Why You’re Still Stuck in the Day-to-Day (And How to Break Free)

by faye.eScale Smart, Grow Fast PodcastPosted on Comments are Disabled

Why You’re Still Stuck in the Day-to-Day (And How to Break Free)

If you’re a founder or business leader still caught in the weeds—managing calendars, answering emails, and putting out fires—you’re not alone. But staying stuck in the day-to-day is not the cost of building a successful company.

In a recent episode of Scale Smart, Grow Fast, host Harley Green sat down with Ken Wimberly, founder of Laundry Luv and a serial entrepreneur with over two decades of experience. Ken has mastered the art of scaling with systems, service, and soul—without burning out.

Preferred listening on the go? Catch the full podcast episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Here’s what you’ll learn from his journey—and how you can apply it today.

🚧 The Trap: Doing Everything Yourself

Ken’s early entrepreneurial days were all hustle, no structure. Like many founders, he thought doing it all was the only way to succeed.

The breakthrough came when he realized: you can’t scale if you’re the bottleneck.

🧰 The Tools That Changed Everything

To escape the grind, Ken implemented the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)—a game-changing framework that helped him align his team, define roles, and lead with clarity.

He also built a powerhouse team of virtual executive assistants. One VA has been with him for over 12 years, helping run four different companies.

“If you don’t have an assistant, you are the assistant.” – Ken Wimberly

💡 Daily Huddles = Daily Clarity

Ken starts each day with a 15-minute huddle to align priorities and check in personally with his team. These meetings, inspired by Dan Martell’s Buy Back Your Time, are followed by focused 1-on-1s.

Short. Consistent. Game-changing.

🕒 Calendar Blocking = Time Ownership

Ken “weaponizes” his calendar using color-coded time blocks for deep work, family, strategy, and more. His VAs overlay this framework to protect his focus and maximize every hour.

📈 KPIs That Reflect Purpose

At Laundry Luv, impact is more than a buzzword—it’s a business metric. His team tracks:

  • 📚 Books given to kids
  • ❤️ Lives positively touched
  • 🛠️ Community engagement initiatives

Because when your business is built to serve, the profits follow naturally.

🔄 Want to Scale Without Burnout?

If you’re tired of being the bottleneck:

  • Build systems like EOS
  • Hire before you’re “ready”
  • Empower your team with clarity
  • Track what really matters
  • Start small—with a daily huddle

📬 Connect with Ken Wimberly

🔗 Learn more about Laundry Luv: https://www.laundryluv.com/
🔗 Connect with Ken and access free tools: https://www.kenwimberly.com/ 

Ready to stop drowning in daily tasks and start leading with focus?

💼 Book a discovery call with Workergenix and find your Ultimate Executive Assistant today.

Like what you read? Get weekly insights on scaling, efficiency, and profitability—straight to your inbox. Click here to subscribe.

Transcript

Harley Green:
Hey everybody. Welcome back to Scale Smart, Grow Fast. Today we’re going to talk about what if scaling a business didn’t mean burning out or compromising your values? Today’s guest, Ken Wimberly, is proof that growth doesn’t have to come at the cost of your soul. He’s the founder of Laundry Luv, a modern community-centered laundromat brand, and a serial entrepreneur who spent 20 years building scalable businesses rooted in legacy, leadership, and purpose. In this episode, you’ll learn how to systemize for freedom, lead with clarity, and grow a business that makes you proud. Ken, welcome to the podcast. Maybe you can tell us a little bit more about your background as an entrepreneur.

Ken Wimberly:
Hey Harley, thanks for having me. I’ve been looking forward to this. Entrepreneurially, it’s almost all I’ve ever done. I spent a short stint in the Navy in the middle of college. When I graduated, I had my first and only two jobs. One was in the insurance and investment business. From there, I launched a pizza startup. It wasn’t a full franchise, more like a quasi-licensed brand. It failed, oddly, because of real estate issues, which is ironic since I spent the next 20 years in real estate.

After that failure, I worked briefly for about a year as a GM at a restaurant. Then it was into the rest of my entrepreneurial career, which for decades was in the commercial real estate business. I started as a broker in land brokerage, then moved into investment sales. Through that, I got affiliated with the Keller Williams Network, ended up becoming a Keller Williams franchise owner, and started buying real estate. That led to buying a shopping center. We were looking for tenants and realized it would be ideal for a laundromat. We tried to find a laundromat operator and couldn’t, so my partners and I decided to become the operator ourselves. That was the beginning of Laundry Luv.

We wanted to do something different. Laundromats were often gross, dingy, unstaffed, not places for families. We wanted to be the opposite. We aimed to be the family-friendly laundromat—the Chick-fil-A of laundromats. So we created dedicated children’s play spaces in every location. We bring in books, promote childhood literacy, read to kids, and give away books. We do something for our communities every single month. It’s been a blessing—a way to make an impact, have purpose, and build a thriving business.

Harley Green:
That’s an amazing story. I love how it sounds like you learned from some of the challenges or failures that you faced early on, pivoted, took that knowledge, and then made it your special skill or unique advantage. I’d love to hear, what are some of the turning points you experienced with your approach to scaling business?

Ken Wimberly:
One of the most important is the team. Having the right people in the right seats doing the right things is imperative. We’ve got both a physical and virtual team. Virtually, we have team members from around the world. Physically, I’m in Fort Worth, Texas. My partner’s in Austin. We have team members and stores in multiple cities. COVID helped everyone embrace remote work and how to build remote teams. That’s been a game changer.

The other big thing is implementing EOS—the Entrepreneurial Operating System. Not just dabbling, but full-on implementation. We hired an EOS implementer who comes in quarterly. We use all the tools properly. It has streamlined our business, helped define the right seats, identify the right people, and assess whether they want the job, can do the job. It’s been a huge win.

Harley Green:
I love that you brought that up because one of the questions I was going to ask was what systems you use for your hybrid teams. You’ve got people all over the world and you answered it with EOS. That’s something we’ve also implemented. I also love how when we were coordinating this podcast, you immediately brought in one of your executive assistants. I’d love it if you could share your thoughts on leveraging executive assistants for founders and business leaders. A lot of people think it’s easier to do it themselves or don’t want to give up access to their inbox. What are your thoughts?

Ken Wimberly:
The first hire we need to make is the executive assistant. If you don’t have an assistant, you are the assistant. Managing your inbox alone is hours of time. My calendar too. That’s been harder for me to give away, but now during my morning huddle with my EA, I just say, “Davidson, add this, change this, move this meeting.” It saves so much time.

He coordinates everything. Instead of emailing back and forth to change a meeting, Davidson handles it. That alone saves hours. But there’s more—Davidson is a master at graphic design. That’s his core skill set. He handles my presentations, branding materials, and more. Right now, he’s building a brand book for Laundry Luv. He’s so good. Sure, I could do it, but it would take forever and wouldn’t be nearly as good. My time is better spent on deep thinking and vision for the company.

He also manages my social media. I was telling him yesterday—it’s like listening to my own voice when he posts. He watches my podcasts, listens to my language, and uses AI tools for clips. He’s become that good. Then there’s Melissa, my first VA hire 12 years ago. She’s now my wife’s primary EA. She’s been with us through four companies. Melissa and Davidson are like family to me. Every morning, we do a huddle: me, my wife, and our two VAs. We each share something we’re grateful for, then the three main priorities for the day, and if we need help. Then we go into our 1:1s—me with Davidson, my wife with Melissa.

We use Dan Martell’s “Buy Back Your Time” format. The 30-minute morning structure gets us aligned and moving fast. It’s been crucial. I can’t say enough about the importance of bringing on a VA or EA.

Harley Green:
I love that you brought up morning huddles and check-ins. Many people struggle with VAs because they don’t do regular check-ins. They treat them like a black box. I’m curious—what strategies or mindset shifts helped you build trust with your team and allow them to take ownership?

Ken Wimberly:
It’s an evolution. Like with any hire, they come in not knowing anything. They need to be trained. When I first hired Melissa, I wasn’t great at training her. But once I had an in-house admin take over her training, it got way better. When Davidson came on, Melissa trained him. Every team member needs proper training and oversight. The daily huddles are critical. I didn’t use to do them, but I’ve learned to implement them. I also R&D a lot—rip off and duplicate. If I see a model working, I adopt it.

My partner Skyler had another great system—Friday one-on-ones with each team member. It’s a check-in: how are they doing personally, with family, health, etc. If something’s wrong, that’s all we focus on—how to help. If things are good, we move on to weekly goals, what got done, communication, and support needs. It’s not robotic—I know the questions, and we have a natural conversation. Sometimes I lead, sometimes my wife. It builds a deeper relationship beyond just business.

