In this episode of Growing With Purpose, Jean Moncrieff speaks with Adria Marshall, Founder of EcoSlay, about building a business rooted in values, sustainability, and community.

Adria shares her journey from engineer to accidental entrepreneur, creating her own haircare products in her kitchen after struggling to find options that truly worked for her. What began as a personal experiment quickly turned into something much bigger, with orders flooding in almost overnight and forcing her to navigate rapid growth in real time.

This conversation explores what it takes to scale a business without compromising your standards, how values can guide difficult decisions, and why success should be defined by more than just revenue. Adria also reflects on the importance of community, mentorship, and building a company that aligns with who you are at your core.

Key themes include:

• Values-driven decision making
• Scaling without compromise
• Sustainability and ingredient integrity
• Defining success beyond revenue
• Community and mentorship
• Building a business with purpose

A grounded and honest conversation for leaders who want to grow something meaningful without losing sight of what matters most.

In this episode of Growing With Purpose, Jean Moncrieff sits down with Brandon Neely, real estate investor, entrepreneur, Co-Founder and CEO of Wealth Wisdom Financial and founder of Counterflow, for an honest conversation about money, systems, and what it really takes to build a business that lasts.

Brandon shares the story of launching a purpose-driven coffee shop during the 2008 financial crisis, bootstrapping the business through community support, and navigating personal hardship, financial strain, and a flood that nearly wiped everything out. That season reshaped how he thinks about profit, stability, and leadership.

Today, Brandon helps business owners create financial structures that support long-term resilience. As a Profit First Professional and Bank On Yourself Professional, he focuses on helping operators build strong cash flow systems that give them flexibility and peace of mind.

This conversation explores:

• Why entrepreneurship requires a true sense of calling • What most business owners misunderstand about profit • How financial chaos affects marriages, families, and leadership • The connection between personal wealth and business health • Why stillness and self-awareness matter in financial decision-making • Building systems that create stability, not stress

At its core, this episode is a reminder that profit is not selfish. When approached intentionally, it becomes a tool for stewardship, resilience, and long-term impact.

A thoughtful conversation for leaders who want their business and their life to work together, not compete with each other.

In this episode of Growing With Purpose, Jean Moncrieff speaks with Ashish Kothari, Founder and CEO of Happiness Squad, about success, well-being, and what it truly means to live and lead a meaningful life.

Ashish reflects on his journey from a high-pressure career at McKinsey to a deeper exploration of happiness, purpose, and human connection. He shares how anxiety and burnout became powerful catalysts for personal transformation, and why redefining success is essential for leaders who want to sustain both high performance and a fulfilling life.

This conversation explores why high performance demands high well-being, the role of relationships and community in flourishing leadership, and how small, consistent micro-practices can create lasting change. Ashish also challenges common misconceptions about happiness, reminding us that it is not something to chase, but a byproduct of living with purpose, service, and care for others.

Key themes include:

• High performance and high well-being
• Burnout and personal transformation
• Redefining success and significance
• Relationships and community
• Micro-practices for sustainable change
• Purpose-driven leadership

A thoughtful and grounding conversation for leaders seeking to build lives and organizations that truly flourish.

In this episode of Growing With Purpose, Jean Moncrieff speaks with John Costello, owner of Cherry’s Industrial Equipment Corp, about his leadership journey and the evolution of building a values-driven company.

John reflects on aligning personal and company values, navigating the emotional challenges of ownership, and learning how to let go in order to empower others. He shares why transparency, gratitude, and employee well-being are foundational to strong business culture, and why running a purpose-driven company is harder, but ultimately more fulfilling.

This conversation explores the balance between hard and soft skills, the realities of leadership growth, and the lasting impact businesses can have on their people and communities.

Key themes include:

• Purpose-driven leadership

• Company values and culture

• Transparency and trust

• Employee engagement

• Community impact

• Personal growth as a leader

A thoughtful and honest conversation for leaders who believe business can be a force for good.

Megan shares her journey from an “accidental entrepreneur” to the leader of a merged, $100M business. She reflects on how growing up with limited resources shaped her resourcefulness and scrappiness, and how personal loss led her to a new beginning in the Pacific Northwest and eventually into the world of chemical distribution. Through acquisitions and a commitment to unity, she merged three companies into one culture-driven organization: Catalynt.

Together, Jean and Megan explore what it means to build a supportive company culture rooted in honesty, trust and truth-telling. Megan describes her daily mindfulness practice, her approach to equanimity during crisis, and the importance of grounding leadership decisions in real data rather than noise. She also speaks candidly about the isolation leaders can face, the unique challenges women encounter in leadership roles, and the power of community and independent advisors.

It’s a thoughtful and grounded conversation about resourcefulness, courage and the lifelong journey of cultivating self-worth as a leader.

0:00 – Introduction and journey to leadership 2:43 – Merging businesses and creating Catalynt 5:39 – Navigating personal loss and career transition 8:29 – Self-discovery and leadership during crisis 11:09 – Consistency and equanimity in leadership 13:47 – Resourcefulness from adversity 16:52 – Building a supportive company culture 19:41 – Sensible leadership in uncertain times 22:44 – Maintaining balance and avoiding isolation 26:20 – The importance of independent advice 30:33 – Creating a culture of truth 34:09 – Women in leadership: breaking barriers 38:17 – The need for community support 43:12 – Cultivating self-worth as a leader

Paul reflects on his transition from leading the Small Giants Community to launching Kintsugi Village, a nonprofit in Detroit dedicated to community, relationships, and innovative education. He and Jean discuss why relationships are everything in business and life, what it means to prepare the next generation of leaders, and how impact is best measured through stories, not just numbers.

Together, Paul and Jean explore the themes of transition, purpose, and community — and Paul shares the personal lessons that shaped his leadership journey, from his family influences to the philosophy of “keeping it in the big ring.” It’s a thoughtful and inspiring conversation that celebrates Paul’s legacy with the Small Giants Community while looking ahead to what’s next.

Timestamps:

0:00 – Introduction to Kintsugi Village 5:58 – The importance of community and relationships 11:50 – Navigating personal and professional transitions 18:05 – Preparing the next generation of leaders 28:30 – The circle of growth: culture and profitability 36:17 – Building community and trust 42:02 – Influences and inspirations for growth 47:49 – Personal stories and leadership lessons

But before he does that, he has one last meaningful conversation with Leslie DeMent and Rob Dube, this year’s recipients of the Small Giants Hall of Fame awards. 

Leslie DeMent is the winner of the Next Gen Hall of Fame award. She discusses with Paul the importance of building trust within a team, how she’s managed to instill Small Giants values in a company that’s not necessarily a Small Giant, and the impact that participating in the Leadership Academy has had on her journey.

Rob Dube is the winner of the Founder/ CEO Hall of Fame award. He talks about how reading Bo Burlingham’s Small Giants book gave him permission to be himself at work, how he’s transitioned meaningfully into different leadership roles, and why he and the co-founder of imageOne decided to buy back the company when it was offered to them.Together, Leslie, Rob, and Paul discuss why being a purpose-driven leader is important to them. It’s an inspiring reminder of the power of community, and the ripple effects that one little book with a goldfish on the cover has had on us all.

Timestamps:

2:28 - Meet Leslie

7:00 - Meet Rob

12:40 - Leslie’s experience with the Leadership Academy

16:30 - Rob and big transitions

25:15 - Advice from Leslie and Rob

29:27 - Thank you and an announcement from Paul

Zach is an expert in the importance and implementation of mattering in the workplace, but it’s a path he had to carve out for himself. The desire to explore this topic was sparked in him after his first job out of college. Working in advertising sales, he noticed the jarring fact that he and his team treated their clients as a resource rather than people with their own lives and interests. When he went on to complete his PhD research, he befriended the custodians who were in the school buildings late at night like him. This led him to focus his research on people in overlooked (and often underinvested in) professions like cleaning, and how they experience meaning in their work. 

Listen to this episode to learn Zach’s practical methods for scaling mattering in the workplace, the difference between mattering and belonging, and why Zach sees now as a time when people want to feel that they matter at their work more than ever.

Show Notes:

2:35 - What is mattering?

9:27 - “Work was always an act of community”

14:37 - Early influences & Zach’s PhD research

24:40 - “Common sense is not common practice”

39:00 - How to scale mattering

As a periodontist and member of the healthcare community, Greg has seen various areas of the industry become consolidated over the years. In 2018, he decided to do his part in keeping practices doctor-owned. When two fellow dentists in his community felt they had no other option but to sell to a private equity organization, Greg stepped in and purchased their practice. This eventually led to Resolute Dental Partners, and they now have seven locations, all with strong leaders who can implement the company’s values while still leading with their own style. It took years of learning (and reading the Small Giants book!) to get to where they are now, but Greg is passionate about keeping the ever important doctor-client relationship at the core of their culture. 

Tune in to this episode to hear Paul and Greg discuss the changing landscape of the healthcare industry, Greg’s near career shift into telecommunications, and much more.

Show Notes:

6:13 - A changing industry

17:09 - Implementing Small Giants ideas

25:06 - Early influences

37:00 - Difficult decisions

41:33 - Advice to young people

Many of you likely know Hamsa as the bright, caring leader who helmed the Small Giants Community operations for nearly a decade. But you may not know about her previous time in the education and tech sectors, as well as her journey with her family from Iraq to the US when she was 12 years old. All of these experiences have shaped Hamsa into the leader she is today; ready to embark on a new journey in the non-profit space and give back to a city that she loves.

Listen to this episode to hear Hamsa and I discuss what it was like for her to be the eldest child of an immigrant family, how learning a new language in a new country made her resourceful, the tough lessons she’s learned as a leader, and so much more. 

Show Notes:

3:32 - A serendipitous Small Giants journey

5:45 - Moving fast at Mango Languages

10:05 - A childhood on the move

20:06 - Building bonds in academia 

29:10 - Areas for improvement

34:18 - “You have to enjoy what you do”

From sports broadcaster to English teacher to owner of the family business, Kevin has tried on several seemingly different careers, but he’s always had a throughline: a passion for connecting with people. When he stumbled into working for his father’s business, he realized he could make an impact, and enjoyed the opportunity to work with his dad. EDSI has grown from a team that was in the single digits to an employee population of 900 over the decades. Kevin still finds purpose in the work the company does to help people who are economically disadvantaged, and has successfully scaled their people-focused culture.

Tune into this episode to hear how Kevin was one of the early adopters of the term “servant leadership”, how he stays connected with all 900 of his employees, and why he’s continually trying to be a better listener. 

Show Notes:

3:30 - What is a Chief Servant Leader?

12:47 - Early influences + family business matters

22:20 - Translating the culture to the customers

33:00 - Advice to young people

Amy grew up outside of Flint, MI with humble beginnings and parents who lived out their heart-first, community values. She adopted those same values and wanted to find ways to be a part of and give back to her community. After excelling at a law enforcement program in high school and wanting to stay involved, she enrolled in the Civil Air Patrol, and has been a member ever since. 

From the Civil Air Patrol and beyond, Amy has found ways to marry career and community. While working for a large tech company, she found purpose and alignment in her small, entrepreneurial clients. And now, as an EOS implementer, she appreciates working with a wide array of clients, many of which do meaningful work.

Tune in to this episode to hear Amy and Paul discuss how she’s adapted her experiences to fit many different roles, how being an athlete influenced her professional life, and why she took theater classes in college. 

Show Notes:

2:35 - EOS and culture

8:57 - Early influences

18:37 - Joining the Civil Air Patrol

24:00 - Not a career path, but a scavenger hunt

30:15 - Sports and community involvement

Kyle got his professional career started earlier than most. Due to childhood autoimmune issues, he couldn’t participate in a lot of physical activities, and instead turned to reading – mostly books about technology and business. This self education led to a job with a consulting firm at just 14 years old. Thanks to a meritocracy culture and supportive mentors, Kyle was able to grow his skills as a technology consultant well before he could drive himself to his clients (good thing his colleagues didn’t mind giving him a lift!). 

When Kyle started his own firm after school, he took the values from both his previous job and his church upbringing and instilled them into his own culture. Now, Kyle takes pride in leading an organization that gives back to its people and works with values-aligned clients. 

Listen to this episode to hear about Kyle’s jump start in the consulting world, his grandfather’s wise words about entrepreneurship, and what growing up in a church-focused household taught him about leadership. 

Show Notes:

1:11 - In his Doogie Howser era

13:33 - A grandfather’s wisdom

24:10 - Challenges & humbling moments

32:35 - “Establish humility young”

Bill grew up in the mountains of Southeastern Kentucky, in a small community where people looked out for one another. From a young age, he learned the importance of a strong work ethic and treating people with kindness and respect. By the time he had gained some defense work experience and started Torch Technologies, he knew that if he took care of his employees, they would in turn take care of the company and their customers.

With this employee-focused mindset, as well as his desire to create a long-term, sustainable company, it felt like the natural decision for Bill to turn Torch into an ESOP right away. And that has proved to be a crucial component of the company’s cooperative culture, especially in a competitive contracting industry.

Listen to this episode to hear about Bill’s passion for employee ownership, why he emphasizes integrity in his companies’ cultures, and the very important lesson that carpet samples taught him. 

Show Notes:

7:20 - What is a defense contracting business?

10:27 - Employee-focused napkin manifesto

15:50 - “The mountain people are good people”

21:40 - Life lessons from carpet samples

32:10 - Define your principles

It’s no wonder that Danielle has a passion and a talent for storytelling, because her life has all of the trappings of a good story: joy and heartbreak, struggle and triumph. Danielle grew up in a house alive with love, family, and even a chocolate factory in the basement! But in a condensed amount of time, she lost all of the most important adults in her life, and was forced to grow up and take care of herself to survive. She moved from New York to Florida for college, got a job out of her internship, and has been building her career steadily ever since. 

Although she experienced heartbreak from a young age, Danielle exudes warmth and positivity, and has made her story into one about growth and compassion.

Tune into this episode to hear Paul and Danielle discuss the importance of human connection in business, Danielle’s transformative work trip to Dubai, and why she roots for the villain in movies. 

Show Notes:

5:13 - The power of purpose-driven storytelling

9:35 - Life is like a box of chocolates 

24:40 - Human connection in business 

31:46 - “Do not aim for perfection”

The Clear Vision story starts with David’s father, a Navy veteran who was looking for his next chapter in life, and found it in a six-week optometry program. After becoming licensed and working for someone else for several years, he began his own business, looping family in along the way. Now the company is celebrating its 75th anniversary, and with David and his brother Peter at the helm, it remains a family affair.

And while working with family naturally comes with its tough moments, ClearVision is a testament to how a family can come together to create a successful, healthy, and welcoming business that positively impacts a community far larger than their own family tree.

Tune in to this episode to hear Paul and David bond over being failed-attorneys-turned-entrepreneurs, the highs and lows of scaling culture alongside a growing business, and David’s fragrant race routine from his track days. 

Show Notes:

4:08 - A culture that's 75 years strong

16:35 - Getting the real family stories

27:53 - Scaling culture

Matt grew up on a farm in Ohio with a loving and supportive family. And while both his parents held jobs in addition to running the farm, Matt’s mom always found the time to go out to the edge of their rural property with him and look up at the stars. This ritual not only taught Matt the value in slowing down, but showed him that he was a part of a world much bigger than himself, and he had a responsibility to make sure his contribution was a positive one.

Fast forward to 2004, when Matt interned at Choice One. He saw that the founders of the engineering firm had created a special culture where people mattered and integrity was central, and he wanted to be a part of it. As Matt’s risen through the ranks, he’s maintained his stargazing mentality: to appreciate what was created before him, while also committing to positively impacting the company and its legacy. 

Tune into this episode to hear about Matt’s personal vision and how it influences his leadership style, Choice One’s emphasis on two-way communication, and the importance of teachers in shaping Matt’s career path. 

Show Notes:

2:09 - Clarity in culture

6:10 - Bolstering the feedback loop

9:40 - From intern to president

12:28 - Early influences

33:02 - Getting checked by his own culture

Mikel grew up on a farm in northern Indiana, and while his upbringing taught him to love building things and problem solving, he also wanted to distance himself from that lifestyle. He saw his father, a farmer, as somebody whose livelihood was reliant on the weather and other things out of his control. So Mikel went into software engineering, or “typing for a living”, and eventually wound up creating Little Engine Ventures alongside his business partner. What he realizes now is that his father was a small business owner all along, and that every single career path has elements that will inevitably be out of your control.

Tune into this episode to hear Paul and Mikel discuss the delicate act of transitioning a business to a new owner, the good kind of pressure needed for businesses to thrive, and why Mikel likes working in the skydiving industry. 

Show Notes:

10:05 - “It’s really your people”

12:30 - The good kind of pressure

17:58 - Early days of leadership learning

30:46 - Humbling experiences

Alongside celebrating 15 years of the Small Giants Community, we’re happy to share the creation of the Small Giants Hall of Fame. What will be an annual award moving forward has now seen its first batch of nominees, finalists and inductees - a process that heavily involved Small Giants Community members. 

Sabrina White is the Hall of Fame inductee representing Next Gen Leaders. In this episode, she shares with Paul what it has meant to her to grow as a leader alongside her team at Text-Em-All, as well as her involvement in the Small Giants Leadership Academy and its impact on her.

Tom Walter, the inductee representing Founders/CEOs, shares how he went from a command-and-control leader to a values-based leader thanks to his team at Tasty Catering. He also discusses how he discovered the Small Giants Community in its infancy, and what it has meant to him as he strives to continually learn from his peers. 

Paul, Sabrina, and Tom reflect together on what having a values-based community means to them as business leaders, the importance of recognition, and why they all continue to see value in engaging with the Small Giants Community. 

Show Notes:

4:00 - Sabrina’s growth as a leader

8:58 - The impact of the Leadership Academy

11:40 - Tom’s intro to the Community

14:37 - Transforming into a Small Giants leader

18:08 - Can people & profit coexist?

23:25 - Advice for leaders

Years later, the principles Bo wrote about in his book are stronger than ever, and we’ve seen the focus on culture and values become company differentiators. All of us continue to benefit from relationships and learnings with like-hearted leaders.

In this episode - a special live recording of the Growing with Purpose podcast - Paul and Bo take a walk down memory lane, share stories and challenges, and reflect on what’s changed over the last 15 years. From what happened to the original companies Bo wrote about, to how the Community has evolved and what lies ahead, we hope you enjoy this touching celebration and fireside chat!

Show Notes:

1:50 - It all began with a book

10:40 - Why Small Giants fail

15:10 - Paul and Bo's first interaction

25:05 - Endurance of Small Giants companies

33:40 - Making tough choices as Small Giants 

Early on in their marriage, Dawn and her husband, Tim, knew that they weren’t going to be able to get where they wanted to go in life by working for others. So, they saw a niche and a need in the special events space and created Fun Productions, an amusement rental company.

In 2013, with their two sons both about to be in college, Dawn and Tim thought they were ready to slow things down. However, life had other plans, and Dawn became pregnant with their third child, who she calls her “accidental blessing”. Tragically, only several months after their daughter was born, Tim died in a boating accident. Before Dawn knew it, her life was flipped on its head, and she had no capacity to run her business.

