On Your Mark, Get Set, Grow!

Jim Bennett’s parents never gave him an allowance, and so from a very young age he was always doing something to earn money. Those early experiences mowing lawns, delivering newspapers, and stringing tennis rackets planted the seeds of an entrepreneurial spirit. “I learned quickly that starting your own business always paid more than just a job,” Jim remembers. After college, that’s what Jim did. He became a Worldwide Express franchisee, and through determination and perseverance, went on to compete with the big boys in global shipping—and win. On today’s show, Jim Bennett discusses how he homed in on the best business for him to grow, the talent he targeted as the best for the job, and the mindset that all CEOs should adopt if they want to get BIG too.

How did Grasshopper grow from a virtual voicemail leader to a $170 million-dollar sale? In no small part, because they hired a superstar COO: Don Schiavone. Don’s SaaS and technology expertise combined with his commitment to rigorous testing and annual planning were instrumental in getting Grasshopper BIG. On today’s show, Don Schiavone, who is now Managing Director of CEO Coaching International, explains how to fine-tune your baseline forecast to create a compounding effect that will accelerate your growth way beyond what companies can accomplish with more traditional top-down planning. If you incorporate Don’s proven best practices into your own upcoming planning sessions, you’ll be well on your way to a BIG 2019.

For the past 25 years, StoneAge has been experimenting with ways to give its employees a stake in the company’s success, a path to personal wealth-building, and more ownership over their individual job performance. What began as a profit-sharing program evolved into a homegrown stock ownership program, and now a federally-regulated Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) that could provide a model for other businesses looking for creative ways to build an inclusive, winning, and productive culture. Kerry Siggins has evolved along with StoneAge as well. On today’s show, we discuss her 11-year rise from general manager all the way up to CEO, and why she believes more businesses should consider forming an ESOP to get employees on board with making BIG happen.

Dr. Gill Heart served more than seven years in the Israel Defense Force's most elite and stressful unit. He went undercover behind enemy lines and came face-to-face with life or death situations. After receiving his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Imperial College, London University, Dr. Heart moved to the United States and became an entrepreneur. He founded and successfully managed venture-backed medical device startups that were primarily focused on neurological and brain applications. Now Dr. Heart has combined his military training, his study of Jewish mysticism and philosophy, and his business acumen to create a training regimen to help people manage stress in both their personal and professional lives. On today's show, Dr. Gill Heart discusses the mental training that is necessary to deal effectively with extremely stressful situations. CEOs may not be able to control when a cash flow crisis or social media firestorm flares up. But we can control how we react to stressful situations so that both our

Why do some of the biggest and best companies in the world work with CEO Coaching International? Because our best practices get real results. At our recent Summit, CEO Mark Moses noted that our clients have achieved $7 billion in revenue, 40% annual CAGR after 4 years, and 210% Median Profit Growth Rate across the board. We’re proud that our clients’ sustained growth and stables of top talent have also attracted serious interest from strategic buyers and private equity firms. On today’s show, Mark Moses discusses how six of our clients have executed 9-figure exits. And we’re not talking theory here. These are real-world philosophies and activities that have led our clients to more scale, more revenue, greater valuations, and dream exit scenarios. In fact, we have more clients following this exact same pipeline who will be achieving similarly BIG results in the very near future.

When we find a great new restaurant, see a great new movie, or upgrade to a great new piece of tech, we tell everyone we know, “I really love this, you gotta check it out!” Smart companies are learning how to cultivate that same kind of reaction in their workplaces. Employees who love where they work promote your business to their social and professional circles, stick with their companies longer, and go above and beyond because they feel like they’re part of making something BIG happen. On today’s show, Keith Alper discusses the importance of culture and employee engagement, and how to inspire your team to go from liking your company to loving it. Keith also shares some key insights from his long entrepreneurial career, including how he managed to maintain a very effective business partnership for more than three decades.

In this age of social media and internet activism, lots of top CEOs have Tracy Williams on speed dial for when a crisis hits, or a lawsuit threatens a company’s brand or reputation. Even companies that are vigilant about living their values, following best practices, and creating a healthy workplace culture are vulnerable to the wrath of online mobs if they don’t have an action plan in place when inevitable misunderstanding or slipups do occur. On today’s show Tracy Williams discusses reputation management in the age of social media, particularly how to protect yourself and your company from a PR disaster that could explode as fast as a tweet.

So how do you break into an industry as specialized as dental supply? Easy. Have a dentist tell you, “No!” “My oldest brother is a dentist,” explains Steve Kizy, “and when I graduated from college it was in 2008 and we were in the recession and I asked my brother if I could work for him and help him grow his dental practice. He looked at me straight in the face and said, ‘No, you cannot work for me. One brother already works for me and I'm not going to take care of another.’" Steve’s brother did however point him to a niche market with a lot of opportunity and potential for growth. Combine that with an entrepreneurial drive that went back to selling cell phones in his dad’s convenience store as a high school student, and a fast-growth entrepreneur was born. On today’s show, Steve Kizy discusses how his company is growing so fast in a highly competitive industry and the challenges that go along with that fast growth. We discuss how to foster a culture of teamwork and pitching in that will help any firm in any

You worked hard to build your business. You made mistakes. You learned from them. Nothing was given to you. You had to rely on your grit and determination to earn every inch of your success. So why should your kids have it any different? Because even the toughest CEO can turn to mush once we hear “Mommy!” or “Daddy!” We don’t want our kids to have to struggle like we did. We want their lives to be as easy and pain-free as possible. But Dr. Tim Jordan has found that our best intentions often lead to negative results. And in many cases, the same knack for prescient problem-solving and planning that’s made your business successful can hold back your kids’ development. On today’s show, Dr. Tim Jordan discusses the five biggest parenting mistakes that CEOs and entrepreneurs make and offers some expert tips that will prepare your kids to make their own BIG happen.