Harley Green:
I’m glad you brought up checking in with employees on a personal level because so many times that side isn’t talked about. There’s often no natural opportunity to bring it up in traditional business meetings, and that can lead to negative performance, burnout, or turnover. As business owners, there are often simple solutions—time off, a small adjustment, support—that can make a huge difference. We’ve seen major improvement in our business by doing the same thing.

Speaking of balance and helping people, you’ve got a lot going on. In addition to Laundry Luv, you’re still active as a commercial real estate investor. How do you balance your time between your different endeavors?

Ken Wimberly:
The first thing I do is weaponize my calendar. Everything goes on it. If someone looked at my calendar, it might overwhelm them, but for me it creates clarity. I know exactly what I’m supposed to be doing at any given time. Most of my time is spent on Laundry Luv. We’re growing, franchising, building stores, and supporting franchisees, so it requires a lot of focus.

I still do real estate investments with partners, but I don’t do brokerage anymore. I do maintain referral relationships because people still see me as the real estate guy. Again, it all goes on the calendar. It’s color-coded—Laundry Luv, real estate, personal, family. Date nights with my wife are on there. My kids’ sports events are on there. Everything is intentional.

Davidson helps manage my calendar. He knows what’s coming in and how to prioritize it. I also mapped out what I call my ideal calendar. I took this from Dan Martell. I mapped out everything—from my early morning personal routine, workouts, family time, deep work blocks, and flex time.

Davidson has this overlay of my ideal calendar, so he knows not to schedule meetings during deep work time. That alone took a few hours to build, but once it was done, everything started flowing better.

Harley Green:
I love that. We do something similar with time blocking. How often do you revisit that ideal calendar? Do your priorities shift enough that you need to adjust it, or does it give you enough flexibility?

Ken Wimberly:
There’s enough flexibility built in. The reality of my calendar doesn’t always match the ideal perfectly. Some days require full-day commitments, travel, or discovery days. But the ideal calendar serves as a guide. When I’m traveling or in all-day meetings, that takes priority. Having a framework helps me return to balance faster.

Harley Green:
You mentioned EOS earlier, so I’m sure you’re big on KPIs. What are some of your favorite metrics that tell you when systems are working—or when something’s off?

Ken Wimberly:
EOS has been incredible for that. As a team, we defined the KPIs that truly matter. We revisit them annually to make sure they’re still relevant. For my role, it’s about pipeline—how many people are active and how many are moving toward meaningful engagement.

Because we’re community-focused, we also track impact. We track how many books each store gives away to children every week. We track how many lives we’ve positively touched. That wasn’t always on the scorecard, but we realized if it’s important, we should measure it. Our store managers report these numbers weekly, and it’s powerful.

Harley Green:
I’d love for you to share one of those stories—how you’ve impacted lives in the community and what effect that’s had on the business.

Ken Wimberly:
One example is our Thanksgiving dinner giveaway. We give $50 grocery gift cards so families can have a Thanksgiving meal. We hear stories every year from people who say they wouldn’t have had Thanksgiving dinner without it.

Every August, we do back-to-school backpack giveaways. With our vendors’ support, we provide hundreds of backpacks filled with supplies. Families line up outside the store. Kids are excited, parents are relieved. It’s incredibly meaningful.

Another story that always moves me involves Clay, our first store manager and now Director of Facilities. We call him the Minister of Love. One day, he noticed a customer who was visibly upset. The man was being evicted and his truck was broken down. Clay didn’t hesitate. He spent hours helping him move his belongings so they wouldn’t be lost. Clay is in his 60s, moving furniture without question. Stories like that happen every week. Sometimes it’s just showing up, seeing people, and doing something small that makes a big difference.

Harley Green:
That’s incredibly inspiring. For those listening who might be interested in Laundry Luv, what makes an ideal franchisee or operator?

Ken Wimberly:
We look for people who want to work with a team and appreciate structure and systems. You don’t have to do it alone, but you do need to be aligned with leadership and service. Some business or leadership experience helps—marketing, accounting, operations. Veterans are a great fit for us. My partner and I are veterans, and we support them heavily.

This is a profitable business, but profit isn’t our first driver. We believe in doing good by doing good. The more good we do, the more good comes back.

Harley Green:
We feel the same way. As we wrap up, what’s one shift business leaders can make this week to free up their time and feel more in control?

Ken Wimberly:
Get comfortable with delegation. Ask your team to bring three potential solutions when they bring you a problem. That teaches them to think critically and solve problems on their own. Over time, you stop being the bottleneck, and the business starts running smoothly.

Harley Green:
Ken, where can listeners connect with you and learn more about Laundry Luv?

Ken Wimberly:
You can visit LaundryLuv.com—L-U-V—to learn about the business and franchise opportunities. For more about me, go to KenWimberly.com. I share a lot of free resources there—systems, documents, and tools that help streamline business and life.

Harley Green:
To our listeners, if you got value today, hit follow and subscribe, leave a rating, and share this episode with someone who needs it. Thanks for tuning in to Scale Smart, Grow Fast. Until next time, keep scaling smart.

How to Avoid Hiring Mistakes When Scaling Your Business (with Lynn Talbott)

by faye.eScale Smart, Grow Fast PodcastPosted on Comments are Disabled

How to Avoid Hiring Mistakes When Scaling Your Business (with Lynn Talbott)

Hiring during a growth phase can feel like a scramble. You’re stretched thin, juggling sales, operations, and your team — and suddenly you need someone yesterday. But rushing the hiring process can quietly sabotage your company’s momentum.

In a recent episode of the Scale Smart Grow Fast podcast, host Harley Green sat down with Lynn Talbott, founder of The Bookkeeper’s Coach, to break down how to avoid the most common hiring pitfalls that hurt growing businesses.

Preferred listening on the go? Catch the full podcast episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Here are the top takeaways every founder needs to hear:

1. Your First 5 Hires Are Make-or-Break

Lynn compares early hires to “cornerstones” of your company. They shape your culture, pace, and scalability. Hiring someone who can’t grow with your business — even if they solve an immediate pain point — will cost you more in the long run.

✅ Tip: Think 3–5 years ahead when hiring. Choose people who can evolve with the company, not just fill a gap today.

2. Don’t Just Delegate—Lead

Founders often struggle with delegation — or worse, fall into abdication (handing something off and walking away). Lynn emphasizes the need to develop leadership in your team. Your hires should lighten your load, not add to it.

✅ Tip: Hire with leadership potential in mind. Can they take ownership, or will you be babysitting?

3. Culture Fit > Technical Fit

Many entrepreneurs rush into hiring someone with the right skills — but overlook cultural alignment. That’s a fast track to team dysfunction.

✅ Tip: Define your mission, values, and team vibe. Then hire people who live them, not just talk the talk.

4. Watch Out for the “Halo Effect”

One of the biggest mistakes? Letting your gut override structure. Entrepreneurs often make a snap judgment and then spend the rest of the interview convincing themselves the candidate is “the one.”

✅ Tip: Use structured interviews with behavioral questions. Stick to a checklist. Don’t wing it.

5. Don’t Hire Just Because You “Trust” Someone

Hiring a friend, family member, or neighbor because you “trust” them — not because they’re qualified — is a common trap Lynn warns against.

✅ Tip: Trust is great, but competency and fit are non-negotiable. Hire based on merit, not convenience.

6. Hire Slow, Fire Fast

If you realize you’ve hired the wrong person, act quickly. Avoid dragging out the pain — it affects your team, your culture, and your momentum.

✅ Tip: Have open conversations early. If it’s not working, make the call and move forward.

Final Thought: Structure Doesn’t Have to Feel “Corporate”

Many founders resist structure, thinking it will kill their creative edge. But according to Lynn, a bit of structure — especially around hiring — actually frees you up to lead and grow.

🔗 Resources & Links

💼 Tired of hiring in panic mode or doing everything yourself?

Book your free discovery call with Workergenix and discover how an Ultimate Executive Assistant can help you escape hiring chaos, delegate smarter, and scale your business with less stress.

Like what you read? Get weekly insights on scaling, efficiency, and profitability—straight to your inbox. Click here to subscribe.

Transcript

Harley Green: Hey everybody, welcome back to the Scale Smart Grow Fast podcast. Growing your business doesn’t have to come at the cost of burnout or chaos. In this episode, Lynn Talbott, a successful founder who scaled and sold her seven-figure bookkeeping firm, shares the most common pitfalls leaders make when scaling and how to avoid them. From hiring too quickly to holding on to work that should be delegated, Lynn offers clear, hard-earned insights to help business owners grow sustainably and build a company they actually enjoy running. Welcome to the podcast. How are you doing today?

