Podcast
Catalytic Leadership
Feeling overwhelmed by the daily grind and craving a breakthrough for your business? Tune in to the Catalytic Leadership Podcast with Dr. William Attaway, where we dive into the authentic stories of business leaders who’ve turned their toughest challenges into game-changing successes.
Each episode brings you real conversations with high-performing entrepreneurs and agency owners, sharing their personal experiences and valuable lessons. From overcoming stress and chaos to elevating team performance and achieving ambitious goals, discover practical strategies that you can apply to your own leadership journey. Dr. Attaway, an Executive Coach specializing in Mindset, Leadership, and and Productivity, provides clear, actionable insights to help you lead with confidence and clarity.
Join us for inspiring stories and expert advice that will ignite your leadership potential and drive your business forward. Subscribe to the Catalytic Leadership Podcast and start transforming your approach today. For more resources and exclusive content, visit CatalyticLeadership.net.
** Catalytic Leadership is ranked among the top 1.5% of podcasts globally on ListenNotes, thanks to our incredible listeners. Your support has made us one of the most popular shows out of over 3.4 million podcasts worldwide. Thank you for tuning in and being part of our journey! **
- Episodes
- 319
- Releases
- Weekly
- Typical length
- 33 min
- On air since
- 2022
- Latest episode
- 23 hours ago
Episodes
319 episodes, newest first
-
34 min
Beyond Quick Wins: Repeatable Processes That Scale (with Aaron Tellier)
Season 5, Episode 320
Show notes
A new platform or a new agency can feel like the fastest route to better results. The work of making that change pay off still takes time.
I sat down with Aaron Tellier, managing partner and chief revenue officer at The Volute Group, to explore how repeatable processes create an advantage that lasts. A former Navy officer and serial entrepreneur, Aaron brings lessons from marketing consultancies, climbing gyms and a brewery.
We discuss the pressure on CMOs to deliver short-term results, what the Navy taught him about testing a process, and how smaller businesses can gain structure while keeping their ability to adapt. Aaron also explains why AI makes hands-on experience more important, and why your team still needs opportunities to learn through the work.
Connect with Aaron Tellier
Connect with Aaron on LinkedIn or email him at atellier@volutegrp.com. He welcomes a message, a connection request or a conversation to trade experiences.
Aaron on LinkedIn · atellier@volutegrp.comChapters
00:00 William's High Capacity Leaders invitation
01:00 Introducing Aaron Tellier
02:58 The first job that revealed his strengths
06:48 Why CMOs need creative and analytical range
08:59 Short-term pressure and long-term customer experience
12:06 Why new software and agency changes take time
13:55 The Navy's lesson in repeatable processes
18:06 Adapting across climbing gyms, brewing and agencies
24:09 Business is personal: mentors and team autonomy
27:12 AI, experience and developing future leaders
30:32 A forthcoming book on financial customer experience
32:47 Connect with Aaron TellierApply now to be a part of the High Capacity Leaders mastermind in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 9-10, 2026. Go to https://westpalm.highcapacityleaders.org/ for more information.
Check out Dr. William Attaway's new show, The Appreciation at Work Podcast!
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
• Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube -
35 min
How to Use AI in Your Business Without Losing Its Soul (with Jon Harmeling)
Season 5, Episode 319
Show notes
Jon Harmeling is a West Point graduate, former West Point instructor in the Department of Systems Engineering, Army veteran, and the Chick-fil-A Operator in Miami Shores, Florida, where he leads a team of about 100. He runs ten AI systems inside his own restaurant and speaks to leaders about using AI without losing the soul of the business.
In this conversation with Dr. William Attaway, Jon shares how a two-week Army assignment, a cancer diagnosis, and the loss of his father moved him from chasing success toward a life of significance. He explains how he uses AI in your business the practical way, to take admin work off his plate so he has more time for people, including the schedule analysis across 89 team members that led him to take a hit on profit rather than cut anyone's hours. He also talks about busyness as a distraction, leading side by side with his wife Carrie, and the eulogy question that keeps his priorities clear.
