Making BIG Shifts

Jaksot

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  Does Your Business Actually Own You? 14.09.2026 33min

  Most entrepreneurs start businesses because they want more freedom.Then the company grows, the team grows, the responsibilities grow, and suddenly every important decision still comes back to the owner.Dan Paulson calls it The Owner’s Trap.Dan is an executive advisor and bestselling author of Escape the Owner’s Trap. In this conversation, we dig into how owners become the bottleneck, why delegation and training so often break down, how to create real accountability without micromanaging, and why reducing owner dependence can dramatically change the long-term value of a business.We also talk about succession planning, better meetings, simpler KPIs, employee onboarding, and one lesson Dan learned after a major health scare forced him to look at his own business differently.The biggest takeaway is simple: if you know something in your business needs to change, don’t assume you’ll get to it tomorrow.Start today.
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  Why More AI & Data Won’t Automatically Grow 08.09.2026 44min

  More AI. More data. More technology.But does any of that automatically create more revenue?Not even close.I sat down with James Roth, CRO of ZoomInfo, for a wide-ranging conversation about what the next era of sales and marketing actually looks like.James shares his unconventional path from college football and professional music to door-to-door sales and eventually the CRO seat at ZoomInfo. We talk about why leaders need enough competence to challenge the experts around them, why listening directly to customers matters more as you move up the organization, and why being willing to admit what you don't know can actually become a competitive advantage.We also get deep into AI.James explains how businesses are thinking about build versus buy, why AI is only as useful as the context and data underneath it, how small businesses are adopting these tools, and where ZoomInfo is headed next as it brings more of its go-to-market capabilities together.A really interesting conversation about AI, leadership, sales, marketing, and what still matters when everything around us seems to be changing.
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  When Should You Quit? A 7-Time Founder on Pivoting, Failure & Finding Product-Market Fit 03.09.2026 37min

  Entrepreneurs are constantly told to keep going.But what happens when persistence becomes stubbornness?Nuri Otus has built seven companies, experienced successful pivots, raised capital, shut down ideas that weren’t working, and is now building DUO, an AI-powered matchmaking platform.In this conversation, we dig into how founders can recognize real market validation, why criticism can actually be incredibly valuable, how positioning affects whether a product gets traction, and the signals that tell you when it might finally be time to change direction.Nuri also shares how an elevator conversation led to an investment from AOL, why DUO gained users almost immediately after launch, and why some of his best business lessons came directly from mistakes.A very real conversation about entrepreneurship, product-market fit, marketing, and knowing when to keep pushing versus when to move on.
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  Stop Relying on Referrals Build a Sales Pipeline You Can Actually Predict 31.08.2026 25min

  Referrals are fantastic, but they shouldn’t be your entire growth strategy.I sit down with Craig Lowder, author of Smooth Selling Forever, to break down how businesses can create a more predictable pipeline by bringing sales and marketing together.We talk target audiences, messaging, lead generation, sales processes, connector networks, and a really simple 4-quadrant outreach strategy any business owner can start using immediately.One of the biggest takeaways: most sales problems actually start much earlier than the sales call. If you don’t know exactly who you’re targeting and why they should care, everything downstream gets harder.
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  Big Risks, Failure & Gritt: What It Takes to Win In Business 25.08.2026 28min

  Big results usually require big bets, but how do you know when to keep pushing, when to pivot, and when you’re just being stubborn?Shawn Burcham went from labeling boxes at his kitchen table and selling chicken breading out of his garage to building a group of companies with operations reaching across the country.In this episode, we get into failure, gritt (spelled that way on purpose), focus, risk, work ethic, hiring great people, relationships, and what it really takes to build something that lasts.Shawn and I dig into failure, persistence, focus, hiring great people, open-book leadership, financial literacy, relationships, and the difference between being stubborn and having enough conviction to keep going.We also get into something I think matters a lot in marketing right now. AI may be changing how companies reach people, but Shawn still believes relationships and personal connection are at the core of great businesses.If you’re an entrepreneur, founder, or leader trying to build something that lasts, this one is worth your time.
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  Stop Chasing Leads: The Relationship Strategy That Actually Drives Growth 18.08.2026 26min