Lynn Talbott: I’m doing great. Thank you for having me, Harley.

Harley Green: That’s our pleasure. So Lynn, tell us a little bit more about your background. Tell us about your bookkeeping firm that you started and how you got through that and what brought you to what you’re doing today.

Lynn Talbott: Yes, so I’m sort of a serial entrepreneur. I got a human resources degree and went out and did the corporate world like most people do when they graduate from college. I was in HR. I really liked it, but I knew I always wanted to own my own business. So when I started my business, I called it HR Business Solutions, because I was going to help people with their back-end office doing human resources and maybe some bookkeeping. I started doing HR and found out quickly that entrepreneurs and startups don’t really want to talk to people about HR. They have their own way of doing things and they like to feel like they can make those HR decisions. I don’t need somebody telling me what to do. So quickly my HR Business Solutions company became more of a bookkeeping company simply because that was the need. And that’s what we do as startups—we shift when we have to, right?

Harley Green: I got that. Good pivot there.

Lynn Talbott: Yes. Over the years, I’ve helped hundreds of entrepreneurs at the startup level with their messy HR and bookkeeping—anything in the back office—helping them hire, figure out job descriptions, create handbooks, just creating some structure around when they’re ready to scale. Because when you start to scale, you get pulled in a lot of directions. I find the entrepreneur can get a little bit caught up in “I can do everything. I wear all the hats. I make all the decisions.” There’s something about being an entrepreneur that makes you feel like you can do everything, that you’re just Superman and you have all the answers. But what happens is a couple of years down the road, they find, “Wow, I didn’t do the right hire or I didn’t set up my back office right and now I’m scaling and trying to do a thousand things, but I might not have the right people in place.”

Harley Green: Yeah, I think we’ve all seen and experienced that. One thing you’ve mentioned before is how the first few hires—maybe the first five—can really make or break a business. What makes those early decisions so high-stakes?

Lynn Talbott: Your early hires set the tone for the culture, the pace, and how your business is going to go. I always say your first four hires are like your cornerstones—your building blocks. What does your company need so that you can delegate, be successful, and scale? That involves thinking three years, five years, or ten hires down the road. We all scale at different times. But if you don’t hire the right people at the right time, it can really cost you. You’re too busy growing and you can’t afford to hire the wrong people—those who need to be babysat, or who are constantly battling with you, or aren’t helping you build your dream. One of the top issues I see entrepreneurs make is not taking those first hires seriously. They might hire quickly to fill a need—data entry, marketing, etc.—and while the person might have the skills in the moment, they may not be able to grow with your company long-term.

Harley Green: That’s really impactful. And you mentioned rushing into that first hire because you’ve got this pain point—let’s say marketing, right? You get the marketing person. What are some tips or strategies you’d share with leaders to slow it down a little and make sure that hire is strategic and the right one?

Lynn Talbott: One of the mottos I use is “Hire slow, fire fast.” I remember when I moved from corporate HR to owning my own business, I thought I knew everything and I could hire whoever I wanted. Even with my skills, background, and a degree in HR, I still didn’t heed that advice. I’d find somebody outgoing with great skills, do a quick interview, and off they go. Later, I’d find out they weren’t a culture fit. They were battling things internally. Every startup has a culture—and that culture is you, the entrepreneur. It’s everything you stand for and what you want your company to be. You have to ask, “Is this person going to fit my culture, or am I going to battle with them forever?” Toxic hires can poison your company and bring it down quickly. Entrepreneurs often realize it too late.

Harley Green: What are some tools or interview strategies you recommend to ensure a good culture match? We know how to evaluate technical skills. Are there particular methods for culture?

Lynn Talbott: That’s a great question. It’s hard to discern if you haven’t defined your culture, mission, and vision. I’m assuming your listeners have done that before hiring. They need to remember those during interviews—”Is this person able to meet those goals? Can they fit into this culture?” What I often see is entrepreneurs winging it. They trust their gut. They get on Zoom or a phone call and just start talking. That leads to what we call in HR the “halo effect.” Maybe you liked their resume or talked to them previously. You already decided you want to hire them. So instead of vetting them, you’re convincing them to work for you. You’ve put a little halo on them. No matter what they say, you pivot around it. They may not have the soft skills, the culture fit, or the ability to grow with you. That halo effect is real. It’s happened to me, and it can happen to anybody.

Harley Green: This goes back to how entrepreneurs often think they can do everything—including hiring. Is there a time or situation when it’s better to delegate the hiring to someone else like a professional recruiter?

Lynn Talbott: It depends on who you’re hiring. If you need an operations manager to run everything, yes, you might want to go outside. If it’s a marketing person or virtual assistant, you can probably do that yourself. But even then, you need some guidelines. Before hiring, define the job. What exactly are you hiring for? Is it just marketing, or do you also need someone to manage your CRM, do backend office work, or maybe even sales? When I say things like “job description” to entrepreneurs, they often say, “I left corporate to get away from people like you telling me I need an HR department.” I get it. HR has changed, and structure can feel stifling. But even a quick task list—something simple—can help you focus on who you’re hiring for. Tools like ChatGPT can help with that. And you’ll often think of more tasks while creating that list. Hire someone who can do that job or grow into it. Not everyone will come in ready to do the perfect job.

Harley Green: You’ve worked with teams that skipped defining roles. What problems show up when expectations aren’t clear from the start?

Lynn Talbott: I often get called in as a fractional HR person to talk to employees or departments who are disgruntled. Why? Usually because they don’t have clear roles. They have “free flow”—which entrepreneurs love—but once your company grows beyond 10 people, that starts to cause conflict between departments. People compete for the owner’s attention. If you don’t have the right leadership in place, you’ll be pulled in every direction. If you hire too fast, you might miss hiring people with the leadership skills you’ll need a year from now. If no one owns their tasks or department, you end up spread too thin. Those early hires need to take control and truly manage their areas.

Harley Green: That makes sense. And it leads into the next question. Entrepreneurs often hear “HR” and cringe—it’s not what they got into business for. So how should they think about culture while building a team without becoming too corporate?

Lynn Talbott: Everyone will have their own opinion and culture style. There’s no one-size-fits-all. But the owner sets the tone. What do you stand for as an entrepreneur, and how do you share that with your team? One company I worked with gave their team books that reflected their culture. They’d have lunch meetings to discuss them and give PTO for finishing the book. It was well received. It created open conversations and stronger communication. Not everyone will love that, but it worked for them. The key is to be intentional.

Harley Green: That’s a great example of strong culture. If someone has their culture in place and their team aligned, what’s the next step to build a strong interview process? How do they grow the business fast without hiring mistakes?

Lynn Talbott: Don’t wing it. Use an interview sheet with specific questions. In HR, we use behavioral questions—past behavior predicts future behavior. Ask how they handled certain situations, or how they performed under pressure. If you ask about a past role and they start with, “My boss was terrible,” believe them—that’s how they’ll treat you too. Their answers reveal how they behave, not just what skills they have.

Harley Green: Great segue into red flags. What are some red flags founders shouldn’t ignore, especially when desperate for help?

Lynn Talbott: One big red flag is hiring people close to you. It’s common—your spouse, child, mother, or sister-in-law doing your marketing because she’s a stay-at-home mom. Founders often say, “I can trust her, I’ll teach her.” That usually turns into chaos. Just because someone is trustworthy or nice doesn’t mean they’re qualified. I’ve had to “rescue” many startups because a family member was doing the books but didn’t know what they were doing. Avoid hiring just based on trust or familiarity.

Harley Green: Let’s move to another area—handing off tasks. At what point should a founder bring in a right-hand person, like an executive assistant or COO?

Lynn Talbott: As soon as possible. You’re already working 40, 50, 60 hours a week. You need to lead, sell, and drive vision—not clean up CRMs on weekends. The biggest mistake is not delegating. We tell ourselves, “I can do it in 10 minutes,” and push things to Saturday. But by Monday, you’re too busy again. If you want someone to be your operations manager, CFO, or take over finances, develop leadership early. Hire people who own tasks, not those who push them back to you. Delegate soon and develop leadership beneath you.

Harley Green: Great advice. As we wrap up, what’s your top advice for a founder who realizes they’ve hired the wrong person? How can they recover without losing momentum?

