Employee Flourishing: Why Growing Your People Is the Ultimate Growth Strategy with Ryan Heckman

If you want your company to scale, here's one question you need to ask yourself: Are you growing your people as fast as you're growing your revenue? 

Too many leaders obsess over business expansion but ignore the foundation that makes it possible—PEOPLE. 

In this episode of the Happiness Squad Podcast, Ashish Kothari and Ryan Heckman remind us that when you invest in your people’s growth, your business follows. Ryan reveals the leadership shift that can turn any stagnant company into an unstoppable force.

Ryan Heckman is a seasoned private equity investor with over 25 years of experience, currently serving as co-founder, managing partner, and CEO at Rallyday Partners, a lower middle market investment firm. He also co-founded the Colorado Impact Fund, a Denver-based social impact fund. 

Previously, Ryan was the CEO and Chairman of EVP Eyecare and co-founded Excellere Partners, a private equity firm managing approximately $1.3 billion in capital. A two-time Olympian in skiing, he is also the Chairman of CiviCO, a founding board member of Endeavor Global/Colorado, and a Trustee at the University of Denver.

Things you will learn in this episode:

• Why growing your people is the fastest way to grow your business

• How leadership is not about control—it’s about empowerment

• Why culture should get better as a company grows—not worse

• Why leaders must be coaches, not just managers

• How trust and psychological safety drive performance

This episode will challenge everything you thought you knew about leadership and business growth. Don’t miss it!

Resources:✅

• Rallyday Partners: http://www.rallydaypartners.com/ 

• Colorado Impact Fund: http://www.coloradoimpactfund.com/ 

• CiviCO: https://www.livecivico.org/ 

• Intrinsic Value (Wall Street Journal Column by Roger Lowenstein) https://rogerlowenstein.com/ 

• First Biography of Warren Buffett – By Roger Lowenstein: https://hbr.org/1996/01/what-i-learned-from-warren-buffett 

• Research from the Michigan Ross Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship: https://positiveorgs.bus.umich.edu/an-introduction/ 

• Clay Christensen's Work on Management as a Noble Profession: https://hbr.org/2020/01/clayton-christensen-the-gentle-giant-of-innovation 

• Jan-Emmanuel De Neve & Sonja Lyubomirsky (Oxford Research on Workplace Well-Being): https://d341ezm4iqaae0.cloudfront.net/ews/20220817145319/Work-Wellbeing-2022-Insights-Report-.pdf 

Books:✅

• The Heart of Business by Hubert Joly: https://a.co/d/eVeJrY1 

• Grow the Pie by Alex Edmans: https://alexedmans.com/books/ 

• Hardwired for Happiness by Ashish Kothari: https://a.co/d/5G5k5IX