Connect with Jon Harmeling:
Website: https://www.jonharmeling.com
Free operator notes: https://www.jonharmeling.com/notes
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonharmeling/Chapters
00:00 Introducing Jon Harmeling
01:30 From West Point to Chick-fil-A
03:42 A cancer diagnosis and a clear calling
05:14 Moving from success to significance
08:22 Losing his dad and the busyness trap
10:09 Leading at a sustainable pace
11:36 Intentionality and the 15-minute welcome conversation
13:48 Using AI to free up time for people
16:26 The 89-person schedule analysis
18:49 Faith, family, and leading alongside his wife
21:38 The eulogy question: relationships over metrics
22:48 How Jon keeps leveling up
28:03 Book recommendations: the Bible and Buy Back Your Time
30:28 How to connect with JonApply now to be a part of the High Capacity Leaders mastermind in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 9-10, 2026. Go to https://westpalm.highcapacityleaders.org/ for more information.
Check out Dr. William Attaway's new show, The Appreciation at Work Podcast!
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
• Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube -
42 min
What a Fractional Integrator Can Do for Your Business (with Jamie Munoz)
Season 5, Episode 318
Show notes
Jamie Munoz is the founder and CEO of Catalyst Integrators, an award-winning fractional integrator firm named to the Inc. 5000 list two years in a row. A longtime EOS integrator turned visionary, she helps entrepreneurs scale healthy, self-managing companies while empowering her own team to live their ideal lives.
In this conversation with Dr. William Attaway, Jamie explains what an integrator does, where a fractional integrator fits for a growing business, and the simple math that shows whether you can afford one. She shares the public recognition moment that taught her to meet people where they are, what it took to step into the visionary seat, and how her Nourish to Flourish theme built a team culture that resists burnout.
Connect with Jamie Munoz:
Website: https://www.catalystintegrators.com
Talk with Catalyst: https://www.catalystintegrators.com/contact
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamie-munoz/Chapters
00:00 Introducing Jamie Munoz
02:00 Learning to meet people where they are
05:48 When public recognition went wrong
08:03 Jamie's journey with EOS
12:05 Stepping into the visionary seat
13:47 Letting go and trusting your integrator
15:34 What an integrator actually does
17:18 Where a fractional integrator fits
20:37 Back-of-the-napkin math: can you afford it?
22:28 Nourish to Flourish: a team culture without burnout
31:23 How Jamie keeps leveling up
35:41 Book recommendation: The EOS LifeApply now to be a part of the High Capacity Leaders mastermind in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 9-10, 2026. Go to https://westpalm.highcapacityleaders.org/ for more information.
Check out Dr. William Attaway's new show, The Appreciation at Work Podcast!
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
• Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube -
33 min
Step In the Circle: How to Build Community at Work (with Bradley Rapier)
Season 5, Episode 317
Show notes
Bradley Rapier is an Emmy-nominated choreographer, keynote speaker, author, and founder of Groove Theory. He has choreographed for the director of Hamilton, Dancing with the Stars, and So You Think You Can Dance, and performed in La La Land and multiple Super Bowl halftime shows. From the dance floor to the boardroom, he teaches leaders how to build community at work by stepping in the circle.
In this conversation with Dr. William Attaway, Bradley shares the hard conversation that took him off the path to medical school, why his preference is "first in person, second in person, third in person," and why AI will never replace human connection. He explains freestyle leadership, the foundation that makes real freedom possible, and how leaders create an atmosphere where people can take risks, make mistakes, and still belong.
Connect with Bradley Rapier:
Book and newsletter: https://www.bradleyrapier.com
Step In the Circle: You Can't Lead from the Outside is available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other retailers.Chapters
00:00 Introducing Bradley Rapier
01:21 From the medical school track to street dance
04:07 Step in the circle: what dance taught him about community
07:10 First in person, second in person, third in person
08:55 Why AI can't replace human connection
11:05 The hard conversation with his father
16:06 Bringing out what is already inside people
18:14 Foundations of freestyle leadership
20:01 Why he wrote Step In the Circle
23:40 Hovering at the edge of the circle
26:18 How to keep leveling up as a leader
28:57 Creating a culture where people are free to failApply now to be a part of the High Capacity Leaders mastermind in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 9-10, 2026. Go to https://westpalm.highcapacityleaders.org/ for more information.
