On Your Mark, Get Set, Grow!

Guest: Michael J. Slater, a coach at CEO Coaching International.  Michael is a longtime YPO member who co-founded and served as the CEO of Nik Software, an international software startup in digital photography that he co-founded and led to a $200M+ valuation before ultimately selling to Google. Quick Background:  Every great company begins with a dream. But turning that dream into a reality requires more than just vision. It requires a defined process and an inspired team that rallies the whole company around the leader's BIG goals.  On today's show, Michael J. Slater explains how his process of "Dreaming Backwards" can establish the principles and strategy CEOs need to Make BIG Happen.

Guest: Sasha Kelberg, a coach at CEO Coaching International. Sasha is a Wharton-trained entrepreneur, CEO, and strategic advisor with over two decades of experience building, scaling, and exiting high-tech manufacturing and export businesses. He has led teams from lab concept to global scale with a leadership style grounded in accountability, continuous improvement, and values-based culture. Quick Background:  It's impossible to lead your business with clarity if your identity is fused with your business. And it's impossible to achieve meaningful scale if your connection to the business is concentrating too much decision-making at the top. The best CEOs evolve beyond a start-up mindset as they learn to let go, pivot towards opportunity, and reinvent themselves as both leaders and as people.  On today's show, Sasha Kelberg explains why learning to separate yourself from your business is one of the most overlooked keys to Making BIG Happen.

Guest: Rod Reynolds, a coach at CEO Coaching International. Rod is a seasoned global executive and three-time CEO who's led major operations across Canada, the UK, and Asia Pacific. Rod is also a world-class endurance athlete. He has completed over 15 Ironman and Ironman 70.3 events, including two World Championships. He represented Canada at the 2024 World Triathlon Championships. Rod also participates in long distance (up to 100 miles) mountain trail running races. Quick Background: Every elite organization is powered by talent, especially in the CEO's chair. But talent alone won't get your company to BIG. Sustainable growth requires a disciplined approach to performance, accountability, and resilience. Some of the very best leaders sharpen these skills through elite training and a commitment to excellence in and out of the office. On today's show, Rod Reynolds explains how CEOs can assemble a high-performance team and how physical discipline can build the resilience executives need to Making BIG Happen.

Guest: Scott White, a coach at CEO Coaching International.  Scott is a seasoned CEO, Chairman, and entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience building and leading high-growth companies in the real estate and finance industries. He is also a bestselling author and a sought-after motivational speaker on happiness, positivity, and performance culture. His insights help executives build thriving teams, enhance workplace fulfillment, and unlock their personal and professional potential. Quick Background: At the start of every day, CEOs have a choice. They can bring all their personal and professional baggage into the office and lead from a place of fear and frustration. Or they can choose to lead from a place of positivity and rally the troops around an inspiring vision for success.  On today's show, Scott White explains why the perspective we choose isn't a soft skill -- it's a leadership superpower that's essential to Making BIG Happen.

Guest: Brenda Jacobsen and Andy Harris, Managing Directors at STS Capital Partners, where they guide entrepreneurs and CEOs through the intricate and often emotional journey of selling their businesses. Overview: Selling your business may be the single most important financial event of your life. And the process is far more complex, emotional, and impactful than most CEOs realize. CEOs who truly care about the businesses they built need to find more than just the right fit for a sale. They need to work through a strategic process that will maximize the company's value, protect their teams, and secure their legacies as founders. On today's show, Brenda Jacobsen and Andy Harris discuss what it takes to prep your company for sale, how to balance running the business while navigating the exit process, and the critical decisions that determine whether you just get a deal done or Make BIG Happen for the future of your family and your company.

Guests: CEO Coaching International's Mark Moses, Don Schiavone, Craig Coleman, and Christopher Larkins. Quick Background: CEOs who want to get to BIG need to answer four questions: What do you want? How do you get what you want? What could stand in the way of you getting what you want? How do you hold yourself accountable? If you combine specific answers with actionable strategy, then tariffs, AI, new competitors, and new disruptions are nothing more than manageable variables. And while other companies "wait and see," you'll be making consistent progress toward your BIG goals.  On this classic episode, CEO Coaching International leaders discuss their Wall Street Journal bestseller Making BIG Happen and how our system can help CEOs grow their companies through uncertainty and adversity.