But her employees stepped up and helped carry the company through this tough time, teaching Dawn some valuable lessons about gratitude, leadership, and the importance of a strong culture. From there, she made significant changes to focus on caring for her team, a move that not only felt better, but worked better financially. 

Tune into this episode to hear Paul and Dawn discuss the difficulty of losing someone close as well as a business partner, how EOS has shaped Dawn’s view on business, and having her eldest son take the reins of the company. 

Show Notes:

4:43 - When life flipped on its head

9:45 - Walking in the light of gratitude

17:15 - Early influences & experiences

21:13 - Family transitions

26:05 - “Your Life Is Not a To-Do List”

Ron didn’t start with a background in IT. Rather, he had a teaching degree and experience in sales. But when he was hired on as a sales manager at Service Express, he felt there was something special about the company, and quickly connected with Mike, the then-owner. After five years of being with the company, Ron proposed to Mike that he become president, and that Mike act as his investor. Mike challenged Ron to embody a president first, without the title in place. In a bold move on both their parts, Ron rose to the occasion, and transitioned into officially becoming president. 

As a self-aware and passionate leader, Ron has taken his enthusiasm for growth and propelled Service Express to new heights. But he’s never lost sight of the company’s core values, and a focus on caring for each employee. Through vision talks and a whole set of accountability tools, Ron strives to keep Service Express a place where people feel taken care of, and that it is a mutually beneficial fit for every employee. 

Tune into this episode to hear Paul and Ron discuss how growth and culture don’t have to be competing priorities, the importance of careful hiring, and how Ron is constantly striving for progress rather than perfection. 

Show Notes:

7:08 - Making his mark on the company

16:30 - Service Express’ culture toolkit 

25:09 - Early influences

41:40 - “Decide who you want to be”

Chelle grew up without a lot of opportunity; her parents had her when they were very young, and didn’t have a lot to support her financially. But one opportunity Chelle did have, and took on wholeheartedly, was a cosmetology program offered through her high school. Seeing as this program was a fraction of the price of a standard cosmetology school, Chelle saw this as her chance at a path forward. Straight out of high school, Chelle began working at a Supercuts, and then moved up to higher end salons.

But during her time working for other salons, Chelle noticed a business pattern that she didn’t like. In most salons, stylists rent a chair with which to receive clients, but that rental comes with unexplained service fees. Not to mention an overall lack of transparency and connection with the owner of any given salon, and Chelle knew that the typical salon culture (or lack thereof) was something she wanted to change. 

Tune into this episode to hear Paul and Chelle discuss Chelle’s rocky road to a successful business model, her passion for elevating the industry to be seen as a respectable career, and how she hopes to improve as a leader. 

Show Notes:

4:53 - Being the change in the industry

10:51 - Building a sense of community

18:00 - “I want to elevate our industry”

22:45 - Growing pains

33:16 - “Please ask for help”

Britt grew up in an entrepreneurial family and was raised on a horse and tobacco farm. Early on, he began adding more and more tools to his toolbox by way of new experiences. From working on his family’s farm, to being an English teacher in Korea, to being a mountain guide for Outward Bound, Britt never shied away from the opportunities that were presented to him. And along the way, he kept an open mind, remained humble, and sought out like-hearted people. With a mix of hard work, curiosity, and luck, Britt’s winding path led him into the hospitality industry. Today, he remains appreciative of all the varied experiences that have led him to where he is today, and continually strives to be the best leader he can be.

Tune into this episode to hear Paul and Britt talk about how Britt came to discover the importance of good culture, what growing up on a farm taught him about entrepreneurship, and why he considers himself the luckiest guy on the planet. 

Show Notes:

3:23 - Getting in on the ground floor of fast casual

10:35 - “It turns out, good people won’t serve garbage”

17:45 - Growing up with entrepreneurial DNA

28:00 - How the pandemic changed the hospitality industry

36:35 - “Put tools in your toolbox”

While studying at Cornell University, Senior paid his way through school by cleaning buildings at night. By the time he graduated, he and his brother had a fully functioning business. They kept it going, using their parents’ basement as the office, and maintained both a positive business model and working environment. After over a decade of cleaning, Senior noticed there was a disconnect between the people who needed the cleaning services and the people providing the services. And so, he took a chance on trying his hand as a consultant, and helped clients find the best companies for their needs. By 1995, Core America completed the transition from cleaning provider to consulting service. More recently, they began offering their own software to aid clients even further. 

Although the younger Tony always wanted to build his own career identity, his path often overlapped with his father’s and uncle’s: first, attending Cornell, and eventually moving back to his hometown and joining the family business. As he’s risen through the ranks within Core America, Tony has managed to both honor the legacy that the previous generation established, while also moving the company forward with his own unique leadership style and goals. 

And yes, even after all of these years, the father and son duo still enjoy working together every day.

Tune into this episode to hear Paul and the two Tonys discuss their family business dynamic, how they carefully transitioned the leadership from one generation to the next, and how they went about rediscovering Core America’s culture.

Show Notes:

5:10 - The beginnings of Core America

15:25 - Brought up in a family business

23:55 - Tactful transitions 

28:15 - Rediscovering the culture

32:44 - Looking ahead

In the 1980s, Jean’s entrepreneurial father bought a metal fabricating business. And even though her brothers had no interest in joining the family business, Jean leapt at the opportunity to work with her father. Six years later, Jean and her sister, Mary, bought the company. It continues to have that family business spirit, as Jean’s daughter, Angela, now holds a leadership role. And while Jean has helped the company to grow financially, her real mission has been to create a psychologically healthy workplace. She does so through company-wide emotional intelligence classes; conscious intelligence classes for leadership; building a transparent, trusting culture; and more.

Tune in to this episode to hear Jean and Paul talk about running a psychologically safe manufacturing company, Jean’s willingness to rely on her employees, and the delicate act of transitioning leadership to a new generation.

Show Notes:

3:55 - A father-daughter business

7:50 - Culture is the shining star

15:10 - Transitioning leadership

29:15 - Ace’s biggest challenges

34:00 - Advice for upcoming leaders

As an only child growing up in rural Ohio, Heidi observed generations of her family work hard to build their businesses, be it a dairy farm or a home renovation business. She took these values with her through her academic career, and into her first job after college at an advertising agency. Soon enough, though, when Heidi and her now-husband were planning their wedding, she pivoted her career to run her own events planning business for five years, which she claims has heavily informed every role she’s had since. Heidi’s pivoted her career since then, first into marketing leadership, and most recently into people management, which is allowing her to live her purpose of helping humans flourish. 

Tune in to this episode to hear Heidi and Paul discuss Skidmore’s strong remote work culture, the influence of the Small Giants Community Summit on Heidi’s career journey, and their shared optimism about young people entering the workforce. 

Show Notes:

• 5:05 - Building a better culture through remote work
• 12:30 - Growing up with elbow grease
• 15:40 - Transferring skills into entrepreneurship 
• 17:05 - The Small Giants Community influence 
• 23:40 - Skidmore’s devotion to values
• 32:23 - Heidi’s advice for young people

Eric didn’t always dream of owning his own moving business. In fact, for a long time he didn’t know where he wanted his career to take him. His prior path stretched from coast to coast of the US, and involved time as a teacher and soccer coach at a boarding school, completing an MFA in nonfiction writing from the University of Iowa, and working in the burn unit of a hospital. Eventually, Eric picked up a defunct moving business from a friend, and built it up over time. It wasn’t until 2020, when co-owners Cliff and Emily Wallace opened a new branch in Des Moines, and the pandemic saw a boom to the moving industry, that Adamantine grew at an exponential rate. But with growth comes challenges, and Eric and his team had to evaluate how they’d scale while still maintaining their culture and values. 

Tune in to this episode to hear Eric and Paul discuss Adamantine’s efforts to be an ecologically-conscious business, takeaways from participating in the Small Giants Community’s Leadership Academy, and the challenges Eric faces as the leader of a growing company. 

Show Notes:

• 3:30 - From boarding school teacher to burn unit tech
• 12:30 - Adamantine builds its backbone
• 16:15 - Eco-friendly efforts
• 22:08 - Eric’s Leadership Academy experience
• 25:30 - Lessons learned from moral dilemmas 
• 32:00 - Adamantine’s biggest current challenges
• 36:40 - “Become someone - become yourself.”

Andrew got his start on the accounting side of business at KPMG. But as his passion for learning grew, he embraced his own courage by moving from his home country of South Africa to the United States, where he started his own training services business. Even though the road wasn’t always smooth, Andrew had mentors (including several standout female leaders in a male-dominant industry) to back him up, as well as his own curious mindset, to propel him forward. Now, through Curious Lion, he’s helping organizations shift their cultures to ones that are people-focused and embrace change in order for them to thrive and not just survive. 

Tune in to this episode to hear Andrew and Paul discuss the dual influences their parents had on each of their leadership journeys, the dynamics of being a thought leader while running a business with its own identity, and the power of storytelling. 

If you want to take a deeper dive into the tools and philosophies of Curious Lion, Andrew and his team have developed a free email-based course for anyone to access. Sign up to get these problem-solving tools here!

Show Notes:

• 3:50 - Awareness is the key to starting a learning culture
• 6:00 - Optimize the planner, not the plan
• 11:15 - From accounting to entrepreneurship
• 17:30 - Andrew’s personal journey
• 29:05 - Curious Lion’s challenges in 2023
• 34:00 - “Stories are one of the greatest technologies we’ve ever invented”

As soon as Jason was old enough to work at the age of 13, his parents encouraged him to do so. From a young age, he was able to observe – and learn from – various management styles. Jason also took on an early interest in developing software, and freelanced and sold his own products throughout college. By the time he co-founded 37 Signals in 1999, he had an informed opinion of what strong leadership looked like.

One of the things that has made 37 Signals stand out is their willingness to share what’s in their (not so) secret sauce. Jason says that he’d rather out-teach his competition than out-spend it, and part of that is being public with their company decisions and thought process. This outlook caused controversy for the company in 2020, but ultimately Jason stands by his and his teams’ commitment to transparency. 

Tune in to this episode to hear Jason and Paul talk about the lesson that chefs can teach business leaders, the future of work, and the founder’s role in taking risks. 

Show Notes:

• 06:30 - Building a brand with a stance
• 09:00 - 37 Signal’s existential risk
• 12:55 - Lessons in management styles
• 20:45 - What’s next for 37 Signals?
• 25:30 - The future of work
• 29:30 - “Profits buy you time, and time is a hard thing to buy.” 
• 35:30 - Advice for young people

Beck’s passion is bringing people-hearted and business-minded leadership beliefs to individuals, teams, and organizations. A self-proclaimed “business geek” as well as a longtime mindfulness practitioner, Beck’s aim is to help people understand the importance of weaving together business and leadership, and to do so by showing up to work as their full selves. And Beck finds that sharing their personal story is a helpful illustration of this belief.

Beck grew up in an evangelical christian household, received a bachelor's degree from Liberty University, a large evangelical school, and later gained one of their master's degrees from Naropa University, a buddhist-inspired school. Beck is also same sex attracted and gender nonbinary, a component of their identity that has taken time to fully embrace and share with others, including their colleagues at different organizations, and family. And although the road has not always felt smooth, Beck acknowledges that in order for us as leaders to promise a culture of acceptance, we have to be willing to remove our own masks and show up as our full selves.

Tune into this episode to hear Beck and Paul discuss mindfulness in the workplace, embracing one’s complete self, and not being afraid to share our true selves with the ones we care about the most. 

Corey founded NCEO in 1981 after working as a staff member in the US Senate, where he was first introduced to and intrigued by the concept of employee ownership. As he tells us, employee ownership was legislatively recognized in 1974, and is a unique topic in US politics because ever since its conception, it has been consistently favored by both major parties. Despite employee ownership being politically practical, financially strategic, and allowing economics to become more equitable, there are still misconceptions on the topic hindering it from becoming more widespread. 

In this episode, Corey helps us to understand the origins of employee ownership, the different variations, including ESOPs and purpose trusts, and what types of companies are good candidates for them. We’ll also dig into dispelling some of the myths around ESOPs, and the many benefits your company may see from adopting an employee ownership structure. 

If you still have more questions on the subject after listening to the episode, consider checking out the NCEO website for free resources, or read Corey’s recent book, written with John Case, titled Ownership: Reinventing Companies, Capitalism, and Who Owns What.

Previously a tenured professor at Grand Valley State University, he enjoyed teaching, but didn’t so much appreciate the affinity in academia for sticking to the status quo. So, when a former student asked him to help manage a team for a startup, Carl took a sabbatical, and eventually resigned, to pursue the new opportunity. The innovation happening in such a new industry was thrilling. When that startup didn’t make it, Carl took the ashes of that business and created Atomic Object. 

Carl takes pride in having formed a team of longstanding Atoms who have helped him to shape the company from the early years into what it is today (their first intern, Mike Marsiglia, is now a co-CEO of the company). And part of that is due to Carl’s self regard, combined with his lack of business training - unburdened, he simply created a company that he wanted to work at. 

Tune in for this episode as Carl and Paul discuss Atomic’s handcrafted employee ownership structure, how moving states as a child shaped Carl’s personality, and the humbling lessons he’s learned on the company’s aspirational journey to becoming 100 years old. 

Lauren has always had a strong work ethic that combines with a passion for working towards a greater good. Even as she pursued education, and then a career, in financials, she wasn’t interested in the large public firms and the Wall Street culture. Rather, she focused on finding a work environment that fit her mission of working towards a greater purpose. And in the two companies she’s worked for since graduating - Morningstar and the Center for Financial Planning - she’s found just that. 

Tune in for this episode as Lauren and Paul discuss why Lauren shifted from being a stock analyst to a personal financial planner, how the Center for Financial Planning is unique in its industry, and what helped Lauren to get through the early days of the pandemic - all while she was creating new company policies, going through the Small Giants Leadership Academy, and raising a newborn. 

From a young age, Taylor had a love for art, largely thanks to her dad’s own passion for creativity. But it wasn’t until her senior year in high school, when she enrolled in a graphic design program at a tech center, when she really hit her stride. After studying at the Art Institute of Chicago, Taylor went on to have design jobs at various companies with different angles on the role of designer. Through this diverse experience, she was able to learn that she loved the parts of design that prioritized the end user and strove to problem solve with them in mind (also known as human centered design). With this self-awareness in mind, she found a place where she could thrive and pursue her purpose in Atomic Object. 

"Being able to know myself really well is something that has helped me figure out the systems I need to build for myself in order to be successful.” 

Tune in for this episode as Taylor and Paul discuss how Taylor came to lead the charge on Atomic Object’s fourth office opening, her passion for gardening (and how it relates to her leadership journey), and finding her own leadership style in the tech community. 

Devyn grew up surrounded by the entrepreneurial spirit. While her parents ran a 20-seat hair salon in Colorado, Devyn grew to love the idea of creating something on your own, but also to respect the relentless hard work that it takes to make a business a success. 

Devyn was the first in her family to attend college, and, for the majority of her academic career, was also a dancer on the Denver Nuggets dance team. This terrific opportunity allowed to travel the world, all while pursuing her passion for dance.

And she didn’t stop traveling after that. When Devyn’s now-husband proposed to her during their senior year of college, he was also just about to begin his career in the NHL. This meant moving houses, cities, and even states, at an alarming rate for over a decade.

“You wouldn’t believe the people I have met along the way. It’s absolutely been a thrilling adventure at every turn.”

Now, Devyn has been a part of the JBREC team for seven years, and she credits the company’s founder, John Burns, with his innovative approach to remote work - or rather, what they call connected work - in part for her ability to remain at one company and develop her leadership skills over those years. 

Tune in for this episode as Devyn and Paul discuss her experience on student council in high school, the ups and downs of constantly being on the move, and the merits of working at a company that values leadership in a variety of ways. 

Lauren grew up in rural Missouri with plenty of space to let her imagination roam. She took a detour from her creativity in college, and began her career in Human Resources roles. And while she enjoyed certain aspects of HR, like identifying and celebrating individual’s strengths, her priorities shifted after the birth of her first child, and she knew she wanted to do something different.

After a scary bout of covid in the early days of the pandemic, Lauren was forced to look at her life path and where she wanted to take it into the future. By this point, she had already published her own books and done some ghost writing, and people would often ask her to help them with their own stories. So, in the wake of a pandemic, Lauren decided to take her skills and passions, and turn them into a business aimed at helping people write their own life stories. 

Tune in as Lauren and Paul discuss the merits of being an introvert who’s good at listening, tips on how someone can begin writing their story, and Lauren’s ongoing journey to discover her identity as a leader.

Aaron grew up in Detroit, raised by his mother, as well as her large family. From them, he learned the value of education and stories, and even got a lifelong, prophecy-filling nickname: Mr. President.

After going to a private high school thanks to a scholarship, and eventually Harvard Business School, Aaron recognizes that he’s benefited from experiences and environments that aren’t available to everybody. But he’s also seized opportunities when they’re available. In high school, he asked a friend’s dad if he could work at the man’s car dealership during his summer holidays. Through this, Aaron was able to learn the ins and outs of car sales, which eventually led to him co-founding CarLotz. He and his co-founders strove to make CarLotz a different kind of dealership, for customers and employees alike. Those changes quickly proved to be beneficial for business; but more than the numbers, Aaron is proud of the culture they created. 

“The real impact to me was felt when you saw the difference.”

Now, Aaron’s written a book, structured in stories - an homage to his grandpa - and hopes to reach young people through it so that they can learn from his experiences. He’s also working on himself, practicing patience, and focusing on the journey rather than the destination.

For a man with such a calm, even presence, Hai’s life began with a lot of turbulence. When he was very young, and with the fall of Saigon, he and his family fled Vietnam. It was a dangerous journey to get to America, and one that took longer than anticipated, but fortunately, he and his family made it safely to Pennsylvania. While he only remembers the journey through the stories told by his older relatives, Hai does believe that the experience was a formative one.

“Now, as I’m older and hopefully wiser, I look back and it does give me a lot of strength. When I’m going through something tough, I think back at what my parents went through and it doesn’t seem to measure in comparison.”

Listen to this episode to discover how Hai and his opposites-attract business partner have worked together to create a meaningful culture at Text-Em-All. Plus, get an insight into Hai’s enthusiasm for being an amateur and how being humbled by learning something new helps to open up his worldview. 

Massimo’s path to leadership was not a straightforward one, and was heavily influenced by his struggles with dyslexia growing up. As he says, “that challenge both motivated me and put a chip on my shoulder.”

Despite having a supportive family, he felt “othered” in school, and so, understandably, his relationship with academia was fraught with resistance. After entering and then dropping out of college, he picked up several jobs which led him to his curiosity in psychology and how teams organize themselves. He then went on to get an undergraduate degree in Psychology, and a master’s degree in Organizational Behavior Psychology. This eventually led to his passion for working with leaders to fulfill their potential, and practice self compassion.

Listen to this episode to discover the three components of self compassion Massimo lives by, and how, when his own leadership was viewed negatively, he took the time to look internally at how he could improve himself for his own benefit, and that of his team. 

When Valerie first stepped into the role of president in a new company, she took it upon herself to meet with every employee for a one-to-one conversation within the first 30 days. For her, trust is one of the most important aspects of being a good leader and building a successful team.

Even though Valerie is still fairly new to her current position, she’s had a long road of ups and downs that have led her to be a formidable and compassionate leader. From being one of the youngest of seven siblings, to deciding early on that she did not want to fit into the mold of working in the automotive industry like most in her Metro-Detroit community, Valerie knew since high school that she wanted to carve out a career that gave her purpose.

Fast forward to now, and she’s doing just that. Valerie talks to Paul about the eight dimensions of wellness that HealthWorks both embodies and promotes, as well as the challenges she faces, being the leader of a growing organization. But her biggest message of all is that nobody knows what lies ahead, and to keep turning every corner, because you never know what you’ll learn along the way. 

After working for other software companies with poor culture, Eric decided to take matters into his own hands and start his own company. 25 years later, WEBIT Services is a Better Business Bureau accredited company, and has made it onto the Inc. Best Workplaces list.

“There’s harmony and vision and unity with the leadership team, which then translates down to the rest of the company,” says Eric. “The gears are really starting to align, and we’re gaining traction because of it.”

Eric moved his company to open book management in 2016, and as of last year, transformed WEBIT into an ESOP. He wanted to make sure that he had an exit strategy in place that would benefit the people who have made his company a success over the years. 

“My purpose for starting the company was to help make lives better, not enrich my own pockets.” 

With the help of mentors, peer groups, and being involved in therapy, Eric has come to recognize the impact his parents have had on both his personal and professional life, both good and bad. His father was a huge positive influence in his early life. As a truck driver (that’s ‘transportation engineer’ to you) with very little education, Eric’s father broke down stereotypes and took great pride in the role his job had in maintaining the country’s economy. And he did this all while upholding his morals and being generous with those around him. Eric’s mother, on the other hand, was a narcissist who expected perfection, and it took Eric some time to realize that he was perpetuating that onto his colleagues and employees, and so had to make a change to end the cycle. 

Eric’s life has been full of instances when he’s had the courage to take action. From cutting ties with his mother, to taking control of his health after an unwelcome diagnosis, to forming the ESOP, Eric has learned the importance of taking care of oneself in order to take care of others. 

In this episode, listen as Eric discusses with Paul how WEBIT makes technology that works for people (not the other way around), the importance of both mental and physical health to be the best leader possible, and being conscious of making both ‘yes’ and ‘no’ decisions.

“My trajectory in life was never to start a business, or even to lead a business,” says Andy. “I was always motivated by my own curiosity and making things, that’s what always made me tick.”

This curiosity for learning was instilled in Andy at an early age. He was homeschooled by his mother all the way through high school, which gave him the flexibility to really dive into topics that he was most curious about. One of these was computers, which led him to intern, and later work at a local dialup internet company. It was there that he learned the fundamentals of computers and software, and where he met three friends who ended up being his co-founders in eventually creating Nutshell.

One of these friends, Guy Suter, was CEO until other business ventures took more of his time. They then brought in a CEO from the outside, and just a couple of years ago, Andy stepped into the role. He claims that even ten years at the company didn’t fully prepare him for the responsibilities, but that his passion for continued learning and for helping people through his problem-solving are what drive him on his leadership journey.

“The reason I ended up starting companies and being a part of them in early stages was because of what I like doing, and that was solving problems, and often for businesses.”

Andy had the impeccable timing of becoming CEO just a couple months before the start of the pandemic, which has brought about its own challenges and questions, such as the concept of remote work after having developed a strong office culture over the past decade. But Andy said it’s also allowed them the space to hunker down and develop new products, and start redeveloping their company vision. Some things that Andy will always keep at the core of his leadership and of Nutshell, is the integrity of their products, and developing people with potential. After all, the owner of the dialup internet company back in his hometown took a chance of Andy based solely on potential. 

“When you find someone who is interested in what you’re doing, and you treat them well, and they stick around because they’re excited about the mission and what’s happening, you can go far.”

In this episode, listen as Andy tells Paul about his early days of getting into the world of CRM when it was just beginning, how his lifelong curiosity led to him being an accidental entrepreneur, and why everything at Nutshell starts with a well-designed product. 

At a glance, Kate’s road may be a very windy one. From being an avid dancer as a child, to training as a scientist and living in places like remote Alaska to conduct fieldwork, to now being at the helm of a rapidly growing candy company, Kate has worn a lot of hats in her life. But to her, these transitions haven’t been huge leaps, but rather, stepping stones.

After Kate’s husband, Jason, a fellow scientist, lost his job in 2008, he started making caramel in his kitchen, working with sugar molecules to stabilize the candy rather than using preservatives. Before long, it turned into a family business.

“It’s easy to look back now, and see we had this itch to step into the business world to be makers,” says Kate. “Once Jason had this amazing formulation… it was not a huge step to taking it to markets.”

In this episode, listen as Kate discusses with Paul how she and her husband successfully run a business together, how their scientist background prepared them to have an innovation mindset in their company, and how recently creating a human-centric vision for McCrea’s has gotten her excited for their future. 

For Angela, all roads lead to making an impact. Growing up, she observed how her separated parents both struggled financially to navigate a society that didn’t allow them access to resources or knowledge. This, along with her love for math and the stories from her activist grandmother, Maria Elena Lucas, set Angela on a clear path. She wanted to work in finance, but she wanted to do it differently. She wanted to make the industry accessible for people of all different socioeconomic backgrounds.

After years of traversing the industry to understand how it worked from the inside out, and then more time researching and developing, Angela and her team launched Revalue Investing in 2013. They are a boutique investment firm, with three types of clients: entrepreneurs, multigenerational inheritors, and individuals who have been otherwise excluded from the industry and want to gain financial literacy. No matter how much or how little wealth they are handling, each of Revalue Investing’s clients chose the firm because they are a socioeconomic inclusive business. 

“We’re just one little mark on the map and we try to have the best impact we can.”

In this episode, listen to Angela tell Paul how she and her team prioritize mental health so they can be the best advisors to their clients, what she learned (or didn’t) from working within a traditional firm, and how she believes the sharing of knowledge is one of the most important ways she can make an impact. 

As a self-proclaimed product of Affirmative Action, from an early age Mel understood not only that his presence as a black man in professional settings was met with negative perceptions, but also that the intentionality of inclusion offered him opportunities that the systems in this country would not have naturally led to. After a successful career at IBM, earning his PhD, and starting several other companies, Mel went on to lead TriVersity Construction, which is a consistent member of the Deloitte 100 list of the largest privately owned companies. 

After writing eight business books relating to his PhD in entrepreneurship focused on African Americans, Mel felt compelled to contribute to the social justice movement with his book Dear White Friend (in which he intentionally left out his PhD). Through a series of letters to his white friends, Mel cites extensive research and data to support his own sentiments around race, and how our country’s history and systems have led us to this point in history, but has not prepared us for it. As he says, “If we can’t figure out how to talk about what we’re feeling and experiencing and what we see, how can we hope to solve it?”

In this episode, hear Mel tell Paul his approach to this book and what kind of impact he hopes it can have on future discussions around race. Plus, hear how Mel’s parents helped prepare him to be a successful leader, and what his definition of success is for his company.

Listen to Mel’s story below: 

Starting with a computer science degree, Conni had a steady career in the corporate tech world. But she was feeling uninspired, unhappy, and, in her own words, “I was pretty much just un.” After a self-proclaimed “early mid-life crisis at 35,” she left her job to start her own business. What began as making one-of-a-kind art in her garage has grown into a multi-million dollar company selling joyously colorful handbags, as well as the mission “make today ridiculously awesome!”.

In this episode, Conni explains how hearing many “no’s” helped her to understand her values even more, the personal importance of working with artisans in Mexico, and the strength that empathy has given her throughout her life. After you listen, head on over to the Consuela website for some accessory eye candy and heartwarming messages.

Like all of us, Torey and his colleagues at ASLA were deeply impacted by the murder of George Floyd last summer. "The 8 minutes and 46 seconds murder of George Floyd brought ASLA — and the world, quite frankly — to a full stop and reminded us all that the road to a more just and fair society is long and winding," says Torey. 

If the events of the last year taught us anything, it's that unexpected things happen and as business leaders, we need to be prepared for them. Right now, many leaders in the Small Giants Community are facing more questions than answers, especially when it comes to the economy and financial planning.

That's why we’re doing a special mailbag episode to answer your questions about how Small Giants can expect the best and prepare for the unexpected in the year ahead. Listeners of this podcast submitted their questions and we've invited special guest Mackey McNeill to lend her expertise.

Mackey is a Small Giants Community Summit sponsor and those who registered early will receive a copy of her book Prosperity Playbook. Want to learn from and meet inspiring purpose-driven leaders like Mackey?

Register for the 2021 Small Giants Community Summit where you'll connect with hundreds of purpose-driven business leaders for meaningful relationship sharing and interactive learning.

Under Jim's leadership, Phire Group delivers complete research and brand strategy along with creative and comprehensive digital and traditional capabilities to uncover a brand’s full potential. Jim founded Phire Group when he was just twenty-six years old, and over the years Jim has done a complete 180 on his approach to leadership, business and life.

In this conversation, hear how KO uses an in-depth, eight-week onboarding program to train cohorts of gang members and second-chance hires in the life, social, business and beer skills they'll need to be successful. Plus, Paul and KO discuss the importance of beliefs in leadership development and how we can challenge others — and ourselves — to build more just, equitable and inclusive communities.

