ChairWaves: interviews with the country's top Vistage chairs

My affinity for the Vistage community runs deep — I’ve been a Chief Executive member since 2019 and a Vistage speaker since 2023 and both experiences have been profoundly meaningful in my journey as a business leader, an entrepreneur, and as a person.

There’s no single person more instrumental to any Vistage member’s experience than their chair, the person who has decided to build a career (usually a second or third career) around a desire to help executives reach their potential.

That’s why I decided to start recording ChairWaves, to talk to the chairs who make such a huge difference to so many people.

You can listen to the podcast below, or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or iHeart Radio.

ChairWaves

I’m Erik Wolf and my experience in business peer groups has changed my professional trajectory and my life, especially my membership in Vistage, one of the world’s largest CEO advisory groups. I’m an entrepreneur, a business owner, and a Vistage speaker on the power of marketing. This podcast is dedicated to the people who make those experiences possible, the peer group chairs. Every episode, I interview a Vistage chair who has dedicated their time to helping entrepreneurs like me succeed.

Before Monty Montoya was a biotech CEO or a Vistage Chair, he was a 22-year-old harvesting corneas from cadavers—an intense, hands-on start to a career in ophthalmology that would eventually earn him the Visionary Award from the Ophthalmology World Leaders. After nearly two decades as a Vistage member, Monty stepped into a new role: Chair of the very same group that had shaped him. That transition—from peer to coach—wasn't easy. He had to unlearn his instinct to “fix” things and instead embrace what his members really needed: a space to feel seen, challenged, and supported. In this episode, Monty shares how one member’s deeply personal breakthrough changed the dynamic of the entire group, and why asking the right question is always more powerful than giving the right answer.

To connect with Monty, email [email protected].