Guest: Ken Eissing, a coach at CEO Coaching International. Ken has served as President, COO, General Manager, or Advisor in the Technology, Media, Telecom, and BPO Financial Services industries in public and private entities ranging from Fortune 100 to less than $20 million businesses. Quick Background: Is your sales team consistently clearing the bar, month after month? Great. Then it's time to raise the bar.  Left to their own devices, even the best salespeople will take the path of least resistance to hitting their targets and getting paid. This misalignment between what's good for your people and what's good for the business will eventually lead to a plateau -- and that's the last place you want to be with competition rising, tariffs looming, and AI disrupting.  The CEO needs to keep every piece of the sales process -- from what you're selling to the quality of the team doing the selling -- on an upward trajectory that drives the whole company towards its long-term goals.  On this classic episode, Ken Eis

Guest: Dan Smytka, a coach at CEO Coaching International. Dan has global expertise in growing and leading multibillion-dollar businesses with marquee brands such as General Electric, Carrier, and Goodyear Tire and Rubber. Dan has also led businesses in Asia and Europe where he cultivated a reputation for generating profitable growth, building high-performance collaborative executive teams, and executing strategies to expand profit margins and deliver sustainable results. Quick Background: CEOs started 2025 with a long list of unknowns ranging from AI and interest rates to tariff turbulence and global conflicts. Six months later, questions about the world and the pace of change in business still outnumber definitive answers. But the best CEOs know that where there are challenges there are always opportunities. And if you have courage, vision, strategy, and a team of A-players, your company will be nimble enough to adjust on the fly and strong enough to grow through any obstacles.  On this classic episode, Dan

Guest: Mo Said, the Founder & CEO of Mojo Supermarket, a powerhouse advertising agency that's been named Small Agency of the Year, Strategy Team of the Year, and one of the Best Places to Work. Overview: Growing and managing a BIG business is an art. For many CEOs, high-level leadership is also a journey of self-discovery. Find that perfect harmony between all your skills and passions and Making BIG Happen will be that much more fulfilling.  On today's show, Mo Said discusses how he resolved the tensions between the artist he wanted to be and the CEO his business needed. He also shares how he designed his own CEO education through stories, coaching, and reflection, and why great entrepreneurs are actually great artists.

Guest: Byron Carlock, a coach at CEO Coaching International. Byron is a distinguished real estate executive with 38 years of experience that spans the full real estate lifecycle from strategy to execution. Quick Background: COVID, WFH, NIMBYs, and YIMBYs were already accelerating changes to how and where we work and live. Now leaders in the real estate sector are also contending with major political hurdles, higher interest rates, and inflated costs across the board.   But there are also BIG opportunities in real estate for CEOs who know how to spot value and serve the needs of customers and their communities.  On today's show, Byron Carlock  explains how  leaders in real estate and other industries can align strategy, capital, and policy to Make BIG Happen in this complex environment.

Guest: Kyle Karnes, a coach at CEO Coaching International.   Quick Background: If you're skipping over Gen Z workers because you "don't want to deal with them," you're letting stereotypes and social media memes cloud your judgment. Gen Z is mission-driven and tech-savvy, and they crave strong leadership that can teach them how to channel their passions into Making BIG Happen.  On today's show, Kyle Karnes explains why Gen Z may be the most misunderstood and undervalued generation in the workforce and shares best practices for hiring and developing your company's next wave of talent.

Guest: Brett Jackson, a coach at CEO Coaching International.  Brett is a seven-time CEO, and two-time COO with 35 years of experience leading software and SaaS companies through scale-ups, pivots, and turnarounds. Before he became a CEO, Brett built deep go-to-market expertise as a VP in product sales and marketing. Quick Background: You can't always blame sales and marketing when your sales are trending in the wrong direction. And sales and marketing can't always blame each other. Great leaders push their teams to look below the surface and also take in the BIG picture to repair deeper misalignments that are stalling progress. On today's show, Brett Jackson discusses how optimizing the go-to-market value chain can drive sustainable revenue growth and Make BIG Happen.

Guest: Matt Dunie, a coach at CEO Coaching International. Matt  has founded or co-founded four companies and served as CEO or President five times across the information services and SaaS sectors. He's led businesses ranging from startups to enterprises approaching $400 million in revenue, and he's executed more than 20 acquisitions and exits. Quick Background: Successful startups and small businesses eventually reach a place where complexity starts to stall growth. It's at this early turning point that the CEO has to take their leadership up a notch and make the tough decisions that will Make BIG Happen. On today's show, Matt Dunie discusses how to navigate the challenges of the "messy middle," including dealing with change, decentralizing decision-making, and finding the courage to lead with transparency and empathy.

Guest: Joanne Starkman, the co-founder of Innersense Organic Beauty, a clean hair care brand that she launched with her husband Greg. Overview: All successful CEOs pour their hearts into their businesses. But a company that truly lives and breathes your mission can be as BIG as it is rewarding and impactful.  On today's show, Joanne Starkman discusses how her deeply personal mission to create non-toxic, high-performing hair care products has grown into a category-defining brand that's beloved by salons, stylists, and customers across the country.

Guest: Dr. Joel Myers,  the Founder and Executive Chairman of AccuWeather. Dr. Myers is considered the father of modern commercial meteorology. Overview: CEOs often feel like they're making "life and death" business decisions. But, as we saw during the pandemic, when the safety of your customers and employees is at stake, CEOs need reliable data that will help them adapt to the facts on the ground quickly and lead decisively.  On today's show, Dr. Joel Myers  explains how technology, including AI and predictive analytics, is shaping the future of weather forecasting and how businesses can prepare to mitigate risks, protect their people, maintain efficiency, and keep Making BIG Happen.

Guest: Don Yaeger,  a Hall of Fame keynote speaker, a business leadership coach, and a 12-time New York Times best-selling author. Don is the host of the highly rated Corporate Competitor Podcast and National Geographic's Storyteller in Residence. He's also a longtime associate editor for Sports Illustrated and one of America's premier thought leaders on storytelling, leadership, and greatness. Overview: Your company's tech stack needs AI integration. But stories are like software for the brain.  Once you've uploaded them, they can be recalled and replayed to inspire action in your audience again and again. On today's show, Don Yaeger discusses the art and impact of storytelling. We explore how mastering this skill can transform your business, your leadership, and your personal life. We also talk about why storytelling is one of the most powerful leadership tools available to you and how it can help drive meaningful action and Make BIG Happen. To get a jump start on improving your own storytelling skills, dow

Guest: Chris Braun a coach at CEO Coaching International. Chris is a YPO member who has served as a CEO for 24 years across a diverse range of industries, including franchising, medical devices, power generation, SAS, and specialty plastics. He's also led multiple companies through successful exits and private equity transactions. Quick Background: Consistent, transparent communication is a hallmark of great leadership. But a CEO is never communicating to just one audience. Employees, customers, shareholders, board members, regulators, franchisees, and the press are rarely all tuned to the same frequency. If you want to be heard and understood 100% of the time, it's essential to learn how and when to adjust your messaging. On today's show, Chris Braun discusses  how to communicate effectively to multiple stakeholders to drive alignment, maximize value, and Make BIG Happen.

Guest: Smith Holland, a coach at CEO Coaching International. Smith served as President & CEO of three businesses, including Crayola, Hallmark Global, and Hallmark Canada, with revenues ranging from $125 million to $2 billion. Quick Background: No "good" company makes the leap to "great" without exceptional leadership. Where good CEOs just keep the gears turning, great CEOs actually create value by managing a culture that inspires peak performance and drives consistent growth.  On today's show, Smith Holland discusses how leadership drives value creation, how the CEO multiplier effect amplifies the CEO's impact across the organization, and how he coaches CEOs to unlock their potential and Make BIG Happen.

Guest: Brian Mergelas, a coach at CEO Coaching International.  Brian is an accomplished leader with over 25 years of experience in driving growth, innovation, and operational excellence for global technology companies and startups. Quick Background: As AI usage becomes more and more mainstream, companies that didn't have the foresight to include an AI road map in their last few annual planning sessions are scrambling onto the bandwagon. But if your company is in catch-up mode, you'll never gain ground in this rapidly evolving space without a plan for analyzing your options, building up your infrastructure, and streamlining integration. On today's show, Brian Mergelas  explains how leaders can use AI to unlock value in their businesses. Brian shares his insights on developing an AI strategy, navigating its challenges, and its potential to revolutionize industries, including yours. We also explore practical examples of leveraging AI for process improvements, innovation, and decision-making to Make BIG Happen.

Guest: Jeff Tennyson, a Coach and Partner at CEO Coaching International and the former CEO of Lima One Capital, one of the country’s leading lenders to real estate investors. Jeff is also a former coaching client of CEO Coaching International. Quick Background: Every entrepreneur dreams of a BIG exit. But having a dream isn't the same as having a plan. To attract an ideal buyer, owners and CEOs need to scale smart, assemble the right team, and adopt a strategic mindset that will turn their dream into a reality.  On today's show, Jeff Tennyson shares his blueprint for preparing yourself and your company for a BIG exit.