Check out Dr. William Attaway's new show, The Appreciation at Work Podcast!
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
• Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube -
35 min
The 3 Cs That Motivate Your Team Without Micromanaging (with Dr. Scott Geller)
Season 5, Episode 316
Show notes
Dr. Scott Geller, Alumni Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech and founder of the Actively Caring for People (AC4P) Foundation, has spent 56 years studying what moves people to act. His answer for leaders is research-based and practical. To motivate your team without micromanaging, build the 3 Cs of self-motivation: choice, competence, and community.
In this conversation with Dr. William Attaway, Dr. Geller explains humanistic behaviorism, the difference between leading people and managing behavior, and how supportive and corrective feedback can both land as positive when they are done well. He shares his campus crosswalk research on gratitude, the story behind behavior-based safety, and his favorite acronym, COACH: care, observe, analyze, communicate, help.
Connect with Dr. Scott Geller:
Actively Caring for People Foundation: https://ac4p.orgChapters
00:00 Introducing Dr. Scott Geller
01:01 From cognitive psychology to making a difference
02:10 Humanistic behaviorism and the role of empathy
04:06 Leaders motivate by promoting self-motivation
05:06 The 3 Cs: choice, competence, and community
08:33 Every person matters
09:13 Actively caring for people
10:09 Leading people and managing behavior
11:30 Supportive and corrective feedback
14:11 Lessons from 56 years at Virginia Tech
16:54 The crosswalk gratitude study
18:48 Appreciation in the workplace
20:16 Behavior-based safety and the COACH acronym
25:33 The hunger for connection
28:46 Wins journals and small winsApply now to be a part of the High Capacity Leaders mastermind in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 9-10, 2026. Go to https://westpalm.highcapacityleaders.org/ for more information.
Check out Dr. William Attaway's new show, The Appreciation at Work Podcast!
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
• Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube -
32 min
Why You Have to Lead From a Place of Healing (with Beth Jones)
Season 5, Episode 315
Show notes
Beth Jones spent more than 30 years as a forensic accountant and fraud investigator before a hypnotherapy session became the turning point of her own healing journey. She is a Leadership Performance Strategist, creator of The HEAL Framework™ (Hope, Evolve, Love), and author of "Becoming an Empowered Survivor: You, Too, Can Heal From Trauma and Abuse."
In this conversation with Dr. William Attaway, Beth explains why unresolved pain accumulates gradually and silently for years until it starts shaping decisions, relationships, and leadership without anyone noticing. She breaks down The HEAL Framework, the role of community in healing, and why leaders have to lead from a place of healing instead of managing from an unhealed one.
Connect with Beth Jones:
Substack & LinkedIn: @bethjoneshealingmentor
YouTube: @BethJonesHEALingMentor
Book: Becoming an Empowered SurvivorApply now to be a part of the High Capacity Leaders mastermind in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 9-10, 2026. Go to https://westpalm.highcapacityleaders.org/ for more information.
Check out Dr. William Attaway's new show, The Appreciation at Work Podcast!
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
• Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube -
31 min
The AI Negligence Insurance Gap No One's Covering (with Vinnie Fisher)
Season 5, Episode 5
Show notes
Vinnie Fisher, Founder and CEO of SiteTrust, returns to the Catalytic Leadership Podcast to unpack the AI negligence insurance gap costing business owners thousands of dollars they didn't know they were exposed to.
Vinnie explains why most website consent trackers don't work, why wiretapping-statute lawsuits are climbing into the thousands, and why standard insurance won't cover AI mistakes made without human oversight. He connects it back to the deepfake problem that led him to build SiteTrust in the first place: proving the origin of content instead of being stuck proving a negative.
What we unpacked:
• Why ninety percent of website consent trackers don't actually work
• The specific legal requirements most professional websites are missing
• Why agencies are exposed right alongside the clients whose sites they manage
• How watermarking and proof of origin close the deepfake liability gapConnect with Vinnie Fisher:
Free site scan and report: sitetrust.com/gifts
Website: sitetrust.com
YouTube: youtube.com/@sitetrust
Facebook: facebook.com/SiteTrust
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/sitetrustApply now to be a part of the High Capacity Leaders mastermind in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 9-10, 2026. Go to https://westpalm.highcapacityleaders.org/ for more information.