  Businesses pour money into finding new customers, but some of the biggest growth opportunities may already be sitting inside the relationships we have.I sit down with Jamie Shibley, CEO of The Expressory and author of Relationship First: Strategic Engagement, to talk about building a real relationship infrastructure around customers, prospects, referral partners, teams, and other people who influence your growth.We talk about staying top of mind without constantly selling, Jamie’s seven-week relationship rule, emotional loyalty, authentic customer engagement, and why listening and human connection could become even more valuable as AI becomes part of everything we do.A really practical conversation about marketing, positioning, retention, referrals, and simply being better at relationships.
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  What Do You Build After Success Stops Feeling Meaningful? 10.08.2026 20min

  Jermaine Ee spent years building companies, exploring new industries, and chasing the traditional definition of entrepreneurial success.Then that definition stopped feeling meaningful.In this episode of Making Big Shifts, Jermaine shares the personal and professional shift that led him to create HeirLight, an AI-powered estate planning platform built around clarity, family, and the things people care about most.We talk about how personal loss changed his perspective, why purpose became more important than recognition, and what it means to build a company around a problem that is deeply personal.Jermaine also opens up about HeirLight’s positioning, its shift toward new parents, the difficulty of marketing estate planning, and why the best opportunities often come from questioning assumptions an entire industry has accepted.This is a conversation about what happens when success is no longer the final destination, and how founders can use that realization to build something that truly matters.
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  Why Most AI Copywriting Fails to Persuade 04.08.2026 26min

  AI knows a tremendous amount about copywriting. The real challenge is getting it to produce the right copy for the right audience.In this episode, I talk with Tyler Cook, founder of Hyper Media Marketing and author of Persuasion by Design, about the psychology behind effective marketing and the guardrails AI needs to create persuasive messages.Tyler explains how his background in door-to-door sales taught him to establish trust quickly, pay attention to how people interpret language, and focus on the outcome a message creates.We also discuss audience frames, status signaling, jobs to be done, email marketing, digital advertising, and a practical method for using AI to uncover objections and unanswered questions before publishing your copy.Whether you are writing emails, ads, landing pages, or sales messages, this conversation will help you create clearer, more persuasive marketing.Learn more about Tyler at https://hypermediamarketing.net.
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  Why Live Streaming Could Become Marketing’s Next Big Shift 31.07.2026 29min

  Live streaming is moving far beyond concerts, webinars, and basic social broadcasts.In this episode, I talk with John Petrocelli, founder and CEO of Bulldog DM, about how live video is becoming a powerful tool for audience engagement, brand storytelling, commerce, and customer research.John shares how working with Prince helped shape his view of direct-to-consumer content, why passive video is no longer enough, and what brands can learn from companies like Netflix, TikTok, Amazon, Coca-Cola, and Apple.We also talk about the future of live shopping, the growing value of authentic human content, and how even a small business can begin experimenting with live streaming without a massive team or budget.It is a practical look at where content, commerce, technology, and human connection are heading next.
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  Stop Selling, Dammit: Why Pressure Is Killing Your Deals 21.07.2026 30min

  The harder you chase a sale, the more buyers tend to pull away.Nancy Kay Coy, author of Stop Selling, Dammit!, joins Making BIG Shifts to explain why pressure, scripts, and aggressive closing tactics are becoming less effective with today’s informed and skeptical buyers.Nancy breaks down the four emotional drivers behind purchasing decisions, the extra question every seller should ask before closing, and why deals often stall long before a prospect goes silent.They also discuss how to uncover hidden friction, focus on outcomes instead of proving your expertise, and help buyers confidently explain and defend a decision internally.The core lesson is simple: selling chases the yes. Solving earns it.Listen now, follow Making Big Shifts by MKTG Reboot, and share this episode with someone who is tired of chasing deals that never close.
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  How to Stop Building a Business That Owns You 13.07.2026 47min

  What if your business is actually stealing your freedom?Josh Anderson sits down with entrepreneur Justin Lund to discuss the lessons he learned through addiction, recovery, entrepreneurship, and building systems that buy back your time.They cover delegation, eliminating low-value work, the importance of having a North Star, and why your time may already be worth hundreds of dollars per hour.If you're an entrepreneur feeling overwhelmed, this episode offers a practical roadmap for creating a business that serves your life instead of consuming it.
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  The Revenue Trap: Why More Income Doesn’t Always Create Wealth 07.07.2026 30min