Getting BIG requires big cash. But the venture capital landscape is more crowded and competitive than ever. How is your company going to stand out from the masses of wannabe entrepreneurs? Do you have a vision that will tantalize investors? The right numbers to secure the right investment? The right plan to capitalize on that investment? The right team? The grit and determination necessary to make BIG happen? On today’s show, serial entrepreneur Anthony Venus talks about the genesis of his new company YayPay, how he determined when the company had achieved product-market fit, and the steps he used to raise $8 million in venture capital money.

Jim Weaver didn’t set out to be a 5-time CEO in such a diverse array of businesses. But whenever opportunities presented themselves, Jim took advantage, pivoting his companies and himself towards new experiences, better markets, and BIGGER growth. Now he’s ready to share what he’s learned from five stints in the big chair with CEO Coaching International’s clients. On today’s show, Jim Weaver discusses his transition from government work to the private sector to going public, and what his experiences at the top of multiple companies have taught him about being a great CEO in any field.

After a highly-recognized career in tech sector sales management – including working for IBM at its peak – Jerry Swain jumped off the corporate track and became an entrepreneur. He started, of all things, a high-end specialty chocolate company that ended up receiving four buyout offers before Jerry finally sold to a strategic buyer. On today’s show, Jerry Swain discusses the lessons he learned from IBM’s world-class sales training program, and how he applied that wisdom to his own BIG entrepreneurial ventures.

Ash Garg spent the first 25 years of his career working for large companies like Lockheed Martin and Hughes. Then, at age 46, he decided to become an entrepreneur. But he wasn't interested in just being self-employed. Ash had a vision from day one that he wanted to build a pharmacy company in India that was as big as any in the world. 13 years later, Guardian Pharmacy was a $100 million business. On today’s show, Ash Garg discusses how he shifted from working for some of the biggest companies in the world to making BIG happen on his own terms.

Asha Saxena is a self-described data nerd, but she preaches the importance of using data as a tool, and not as a whole solution to a business’ challenges and opportunities. Unfortunately, too many struggling CEOs don’t grasp that distinction. Even worse, some CEOs put so much stock in what the numbers are saying that they ignore the human ingenuity and intuition that companies need to adapt to an ever-changing business landscape. On today’s show, Asha discusses combing data analytics with your top-level CEO judgement to ask better questions about your business, and make smarter, more profitable decisions that will help you make BIG happen.

Like any other discipline in life, you have to master the basics of business if you want to run a successful company. Have a clear vision. Set your targets and put steps in place to hit them. Measure your progress. Optimize your cash flow. Hire the best people. Keep learning. But once you have your fundamentals covered, how do you set yourself apart from the competition? How do you broadcast and leverage what’s unique about your company to expand your client base and start ramping up towards BIG? On today’s show, Anthony Geraci explains how his team started thinking outside the box to change how a law firm traditionally operates and create a radical new approach to marketing. The result of this innovative thinking? An incredible 70% growth in one year.

Business leaders and thinkers love using sports analogies to motivate their teams, “win the day,” and craft a game plan to beat the competition. Rafe Wilkinson’s career proves just how applicable lessons from professional sports really can be to growing your company and making BIG happen. On today’s show Rafe Wilkinson discusses what his NFL career taught him about playing to his strengths, the importance of team-building, and how he hurdled a common CEO stumbling block while growing his company from 30 employees to over 1,000.

One of the hardest lessons for CEOs to learn is: You can’t do everything. This was especially tough for Danny Peykoff because he’d grown up watching his father do just that while running the family business, Niagara Water. But when Danny became the CEO of Space Jam, he discovered that letting go and delegating were essential if he was going to grow into the kind of leader that the expanding company needed. On today’s show, Danny discusses how to grow as a CEO and how he narrowed his focus to four key activities that were essential to making BIG happen.

It’s very easy for CEOs and entrepreneurs to get so wrapped up in our businesses that we feel like we ARE our businesses. Then a personal crisis snaps everything back into focus. For me, it was when my son was diagnosed with a brain tumor. For Carol Clinton, it was opening a dream skin care business with her husband – at the cost of their entire life savings – only to find herself in an operating room one week later having surgery for ovarian cancer. On today’s show, Carol discusses how her experience affected her perspective on business and life and offers advice for how CEOs can keep a personal crisis from derailing their companies.

If you’ve just been skimming the headlines since the end of last year, you might be under the impression that the new tax laws are a gigantic gift to high-earning CEOs, entrepreneurs, and their companies. If only. Yes, some changes could make filing easier and taxes less onerous for you. But there’s a lot of misinformation and exaggeration floating around about just how generous the new tax laws really are. On today’s show, Brett Ellen is back to cut through the hot air and explain how the new tax laws will really affect entrepreneurs and CEOs. Brett also discusses some of the biggest mistakes he sees people make as it relates to handling their business and personal taxes and how to put a protective moat around the castle that is you and your company

The path from pre-revenue start-up to a successful million-dollar business is tough. Getting from that first million to $5 million can be even tougher. And if you want to scale BIG, to $10, $50, or even $100 million or more? Well, that takes great leadership. On today’s show, Jim Kenefick explains how CEOs can build a team and a learning culture that will transform good companies into great ones. And then we follow that with a discussion on how you can finance your company's rapid growth.