin), an outsourced CFO firm.
- Acknowledged for building one of the region’s most respected employers, recently recognized by Crain’s.
- [02:34] “They’ve built this outsourced CFO business that is second to none.” – Scott Becker

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

[00:21] “They may not be big names to you, but they’re big names to us.” – Scott Becker
[01:09] “Simply a remarkable leader.” – (on Robert Benun)
[02:40] “Congratulations to Howard Sutker on the work that they’ve done. Simply incredible.” – Scott Becker
[03:00] “Five great leaders… just fantastic work by these five.” – Scott Becker

Timestamps for Important Segments

00:21 — Introduction and importance of celebrating local, “unsung” leaders
00:35 — Nancy Temple’s achievements and character
01:03 — Robert Benun’s career path and resilience
01:33 — Travis Guerra and the Onward search story
02:05 — Michael Weiss and the Weiss Bernie firm
02:34 — Howard Sutker’s impact with Sutker Marin and recent accolades

Tone and Takeaways

Scott Becker’s tone is warm, personal, and full of admiration. The episode shines a spotlight on entrepreneurial spirit, community impact, and the importance of local leaders who may not always be household names but make a lasting difference in their fields. He encourages listeners to recognize and support the professionals around them who are quietly setting high standards in their industries.

For listeners:
Consider who in your network deserves a shout out for their resilience, leadership, and drive—Scott Becker’s episode is a reminder to celebrate those rarely in the spotlight but always making a difference.

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Transcript1 lines

[00:02]
A
Onward Headhunting is the source for elite M and A operations and finance executive talent exclusively for private equity funds and their high growth portfolio companies. When top tier leadership seems impossible to find, Onward delivers with speed and accuracy. This is retained search built to shape the future of your most important assets. Learn more on LinkedIn or visit onwardheadhunting.com to start the conversation. And let's move your most critical executive searches onward. This is Scott Becker with the Becker Business Podcast. The Becker Private Equity Podcast. Today's discussion is a shout out to five leaders. Nancy Temple, Robert Bennen, Howard Sutker, Travis Guerra and Michael Weiss. So here's the story with these five and these five are all people that different walks of life and have watched them professionally. They may not be big names to you but but they're big names to us. And what I've seen them do in their sort of like resilience, their drive, their energy, their ability to found businesses and drive businesses. Nancy Temple, famously close, close colleague, started her own law firm, Captain Temple a long time ago, now has had tremendous success. She has got the backbone like nobody else. Tremendously impressed by her every day. Second, Robert Bennon fits in a very similar category. After 20 years at Lakeshore Entertainment, Robert founded his own entertainment law firm and has done nothing less than astounding work in helping clients, investors, producers, creative talents and others in the entertainment law business. Simply remarkable leader. A remarkable story of perseverance and drive. The third founder we'll talk today is about Travis Guerra. Travis found his own search firm Onward a few years ago and he's in Nashville. They focus on private equity sponsored companies, often private equity sponsored healthcare companies. And what he has done and his drive and energy, his positivity again is something you just don't see very often. Love working with him, love seeing what he's doing. Number four is Mike Weiss. Michael Weiss and Mike Burney founded the firm Weiss Bernie a couple years ago. Mike is sort of this old fashioned fantastic business lawyer. He does a tremendous job of helping people through all kinds of business transactions different than some of the largest firms. He is very hands on him and his partner just remarkably good people. We love working with them. We love watching what they're doing. Congratulations to Michael Weiss and Mike Burney. Finally fifth is is Howard Sutter. Howard Sutter founded a outsourced CFO firm years ago called Sucker Moran. It's now called Sucker Marin. They've grown to be one of the most respected employers in the region. They were recently named in Cranes is a great, great employer. They've built this outsourced CFO business that is second to none. Congratulations to Howard Sutker on the work that they've done. Simply incredible. Again, this is today's shout out of the day. Five great leaders will hopefully Chanel put their names in the title so everybody sees them. Just fantastic work by these five. Thank you for listening to the Becker Business Podcast and the Becker Private Equity Podcast. Thank you very, very much.