Lynn Talbott: Be honest. Sit down and talk to them. If you’ve had open conversations before, this will be easier. If you hate confrontation and want them gone, it’s tougher. But don’t let someone stay if they’re not pulling their weight, fitting your culture, or helping you grow. Hire slow, fire fast. Say, “This isn’t working, I’m going in a different direction.” And make it clean. Have someone else cut off access to systems. Laws vary by state, but act quickly before things escalate.

Harley Green: Lynn, you’ve shared incredible strategies today. If people want to connect with you, what’s the best way?

Lynn Talbott: You can find me at coachingbookkeepers.com. We have a training circle where we coach bookkeepers to scale and sell their bookkeeping firms.

Harley Green: If you got value from this episode, hit like and subscribe so you don’t miss future strategies to help you scale smarter. Share this with a business owner or colleague—it could be just what they need right now. Thanks for tuning in. See you on the next one.

How to Build a Personal Brand That Converts with Erik Cabral

by faye.eScale Smart, Grow Fast PodcastPosted on Comments are Disabled

How to Build a Personal Brand That Converts with Erik Cabral

Your personal brand is more than just a logo or a tagline — it’s the foundation of your business growth. In a recent episode of Scale Smart, Grow Fast podcast, Harley Green sat down with Erik Cabral, founder of OnAir Brands, to talk about how entrepreneurs can harness clarity, podcasting, and mission-driven branding to create lasting impact.

Preferred listening on the go? Catch the full podcast episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Why Clarity is Non-Negotiable

Erik’s first lesson is simple but powerful: clarity creates momentum. Many entrepreneurs suffer from shiny object syndrome — chasing too many ideas at once and burning out. Instead, Erik advises narrowing your focus: define who you are, who you serve, and what problem you solve. Without clarity, your message won’t connect, and your brand won’t convert.

Personal Brand as the Umbrella

If you run multiple businesses or projects, your personal brand becomes the umbrella. Erik points to leaders like Elon Musk and Tony Robbins, whose personal brands open doors for all their ventures. By building your brand DNA around your values and mission, you allow your audience to connect with you first, making it easier to introduce new offers, services, or businesses later.

Podcasting: The Ultimate Growth Tool

According to Erik, podcasting is more than content — it’s a networking and growth engine. Instead of “picking someone’s brain over coffee,” podcasting allows you to lead with value by giving guests a platform to share their message. It’s also a long-term play: success comes not from three episodes, but from consistent creation and commitment.

To stay sustainable, Erik emphasizes systems and delegation. Entrepreneurs should focus on their strengths and eventually outsource editing, design, and promotion — freeing time to run the business while the podcast works as a powerful marketing channel.

Turning Clients into Brand Champions

Your best marketing asset is often your satisfied clients. Erik encourages entrepreneurs to turn happy customers into brand champions by collecting testimonials, referrals, and even co-created stories. These champions amplify your message and build credibility far faster than ads or self-promotion.

Faith, Mission, and Erik’s Book

Erik’s journey also highlights the importance of a mission bigger than yourself. His book, Be Your Brand to Glorify God, reframes personal branding as a way to serve others and lead with values, not ego. For him, success is about creating impact through service — and entrepreneurs can do the same by aligning their brand with purpose.

Key Takeaways for Entrepreneurs

  • Clarity comes first: Define your mission, audience, and values.
  • Personal brand > business brand: Build trust in you, then extend it to your ventures.
  • Podcast strategically: Use it for value, networking, and long-term growth.
  • Delegate smartly: Free your time by outsourcing tactical tasks.
  • Turn influence into opportunity: Leverage testimonials and client stories to scale credibility.

🚀 Ready to build a brand that converts? Start by defining your values with Erik’s free Core Values Worksheet at www.beyourbrandNOW.com.

🔹 Your business can only grow as clear as your brand. Don’t let busywork hold you back from building influence and opportunity. Schedule a free discovery call with Workergenix today and learn how to delegate smarter so you can focus on growing your personal brand

Like what you read? Get weekly insights on scaling, efficiency, and profitability—straight to your inbox. Click here to subscribe.

Transcript

Harley Green:
 All right, hey guys, welcome back to the Scale Smart Grow Fast podcast. Your personal brand is one of your most powerful business assets, if you know how to use it. In this episode, Erik Cabral, founder of OnAir Brands and trusted advisor to Fortune 100 and Inc 5000 companies, shares how to craft a message that connects, build a brand that converts, and leverage podcasting to grow your business. With over 25 years in brand strategy, Erik’s going to offer a proven mission-driven framework for turning clarity into momentum and influence into opportunity. Erik, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. How are you doing today?

Erik Cabral:
 Fantastic, Harley. Thank you so much for having me.

Harley Green:
 It’s our pleasure. Now, Erik, tell us a little bit more about your background. How did you get into marketing and doing podcasting?

Erik Cabral:
 Yeah, it was not by design for sure. Corporate America and school, traditional college and finding my way up the corporate ladder was a wonderful way to make a living. Creating artwork and logos in the beginning, very early stages of my career, was my first. I’ll never forget, Harley, a postcard — like a four by six postcard that was going to go direct mail. They called it that for all the kids out there who don’t remember mail. But yeah, you would get these postcards and I was like, “Mom, look,” and I took a stack of them. I was like, “Look, my first printout, there are hundreds of thousands of these out there.” And then eventually the coolest thing was seeing my work on billboards driving down a highway. I would see, “Look, I designed that billboard. How cool.” So that was really my background. I just loved designing, loved graphic design. At the time they called it commercial arts and people would ask, “What’s that?” But eventually all these tools became more and more familiar — Adobe and all these guys. And when I finally left after 21 years in corporate America, I was so done. I wanted to retire, at least from the art world. And I got into, of all things, real estate investing. And my wife was like, “You don’t know anything about real estate. What are you talking about? What are you doing?”

Harley Green:
 You.

Erik Cabral:
 And I was like, I just want to build wealth. I was in a wealth creation phase of my life. And I was very focused on how can I get there very quickly. You know, I lost 20 years not knowing anything about finance, being financially illiterate. And I was like, “Oh, I read this book from Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad Poor Dad,” and then eventually read Cash Flow Quadrant. I was like, “Oh, wait a minute.” In this quadrant he’s talking about the employee, which was me for the majority of my years. And then it was like, now you need to own a business or become an investor. So there were all these different avenues. I was like, I want to own a business and I want to become an investor. And I want to make passive income. So that’s really where it all started. And once I jumped into the investing community, I realized that the one thing that they had in common was an abundant mindset. And I came from the opposite — completely scarcity-minded environment where it was dog-eat-dog, everybody was just against each other. And it was really bizarre to be around people that wanted to help you. Especially the most successful people would always end the conversation with, “How can I help you? How can I provide more value in your life?” And that was the game changer. And I just said, I need to be around these people and I need to record these conversations I’m having in the hallways for my sake, so I can remember these conversations and just extract value out of it. And that turned into a podcast and people started to point to me like the guy recording a conversation as the podcast guy. And it wasn’t necessarily a podcast at the time. So that’s really where it all started.

Harley Green:
 I love that growth and transition and especially the abundance mindset. And it really has shown through in your success and how you’ve helped others too now. Speaking of that, you’ve helped build so many brands. What would you say is the first thing you look for when helping someone define their personal or business brand?

Erik Cabral:
 The first thing I look for is how much clarity they have. A lot of us can have all these ideas, but they’re not very focused. If you have a lot of great ideas and a lot of what we call in the entrepreneurial world shiny object syndrome, then your focus and lack of clarity will spread you thin. I was guilty of this for sure because I started four companies out of the gate. I was so excited to be out there, Harley. I was like, I’m going to create a real estate empire, then I’m going to build a media agency, then I’m going to have an event company and a coaching company. Literally all these things I was doing at the same time thinking that was cool, that was trendy, that hustle-and-grind mentality. And it didn’t serve me. It really hurt me in the long term. Now, I benefited greatly from it for sure because it made for a lot of connections. All the people that you may have mentioned in my bio were a result of me creating all that. But it was a quick avenue to burnout. There was no way I was going to sustain that. So eventually over the years, I had to shut down one, two, three and eventually all the companies so I could focus on one. So that’s the first thing I look for when I speak to an entrepreneur who’s all over the place: What are we focusing on? What do you have complete clarity on? And who do you serve? Like who is the audience for that particular product that you have? Because yes, I understand successful entrepreneurs have four, five, six businesses and they’re running them all successfully. But for this particular one, what is the message? What is the clear mission? And who does it help? That is typically the very first thing that I look for.

Harley Green:
 How do you help other entrepreneurs that you’re working with who might be in that same situation you were in, with the hustle culture of, “I’m going to do four or five different businesses because that’s cool”? How do you help walk them back from that and get that clarity?

Erik Cabral:
 I’m a huge proponent of your personal brand and ensuring that if you have multiple businesses, even more so the reason you should focus on your personal brand. Because then everything sits and falls under that umbrella. Let’s take Elon Musk, for example. He’s got The Boring Company, Tesla, the solar company — multiple companies. Same thing with Tony Robbins. I think he always boasts, he’s like, “I’m running 186 businesses right now.” He literally has tons of businesses that he’s involved in. But the umbrella of Tony Robbins is what sits at the top: his personal brand. So I always try to encourage our clients or prospects who have multiple businesses and want to talk about everything — if you want to do that, and you don’t want to take my advice, let’s build a personal brand that has its own systems and your beliefs so that people can fall in love with you. And then when they’re ready, they’re going to raise their hand and go, “Hey, Harley, I love when you talk about family. I love when you talk about homeschooling,” whatever it is that you want to talk about that clearly identifies who you are so they can identify with those values. Now they’re like, “I didn’t know you had this type of company. I didn’t know you had that type of company.” It opens the door for the conversation. So when they’re ready, they want to do business with you — the person, not the company.

Harley Green:
 Speaking of that personal brand, is it more important to focus on your personal mission and values, or do you help people think more about the ideal client they want to connect with? Do you tailor it to resonate with them, or is there some kind of in-between?

Erik Cabral:
 Our process is typically to really boil down who you are, because a lot of people you’d be surprised don’t know who they are. Or if they do, they’ve never verbalized it and they’ve never put them into single-word values, which helps them to communicate. That’s what we’re all about: we have to communicate and we have to communicate clearly. Because if we don’t understand our mission and how we serve people, then how are others supposed to understand as well? So we have to gain clarity first and then we can help and serve more people. For example, I have tons of people in my network that love to do cold plunges, heat therapy, all this biohacking. But say they’re real estate investors, and then they’ll often come to me and go, “Erik, man, everybody’s reaching out to me. I’m getting so much feedback. But why is everybody asking me how to build a cold plunge in their garage?” And then I look at their feed and I’m like, “Because all you’re doing is talking about cold plunge therapy.” Is that what you want to do? Do you want to build a lifestyle business brand? “No, I’m a real estate investor.” Then stop talking about the things you don’t want to serve or solve. So that’s the biggest challenge. I want to make sure our clients, number one, know who they are and what the brand DNA is for them. And then we can really dive into who they serve.

Harley Green:
 Well, and speaking of that clarity and who you serve, what are some other common branding mistakes that even smart businesses make and how can they fix them?

Erik Cabral:
 It’s this — where they try to create a message for everybody. That’s a huge one. Especially if you’re coming out of the gate as a new entrepreneur, you don’t want to alienate or push out potential buyers, customers, or clients. And I get that, I was the same way. But at some point, you’re going to have enough case studies and enough wins where you can start to identify the common thread throughout all of the people that you’ve been helping. For instance, years down the line after we started producing a lot of podcasts, I zoomed out and then looked at all the clients. I was like, “Oh, they’re all men. They’re all middle-aged. They’re all family men. A lot of them are Christians.” I was like, this is my avatar. These are the guys who I’ve been creating podcasts and serving over the past three, four years. So then that became one of our avatars. I can speak directly to that person to the point where I’ve given them a name. I know what they eat. I know what they do on their time off. I know what type of cars they drive. Those are the type of things where we can get really granular so that when you do record and you do create messages, you’re speaking specifically to the person you know you can help.

Harley Green:
 Speaking of speaking to the person you can help — podcasting is obviously a huge part of your strategy. Why do you see it as such a powerful tool for brand building and business growth?

Erik Cabral:
 Gosh. When I started not too long ago in 2017, it was still, “Hey, can I take you out for a cup of coffee, Harley, and pick your brain?” And when I started building my real estate portfolio, it wasn’t just kids or younger people. It was anyone that saw me having success relatively quickly. They’d say, “He bought a multifamily building in less than a year.” So people were asking me out to coffee. It got to the point where I was like, let’s just have a call. And then I started to look up to others as well. Like, how did you get there? I want to get to 24 units, I want to get to 100 doors. And I would ask for their time. But coffee is never really that enticing. But a podcast is — “Would you be interested in having a conversation on my podcast?” At the time I could confidently say it was 100% yes. Everyone would say yes to that. It’s such a wonderful opportunity for you to lead with value and say, “Hey, I have a platform for you to speak your message to my community” versus “You want to have coffee?” where I’m just pulling knowledge from you but not really giving any value back. Podcasting is such a great vehicle for creating value for others and putting it out there. Everybody wins with a podcast.

Harley Green:
 With podcasting and someone building their personal brand, do you have a recommendation or guidelines when it comes to deciding whether to have your own podcast, do the podcast guesting circuit, or a combination of both? How do you help people navigate that?

Erik Cabral:
 A combination is the best strategy. But the question comes down to bandwidth — how much time do you have? Starting a podcast is easy, but it’s also hard. In 2021, we had the biggest spike in creating podcasts for our clients. Everybody wanted a podcast after 2020. Everyone was bored at home. And then it went down. In 2022, podfade is what we call it. People don’t make it past three months or 12 episodes. What I find is that podcasts can be easy to start — low-hanging fruit — but really challenging and difficult to maintain because people lack systems, processes, and teams. If you’re a solopreneur, at some point you’re going to have to pass this off to a team, whether you develop your own or hire a company like ours. Podcasts are a long-term play. You can’t go in and say, “I’m gonna start a podcast for three to six months and see how it goes.” No, you have to commit. Just like YouTube — you have to commit to 100 videos before you see the fruit that comes from all that hard work and energy you’re pouring in. So yes, go in with a long-term mindset, have a budget for it, and don’t wing it. Develop systems and processes if you’re doing it yourself so that you can document and pass this off to an editor because it’s not sustainable otherwise. You need to run your business in order to have success, but the podcast can be used to support that. The podcast has to lead with value and entertainment. Information is abundant everywhere, but if you can be entertaining and bring your unique perspective, that’s what draws people in.

Harley Green:
 So when someone knows they’re good, they’ve heard you say, “It’s not easy, you have to stick with it,” but it’s still hard — what are some tips or strategies you offer people to stick with podcasting for the long term and not burn out or get bored of it?

Erik Cabral:
 Looking for unrealistic results can really deter you long term. Instead, flip the coin and say, “Who can I help and who can I serve?” Look for those stories and opportunities when you’re creating your content. For example, years into my podcast journey, a listener reached out to me. He shared, “Thank you for sharing the story about how you had to fold one of your companies because I am in the process of doing that and I’m alone. I felt like such a loser, and hearing you — who I see as a success — made me feel like there’s a community. Thank you.” I still live off the fumes of that conversation. That’s the value I’m providing. If it helped one person, imagine all the people who didn’t reach out. Always take those stories, put them in your back pocket, and use them as fuel to continue on your journey. It’s not about ROI, it’s about who you are helping, who you are serving, and how you’re inspiring people to keep going even when it feels hard.

Harley Green:
 I love that story of getting feedback and how it’s still motivating you today. I get the same thing — random texts from someone in my network who I had no idea was listening to the podcast, saying, “Really loved that episode with Erik, talking about these things.” So I encourage all of you listening to podcasts — shoot a text or an email to the host of the podcast you’re listening to. It goes so far and helps keep the podcasts you like and support going. It’s an amazing thing. So really appreciate you bringing that part up, Erik.

Erik Cabral:
 So true. Yeah.

Harley Green:
 Talking about the effort that goes into these podcasts — it can be very time-consuming, not just the number of episodes but also processing, managing guests, editing, publishing, promoting. At what point do you typically see it makes sense to start handing off some of that process to a service like yours, or maybe an assistant?

Erik Cabral:
 If you have a budget, figure out what that is. In our intake form, we try to figure out if clients qualify to work with us or if we can serve them at the highest value. We’re $2,500 a month at minimum, with other services above that. At minimum, I need to know if you have $30,000 to invest annually in what we do. If not, it may be best for you to hire a bunch of VAs to do this, whether they’re $5 to $8 an hour. But make sure you check their work carefully. Everyone’s going to say they have editing skills and design skills. Ask for samples. Some people have even sent me our own work as their sample. Get referrals, ensure that the work is truly theirs. If you build your own team, you’ll need at least someone skilled in editing videos — that’s a different beast — and someone skilled in design. Not just basic Canva design, but someone who can make it shine. If you’re just starting out, don’t let polish hold you back. Figure out what your budget is, even if it’s $100 a month. Find someone to help you and start to take those little things off your plate so you can focus on building your business, doing sales, and doing marketing versus tactical tasks.

Harley Green:
 One thing you talk about is building brand champions — people who can amplify the message. What’s your take on that and how can companies do that intentionally?

Erik Cabral:
 Brand champions develop over time when you continue to serve your clients at the highest possible level. Those are basically your testimonials and case studies. Whenever you go to someone that you served and ask, “How did I do?” and they say, “You’re amazing,” that’s the perfect opportunity to say, “Hey, can I get a testimonial from you? Can you record something really quick, like right here and say that again?” And then from there, you start to realize you can actually leverage that to become a brand champion for you. Because then you can continue to ask them, “Do you know anyone like you that needs our services? Do you know anyone like you that could help us grow?” For sure they love you, right? And you’ve probably given them super discounts. Typically, in the earlier stages of business, they’re getting a really good deal, they’re grandfathered in so to speak. Those are the brand champions you want to continue to build. Just love on them, continue to serve beyond the agreement that you had, and it will happen over time for sure.

Harley Green:
 If someone hasn’t been really thinking about or familiar with this concept of brand champions, but they’ve been established for a few years and have some clients, what’s a good way to try to bring that up with clients who might be happy but haven’t come forward yet? Or if they did come forward in the past and the business wasn’t ready to capture that appropriately, what would you suggest?

Erik Cabral:
 If it’s a client that is no longer your client, you can still reach out. Reach out to a bunch of them and say, “Hey, I’m looking to grow my business. If you enjoyed working together, would you mind referring someone like you that we can help?” And then if you do that enough, someone will hopefully be willing to record a testimonial for you or at the very least, write a review. Here’s another hack: I’ll write the testimonials for some of my clients that I know are super busy — in their voice. This was before AI, but now you could really do it with AI. You can say, “Write a review of my services in their voice.” You can even take a blog article or something they’ve written and put it into ChatGPT, and then it’ll draft it. Keep it short, just a sentence or two, and then send it over to them. For example, in my book I have six quotes, of which only one I had to do this for. I knew him very well, and I said, “Hey Rami, I know you’re busy. I know you’ve been meaning to do this. I did it for you. Here are three options all in your voice.” He looked at them, said, “These are great,” and made some edits. It got him started, and it lit the fire. People have even done that for me — they’ll say, “Hey Erik, here’s a review I wrote in your voice.” That’s when I realized, wow, this is effective and really helpful.

Harley Green:
 That’s a smart hack. Well, you mentioned your book, Erik. Tell us a little bit more about it.

Erik Cabral:
 Three years ago, I committed to writing a book. I signed up with Chandler Bolt’s Self-Publishing School. It was a $5K program; I didn’t do the $10K option where they handle everything. What they gave me was a monthly coach and access to a library of content. But I realized monthly coaching wasn’t my thing. I sat on it for three years, and the real issue was I didn’t feel interesting or worthy enough to write the book. Every time I read it, I thought it was terrible. It was all about me. But through my faith journey, I realized personal branding doesn’t have to be egocentric. In Christianity, it’s not about us — it’s about God. So I shifted the whole theme of the book to glorify Him, not me, and everything started to flow. I wrote the book in less than 24 hours after that realization. The book is called Be Your Brand to Glorify God. It’s about building your personal brand and company around your mission to serve — just like Jesus did when He washed His disciples’ feet. In business, we should do the same: love on our clients, serve them, and make the world better. The book is about giving Him the glory, not building for our own egos.

Harley Green:
 That’s powerful. Thank you so much for sharing these incredible tips and strategies, your story, and your book as well. If people want to learn more about you or get a copy of the book, what’s the best way for them to get in touch?

Erik Cabral:
 For sure. Go to www.beyourbrandNOW.com. You can see the book there, and you can actually download a free core values worksheet we mentioned earlier — a simple exercise to start identifying your core values so you can put them out into the world. That’s at www.beyourbrandNOW.com.

Harley Green:
 Awesome. For those of you listening, we’ll have the link in the show notes. If you got value from this episode, do one quick thing: hit like and subscribe so you don’t miss future strategies to help you scale smarter. And maybe you know a business owner or colleague who could use this information — share the episode with them. It could be exactly what they need right now. And if you’re listening on a podcast platform, leave us a quick rating. It helps us reach more leaders like you. As always, thank you for tuning in. We’ll see you on the next one.

Why Traditional Sales Is Dead—and What You Should Do Instead

by faye.eScale Smart, Grow Fast PodcastPosted on Comments are Disabled

Why Traditional Sales Is Dead—and What You Should Do Instead


The sales landscape has shifted, and if you’re still using outdated tactics, you’re not just behind—you’re losing. In our latest Scale Smart Grow Fast podcast episode, Harley Green sits down with sales strategist and bestselling author Joe Candido to unpack what today’s B2B buyers really want—and how sales leaders can meet them there.

Preferred listening on the go? Catch the full podcast episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

🎯 Traditional Tactics No Longer Work

Buyers today are informed, empowered, and immune to product pitches. Joe makes it clear: “No one wants to hear about your company—they want value.” If your sales team is leading with features instead of outcomes, you’re doing it wrong.

💡 Enter Leadership Selling

Joe introduces his game-changing framework: Leadership Selling. This approach prioritizes:

  • Selling to decision-makers (not just gatekeepers)
  • Understanding client business goals
  • Delivering value before asking for anything
  • Focusing on business outcomes over product specs

🧠 Mindset Shifts That Drive Growth

Leadership selling isn’t just a strategy—it’s a mindset. Joe urges sales leaders to:

  • Assess team competencies, not just skills
  • Coach based on forward-looking activities (not just closed deals)
  • Stop chasing RFPs unless you helped write them
  • Be involved—review deals, negotiate, coach in the field

🛠 Tools & Time Management

Joe highlights that most salespeople spend less than 20% of their time actually selling. His fix? Leverage tech—like CRMs and AI—for research, scheduling, and admin tasks. But streamline it. “If the system frustrates your reps, they’ll game it,” he warns.

✅ Pro Tip to Boost Revenue Now

Joe’s go-to strategy: Gather your team, review all current opportunities, and prioritize the top-tier deals you can realistically close this month. Focus energy there and watch results accelerate.

Bottom Line: If you want to lead a modern, high-performing sales team, stop selling like it’s the 90s. Start leading with value, insight, and strategic intent.


📘 Learn more about Joe’s work: https://leadership-selling.com

Schedule a discovery call to explore how strategic delegation and leadership support can help your sales team close more deals and scale faster.

Like what you read? Get weekly insights on scaling, efficiency, and profitability—straight to your inbox. Click here to subscribe.

Transcript

Harley Green: Hey everybody, welcome back to the Scale Smart Grow Fast podcast. I’m host Harley Green. And as you may know in business sales, sales is not just a department. It’s the engine of scale in a business. In this episode, Joe Candido, sales strategist and author of Leadership Selling, reveals why traditional sales tactics are failing and what today’s buyers actually expect. Joe shares how sales leaders can transform their teams into trusted business advisors that drive revenue, loyalty and long-term growth by focusing on outcomes, not pitches. Joe, welcome to the podcast. How are you today?

Joe Candido: I’m doing great Harley, nice to see you and thanks for having me here.

Harley Green: It’s our pleasure. Now, Joe, can you maybe elaborate a little bit, give the audience more background about what’s brought you to helping other people scale their sales teams.

Joe Candido: My career has really been a journey in sales. I started in the tech sector. And I quickly figured out that if I didn’t understand my customer’s world, I was never going to succeed at selling anything to them. They didn’t care about the technology. They cared about something that was happening in their business that the technology might be able to help them with. So it caused me to shift how I approached sales. Initially, I was all about the product. I had to learn the product features, I had to do a great demo, but it was completely my agenda, product centric. Product is important. It’s foundational knowledge. You have to have it, but that’s not the end state. That’s the beginning of the journey with the customer. You have to be knowledgeable about their world and then show them how the product or service you represent can be of value to them in their world. So it’s really a shift from a me-centric approach to a client-centric approach.

Harley Green: You’ve said that traditional selling is dead. What do you believe has changed most in how sales needs to be done today?

Joe Candido: The buyers are way more savvy than they used to be. Today we have so much information as buyers. We’ve got the internet and we have access to competitors. We have a global landscape. We can source goods and services from a really large geography. This is true whether you’re selling nationally or locally, whether you’re a small company, mid-size company, or a multinational. The buyers are sophisticated and they know a lot. They’re trying to find someone who can bring value beyond what they can get on their own. So the question we all need to ask is, why should someone buy from me? What am I doing beyond the core service and product, beyond my competitors, that causes the buyer to say, I want to work with you? That’s why traditional selling is dead. Dialing for dollars, working through a list, and pitching people doesn’t work. They don’t care about your company or product until you’ve earned the right. If a buyer really wants to know about your company, they’ll ask. Until then, offer value first.

Harley Green: What are some tips or strategies to help identify what that value might be with your ideal client and really distinguish yourself from the competition?

Joe Candido: First, to be clear, I’m talking about business-to-business selling. We’re assuming salespeople are engaging by phone, face-to-face, or Zoom. This isn’t Amazon. You need to do your homework. Know who you’re calling and why. Know the company, the person, their title, and what challenges they might be facing. Have something of value to share that is not a pitch. It could be a white paper, a trend, something about their industry—something helpful. This demonstrates you know their world. Sometimes you have to do this two or three times before they’ll trust you enough to talk. You might email something, leave a voicemail, or follow up with more insights. Build trust.

Harley Green: One thing you talk about a lot is leadership selling. How is leadership selling different from what most sales teams are currently doing?

Joe Candido: Leadership selling means be a leader and sell to leaders. We usually sell to the middle or lower part of the organization because we think it’s easier. But they often don’t have buying authority. Or they buy based on strict criteria, usually focused on price. Leaders are paid to change the business. Managers run it. When you sell to a leader, they know the goals, they know where they’re trying to take the company. They want to hear about trends, competitors, and what can help them hit their objectives. And they have the authority and budget to act. You can reach them if you’re prepared with insights. I’ve seen it done time and again.

Harley Green: Tell us some tips or strategies to make sure you’re able to speak with those leaders and decision makers.

Joe Candido: The gatekeeper can be your best ally. Their job is to open the gate, not just close it. So don’t go around them—talk to them. They answer the phone. Be transparent: “I need to speak to your boss and here’s why.” Explain the value you bring. Say you work with executives like theirs and want to share some trends. When they say they’ll check with their boss, explain that the boss will have questions they can’t answer—and will want to get a feel for you personally. Offer a quick, 2–3 minute chat. That approach works 70% of the time.

Harley Green: Let’s shift to mindset. What are some mindset shifts that sales leaders and salespeople need to make?

Joe Candido: One shift is focusing on competencies, not just knowledge. Many salespeople know what to do but don’t do it—especially when it comes to prospecting. We need to assess teams and understand the gaps. Managers need to stop just telling people what to do and start coaching how to do it. Also, shift from looking backward (at reports) to looking forward. Ask what they’re doing today to be successful tomorrow. Focus more on activity than just results. Results matter, but activity drives them. Set clear expectations—like five appointments this week—and help them get there. Leaders need to get involved: join sales calls, review proposals, help negotiate. Be present.

Harley Green: That’s something we see often too—leaders delegate too much. What are other common mistakes you see from leadership?

Joe Candido: One big one is not having a clear sales strategy. Everyone’s doing something, but not all rowing in the same direction. Leaders must define how the team will win. What differentiates us? Make it client-centric and focused on business outcomes. Help clients reach their goals—that’s where value is, and it leads to loyalty. You’ll justify your pricing when you can demonstrate ROI. Don’t chase RFPs unless you helped write them. They’re usually just to validate someone else’s price, and even if you win, you’ll have no relationship or margin. Stick to your plan. Target clients who are a good fit.

Harley Green: When is the right time to delegate to executive assistants so the sales team can focus on high-value activities?

Joe Candido: Time management is crucial. Most salespeople spend less than 20% of their time selling. Improve that by training and using systems. Handle emails during off-peak hours. Use AI and CRMs wisely—don’t bog people down with admin. Use AI for rough drafts, scheduling, research, and reminders—but validate its output. Tools can save time, but they shouldn’t become the job. Use them to support sales, not slow it down.

Harley Green: What kind of systems help keep teams consistent and high-performing despite all these tools?

Joe Candido: I use a framework called QQVB: Quantity, Quality, Velocity, and Balance. Your CRM and funnel should be simple and auto-generated from daily sales activities. Don’t ask reps to enter the same data in multiple places. And don’t punish them when forecasts miss—otherwise, they’ll game the system. If deals are stuck, coach, don’t blame. Understand the problem and help fix it. QQVB lets you identify bottlenecks and coach more effectively.

Harley Green: Joe, what’s one actionable step sales teams should take right now?

Joe Candido: Gather your team, look at every opportunity, and rank them. Focus your energy on the top 5, 10, or 20 that are most likely to close this month. Collaborate as a team to prioritize and close. This drives immediate results and builds great habits.

Harley Green: Joe, how can people connect with you?

Joe Candido: Go to leadership-selling.com. You’ll find my book and contact info. No strings—happy to chat.

Harley Green: Thank you so much, Joe. And thanks to everyone tuning in. If you got value from this episode, like, subscribe, and share. We’ll see you next time.

Scaling with Intention: Insights from the Executive Edge Panel on Hiring for Strategic Growth

by faye.eScale Smart, Grow Fast PodcastPosted on Comments are Disabled

Scaling with Intention: Insights from the Executive Edge Panel on Hiring for Strategic Growth

In today’s fast-moving business landscape, hiring isn’t just about adding bodies—it’s about building impact. That was the central theme of our Executive Edge panel, hosted by Workergenix founder and CEO, Harley Green. This dynamic session brought together an elite lineup of business leaders to explore the often-misunderstood art of hiring with strategy, purpose, and long-term vision.

Preferred listening on the go? Catch the full podcast episode on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Meet the Panel

The June edition featured powerhouse panelists with deep experience in operations, team-building, and scalable business strategy:

Each guest shared their unfiltered insights on when to hire, how to delegate without abdicating, and what it truly takes to scale without burnout.

The Myth of “More People = More Progress”

Harley kicked things off by challenging a common myth: that hiring more people automatically leads to more output. Susan Fennema was quick to point out that without systems and structure, more team members can lead to confusion, not productivity. Clay Posey shared a vivid story from his early career, cautioning against the “military math” of assuming 200 workers can accomplish a 200-hour job in one hour. As he emphasized, each new hire introduces complexity and potential inefficiencies if not integrated with intention.

Stories of Game-Changing Hires

Each panelist shared a story of a single hire that transformed their business. For Susan, it was a part-time virtual assistant who evolved into her full-time Director of Operations—and future successor. Jason Rosado recounted how helping a client hire a project manager doubled their revenue and cut work hours in half. Mike Slinker highlighted the essential difference between visionary leaders and tactical implementers, explaining how hiring a strategic executor turned a high-growth church organization around.

Clay emphasized the leap of faith (and data) required to hire a manager before the chaos hits. His early-year hire freed him up for business development and helped match the company’s entire prior-year revenue by mid-year.

Where to Start: Ops, Sales, or Admin?

There was a healthy debate on where founders should begin scaling. Susan recommends getting out of day-to-day operations first, especially for small businesses. Jason focuses on aligning the owner’s strengths and passion with their role and building the org chart around that. The consensus? Every founder’s path is different, but clarity on your unique value is non-negotiable.

Hiring Fails & Lessons Learned

No panel on hiring would be complete without talking about what not to do. Clay shared a painful (but valuable) lesson about hiring without clear systems. Jason stressed the need for two-way interviews, encouraging founders to ask tough, disqualifying questions to reveal fit. Mike urged business owners to recognize the art of interviewing, and Susan warned about mixing business with family without a clear exit.

Knowing When It’s Time to Hire

The panel closed with actionable frameworks for recognizing when it’s time to bring someone in. Jason shared how he uses vision-based planning and energy coaching to help clients tune into their internal compass. Susan and Clay emphasized data and financial forecasting. Mike introduced a “rubber band” analogy—watching for stretch and stress as signals that your team’s capacity is maxed out.

Final Takeaways

If there’s one thing this panel made clear, it’s that hiring is never just about filling a role. It’s about aligning vision, values, and capacity to drive the business forward. When done right, a single hire can transform a company’s culture, revenue, and trajectory.

Let’s build the team that brings your vision to life.
Book a free strategy call here.

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Transcript

Harley Green:
Welcome, everyone. I’m Harley Green, founder and CEO of Workergenix, where we help executives and leadership teams stay focused on high-impact activities by delegating the rest to highly skilled, AI-leveraged Ultimate Executive Assistants. I’m thrilled to moderate today’s Executive Edge live panel with a group of powerhouse leaders who understand that hiring should be about strategic impact, not just headcount.

Our panelists include:

  • Clay Posey, CEO and founder of Clearbox Strategies, with over 30 years of experience in data-driven growth strategy and scalable team building.
  • Susan Fennema, CEO and founder of Beyond the Chaos, is an operations expert helping business owners escape the weeds through strategic support hires.
  • Mike Slinker, CEO of Tennessee Memories and founder of Slinker Consulting, is a visionary who has built value-driven teams across industries.
  • And joining us shortly will be Jason Rosado, founder of Distinctive Coaching for Business Success.

Let’s jump right in.

Why Do Leaders Think More People = More Progress?

Susan Fennema:
Often, leaders feel overwhelmed and assume hiring more people is the solution. But that doesn’t always address the root problem. It adds overhead and interpersonal complexity, and without strategic clarity, more people won’t solve the issue.

Mike Slinker:
Many leaders equate headcount with productivity. But real progress lies at the intersection of vision and execution. It’s about finding the right implementers to match your vision, not just more hands.

Clay Posey:
This reminds me of my first job under a retired Marine Colonel. He joked that if a project needed 200 hours, a general would say, “Great, bring 200 men and do it in an hour.” But adding people doesn’t linearly increase productivity. There’s overhead, training, and diminishing returns.

Jason Rosado:
People think hiring is a way to duplicate themselves. It sounds easy in theory, but it’s complex in practice. If not done right, you create more work, not less.

Turning Points: Stories of a Key Hire

Mike Slinker:
While serving as Executive Pastor at a large church, the lead pastor had vision but lacked tactical execution. My role became about implementing systems so ministry directors could align with that vision. It reinforced how critical it is to support visionary leaders with operational strength.

Susan Fennema:
A few years ago, I hired a part-time VA who is now my full-time Director of Operations and right-hand. Her growth has been remarkable. When you hire someone aligned with your values and culture, they become a true extension of you.

Jason Rosado:
A client of mine, Andrew, had a team but was doing 70-hour weeks because he didn’t trust them. We reorganized his structure and hired a project manager to act as a buffer between him, his team, and clients. Within six months, he doubled his revenue and cut his hours in half. That one hire changed everything.

Clay Posey:
Hiring a Head of Operations this past January was pivotal. Even though she’s still ramping up, we’ve already matched last year’s revenue halfway through this year. That hire freed me to focus on business development, and it’s paid off tremendously.

Where Should You Start When Building Support Teams?

Susan Fennema:
Start by removing the owner from operations. Focus on sales, finance, and strategic oversight. Outsource marketing early if possible, and use fractional or part-time hires. You don’t need a full-time COO at $250k; there are more scalable ways to get help.

Jason Rosado:
Start with the owner’s passion. What do they love? What brings ROI? Then outsource or delegate the rest. I even have my clients create a job posting for themselves to define their dream role. From there, we build around them.

Mike Slinker:
You must assign a value to each role. Understand who brings the most value to each function and align hires accordingly.

Clay Posey:
Remember to delegate, not abdicate. Culture starts with the founder. Define and measure it. Whether you’re hiring locally or globally, instill your values and maintain quality control.

Hiring Fails and How to Avoid Them

Clay Posey:
The E-Myth by Michael Gerber taught me the importance of building systems before hiring. Clear roles and expectations are critical. I’ve made mistakes by hiring without defining responsibilities, and it led to failure for everyone involved.

Jason Rosado:
Most interviews are two people selling to each other. I teach a “two-way interview” process, where both sides explore potential mismatches. Ask tough questions like, “Why might this role not work for you?” It leads to better hires and fewer surprises.

Mike Slinker:
Interviewing is a skill. If you’re not good at it, hire someone who is. Otherwise, you’ll make hiring mistakes that could cost you dearly.

Susan Fennema:
Avoid hiring family unless you’re clear about how it ends. If you can’t fire someone, you probably shouldn’t hire them. Set expectations from day one, even with friends or relatives.

What Do You Do Now Before Making a Key Hire?

Susan Fennema:
I run the numbers rigorously. Once, I hired someone hoping revenue would match. It didn’t, and I had to part ways. Now, I consider what happens if projections fall short.

Clay Posey:
I ask candidates to reflect on their budgets. Not share them with me, but to be honest with themselves. If they’re taking the job but can’t cover their expenses, it won’t end well.

Mike Slinker:
Pay-for-performance agreements keep both sides aligned. They encourage results while managing cost and motivation.

Jason Rosado:
Be cautious about asking too much. Budget questions might border on legal gray areas. Help new hires plan financially, but don’t overstep.

When Is It Time to Hire?

Jason Rosado:
Map out where you want to be in a year, then work backward. Build a hiring timeline based on business goals, capacity, and stress levels. Factor in emotional blocks too, fear often clouds judgment.

Susan Fennema:
Treat hiring as a last resort. Start with automation, outsourcing, and part-time support. People are your most expensive resource, and drama often follows them.

Mike Slinker:
Use the “rubber band” analogy. If a team is stretched to the max, it’s about to snap. Don’t wait for burnout. Build margin early to support healthy growth.

Clay Posey:
I forecast hiring needs based on our pipeline and metrics. If I know I’ll need someone by August, I start hiring in June to allow ramp-up time. Data-driven hiring protects your team and ensures quality delivery.

Closing Thoughts & How to Connect

Mike Slinker:
Reach me directly at 615-738-8883. Happy to connect.

Jason Rosado:
I offer a free organizational structure and revenue growth assessment. Text “assessment” to 773-829-1276 to schedule.

Clay Posey:
Visit clearboxstrategies.com to book a time with me. We help with planning, growth, marketing, and automation.

Susan Fennema:
Check out beyondthechaos.biz/operations-audit for a free operations audit. Let’s talk about getting you out of the day-to-day.

Harley Green:
Thanks to all our amazing panelists. If you enjoyed this, I invite you to our free masterclass, Delegate to Dominate, where I show you how to reclaim 15–30 hours a week with strategic support. Visit workergenix.com/bonus-masterclass for access and a special offer. Thanks for joining us—see you at the next Executive Edge live session!

6 Habits Every CEO Needs to Scale Without Burnout

by faye.eScale Smart, Grow Fast PodcastPosted on Comments are Disabled

6 Habits Every CEO Needs to Scale Without Burnout

Scaling a business isn’t about grinding harder—it’s about leading smarter. In this episode of Scale Smart Grow Fast, operations strategist and host of the CEO Amplify podcast, Donna Dube, breaks down six powerful habits that help business owners step into true CEO mode, reclaim their time, and grow sustainably.

Listen to the full conversation on your favorite platform:
[Spotify] | [Apple Podcasts]

1. Protect Your CEO Power Hour

Set aside one non-negotiable hour each week to review metrics, define top priorities, and align your calendar accordingly. This ritual turns reactive chaos into proactive leadership.

2. Know the Difference: Maintenance vs. Growth

Maintenance tasks (bookkeeping, social posts, admin work) keep the wheels turning. Growth tasks (sales, partnerships, visibility) drive revenue. Your calendar should reflect that difference—with you focused on growth.

3. Measure Your Time ROI with the CEO Score

Determine your ideal revenue goal, divide it by the weeks you’ll work, and assign values to your tasks. The goal? Spend more time in $1K and $10K-level activities—not $10 jobs.

4. Start Delegating Before You Feel Ready

Even if you’re bootstrapping, you can start small. Audit your tasks to eliminate what’s unnecessary, automate what you can, and delegate what requires a human touch. Five hours a week can make a massive difference.

5. Trust Through Systems, Not Guesswork

Document key processes, provide clear expectations, and let your team run with it—even if it’s 80% “your way.” Progress beats perfection every time.

6. Build Scalable Systems

Your business needs 3 core systems: Marketing, Sales, and Client Delivery. Create rinse-and-repeat workflows with templates, assets, and checklists to reduce friction and grow with ease.

“If you insist on doing everything yourself, you’re also agreeing to stay where you are.” – Donna Dube

📥 Download Donna’s CEO Power Hour Playbook: https://ceoamplify.ca

🔹 Want to Multiply Your Energy—and Scale Without Burnout?
You don’t have to do it all. Workergenix executive assistants help streamline your tasks, protect your CEO time, and keep your growth systems running—so you can focus on what truly moves the needle.

Schedule a discovery call to reclaim your time, delegate smarter, and scale without burnout.

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