  Most entrepreneurs are chasing more revenue, but Phil Calandra says that may be the trap.After making his first million dollars, Phil found himself during the 2009 financial crisis with payroll due, his mom’s name at the top of the list, and only eight cents in his checking account.That moment forced him to learn the difference between income, revenue, and real wealth.In this episode, Josh talks with Phil Calandra, co-founder and chief wealth officer at True Wealth Advisors and author of The Wealth Creation Method, about how founders can stop betting everything on their business and start building true financial freedom.They cover the revenue trap, the wealth ratio, work optionality, founder dependency, exit planning, and why extracting wealth from the business may be just as important as growing the business.If you are an entrepreneur reinvesting everything and hoping a future exit saves you, this one is worth hearing.
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  Stop Buying Yourself a Job: How to Build a Business Buyers Actually Want 30.06.2026 28min

  Are you building a valuable company, or have you simply created a demanding job for yourself?Muriel Touati, founder of Exit 3D Studio, joins me to explain the structural problems that can make a business difficult or impossible to sell.We dig into founder dependency, customer concentration, recurring revenue, customer churn, acquisition systems, and the marketing infrastructure buyers want to see.Muriel also shares why she walked away from an acquisition after discovering that the company’s “recurring revenue” was actually being replaced by a constant stream of new customers as existing customers left.Even when selling is years away, these lessons can help you build a stronger business that is less dependent on you.
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  How Zapier Really Started: YC Rejection, $100 Beta, and AI’s Big Shift 22.06.2026 36min

  Wade Foster, CEO and co-founder of Zapier, walks through the real origin story of how a hackathon project in Missouri became a $200M+ automation platform powering thousands of integrations and hundreds of employees.This episode covers the unfiltered startup journey:• Building Zapier from a real personal frustration with software integration• Why YC rejected them the first time, and what changed• The second application that unlocked everything• How a rough $100 beta validated product market fit instantly• Why imperfect products often reveal truth faster than polished ones• The evolution from early founder execution to large-scale leadership• How AI is fundamentally changing automation and software creationIf you’re a founder, operator, or builder, this episode is about one thing: execution beats planning.Listen through for Wade’s perspective on shipping early, avoiding analysis paralysis, and learning directly from reality instead of assumptions.#Zapier #WadeFoster #StartupStories #AI #Automation #Founders #Entrepreneurship #ProductMarketFit #YC #BusinessPodcast
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  The Strategy That Turns Experts Into Authorities 18.06.2026 28min

  What if your book was not just something you sold, but one of the most powerful marketing tools your business could ever have?In this episode of Making BIG Shifts, Josh Anderson sits down with Henry DeVries, publisher of Indie Books International, host of Agency Rainmaker TV, and ghostwriter/editor of more than 200 business books.Henry breaks down why business leaders, consultants, agency owners, and entrepreneurs should stop thinking about “marketing a book” and start thinking about marketing with a book.Henry also shares a special offer for Making BIG Shifts listeners. Mention Josh Anderson when reaching out to Henry, and you can get access to his two-hour book kickoff class at no cost - a $365 Connect with Henry:https://indiebooksintl.comListen now if you are an entrepreneur, consultant, agency owner, or expert who knows there is a bigger story inside your business.#MakingBigShifts #MarketingReboot #BusinessBooks #AuthorityMarketing #Entrepreneurship #Storytelling #PersonalBranding #ThoughtLeadership
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  The Career Trap Almost Every High Performer Falls Into 15.06.2026 27min

  Most high performers don’t burn out because they fail. They burn out because they succeed at the wrong game.In this episode of Making BIG Shifts, Josh Anderson sits down with Monica McKitterick, nurse practitioner, CEO of Impact Family Wellness, and founder in the Direct Primary Care space.After years inside a system driven by insurance, paperwork, and volume over care, she made a $20,000 bet on a different model. One focused on access, relationships, prevention, and real patient care.What started as a leap into the unknown turned into three clinics, a growing team, and eventually a harder decision. Stop optimizing for more, and start optimizing for life.In this episode, we break down:• The hidden career trap most high performers fall into• Why more growth often quietly reduces freedom• What Direct Primary Care actually changes in healthcare• How most founders misread success signals early on• Why marketing and sales matter even in medicine• The turning point between scaling and sustainability• How to know when “more” is no longer the right answerIf you are a founder, healthcare provider, operator, or high performer building something meaningful, this conversation will challenge how you define success.Listen to the full episode, like, subscribe to Making BIG Shifts, and share this with someone who is building fast but starting to question what it is costing them.#MakingBigShifts #Leadership #Burnout #Entrepreneurship #HighPerformance #CareerGrowth #Healthcare #DirectPrimaryCare #BusinessStrategy
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  The $1M Mistake That Taught This Founder to Focus 10.06.2026 38min