Check out Dr. William Attaway's new show, The Appreciation at Work Podcast!
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
• Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube -
30 min
Why Working Less Grew This Firm 492%: The 3.3 Rule (with John Briggs)
Season 5, Episode 313
Show notes
In this episode of the Catalytic Leadership Podcast, Dr. William Attaway sits down with John Briggs, CPA, founder and CEO of Incite Tax & Accounting and author of Take Breaks, Work Better. John shares the 2 a.m. moment that forced him to confront hustle culture head-on, the research behind human focus cycles, and the framework he now calls the 3.3 rule: work up to three hours, then take a 30 percent recovery break. Since implementing it, his firm has grown 492 percent while holding a 42-hour work week during tax season, the industry's busiest and most burnout-prone stretch.
John and William unpack why founders who centralize every decision cannot sell what they've built, how the 3.3 rule protects both output and family life, and what it actually takes to build a leadership team that runs without you.
Connect with John Briggs:
therealjohnbriggs.com
linkedin.com/in/therealjohnbriggs
Book & free tools: takebreaksworkbetter.comChapters
00:00 Welcome John Briggs
00:47 From accountant to firm leader: John's journey
02:51 Why hoarding decisions kills your business
06:09 The hustle culture wake up call behind the book
08:31 The 2am moment that changed everything
11:31 The science behind a 492% growth story
14:41 The hidden cost of the 8 hour workday
16:41 Your brain's natural focus and distraction cycle
17:56 Inside the 3.3 rule
20:38 What changed personally: presence, health, freedom
24:49 Redefining success beyond hustle culture
26:00 Where to find John and his bookApply now to be a part of the High Capacity Leaders mastermind in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 9-10, 2026. Go to https://westpalm.highcapacityleaders.org/ for more information.
Check out Dr. William Attaway's new show, The Appreciation at Work Podcast!
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
• Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube -
31 min
Why Collaboration Over Competition Multiplies Growth (with Chad T. Jenkins)
Season 5, Episode 312
Show notes
Chad T. Jenkins launched more than fifty businesses before he decided to stop launching companies altogether. What he found was that the fastest growth never came from building alone. Chad, owner and CEO of SEEDSPARK and founder of SEEDSPARK CoLAB, joins William to make the case for collaboration over competition, and to show how the assets already sitting in your business become leverage the moment you combine them with someone else's. He walks through the VCR formula he learned from Dean Jackson, vision plus capability times reach, and unpacks how Kylie Jenner's lip kits and a single Nike and Tiffany collaboration prove the math. Along the way he explains the "exploded parts view" of an entrepreneur, the I AMs that make each leader unique, and why his task list has two columns instead of one. If you have been solving growth problems by hiring more or spending more on ads, this conversation offers a shorter road.
Chapters
00:00 Meet Chad T. Jenkins and the exploded parts view
02:06 Growing up on a South Carolina farm with a bigger vision
03:36 Turning the search inward: what do I already have
05:45 What fifty-plus businesses taught him
06:22 Value creation is everything, and everything is a recombination
08:05 From operator to leverage partner for founders worldwide
09:27 Building the CQ assessment for a collaborative mindset
11:51 The I AMs: insights, abilities, and multipliers
15:14 A go-giver community where no one is allowed to sell
17:41 The VCR formula: vision plus capability times reach
23:23 Nothing new without a who
25:25 The Daily GRACE routine that keeps him sharpBooks mentioned
• The Code to Collaboration by Chad T. Jenkins
• Friction Fuel by Chad T. Jenkins
• Just Add a Zero by Chad T. Jenkins
• The Go-Giver by Bob Burg and John David Mann
• Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin HardyConnect with Chad on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadtjenkins/, explore the CoLAB at https://seedspark.com/, browse his books at https://chadtjenkins.com/, and pick up his new bestseller at https://codetocollaboration.com/.
