The Elite Entrepreneurs Podcast

Kristin Carpenter founded Verde Brand Communications after a decade-long journalism career, working on staff for major consumer lifestyle magazines, business and trade titles. Now 19 years later, she continues to serve as Verde’s CEO and directs strategy for the agency.Kristin is also host of the Channel Mastery podcast, voted best Outdoor Podcast by SNEWS in 2019. Channel Mastery launched in 2017 and delivers solutions in every weekly episode tailored for specialty business and brand leaders navigating the continual transformation of multi-channel business. Specialty’s competitive set now includes behemoth marketplaces like Amazon, billion-dollar retailers like Target and Walmart, armed with troves of data, Channel Mastery shows specialty business leaders what’s working today to best engage today’s consumer.In her free time, you can find Kristin chasing her kids around the mountains and desert around her home in Durango, Colo.In addition to her duties of founder/CEO and Mom, Kristin hosts town halls and keynote speaking engagements.What You Will Learn:●     How Kristin initially founded Verde Brand Communications with the goal and began specializing in the outdoor recreation market●     How the outbreak of the global pandemic forced everyone to “throw out the playbook” and encouraged them to innovate new solutions●     How Kristin learned to stop over-servicing her clients and recognize the real value of her time and effort as her firm grew●     Why Kristin would tell her younger self to not stress so much over the challenges ahead of her and to know that she will overcome them●     Why learning to delegate responsibility was one of the significant skills Kristin had to develop as a leader to keep her organization growing●     How the global pandemic has impacted online research engagement and conversion and created change in both businesses and in the consumers they serve●     How Kristin and her team are continuously working to update their Mission, Vision, and Values and to implement and streamline their processes●     Why constant outgoing communication between brands and consumers is more important than ever before in the age of pandemic●     Why Kristin believes it is key for a brand to not be too tied to its founder and to stand on its own legs●     How Kristin is focusing on building out her leadership team’s structure to better reflect who Verde is and what they want to beResources:●     McKinsey & Company’s “The Quickening” study: https://mck.co/3iM0GHf●     Website: www.verdepr.com●     Website: www.channelmastery.com●     LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kcarpediem/●     LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/verde-pr-&-consulting/●     Facebook: www.facebook.com/kristinthecarpenter●     Twitter: @VerdeBrandCommAdditional Resources:●     Elite Business Health Assessment: https://growwithelite.com/health●     Email: info@GrowWithElite.com●     Website: https://growwithelite.com/

Good Succession Planning and the Science of Change What You Will Learn: About Bradley Franc Bradley Franc is the creator of The Succession Solution. He is an accomplished entrepreneur, business coach, strategist, business lawyer, and CPA (inactive). As an entrepreneur, he has formed 4 separate companies which have been named 9 separate times in INC Magazine list of fastest-growing companies in the U.S. Have been named by Worth Magazine as one of the top 100 attorneys in the United States. Over his 30 years in the field of transition planning, he counseled hundreds of closely-held business owners on their succession plan. In 2019, he published the book entitled “The Succession Solution, The Strategic Guide to Business Transition,” which was an Amazon bestseller. Resources: Additional Resources:

Successful Habits and the Science of Change What You Will Learn: About Brett Gilliland Brett Gilliland is Founder and CEO of Elite Entrepreneurs, a company that specializes in giving $1M+ business owners the knowledge, processes, and tools to grow to $10M and beyond. Brett is an expert in organization development, leadership, and strategy and spent 10 years helping Infusionsoft grow from $7M in revenue to over $100M. Brett was involved in the foundational work of Purpose, Values, and Mission at Infusionsoft and facilitated the strategic planning process for many years. One of Brett’s favorite professional accomplishments is co-creating Infusionsoft’s Elite Forum along with Clate Mask and building the Elite business inside of Infusionsoft. As the leader of the Elite business, Brett has helped hundreds of struggling seven-figure business owners overcome their biggest challenges and achieve new levels of success. He also played a central role in the development of Infusionsoft’s Leadership Model and was serving as the VP of Leadership Development when the decision was made to spin the Elite business out of Infusionsoft. As the new owner of Elite Entrepreneurs, Brett can’t think of anything else he’d rather be doing professionally. When Brett isn’t busy helping $1M+ businesses succeed, he is a family man who enjoys spending time with his beautiful wife, Sharon, and their 8 children. Resources: Additional Resources:

Erika Flora started her career as a Microbiologist turned Program Manager and discovered a passion for improving how organizations manage the flow of work, deliver great products and services, and better serve their customers. In 2006, she founded Beyond20, a Digital Transformation consulting and training firm based on ITIL, DevOps, Agile, Lean, and other best practice frameworks. Erika works with leaders in global organizations as a Digital Strategy facilitator and coach. Over the years, she has led several successful technology implementation initiatives and has helped organizations find more success with their Digital Transformation efforts. Erika is an avid blogger, speaker, and advocate of expanding opportunities for women and minorities in technology. Erika calls Washington, DC home. When not at work, you may find her reading, sailing, or performing improv comedy. What the podcast will teach you: Resources: Additional Resources:

“What if there was a garden and fruit tree in every yard?” This is a question that Greg ponders every day. For over 30 years he has been working on one of Phoenix’s first environmental showcase homes for urban farming. This 1/3-acre yard features a primarily edible landscape with over 70 fruit trees, rainwater and greywater harvesting, solar applications, and extensive use of reclaimed and recycled building materials. Greg is a longtime permaculture advocate who flunked out of university in 1981 because he was bored, then went back 20 years later to earn a bachelor’s degree followed directly by a Masters in Urban and Environmental Planning in 2006. He is a lifelong continual learner. Greg started his first business at the age of 15 cleaning and servicing fish ponds in Phoenix. From 1979 to 1984 he also owned 11 gift wrap centers in Phoenix malls. Then in 1984, he discovered the Macintosh computer and that sent him on a 20-year journey in technology that included the first laser typesetting business and Apple Authorized Training center in Phoenix plus he ran a software App company for 20 years. Since 1999 he has transitioned to urban farming education. Greg is the creator of the Urban Farm Fruit Tree Education program in Phoenix Arizona which he began in 1999 when he discovered you could go into most nurseries and they would sell you a fruit tree that would never make fruit. Since then the program hosts thousands of people yearly in free online and in-person classes where they get to preorder fruit trees for planting in the low desert. Each year the program delivers thousands of fruit trees into the local Phoenix market. Greg is also the host of the UrbanFarmPodcast.com that in just 5 years has released over 600 episodes amassing over 2.5 million listens to date. On his days off he hangs out in his garden with Heidi, his sweetheart, Kismet, his pooch, and their chickens, creating new projects and catching some rays. What the podcast will teach you: Resources: Additional Resources:

New Employee Onboarding and Business Planning Strategies What You Will Learn: Rock’s top strategies for more effective new employee onboarding and quarterly business planning Why Rock plans and sets his life in 90-day increments rather than waiting until the end of the year to plan for the next year Why Rock suggests dividing your business into four key planning areas: traffic (leads), nurture (funnel), sales, and fulfillment What important practices Rock recommends to keep moving forward and stay prepared and on plan for each quarter Why you should continually be reviewing what is and isn’t working and making minor adjustments to improve your systems What important lessons and growing pains Rock experienced in his own real estate business during its growth Why hiring the right people for the right roles is the key to growth, and why new employee onboarding requires understanding both the position and candidate How Rock’s “Me-We-They” hiring and training system helps new employees get a high-level understanding of their role and develop confidence Rock shares the details of a series of mistakes he made hiring personal assistants, and he discusses the important lessons he learned Why business leaders need to transition their mindset from trying to save money hiring talent to seeing the value new hires add to the organization Why Rock measures results and doesn’t micromanage how employees spend their time or when they choose to do their work New Employee Onboarding and Business Planning Strategies As your business scales up, so must your processes and practices. New employee onboarding and business planning are two key areas you need to master to continue growing your business beyond the seven-figure mark. This week’s guest, Rock Thomas, understands how important these strategies are. As a bestselling author, respected speaker, thought leader, and real estate entrepreneur, Rock has mastered these key skills. In this episode of the Elite Entrepreneurs podcast, Rock shares invaluable insights and lessons he learned on his own entrepreneurial journey that can help you get the right employees into the right roles and strategize for your business year-round. Planning Every 90 Days In his efforts to master new employee onboarding and business planning, Rock Thomas realized that looking forward to the future only at the end of the year wasn’t enough. Instead, he plans everything in 90-day increments. He then periodically tracks his progress throughout that 90-day period so that he can adjust his strategies to lean into what is working for his business and correct for what isn’t working. By paying close attention to his business all year long, Rock is able to pivot when needed and ensure that he meets his goals. If the only time you’re setting aside time for planning for your business is at the end of the year, you miss opportunities to refine your systems and strategies for the other eleven months. Instead, do periodic check-ins on your progress and allow yourself the time and room to maneuver around unexpected challenges. As Rock said, take ownership of both your big wins and your mistakes. More Effective New Employee Onboarding Rock uses what he calls a “Me-We-They” strategy for new employee onboarding and training. First, he has the employee spend time observing someone else doing the job at a high level, to set their expectations for the role. Then, the employee and the person training them work together so that the employee gains the skills, experience, and confidence to work independently before they are asked to do so. Then and only then, the employee is fully integrated into their role. As Rock said during the interview, “first we date before we get married”. In other words, the employee is given a probationary period to get familiar with the role and to ensure that it’s the right fit, both from the employee’s perspective and for the needs of the business. This careful and proven new employee onboarding process empowers the new team member to take ownership of their role and of their productivity. Throwing an employee into the deep end of the pool right away can cause them to struggle to meet expectations, but giving them time to learn and grow confident helps ensure that they can do the job to the best of their ability. About Rock Thomas From humble beginnings on a small Canadian farm near Montréal, Rock Thomas became a self-made millionaire, running several successful businesses and six award-winning RE/MAX franchises. While the financial success was a huge accomplishment, Rock felt like there was something missing and knew there was more to life, so he embarked on a quest for personal growth, traveling the world and studying with acclaimed teachers like Tony Robbins, T. Harv Eker, Deepak Chopra, John Gray, David Deida, David Wolfe, Anthony Robbins, Jack Canfield, Dr. Wayne Dyer, and Stephen Covey. He absorbed success systems, life and business strategies, and countless life-changing experiences. After assimilating all he’d learned and talking with people from all walks of life who were seeking more, too, he founded Rock Thomas International to bring the best-of-the-best to the world. His programs blend his extensive knowledge about personal development with cutting-edge success formulas designed to produce whole-life wealth. Striving to be an inspiration for others by living an authentic and healthy life, Rock is always seeking new ways to learn and to teach, impacting people wherever he goes with supercharged tools, motivation, and zest for life. Founder of the #IAMMovement, he is known as “the man who “redefines lives.” Through targeted keynote speeches and seminars, best-selling books, and life-changing programs Rock helps people turn ideas into action and action into success. His personal and executive coaching sessions help individuals break down barriers and make massive, focused changes in their lives. His Goalcast video touched over 100 million lives! Dedicated to helping businesses and individuals maximize their full potential, Rock is committed to bringing the absolute best to the M1 Mastermind Community, his #IAmMovement Podcast, and the live events he hosts around the world. How to Connect with Rock Thomas: Website: https://rockthomas.com/ Free gift from Rock: https://rockthomas.com/freebook LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/rockthomas/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/RockThomasOfficial/ Twitter: @rockthomas Additional Resources: Elite Business Health Assessment: https://growwithelite.com/health Email: info@GrowWithElite.com Website: https://growwithelite.com/