Want to learn meet inspiring purpose-driven leaders like Khalilah? Register for the 2021 Small Giants Community Summit where you'll connect with hundreds of purpose-driven business leaders for meaningful relationship sharing and interactive learning.

The Small Giants movement began in 2003 when author Bo Burlingham wrote an article for Inc. magazine dubbing Zingerman’s The Coolest Small Company in America. The idea to start a community for like-minded, purpose-driven business leaders took root from there, when a group of leaders gathered at Zingerman's deli to try its famous corned beef sandwiches and to see for themselves what made this small company so special. 

In this conversation, hear Zingerman's origin story from a founder's perspective and hear how Ari and his co-founder, Paul Saginaw, used visioning to transform their business. Plus, hear Ari's reflections on the 12 natural laws of business they've uncovered in their decades of success running Zingerman's community of businesses.

Want to learn more from one of the most revered Small Giants leaders around? Register for the 2021 Small Giants Community Summit where Ari will give a keynote about what it takes to be a Small Giant today.

Purchase Ari's latest work, "Humility: A Humble, Anarchist Inquiry" and other resources when you sign up for e-news from Zingerman's community of businesses.

On this encore episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Jay Wilkinson, founder and CEO of Firespring, an inside-out marketing agency and Nebraska's first B Corp. Firespring is also a 2020 Forbes Small Giant.

With a team of more than 200 employees, Jay spends most of his time working on the culture at Firespring and helping leaders in other companies become purpose-driven. But in the early 2000s, Jay experienced a pivotal moment in his life and career when he was fired as CEO of his own company. In the wake of the September 11th attacks and the economic decline that followed, his board of directors wanted him to fire more than half of their staff. When Jay refused, they fired him from the very company that he built.

In this encore episode, hear how Jay recovered from that experience and managed to buy out the venture capitalists on his board and rebuild the company. Plus, hear Paul and Jay discuss how to care for introverts on your team, starting from the very first interview.

When Bo Burlingham published Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big, he didn't know he was starting a movement. In the years since, entrepreneurs around the world and from across industries have picked up the Small Giants book and had a lightbulb moment.

Even more, these entrepreneurs felt a sense of relief in discovering that there were other leaders out there who also believed in a different way of doing business: putting people and purpose before profits. Not long after, the Small Giants Community formed to bring these leaders together to learn and grow with purpose.

Those involved with the Small Giants Community today are familiar with Bo's writing and the inspiring ideas he explores in his books, but what you might not know is Bo's storied journey into business journalism. Bo has always had a spirit of curiosity, and in college, he was drawn into many of the radical movements of the 1960s and 1970s. But his counterculture ideals didn't last forever — eventually, Bo wound up working at Fidelity Investments, before moving into a role as a founding editor at Inc. Magazine. Although much has changed for Bo over the years, his values never have.

In this special episode with the Small Giants author and co-founder, hear Bo's reflections on what makes a company great and what the future holds for Small Giants companies. Plus, hear Paul and Bo revisit how they first met and what their relationship has meant to them over the years.

Delcie Bean started the company that became Paragus when he was only 13 years old. Although he didn't flourish in the traditional school environment, he found great success in entrepreneurship at an incredibly young age. By his high school years, Delcie's business required an office space and employees of its own to meet client demand.

Today, Paragus has become one of the most successful, fastest-growing IT firms in the region and was named a 2020 Forbes Small Giant: Best Small Companies in America.

Over the years, Delcie has worked hard to build a culture defined by fostering fun for employees and customers, a spirit of transparency, and humility. But that has also meant making tough decisions about transitioning out people who no longer fit the culture, and knowing when the organization has outgrown its talent.

Delcie also believes in giving back to his employees: Paragus has a unique Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) structure that puts ownership of 40 percent of the company in the hands of its 50-plus employees. 

In this episode, hear Delcie's (very) early experiences in entrepreneurship and how he built the award-winning culture at Paragus today. Plus, hear Paul and Delcie discuss the hardest failure Delcie has ever lived through and what he learned from it.

Smiley Technologies, Inc. (STI), is a group of entrepreneurial, service-centric software developers and support staff in Central Arkansas, with business practices and traditions that recall those who ushered in the first big wave of bank technology innovation a half century ago. Smiley Technologies is also a 2020 Forbes Small Giant: Best Small Companies in America.

Although Elizabeth co-founded the business with her brother seventeen years ago, she never envisioned herself as CEO. A self-described bleeding heart, she worked in non-profits and gravitated to positions where she could be in service to others and help them succeed.

When she had the opportunity to become CEO of Smiley, she was reluctant — she thought she cared far too much to become CEO. But she took a leap of faith and accepted the role, drawing inspiration on her father's example of purpose-driven leadership that she witnessed growing up. Today, Elizabeth is a compassionate, servant leader leading a successful and profitable business. 

In this episode, hear how Elizabeth challenged her own beliefs about leadership to realize she was built to become a CEO. Plus, hear Paul and Elizabeth discuss what the role of a leader really is: to help create success for other people.

Small Giants Leadership Academy graduate Travis Slisher interviews Paul about his life journey and shares with Paul the impact of the Small Giants Scholarship Fund, which allowed him to embark on a journey to grow as a leader.

Travis has a story that many emerging leaders can identify with: he believes in a different, more purposeful style of leadership but he often feels isolated in his beliefs. Where could he find training and mentorship that aligned with his values and would give him the tools to grow himself and his organization?

"Then I discovered this community that I didn't know existed in Small Giants," says Travis. "I found what I was looking for here, and then Paul invested in me personally through the Small Giants Scholarship Fund. I want to thank him from the bottom of my heart."

Travis is the inaugural recipient of the Small Giants Scholarship Fund, which connects emerging leaders to the funds they need to complete the Small Giants Leadership Academy and become certified Small Giant leaders. As Travis' graduation approached, he asked for the opportunity to interview Paul — who seeded the Scholarship Fund — about his own leadership beliefs and lessons learned.

This episode is a rare opportunity to hear directly from our co-founder about his early days building a business with his brothers, which eventually became BerylHealth, why he started the Small Giants Community, and the endeavors that give him a sense of purpose today.

Paul also shares formative family stories — like his father's experience leaving Poland right before Hitler invaded — and his urgent advice to people of all ages: if you're not fulfilled by the life you're in right now, do not settle. 

In this episode, Travis has the opportunity to talk to the person who founded the Community that is impacting his life today and ask anything he wants. They cover everything from mindfulness to firing clients to the current movement for racial justice.

Over the last 25 years, Lisa Wise’s professional experiences have all been anchored in empowering individuals as consumers, building stronger communities, and creating forward-thinking businesses. Growing up surrounded by love but short on resources, Lisa began seeking security by building businesses from a young age, starting with her first enterprise, The Sherlock Holmes Detective Agency in her parents' backyard toolshed.

Today, Lisa's leadership is defined by vulnerability, humility, and a fierce passion for justice for all people. With our country in the midst of a global pandemic, an economic crisis and widespread protests for racial justice, Lisa is stepping up in this moment with bold and unapologetic leadership, personal sacrifices, and a commitment to caring for her team members. 

In this episode, hear how Lisa has cultivated a circle of growth in her companies that puts employees first. Plus, hear Paul and Lisa discuss how to raise conscious children and the one thing they think parents get wrong about college.

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Jay Wilkinson, founder and CEO of Firespring, an inside-out marketing agency and Nebraska's first B Corp. Firespring is also a 2020 Forbes Small Giant.

With a team of more than 200 employees, Jay spends most of his time working on the culture at Firespring and helping leaders in other companies become purpose-driven. But in the early 2000s, Jay experienced a pivotal moment in his life and career when he was fired as CEO of his own company. In the wake of the September 11th attacks and the economic decline that followed, his board of directors wanted him to fire more than half of their staff. When Jay refused, they fired him from the very company that he built.

In this episode, hear how Jay recovered from that experience and managed to buy out the venture capitalists on his board and rebuild the company. Plus, hear Paul and Jay discuss how to care for introverts on your team, starting from the very first interview.

On this episode of the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Emily Tetto, Vice President of Talent and Culture at Acceleration Partners.

Emily is also a Small Giants Leadership Academy facilitator, lending her expertise on how to hire and onboard top talent to emerging purpose-driven leaders. Early in her career, Emily worked in event planning and management, but she's always had a passion for people. As she moved into talent development, Emily realized that company culture is an event in itself: it's a living, breathing thing that takes intention and expertise to get right.

In this episode, hear Paul and Emily discuss the expertise she's developed in her career and how she finds and develops top talent for Acceleration Partners.

Blair Kellison made the best decision in 1995 by taking a 70 percent pay cut to leave the corporate world and take a job at a mission-driven, vegetarian tea company. As a four-time non-founder CEO, Blair has a reputation for being able to go into companies and transition them from a traditional, command-and-control style of leadership to a collaborative, values-driven team approach.

At Traditional Medicinals, Blair has helped grow the company from 60 employees to 200, and they recently surpassed $100 million in revenue. More importantly, Blair has finally found his passion: both working in the mission-driven, health food space and in helping others find their own passions. A deeply purpose-driven person, Blair is committed to making every person at Traditional Medicinals feel cared for and seen as an individual, and he's teaching founders and other leaders how to do the same.

In this episode, hear Paul and Blair discuss the key differences between founders and CEOs, and how leadership is an ongoing commitment to doing better than the day before. Plus, hear Blair's inspiring advice for those still looking for their passion, and his personal promise to help you find it. 

The coronavirus pandemic has ushered in a new wave of fear and uncertainty: about our own health and the health of our loved ones, our safety, and our economic security. For entrepreneurs and business owners, there's tremendous pressure to make the right decisions to navigate this crisis successfully. In this candid conversation, Jack and Paul draw on their personal wisdom as purpose-driven leaders to share an action plan for business owners who want to do right by their employees, customers, and communities. As entrepreneurs, we all share a certain amount of resiliency and creativity — it's those same skills that will help us pull through this crisis and come out stronger for it.

In this episode, hear Paul and Jack discuss what good communication looks like during a crisis. Plus, learn how to get started with a culture of transparency and empower your people to think like business owners.

Tom is a founding member of the Small Giants Community and has served as a Small Giants Leadership Academy facilitator to share his expertise with emerging leaders in the Small Giants Community. Throughout his life, Tom was a painfully shy, introverted person. He never wanted to be a leader, but he found himself thrust into the role time and time again. Despite his best efforts to remain #2, Tom became an entrepreneur when he opened his first restaurant business. Today, Tom is founder and Chief Culture Officer at Tasty Catering, and he has participated in the startup of 32 companies and acquired three others.

In this episode, hear longtime friends Paul and Tom discuss the most pivotal moments of Tom's career, including the moment when a group of employees confronted him about his leadership style and said that if he didn't change, they were leaving.

Most of us know that emotional intelligence is an important skill in leadership — but is it a skill that can be learned? Raman Chadha's life work is dedicated to answering that very question. Raman was the founding director of DePaul University’s entrepreneurship center where he was also on faculty. Today, Raman is the founder and Managing Partner of the Junto Institute, where he spends his time developing programs for growth-stage Founders and CEOs. Raman's teaching philosophies are rooted in purpose, love, and the belief that human beings have an unlimited capacity to flourish. 

In this episode, hear Paul and Raman discuss how much more fulfilling work is when you let emotions and purpose lead the way. Plus, hear Raman's practical advice for identifying emotional intelligence in others and how people can learn to be more effective leaders. 

In this episode, hear Adam talk with host Paul Spiegelman about how he fell into the world of publishing and why he believes that all entrepreneurs should write books. Plus, hear Adam's perspective on how companies can grow fast without compromising on culture. 

In this episode, hear the compelling story of Bryan's accident and what it taught him, and the mission-driven lifestyle brand it inspired. Plus, learn Bryan's approach to corporate philanthropy and his advice for like-hearted entrepreneurs who want to do well and do good.

Dan Sachs started out with a push broom on the factory floor of his dad's manufacturing business. Not long after, he started working at Union Square Cafe, one of the restaurants owned by the famed, purpose-driven restaurateur Danny Meyer. Dan's time at the restaurant made a huge impact on him: the owners genuinely cared about each and every employee, and Dan felt inspired to treat every customer that walked in the same way. When Dan went on to open his own restaurant in Chicago years later, he took the same principles he learned there and used it to build a high-end, informal restaurant experience that people would love. Today, Dan is taking his lessons learned on building a service-oriented, purpose-driven hospitality business and teaching it to students, emerging entrepreneurs and peers in his field.

In this episode, learn Dan's principles for building a great culture and why he believes it to be universal across industries. Plus, hear Paul and Dan discuss Paul's own recent venture into the restaurant business and Dan's practical advice for building a sustainable business in the tough restaurant industry.

After graduating from Harvard University with a degree in economics, Chris felt compelled to get out into the real world and make an impact. In 2002, he abandoned his previous plans to start a career on Wall Street and instead took a job at Rustic Pathways, a global leader in community service travel for students. Charged with opening the company’s first program in Costa Rica, Chris transformed the new site into its most popular program, and worked his way up from there. After serving the company in nearly every capacity, Chris became CEO of Rustic Pathways in 2014.

In this episode, hear about Chris’s model for building a high-performance, impactful culture that all team members rally around. Plus, hear Paul and Chris discuss the benefits of taking a gap year before college, and the importance of following your passion, one step at a time.

The Indigo Road Hospitality Group operates more than 20 restaurants across the Southeast region of the United States, and in 2019 it was named one of Forbes' 25 best small companies in America. Palmer's career in hospitality began at the age of 13, when he washed dishes at a local Chinese restaurant. From there, he climbed the ranks and worked in several other restaurants and positions — which led to a problem all too common in hospitality: substance abuse. After battling an alcohol and cocaine addiction for ten years, Palmer went to rehab and found the road to recovery. Now 18 years sober, he's made it his life's mission to change the conversation in the restaurant industry and create space for others to find sobriety. 

In this episode, hear the deeply personal story of Steve's substance abuse support group, Ben's Friends, and the sobriety movement it has inspired in ten cities. Plus, host Paul Spiegelman talks to Steve about his own recent venture into the restaurant industry and the challenges and opportunities of building positive cultures in hospitality.

Nobody can be prepared for loss, but Camille's leadership and compassion helped employees, customers, and the community cope and find a new path forward. In this episode, hear how Camille used values to navigate those challenges, and the customer-centric strategy that is driving Gongos' success today.

As a teenager volunteering at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, Ty was exposed to the sport of flatwater kayaking for the first time. That was the start of what became a decade-long career: Ty eventually grew into a world-class kayaker and was even an Olympic hopeful in 2004. But there comes a time when every athlete must retire, and when Ty hung up his paddle, he decided to return to earlier passions that he'd abandoned. An introvert with a passion for art, design, and engineering, Ty founded Trig in 2008. After years of running the business solo, he shifted his focus to building a team of aligned, inspired individuals and committed to a 100% virtual model. Changing the current isn't always easy, but it's a life skill that Ty has mastered better than most. 

After a decade as a world-class athlete, Ty realized that the same principles of discipline, processes, pragmatism, and persistence that are required for sport can also be applied to teams that lead innovation results. In this episode, you'll hear how Ty's lifelong curiosity allowed him to build an award-winning, virtual design firm. 

After more than 15 years of ministry experience as a Senior Pastor, William Vanderbloemen came up with the idea to bring the best practices of executive search to faith-based organizations. Prior to his founding Vanderbloemen, William studied executive search under a mentor with over 25 years of executive search at the highest level. Realizing that many churches struggled to find and retain leadership, he brought the idea to his faith community and challenged them to do things differently. But bringing new ideas to the church isn't always an easy process — hear how William created buy-in and built what would become a 2018 Forbes Small Giant: Best Small Companies in America.

In this episode, you'll hear William's early lessons learned from an arch nemesis on his paper route, the nine cultural values that define his company, and William's lifelong habit of blowing stuff up.

Kornel Grygo grew up in Poland until he moved to the United States at the age of ten. His childhood was defined by working hard and taking responsibility, two traits that would serve him well as he climbed the ranks at Tasty Catering. Kornel originally came to Tasty Catering as a front-line employee over a decade ago, working as a brand ambassador and a delivery driver. Kornel was a perfect match for Tasty's values-based, high-performing culture and the company continually invested in his growth and development — even enrolling him in a leadership development program with the Small Giants Community in 2016. Earlier this year, Kornel was named CEO of Tasty Catering.

In this episode, Kornel shares his early lessons on leadership and explains how Tasty's strong culture helped make his transition to CEO successful. 

Growing up, Courtney Kingston's imagination was constantly captured by her family's 100-year-old cattle ranch in Chile. In the early 1900s, her great grandfather settled on the land, and five generations of Kingstons have since grown up on the farm. Eager to make her own mark on the family legacy, Courtney wrote a business plan to plant a vineyard in the far western hills of the family farm. They planted their first grapevines in 1998 and in 2003, they made 400 cases of Pinot Noir and Syrah under the Kingston Family label. 

It sounds like the stuff of dreams, and much of the time it is. But every business faces challenges, and every leader has lessons they learned the hard way. In this episode, Courtney shares her trials and tribulations, from earning a spot as one of the best wineries in Chile to her mental health struggles during her family's move to Santiago. Through it all, hear how hard work, trusting relationships, and a grounding purpose helped guide the way. 

Susan started her first business at age 17, when she boldly went against her parents' wishes and started her own company instead of attending college. For years, Susan had known that her life's purpose was to develop human capacity and share love, particularly for children and families in at-risk communities. Fresh out of high school, she started Susan's Playpen and became the youngest licensed daycare provider in Massachusetts. That humble daycare she started as a teenager grew to become Susan's first multi-million dollar company, inspiring her to forge ahead and start more companies built to do well and do good. Today, Susan oversees a family of organizations that impacts the lives of countless humans and changes the landscape of organizations around the globe.

In this episode, hear how Susan embeds humanity and a shared vision across multiple organizations and the tools they use to grow with purpose. 

For twenty-three years, Kris Maynard has been at the helm of Essential Ingredients, building it into one of the most successful Small Giants companies around. With $114 million in revenue, 84 employees, and more growth around the corner, it's no wonder Essential Ingredients was named one of 2017's Forbes Small Giants. And although Essential Ingredients is in the chemical business, Kris truly believes that they don't sell chemicals — they sell relationships. So why did Kris walk into a room in 2011 and tell his employees that he had sold the business? (Hint: it's not what you think!)

In this episode, hear Kris' journey from humble Midwestern beginnings to falling in love in Russia and ultimately, to purpose-driven leadership.

Equal Exchange is the oldest and largest fair-trade coffee company in the U.S. and one of the most successful worker-owned cooperatives in the country. Driven by its core principle of people over profit, the co-op has over 120 worker-owners, each with an equal stake — and an equal vote — in the business. From open-book management to an energizing core purpose, Equal Exchange has established itself as one of the most inspiring examples of a Small Giant in the business world today.

In this episode, hear how Rob first fell into activism as a high schooler and the path that led him to join forces with Equal Exchange. Plus, Rob explains in simple terms how worker cooperatives function and the ins and outs of employee ownership under this model. 

Anisa started her company in 1992 at a time when men held most leadership positions in the cosmetics industry. In fact, Anisa International is the only female-owned brush manufacturer in the world. For fifteen years, Anisa worked hard to prove herself and hold her own in a male-dominated industry — and that meant taking a tough approach to leadership. But as the company took off, Anisa realized that she had built something worth growing, and she couldn't do it alone. 

In this episode, hear how Anisa learned to become a more authentic, purpose-driven leader after years of traditional leadership. Plus, take a look inside Anisa International's award-winning culture and how she's transforming the brush manufacturing industry. 

Today on the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Dan Kenary, CEO and Co-Founder of Harpoon Brewery, a Boston-based craft brewery. Harpoon Brewery was founded in 1986 on a strong foundation of values and mission. Today, Harpoon Brewery is a shining example of a Small Giant — the company has nearly $60 million in revenue and is employee-owned through an ESOP (employee stock ownership program). For Dan, it all comes down to embracing a principles-first approach that puts people at the center of the business. As Harpoon Brewery sets its sights on achieving a second ESOP transaction, learn the strategies and systems that help keep the business on track and empower employees to feel and act like owners.

In this episode, hear how Harpoon Brewery brings its company motto "Love Beer. Love Life" to life through mission-driven ownership and strategic commitment to core values.

Today on the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Elizabeth Colón, President & CEO of Metaphrasis, a comprehensive interpreting and translation company. Elizabeth grew up in a Spanish-speaking home with five siblings, two of whom had hearing issues. From an early age, Elizabeth was tasked with adult responsibilities, like translating medical information for her parents and speaking up for her siblings. Today, Elizabeth has transformed her early challenges into a business dedicated to providing high-quality translation services that incorporate the culture and context necessary to provide meaningful communication across languages.

In this episode, hear how Elizabeth inspires those without hope to shift their mindset and make a change — and how other leaders can, too. 

Today on the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Megan Driscoll, CEO and Founder of PharmaLogics Recruiting, a Boston-based global recruiting firm exclusively focused in life sciences. Megan's career as an entrepreneur is defined by hard work, innovation, and bold decisions that showcase her strong values. Megan is a staunch supporter of female leadership in business and an advocate for wage transparency and equality. Her mission-driven firm is a prime example of the power of business to do good in the personal and professional lives of employees. 

In this episode, hear how Megan has learned to lead with her heart, not her head — and how she recently realized that meant it's time to exit her company.

Today on the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Michael Draper, Founder and Owner of RAYGUN, a clothing store headquartered in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. What started as Michael selling t-shirts on the streets of his college campus has grown into a $4 million business with 70 employees and four locations. For over a decade, Michael's authentic passion for what RAYGUN is all about has kept the business afloat, even in the face of financial crises and industry changes. 

In this episode, hear how Michael built a thriving clothing business with a history degree, no money, and no experience. 

Today on the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Tracy Dahlin, Owner and President of Iron River Construction, a women-owned, full-service Minneapolis contractor and remodeler. Although Tracy is a licensed contractor, insurance inspector and roof inspector, she frequently deals with looks of disbelief when a woman shows up on the construction site. Still, Tracy leveraged her confident leadership and competence in the industry to build a successful, fast-growing company built on transparency, autonomy and collaboration.

In this episode, hear how Tracy continues to check her own leadership and her vision for the future of the construction industry. 

Today on the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Lester Thornhill, President and CEO of Life's Abundance, a company that provides healthy products for people, pets, and the planet. Although he comes from an IT background, Lester has leveraged his unique perspective to build a people-driven culture that isn't tethered to traditional workplace practices. Not only is Life's Abundance an ESOP, they've also done away with the annual review and replaced it with monthly in-depth, personal self-evaluations.

In this episode, hear Lester's passionate approach to leadership and learn how he's cultivated a compassionate, high-performing company culture.

Today on the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with David Bolotsky, Founder and CEO of UncommonGoods, an online marketplace for designs and products by independent makers. David leads the company with a focus on long-term sustainability for the company, its employees, and the environment. A certified B Corp, UncommonGoods is leading the charge in companies who use business as a force for good.

In this episode, hear David's trials and tribulations as he learned to use positive leadership to cultivate a culture defined by learning, open-mindedness, and collaborative teamwork.

Today on the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Michael Spinosa, CEO of Unleashed Technologies, an award-winning design and development firm in Columbia, Maryland. Though Michael started out in the corporate world and found great success, he felt a pull to build a business with purpose. As he attempted to transition out of his career, he found himself running into major national crises, like the dot-com bubble burst after college and the housing crisis in 2007. How does a leader pave his own path amidst national unrest — and what does it take to reinvent yourself as a leader mid-career?

In this episode, hear how Michael built a culture of trust, fun, and accountability at Unleashed Technologies, and the greatest challenges he's faced on his journey to purpose-driven leadership. 

In this episode, hear how Ellyn balanced her family, her career, and her cancer diagnosis — and managed to become company president just three years later. 

In this episode, hear how Howard found the courage to start fresh and make a change, and his journey to purpose-driven leadership. 

Today on the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Besty Pepine, Broker-Owner of Pepine Realty. When Betsy first started Pepine Realty in 2010, she didn't think much about culture. After she lost a valued employee to a competitor with a great culture, Betsy committed to building an unbeatable culture for her organization, defined by strong relationships, learning and development, and community service. 

In this episode, hear how Betsy has continuously turned challenges into opportunities and stayed committed to culture in an industry that pulls in the opposite direction. 

Today on the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Zawadi Bryant, CEO of NightLight Pediatric Urgent Care. In 2007, Zawadi left the engineering world to tackle a new challenge: high-quality, convenient pediatric care for when other pediatric offices are closed. As Zawadi stepped into her new role as a leader, she became a student of her own experiences. She looked to her past bosses and managers to learn about effective leadership, bringing it all together to create her own identity as a leader. 

Eleven years later, NightLight Pediatric is thriving. The company has 115 employees, $10 million in revenue annually, and has multiple locations across the greater Houston area. Named one of Forbes' Small Giants: Best Small Companies in America in 2017, NightLight Pediatric differentiates itself in the competitive healthcare space by valuing their team and putting people at the center of the business. Their focus on culture and values is driving their financial results, making their team the leading indicator of their success.

In this episode, hear how Zawadi and her team have effectively executed a people-first culture despite the challenges of the industry, and learn how they're scaling their award-winning culture, even as they expand to multiple locations and grow the business. 

 Today on the Growing with Purpose podcast, host Paul Spiegelman talks with Askinosie Chocolate founder and CEO, Shawn Askinosie. Shawn started Askinosie Chocolate in 2006 after leaving a successful career as a criminal defense lawyer. Shawn is the only chocolate maker to work directly with cocoa farmers on four continents to source the beans used to make their chocolate. But it doesn't stop there — Shawn also extends the company's open-book management program to their partners; profit-sharing and translating company financials with each farmer.

Recently named one of Forbes' Small Giants: Best Small Companies in America, Askinosie Chocolate is sharing business ethics with the world through "Chocolate University," introducing students to the chocolate-making process and even taking a group to Tanzania every year. They also started a sustainability program that feeds 1,600 children a day in Tanzania and the Philippines, without ever collecting a single donation. In 2017, Shawn released a book with his daughter, Lawren Askinosie, about finding meaningful work that feeds your soul. 

From their factory and warehouse in Springfield, Missouri, Askinosie Chocolate is forging its own unique path to change the world through chocolate. In this episode, hear Shawn's ideas around reverse scale and deceleration, extending open-book management to company partners, and how entrepreneurship can help heal grief.

After building a successful career in Hollywood, Webb made the bold decision to leave the industry and start his own non-profit organization. Inspired by his family legacy, Webb started Jump! to help seniors achieve their dreams. Today, Jump! works with seniors and their families to prove that no matter your age, there's always more you can do and achieve. Whether it's helping seniors skydive, drive a racecar, or make blankets for the homeless, Jump! teaches us a powerful lesson about how we can reach out to the elderly members of our own families to create the best years of their lives.

If you believe there's life beyond the rocking chair, don't miss this inspiring, heartfelt conversation. 

This episode, Anese shares practical advice for how leaders can show up more powerfully and achieve more inspiring, sustainable impact. If you're interested in learning more about what influences your ability to show up for yourself, your family, and your employees, this conversation is for you.

Jon's passion for helping others began when he was just 18 years old and his father gave him Brian Tracy’s audiotape series called The Psychology of Success. Ever since, Jon knew deep down that he wanted to help others grow, but it wasn't until he faced his own mortality that he decided to chase his dreams. After a successful career in real estate, Jon decided to build a business around being himself. In 2015, he launched the Jon Dwoskin Experience to help businesses and people grow, focus, and effectively execute. 

On today's episode, Jon shares his raw, vulnerable life story and the important lessons on values, passion, and inner strength he's learned along the way.

After graduating, Larry continued helping his family run the business until he decided to try another path: crab fishing. For 12 years, Larry spent most of his time crab fishing in Alaska, saving up money to help grow the business. Through hard work and perseverance, Larry and his family have built a generational family business that is both the largest Independent Office Coffee Service (OCS) Operator in Washington and the largest Independent Operator/purchaser of the Starbucks I-Cup brewer in the nation.

On today's episode, Larry shares behind-the-scenes stories of building their company from the ground up, and the important lessons on trust, relationships, and growth he's learned along the way.