Apply now to be a part of the High Capacity Leaders mastermind in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 9-10, 2026. Go to https://westpalm.highcapacityleaders.org/ for more information.
Check out Dr. William Attaway's new show, The Appreciation at Work Podcast!
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
• Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube -
32 min
Letting Go of Control Is How I Finally Scaled (with Laura Parker)
Season 5, Episode 311
Show notes
Laura Parker built The Exodus Road into a global anti-trafficking organization, then hit the wall every founder hits: the business could not grow past what she could personally hold. Laura Parker, CEO and co-founder of The Exodus Road, joins the show to talk about letting go of control, the real reason it is so hard, and what changed when she finally handed off the work she was never gifted to do. She and William dig into the EOS visionary-integrator split, the communication breakdowns that come with delegation, and why she now aims for excellent instead of perfect. If you are the bottleneck in your own business, this episode names it and shows you the next right step out.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Laura Parker and The Exodus Road
02:16 A two-year contract in Thailand becomes a mission
04:25 The scale of human trafficking most people miss
05:44 Fighting overwhelm by taking the next right step
07:49 The founder to CEO transition few leaders make
08:28 Traction, Rocket Fuel, and the visionary-integrator split
10:12 Getting okay with 80 percent
14:08 Inside Influenced, the digital safety program for families
19:00 Full-time motherhood and full-time leadership
20:39 Why you can have some, not all
23:27 Leveling up by asking better questions
26:23 Living above the line as a leaderBooks Mentioned
The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership by Jim Dethmer
Traction by Gino Wickman
Rocket Fuel by Gino Wickman and Mark C. Winters
Emotionally Healthy Spiritual Leadership by Peter Scazzero
Good to Great by Jim CollinsConnect with Laura Parker
theexodusroad.com and on LinkedIn. Explore her digital safety program for families at influenced.org.Apply now to be a part of the High Capacity Leaders mastermind in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 9-10, 2026. Go to https://westpalm.highcapacityleaders.org/ for more information.
Check out Dr. William Attaway's new show, The Appreciation at Work Podcast!
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
• Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube -
12 min
Your Team Is Still Human: Leading People When AI Changes Everything
Season 5, Episode 310
Show notes
Your team can feel it before you say a word. AI is moving faster than your job description can keep up with, and underneath the excitement about tools and leverage, a quieter fear is spreading through your people about whether the company still needs them. Dr. William Attaway opens Season 5 of the Catalytic Leadership Podcast with the keyphrase for the entire season: your team is still human. He unpacks why 94 percent of companies run a recognition program while turnover and engagement keep sliding, why people leave over feeling unseen three times more often than over pay, and why appreciation is not the same skill as recognition. Using a real story from an agency owner who almost lost his team to silence, William shows what it looks like to name the fear in the room and replace it with real value. He closes with three moves leaders can make before Friday and two questions worth sitting with all week, starting with whether they are leading like their team is still human.
Apply now to be a part of the High Capacity Leaders mastermind in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 9-10, 2026. Go to https://westpalm.highcapacityleaders.org/ for more information.
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
• Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube -
49 min
Client Churn: From Reactive to Proactive (with Brett Linnenkohl & Josh Koeller)
Season 4, Episode 309
Show notes
Agency growth gets expensive when every new client replaces one who just left. Brett Linnenkohl, fractional COO and founder of Evergreen Strategic Systems, and Josh Koeller, co-founder of The Customer Profit Engine, join Dr. William Attaway to unpack a more useful way to manage customer churn. Their work helps account managers move beyond subjective health-color ratings by finding the signals already buried in calls, CRM activity, support, and customer conversations. They share how a pilot reduced churn by four percentage points in ninety days, why proactive coaching produces stronger client relationships, and how the right data can uncover retention and expansion opportunities before a customer has one foot out the door.
