Interviews with CEOs and Entrepreneurs about the frameworks they are using to build and scale their businesses.
Episodes
Monday Oct 31, 2022
Monday Oct 31, 2022
Megan Nivens-Tannett is the founder and CEO of Flourish, an agency that helps businesses thrive through strategic marketing and public relations solutions. We discuss big-picture marketing, the benefits of having a strategic business partner, and how stupid questions challenge assumptions.
Time Stamps
[00:29] Megan's entrepreneurial journey
[04:45] Entrepreneurs need to be ready to make hard decisions
[06:19] Understanding the Flourish Communication Framework
[07:46] How to be intentional in your business
[11:55] The benefits of having a strategic growth partner
[14:04] Purposeful Business: What is it and how do you implement it?
[17:16] Why you need to invest in a purposeful business strategy
[18:06] Ways to tailor your offers according to key target markets
[21:24] Content Marketing: Stop selling and start helping
[23:42] How to make your content more credible
[26:11] Rethinking the idea of asking stupid questions
[30:47] Stupid questions challenge assumptions
[34:18] Parting thoughts
Links and Resources
Steve and Greg Cleary's Book: Pinnacle: Five Principles that Take Your Business to the Top of the Mountain
Flourishconsultingservices.com
Thursday Oct 27, 2022
Thursday Oct 27, 2022
Michael Marchese is the founder and CEO of Tempesta Media, a managed services provider specialized in performance driven content, social and influencer marketing programs for B2B businesses. We discuss how outsourced content creation works, how to measure content marketing ROI, and the use of technology in content creation.
Time Stamps
[00:30] Michael’s entrepreneurial journey
[04:10] How outsourcing content creation works
[07:05] Finding high-quality outsourced content creators
[09:24] How content creators create relevant content for clients
[11:22] Is AI the future of content creation?
[13:04] The Tempesta Media Bullseye framework
[16:33] Measuring content marketing ROI
[18:36] How to structure your content marketing efforts
[20:38] Why businesses are outsourcing content to managed service providers
[22:18] The most challenging obstacles of content marketing
[25:27] KPIs for measuring content effectiveness
[27:12] Technology use in content, social, and influencer marketing
[29:03] Parting thoughts
Links and Resources
Steve and Greg Cleary's Book: Pinnacle: Five Principles that Take Your Business to the Top of the Mountain
Michael’s LinkedIn
Monday Oct 24, 2022
Monday Oct 24, 2022
David McClellan is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Social Catfish, a company that helps consumers find lost personal connections and verify if people are really whom they say they are online. We discuss the challenges of hiring a marketing firm, the limits of being protected online, and having a realistic workload for your team.
Time Stamps
[00:29] Tips on how to become a productive procrastinator
[01:17] David’s entrepreneurial journey
[03:23] The challenge of hiring a marketing firm
[05:36] Why is the Pareto Principle so important in business?
[09:20] How to model anything using David’s SISEY framework
[11:10] How to figure out the 20% effort that will give you 80% results
[13:43] How to streamline your development and execution process
[15:27] Communication when you can’t deliver on a project
[17:01] Why you need a realistic workload for your team
[19:56] Understanding the limits of being protected online
[24:21] How to bootstrap a business David’s way
[28:26] The benefits of having a niche
[29:53] Parting thoughts
Links and Resources
Steve and Greg Cleary's Book: Pinnacle: Five Principles that Take Your Business to the Top of the Mountain
Social Catfish on Instagram
Thursday Oct 20, 2022
Thursday Oct 20, 2022
Michael DeLon is the President of Paperback Expert, a book publishing firm that helps business owners create and publish books in less than 24 hours of their time. We discuss how to create a book without writing a word, essential book marketing ideas, and what writing a book does to your credibility.
Timestamps
[00:27] Michael's entrepreneurial journey
[04:57] How to uncover the book hidden in your experience
[07:08] Why writing a book is an instant credibility upgrade
[10:08] How to create your book without writing a word
[12:16] Michael's book creation framework
[14:54] The Speak-to-Write process
[16:56] How to show up differently as an author
[18:49] Become an Amazon best-selling author
[22:03] Parting thoughts
Links and Resources
Steve and Greg Cleary's Book: Pinnacle: Five Principles that Take Your Business to the Top of the Mountain
Monday Oct 17, 2022
Monday Oct 17, 2022
Tania Luna is the co-founder and chair of LifeLabs Learning and the best-selling author of The Leader Lab: Core Skills to Become a Great Manager Faster. We talk about the making of a great leader, coaching as the most important skill in leadership, and how too much entrepreneurship can be a bad thing.
Timestamps
[00:42] Tania's entrepreneurial journey
[02:31] Tania's journey from science to running a business
[03:47] The difference between working in science and running a business
[06:09] Tania's CAMPS management blueprint
[09:07] The making of a great manager
[13:12] The Swiss Army knife of great managers
[16:35] Good leadership is about asking good questions
[17:37] Deblurring: How to turn ambiguous words into clear information
[19:17] The #1 step to leading with impact
[21:07] Why coaching is the most important skill in leadership
[23:58] Coaching is helping people extract wisdom from their own experience
[24:52] Are people born leaders, or can leadership be taught?
[26:55] The surprising truth about leadership
[29:12] Is too much entrepreneurship a bad thing?
[31:35] Parting thoughts
Links and Resources
Steve and Greg Cleary's Book: Pinnacle: Five Principles that Take Your Business to the Top of the Mountain
The Leader Lab: Core Skills to Become a Great Manager, Faster by Tania Luna
Thursday Oct 13, 2022
Thursday Oct 13, 2022
Kristopher Kluver is a former serial entrepreneur and the founder of Life on Your Terms, a coaching consulting firm that helps people redesign their life based on their definition of success. We talk about the four main pillars of a successful life, why you need to be unreasonable to be extraordinary, and how businesses can protect their primary asset.
Time Stamps
[00:45] Kristopher's entrepreneurial journey
[02:36] How to define what success means to you
[04:13] To feel successful, stop moving your goalpost
[07:21] The four quadrants in the Life on Your Terms model
[09:23] How to balance the four main pillars of a successful life
[11:43] Life Changing Goals and why they're essential for success
[15:42] Why you need to be unreasonable to be extraordinary
[18:08] How to deal with the saboteurs in your life
[22:07] The benefits of helping your employees achieve their life-changing goals
[23:33] Parting thoughts
Links and Resources
Steve and Greg Cleary's Book: Pinnacle: Five Principles that Take Your Business to the Top of the Mountain
Monday Oct 10, 2022
Monday Oct 10, 2022
Karla Singson is the CEO of Scalewind, a company that provides creative, tech, customer & admin support to companies that want to grow and scale without the hassles of HR, legal, and manpower management. We talk about the Distributing Growth framework, the scary part of growing a business, and factors to consider before outsourcing tasks.
Time Stamps
[00:46] Karla's entrepreneurial journey
[03:22] The 3 main aspects of Karla's business
[05:31] The Distributing Growth business framework
[08:30] Removing speed bumps in your business
[10:44] How to keep your employees connected to the company vision
[14:23] The scary part of growing a business
[17:35] Steps to finding the sweet spot for business growth
[19:47] The main misconceptions about outsourcing
[21:35] Difference between managed services & outsourcing
[24:28] Tips in setting expectations for outsourcing
[28:02] Parting thoughts
Links and Resources
Steve and Greg Cleary's Book: Pinnacle: Five Principles that Take Your Business to the Top of the Mountain
Karla's email: Karla@Scalewind.com
Book - Great by Choice by Jim Collins
Thursday Oct 06, 2022
Thursday Oct 06, 2022
Gleb Kuznetzov is the founder of Milkinside Design Studio and the Chief Design Officer of Brain Technologies, Inc, an AI and interface company that aims to reinvent computer interfaces and make software natural. We talk about the keys to a successful digital transformation, how to design lovable products, and reasons why startup founders must think big.
Time Stamps
[00:43] Gleb's entrepreneurial journey
[03:09] Gleb's move from Europe to The US
[05:01] Keys to a successful digital transformation
[09:12] The role of digital transformation in predictable business growth
[12:15] Gleb's Cube Framework for predictable business growth
[16:54] Understanding mass market products
[19:11] The consumer avatar for mass market products and services
[22:47] Benefits of building a business around your ideal customer avatar
[25:09] Gleb's advice to startup founders on how to scale their business
[27:15] Reasons why startup founders need to think big
[28:42] Gleb shares the inspiration behind his company's name Milkinside
[30:33] Parting thoughts
Links and Resources
Steve and Greg Cleary's Book: Pinnacle: Five Principles that Take Your Business to the Top of the Mountain
Follow Gleb on Twitter
Monday Oct 03, 2022
Monday Oct 03, 2022
Alexander Kunz is the CEO and co-founder of OP2 Labs, an INC. 5000 company that develops, manufactures, and sells innovative nutritional supplements under two brand names, Frog Fuel and Pro T Gold. We discuss the core competencies of a good leader, how to build a label-less organizational culture, and the process of manufacturing nutritional supplements.
Time Stamps
[00:32] Alexander's entrepreneurial journey
[05:12] Alexander starts contracting for government agencies
[08:31] What it's like working in the cybersecurity space
[12:41] The exposure of working for a global company
[14:52] What to do if you discover your company is breaking the law
[18:05] Understanding the target market for nutritional supplements
[20:33] The process of manufacturing nutritional supplements
[23:55] How to create a label-less culture in your organization
[28:36] Why we need to rethink the way we classify people
[32:12] Important things to remember when incentivizing employees
[35:30] Characteristics of a good leader
[37:03] Parting thoughts
Links and Resources
Steve and Greg Cleary's Book: Pinnacle: Five Principles that Take Your Business to the Top of the Mountain
Thursday Sep 29, 2022
Thursday Sep 29, 2022
David St. Germain is the Founder and CEO of Cactus Credit which helps people improve their credit profiles. He is also the author of Zero To Hero: 7 Simple Strategies for Creating the Life You've Always Wanted. We talk about upselling best practices, the drawbacks of too much innovation, and the role of environment in business success.
Time Stamps
[00:26] David's entrepreneurial journey
[02:52] How to double your company's revenue fast
[06:46] Ways to uncover upselling opportunities
[09:00] Benefits of upselling value to existing customers
[09:56] Why business owners need to focus more on what's probable
[12:22] Too much innovation can be a bad thing
[13:49] The role of environment in business success
[16:54] Goal setting: match your effort with your goal
[20:08] David's goal achieving system
[22:22] Parting thoughts
Links and Resources
Steve and Greg Cleary's Book: Pinnacle: Five Principles that Take Your Business to the Top of the Mountain
David's Book - Zero To Hero: 7 Simple Strategies for Creating the Life You've Always Wanted
David's LinkedIn