  In this episode of Making BIG Shifts, host Josh Anderson sits down with Graeme Barlow, four-time founder, CEO of Iversoft, and founder of FounderLink and Barlow Consulting, to talk about the hard lessons that come from building, scaling, and selling companies over more than two decades.Graeme shares the most expensive mistake of his career, losing focus, and how expanding Iversoft into too many services nearly broke the business. He walks through the painful decision to downsize half the company, the mindset required to protect momentum, and why founders often grow faster by doing less.Josh and Graeme also dig into fundraising, AI’s impact on services and marketing agencies, building strong teams, investing in early-stage companies, and the simple framework Graeme uses to help founders get unstuck: cash, customers, or delivery.This is a real conversation about focus, hard decisions, team energy, AI, and what it actually takes to build a company that lasts.Connect with today’s speakers:Graeme Barlow: https://www.graemebarlow.com/FounderLink: https://www.founderlink.com/#MakingBIGShifts #Entrepreneurship #FounderAdvice #StartupGrowth #BusinessGrowth #Leadership #ScalingBusiness #Fundraising #AIinBusiness
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  How LESS Work Made Him DOUBLE The Money 30.05.2026 23min

  In this episode of Making BIG Shifts, Jonathan David Lewis, President and Partner at McKee Wallwork and author of The Rebuilders, shares why the best leaders know when to say no, how to lead through disruption, and why rebuilding yourself is the first step to rebuilding your business. From navigating industry change and AI to creating thriving cultures, Jonathan delivers practical insights for founders, CEOs, and leaders ready to make their next big shift.Listen now and discover how clarity, courage, and character drive lasting growth.#MakingBIGShifts #JonathanDavidLewis #Leadership #BusinessGrowth #TheRebuilders
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  How To FIX Your Entire TEAM In 1 HOUR Only 21.05.2026 29min

  In this episode of Making BIG Shifts, host Josh Anderson sits down with Dusty Holcomb, leadership strategist, founder and CEO of Arcqus Group, and host of the Leadership Unlocked podcast. After 21 years inside the American Automobile Association and a stint as a company CEO, Dusty burned the boats to build a leadership practice focused on helping founders and senior executives unlock their next level of growth.In this conversation, Dusty breaks down why most execution problems are not, in fact, execution problems at all. They are clarity and alignment problems sitting upstream. He shares the reframe he uses with CEOs who complain that their team cannot keep up, why leaders need to articulate what must be done by when and avoid the how at all costs, and how to find a coach who will actually challenge you instead of coddle you.Dusty also gets into his Rules of Engagement playbook, the Socratic method he uses to expose the real bottleneck inside a founder-led company, leadership in the age of agentic AI, and the Monday morning practice every founder needs to stop being the bottleneck in their own business.If you are a founder, operator, or senior leader who feels like everything runs through you, this episode hands you a clear, practical framework to step back, get clarity, build alignment, and finally let execution take care of itself.#business #entrepreneur #team #EQ
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  Why Sounding UNIQUE Is Killing Your Business 16.05.2026 28min

  In this episode of Making BIG Shifts, host Josh Anderson sits down with Barry LaBov, founder of LaBov Marketing Communications and Training and author of The Power of Differentiation. With 45 years of experience, Barry has worked with iconic brands like Harley-Davidson, Audi, and Volkswagen, helping them uncover what makes them truly rare in a sea of sameness.Barry never planned to be an entrepreneur. He started out writing jingles for music until a client handed him their entire marketing department and asked him to take it over. That single moment of trust pulled him into a 45-year journey of building brands.In this conversation, Barry breaks down why so many companies sound exactly the same today, why AI-generated content is making it worse, and why true differentiation is not about being superior but about owning what makes you genuinely different. He shares the five-step process his team uses to uncover what a brand really stands for, the Wal-Mart of insurance story, why employees should hear a brand launch first, and how to find the right customer profile for your business.#branding #makingbigshifts #business #marketing #entrepeneurshipIf you are a founder, marketer, or operator trying to stand out in a crowded category, this episode gives you a clear and grounded framework to figure out what makes you different and how to protect it.