Chapters
00:00 Welcome and why retention matters
02:45 From fractional COO to customer focus
07:20 The three numbers agencies miss
09:02 Turning customer health into data
14:05 The problem with CRM notes
20:29 Connecting Slack, calls, and email signals
22:06 Pilot wins a $6K upsell
26:04 Escaping the churn treadmill
29:19 Proactive coaching beats reactive firefighting
31:10 Beyond agencies, MSP, solar, and more
35:18 Coaching CSMs without breaking trust
41:37 Mining past churn for hidden revenue
45:39 Beta offer guarantee and next stepsConnect with Brett and Josh
Explore the Customer Profit Engine and the Account Manager Profit Accelerator at https://customerprofitengine.com. Connect with Brett Linnenkohl and Josh Koeller on LinkedIn.Apply now to be a part of the High Capacity Leaders mastermind in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 9-10, 2026. Go to https://westpalm.highcapacityleaders.org/ for more information.
Check out Dr. William Attaway's new show, The Appreciation at Work Podcast!
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
• Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube -
30 min
How to Build an Exit Ready Agency That Runs Without You (with Damiano Raveenthiran)
Season 4, Episode 308
Show notes
You scaled past seven figures. The revenue is real. So is the exhaustion.
In this episode, I sit down with Damiano Raveenthiran, founder of The Agency Business and an operator who built a 75-person, $8.4M agency, exited three companies, and now runs a portfolio of seven. He did what so many agency founders dream about: he removed himself from the center of his own business and turned it into an exit ready agency.
Damiano shares the moment his son's health crisis forced him to step away, what he rebuilt on the other side, and the enterprise sales strategies that helped him close $25M in deals. He breaks down the shift from freelancer to CEO, the role AI automation plays in agency operations today, and why clarity on your purpose changes every decision you make.
Connect with Damiano Raveenthiran:
Website: https://theagency.business
Instagram: @DamianoR
YouTube: The Agency BusinessBooks Mentioned:
Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell
Fanatical Prospecting by Jeb BlountApply now to be a part of the High Capacity Leaders mastermind in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 9-10, 2026. Go to https://westpalm.highcapacityleaders.org/ for more information.
Check out Dr. William Attaway's new show, The Appreciation at Work Podcast!
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
• Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube -
35 min
Are Your Values Real? The Leadership Pressure Test (with Jon Sheldon)
Season 4, Episode 51
Show notes
The leadership pressure test reveals what a leader has already practiced. In this episode, I sit down with Jon Sheldon, founder of BelleauWood Coaching, to explore the leadership pressure test through lessons he learned as a Marine squad leader and Fortune 500 sales executive.
Jon explains why clear decisions begin with knowing yourself. His professional blueprint centers on purpose, vision, the environment where you thrive, and what motivates you. Then he pressure-tests those answers against real behavior. Courage is more than a value on paper. A leader has to show where courage held and where it gave way.
We also talk about radical honesty, the cost of making firm calls, and the discipline of keeping the mission in view when emotion runs high. Jon shares a simple framework for those moments: define the mission, name the obstacle, and choose the first action. If you lead a team through growth or uncertainty, this conversation offers a grounded way to respond with clarity.
Chapter Breakdown
• 00:00 Meet Jon Sheldon: Marine Leader and Executive Coach
• 02:29 How Responsibility Forged a Leader
• 05:12 Why Mistakes Are Inevitable Under Pressure
• 06:40 Learning to Think 13 Moves Ahead
• 08:54 The Mission, Obstacle, Actions Framework
• 10:06 Build Your Professional Leadership Blueprint
• 13:33 Pressure-Test the Leader You Claim to Be
• 15:26 Why a Four-Hour Seminar Cannot Build a Leader
• 17:49 Radical Honesty and the Courage to Be Unpopular
• 20:35 The Cost and Loneliness of Leadership
• 24:20 Protect Time to Keep Growing as a Leader
• 29:19 Books That Make Leadership PracticalBooks Mentioned
• The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday
• Leadership Strategy and Tactics: Field Manual by Jocko Willink
• Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
• Because I Said I Would by Alex Sheen
• Your Desired Future by Dr. Henry Cloud
• A Return on Failure by John C. MaxwellConnect with Jon Sheldon
Visit BelleauWood Coaching, connect with Jon on LinkedIn, or follow @belleauwood_coaching on Instagram.