Business Leadership Lessons Learned from Tony Hsieh What You Will Learn: Business Leadership Lessons Learned from Tony Hsieh of Zappos Tony Hsieh created a legendary workplace at online shoe and clothing retailer Zappos, and since his passing in November of 2020, it is important to take time to remember the contribution Tony made to our understanding of the impact of shared Values and a great company Culture, and to review the many business leadership lessons Tony taught us through his humility and his passion for his employees. In this episode of Elite Entrepreneurs, Brett Gilliland shares personal stories of how meeting Tony Hsieh impacted the Culture and growth of Brett’s company Infusionsoft (now Keap). Invaluable Business Leadership Lessons Tony Hsieh touched countless lives through the examples he shared and the powerful Culture he built at Zappos. Importantly, the business leadership lessons he shared work for companies of any size and industry, and they can serve as a powerful growth catalyst and a magnet for attracting top talent. From offering new hires money to quit at the end of their training period, to building clear, memorable, and impactful shared Values, to asking every employee to contribute their thoughts to Zappos’s annual Culture Book, Tony worked hard to build a workplace Culture that his employees could be truly proud of. Adapting Tony Hsieh’s Business Leadership Lessons to Your Own Workplace The important business leadership lessons Tony Hsieh taught us can be adapted to your own company, regardless of where you are in your growth journey. Zappos offered an in-house life coach to help support and motivate employees. While your business may not be of a scale where you can do the same, the important lesson here is that you can find other ways to demonstrate your support and dedication to your team members. You can move beyond a transactional employer-employee relationship and create a Culture that supports a Vision everyone on your team can work toward, with shared Values that resonate and help align everyone to the same goals for the company. Tony Hsieh’s legendary leadership serves as an example that we can all follow as we grow and scale our companies beyond seven figures. About Brett Gilliland Brett Gilliland is Founder and CEO of Elite Entrepreneurs, a company that specializes in giving $1M+ business owners the knowledge, processes, and tools to grow to $10M and beyond. Brett is an expert in organization development, leadership, and strategy and spent 10 years helping Infusionsoft grow from $7M in revenue to over $100M. Brett was involved in the foundational work of Purpose, Values, and Mission at Infusionsoft and facilitated the strategic planning process for many years. One of Brett’s favorite professional accomplishments is co-creating Infusionsoft’s Elite Forum along with Clate Mask and building the Elite business inside of Infusionsoft. As the leader of the Elite business, Brett has helped hundreds of struggling seven-figure business owners overcome their biggest challenges and achieve new levels of success. He also played a central role in the development of Infusionsoft’s Leadership Model and was serving as the VP of Leadership Development when the decision was made to spin the Elite business out of Infusionsoft. As the new owner of Elite Entrepreneurs, Brett can’t think of anything else he’d rather be doing professionally. When Brett isn’t busy helping $1M+ businesses succeed, he is a family man who enjoys spending time with his beautiful wife, Sharon, and their 8 children. Resources: Additional Resources:

Mastering Money as a Business Leader What You Will Learn: Mastering Money as a Business Leader Many if not most of us have a complicated relationship with our money. Understanding where our core beliefs about money came from is the key to changing how we relate to it… and can serve as a powerful catalyst for building wealth. In this episode of the Elite Entrepreneurs podcast, respected speaker and author Adam Carroll offers valuable insights on why many of the things we know to be true about money are completely wrong, and he provides strategies for creating a healthier relationship with money and how we see our income. The Key to Mastering Money Adam Carroll has dedicated his life to “mastering money” by understanding everything he can about how we relate to and interact with money. Adam says that many of us don’t fully understand money, in part because we’ve been taught certain “rules” by financial institutions that were designed to serve the banks, not us. Adam believes that our income should be doing four things at all times: paying our expenses, eliminating our debt, building wealth, and allowing us to do good and have fun. Adam says most people focus on the first and last points but miss the two important points in the middle. However, by thinking about our income and debt in a different way, we can completely change our fortunes. Adam says most people could be completely out of debt and financially independent in 3-7 years just by adjusting their money habits and behaviors. Why Early Money Lessons Matter Adam believes that the lessons we learn about money as children have a lifelong impact on our financial lives, and so he resolved himself to teach his kids about money in a way he himself hadn’t been taught. Adam played a game of Monopoly with his kids using real money to see if it made a difference in how they played, and that became the foundation for a viral TEDx Talk where Adam explained why we need to change our money mindset. As Adam explained during his visit with Elite Entrepreneurs, by equipping his kids with an early understanding of how money works, he believes that his kids will have a much stronger foundation for wealth building and mastering money, creating a generational change in his family. As entrepreneurs, many of us are motivated by the hope of securing our family’s financial future, and one of the most important actions we can take to do so is to have frank, clear discussions about money with our kids so that they are better equipped to manage their money as adults. About Adam Carroll Adam Carroll is a sought after speaker, author, and seminar leader in the areas of personal development and personal finance. Adam’s TED talk at the London Business School has been viewed over 5 million times! How to Connect with Adam Carroll: Additional Resources:

What You Will Learn: Business Mentors and the Value of Learning Business mentors can be powerful allies for helping you scale your business, and the cost of studying with a great mentor is more than made up for by the value of the information they have to share. In this episode of the Elite Entrepreneurs podcast, JWB Real Estate Companies founding partner Gregg Cohen shares the impact the right mentor made on his business, helping Gregg and his partners scale JWB to over 1,200 clients and more than $450 million in total assets under management. He talks about the important role the company’s Core Values have played in its success, and he explains why he and his three business partners spend one full day of each week working on the long-term planning of the business. Why Business Mentors are Worth the Cost When you are trying to grow and scale your business beyond the seven-figure plateau, you have to learn many new skills and implement new processes to replace the ones that got you where you are. Good business mentors have already been where you want to go, and they can help teach you to navigate the new challenges you face on your growth journey. Early on in Gregg’s career in real estate, he took a chance and approached an experienced business leader to ask if he would be willing to mentor Gregg, and even though his friends and family questioned the wisdom of spending money to study under a mentor when Gregg still hadn’t done his first deal, Gregg says the money he spent on the mentoring made a tremendous impact on his business and its success, helping him grow the business faster than he would have otherwise and helping him avoid costly mistakes and pitfalls. A great mentor can help you chart a path to where you want your business to go because they know the right path to travel. A Four-Way Partnership and a Focus on Values Gregg Cohen started JWB with three other partners, and all four are active in leading the business. One of the challenges of having multiple, equal partners is finding consensus on how you want to build the company and what you want the results to look like. Gregg and his partners leave the office for one full day each week and make themselves unavailable to the team so that they can focus on planning and on the long-term direction they want to take the business. This helps them set shared goals and agree on key decisions. Additionally, Gregg’s entire team was involved in setting the Core Values of the organization, giving everyone a personal connection to those Values and ensuring that the entire team has a shared Vision for the business. That alignment to a shared Vision has been a major key to JWB’s success. About Gregg Cohen As a founding partner of JWB Real Estate Companies, Gregg Cohen has seen the company grow from humble beginnings to serving over 1,200 clients worldwide with total assets under management of over $450 million. JWB helps clients diversify out of the stock market by building a fully managed rental property portfolio for the client. Cohen and his team have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Inc. Magazine, The Jacksonville Business Journal, and The Florida Times-Union multiple times. How to Connect with Gregg Cohen: Additional Resources:

Jessica has had the opportunity to work in many industries where customer service, results and client experiences were of paramount importance. She is thrilled to bring this knowledge into Bodify and provide a memorable experience and transformational results to clients. After her advanced training at CoolSculpting University and the elite CoolSculpting Masters course in Pleasanton, CA, Jessica has facilitated thousands of CoolSculpting procedures to a 95% client approval rating. She is committed to ongoing advanced CoolSculpting training, serving as a National Preceptor, and honing her craft to get wow results for Bodify’s clients. People skills and visionary leadership through collaboration are natural gifts but her passion involves a strong humanitarian contribution. Through Bodify, Jessica has the opportunity to uplift others and support their dreams, which will make a difference in their lives. What the podcast will teach you: Resources: Additional Resources: