Sales POP! Podcasts

Chad Coe, Founder of Coe Financial Group and author of The Power of Peopleizing, explains how to win more sales by leading with genuine care instead of a pitch — using his 3% rule and a long-game follow-up system that reframes ghosting as testing. He shares why patience and faith separate the top 1–2% from everyone else. Learn more at coefinancial.com.

Dilip Chetan, founder of Recursion Lab and creator of the Defensible Zone framework, explains how leaders can win with AI by flipping the question from "What can we automate?" to "What human value must we protect?" He shares his three-moat test, why first-contact sales must stay human, and where AI still can't reach. Learn more at julianlighton.com.

Executive coach Julian Lighton, author of Navigating Your Next and a former McKinsey associate partner, explains how to take control of your career by clarifying what you truly want and building a deliberate path to get it through his seven-step framework. He breaks down the four unavoidable career transitions, why no meaningful goal is reached alone, and why success always comes at a cost. Learn more at https://www.julianlighton.com/.

Curtis Sprouse, Founder & CEO of Eureka Connect, explains how to develop better leaders by using validated behavioral-science data to build self-awareness, trust, and consistency across a team. With 30+ years in pharma, healthcare, and executive coaching, he shows why even accomplished CEOs miss their own blind spots—and why AI won't replace human judgment. Learn more at https://eurekaconnect.com/.

Deri Llewellyn-Davies, Strategist & Board Advisor and Founder of Freedom Founders, explains that peak performance is a state problem, not a motivation problem — you shift it by choosing flow, focus, peak, recovery, and connect states through breathwork, phone-free mornings, and purpose. He shares flow research showing 500% productivity gains from two protected morning hours, and why burnout stems from values misalignment rather than workload. Connect with Deri: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thestrategyman/

Bruce Cleveland, CEO and Founder of Traction Gap Partners and author of Market Engineering, joins John Golden to explain why product engineering is now table stakes and how CEOs can apply a five-tenet discipline — category design, positioning, messaging, storytelling, and thought leadership — to build enduring market leadership. Learn more at https://www.tractiongappartners.com.

Lee Benson, Founder and CEO of Execute to Win and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, joins John Golden to challenge the growth-at-all-costs mindset and unpack the three categories of value creation that powered his 21.6x EBITDA exit at Able Aerospace. Learn more at https://www.etw.com/about.

Chris Maduri, Retirement Planning Specialist at Vibrant Retirement, joins John Golden on the Sales POP! Expert Insight Interview to unpack the Retirement Red Zone, the five red flags that derail retirement, and why predictable income beats chasing returns. A practical conversation for anyone within ten years of leaving work. Learn more at https://vibrantretirement.com/.

Greg Hoover, author of Lead Anyway and former CEO of Bekins Van Lines, Arnold Relocation, and New World Van Lines, joins John Golden to challenge the idea that leadership belongs only to those with titles. He shares the habits — decisiveness, simplicity, and intentional mentorship — that empower any employee to lead from where they stand. Learn more at https://www.thirdstar.net/.

Menil Vukovic, CEO of Pear Shadow, joins John Golden to discuss software engineering practices in the era of AI — including the engineer's new role as an AI orchestrator, why experience is now an advantage rather than a liability, and how teams move from chaotic adoption to structured AI workflows. Menil shares the three stages of AI integration his team worked through, why documentation matters more than ever, and the rules that keep vibe coding from destroying production codebases. Learn more about Menil and Pear Shadow at https://www.pearshadow.com/.

Dustin Kenyon, Chief Revenue Officer at Motivosity, joins John Golden to explore what human leadership looks like in an AI-driven world. Dustin shares why the learner's journey is now non-negotiable for every professional, how to cut through AI-generated noise, and why his executive team operates by a simple rule: no dinosaurs. Learn more at https://www.motivosity.com/.

Athena Brownson, a Denver-based real estate broker, developer, and chronic illness advocate, joins John Golden to share how she built a thriving referral-only practice in one of the country's most competitive markets. Drawing on her background as a former professional freestyle skier and her decade-long battle with Lyme disease, she explains why relationship-based selling, daily discipline, and authentic vulnerability outperform transactional tactics. Learn more at https://athenabrownsonrealtor.com/.

Ilana Golan, CEO and Founder of Leap Academy and a former F-16 flight instructor turned Intel VP, joins John Golden to unpack why portfolio careers and the Adaptability Quotient (AQ) now matter more than any title in an AI-driven job market. She shares the four-step reinvention framework she teaches to mid- and late-career professionals worldwide. Learn more at https://www.leapacademy.com/.

Chad Coe, Founder of Coe Financial Group, joins Sales POP! to share his concept of people tithing — a giver-first sales approach that builds trust quickly, sustains persistent outreach without burning bridges, and turns generosity into long-term client relationships. Learn more at https://www.coefinancial.com/.

Jürgen Dauk, Transformation Consultant and Founder of The Leadership OS, joins John Golden to explain why AI without organizational transformation is destined to fail. Drawing on 25 years of senior leadership and NLP coaching expertise, Jürgen walks leaders through the vision, structure, and mindset shifts that turn AI investment into real competitive advantage. Learn more at https://theleadership-os.com/.

Ann Padley, Senior Partner at Untapped Pricing and co-author of The Pricing Sprint, joins Sales POP! to explain behavioral pricing — why identical prices perform differently and how three clear options change the sales conversation. Learn more at https://untappedpricing.co.uk/thepricingsprint/.

Travis Hahler, Senior Director of Global Strategy & Transformation at Salesforce and founder of The Neurological Nomad, joins John Golden to explain why resistance to change is biology, not rebellion — and how leaders can read resistance as diagnostic information instead of personal pushback. Learn more at https://www.theneurologicalnomad.com/.

Brad Farris, founder of Anchor Advisors and executive leadership coach to agency and expert-firm owners, joins Sales POP! to explain why most service businesses plateau between $1M and $2M — and the founder mindset, pricing, and hiring shifts that take them into a profitable $3M-$5M business. Learn more at https://anchoradvisors.com/.

Kelly Faetanini, founder and lead designer of Kelly Faetanini Bridal, joins Sales POP! to share the customer-centric playbook that turned her brand into a leader in luxury bridal — covering authenticity, hiring for emotional intelligence, and why a grounded leader outperforms a frantic one in any high-pressure industry. A practical conversation with lessons that apply far beyond wedding fashion. Learn more at https://www.kellyfaetanini.com/.

Dominic Forth, CEO of Thought Leaders America and former BBC broadcast journalist, joins John Golden to explain why the most qualified person rarely wins the deal — and how visibility, storytelling, and composure under pressure build the authority that does. Learn more at Thought Leaders America.

April Martini and Anne Candido, co-founders of Forthright People and authors of The Power of Your Personal Brand, join John Golden to explain why middle managers stall and how a deliberate personal brand becomes their competitive advantage. They share a four-part framework built on 45 combined years of branding experience and show how to apply it in 20-minute chunks. Learn more at https://forthright-people.com/.

In this Sales POP! Expert Insight Interview, John Golden talks with Cory Dunham, Executive Leadership Coach and Co-Owner of Dunham Marketing Services, about how founder-led service businesses win by clarifying their message, aligning their teams around real values, and turning those values into decisive action — especially in the fragile moments right after a sale. Learn more and connect with Cory at https://corydunham.com/.

Jon Benson, copywriter, entrepreneur, and founder of BNSN AI, joins Sales POP! to explain how marketers can shift from writer to conductor — directing AI agents, injecting human values into copy, and producing in days what once took teams of ten. Learn more and grab the free Buyer Profile at https://bnsn.ai/.

Justin Goodbread, founder of Relentless Value Coaching and creator of the Deca Millionaire Way, joins John Golden to explain why so many service-based founders get stuck at the epicenter of their own businesses — and walks through the five-step Relentless Framework he has used to build and exit seven companies. Learn more at https://www.justingoodbread.com/.

Laura Kriska, founder of We Building Solutions and author of The Business of WE, joins John Golden to share her We-Building framework for bridging invisible us-vs-them divides that quietly drain deadlines, revenue, and trust inside Fortune 500 companies. She walks through the four stages of trust every working relationship moves through and explains why hybrid work has made the climb harder than ever. More at https://www.laurakriska.com/.

Derek De Vette, Co-Founder and Head of Strategic Communications at Halo Communications, joins John Golden to explain how AI search has rewritten the PR playbook and why niche earned media now outperforms marquee placements for sales pipeline growth. Derek shares fresh data on ChatGPT and Claude citation patterns and a practical playbook for becoming the cited source inside AI answers. Learn more at https://halocomms.agency/.

Antoniette Roze, CEO of WPC Global, joins Sales POP! to explain how six- and seven-figure experts stop treating speaking like a lottery and start building predictable, high-value speaking businesses through sharp positioning, clear messaging, and realistic timelines. Learn more and take the free Speaker Fit assessment at https://speakpact.com/.

In this Sales POP! Expert Insight Interview, Jessica Rhodes, Founder of Interview Connections, explains why she dismantled her sales team after six years and how founder-led selling restored client fit, retention, and company cohesion at the world's first podcast booking agency. Learn more at https://interviewconnections.com/.

Carmen Sederino, Founder and Performance Master at Illuminated Story, joins John Golden to explain why the live keynote is a competitive advantage AI cannot replicate — and how leaders and sellers can build real executive presence through voice, body, and emotional choreography. She shares the 50/50 rehearsal rule, how authenticity works as a range rather than a fixed pose, and why pause is the most underused tool in business delivery. Learn more at https://illuminatedstory.com/.

Jacquelyn Goldberg, VP of Sales at Unframe AI, joins John Golden on Sales POP! to explain why resume pedigree is a shakier hiring signal than ever and why she screens for grit and intellectual curiosity instead — lessons she's used to scale her team to multi-million ARR in under a year at a Series A AI startup. Full conversation and more on Unframe's managed AI delivery platform at https://www.unframe.ai/.

Kevin Roy, Founder and CEO of Green Banana SEO, joins Sales POP! to explain how AI has reshaped search and why strong SEO fundamentals still drive roughly 80% of your visibility inside answer engines. He walks through his three-block page blueprint, the schema and author authority signals that earn AI citations, and the pruning and citation moves small businesses should tackle first. Learn more at https://greenbananaseo.com/.

Irwin Hau, founder of Melbourne-based Chromatix and creator of the Trust and Authority framework, joins John Golden to explain why your website is your strongest sales tool and how to answer the four questions every visitor asks in the first three seconds. Drawing on 60,000+ website audits, Irwin shares the proof density principle, the focus trade-off most businesses get wrong, and why AI search makes web clarity more valuable than ever. Learn more at https://www.chromatix.com.au/.

Michael Hofer — CFO, M&A veteran, and founder of ByMichaelHofer — joins John Golden on Sales POP! to share hard-won lessons from 30+ international transactions, explaining why most deals fail during integration and how cultural alignment and strategic clarity matter more than financial engineering. He also walks through how AI is transforming finance functions in real time, from cutting forecasting time in half to accelerating due diligence that once took analysts a week. Learn more and connect with Michael at https://www.bymichaelhofer.com/.

Lane Kawaoka, real estate investor and fund manager behind a $2.1 billion portfolio, joins Sales POP! to break down The Wealth Elevator — his five-floor framework that guides accredited investors from rental properties through private syndications, tax strategy, and full financial freedom. Lane shares the exact investment philosophy shifts required at each stage of wealth, including why conventional retirement advice actively works against high-income earners. Explore Lane's resources and community at https://thewealthelevator.com/.

Gregory Kovsky, President and CEO of International Business Associates (IBA), joins host John Golden to share what business owners must know before selling — from defining exit objectives and cleaning up financials to navigating deal structures and building the right advisory team. With 32 years of M&A experience and over 300 transactions completed, Gregory brings a holistic, founder-first approach to every sale. Learn more at ibainc.com.

Mark Myers, founder of Tax Wise Partners and Tax Saving Architect, joins host John Golden to explain how high-income earners and business owners can legally reduce their annual tax bill by 30–60% using advanced planning strategies most CPAs never explore inside the 75,000-page tax code. From solar tax credits to pre-sale business structuring, Mark reveals the framework his firm uses to save clients more than a dollar in taxes for every dollar they invest in strategy. Learn more at taxwisepartners.com.

Sid Bharath, founder of Refound, joins Sales POP! host John Golden to explain why most corporate AI initiatives fail — not because of the technology, but because of missing change management and a lack of strategic ownership. Sid shares the audit-first framework Refound uses to map workflows, identify friction, and rebuild processes with AI at the core rather than layered on top. Learn more and book a free consultation at refoundai.com.

David Farrell, Sales Leader at Salesloft, joins John Golden to examine how AI is reshaping pipeline creation, deal execution, and revenue forecasting — without replacing the human trust factor that remains essential to closing high-value B2B deals. Drawing on 25 years of hands-on sales experience, David introduces his three-legged stool framework for diagnosing sales performance and makes a compelling case for why most organizations should buy purpose-built AI solutions rather than attempt to build their own. Learn more at https://www.salesloft.com/.

Richard Broo, project management turnaround specialist and founder of True North PMP Consulting, joins John Golden to expose the invisible forces that cause 19% of all projects to fail — from uncontrolled scope creep and unexamined assumptions to the hidden costs of leadership disengagement — and shares the 60-day triage and root-cause correction framework he uses to rescue initiatives that are over budget, behind schedule, or losing executive alignment. Learn more and book a free consultation at truenorthpmpconsulting.com.

Shabnum Bi, Founder and Director of Early Nurture Preschool in Birmingham, joins John Golden to discuss how she rebuilt an award-winning early years setting after forced liquidation — and why staying small, community-rooted, and hands-on is the strategy behind her Outstanding Ofsted rating and global recognition. Learn more at www.earlynurturepreschool.co.uk.

Lisa Pagotto, Founder & CEO of Crooked Compass, joins John Golden to discuss what happens when a business loses its founding purpose — and how to rebuild when everything collapses at once. Drawing on her Shark Tank Australia experience, a near-administration crisis, and a bold COVID pivot into private aviation touring, Lisa shares the leadership principles that have kept her business growing for over 12 years. Learn more at crooked-compass.com.

Sridhar Ravilla — fractional transformation executive and author of Transformation That Lands — joins John Golden to examine why well-funded enterprise transformations fail after strategy is approved, tracing the moment accountability quietly moves from named owners into committees, dashboards, and AI systems. Sridhar shares the resignation test, the deferral committee trap, and the 90-degree blind spot that AI leaves in every programme. Connect with Sridhar at linkedin.com/in/sridharravilla/.

Susan Friedman, founder of Aviva Publishing & Marketing, joins host John Golden to share why most nonfiction business books fail to generate results — and how a strategic shift toward niche marketing, bulk sales, and long-term promotion changes everything. With 30 years of experience and 18 books published, Susan gives authors a practical roadmap for turning their book into a business asset rather than a shelf trophy. Learn more and connect with Susan at https://avivapubs.com.

Andy Hedrick, Founder and CEO of Green Path Tech, joins Sales POP! to unpack the 2V2R Rapid Sales Growth System — a proven B2B framework built on one principle: Value and Verified Results must outweigh Risks and Resistors in every deal. Andy covers proof-of-concept selling, fractional resourcing, and using AI without losing buyer trust — drawing on 250+ projects and $500M+ in revenue growth. Learn more at https://greenpathtech.com/.

Tony Paquin, CEO and Co-Founder of iRemedy Healthcare and co-inventor of 12 AI and machine learning patents, joins Sales POP! to discuss how artificial intelligence is transforming healthcare procurement, eliminating supply chain risk, and redefining the future of sales. Drawing on 30 years of software and healthcare technology experience, Tony explains why experienced professionals are better positioned than ever to lead in the AI era — and why every business leader needs to act now. Learn more at iremedy.com.

Sai Dhanak, CEO and co-founder of Deduction, joins John Golden to explain how his AI-powered tax advisory service is solving the US CPA shortage by pairing AI agents with experienced human CPAs to deliver IRS-ready returns at a fixed price of $499 per year — with no upsells, no waiting weeks for a response, and unlimited advice year-round. Sai also shares his philosophy on the inaction trap, the art of the well-timed pivot, and why the collapse of the billable hour is coming for every professional service industry. Learn more at deduction.com.

Pricing and business development expert John Ray joins Sales POP! host John Golden to explain why hourly billing is the fastest path to commoditizing your professional expertise — and how consultants, attorneys, coaches, and fractional executives can shift to value-based pricing by mastering the art of the discovery conversation. John's framework centers on understanding how clients experience value, not just what they need delivered. Learn more and access free resources at https://www.johnray.co/

Kai Stone built a $297/month platform that's helped over 1,000 contractors scale with AI — and he did it from his mom's house. In this conversation with SalesPOP! host John Golden, Kai breaks down why most small businesses are losing leads to unanswered phone calls, how a simple AI text-back system changes the game, and why every contractor needs a personal brand (even if it's just a phone and $5/day). Plus: why searching for your business on ChatGPT matters as much as Google now.

Adnan Malik, co-founder and CEO of Softwarefinder, joins host John Golden to discuss why 70–80% of B2B software buyers end up dissatisfied — and how trust and human-driven consulting can fix that. Softwarefinder's pay-equal model removes financial bias from software recommendations, connecting buyers with the right solutions through trained consultants across 40+ verticals. Explore the platform and book a free consultation at softwarefinder.com.

Amir Berenjian, founder of REM 5 Studios, has put over 150,000 people into VR headsets — from pro sports fans at the Minnesota State Fair to UN policymakers experiencing polio vaccination campaigns in Zambia. In this conversation with SalesPOP! host John Golden, Brenian explains where immersive tech actually delivers marketing ROI, why $300 headsets are changing the game, and why spatial computing will become the primary way we interact with AI.

Guest: Steven Rosen, MBA — Founder of STAR Results and author of Focused: The Leadership Discipline That Protects Performance from Distraction A quick preview of our conversation with Steven Rosen. After 30 years coaching CROs and VPs of sales, Steven has a blunt message: if your numbers are off, stop looking at your reps and start looking in the mirror. Here's a taste of what he shared with John Golden. Key Takeaways: Most sales managers were promoted because they were great reps — then handed targets with zero leadership training. Performance doesn't collapse overnight. It erodes one small lapse at a time. The single best investment a company can make is teaching its managers how to coach. Quotes from Steven Rosen: "It doesn't collapse overnight. It erodes over time. There are leaks. Discipline is falling." "Performance breaks when standards stop being held — especially when you're under pressure." Listen to the full episode for Steven's complete framework on coaching, inspection, and the leadership enforcement spine. Links: Steven's website: https://starresults.com | Book on Amazon: Focused | LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/stevenrosen