Apply now to be a part of the High Capacity Leaders mastermind in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 9-10, 2026. Go to https://westpalm.highcapacityleaders.org/ for more information.
Check out Dr. William Attaway's new show, The Appreciation at Work Podcast!
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
• Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
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15 min
Bouncing Client to Client? Delegation for Agency Owners (with Landon Gatliff)
Season 4, Episode 50
Show notes
If your week feels like bouncing client to client with no room left to work on the business itself, this one will land.
My guest, Landon Gatliff, is the founder of Gatliff Marketing Consultants, a marketing agency in rural Arkansas serving businesses and organizations both locally and out of state. Landon started the agency as a junior in high school building websites. He now runs it full time, covering brand, ads, commercials, and billboards, while finishing his degree online.
What makes this worth your time is how early he learned something that costs founders years. Delegation for agency owners is not a reward you earn at scale. It is the thing that creates it. When his own company needed a commercial, he hired an outside crew rather than working both sides of the camera. The result beat anything he would have made alone.
We get into the tension you know well: staying visible while staying booked, using AI without letting it become your voice, and choosing the right clients instead of every client.
Books Mentioned
• The Bible
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale CarnegieGuest CTA
Want to connect with Landon? Visit https://www.gatliffmarketingconsultants.com to book a consultation or run his marketing assessment, and follow him on Facebook and Instagram at Landon Gatliff.
Apply now to be a part of the High Capacity Leaders mastermind in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 9-10, 2026. Go to https://westpalm.highcapacityleaders.org/ for more information.
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
• Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube -
33 min
Owner Not Operator: Why He Said No to $6 Million (with Steve Rolle)
Season 4, Episode 49
Show notes
If you built your business but still feel like everything runs through you, this episode will change how you see your role.
My guest, Steve Rolle, a serial entrepreneur and investor whose businesses have generated over $100 million in combined sales, breaks down the exact shift from owner not operator that let him turn down a $6 million acquisition offer just two years into the business he built.
Steve walks us through his four-part framework for understanding the real levers of growth: product, profit margin, distribution, and customer acquisition, and why most business owners stay trapped under the hood instead of getting behind the wheel.
If you're ready to stop being the bottleneck and start owning the business you built, this conversation hands you the mindset and the math to get there.
Books Mentioned
• The Almanac of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgensen.
Guest CTA
Connect with Steve at https://www.steverolle.com, where you can pre-order or order his new book, The Future You Choose, or find him on social channels as @RollewithSteve.
Apply now to be a part of the High Capacity Leaders mastermind in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 9-10, 2026. Go to https://westpalm.highcapacityleaders.org/ for more information.
Check out Dr. William Attaway's new show, The Appreciation at Work Podcast!
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
• Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube -
40 min
200% Growth Every Year, And She Still Scaled Without Burnout (with Houlie Duque)
Season 4, Episode 48
Show notes
If you're scaling fast and quietly wondering what it's costing your family, this episode will change how you think about growth.
My guest this week, Houlie Duque, founder and CEO of Homeschool2Go Genius Lab, built the only personalized, fully bilingual education program of its kind and grew it by over 200% every year for five years straight.
In this conversation, Houlie shows exactly how to scale without burnout: building systems that adapt to people instead of forcing people into rigid systems, rejecting the false sense of rush most founders accept as normal, and using AI to sharpen critical thinking instead of replacing it.
If you're building something ambitious and refuse to trade away what matters most to get there, this episode hands you a real blueprint.
Head over to https://homeschool2go.org (soon redirecting to homeschoolgeniuslab.com) for Houlie's free masterclass, or apply for a one-on-one with her team.
Apply now to be a part of the High Capacity Leaders mastermind in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 9-10, 2026. Go to https://westpalm.highcapacityleaders.org/ for more information.
Check out Dr. William Attaway's new show, The Appreciation at Work Podcast!
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
• Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube -
33 min
Why Your Mindset Is Blocking You From Getting Unstuck (with Melanie Cox)
Season 4, Episode 47
Show notes
What if the only thing standing between you and freedom is the story you keep telling yourself? My guest this week, Melanie Cox — CEO of EMC Property, founder of Blue Oak Rescue, and Amazon #1 bestselling author of You Have to Know — spent over a year in bed, convinced she wasn't enough. Today she leads a real estate business spanning 4,000+ acres, veteran housing, and multifamily development, and she's been married 31 years.
If you feel stuck in your leadership or your own head, this conversation will help you get unstuck. Melanie shares the daily choice that moved her from depression to unstoppable, the delegation approach that lets her work half the hours she used to, and the boundary she holds when integrity and profit collide.
Connect with Melanie at MelanieCox.org, or find her on Instagram as It's Melanie Cox. DM her the word "book" and she'll send you a free digital copy of You Have to Know.
-------
Apply now to be a part of the High Capacity Leaders mastermind in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 9-10, 2026. Go to https://westpalm.highcapacityleaders.org/ for more information.
Check out Dr. William Attaway's new show, The Appreciation at Work Podcast!
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
• Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube -
41 min
The Situational Leadership Model Behind Real Team Trust (with Sam Shriver & Suzie Bishop)
Season 4, Episode 46
Show notes
Are you leading every person on your team the exact same way and wondering why it's stopped working? In this episode, I sit down with Sam Shriver and Suzie Bishop of the Center for Leadership Studies, co-authors of a new book applying the situational leadership model to today's fast-changing workplace. Sam brings 45+ years of research into this framework; Suzie leads product innovation at CLS after 15 years of turning research into real-world training. Together, we unpack why one-size-fits-all leadership breaks down during constant change, how the situational leadership model gives you a repeatable way to diagnose exactly what each person needs task by task, and why trust erodes the moment you skip that step. We also dig into Gallup's engagement data and why adaptability, not just intelligence, is becoming the defining leadership skill in the AI era. If you've ever felt like you're leading in the dark, this conversation hands you the lens to lead with clarity again.
Books Mentioned
• Situational Leadership®: The Model for Leading Others, Navigating Change, and Unlocking Performance by Sam Shriver and Suzie Bishop
• Management of Organizational Behavior by Paul HerseyConnect with Sam Shriver and Suzie Bishop on LinkedIn, explore their work at https://situational.com, and pick up their new book on the situational leadership model at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or your favorite retailer.
Apply now to be a part of the High Capacity Leaders mastermind in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 9-10, 2026. Go to https://westpalm.highcapacityleaders.org/ for more information.
Check out Dr. William Attaway's new show, The Appreciation at Work Podcast!
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
• Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube -
31 min
What Breaks When the Pressure's On: Leadership Under Pressure (with Ed Brzychcy)
Season 4, Episode 45
Show notes
You know what good leadership looks like. The question is: what happens to it when the pressure hits?
This week, I sat down with Ed Brzychcy, Army infantry veteran, former Babson College professor, and organizational culture consultant to mid-market high-growth companies. Ed spent over a decade researching what separates the CEOs of the fastest-growing companies from everyone else, and what he found wasn't what he expected.
It wasn't the culture artifacts. It wasn't the perks or the values on the wall. It was how the leaders grew. And there's a specific four-stage journey every one of them walked through, including one stage that Ed says was emotionally harder than anything they faced at the beginning.
If you're building a team and wondering why leadership under pressure keeps breaking down, this conversation is going to give you a clear map and the courage to take the next step on it.
Books Mentioned
• Thomas Willing: The Banker Who Made America by George Vague
• Lost Worlds by Patrick WymanConnect with Ed on LinkedIn, or visit his website at leadfromthefront.net.
Apply now to be a part of the High Capacity Leaders mastermind in West Palm Beach, Florida on November 9-10, 2026. Go to https://westpalm.highcapacityleaders.org/ for more information.
Check out Dr. William Attaway's new show, The Appreciation at Work Podcast!
Join Dr. William Attaway on the Catalytic Leadership podcast as he shares transformative insights to help high-performance entrepreneurs and agency owners achieve Clear-Minded Focus, Calm Control, and Confidence.
• Free 30-Minute Discovery Call:
Ready to elevate your business? Book a free 30-minute discovery call with Dr. William Attaway and start your journey to success.Connect with Dr. William Attaway:
• Website
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube
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