Podcasts about Specialization

Jeremiah and Brandon DaCruz discuss how to build a body part specialization training phase.Chapters00:00 Reconnecting and Reflecting on Growth04:17 Understanding Weak Points in Training19:13 The Role of Specialization in Muscle Development27:01 Visual Analysis and Specialization in Training28:44 Demographic Considerations in Specialization30:31 Balancing Client Goals and Preferences32:40 Realistic Specialization: One or Two Muscle Groups?36:44 Frequency as a Driver for Muscle Growth43:40 Determining Training Frequency for Specialization47:30 Exercise Selection and Joint Health in SpecializationFollow Brandon on IG: https://www.instagram.com/brandondacruz_/?hl=enCheck out Brandon's podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chasing-clarity-health-fitness-podcast/id1619611966Keywordsbody parts specialization, training, weak points, coaching, muscle growth, frequency, volume, fitness podcast, hypertrophy, exercise selectionTo Apply For Coaching With Our Team: CLICK HERE

This episode brings together Vinney Chopra and Gualter Amarelo for a grounded and motivating conversation about the true engine of wealth: consistency. From family moments to daily routines, Vinney shares openly about the small, steady habits—like walking every day, learning constantly, and teaching what he knows—that shaped his entire career. Before he wrote books, bought hotels, or raised millions, he simply showed up consistently.   Throughout the discussion, they unpack why consistency outperforms raw talent or inspiration every time. Using real examples from business, investing, and personal growth, they make the message clear: if you're scattered, you can't compound.

In this episode, we dive into why choosing an industry-focused marketing agency can make all the difference. From understanding your audience and compliance needs to delivering strategies that actually move the needle, we break down how niche expertise leads to stronger results — and fewer growing pains. Tune in to learn why specialization matters and how an agency that truly gets your industry can help your business stand out.

Chuck is joined by Laura Goble, PA-C to discuss sports specialization by young athletes. In Part 3, they discuss the importance of rest and the risks of exhaustion and overuse. How do we communicate with parents and coaches about the best interest of the athlete? Laura Goble was a speaker at our most recent annual conference. Earn Category 1 CME from this conference and others at PAOS.org!

In this episode of Building the Premier Accounting firm, host Roger Knecht discusses building a premier accounting firm with guest Lahari Neelapareddy, founder of Tax Hero and LN Accounting Advisors. They cover Lahari's journey from public accounting to specializing in e-commerce and consumer packaged goods, emphasizing the value of niche marketing and advisory services over traditional compliance work. Lahari shares insights on sustainable growth, avoiding burnout, and the importance of continuous learning for accounting professionals. In This Episode: 00:00 Introduction and Guest Spotlight 01:43 From CPA to Entrepreneur 03:13 Starting an Accounting Firm 07:14 Small Business Accounting Challenges 08:52 Evolving Service Offerings and Specialization 12:33 Niche Marketing and Tax Hero 17:32 CFO and Advisory Services 20:24 Defining CFO Advisory Value 26:15 Client Relationships and Pricing 29:58 Lessons Learned: Sustainability Over Growth 33:23 Closing Thoughts and Resources Key Takeaways: Specialize in a niche industry to enhance marketing and scalability, as Lahari did with e-commerce and CPG brands. Prioritize value-added services like CFO and advisory over compliance work to increase client retention and pricing. Define clear service packages and scope of work to manage client expectations and minimize scope creep. Focus on sustainable growth, emphasizing efficiency and maintaining passion to avoid burnout, rather than solely chasing rapid revenue. Continuously Learn through podcasts, mastermind groups, and peer interactions to stay updated and avoid reinventing processes. Featured Quotes: "I didn't think I would start an accounting firm. Because when I thought of people that owned accounting firm, I only thought tax, right? Like people that are CPAs that do tax returns at their desk. And the image is like very boring is the image that most people get, right?" - Lahari Neelapareddy. "I wanted to add value to my clients. I think that was always there. And the second thing was like, I wanted like a good work culture that I think is maybe still lacking in big four and the public accounting world, but definitely was lacking in the time that I was there." - Lahari Neelapareddy. "Sustainability over growth sometimes, right? Because growth will come automatically, but you need to make sure that you don't lose that passion and that you're sustaining it." - Lahari Neelapareddy. Conclusion: Thank you for joining us for another episode of Building the Premier Accounting Firm with Roger Knecht. For more information on how you can establish your own accounting firm and take control of your time and income, call 435-344-2060 or schedule an appointment to connect with Roger's team here. Sponsors: Universal Accounting Center Helping accounting professionals confidently and competently offer quality accounting services to get paid what they are worth.   Offers: I'd love to offer two resources to your audience. First, a free discovery call—whether you're an e-commerce business wanting to simplify sales tax or an accountant interested in partnering with us, you can book a time with me at https://taxhero.net/contact/#demo Second, you can download our up-to-date Economic Nexus Chart, a quick guide to understanding sales tax nexus across the US, at https://taxhero.net/blog/economic-nexus/#download For more information related to Lahari consider the following: TaxHero: https://taxhero.net/, and LN Accounting: https://www.lnaccountingadvisor.com/ Get a FREE copy of these books all accounting professionals should use to work on their business and become profitable.  These are a must-have addition to every accountant's library to provide quality CFO & Advisory services as a Profit & Growth Expert today: "Red to BLACK in 30 days – A small business accountant's guide to QUICK turnarounds" – This is a how-to guide on how to turn around a struggling business into a more sustainable model. Each chapter focuses on a crucial aspect of the turnaround process - from cash flow management to strategies for improving revenue. This book will teach you everything you need to become a turnaround expert for small businesses. "in the BLACK, nine principles to make your business profitable" – Nine Principles to Make Your Business Profitable – Discover what you need to know to run the premier accounting firm and get paid what you are worth in this book, by the same author as Red to Black – CPA Allen B. Bostrom. Bostrom teaches the three major functions of business (marketing, production and accounting) as well as strategies for maximizing profitability for your clients by creating actionable plans to implement the nine principles. "Your Strategic Accountant" - Understand the 3 Core Accounting Services you should offer as you run your business. help your clients understand which numbers they need to know to make more informed business decisions. "Your Profit & Growth Expert" - Your business is an asset. You should know its value and understand how to maximize it. Beginning with the end in mind helps you work ON your business to build a company you can leave so that it can continue to exist in your absence or build wealth as you retire and enjoy the time, freedom, and life you want and deserve. Learn what it is you can do to become an author, leveraging your expertise to market your services effectively and get the clients you deserve.  This is a webinar you don't want to miss.  Learn from Mike Capuzzi what a Shook is and how you can use it to position yourself as the Premier Accounting Firm in your area.  This is a must-see presentation so get ready to take some great notes.   In addition to becoming an author, see what you can do to follow the Turnkey Business plan for accounting professionals.  After more than 40 years we've identified the best practices of successful accountants and this is a presentation we are happy to share.  Check it out and see what you can do to be in business for yourself but not by yourself with Universal Accounting Center.   It's here you can become a:   Professional Bookkeeper, PB Professional Tax Preparer, PTP Profit & Growth Expert, PGE   Next, join a group of like-minded professionals within the accounting community.  Stay up-to-date on current topics and trends and see what you can do to also give back, participating in relevant conversations as they relate to offering quality accounting services and building your bookkeeping, accounting & tax business.   The Accounting & Bookkeeping Tips Facebook Group The Universal Accounting Fanpage Topical Newsletters: Universal Accounting Success The Universal Newsletter   Lastly, get your Business Score to see what you can do to work ON your business and have the Premier Accounting Firm. Join over 70,000 business owners and get your score on the 8 Factors That Drive Your Company's Value.   For Additional FREE Resources for accounting professionals, check out this collection HERE!   Be sure to join us for GrowCon, the LIVE event for accounting professionals to work ON their business. This is a conference you don't want to miss.   Remember this, Accounting Success IS Universal. Listen to our next episode and be sure to subscribe.   Also, let us know what you think of the podcast and please share any suggestions you may have.  We look forward to your input: Podcast Feedback   For more information on how you can apply these principles to start and build your accounting, bookkeeping & tax business please visit us at www.universalaccountingschool.com or call us at 8012653777  

In this episode of Sales Is King, host Dan Sixsmith sits down with Jon Addison, Chief Revenue Officer at Okta, to unpack how identity is becoming mission-critical in a world of AI agents, distributed work, and rising security expectations. Jon shares how Okta is evolving from product to platform, why identity is central to securing AI, and what it really takes to lead large, global go-to-market organizations today. The conversation ranges from AI ROI and agent security to sales leadership, relationship selling in a post‑pandemic world, and Jon's unconventional path from door‑to‑door sales and technical roles into the CRO seat.Key TopicsOkta's mission and why identity sits at the center of security and AI. The early, messy phase of AI and agents and why standardization and consolidation are coming. How Okta thinks about securing AI agents for 20,000+ customers through policy, platform, and design. Moving from “product company” to “platform company” and what that means for GTM, partners, and customers. Jon's view of the CRO role: being a change agent, driving parallel transformations, and balancing data with instinct. The “Formula to Win” (Focus, Compete, Lead) and the decision to specialize across Okta and Auth0 buying personas. Why enterprise selling is going “back to relationships” in an era of hyper‑informed, AI‑enabled buyers. Skill vs. art in sales: practice, rehearsal, and the X‑factor of human connection and courage. Methodologies, MEDDIC, and how frameworks and creativity can and should coexist. Jon's career path: door‑to‑door sales, technical consulting, product management, Oracle, LinkedIn, and now Okta. How to think about talent, instincts, and building high‑performing, international sales teams. Jon's definition of success: growth, unlocking potential in reps, and meaningful customer outcomes. HighlightsAI and agent deployments are still in early, fragmented stages, and most enterprises are experimenting without yet seeing consistent ROI—creating a big opening for vendors who can standardize and secure these environments. Okta sees AI agents much like cloud apps in the early days: scattered pilots that will eventually need centralized identity, policy, and governance—an area where its platforms are already embedded. The CRO role is fundamentally about being an empowered change agent: driving multiple transformation streams at once, building trust across functions, and having the courage to move fast without creating “one‑way doors.” Specialization across platforms (Okta vs. Auth0) and buying personas is unlocking deeper expertise, better customer conversations, and sharper competitive positioning. Enterprise sellers will increasingly face highly educated buyers who have already self‑researched with AI, which shifts the seller's value from information transfer to relationship, insight, orchestration, and outcome design. World‑class sellers treat sales like a craft: they rehearse, review call recordings, seek coaching, and study both customers and industries the way elite athletes study film. Strong sales cultures blend a clear methodology and shared language with individual creativity, ambition, and “brave” outreach that truly differentiates the experience for customers. Guest Bio – Jon AddisonJon Addison is the Chief Revenue Officer at Okta, where he leads the global field organization and is responsible for driving worldwide growth. He brings over 20 years of sales leadership experience from roles at LinkedIn, Oracle, and other global technology firms, and is focused on building high‑performing teams, scaling platform‑led go‑to‑market motions, and helping customers modernize and secure identity in the age of AI.Connect with Jon and OktaJon on Okta's leadership page: https://www.okta.com/company/leadership/jon-addison/ Okta newsroom and updates: https://www.okta.com/newsroom/ Connect with Dan Sixsmith & Sales Is KingDan Sixsmith on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dansixsmith/ 

Reading struggles and dyslexia symptoms don't define your child's potential. Russell Van Brocklen went from severe dyslexia to graduate school. Now he shares the exact strategies that help dyslexic students thrive. Watch to discover simple techniques that actually work.

In this episode, a16z GP Martin Casado sits down with Sherwin Wu, Head of Engineering for the OpenAI Platform, to break down how OpenAI organizes its platform across models, pricing, and infrastructure, and how it is shifting from a single general-purpose model to a portfolio of specialized systems, custom fine-tuning options, and node-based agent workflows.They get into why developers tend to stick with a trusted model family, what builds that trust, and why the industry moved past the idea of one model that can do everything. Sherwin also explains the evolution from prompt engineering to context design and how companies use OpenAI's fine-tuning and RFT APIs to shape model behavior with their own data.Highlights from the conversation include: • How OpenAI balances a horizontal API platform with vertical products like ChatGPT• The evolution from Codex to the Composer model• Why usage-based pricing works and where outcome-based pricing breaks• What the Harmonic Labs and Rockset acquisitions added to OpenAI's agent work• Why the new agent builder is deterministic, node based, and not free roaming Resources: Follow Sherwin on X: https://x.com/sherwinwu Follow Martin on X: https://x.com/martin_casado Stay Updated:If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends!Find a16z on X: https://x.com/a16zFind a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16zListen to the a16z Podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYXListen to the a16z Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenbergPlease note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see http://a16z.com/disclosures Stay Updated:Find a16z on XFind a16z on LinkedInListen to the a16z Podcast on SpotifyListen to the a16z Podcast on Apple PodcastsFollow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today's guest is Reinis Krēgers, a former champion decathlete turned track and physical education coach. Reinis is dedicated to building complete movers: fast, coordinated, confident athletes who understand their bodies. His training blends classical sprint development with exploratory tasks, helping athletes develop physical literacy and long-term adaptability. In sports performance, we often fixate on exercises, cues, and optimizing micro-qualities in the moment. What we discuss far less, yet what often separates the elite, is the role of play, creativity, and culture. By looking closely at events like the pole vault and hurdles, we can see how a developmental, curiosity-driven approach benefits athletes of every sport. In this episode, Reinis shares the remarkable story of losing a finger, training exclusively with his non-dominant hand, and still setting a shot put PR. This opens the door to a rich discussion on cross-education, novelty, and how the brain actually learns movement. We explore play-based coaching, pole vault as a developmental super-tool, contrasts between Eastern and American coaching philosophies, youth sport creativity, and sustainable tendon development. It's a conversation full of insight, storytelling, and reminders of what truly anchors a lifelong athletic journey: curiosity, joy, and the art of falling in love with movement. Today's episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength and LILA Exogen wearable resistance. Use the code “justfly20” for 20% off any Lila Exogen wearable resistance training, including the popular Exogen Calf Sleeves. For this offer, head to Lilateam.com Use code “justfly10” for 10% off the Vert Trainer View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. (https://www.just-fly-sports.com/podcast-home/) 0:00 – Early upbringing in Latvia and falling in love with movement 6:18 – Play, curiosity, and environment driven athlete development 14:50 – Injuries, setbacks, and choosing to continue competing 23:40 – Czech training experience and constraints based coaching 33:05 – European versus American development and long term athlete philosophy 45:10 – Games, novelty, and bringing play back into training 59:47 – Specialization mistakes and the importance of multi sport development 1:11:48 – Plyometrics, bounding, and gradual tissue adaptation 1:22:40 – Injury lessons, tendon health, and the value of long term gradual loading Actionable Takeaways 6:18 – Play, curiosity, and environment driven development Reinis explains that his athletic foundation came from unstructured exploration, not early specialization. Let athletes solve problems rather than repeat fixed patterns. Encourage outdoor play and varied surfaces to build natural coordination. Curiosity creates better movers than rigid instruction. 14:50 – Navigating injuries and staying in the sport Reinis shares how setbacks led him to rethink training instead of quitting. Use injuries as a signal to adjust training rather than push through blindly. Keep a competitive outlet during rehab to maintain identity and motivation. Return with smarter progression instead of trying to reclaim old numbers immediately. 23:40 – Constraints based learning from Czech training Reinis describes how training environments shaped movement without heavy cueing. Change the environment before changing the athlete. Use simple tasks and small boundaries to create automatic technical improvements. Let athletes feel solutions instead of chasing perfect positions. 33:05 – European versus American development Reinis contrasts long term models focused on movement quality rather than short term output. Early years should build durability, not just speed and strength metrics. Avoid rushing physical qualities before coordination and play are established. Development is a process of layering, not skipping steps. 45:10 – Bringing games and novelty back into training Reinis highlights how playful constraints improve responsiveness and decision making. Add game based movement to keep athletes adaptive under changing conditions. Use novelty sparingly to reawaken coordination and intent. Reduce scripted drills when athletes stop learning from them. 59:47 – Multi sport value and avoiding early specialization Reinis explains why single sport paths can limit long term performance. Multiple sports expand movement bandwidth and reduce overuse. Delay specialization until athletes have broad coordination skills. Early success does not guarantee long term development. 1:11:48 – Plyometrics and gradual tissue progression Reinis stresses that bounding and plyos require patience and slow tissue adaptation. Progress volume and intensity over seasons, not weeks. Start with low amplitude contacts before higher velocity work. Tendons adapt slower than muscles, so loading must reflect that timeline. 1:22:40 – Tendon health and long term loading approach Reinis shares what he learned from repeated injury cycles. Small, consistent loading beats aggressive spikes in volume. Build tolerance through frequency and controlled exposure. The goal is to stay in the game long enough for development to compound. Quotes from Reinis Krēgers "Good coaching has some mystery because we are not robots" "Kids should fall in love with the movement and the sport before anything else" "Constraints are the key word in my training method and philosophy" "Track and field without play is a dry and bad solution for long term success" "There is no such thing as a training methodology, it is the relationship between the coach and the athlete" "Sudden increases in load were always the trigger for my Achilles problems" "You want gradual and consistent work if you want the tissues to adapt" "Sleep enough and rest after good training, that is one of the most important things I tell young athletes" About Reinis Krēgers Reinis Krēgers is a Latvian track and physical preparation coach known for blending classical sprint mechanics with modern movement ecology. With a background in athletics and physical education, Reinis has built a reputation for developing athletes who are not only fast, but exceptionally coordinated, elastic, and adaptable across environments. Drawing from European sprint traditions, plyometric culture, and cutting-edge motor-learning principles, Reinis emphasizes rhythm, posture, and natural force expression before “numbers.” His training sessions regularly weave together technical sprint development, multi-planar strength, and exploratory movement tasks, giving athletes the bandwidth to become resilient movers rather than rigid specialists. Reinis works across youth, club, and competitive settings, helping sprinters, jumpers, and team-sport athletes gain speed, power, and physical literacy. His coaching is marked by clarity, intentionality, and an ability to meet athletes where they are, building them from foundational movement quality toward high-performance execution. Whether on the track or in the PE hall, Reinis' mission is the same: develop confident, capable movers who understand their bodies, enjoy the process, and carry a lifelong relationship with athleticism.

The conversation centers on how niching down transformed both a law firm and a marketing agency into a highly scalable, efficient business. Anthony Karls, president of Rocket Clicks, explains that instead of serving “everyone,” they chose a very specific market: family law firms. That extreme focus gave them major advantages—clearer messaging, streamlined operations, easier hiring, and stronger culture. Rather than being a generalist agency working with all kinds of businesses, Rocket Clicks focuses almost entirely on helping family law practices grow.Anthony shares the origin story: their law firm originally launched as a general practice and grew quickly, but the results were mediocre. Customer service scores were average, the team didn't feel proud of the impact they were making, and the business felt scattered. Surprisingly, even in that transition year, revenue stayed at around $1.3M. After that, the power of the niche kicked in: the firm grew to roughly $3M, then $6M, then $9M in subsequent years, simply by getting very good at one thing and repeating the same playbook in more territories.From a marketing standpoint, Anthony emphasizes starting with organic traffic rather than jumping straight into paid ads. For a typical $2M family law firm living off referrals, he would first focus on local search: making sure the firm shows up in Google Maps and top organic listings. That starts with getting listed correctly in key data aggregators and building consistent NAP citations across the web.Once the organic foundation is solid and the intake team knows how to handle non-referral leads, then it makes sense to layer on paid ads.When it comes to paid advertising, Anthony says the real power comes from data feedback. Most firms only track phone calls and web form submissions, which produces a lot of junk leads and wasted spend. Rocket Clicks instead tracks leads all the way through the funnel to the “quote” or similar high-value stage, then sends that conversion data back to Google and Meta. That allows the ad platforms' AI to optimize toward the right kind of client, not just anyone who fills out a form. Finally, Anthony highlights two big underused levers: artificial intelligence and website performance. On the law firm side, they use AI agents to handle unanswered calls, collect intake details, and assist attorneys with inbox management. Fixing speed and mobile usability alone can significantly boost leads. Overall, the message is clear: niche down, build systems, respect your data, and treat your website and marketing as strategic assets if you want to grow from “just a job” into a scalable, valuable business.Takeaways• Niching down allows for more efficient messaging and operations.• Specialization can lead to significant business growth.• Investing in marketing is crucial for scaling a business.• Organic traffic should be prioritized before paid advertising.• Data infrastructure is essential for effective ad campaigns.• Social media content should be part of a comprehensive marketing strategy.• Website speed is a critical factor in lead generation.• Systems and processes create passive revenue opportunities.• Continuous learning and adaptation are key to business success.Sound Bites• Niching down gives you a bunch of advantages.• Systems equal passive revenue.• AI has changed the way we think about SEO.Listen & Subscribe for More:

Chuck is joined by Laura Goble, PA-C to discuss sports specialization by young athletes. In Part 2, they discuss nutrition and various risk factors, as well as the importance of truly understanding the athlete's priorities. Laura Goble was a speaker at our most recent annual conference. Earn Category 1 CME from this conference and others at PAOS.org!

Send us a textWhy are so many women crashing emotionally after the wedding is over? In today's episode, we pull back the curtain on the hidden pressures, silent expectations, and comparison traps that push people into stress, anxiety, and post-wedding depression without ever understanding the cause. We break down the truth behind the marriage premium and penalty, the real cost of chasing “the perfect day,” and how these cultural messages shape your identity, health, and long-term happiness far more than you realize.If you have ever questioned why something that is supposed to feel magical can leave so many feeling empty, you are not alone. This episode will help you see the whole picture with clarity.Episode Resources:1. From Motherhood Penalties to Husband Premia: The New Challenge for Gender Equality and Family Policy, Lessons from Norway2. Stanford study identifies another explanation for the ‘marriage premium'3. Marriage Penalties in Means-Tested Tax and Transfer Programs: Issues and Options4. Research Brief: The Marriage Divide, Marriage Penalties, and United States Welfare Policy5. Selection and Specialization in the Evolution of Couples' Earnings6. Wage Premium and Wage Penalty in Marriage versus Cohabitation7. The Male Marital Wage Premium: Sorting Versus Differential PayHere are the related episodes, each one builds on today's conversation:#412 | Being an Adult Doesn't Mean You've Grown - https://apple.co/42kU36P #411 | Why Most People Fail Long-Term—And How to Win - https://apple.co/4hzFToWEvolve Together Experiences:

When should kids start focusing on one sport?It's a question many parents and young athletes face, but getting it wrong can do more harm than good.Welcome to Oak Performance Radio, the show that helps athletes, coaches, and parents understand what it takes to build strong, durable performers who thrive under pressure. Each episode explores smarter ways to train, recover, and stay in the game for the long haulEpisode HighlightsAdam Lane sits down with Dr. Geoff Van Thiel, an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine, to talk about the rise of overuse injuries in youth sports and how early specialization affects long-term performance. They discuss how parents and coaches can encourage kids to stay active while reducing burnout and injury risk. Dr. Van Thiel also opens up about his own health habits, including flexibility and nutrition, as well as managing screen time and balancing family time.Key TakeawaysEarly sport specialization can increase the risk of overuse injuries and burnout.Sampling multiple sports helps kids develop better body awareness, coordination, and neuromuscular control.Neuromuscular training is key for injury prevention, especially among female athletes.Flexibility, diet, and sleep play a crucial role in sustaining long-term physical health.Reducing screen time and engaging in family workouts promotes stronger connections and healthier routines.Parents should guide and support their kids' interests without pushing them too early toward a single sport.Episode Chapters00:00 Intro02:51 Discussion on Youth Sports and Overuse Injuries09:11 Parental Challenges and Decision-Making in Youth Sports 14:53 Balancing Stress and Health in Daily Life29:55 Youth Performance and Injury Prevention33:40 The Role of Specialization and Sampling in Sports36:55 Parental Guidance and Support in Youth Sports38:45 Balancing Technology and Family LifeIf this episode gave you clarity on youth sports specialization, pass it along to a parent, coach, or young athlete who could use it. Conversations like this help create healthier training environments for kids.Supporting InformationFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/oakperformancelabInstagram: @oakperformanceLearn more about Dr. Geoffrey Van Thiel's work and resources on orthopedics and sports medicine:www.vanthielmd.comFacebook: Dr. Geoffrey Van ThielInstagram: @vanthielmdCall to ActionFollow Oak Performance Radio for more conversations that help build a healthier, stronger lifestyle, inside and out. Share this episode with a parent, coach, or athlete who could benefit from these insights.Thanks for listening to Oak Performance Radio. Stay active, stay balanced, and keep supporting the next generation of athletes.

Success in professional services isn't about doing more—it's about doing less, but doing it exceptionally well. In this episode of The IC-DISC Show, I sit down with Raffi Yousefian, CEO of The Fork CPAs, to talk about how extreme specialization transformed his accounting firm from a general practice into the leading restaurant and bar controllership service in the country. Raffi shares the counterintuitive journey of deliberately shrinking his client base to accelerate growth, ultimately tripling revenue within 18 months of selling off 30% of his practice. We explore how Raffi evolved from serving three industries to exclusively focusing on restaurants and bars, and why weekly financial reporting creates competitive advantages that monthly statements simply can't provide. He breaks down the economics of restaurant operations, explaining why 2% savings in food costs can represent an entire profit margin when you're working with businesses that operate on 5-7% net profits. The conversation reveals how subscription pricing combined with deep industry expertise solves the profession's labor shortage by making firms more profitable and attractive to talent. What strikes me most is how Raffi's specialization philosophy mirrors successful models in other industries, from medical concierge services to dating apps. If you've ever wondered whether narrowing your focus could actually expand your opportunities, this conversation provides a compelling roadmap.   SHOW HIGHLIGHTS Raffi sold off 30% of his accounting practice to focus solely on restaurants and bars, then tripled the remaining 70% within just 18 months. Weekly financial reporting in restaurants isn't a luxury—it's survival, since a 2% swing in food costs can represent your entire profit margin. The Fork CPAs moved from "insecure niching" with three industries to hyper-specialization, proving that doing less actually accelerates growth when done with expertise. Restaurant operators typically process 300-400 invoices monthly for a $3-4 million location, making specialized systems and processes non-negotiable for profitability. Subscription pricing in accounting solves the labor shortage by making firms more profitable, allowing them to pay better and attract talent to the profession. Specialization creates resonance with ideal clients who say "you sound like my soulmate" rather than casting a wide net and hoping something sticks.   Contact Details LinkedIn - Raffi Yousefian (https://www.linkedin.com/in/raffiyousefian/) LINKSShow Notes Be a Guest About IC-DISC Alliance About The Fork CPAs Raffi YousefianAbout Raffi TRANSCRIPT (AI transcript provided as supporting material and may contain errors) Dave: Good morning, Raffi How are you today? Raffi:: Good morning, David. I'm doing well. And yourself? Dave: I am doing great. I appreciate you coming on the podcast. Just a formal introduction, you are Raffi Yousefian, and you're the CEO of the Fork CPAs. Is that correct? Raffi:: That's correct. And I appreciate you having me. I'm excited to have a conversation with a like-minded individual in the accounting industry. Dave: Yes. I've been looking forward to this for some time. So what part of the world are you calling into from today? Raffi:: I am in Brooklyn, New York City. Dave: Okay. Raffi:: Specifically Williamsburg Greenpoint, which is meant to be the hipster capital of the world in case you're interested. Dave: Yeah, I have heard that name. For that reason, I don't think I've ever been there. I haven't been to New York in about 15 years, and I think I rarely have ever been anywhere but Manhattan. So I'll have to be sure to check that out the next time I'm in town. Raffi:: We would love to have you. We're right across the East River. Dave: Okay, Raffi:: Great. Great nightlife scene, great food scene. A lot of sighting. New concepts are popping up every day, bars, restaurants, so it's a great place to be. Dave: That sounds awesome. Well, first of all, let's get to the name. What the heck does The Fork CPA's name mean? Usually the CPA firm is named after the founder or the partners. So what's the fork? What's the meaning of the fork? Was one of your partners named Fork or talk? Raffi:: No. So the fork, I have a 15 slide presentation on it. Maybe I can walk you through it one day. But the fork represents a tool that is highly agile with very sharp and fine edges, and it also relates to the restaurant industry and represents us and our values as a firm. So that's where the four comes from. That's the, in a nutshell description. And then the CPAs, you add that to clarify that we're doing accounting and tax, so that's where work branding comes from. Actually, we launched the brand in 2022, so it hasn't always been our name. Dave: Okay. Well, I really like it. So are you a New York native? Raffi:: I'm not. I'm actually from dc so lived in DC for about 10 years. That's where I started the firm, and I moved up to New York in 2021. Dave: And you went to college in Maryland? Raffi:: Yes, university of Maryland College Park. Dave: Okay. And then you graduated and you went the big four route with ENY? Raffi:: That's right. I worked at ENY for about three and a half years, and then moved to a smaller firm for about a year and a half, two years after that. And this was in 2016 when I launched the firm that I currently have right now. Dave: And you just started it from scratch? Raffi:: So initially the firm was called ROYCA LLC, and I just used my initials with CPA at the end just to get started. Okay. I started it from scratch. At the time I had the potential opportunity to acquire a restaurant bookkeeping business, and that is really what initiated me or catapulted me to taking that leap from moving from a W2 job to starting my own business. The acquisition actually never ended up panning out to be anything. It ended up being more of like a referral relationship. So it was good in that it incentivized me and motivated me to actually take the leap. But as we started from scratch, didn't end up buying any book of business or anything like that and just grew from there January 1st, 2016. Dave: And is that how the restaurant and bar capability started, was from that referral relationship with that bookkeeping firm then? Raffi:: Yes. Well, the referral relationship was a result of me taking over my brother-in-law's finances, and he had a restaurant and catering business. Dave: Oh, I Raffi:: See. And so his accountant was ending their relationship because he was moving on to be the CFO of a big fast growth restaurant group. And so I asked to meet with him. I said, can I meet with the former accountant? Maybe he has a book of business that he wants to sell or get rid of. That's not where the interest in restaurants started, but that definitely had an impact on moving towards that restaurant niche at some point. My first real client was a restaurant business. Dave: Okay. Raffi:: Yeah, Dave: That is great. You've got your CPA firm, it's growing. And then at a point you realized you had a concentration in the restaurant bar business. Now, conventional wisdom says when you have a concentration like that, whether it's client industry, you need to fix it by diversifying, but you decided to go in a different direction, right? Tell me the story. Raffi:: Yeah, so initially the purpose of the firm was to provide an alternative and frictionless experience to traditional public accounting. And this was 2016 when web-based apps were all very new, and even the cloud firms were very server-based. You log into this server and it wasn't very web-based, so even cloud modern firms were still very clunky, and the client experience was terrible. So the idea was, okay, replicate the public accounting model just in a more modern and frictionless way. And so we were still providing a lot of the traditional services you get in a small public accounting firm, 10 forties, monthly bookkeeping, annual bookkeeping, industry agnostic, and one of the first moves. So that was, people love that, right? It was new cutting edge, modern virtual CPA firm. And then I think by year two, we decided we had to narrow down what we were doing. Raffi:: Again, we were trying to be everything to everyone just in a more modern way. And so I think the first change we made was limit our service offering to monthly services only. So value-based billing, fixed fee. It was a mix of value-based billing and fixed fee at the time. So we basically told all of our annual clients, mostly 10 40 clients, sorry, if you want to work with us, you have to have a business, and we have to own the entire accounting process from monthly all the way through your business tax preparation. So that was the first change we made. We didn't specialize just yet. Dave: And what year was this? 2017. Raffi:: I think this was around 2017 or 20 17, 20 18 then. So that worked really well. That allowed us to scale and grow much faster. Now everybody's on a monthly fixed retainer. You're not doing all this work during tax season, those three months trying to do 12 months of books. So there's no bottlenecks during tax season. For the most part, 10 forties are still very much a bottleneck. And in 20 19, 20 20, we decided to narrow down even further and say, okay, we're going to service three industries. And I like to say this is the insecure way of niching down. And so we narrowed it down to, I believe it was restaurants and bars for sure. Nonprofits and professional Dave: Services. Raffi:: And so that helped again, even better. Now we can scale and grow even faster with more efficiency. And then 2022, we were at a point where the restaurant and bar industry vertical was growing much double, triple what our other verticals were growing. And I believe it was just a natural result of our passion was behind that vertical, the professional services and nonprofits, great clients, low volume, easy to work with, very professional. But yeah, just stagnated the growth that stagnated. I wasn't as much interested in those verticals as I was in restaurants. And so we decided to launch the for brand in 2022 and in 2023. So in 2023, the restaurant practice was about 60 to 70% of our revenue. And so we spun off the 30%, which was nonprofits and professional services, and merged it slash sold it to another firm. And since 2023, March of 2023, we've been solely fork CPAs, Eileen niched down into restaurants and bars under the fork CPAs brand. Dave: Okay. I love the story. And then I believe, did Brandon Poe help you sell that practice? Raffi:: Yes, exactly. I think this was probably the first spinoff maybe that they did spinning off a niche and selling it to another firm, and then continuing as a, so it was new to them. And we actually did a podcast about this with Brandon. And yeah, I think it was, like you said, it sounds counter intuitive to specialize versus diversify, but to provide some context, that 70% between March of 2023 and end of 2024, I think it grew like 250, 300% our revenue. So we were basically triple the size that we were when we did the spinoff. Dave: So I have to put some numbers on this. So let's pretend the firm did a thousand dollars a year of revenue. So $700 of it was restaurants and bars. You sold off the $300 practice and then using that multiple, the firm today now is doing 200 or $300. Raffi:: Well, not today, within a year and a half, within a year and a Dave: Half, Raffi:: Within a year and a half, it was at like 2000. So you were at 1000? We were like 2100. So that 700 became 2100. Dave: Wow. Raffi:: And I think a big part of it had to do with, I actually retained my staff that was part of the nonprofit and professional services vertical. So that was about four people. And so that also helped because you need staff to grow into. Dave: And Raffi:: It did hurt our valuation because a lot of the times when firms are acquiring, they want to acquire the staff, one of the biggest problems when, Dave: Yeah, they're just buying the clients basically. Raffi:: So we took a hit on the valuation, but if we hadn't retained our staff, they wouldn't have been as easy and efficient to scale and grow within that year and a half. Dave: So why is it, so it appears based on what you're saying, that there was a underserved market in New York restaurants and bars. That's the only conclusion I can really come to have that kind of a growth implies that the market was not being well served. Is that assumption accurate or was there something else in play? Raffi:: So we definitely have competitors, but I would say underserved in a sense that the level of service and quality is just not there. It's a highly commoditized service offering restaurant bookkeeping. And so our value proposition is not just restaurant bookkeeping, it's restaurant controllership. Raffi:: So for the same price as a bookkeeping service, maybe a little bit more of a premium, 20%, 15, 20%, you can get a more comprehensive service offering under a subscription model to a controller. And the controller owns your entire accounting process. And in addition to that, we also have a tax department that will take care of the tax compliance at year end and quarterly. So I don't think we have any actual competitors that do exactly what we do. However, we have at least 40 to 50 competitors nationally. So it is underserved in that sense, but it's not something super unique or cutting edge that we're doing. It's just a different approach, a different way of doing it. Dave: And your client's all in the New York area? Raffi:: No, it's all, it's nationally. Mostly East coast. Yeah, mostly dc, Maryland, Virginia, New York City, metropolitan areas, urban areas, but it's pretty much all over the country. We can serve clients nationally. Dave: Now, when you pick up a new client, what percentage of the time is it a brand new restaurant and what percentage of the time are you taking over from another provider? Is it mostly taking over from another provider? Raffi:: I would say it's about 70% taking over. It depends. For example, we might have a restaurant group that has 10 locations and now let's say 10 franchises, and they're forming a new group and they're starting from scratch with a new concept. So there's some of that. I see most of them are fast growth. So they have the goal of, Hey, we just opened our first location and we want to be at five locations in three years. That's where a solution like ours really provides maximum value because we can help you get from zero to five in as fast as you want because you're not sitting there concerned about hiring accountants and building an accounting department. And so we take care of the back office for you through that growth stage. Dave: And what percentage of your clients are franchisees? Raffi:: It's not a large percentage. It's mostly independent operators, probably five to 10%. We have competitors that focus solely on talk about hyper specialization. They do restaurant bookkeeping for McDonald's franchises, but it gets pretty specific. And that's not necessarily our target market. Our target market is more independent operators, smaller franchise groups, 15 to 20 units, but we're not like a volume commodity shop. Dave: So I can relate to your business in so many ways, and it's why when I heard you on Brandon's podcast, I just was dying to talk to you. So as I think I told you, so all we do is icy disc work, and we're the only firm I know of that does nothing but icy disc work. We manage more than anyone else. So all we do, we live, eat and breathe it. But within that space, our largest sector by far is the scrap metal business. And what's interesting, and I hear this all the time from our clients, is that I'm the only advisor they've ever had who understands the scrap metal business, that when they have a banker that they're interviewing new banks or a new CPA, it's always the same thing. They come out and they're like, wow, I thought this was going to be Sanford and Son's junkyard. This is a whole different business. And they get so frustrating. And I've frustrated, and some of 'em have asked me to find CPAs, find them a new CPA, and one of the first things they want is somebody with scrap metal experience because it's so frustrating for them having to, every year there's a new staff person and every year they have to explain all over again how the whole business works. I'm guessing it's similar in the restaurant business. Is that right? And kind of dive into how your expertise manifests itself when you're talking with an Raffi:: Potential Dave: Client? Raffi:: Yeah, absolutely. Having an accountant in the entire spectrum of accounting services, whether that's your tax preparer, your controller, your bookkeeper, your CFO, having that industry specialization is completely invaluable. And I think the, in any industry, restaurants aside, the consumer is starting to realize that and the level of insight you can provide as a specialist and the value you can add is way beyond what a generalist can do. And sometimes people will hire generalists because of a referral or a trust that they have with this person. And I think that's really the only time where there's any justification in hiring a generalist, to be honest with you. But even that, it's okay, well, sure, this might be your dad's accountant or your family friend accountant that everybody trusts, but is that really providing any value? If you can't trust your service provider, then what's the point? Raffi:: So yeah, the level of value you can provide, and just to give you some examples, if you have three locations as a restaurant and you want to add another location, you should be able to go to your accountant and say, here is what the landlord is asking for rent. Here's what I'm expecting to do in sales. Is this a good investment? And the accountant, if they're specialized, they should be able to tell you very quickly just by reviewing your projections, your performa and saying, yes, this is an investment that we're not investment advisors, but if your projections actually pan out to be what they say, then yes, we want your occupancy cost to be 8% of sales, and you're showing that in your projection. So yeah, if this spot that you've identified can actually generate that type of sales and your prime costs are going to be this much, your bottom line is potentially going to be this, then your ROI will be X. And therefore, yeah, it's a good investment. Now, a generalist might be able to do that by doing some research, Raffi:: But that example can be applied to so many different things. When we sit down and analyze p and ls as a controller, we need to be able to look at trends and identify, wait, why do we lose money this month? Very quickly, right on a call, oh, it's because your labor was 35% and it's usually 32%. And in restaurants, it's typically 32, 33 is the ideal number. Just being able to throw out numbers off the top of your head and being well-trained in a specific vertical, it just provides so much value. And we talk about in the accounting industry about how we have to become advisors. This is like AI is going to take over all the compliance overseas hiring and all the bookkeeping is going to be automated. And so now we have to become more advisors and just data entry people and compliance providers. And the only way you can really do that, in my opinion, if you want to be a true advisor, is to niche down and specialize. Otherwise, how much value can you really add as a generalist? Dave: Sure. Well, and I was just thinking, I would imagine having come up through the accounting side, I couldn't imagine a worst controller or bookkeeper job than being the bookkeeper or controller for a restaurant. I can just picture it. There's some a closet basically that's your office, and especially if it's in the facility itself and it's not noisy and there's just all this stuff going on, and if it's a bar, all the actions in the evening, and I just couldn't imagine a worst working environment or work environment than that. So it makes even more sense to just have that outsource. And I'm also guessing my clients, probably 20% of the owners of my clients actually have an accounting background just for whatever reason, that was how they ended up there. But I'm guessing that's perhaps even lower in the restaurant business. I just imagine the average restaurateur bar owner is not a former ENY tax person. Raffi:: Right. So it's funny you bring up the bookkeeping role in a restaurant closet that they put the bookkeeper in traditionally speaking with all the stacks of invoices. So just to provide some context, a restaurant that does three to $4 million in revenue will have anywhere from three to 400 invoices minimum per month. Dave: Are you serious? Raffi:: Yeah. They need to get inputted into the accounting system to get true accrual basis accounting. Dave: Wow. I thought you just bought everything from Cisco and payroll and called it a Raffi:: Day. Well, the franchisees, yeah, the franchisees are all different. They work with a Cisco or usb, and then they have less invoices, but still very high volume. So the role of the bookkeeper 10, 15 years ago was show up to the restaurant, get all these invoices and put them into QuickBooks. And if you're not a specialist, even if you're following the traditional model from 15 years ago, there's no way to make money doing this type of work, especially when restaurants are super low margin. They don't have big budgets for accounting. And so the only way to really make it work is to specialize to have a fixed system process, tech stack around restaurant bookkeeping that allows you to process this high volume and still leave some room to make money as an accountant. So I'll just throw that out there. And then your other question was related to what kind of persona do you get, what kind of demographics do you get on the restaurant industry side, and it's mostly blue collar, a lot of creatives. So I think once you get to the groups, the restaurant groups that have five to 10 people, a lot of 'em start hiring more office workers. More people can sit at a computer and do numbers, which helps a lot on the admin side. But if you're working with a single unit operator or two to three unit operator, you're dealing with somebody that's always on the run. They're always busy, they're in the kitchen, they're wearing multiple hats. Raffi:: Most of the time they're creatives, they're chefs that created a concept, and that's their strength. Their strength isn't numbers, so it makes it even harder to get information out of them and to keep them organized. And that's really what an accountant bookkeeper does. It just helps somebody stay organized and provides them and helps digest their financials. And a big part of it's just helping them stay organized. So you can first count the numbers, put them into the system, come up with a good workflow. But yeah, it makes it very challenging to work with those types of clients. Dave: Sure, I can understand that. Now, my understanding is the restaurant and bar business has one of the highest failure rates of any type of business. Is that true? And what is the failure rate? What percentage then fail in 1, 3, 5 years? I'm sure you have some numbers around that. Or Raffi:: Actually, believe it or not, there actually is no number and the number is What's your Dave: Guess? What's your guess? Raffi:: They say the myth has always been nine to 10 restaurants fail, something like that. And I've researched this multiple times, and it's really just a myth. There's no hard evidence about that. I don't think it's wrong or it could be very much accurate because it's very high. But any industry, the reason for the failure rate is because of the supply and demand. Everyone wants to open a restaurant, the barrier to entry are low. It's easy to raise money to open a restaurant. Everyone wants to invest in a restaurant. It's just a sexy business. And when you have such a high supply of any type of business, it could be restaurants, it could be filmmakers, it could be musicians, like how competitive the music and film industry is, you end up having an overage of service providers or suppliers or restaurants in this case. And therefore it makes it extremely difficult to generate a profit. Raffi:: And it is a difficult business to run for sure as well. But I think that's the biggest challenge is once you start making a little bit of money, 10, 15%, boom, another competitor comes in and opens a similar concept down the block or a competing concept, and now there's limited amount of residents or consumers in that neighborhood. So now they go into that restaurant, and especially in cities like DC right now, DC's very competitive. There's just so much money being pumped into restaurants and such a limited amount of guests and consumers. So it's the same, let's say 10,000 people that are going to the same restaurants, let's call 'em upscale, casual restaurants. And every week there's a new restaurant opening. And then you could have the best concept in the world, but it only lasts six months because as soon as you're not the hottest thing in town, another one rolls right in and takes your customer base. So it's very competitive, very low margin, and that's why it makes the financial analysis so much more important. Dave: Yeah, I would think so. Is it safe to assume that the failure rate of your clientele is likely lower than the industry average? If you had to guess? Raffi:: Probably. Yeah. Yeah, our failure rate is pretty low. And I think which might also be overlooked, that insight into your finance is a huge competitive advantage for operators, for restaurant operators. Dave: Yeah, I would imagine. Raffi:: Because even 2%, they're mostly high volume, high revenue businesses, they're top line businesses. So an average full service restaurant probably does three to $4 million in revenue. And so even a 2% savings on your food costs, that can be your entire profit margin right there. So the average restaurant does between three, it used to be like five to 10%, now it's three to 7%. But needless to say, it's pretty low, the profit margin. So if I can provide weekly reports that give managers insight into their labor and food costs, that in itself helps them reduce food and labor costs two to 4%. And it's key to do this weekly, not monthly, right? Because monthly it's already too late. You don't know what you did four weeks ago to be able to tweak and adjust the levers in your business. So yeah, I think it's a competitive advantage. Hey, if I can save you two to 5% just by monitoring the financials, forget all the time savings that I'm going to give you automatically you've added a lot of value and you've maybe even saved that restaurant from going out of business. Dave: So I'm curious, just what are the typical expense breakdowns like in a restaurant, how much, what are the food cost percentage range typically in labor and brand, whether, Raffi:: So it depends on the type of concept, whether it's a pizza shop, whether it's a quick service restaurant versus full service versus steak versus seafood. But generally 60 to 65% is your prime cost. So that's your cost of goods sold and your labor. Raffi:: And so anytime we see, for example, for quick service, it's about 60%. So anytime we see, hey, this quick service restaurant is doing 63%, it's a red flag, and we bring that up to the operator, you need to adjust. And sometimes they can't adjust something they can't control. The sales are low because scaling of labor, when you have sales fixed labor and the rest is pretty much, it's about eight to 10% occupancy costs, rent, real estate, taxes, insurance, and then the rest is overhead, operating expenses, supplies, GNA, office supplies, things like that. And then that leaves about five to 10% profit at the end if it's run well. Dave: Wow, it sounds like a Raffi:: Terrible business. It sounds like a difficult business to run profit. Very difficult. Yeah. I get a lot of people that come to me and say, Hey, I'm thinking about investing in a restaurant, or I want to open a restaurant. I'm like, run, don't do it. Dave: Yeah. There's a joke. I forget how it goes and what industry it is. How do you become a millionaire in the oil and gas business? You start as a billionaire. It's kind of the same in the restaurant. How do I end up with a million dollars restaurant? You start with $10 million. Raffi:: Exactly. Dave: So talk to me, do you have everybody on the same accounting system? For example, all of your Raffi:: Clients? We more or less, we have two tech stacks that we support. So QuickBooks plus Margin Edge, that's one Tech Stack. And then the other Tech stack is a accounting software called Restaurant 365. Dave: Okay. Designed just for the restaurant business. And they're both, and so I know QuickBooks pretty well is the other one. Raffi:: Yes, everything is web-based. The Margin Edge is just a plugin. It's an app for QuickBooks to essentially convert it to providing restaurant. It's the bridge between the restaurant and the books. Whereas Restaurant 365 already integrates all of that, the plugins into one platform, which is really nice. Dave: Have you seen that one is a better fit for most of your clients, or do you have a preference for one over the other? Raffi:: It depends on the concept for sure. Okay. For example, we have Dave's Hot Chicken. I'm not sure if you've heard of it. The franchise, one of the fastest growing franchises in America. They have a, I'm not sure if it's an agreement, like a franchise agreement or some type of agreement with the restaurant 365, but basically as a franchisee, you get Restaurant 365 templates as part of your, Dave: Not Raffi:: Templates, but it's almost pre-configured so that it makes it very easy to use Restaurant 365. So in those cases we're like, it's going to be much easier to implement this off the shelf solution versus having QuickBooks and Margin Edge and setting it up for the franchise and all that. So it really just depends on the concept. Dave: Okay. Raffi:: Yeah. Dave: What are some of the things clients tell you, or what's the feedback you get after six to 12 months? I have to imagine that your clients are really happy with your service. What are some of the things that you hear from folks? So this is your chance to really brag about your team and your business model. What are some of the things you hear? Raffi:: Typically, it's not so much. The feedback we hear is so-and-so is so great. You have an invaluable resource for our team and our growth. We have a lot of testimonials that we get from clients. They provide so much peace of mind. Now I can focus on what I do best without having to worry about are my bills getting paid? Am I profitable? What are the numbers that I need to look out for? But really we see the results most of the time because you see a restaurant operator that has one location or two locations, and they have maybe an internal person that is a partner in the business that is overseeing the financials. And we do a discovery call with them. We find out they're spending their whole week just getting receipts from employees and uploading invoices to the accounting software. And then we're like, you spend your most of your time on this. And we tell 'em our value proposition, and it's hard for them to believe. And then within seven or eight months, they're out there scouting new locations, improving their margins, really working on the business rather than spending their time doing admin work. And that's extremely rewarding to see. Raffi:: And not all of them do this. Some will not take advantage of what we provide. Some of them, just like the time savings when we see, okay, this person was stuck at two, three locations, and now they have the time to really focus on growth and building systems and processes and focusing on their vision, and we're just essentially handling their entire back office. They're reporting and providing all the analytical information they need to make these decisions about their growth. That's really nice to see both from their perspective and our perspective. It's a nice partnership to have. Dave: And I can imagine that weekly reporting is critical. I can just imagine there's a lot of restaurants that it's a part-time person. It's their accounting firm that does it. It's one of the partners. And basically they get their financials two or three weeks after the month ends. So they're looking at six and seven week old data. And I could imagine that if you have a problem and you're losing money and you don't realize it until after you've lost money for seven weeks, I can see where that could be a problem. Raffi:: Yeah, exactly. And you're looking at your p and l 15 days after the month ends and you're saying, wait, how do we get 27% labor? Who was doing the scheduling that week? Who was doing the inventory count? What did he change? What did they not change? And when you're doing it weekly, you know exactly what affected or impacted the numbers in your reports. Whereas if it's, and this can apply to other industries as well, not just restaurants, but in restaurants and bars, it's specifically very, especially very important. Dave: Yeah. What do you enjoy the most about your current role in this business that you've built? Raffi:: I really enjoy the growth aspect of it, the vision setting, the vision, setting the goals. We follow the EOS framework Raffi:: And I love that kind of stuff. Working on the business, setting the goals, as I said, and holding your team accountable to achieving those goals. And it's crazy how quickly you see results when you really commit to it. And I'm still trying to figure out whether I'm a visionary or integrator and I don't know. But I like both. I like ops and I also like sales and marketing and being the CEO, so I'm still trying to pinpoint that. But we have a director of operations and she runs the operations for the most part. But I love setting the vision for operations. Hey, it would be awesome if in a year we can reach a stage where every client is following the same AP process, for example, or something like that. And yeah, I really enjoy that kind of stuff. Dave: So let's say we're talking three years from now, and in fact, I may just make a note to have you back in three years. I've never asked a guest this question, and it's probably because I just was in Strategic Coach session last week. If we were sitting down three years from now and looking back over those three years, what would you have liked to have happened both personally and professionally to have been pleased with your progress? Or even just professionally, what would you like to accomplish over the next few years? How do you see the business going? Raffi:: We have ambitions to grow very quickly, and our mission, I know sounds generic, is to achieve proud employees and happy clients. Raffi:: And so I'm obsessed with great businesses, which pretty much provide that proud employees that love where they work, they want to do a good job, and the customers and clients are all promoters of the business. That's the ideal goal. So we want to grow while maintaining that. We don't want to become one of these, again, commodity shops where we're just bringing on clients for the sake of bringing on clients and adding numbers to the top line revenue. I think of acquisition as a big part of that. I probably see that in the cards in the next two to three years in terms of us acquiring another firm. And it really narrows down your goal when you're trying to focus on restaurants and bars. So just trying to replicate what we do, providing that controllership level service, maybe acquiring the bookkeeping, restaurant bookkeeping service, and deploying our model so that people paying the same price for bookkeeping can essentially get a much higher level of service. And then thus complimenting our mission, our purpose, which is proud employees, happy, happy clients. Dave: I love that. Proud employees, happy clients. That was always Herb Kelleher's philosophy. The founder of Southwest Airlines is he viewed employees as his customers that if he made his employees happy, then they would do a good job with their end customers. Raffi:: Yeah. Yeah. The Southwest stories pretty amazing. But I think we debated our leadership team debated about the happy employees versus proud employees for a bit. Raffi:: And I think we very specifically and adamantly decided that we want proud employees because it's not, as soon as you pay happy, nobody's ever a hundred percent happy. We want the clients to be happy and satisfied, but we want our employees to, there's going to be tough times and they're not always going to be happy, and times are going to be tough, but as long as you're doing what you're proud of and it feels rewarding, at the end of the day, it's a job. So we're not expecting everyone to show up to work and be super happy about what they do, but at least we want them to be proud. And I think that comes with passion. If you don't have passion for what you do, you're most likely not going to be proud, and you're probably not the best fit for our company. So it attracts a certain type of employee, but it also pushes out a certain feeling amongst your team. Dave: I like it. Well, as we're wrapping things up, I can't believe how the time has flown by. If we could go back to 2011 when you were graduating from the University of Maryland, if you could go back in time and give yourself advice, your 22, 20 3-year-old self advice back then, what advice might you have given yourself based on the experience you've had over the last 14 years? Raffi:: I like to say I would have niched down earlier, but it's hard to say that's what I would've done if I had done it differently. I'm just not sure because you learn so much by not niching down early on, and Raffi:: You have to generate revenue when you first start out your firm. So in theory, that's what I would've probably have done niche down earlier. Maybe I would niche down three years earlier, four years earlier, not maybe from the beginning. But in terms of other advice, yeah, I would've probably taken accounting more seriously earlier on because I had so many little businesses at that time when I was in college, I was just still trying to figure things out, and I knew accounting was potentially one of them, but I had a, well before that in college, I had an eBay business where I was selling, going to stores, finding things for cheap and selling them online. And then I had a welding business, and then I had a DJ business. And so I was still trying to figure out, I was very on the fence about do I pursue accounting versus something else, and I would've probably told myself to take it, focus on the accounting much earlier. Dave: That is so interesting. I asked that question to a lot of guests, and they almost all have the same answer. But when I asked you the question as I was asking it, I was thinking, oh, that's a dumb question. Most of my guests, they waited 20 years before they started their own business, and their price themselves would've been, be afraid, take the leap early, but you really couldn't have taken it much earlier. You were an employee for five years. You needed to learn the industry, and obviously you had those entrepreneurial tendencies early on, but that is interesting. You wish you had taken the accounting more seriously since that you didn't know then that this is what your future was going to be. Raffi:: Right. I knew it was going to be in entrepreneurship, growing a business, starting a business, but in hindsight, again, if I hadn't done all the DJing and the parties and the events, I wouldn't have been exposed to how marketing really works and how PR really works. So I don't know. It's hard to say. Dave: Yeah, that makes sense. Well, is there anything I didn't ask you that you wish I had asked you? Raffi:: Yeah, I think when we've talked in the past, we talked about the pricing model when it comes to niche services, I think that's also very relevant. You want to share, Dave: Do you want to share how that works or is that something that Raffi:: Yeah, I think Dave: Standard pricing on or whatever your, I didn't want to get too much into pricing. I didn't want you to feel obligated to share anything you didn't want to share. Raffi:: Yeah. I think another aspect of niching down that is valuable and necessary as it comes to our industry and accounting is the pricing model. So there's various forms of pricing and professional services. You have hourly billing, the traditional hourly billing, you have the value-based pricing, you have fixed fee, and then you have subscription. And the trend, I believe, is moving towards subscription. It was value-based. Hourly is the old model that hopefully most people aren't following anymore. But the subscription model for the industry I think is going to be the best because we have problems in the industry right now. They talk about the shortage of labor and all that and the need to adapt advisory services. But I think it's not just, you can't look at labor in a vacuum. You have to look at why do we have a shortage of labor problem? It's because we have a value proposition problem and we have a pricing problem, Raffi:: In my opinion at least. And I think subscription pricing is going to change that. And subscription pricing is beneficial to our industry because it prices the relationship and not just the scope of work and value-based pricing the customer. How do they see the value that we're providing? And you price based off of that. But I think once you move into subscription, it completely revolutionizes and changes the value of public accounting and the accounting service in general. And if we want to solve the labor shortage problem, we need to make the industry more profitable and pay people better so that they're incentivized to pursue an accounting degree and get a CPA. And subscription pricing, I believe, really does that in order to provide subscription pricing you to don't need to. But it really helps by niching down, because the whole concept of subscription pricing is you pay this fixed price and we do everything for you. No hourly billing. There's no scope of work. We do everything for you that is in our wheelhouse that we can do under our roof. And when you provide that type of peace of mind and frictionless experience for clients, all of a sudden, I think the potential for profit and paying your better skyrockets. Dave: So yeah, Ron Baker would be so proud of your transition. Raffi:: Yeah, I think it's a little too early. I think he wrote his Times Up book like three, four, or maybe, yeah, three, four years ago, something like that. Something like that. So it might be a little too soon to tell whether it's going to work in practice. It's worked for us, but it's very difficult to implement subscription pricing if you don't niche down Dave: Well, and I think the monthly work also helps, like a CPA firm who all they're doing is just the annual tax return. How do you justify a subscription billing? Right? Certainly a month in subscription billing, there's more of a disconnect, but with what you're doing, the tax return is, I don't want to say an afterthought, it's just a inevitable outcome of what you've done throughout the year. Raffi:: I think the most similar example that's been tried and tested is the medical concierge. So one time medical, one medical, the subscription based medical office that Amazon acquired, I dunno, what was it three, four years ago? So I think it's very similar because you have an annual checkup, so think of that as your tax return. So you pay Amazon, it's a very low price. I don't know what it is, but I dunno, maybe a few hundred dollars a year for your subscription to one-time medical or one medical. And a lot of the medical concierge services work like this, they range anywhere from $50 a month to $300 a month depending on the Raffi:: Level of service that you're getting. And that gives you unlimited access to a primary care physician. So if I want to go see them every week, it's included in my a hundred dollars a month subscription, and I can get that once a year tax return done or that once a year physical done, but that doesn't really change anything. It doesn't change my subscription. That could be the only thing that I do with them, but just I'm paying for that peace of mind. I know if something happens or if I'm planning for something, I can just call that primary care physician or that accountant and run it by them for no extra charge. And so I think it works well. Maybe it's a little too soon to tell for the accounting industry, but I think it's generally worked with the primary care medical world. Dave: No, I think the accounting profession is perfect for it. So are most of your clients now on a subscription basis? Raffi:: Yeah, it's pretty much all subscription. We have what are called add-ons, Dave: So Raffi:: Our general subscription is controllership services. But anything that they need, for example, IRS audit, gap audit, notice defense, maybe they're pursuing a valuation or a deal, and that's something that we can handle. It's in our wheelhouse. That's all included in the subscription. But when you don't niche down, it's hard to Dave: Exactly. Raffi:: It's hard to limit what you offer. So that's why I think when you say we're very clear that we don't do budgets, so that's not in our wheelhouse. We don't really have anybody on the team that can do budgeting for restaurants. We can get on a call and talk through it with you based off of what we know, but we won't prepare a projection and budget. We're not a CFO service. We're a controllership service. So it's hard to be clear about where you draw the line with your, what's in your wheelhouse, because technically, yeah, I could learn how to budget. I'm an account. It's not that difficult. But again, you can't promise everything. Then you want to try to promise as much as possible so that your subscription has value, but there also has to be safeguards in place. Dave: Well, that is a great way to wrap things up. I'm glad that you'd mentioned the pricing. I really appreciate that. Well, I really appreciate your time. Like I said, when I reached out to you, I love your specialization approach. I just think that's the problem with specialization is you have to say no to everything else. And that's so emotionally difficult for people, especially if you have a scarcity mindset then, Raffi:: Right? Accountants basically. Dave: Yes. Yes. So I think that's great. It's no surprise to me, and I really would, if you're up for it, I'd love to check in with you in three years and see how things have gone. Raffi:: Yeah, I'm definitely up for it. And I also love, you're hyper specialized. That's the IC-disc. I think you mentioned to me how many there are in the country, and it's very limited. Yeah, a few thousand. So that's even more specialized, but it's great. The more specialized, in my opinion, the better. Right? Dave: I tell you this quick story. I've learned niche specialists, that niche and specializing firsthand. When I was internet dating in 2000, the infancy of internet dating, and I think I was 35 years old. And what I noticed that most guys did, they had an approach of casting a wide net. And it was, I'm looking for a woman between the ages of 18 and 88, any religion, any hobbies, anybody type. And I think their attitude is, I'm going to cast a wide net. I'm going to get all these fish in the net, and then I can just cherry pick the ones I want. So I'm like, I'm going to try something different. And so let's say I was 34. My criteria was they had to be a year older to two years younger. They had to be tall, athletic Christian, dog loving women with a commitment to excellence. And my friends are like, you're not going to get any response. Dave: And I'm like, yeah, you're probably right. And they were right. They were almost right. I got almost no response. But what happened when I did get a response from a woman, it's the same reaction you get. There was resonance because the woman would say, oh my God, you sound like my soulmate. I'm 33, I'm five nine. I used to play college volleyball. I have a golden retriever. And so what would happen is, I think when they were talking to the guys with the white net philosophy, they'd have dinner and the guy would say, wow, you're amazing. You're exactly what I'm looking for. And they're like, no, you're not. Your profile is 18 to 88. It wasn't really, but that's really where I learned it. And I think it's the resonance that you get with specialization, and it worked dating and it worked in my business. Sure. You hear the same kind of resonance thing from your new clients, and you're like, wow, I didn't know such a service existed. Raffi:: Exactly. Yes. Yeah. It's like a perfect match for both sides, right? Dave: But it takes a certain amount of courage and a certain amount of abundance mindset to be able to pull the trigger. The other thing is it's hard to refer people who don't specialize. If you meet an attorney and you're like, what do you specialize in? You go, well, mostly wills. We do the occasional divorce, occasional criminal defense. If you get a speaker sick, you give me a call and you're like, I can't help you. But if they specialize in speeding tickets in one county in Texas, and that's all they do, I talk to somebody, a party, and they say, oh, I got a speeding ticket. I'm like, oh, it's Raffi:: The first person that comes to mind. Yeah, exactly. Dave: Yeah, Raffi:: It makes a big difference. Dave: Yeah, it's great. Well, hey, Raffa, I really appreciate your time. This has been a lot of fun and keep up your work and let's come back in three years. Raffi:: Thank you, David. I appreciate you having me. Dave: There we have it. Another great episode. Thanks for listening in. If you want to continue the conversation, go to ic disc show.com. That's IC dash D-I-S-C-S-H-O w.com. And we have additional information on the podcast archived episodes, as well as a button to be a guest. So if you'd like to be a guest, go select that and fill out the information, and we'd love to have you on the show. So it we'll be back next time with another episode of the IC Disc Show. Special Guest: Raffi Yousefian.

In this conversation, Tony Hardy shares his extensive experience in the real estate industry, discussing his journey from commercial to multifamily real estate. He emphasizes the importance of collaboration, building relationships, and problem-solving in achieving success. Tony also introduces his concept of 'ResiMershal,' aimed at bridging the gap between residential and commercial real estate agents. He shares personal anecdotes of overcoming adversity and highlights the significance of serving clients beyond transactions.   Professional Real Estate Investors - How we can help you: Investor Fuel Mastermind:  Learn more about the Investor Fuel Mastermind, including 100% deal financing, massive discounts from vendors and sponsors you're already using, our world class community of over 150 members, and SO much more here: http://www.investorfuel.com/apply   Investor Machine Marketing Partnership:  Are you looking for consistent, high quality lead generation? Investor Machine is America's #1 lead generation service professional investors. Investor Machine provides true 'white glove' support to help you build the perfect marketing plan, then we'll execute it for you…talking and working together on an ongoing basis to help you hit YOUR goals! Learn more here: http://www.investormachine.com   Coaching with Mike Hambright:  Interested in 1 on 1 coaching with Mike Hambright? Mike coaches entrepreneurs looking to level up, build coaching or service based businesses (Mike runs multiple 7 and 8 figure a year businesses), building a coaching program and more. Learn more here: https://investorfuel.com/coachingwithmike   Attend a Vacation/Mastermind Retreat with Mike Hambright: Interested in joining a "mini-mastermind" with Mike and his private clients on an upcoming "Retreat", either at locations like Cabo San Lucas, Napa, Park City ski trip, Yellowstone, or even at Mike's East Texas "Big H Ranch"? Learn more here: http://www.investorfuel.com/retreat   Property Insurance: Join the largest and most investor friendly property insurance provider in 2 minutes. Free to join, and insure all your flips and rentals within minutes! There is NO easier insurance provider on the planet (turn insurance on or off in 1 minute without talking to anyone!), and there's no 15-30% agent mark up through this platform!  Register here: https://myinvestorinsurance.com/   New Real Estate Investors - How we can work together: Investor Fuel Club (Coaching and Deal Partner Community): Looking to kickstart your real estate investing career? Join our one of a kind Coaching Community, Investor Fuel Club, where you'll get trained by some of the best real estate investors in America, and partner with them on deals! You don't need $ for deals…we'll partner with you and hold your hand along the way! Learn More here: http://www.investorfuel.com/club   —--------------------

In this series of episodes Chuck is joined by Laura Goble, PA-C who discusses her presentation at the recent PAOS meeting in Las Vegas on sports specialization by young athletes.

“Despite the volatility, the industry is getting some positive energy and renewed confidence”Jeremie Trochu, Chief Executive Officer at Ardena, has spent two decades building and scaling businesses across the biopharma sector. He was part of the leadership team that transformed Catalent from a private equity spinoff into a publicly traded global CDMO, where he led multiple successful acquisitions and integrations. Since joining Ardena as CEO in 2024, he has been steering the company through one of the most volatile periods in pharmaceutical manufacturing history.In a recent PharmaSource podcast episode, Jeremie explains how CDMOs can build resilient partnerships, when to specialize versus diversify, and what it takes to earn a seat at the table with pharma and biotech clients.Read more.

Excel is the universal language of finance and the critical foundation that new technologies, including AI, build upon. But how do you go from simply "knowing" Excel to thinking fluently in it, maximizing your efficiency and impact?In this episode of What's New at CFI on FinPod, we introduce the Excel Skills for Professionals Specialization, a new learning journey designed to make you an Excel master.This specialization combines five practical, hands-on courses that are highly relevant for any professional. Whether you work in finance, accounting, or data analytics.This episode covers:Why Excel is More Important Than Ever: Tim Vipond explains why, even in the age of AI, Excel remains the ultimate "blank canvas" for analysts to brainstorm, structure logic, generate insights, and create value.Who This Specialization is For: Whether you're a complete beginner or an experienced professional looking to abandon the mouse and improve efficiency, this journey takes you from ground zero to advanced dashboards.Practical, Mission-Driven Learning: Duncan McKeen details CFI's unique approach: learning skills in the context of a larger goal (like building a cohesive dashboard), ensuring every formula and function learned is immediately relevant to your job.The Learning Sequence: We walk you through the five courses that build your skills step-by-step: from interface and fundamental formulas, through cleaning messy data and advanced visualization techniques.The Confidence Boost: Mastering Excel through practice is the fastest way to career growth. Discover how this specialization can transform a stressed analyst into a confident value creator who can efficiently turn around complex analyses in minutes.

At $1.2M, everything stopped working.Landscape company Downer Brothers could add more crews, more equipment, and watch revenue grow. Until they couldn't. Profit tanked. Hours piled up. Same money.Nicole Downer had to reposition her entire business to break through to $10M. Generalists became specialists. Gut-feel decisions became data-driven. And the hardest part? Helping longtime team members let go of roles that defined them so they could become experts at one thing.She calls it "ghost org charting" - imagining what the company looks like at $10M, then working backward to reposition today. It forces hard conversations. Especially with people you care about.This is what repositioning for growth actually costs. Not just new messaging. Your entire operation and your people have to transform alongside the business.-Find gaps in your brand health and performance in 5 minutes with ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Brand Health Audit⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.-02:22 Navigating Business Growth05:23 Specialization vs. Generalization10:11 Implementing Systems for Scaling22:43 Avoiding Shiny Object Syndrome28:16 Supporting Teams and Building Relationships34:03 Adapting to Market Trends42:34 Balancing Technology and Human Connection51:03 Valuing Employees and Long-Term Commitment-5 episodes to binge on:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The no bullshit strategy⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Alex Smith⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Brand strategy in action⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ with Cam Varner⁠⁠Your Business Might Be Unsellable⁠⁠ with Allie Beckmann and Alexandria SeydelRepositioning Without Losing Customers with Amy Heidersbach & Melissa Eaton⁠⁠The Crisis Management Playbook⁠⁠ with Oliver Aust and Gordon Firemark⁠-Reach out to guest speaker | Nicole Downer: Instagram | Facebook | LinkedInFollow Beatrice Gutknecht:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Produced by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Your Podcast Sidekick

In this episode of Take the Stage, Brad Bialy sits down with Lia Taniguchi to unpack Bullhorn's 2025 Grid Talent Trends Report and explore how data, AI, and human connection are reshaping the candidate experience in staffing and recruiting. About the Guest Lia Taniguchi is the Senior Research Manager at Bullhorn, leading global market research that drives data-informed strategy for the staffing industry. With an MBA from Simmons College and a forthcoming MPH from Boston University, Lia brings a rare mix of analytical depth and human-centered insight to her work. Key Takeaways Only 26% of Gen Z candidates are actively using a recruiter—showing an urgent need for better engagement and support for younger talent. 54% of candidates stopped working with a recruiter due to slow or unclear communication, proving that speed and transparency are now table stakes. 88% of candidates rated their voice agent interview as as good as or better than speaking with a person, signaling growing comfort with AI-driven screening. Overall candidate satisfaction declined across every stage of the recruitment process in the past year, with speed and responsiveness dropping by 20%. Candidates want instant acknowledgment—most expect confirmation within minutes and status updates within one week, mirroring Amazon-style service expectations. Timestamps [00:45] – Introducing the Grid 2025 Talent Trends Report [03:20] – Why Gen Z is least satisfied with recruiters [06:30] – Setting higher expectations in a digital-native world [10:25] – The power of intergenerational mentorship in recruiting [13:40] – Can AI fix the application black hole? [17:10] – What candidates really mean by “speed and communication” [20:15] – Remembering the human impact behind every resume [24:00] – Using AI to give feedback to the “silver medalists” [28:15] – 88% of candidates rate voice agents as good as people [33:20] – Why candidate satisfaction is declining—and how to fix it [37:45] – Secret shopping your own candidate experience [46:20] – Specialization as the new superpower for staffing firms About the Host Brad Bialy is a trusted voice and highly sought-after speaker in the staffing and recruiting industry, known for helping firms grow through integrated marketing, sales, and recruiting strategies. With over 13 years at Haley Marketing and a proven track record guiding hundreds of firms, Brad brings deep expertise and a fresh, actionable perspective to every engagement. He's the host of Take the Stage and InSights, two of the staffing industry's leading podcasts with more than 200,000 downloads. Sponsors and Offers Heard Take the Stage is presented by Haley Marketing. The old way of selling staffing is dead. Let's fix it—with smarter strategies and HUGE DISCOUNTS on modern lead-gen tools: https://bit.ly/Bialy20 Book a 30-minute business and marketing consultation with host, Brad Bialy: https://bit.ly/Bialy30 For 30 years, Benefits in a Card has delivered benefit plans designed specifically for the staffing industry—over 140 unique options with immediate coverage, unique perks like FreeRx, and solutions that reduce turnover while improving ACA compliance. Give your workforce benefits they'll actually use and give your staffing firm a competitive edge. Learn more at https://www.BenefitsInACard.com

In this episode of the LIFTS Podcast, Matthew Januszek and Mohammed Iqbal sit down with Dr. Sean Pastuch, founder of Active Life, to challenge the industry's obsession with recovery rooms and redefine what it truly means to treat fitness as healthcare. From debunking lazy innovation to outlining a blueprint for gyms that prioritize people over gadgets, this conversation reimagines how fitness professionals can become the front line of real health transformation. Key topics include: • Why recovery rooms are the 'lazy man's innovation.' • The economics and illusion of retention in gyms. • How trainers can evolve into healthcare professionals. • The difference between preventative and responsive fitness. • How to attract and develop high-value trainers. • When AI should, and shouldn't-- replace human judgment. • Why fitness must specialize like medicine to truly grow.  

Outbound sales has changed — and so has Predictable Revenue.In this episode, we sit down with Collin Stewart, CEO of Predictable Revenue, and Adem Manderovic from Closed Circuit Selling, to unpack how outbound has evolved, what the market misunderstood, and what's working for 2026 and beyond.We explore how outbound is shifting from brute-force prospecting to a smarter, signal-led strategy. You'll hear the inside story behind Predictable Revenue, how SDR roles were originally designed, and why “market validation” is now the key measure of success.Tune in and learn: + Why Predictable Revenue was never just about meetings+ How to rebuild outbound around timing, trust, and signals+ The 4-Funnel System that helps sales and marketing stay alignedIf you want to future-proof your outbound strategy for 2026, this episode is a must-watch.-----------------------------------------------------

Click here to sign up for a new platform that helps law firms use subscription billing.Here are the top 5 takeaways from my conversation with Nancy Fox:* Strategic Networking is Essential: Nancy emphasizes that building relationships with the right people is the foundation of business development, especially for professionals like lawyers and accountants. Networking should be targeted and strategic, not just about meeting as many people as possible.* AI as an Enhancement, Not a Replacement: Both Nancy and Mathew agree that AI is a powerful tool for enhancing professional work, not replacing expertise. AI can save time, provide strategic insights, and help with tasks like business planning and niche analysis, but it cannot substitute for real-world experience and judgment.* The Importance of Specialization and Niche: Specialization is evolving. While AI enables professionals to be more generalist, true differentiation comes from having a clear niche—whether that's a specific industry, demographic, or service. Being specific in your value proposition and target market is key.* Productizing and Recurring Revenue Models: Nancy discusses the value of productizing services and adopting recurring revenue models (like subscriptions or memberships) for professionals who want to scale without building large teams. This approach allows for more predictable income and leverages expertise in a repeatable way.* Embracing Failure and Adaptability: Nancy shares that a willingness to experiment, take risks, and even fail is crucial for growth. She stresses the importance of being willing to try new things, learn from failures, and pivot when something isn't working—qualities that are especially important for entrepreneurs and innovators.__________________________Learn more about Nancy Fox's networking group Wyze Rainmakers.Sign up for Paxton, my all-in-one AI legal assistant, helping me with legal research, analysis, drafting, and enhancing existing legal work product.Here's a link to purchase lifetime access to the recordings of My Shingle's AI Teach-In if you couldn't make it live.I've partnered with Pii to make it easy for you to purchase the hardware I use in my law firm: (1) Studio Setup; (2) Midrange Setup; (3) Highrange Setup.Get Connected with SixFifty⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, a business and employment legal document automation tool.Sign up for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Gavel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, an automation platform for law firms.Check out my other show, the Law for Kids Podcast.Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Law Subscribed⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to subscribe to the weekly newsletter to listen from your web browser.Prefer monthly updates? Sign up for the Law Subscribed Monthly Digest on LinkedIn.Want to use the subscription model for your law firm? Sign up for the Subscription Seminar waitlist at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠subscriptionseminar.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Check out ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mathew Kerbis'⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ law firm ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscription Attorney LLC⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Get full access to Law Subscribed at www.lawsubscribed.com/subscribe

In "The State of Logistics Hiring", Joe Lynch and Charlie Saffro, a recruiting and retention expert and CEO of CS Recruiting, discuss why employee-focused cultures and niche expertise are now critical to overcoming talent shortages in the supply chain industry.  About Charlie Saffro Charlie Saffro is a recruiting and retention expert, a female entrepreneur, and a TEDx speaker with a passion for sharing ideas around human leadership, talent acquisition and retention, employee engagement, and company culture. Charlie founded a third party recruiting firm in 2010 with the goal of connecting employers and professionals within the Transportation, Logistics, and Supply Chain industry. Today, as the CEO of CS Recruiting, Charlie leads a thriving organization and a talented team of professional career matchmakers. She is dedicated to helping leaders of all industries prioritize employee-focused cultures. Charlie is an established thought leader and offers personalized coaching, team workshops, and keynotes to share her perspective as both a recruiter and a company leader. About CS Recruiting CS Recruiting focuses on recruitment and talent advisory within the Logistics, Transportation and Supply chain Industry. We partner with clients across North America to help them identify the most qualified candidates for their niche hiring needs. Our client base consists of 3PLs, Asset Providers, Shippers (Manufacturers/Distributors) and companies that offer a technology platform, equipment solution or consulting services. We pride ourselves on our industry expertise, competitive market knowledge and network of talent to support searches for positions of all levels and functions that influence the Supply Chain. CS Recruiting's goal is to partner with clients and candidates to develop long lasting relationships and make appropriate and time sensitive career matches. Key Takeaways: The State of Logistics Hiring In "The State of Logistics Hiring", Joe Lynch and Charlie Saffro, a recruiting and retention expert and CEO of CS Recruiting, discuss why employee-focused cultures and niche expertise are now critical to overcoming talent shortages in the supply chain industry. Culture Drives Retention: Employee-focused cultures are the primary strategy for both attracting and keeping talent in logistics. Specialization is Essential: Hiring success demands deep niche industry expertise within the Logistics, Transportation, and Supply Chain sectors. Broad Talent Demand: The hiring crisis spans across 3PLs, Shippers, and Tech providers—the entire supply chain ecosystem. Prioritize Human Leadership: Effective recruitment and engagement rely heavily on human leadership skills to improve employee experience. Recruiting as Advisory: The best firms view recruiting as a strategic talent advisory partnership, not just a transaction. External Expert Insight: Companies are leveraging external thought leaders (like Charlie Saffro) for coaching and workshops to refine internal processes. Candidate-Driven Market: Logistics hiring requires understanding and addressing what motivates top talent, as candidates currently hold the leverage. Learn More About The State of Logistics Hiring Charlie Saffro | Linkedin CS Recruiting | Linkedin CS Recruiting Charlie's TEDx Talk Recruiting and Retaining Top Performers in Logistics with Charlie Saffro Winning the Logistics Talent War with Charlie Saffro The Logistics of Logistics Podcast If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a positive review, subscribe, and share it with your friends and colleagues. The Logistics of Logistics Podcast: Google, Apple, Castbox, Spotify, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Tunein, Podbean, Owltail, Libsyn, Overcast Check out The Logistics of Logistics on Youtube

Alright girl, today I've got David Grey on the pod. If you don't know him — he's one of the most sought-after and coolest coaches in the rehab and performance space. He's worked with Olympic athletes, pro footballers, and everyday people who were told they'd never move pain-free again.  What I love about David is he doesn't just chase symptoms — he changes how you move. He blends rehab, strength, and athleticism in a way that's simple, powerful, and actually works.  His approach is rooted in strategy and systems. But he always starts with the goal or vision - what do you want to be able to do. (and not being in pain is not a goal). Then we reverse engineers the plan and strategy from there.  We talk about why variety is the secret to resilience, why pain isn't proof you're broken, and why rehab is just training with a different name. This one's sharp, practical, and it'll flip how you see your body. Key Takeaways Rehab = Training. The only difference is pain. The process is progressive loading, intelligent exercise selection, and consistency. Variety builds resilience. Pure specialization makes you fragile; mix loads, tempos, planes, and patterns. Execution > exercise list. It's not “do calf raises,” it's own the standard and progress it (tempo, range, reps, load). Pain is nuanced, not a verdict. The biopsychosocial model matters: training load, sleep, stress, food, belief. Foundation before hacks. Walk more, eat enough, sleep, and dose your training — before you blame hormones. Joint longevity kit. Daily walking, big-toe extension, strong knees (bend + load), a supple spine (rotate/side-bend), hips that move. Goal → map → milestones. Start with the vision (play tennis, run 5K, lift), then reverse-engineer the steps and targets. Quotes “Rehab is just training in the presence of pain.” — David Gray “Variety is what keeps you resilient. Specialization without it makes you fragile.” — David Gray “Every movement has a standard — own it before you load it.” — Amy Bowe “It's not your hormones if you're under-recovered and under-fed — clean up the foundations first.” — David Gray “Pain doesn't mean you're broken; it means your body wants better capacity.” — Amy Bowe What We Cover The myth that anything sub-maximal is “useless” — and why low-load work still drives progress How David programs for athletes and everyday humans: vision → constraints → clear targets Training through pain without making it your identity Why scans rarely change the plan — and what actually does The most over-prescribed rehab trope (hi, “sleepy glutes”) and what to do instead A realistic “joint health insurance” plan for women in their 30s–40s Links & Resources Connect with David — Coach & educator at David Grey Rehab, known globally for redefining movement and rehab with precision, clarity, and results. The gram: https://www.instagram.com/davidgreyrehab/ Website: https://www.davidgreyrehab.com/pages/david-grey-rehab Loved this conversation? Subscribe to The Warrior School Podcast for more bold, powerful talks like this. ** Share + Subscribe** If this episode struck a chord—share it with a woman who needs to hear it. Tag @amykatebowe and @davidgreyrehab https://www.instagram.com/davidgreyrehab/

In this episode, Eric chats with Boston Bruins Director of Performance, Kevin Neeld. They discuss the lengthy competitive hockey season, strategies for managing stiff hips, the skill-specific nature of work capacity, and how teams are evaluating and developing hockey athletes. There are many parallels to the baseball world, so this is a great listen for players, parents, and coaches.Support Our Sponsor: AG1

Dan speaks with Chris Costello, head coach at Walpole High School and coach for the Northeast Gators travel ball team. They discuss Walpole's successful season, the team's journey and challenges, and Costello's coaching influences. The conversation also touches on Costello's perspective on high school baseball development, the role of travel baseball, and recruiting strategies. The episode concludes with a segment featuring controversial baseball rules and their implications, offering deep insights and personal anecdotes from Costello's extensive experience in the sport.   Topics 00:42 Reflecting on the Championship Season 01:36 Overcoming Past Challenges 03:01 Coaching Journey and Influences 04:22 The Talent of 2019 and the Super Eight Tournament 05:28 Cam Schlittler's Development 07:55 Northeast Gators and Travel Baseball 09:10 Recruiting Challenges and Advice 16:35 Team Massachusetts and the Omaha Experience 21:08 Specialization vs. Multi-Sport Athletes 24:14 The Importance of Playing Multiple Sports 25:56 Transitioning from Professional Baseball to Coaching 26:46 Building a Coaching Career in Walpole 28:15 Rivalries and Traditions in Massachusetts Baseball 29:22 Three Up, Three Down: Baseball's Controversial Rules 33:42 The Chase Utley Rule and Player Safety 36:53 The Ghost Runner Debate 41:19 Conclusion and Farewell

Arne Toman of Cannonball Garage joins us again for another episode to tell us more about specializing in Mclarens, more cannonball stories, and more, more. High Performance Academy: https://hpcdmy.co/Minnoxide Use code "MINNOX" for 55% off ANY course Use Code "MINVIP" for $300 of the MINVIP Package Tuned By Shawn: https://www.tunedbyshawn.com Code "Minnoxide" for 5% off! MORE BIGGER Turbo T-Shirts:  https://www.minnoxide.com/products/more-bigger-t-shirt  

Is it better to generalize or to specialize? This week, Joey and Jess talk about polymaths, running, functional fitness, idea people, curiosity, and Starship Troopers. They don't talk about dilettantes. references Specialization is for insects. Stardew Valley Forbes: Going Pi-Shaped: How To Prepare For The Work Of The Future 129 Ways to Get a Life Robert A. Heinlein 

When should kids start focusing on one sport?It's a question many parents and young athletes face, but getting it wrong can do more harm than good.Welcome to Happy Healthy Strong, the show that explores what it really takes to feel your best, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Hosted by Adam Lane, each episode shares real conversations and practical wisdom to help you live with balance, purpose, and strength.Episode HighlightsAdam Lane sits down with Dr. Geoff Van Thiel, an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine, to talk about the rise of overuse injuries in youth sports and how early specialization affects long-term performance. They discuss how parents and coaches can encourage kids to stay active while reducing burnout and injury risk. Dr. Van Thiel also opens up about his own health habits, including flexibility and nutrition, as well as managing screen time and balancing family time.Key TakeawaysEarly sport specialization can increase the risk of overuse injuries and burnout.Sampling multiple sports helps kids develop better body awareness, coordination, and neuromuscular control.Neuromuscular training is key for injury prevention, especially among female athletes.Flexibility, diet, and sleep play a crucial role in sustaining long-term physical health.Reducing screen time and engaging in family workouts promotes stronger connections and healthier routines.Parents should guide and support their kids' interests without pushing them too early toward a single sport.Episode Chapters00:00 Intro02:51 Discussion on Youth Sports and Overuse Injuries09:11 Parental Challenges and Decision-Making in Youth Sports 14:53 Balancing Stress and Health in Daily Life29:55 Youth Performance and Injury Prevention33:40 The Role of Specialization and Sampling in Sports36:55 Parental Guidance and Support in Youth Sports38:45 Balancing Technology and Family LifeCall to ActionFollow Happy Healthy Strong for more conversations that help build a healthier, stronger lifestyle, inside and out. Share this episode with a parent, coach, or athlete who could benefit from these insights.Supporting InformationFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/oakstrengthInstagram: @oakstrengthLearn more about Dr. Geoffrey Van Thiel's work and resources on orthopedics and sports medicine:www.vanthielmd.comFacebook: Dr. Geoffrey Van ThielInstagram: @vanthielmdThanks for tuning in to Happy Healthy Strong. Stay active, stay balanced, and keep building the life that makes you feel your best.

Plus, what is the worst Halloween candy? Guests: Sarah Daniels, real estate agent in South Surrey; author and broadcaster Steven Chang, Producer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Legendary New York broker Bob Knakal shares lessons from more than four decades shaping the city's investment landscape. He discusses the founding of Massey Knakal, the power of specialization, and how zoning and policy continue to define opportunity. Knakal also explains why he's integrating AI and data analysis into his brokerage, and why, despite political headwinds, he still believes you should never bet against New York. Key Moments:01:01 Meet Bob Knakal03:24 The early days of Massey Knakal04:50 Lessons learned and keys to success08:14 The importance of market expertise11:26 Founding BK Real Estate Advisors13:14 Specialization and market changes17:37 AI and technology in real estate24:15 The unique challenges of the New York market26:20 Current market cycles and trends29:57 Impact of political changes on housing32:42 Proposed solutions for housing issues38:35 Future of New York real estate Resources Mentioned:Bob Knakal - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobknakal/BKREA - https://www.bkrea.com/485-x Program - https://www.nyc.gov/site/hpd/services-and-information/tax-incentives-485-x.pageMajor Capital Improvement program - https://www.nyc.gov/site/finance/property/landlords-mci.pageIndividual Apartment Improvement program - https://hcr.ny.gov/apartment-iai-and-building-mci-improvementsEmail us: altusresearch@altusgroup.comThanks for listening to the “CRE Exchange” podcast, powered by Altus Group. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review to help get the word out about the show. And be sure to subscribe so you never miss another insightful conversation.#CRE #CommercialRealEstate #Property

In this episode of the Truth From The Stand podcast, I sit down with my buddy Chad Sylvester to break down what it takes to level up. We dig into his recent trip to Idaho—a hunt that didn't exactly go as planned but came loaded with lessons that stick. We talk about when to double down on what you do best and when to push past your comfort zone to grow as a hunter. From understanding terrain-specific deer behavior to balancing specialization with adaptability, this one's all about the mental side of the game—how you think, adjust, and evolve season after season. WHAT TO EXPECT FROM PODCAST 464 Mastering your whitetail hunt requires a diverse toolkit and adaptable mindset. Specialization builds confidence but can narrow your perspective. Chad's Idaho hunt delivered hard-earned lessons and real-world insights. Micro-terrain and historical data hold the keys to consistent deer encounters. Familiarity bias can stall growth—explore new ground and learn from it. Listening to what the hunt tells you is often more valuable than any plan. SHOW NOTES AND LINKS: —Truth From The Stand Merch —Check out Tactacam Reveal cell cameras — Save 15% on Hawke Optics code TFTS15  —Save 20% on ASIO GEAR code TRUTH20 —Check out Spartan Forge to map your hunt  —Save on Lathrop And Sons non-typical insoles code TRUTH10 —Check out Faceoff E-Bikes —Waypoint TV Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ellen Bradley is a skier, scientist, filmmaker, and proud member of the Tlingit Tribe who is redefining what it means to be an Indigenous leader in today's world. Through her work, Ellen blends tradition, technology, and storytelling to decolonize outdoor spaces and reconnect Indigenous communities to their ancestral lands. In this episode, Kara and Ellen dive into the meaning of being Indigenous in 2025, the significance of the LandBack movement, and how young Indigenous people are using social media to share their stories and spark change. You'll hear about Ellen's inspiring journey, including her film Let My People Go Skiing, and how she's building bridges between cultures through advocacy and art. This episode explores identity, justice, and the power of reclaiming space, both on the slopes and in society. Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to The Powerful Ladies Podcast 00:50 Meet Ellen Bradley: A Multifaceted Indigenous Leader 01:35 Ellen's Journey and Contributions 03:32 Cultural Heritage and Community Work 12:58 Navigating Activism and Partnerships 22:34 Challenges and Reflections on Capitalism 28:07 Challenges of Specialization in Western Science 28:58 Indigenous Knowledge and Systemic Thinking 29:50 The Importance of Holistic Approaches 32:11 One Person at a Time: Mentorship and Internships 34:16 Scaling Up: Mountain Access Program 35:36 Entrepreneurial Mindset for Social Good 37:49 Personal Reflections on Career Choices 40:30 Land Back: Reconnecting Indigenous People to Their Lands 46:08 Breaking Down Barriers in Outdoor Spaces 51:04 The Need for Nuanced Conversations 54:35 Upcoming Projects and How to Support 57:12 Conclusion and Final Thoughts The Powerful Ladies podcast, hosted by business coach and strategist Kara Duffy features candid conversations with entrepreneurs, creatives, athletes, chefs, writers, scientists, and more. Every Wednesday, new episodes explore what it means to lead with purpose, create with intention, and define success on your own terms. Whether you're growing a business, changing careers, or asking bigger questions, these stories remind you: you're not alone, and you're more powerful than you think. Explore more at thepowerfulladies.com and karaduffy.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When it comes to product positioning, clarity isn't just a communication tool—it's a strategic advantage. In this episode, I sit down with Anthony Pierri, co-founder of FletchPMM, a product marketing consultancy that's helped over 400 B2B software startups discover and sharpen their positioning. We explore how founders can unlearn generic marketing advice, clarify their message, and activate their strategy through one often-overlooked asset: their homepage.Anthony brings practical frameworks, real-world stories, and a refreshing candor to a space that's often muddled with jargon. This is a must-listen for any founder, PMM, or GTM leader tired of being misunderstood—and ready to focus.FletchPMM is a product marketing consultancy that helps B2B tech startups nail their positioning and bring it to life through a purpose-built homepage. Alongside co-founder Rob Kaminski, he's helped more than 400 companies craft focused, champion-centered messaging that converts.Key TakeawaysClarity wins: Positioning isn't about vision—it's about specificity, segmentation, and telling your champion's story.Unlearn the fluff: Ditch the vague benefits and generic promises. Customers need to know what you do and how it helps them.Focus = traction: Trying to be everything to everyone dilutes your impact. Specialization creates memorability and repeatability.Your homepage is your positioning: It's the one asset every stakeholder sees—customers, investors, your team. Make it count.Position for the champion, not the budget holder: Focus your messaging on the person closest to the problem—not the executive who cuts the check.Additional InsightsPositioning is pattern recognition: Anthony shares how lessons from church leadership and freelancing helped him recognize early signs of positioning misalignment—even before he had the language for it.Inbound scale comes from consistency, not creativity: With over 500 companies served, Fletch's success has come from delivering one service, the same way, every time—not by chasing new ideas or tactics.Founders often confuse luck with repeatability: Anthony reveals how many early startup wins come from personal networks—and how this masks the real need for scalable positioning and segment focus.Mispositioning starts with the homepage: Anthony critiques vague, benefits-only messaging like “Make Yes Work”—demonstrating how the lack of a clear product reference point derails understanding and action.Repositioning is an organizational act: Referencing Klaviyo and Meta, Anthony shows how homepage messaging isn't just about marketing—it forces internal alignment by making strategic bets visible to every team member.Episode Highlights00:00 – Episode RecapAnthony Pierri shares how a seemingly minor contradiction in a church's mission statement became his first exposure to a positioning problem—planting the seed for a career built around clarity.01:30 – Guest Introduction: Anthony PierriBarry introduces Anthony, co-founder of FletchPMM, a consultancy that's helped 400+ B2B software startups craft focused, conversion-driving homepages.05:09 – The Real Cost of Doing EverythingWhy trying to serve every persona or use case is the quickest way to stall traction—and how narrowing your focus builds momentum.07:14 – Specialization is a Strategic AdvantageAnthony explains how one service, delivered one way, to one segment unlocked a scalable, inbound engine for Fletch.11:42 – Sales...

We appreciate you listening! To learn more about SHIFT, head here - https://shiftmovementscience.com/To learn about SHIFT's courses, check our website here - https://courses.shiftmovementscience.com/Also, please consider rating, reviewing, and sharing the podcast with your friends! Thanks :)Thanks for listening to The SHIFT Show! Check out SHIFT's most popular courses here! https://courses.shiftmovementscience.com/Want to join our online educational community of over 1000 gymnastics professionals and get 40+ hours of gymnastics lectures? Join The Hero Lab below!https://shiftmovementscience.com/theherolab/ Check out all our past podcast episodes here!https://shiftmovementscience.com/podcast/

Thanks to our Partners, NAPA Auto Care and NAPA TRACS Watch Full Video Episode Joe Marconi, former shop owner, Elite Worldwide coach, is defining the challenge in today's automotive aftermarket: the need for specialization. The End of the Generalist Era - Modern vehicles are too complex for the “all makes, all models, all repairs” approach. Marconi shared that when he tried doing everything—from transmission rebuilds to diagnostics—profitability disappeared. The time, training, and tooling required simply didn't make sense. Specialization: The Smarter Path Forward - Like medicine's cardiologists and neurologists, automotive professionals must focus their expertise. Specialization boosts productivity, profit, and performance while creating better outcomes for customers. Redefining Professionalism and Language - Replace “mechanic” or “tech” with “technologist” or “specialist.” - Use precise titles like “calibration specialist” to build client confidence. - Adopt “Essential Skilled Occupation (ESO)” to better reflect the professionalism of today's technicians. Building Career Paths and Attracting Talent - Specialization creates clear career pathways and helps combat the technician shortage, offering young people a profitable, purpose-driven alternative to a four-year degree. Listeners can explore Carm's evolving document, The Rise of the Specialist—now in its 23rd version—online. https://remarkableresults.biz/rise Joe Marconi, Executive Council Member, Elite Worldwide. Auto Shop Owner. Joe's Episodes HERE. Thanks to our Partners, NAPA Auto Care and NAPA TRACS Learn more about NAPA Auto Care and the benefits of being part of the NAPA family by visiting https://www.napaonline.com/en/auto-care NAPA TRACS will move your shop into the SMS fast lane with onsite training and six days a week of support and local representation. Find NAPA TRACS on the Web at http://napatracs.com/ Connect with the Podcast: Follow on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/RemarkableResultsRadioPodcast/Join Our Virtual Toastmasters Club:https://remarkableresults.biz/toastmastersJoin Our Private Facebook Community:https://www.facebook.com/groups/1734687266778976Subscribe on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/carmcapriottoFollow on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmcapriotto/Follow on Instagram:

What does it look like for a church's budget, bylaws, and building to reflect the values of justice and faith? In this episode of the Future Christian Podcast, host Loren Richmond Jr. speaks with Rev. Dr. Sheryl Johnson, theologian, ethicist, and author of Serving Money, Serving God: Aligning Radical Justice, Christian Practice, and Church Life (Fortress Press, 2023). Together they explore how churches can move beyond good intentions to embody justice through everyday practices—especially around finance, fundraising, stewardship, and administration. They discuss: Why church administration is theological, not just logistical How job postings and pay scales reveal a congregation's real values The pitfalls of donor-centered fundraising and better alternatives Honest communication about money, failure, and hope How churches can make ethical decisions about property and buildings What it means to see the local church as a foretaste of God's reign Sheryl challenges pastors and leaders to re-imagine what “faithful stewardship” truly means in today's world—where economic justice, transparency, and collaboration are essential for credible ministry. Sheryl Johnson (she/her) is a settler on Ohlone land and was born in Treaty 1 Territory in what is colonially known as Winnipeg, Canada. She began teaching at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in the fall of 2020, as she was defending her PhD in Theology and Ethics at Graduate Theological Union. Her dissertation focused on the intersections of social justice (racial, economic, gender, etc) and ecclesial practices (specifically stewardship, finance, and polity). A book based on her dissertation, Serving Money, Serving God:  Aligning Radical Justice, Christian Practice, and Church Life, was published by Fortress Press in 2023. Sheryl is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada, with dual standing in the United Church of Christ. Sheryl has served several congregations, campus ministries, ecumenical advocacy organizations (especially KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives and the Student Christian Movement/World Student Christian Federation), and global church partners (specifically the National Council of Churches of the Philippines and People's Action Forum in Zambia), in addition to her academic work. She completed her M.Div and MPS degrees at Emmanuel College, University of Toronto and also completed a Certificate of Specialization in Theology and Ecology at the University of St. Michael's College during her theological studies. Sheryl is passionate about embodied, participatory, and critical pedagogies and supporting students to make connections between justice commitments and vocational practices.    Mentioned Resources:

My Fintech Newsletter for more interviews and the latest insights:↪︎ https://rexsalisbury.substack.com/In this episode, I sit down with Stevie Case from Vanta, a former pro gamer turned chief revenue officer, to discuss how AI is transforming the entire go-to-market function in B2B SaaS. Stevie shares insights on building agile sales organizations, how AI supercharges human roles rather than replacing them, and the evolving expectations for sales, customer success, and RevOps teams. The conversation covers AI tool adoption, hiring for an AI-native workforce, and why go-to-market roles are among the most exciting in tech today.Stevie Case: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steviecase/00:00:00 - AI's Impact on Go-To-Market Functions00:02:06 - Building Scalable Sales Organizations00:04:47 - Specialization and Segmentation in Sales00:06:28 - AI Supercharging Customer Success00:08:23 - Hiring and Onboarding with AI Support00:10:07 - Building AI-Driven Products with Customers00:12:08 - Selling New Products to Existing Customers00:15:02 - Early Product Adoption and Iteration00:17:25 - Operating at All Levels in Organizations00:20:01 - Creating Intense, High-Velocity Teams00:22:15 - Hiring AI-Native, Curious Builders00:25:05 - Measuring Success by Team Pride and Feedback00:26:07 - Developing Agent Platforms00:28:02 - Monetization and Business Model Evolution00:30:49 - AI-Enabled Competitive Advantages in Fintech00:32:31 - Top-Down AI Automation Demand00:34:11 - Reinforcement Learning in Fraud Detection00:38:00 - International Go-To-Market Expansion00:41:33 - Designing Global Sales Footprints00:45:04 - Resourcing RevOps and Systems Teams___Rex Salisbury LinkedIn:↪︎ https://www.linkedin.com/in/rexsalisburyTwitter: https://twitter.com/rexsalisburyTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rex.salisburyInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/rexsalisbury/

In this conversation, Zach Davis and Steve Parker delve into the complexities of youth coaching and the transition to high school football. They discuss the role of AI in coaching, the importance of alignment between youth and high school programs, and the various factors that influence player development, including grades and specialization in sports. The conversation emphasizes the need for youth coaches to focus on fundamentals and winning while navigating the challenges of player retention and development. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Youth to High School Transition 03:00 The Role of AI in Coaching 06:05 Personal Experiences in Youth and High School Football 08:55 Factors Influencing Transition Success 11:43 The Importance of Alignment Between Programs 14:50 Challenges Faced by Youth Players 17:33 The Impact of Coaching Relationships 20:29 The Reality of Youth Success vs. High School Performance 23:40 Conclusion and Final Thoughts 24:29 The Importance of Academic Performance in Youth Sports 30:08 Physical Development and Its Impact on Athletic Success 31:56 The Debate on Specialization vs. Multi-Sport Participation 34:41 The Role of Practice in Athletic Development 37:44 Understanding the Odds of Becoming an Elite Athlete 40:52 Youth Coaching Strategies for Success Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr Neeru Jayanthi is one of the leading experts on youth sports health, injuries, and sports training patterns, as well as an international leader in tennis medicine. He is currently leads the Emory University Tennis Medicine Program and is the President of the International Society for Tennis Medicine and Science (STMS) and a certified USPTA teaching professional. He has also been a volunteer ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) physician for 15 years, serves as a medical advisor for the WTA (Woman's Tennis Association) Player Development Panel, and is on the commission for the International Tennis Performance Association (ITPA). He has been selected to the board of directors for the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) twice, and serves as a Consultant for the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness, Aspen Institute Sport and Society Program, and Mom's Team. Dr. Jayanthi has won multiple AMSSM Foundation Research Grants for his collaborative research on early sports specialized training and overuse injury in young athletes. He previously was the medical director of primary care sports medicine at Loyola University Chicago for 12 years. In our conversation this week, which was originally aired back in 2020, we discuss overuse injuries, the importance of multi movement experiences for children, and how parents can best support their kids in today's youth sports world. Dr Jayanthi addresses some of the most common questions we get from parents, so get ready to take some notes. BOOK A SPEAKER: Interested in having John or one of our speaking team come to your school, club or coaching event? We are booking November and December 2025 and Winter/Spring 2026 events, please email us to set up an introductory call John@ChangingTheGameProject.com PUT IN YOUR BULK BOOK ORDERS FOR OUR BESTSELLING BOOKS, AND JOIN 2025 CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS FROM SYRACUSE MENS LAX, UNC AND NAVY WOMENS LAX, AND MCLAREN F1! These are just the most recent championship teams using THE CHAMPION TEAMMATE book with their athletes and support teams. Many of these coaches are also getting THE CHAMPION SPORTS PARENT so their team parents can be part of a successful culture. Schools and clubs are using EVERY MOMENT MATTERS for staff development and book clubs. Are you? We have been fulfilling numerous bulk orders for some of the top high school and collegiate sports programs in the country, will your team be next? Click here to visit John's author page on Amazon Click here to visit Jerry's author page on Amazon Please email John@ChangingTheGameProject.com if you want discounted pricing on 10 or more books on any of our books. Thanks everyone. This week's podcast is brought to you by our friends at Sprocket Sports. Sprocket Sports is a new software platform for youth sports clubs. Yeah, there are a lot of these systems out there, but Sprocket provides the full enchilada. They give you all the cool front-end stuff to make your club look good– like websites and marketing tools – AND all the back-end transactions and services to run your business better so you can focus on what really matters – your players and your teams. Sprocket is built for those clubs looking to thrive, not just survive, in the competitive world of youth sports clubs. So if you've been looking for a true business partner – not just another app – check them out today at https://sprocketsports.me/CTG. BECOME A PREMIUM MEMBER OF CHANGING THE GAME PROJECT TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST If you or your club/school is looking for all of our best content, from online courses to blog posts to interviews organized for coaches, parents and athletes, then become a premium member of Changing the Game Project today. For over a decade we have been creating materials to help change the game. and it has become a bit overwhelming to find old podcasts, blog posts and more. Now, we have organized it all for you, with areas for coaches, parents and even athletes to find materials to help compete better, and put some more play back in playing ball. Clubs please email John@ChangingTheGameProject.com for pricing. Become a Podcast Champion! This weeks podcast is also sponsored by our Patreon Podcast Champions. Help Support the Podcast and get FREE access to our Premium Membership, with well over $1000 of courses and materials. If you love the podcast, we would love for you to become a Podcast Champion, (https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions) for as little as a cup of coffee per month (OK, its a Venti Mocha), to help us up the ante and provide even better interviews, better sound, and an overall enhanced experience. Plus, as a $10 per month Podcast Super-Champion, you will be granted a Premium Changing the Game Project Membership, where you will have access to every course, interview and blog post we have created organized by topic from coaches to parents to athletes. Thank you for all your support these past eight years, and a special big thank you to all of you who become part of our inner circle, our patrons, who will enable us to take our podcast to the next level. https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions

Dr Neeru Jayanthi is one of the leading experts on youth sports health, injuries, and sports training patterns, as well as an international leader in tennis medicine. He is currently leads the Emory University Tennis Medicine Program and is the President of the International Society for Tennis Medicine and Science (STMS) and a certified USPTA teaching professional. He has also been a volunteer ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) physician for 15 years, serves as a medical advisor for the WTA (Woman's Tennis Association) Player Development Panel, and is on the commission for the International Tennis Performance Association (ITPA). He has been selected to the board of directors for the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) twice, and serves as a Consultant for the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness, Aspen Institute Sport and Society Program, and Mom's Team. Dr. Jayanthi has won multiple AMSSM Foundation Research Grants for his collaborative research on early sports specialized training and overuse injury in young athletes. He previously was the medical director of primary care sports medicine at Loyola University Chicago for 12 years. In our conversation this week, which was originally aired back in 2020,  we discuss overuse injuries, the importance of multi movement experiences for children, and how parents can best support their kids in today's youth sports world. Dr Jayanthi addresses some of the most common questions we get from parents, so get ready to take some notes.  BOOK A SPEAKER: Interested in having John or one of our speaking team come to your school, club or coaching event? We are booking November and December 2025 and Winter/Spring 2026 events, please email us to set up an introductory call John@ChangingTheGameProject.com PUT IN YOUR BULK BOOK ORDERS FOR OUR BESTSELLING BOOKS, AND JOIN 2025 CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS FROM SYRACUSE MENS LAX, UNC AND NAVY WOMENS LAX, AND MCLAREN F1! These are just the most recent championship teams using THE CHAMPION TEAMMATE book with their athletes and support teams. Many of these coaches are also getting THE CHAMPION SPORTS PARENT so their team parents can be part of a successful culture. Schools and clubs are using EVERY MOMENT MATTERS for staff development and book clubs. Are you?  We have been fulfilling numerous bulk orders for some of the top high school and collegiate sports programs in the country, will your team be next? Click here to visit John's author page on Amazon Click here to visit Jerry's author page on Amazon Please email John@ChangingTheGameProject.com if you want discounted pricing on 10 or more books on any of our books. Thanks everyone. This week's podcast is brought to you by our friends at Sprocket Sports.  Sprocket Sports is a new software platform for youth sports clubs.  Yeah, there are a lot of these systems out there, but Sprocket provides the full enchilada. They give you all the cool front-end stuff to make your club look good– like websites and marketing tools – AND all the back-end transactions and services to run your business better so you can focus on what really matters – your players and your teams. Sprocket is built for those clubs looking to thrive, not just survive, in the competitive world of youth sports clubs.  So if you've been looking for a true business partner – not just another app – check them out today at https://sprocketsports.me/CTG. BECOME A PREMIUM MEMBER OF CHANGING THE GAME PROJECT TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST If you or your club/school is looking for all of our best content, from online courses to blog posts to interviews organized for coaches, parents and athletes, then become a premium member of Changing the Game Project today. For over a decade we have been creating materials to help change the game. and it has become a bit overwhelming to find old podcasts, blog posts and more. Now, we have organized it all for you, with areas for coaches, parents and even athletes to find materials to help compete better, and put some more play back in playing ball. Clubs please email John@ChangingTheGameProject.com for pricing.  Become a Podcast Champion! This weeks podcast is also sponsored by our Patreon Podcast Champions. Help Support the Podcast and get FREE access to our Premium Membership, with well over $1000 of courses and materials. If you love the podcast, we would love for you to become a Podcast Champion, (https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions) for as little as a cup of coffee per month (OK, its a Venti Mocha), to help us up the ante and provide even better interviews, better sound, and an overall enhanced experience. Plus, as a $10 per month Podcast Super-Champion, you will be granted a Premium Changing the Game Project Membership, where you will have access to every course, interview and blog post we have created organized by topic from coaches to parents to athletes. Thank you for all your support these past eight years, and a special big thank you to all of you who become part of our inner circle, our patrons, who will enable us to take our podcast to the next level. https://www.patreon.com/wayofchampions

Justin Wales, Head of Legal for the Americas at Crypto.com, and author of The Crypto Legal Handbook visits the show to provide his unique perspective on pivoting from a career in Constitutional Law, including work on high-profile appellate cases like the Obergefell gay marriage decision, to becoming a trailblazer in crypto law and blockchain technology.  He shares his serendipitous journey stemming from a law school article that launched his legal career and his subsequent deep dive into crypto, sparked by WikiLeaks accepting Bitcoin donations. The discussion covers the evolution of his practice to one of the first successful crypto legal groups at a large law firm. Justin emphasizes the necessity for any lawyer in the space to use the technology and become a generalist to navigate the multi-jurisdictional and rapidly evolving industry.  Finally, the conversation touches on the critical distinction between centralized finance (CeFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi), and his outlook that crypto's infrastructure will ultimately serve as the underpinning for future advancements like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). Episode Highlights:  * Justin's start in Constitutional Law, beginning with a law school paper on unconscionable cruise ship employment contracts that led to Supreme Court brief writing.  * The shift to crypto law: WikiLeaks and Bitcoin's role in it introduced Justin to blockchain technology.  * Building a pioneering crypto legal practice at a large firm in the early days (2013-2015).  * Why the best in-house lawyers, especially in a cutting-edge field like crypto, need to be generalists, not hyper-specialized.  * The inspiration and philosophy behind writing The Crypto Legal Handbook—creating an affordable, regularly updated, and candid resource for students and practitioners.  * Advice for aspiring crypto lawyers today: the field is more mature and requires blending traditional financial regulatory expertise with an industry-wide approach.  * The fundamental distinction between Centralized Finance (CeFi) and the legally complex, more innovative world of Decentralized Finance (DeFi).  * Rule #1 for Crypto Lawyers: Why you must use the technology and the risks of lawyers who are frozen in time with their technical understanding.  * High-level overview of US policy efforts to regulate crypto, including the GENIUS Act (Stablecoins) and the Clarity Act (Securities vs. Commodities regulation).  * Justin's crystal ball: The long-term view that crypto infrastructure will eventually become an unseen layer beneath the rise of AI agents and IoT.   Things We Talk About in this Episode    * Book: The Crypto Legal Handbook by Justin Wales  * Book: Read Write Own by Chris Dixon  * JustinWales.com (for more information on the book and author)  

At Viirtue Connect in Nashville, John Christian, Vice President of Marketing at Akixi, joined Doug Green, Publisher of Technology Reseller News, to discuss how Akixi is helping MSPs and telecom providers stand out in an increasingly commoditized communications market. Akixi delivers value-added analytics, CRM integration, and call recording solutions that enhance cloud-based telephony and UCaaS platforms. “We exist to help our partners solve business problems—whether that's missed revenue, productivity challenges, or customer experience gaps,” Christian explained. “In a world where everyone is selling the same call control, Akixi helps service providers differentiate.” A channel-only company, Akixi focuses on scalability, ease of provisioning, and simple billing—making it easier for MSPs and service providers to package and deliver advanced reporting and analytics alongside their UC offerings. Christian noted that some partners now lead with Akixi when selling their communications platforms because the real-time call analytics and visualization tools deliver immediate value to business customers. During the discussion, Christian highlighted a growing industry trend: specialization. “The MSPs that are succeeding are those who understand their customers' specific challenges—whether in healthcare, recruitment, or retail—and build tailored solutions around those needs,” he said. “Specialization builds trust and reduces perceived risk for customers transitioning away from legacy systems.” As MSPs look ahead, Christian believes differentiation will come from layering insights, integration, and intelligence on top of standard UCaaS platforms. “We help our partners move beyond selling technology to delivering outcomes—and that's where the real opportunity lies.” To learn more about Akixi, visit www.akixi.com.

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger interviews Colin Davis of Tahoe Slab Furniture, an innovative woodworking business focused on salvaging waste wood to create beautiful products.  Colin shares his journey from a background in physics and engineering to the world of woodworking, emphasizing sustainability and energy efficiency challenges. The conversation explores the importance of networking, building customer relationships, and the unique challenges faced in the wood industry.  Colin also discusses his experiences in Europe, marketing strategies, and lessons learned from failures along the way, highlighting the excitement and challenges of entrepreneurial ventures in woodworking. Takeaways Colin's journey into woodworking began with a desire to solve real-world problems.Tahoe Slab Furniture focuses on salvaging waste wood to create useful products.Sustainability is a core value, but energy efficiency remains a challenge.Milling equipment choices significantly impact business efficiency.Networking within the wood community is essential for growth.Building relationships with customers is key to success.Marketing through local Facebook groups can reach a wide audience.Specialization in services can lead to better business outcomes.Understanding customer needs is crucial for effective sales.Exciting projects often come with significant challenges. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Tahoe Slab Furniture and Its Mission  02:59 Colin's Journey into the Wood Industry  05:57 Milling Equipment and Techniques  09:01 Exploring Wood Trade in Europe  12:01 Sustainability and Shipping Challenges  14:57 Industry Challenges and Specialization  17:55 Networking in the Wood Industry  22:15 The Competitive Landscape of Wood Business  23:29 Learning from Failures in Business  25:34 Educating Customers on Wood Industry Values  28:27 Understanding Customer Priorities  29:30 Building Trust and Relationships with Clients  31:55 Exciting Projects and Challenges in Woodworking  36:04 Marketing Strategies for Wood Businesses  39:54 Connecting with Tahoe Slab Furniture The Woodpreneur Podcast brings stories of woodworkers, makers, and entrepreneurs turning their passion for wood into successful businesses - from inspiration to education to actionable advice. Hosted by Steve Larosiliere and Jennifer Alger  For blog posts and updates: woodpreneur.com See how we helped woodworkers, furniture-makers, millwork and lumber businesses grow to the next level: woodpreneurnetwork.com Empowering woodpreneurs and building companies to grow and scale: buildergrowth.io Connect with us at:  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodpreneurnetwork/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodpreneurnetwork/ Join Our Facebook Group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/woodpreneurnetwork Join our newsletter: podcast.woodpreneur.com/ You can connect with Colin at: https://www.instagram.com/tahoeslab/ https://tahoeslab.com/

In this episode, I sat down with @Sharon Toerek from Innovative Agency to talk about the real shifts happening in agency business development — and the constant evolution that comes with them. We unpacked why 2025 is the year agencies need to get honest about their positioning, how trust — not information — has become the key currency, and why specialization isn't just smart, it's essential for survival.⏱️ Timestamps0:00 – Welcome and introduction: why the agency landscape feels confusing in 2025 2:10 – The “trust recession” and why agencies are more anxious than ever 5:00 – Why information is cheap but credibility is expensive 6:30 – Specialization as a core sales lever (not just a niche tactic) 9:45 – The fear that keeps most agencies from focusing 12:00 – What ruins deals when you're not specialized 13:30 – Why the “show, don't tell” principle beats overblown ROI claims 15:00 – Thought leadership as a frictionless entry point 17:30 – How to build thought leadership around your ICP (not your ego) 19:00 – Should the founder always be the face of the content? 21:30 – Balancing new client acquisition with organic growth 23:00 – Dan's “Trust Matrix” for prioritizing outbound calls 24:30 – Systematizing referrals (without being weird about it) 26:00 – The three “food groups” of agency sales 28:00 – Why most agencies over-engineer outbound and underdeliver 29:30 – What's surprised Dan about agency sales in recent years 31:00 – What smart agency owners are doing differently 32:00 – Where AI helps — and where it's just shiny object syndrome 34:00 – Why more agencies will start to look like consultancies soon 35:00 – Where to go to learn more about Dan's model

Join us on the Contacts Coaching Podcast as we dive into the inspiring journey of Lori Perez, head softball coach at Sacramento State University. Lori discusses her Northern California roots, her climb through the coaching ranks, and the challenges she faced along the way. Lori shares her insights on player development, the impact of Title IX, navigating the transfer portal, and the evolving landscape of college athletics. She also offers personal reflections on how being a parent has influenced her coaching philosophy. This episode is packed with valuable lessons for aspiring coaches and sports enthusiasts alike.00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome00:37 Lori Perez's Early Life and Sports Background03:02 College Experience and Transition to Coaching04:39 First Coaching Job and Early Challenges07:25 Joining Sacramento State and Coaching Philosophy12:12 Balancing Coaching and Personal Life14:46 Advice for New Coaches and Leadership Insights22:49 Collaboration and Learning from Other Coaches28:37 Specialization vs. Multi-Sport Athletes33:35 The Financial Shift in College Athletics33:54 Navigating Softball's Place in Revenue Sports35:08 The Impact of NIL on Softball35:52 Scholarship Changes and Funding Challenges36:52 Competing with Power Four Schools38:18 Transfer Portal's Influence on Softball42:26 Recruiting Strategies in the Modern Era51:08 Fall Season and Player Development57:35 Balancing Personal and Professional Life01:01:37 Parenting and Coaching Insights01:03:30 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

What happens when you challenge the status quo of Agile, throw out bloated teams, and supercharge small pods with AI? In this episode, Jeff Mains sits down with Mac, founder of Wednesday Solutions, to explore the evolution of product development teams. Mac shares why he believes traditional Agile is obsolete and how his company's “product pods” are delivering massive impact with lean teams. Dive into real-world strategies on using AI to automate grunt work, focus on real customer value, and deliver faster than ever. Mac and Jeff also discuss over-engineering pitfalls, the essential Sprint Zero, and what's next for tech leadership in the age of AI.Key Takeaways00:00 "Impactful Small Teams"06:03 AI-Powered Engineering and Vibe Sprints07:15 "AI-First vs. Human-First Mindset"10:33 Rural Loan Tech Success15:28 "Sprint Zero: Focusing on One Problem"16:50 User-Centric Product Roadmap Creation20:00 AI: The New Industrial Revolution25:09 From Doing to Empowering Others27:18 Embrace Incremental Change30:47 Thoughtful Hiring in App Development35:53 "Utilize Managed Services First"37:15 "CTO: Bridge Across Tech, Product, Business"Tweetable QuotesAI-First Mindset: "Are you AI first or are you human first? Do you typically think of how I can do this myself, or do you think about what tools I can use to leverage, what tools I can leverage to actually get this done?" — Mac Viral Topic: The Dangers of Over-Engineering Early "don't try to build for scale before you even get your first user. Sort of like not over engineering over there is very important." — Mac The Power of Interdisciplinary Collaboration: "So when I think about it, having a product manager with tech experience or engineering experience and sort of bringing the intersection of these two disciplines together is first and foremost, most important." — MacThe Art of Delegation: "The question that I keep asking myself at the end of every week is how well would things have gone if I wasn't there for this week? And how well will things go if I'm not there next week, right?" — MacViral Topic: AI and Interview Strategies: "What was possible to build in weeks or months earlier is now possible within a few minutes with a few prompts."— Mac The Dangers of Confirmation Bias in Product Development: "And so we build a product and then get to the end. And it's not really what the market was looking for or it was close, but it's off a little bit." — Jeff Mains Viral Leadership Secret: "The most successful leaders aren't lone heroes. They're the center of four specific relationships that multiply their impact while preserving their sanity." — Jeff Mains SaaS Leadership LessonsTrue Velocity Comes from Focus, Not Headcount:Small teams with well-defined roles and clear ownership far outpace large, fragmented ones.Delegate Relentlessly:Great leaders empower others to own outcomes, not just tasks—Mac constantly asks how his absence would impact the team.Start with the Problem, Not the Solution:Sprint Zero ensures the product addresses a real, validated user pain—don't let assumption drive your build.Embrace Incremental Change:Don't fall for the “big-bang” launch myth when modernizing systems; ship value early and often.Hire for Specialization, Not Generalization:Early mistakes in hiring generalists slowed quality—now, experts who excel at their craft yield superior results.Leverage AI as a Force-Multiplier:The best...

This episode of SANDCAST: Beach Volleyball with Tri Bourne and Travis Mewhirter, features an absolute legend in Charlie Brande, who shares his extensive experience in volleyball, discussing the evolution of both beach and indoor volleyball, the impact of Title IX, and the importance of community and coaching philosophy in developing young athletes. He reflects on the camaraderie within the sport, the transition from player to coach, and the balance between competition and enjoyment in youth sports. The discussion emphasizes the significance of relationships and mentorship in shaping the future of volleyball. In this conversation, the Tri and Charlie delve into the complexities of balancing coaching responsibilities with family life, the transition into broadcasting, and the importance of engaging with audiences. They discuss the evolution of volleyball broadcasting, the significance of community in sports, and the lessons learned from coaching and mentorship. The dialogue emphasizes the need for authenticity, preparation, and the personal growth that comes from navigating challenges in both sports and life. Chapters with Charlie Brande 00:00 Introduction to Charlie Brande and Volleyball Culture 02:52 The Evolution of Beach Volleyball 05:53 The Impact of Title IX on Indoor Volleyball 08:40 Foundations of Volleyball Training in Hawaii 11:49 The Role of Community in Volleyball Development 14:50 The Importance of Coaching Philosophy 17:36 The Transition from Player to Coach 20:43 Youth Development and Specialization in Volleyball 23:41 The Influence of Coaches on Young Athletes 26:51 The Balance Between Competition and Enjoyment 29:43 Reflections on Coaching and Mentorship 41:27 Navigating Choices in Coaching and Family Life 45:03 The Transition to Broadcasting 48:57 The Art of Engaging Broadcasting 52:34 Connecting with the Audience 56:50 The Evolution of Volleyball Broadcasting 01:00:38 The Importance of Community in Sports 01:05:37 The Balance of Competition and Personal Growth 01:10:49 Lessons from Coaching and Mentorship SHOOTS! *** WE'VE GOT MERCH! Check it out here!! Get 20 PERCENT off all Wilson products with our code, SANDCAST-20. https://www.wilson.com/en-us/volleyball Get 10 PERCENT OFF VBTV using our discount code, SANDCAST10 Want to get better at beach volleyball? Use our discount code, SANDCAST, and get 10 percent off all Better at Beach products!  We are FIRED UP to announce that we've signed on for another year with Athletic Greens! Get a FREE year's supply of Vitamin D by purchasing with that link.  If you want to receive our SANDCAST weekly newsletter, the Beach Volleyball Digest, which dishes all the biggest news in beach volleyball in one quick newsletter, head over to our website and subscribe! We'd love to have ya! https://www.sandcastvolleyball.com/

Think you need a perfect UX portfolio and hundreds of job applications to land a senior UX role? Think again.In this episode, UX career coach Sarah Doody talks with Laura, a former physician turned UX designer, about how she landed a Principal Product Design role, without even applying.Laura shares how she turned a contract job into a 2.5-year role at Cisco, why she joined Sarah Doody's UX career coaching program, Career Strategy Lab, twice. Laura also shares how staying ready (not scrambling) made all the difference when her UX contract ended. Spoiler: she was hired again within two weeks, and her new VP of Product found her on LinkedIn.What You'll Learn in This Episode:✔️ How Laura pivoted from medicine to UX and built her confidence along the way✔️ Why having just one solid case study was enough to land multiple interviews✔️ The key mindset shift that helped her stand out—even in a competitive market✔️ How staying visible on LinkedIn led to a job offer without applying✔️ Why portfolio perfectionism keeps talented UXers stuck✔️ The benefit of specializing in a niche like cybersecurity or networking✔️ How CSL's frameworks helped her lead, mentor, and present more confidentlyTimestamps:02:06 Laura's Career Journey and Success with Career Strategy Lab05:23 Importance of Testing and Networking09:06 Specialization and Job Search Strategy12:53 Applying Career Strategy Lab Skills in the Workplace17:39 Final Thoughts and Advice for Job Seekers19:29 Conclusion and Podcast Information20:09 Special Message for Job Seekers