The Breakout CEO
The Breakout CEO podcast features candid conversations with CEOs of scaling companies at leadership and strategic inflection points. Host Jeff Holman, founder of Intellectual Strategies, interviews leaders about the mindset, strategy, and decisions driving breakthrough success for high-growth firms. Each episode focuses on real decisions and pivotal moments rather than retrospective storytelling.
Episodes
78 -Why Most Service Companies Sell the Wrong Thing
Most service companies lead with what they do. The ones that grow the fastest lead with the problems they solve.In this episode of The Breakout CEO Podcast, Mike LaVista, Founder & CEO of Caxy Interactive, explains how one shift in positioning transformed his consulting business from transactional projects into strategic partnerships, dramatically increasing deal size and changing the conversa
77 - How Better Hiring Decisions Create Better Companies
Every CEO knows people matter. Fewer recognize that hiring is one of the highest-leverage strategic decisions they make. In this episode of The Breakout CEO Podcast, Fletcher Wimbush shares why building a better company starts with building a better hiring system. From hiring for integrity over raw talent to eliminating "talented terrors" and staying relentlessly focused, Fletcher explains how bet
76 -When Market Signals Are Strong Enough to Go All In
Most founders know how to build. Fewer know when the evidence is strong enough to commit. In this episode, Arthur Jessop shares how he moved from a successful corporate career into entrepreneurship after recognizing a series of market signals that convinced him Base Case was more than just an interesting product idea. From CES validation and crowdfunding success to customer feedback and ICP refine
75 - The Leadership Skill Most CEOs Undervalue: Human Connection
As companies scale, leaders often invest heavily in systems, processes, and technology while overlooking the one advantage that compounds across culture, retention, sales, and customer experience: human connection. In this conversation, Richard Blank shares lessons from building Costa Rica's Call Center from the ground up, why communication remains a competitive advantage in an AI-driven world, an
74 - The Inventory Signals Advisors Spot Before CEOs Do
Inventory problems rarely start as inventory problems. In this episode, Alex Hennick explains how excess inventory, warehouse pressure, and distressed assets often reveal deeper operational and financial issues long before most CEOs fully recognize them. Drawing from nearly two decades in liquidation and excess inventory markets, Alex shares the patterns he sees repeatedly across scaling businesse
73 - The Cash Flow Mistake Most Founders Don’t Realize They’re Making
Most founders think they have a growth problem when they actually have a cash flow problem. In this episode, Brandon Neely explains why many business owners misunderstand liquidity, leverage, and access to capital — and how those blind spots create unnecessary financial pressure during periods of growth or crisis. Rather than focusing only on revenue, Brandon argues founders need to understand how
72 - Why Investor Trust Matters More Than Your Pitch Deck
Most CEOs preparing to raise capital focus on pitch decks, projections, and presentation polish. George Dubec argues that investors are making decisions much earlier — based on founder credibility, clarity, visibility, and whether they believe the CEO can actually execute.In this episode, George explains why investor trust increasingly outweighs traditional fundraising materials, how modern founde
71 - The Decision to Reinvest Instead of Cash Out
Many founders assume growth requires outside capital, debt, or aggressive expansion. Lindsey Prater took a different path. In this episode, Lindsey shares how she and her sister grew Groovy Peach from an 85-square-foot salon suite into a multi-location, multi-million-dollar business by repeatedly choosing to reinvest earnings instead of extracting them. The conversation explores what happens when
70 - Why Most Startup Support Systems Fail Founders
Most startup advice focuses on founders. Gregory Shepard thinks that misses the real problem.After building and selling multiple companies, investing across the startup ecosystem, and spending years researching startup failure, Gregory came to a different conclusion: founders are often operating inside fragmented systems that were never designed to scale.In this episode, Gregory breaks down why st
69 - The Hardest Part of Scaling Is Rebuilding the Team
Scaling a company doesn’t usually fail because of strategy. It breaks when the organization can’t evolve fast enough to support the next stage of growth.In this episode, Drew Allen shares the realities of rebuilding a leadership team while transforming a business — including failed product launches, painful personnel decisions, engineering bottlenecks, and the challenge of creating a true ownershi
68 - Why Manufacturing CEOs Can’t Wait to Adopt AI Infrastructure
AI adoption is no longer a future planning exercise for manufacturers — it’s becoming an operational timing decision. In this episode, Torian Richardson explains why the speed of technological change is now outpacing traditional organizational decision-making and what that means for manufacturing leaders trying to stay competitive.From digital twins and operational data visibility to leadership re
67 - The Leadership Signals CEOs Miss About Themselves First
Most leadership blind spots do not show up as dramatic failures. They show up slowly — through exhaustion, drift, misplaced priorities, overextension, and decisions that stop feeling intentional.In this episode, Jane Monroe shares how building and scaling her business forced her to confront leadership patterns she did not fully recognize in herself until pressure exposed them. The conversation exp
66 - The Labor Cost Signal CEOs Start Tracking Too Late
Most CEOs don’t realize they have a labor cost problem until it’s already eroding margins. By the time the signal shows up clearly, it’s too late to fix without pain.Albert Bou Fadel breaks down why labor costs are one of the most misunderstood—and least controlled—drivers of profitability, and how weak data, loose systems, and human incentives combine to create invisible risk.Albert Bou Fadel, Fo
65 - What Hidden Stress Reveals About a CEO’s Decision Quality
Most CEOs assume decision quality is a function of logic, experience, and information.This episode challenges that assumption. Rochelle Carrington explains why hidden internal stress — not strategy — is often the real constraint on decision speed, clarity, and execution.If decisions are slowing down, hiring is delayed, or growth is stalling, the issue may not be external. It may be internal — and
64 - What CEOs Miss When They Think They’ve Already Scaled
Many CEOs believe they’ve scaled—until they step away and the business slows down.In this episode, Veronica Kirin breaks down why founder-led growth often creates hidden bottlenecks, especially in sales and decision-making. She explains what real scalability actually requires—and why most CEOs don’t recognize the gap until it’s already limiting growth.If your business still depends on you more tha
63 - The Cost of Waiting Too Long on a High-Stakes Decision
What does it actually cost a CEO to wait for certainty?Yi-Kai Lo faced that question while leading Aneuvo through an $8M clinical trial, an 11-month FDA process, and a product failure mid-study. In each case, the decision wasn’t just about risk — it was about whether delay itself had become the bigger risk.“After analyzing the risk and benefit… the cost of keep delaying the study”Yi-Kai Lo, CEO of
62 - What Happens When CEOs Delay AI Adoption in Engineering Teams
AI isn’t just accelerating software development — it’s exposing where your organization is already broken.In this episode, Ricardo Arcia shares what happened when his company started losing deals in 2024 — not because they lacked talent, but because their approach to building software had already become obsolete.This is a conversation about what actually changes when AI enters your workflow — and
61 - The Moment CEOs Realize They’ve Become the Bottleneck
At some point in every scaling company, growth slows—not because of the market, the team, or the product—but because of the CEO.In this episode, Barry Bradham breaks down what that moment actually looks like in practice—and what it takes to move past it. From building systems that remove dependency on the founder to leveraging AI and automation, this conversation is about the shift from operator t
60 - What Happens When CEOs Optimize for Scale Over Trust
At some point in scaling, the model that drives growth starts to erode the very thing that made it work: trust.Amber Duncan built a highly profitable, fast-growing business—only to realize that the way it scaled was disconnecting her from the people she was trying to help. This episode explores what happens when financial success masks a deeper breakdown in customer connection—and the decision to
59 - What Happens When CEOs Ignore Cyber Risk in an AI-Driven World
Cybersecurity is no longer an IT issue—it’s a CEO-level decision with compounding consequences. As AI accelerates both innovation and attack capability, the cost of delaying action is rising faster than most leaders realize.In this episode, Brian Cute, CEO of Global Cyber Alliance, breaks down what’s changing in the cyber threat landscape—and why many companies are already behind. From AI-powered
58 - The Customer Concentration Risk CEOs See Too Late
Most CEOs know customer concentration is risky. Few experience what it actually feels like when it breaks. Jim Tracy shares the moment his only customer canceled every purchase order—and what it forced him to confront about leadership, responsibility, and survival. This episode is about what happens when a hidden risk becomes immediate reality—and how CEOs respond when there’s no time to prepare.J
57 - The Hidden Cost of Building Blind in Product Development
Most product teams don’t fail because they build poorly — they fail because they build without knowing what will actually sell. In this episode, Pete Polyakov breaks down the hidden cost of building blind — where manufacturers spend tens or hundreds of thousands per product without real demand signals. The result isn’t just wasted capital — it’s a system where failure is baked into the business mo
56 - How CEOs Build Companies by Solving Problems They Don’t Understand Yet
Most CEOs wait for clarity before committing. That’s often the mistake.In this episode, Dusty Gulleson breaks down what actually drives growth: saying yes to opportunities before you fully understand them — and building the capability to solve them after.From landing Google as a client without a plan to scaling a multi-division company, this conversation is about how real CEOs operate under uncert
55 - Why Smart CEOs Still Make Bad Decisions Under Pressure
Most bad decisions aren’t caused by poor strategy or lack of intelligence — they happen because of the conditions surrounding the decision.As companies scale, pressure compounds: speed increases, stakes rise, and leaders operate under stress, fatigue, and incomplete signals. In those environments, even strong CEOs make preventable mistakes.In this episode, William Holsten breaks down the hidden fa
54 - The Three-Part Decision Framework CEOs Need to Cut Through Noise
Most CEOs don’t struggle with a lack of ideas — they struggle with too many. The real constraint is knowing which decisions actually matter, and which ones are just noise.In this episode, Christiane Schroeder introduces a three-part decision framework to help CEOs cut through complexity, move faster, and lead with clarity — without getting stuck waiting for alignment or delaying action under uncer
53 - Diagnose Before You Scale: The CEO Discipline Most Skip
Many CEOs try to fix growth problems by adding more resources—more marketing, more hires, more tools. But according to advisor Jon Bassford, scaling problems rarely come from a lack of effort or investment. They come from failing to diagnose what’s actually broken inside the organization.In this episode, Bassford explains why CEOs must diagnose operational and cultural breakdowns before trying to
52 - The Moment You Realize Your Product Isn’t the Business Model
A CEO must recognize when strong product traction masks a weak business model — and reframe the company around how value is actually monetized before growth compounds the wrong path. The episode centers on a critical reframing moment: realizing that product success (downloads, usage) does not equal a viable business model. The conversation develops through tension between B2C traction and B2B mo
51 - The Cost of Getting Comfortable Too Early as a Scaling CEO
Early success creates a false sense of security that hides structural weaknesses—and when disruption hits, only CEOs who take full accountability can rebuild stronger. This episode follows the arc of growth → comfort → blind spots → external shock → internal reckoning → rebuild, showing how success itself becomes the precursor to failure. The conversation sharpens around a single decision: blame
50 - How Josh Carr Rebuilt Echo Water Into an $18M Hardware Company
As AI makes software easier to replicate, Josh Carr argues that durable businesses may increasingly come from harder-to-build physical products and hardware companies. Echo Water effectively restarted from scratch, forcing the company to rebuild customers, products, and operations from the ground up. Josh Carr explains why hardware companies are harder to build but often more defensible than softw
49 - The Cost of Scaling a Marketplace With Misaligned Incentives
Marketplace businesses look simple on the surface: connect supply and demand and let the network grow. But for CEOs, the real risk isn’t growth — it’s misalignment between stakeholders.In this episode, Paul Roberts, CEO of GoodBite, explains why marketplace startups often fail when incentives between customers, partners, and suppliers drift apart — and why scaling too early can make the problem ex
48 - The Leadership Shift That Took This CEO From Survival to Scale
What does it take to scale a company in one of the most competitive industries in technology?In this episode of the Breakout CEO Podcast, Jeff Holman sits down with Michael Chaput, CEO of Endsight, to explore the leadership transformation that helped him grow a managed services company to more than $35 million in revenue and 140 employees. Michael shares the lessons he learned after his first comp
47 - The Moment CEOs Realize Their Company Is Too Complicated
Most founders start with a simple idea. Then growth happens — and suddenly the company becomes ten different things at once.In this episode, PodMatch founder Alex Sanfilippo shares the moment he realized his business had become confusing to the market. After launching multiple offerings and expanding quickly, he discovered that customers no longer understood what the company actually did.For CEOs
46 - The Real Cost of Executive Misalignment in Scaling Companies
Most CEOs don’t notice executive misalignment when it starts.They notice it when they’re spending 70–80% of their time on people problems.In this Advisory Insight episode, Robert White breaks down the hidden cost of leadership misalignment — and why it almost always traces back to a failure to clearly define and enforce purpose, vision, and values.Episode DescriptionExecutive misalignment rarely a
45 - The Moment a CEO Must Choose Between Control and Scale
Most scaling CEOs say they want growth.Fewer are willing to confront the moment when growth requires them to give up control.In this Advisory Insight episode, Ral West breaks down the recurring pattern she sees: founders who want scale but continue operating as if the business would “die without me.” That tension — between control and trust — is where companies either plateau or accelerate.Episode
44 - The warning signs CEOs are scaling complexity instead of structure
The warning signs CEOs are scaling complexity instead of structureScaling doesn’t fail because of ambition. It fails because of misalignment.Many founders believe they’re building for growth — launching new services, expanding markets, hiring faster. But without structure underneath that growth, complexity compounds. What feels like momentum becomes chaos. What looks like opportunity becomes bottl
43 - Advisory Insights: Finding and Fixing Executive Leadership Misalignment in a Scaling Business
In this episode, Jeff Holman sets the stage for a new Breakout CEO format: Advisory Insights, a short series of episodes where experienced operators and advisors share the patterns they see inside scaling companies.The theme for this series is executive leadership misalignment — a problem that rarely shows up as a dramatic conflict, but instead builds slowly through small signals inside the busine
42 - Why Smart CEOs Design Their Exit Long Before They Sell
CEOs who want the option to sell their company later must run it with the operational discipline, customer traction, and leadership structure investors expect long before an exit process begins.Many CEOs delay thinking about exit readiness because it feels premature or distracting from growth.The hidden risk is that companies built around founder effort, weak metrics, or informal operations become
41 - Why Product-Market Fit Doesn’t Guarantee Funding
Product-market fit is supposed to unlock growth. But what happens when customers show up and investors don’t?In this episode, Meghan Higney — founder of the footwear brand Message — shares what it looks like when early traction collides with a funding drought. After launching to strong demand and immediate media attention, Meghan discovered that validation from customers didn’t translate into capi
40 - The Moment CEOs Choose Between Growth and Standards
When growth pressures your standards, the decision defines your brand.Every scaling CEO eventually faces it: the deal that’s close but not quite aligned, the client outside your ideal profile, the opportunity that promises revenue—but threatens your operating discipline.Chris Shurian built multiple companies across construction and hospitality by choosing standards over opportunistic growth. He le
39 - Persevere or Pivot: The Founder’s Hardest Call
Every founder says perseverance is key. Fewer know when it becomes expensive.In this episode, John Cousins reflects on the hardest decision a CEO faces: when to push through obstacles — and when to admit the wall in front of you is brick. Drawing from his experience launching and losing control of a startup, John breaks down the tension between conviction and reality, control and collaboration, pe
38 - When Authority Erodes, Pricing Power Disappears
Authority used to be assumed. Today, it must be built.As markets become more transparent and commoditized, pricing pressure doesn’t begin with competition — it begins with perception. When differentiation disappears, the only lever left is price.In this episode, Dennis “DM” Meador explains why founder-led visibility is no longer optional — and how CEOs who fail to build authority early eventually
37 - The CEO Decision to Stop Competing and Redefine the Market
Most CEOs assume that winning means competing harder.Andrew Ackerman learned the opposite. When Dreamit Accelerator found itself stuck behind larger, more established competitors, the question wasn’t how to move from number three to number one. It was whether that race was worth running at all.This episode explores the pivotal decision to stop fighting for position in a crowded market — and instea
36 - Licensing or Operating: The CEO’s Inflection Point
Most founders prefer to license.It’s a lower risk. Lower capital exposure. Fewer operational headaches.But what happens when the incumbents won’t move, and your product only works if someone actually operates it?In this episode, Jeff Doss shares the pivotal decision to stop trying to license his patented anchoring system and instead operate the business himself inside a small, skeptical, highly re
35 - Choosing Legacy Over Lifestyle After a Billion-Dollar Exit
Small business credit isn’t broken because of a lack of data; it’s broken because the system was never designed for how businesses actually operate. In this episode, host Jeff Holman speaks with Sal Rehmetullah, CEO and Founder of Worth AI. He has scaled, exited, and re-entered fintech at the highest levels. After building Stax Payments into a market leader and navigating a billion-dollar recapita
34 - When CEOs Must Choose Between Conviction and Consensus
Markets don’t wait for consensus. In this episode, Shay Levi explains how CEOs recognize the moment when speed and conviction matter more than alignment and what it costs to hesitate. Drawing from building and exiting Noname Security and starting Unframe, Shay breaks down how he made contrarian calls under uncertainty, trusted firsthand signals over investor pushback, and moved aggressively when
33 - The Decision That Separates CEOs Who Quit From Those Who Rebuild
Scaling doesn’t usually fail because of a bad product. It fails because focus erodes slowly, one customer, one feature, one exception at a time.In this episode, Keith Norris shares the decisions that nearly broke his company and the hard reset that followed. From serving too many customers across too many industries to running multiple products that were effectively separate businesses, this is a
32 - The Revenue Risk When CEOs Say “We Can’t Measure Event ROI"
In this episode of The Breakout CEO Podcast, Jeff Holman sits down with Zach Barney, founder and CEO of Mobly, to talk about a problem many growth-stage companies quietly accept.They spend a lot on in-person events and have no real way to know what is working.Zach explains how his background as a VP of Sales exposed a gap most teams accept as normal. Digital marketing is measured closely. In-perso
31 - When a $4 Part Forces a CEO Into a Total Operating Reset
What does it actually take to scale a manufacturing business in the U.S. today?In this episode of The Breakout CEO, Jeff Holman sits down with Spencer Loveless, second-generation CEO of Dustless Technologies and founder of Merit3D @Merit-3D .Spencer grew up inside a family-run manufacturing business and stepped into leadership early. Over time, he’s had to navigate the realities most CEOs don’t
30 - When CEOs Must Decide What AI Does and What It Never Should
AI can organize information faster than any team you’ve ever built. It can surface patterns, speed up workflows, and remove friction from execution. But it still can’t make judgment calls when the data is incomplete, the market is shifting, and real money is on the line. In this episode of The Breakout CEO, Jeff Holman talks with entrepreneur and financial advisor Luigi “Lou” Rosabianca about wher
29 - What Happens When CEOs Tolerate Misalignment Too Long
Most leadership advice breaks down the moment real pressure shows up. In this episode of The Breakout CEO, Cydni Tetro, 3-time CEO, board member, and former CIO of Swire Coca-Cola, draws from her experience as a 3-time CEO, enterprise executive, and board member to talk through those moments honestly. Not as lessons learned in hindsight, but as decisions made while the outcome was still unclear. C
28 - The Hidden Complexity Behind “Simple” Consumer Products
What does it take to build a company when the mission matters more than momentum? In this episode of The Breakout CEO, Jeff Holman sits down with Thomas Bishop, founder of Paleblue, for a grounded conversation on conviction, persistence, and building products that genuinely change behavior. Tom shares how a near-death experience reshaped his career decisions and why meaningful missions became the
27 - Replacing Hustle with EBITDA as the Real Scorecard
Every CEO reaches a threshold where hustle and revenue aren’t enough.In this episode of The Breakout CEO, host Jeff Holman cuts into the hard operating truths that separate early growth from a sustainable scale. We explore what happens when pricing, financial clarity, team leadership, and systems become the deciding factors—not just harder work or bigger marketing.This conversation goes deep on th
26 - The Real Truth About Selling a SaaS Business and Why Most Founders Get It Wrong
What does it really take to sell a SaaS business successfully?In this episode of The Breakout CEO, Jeff Holman sits down with Andrew Gazdecki, founder of Acquire.com (formerly MicroAcquire) to unpack what founders need to know about buying, scaling, and exiting online businesses.Andrew has helped thousands of founders sell SaaS companies, ecommerce brands, mobile apps, and digital businesses. In t
25 - The Leadership Shift That Unlocks Breakout Growth (Most CEOs Learn It Too Late)
What does it really take to break through as a CEO when the pressure is highest, and the path forward isn’t clear? In this episode of The Breakout CEO Podcast, I sit down with Nikky Kho @NikkyKho , an entrepreneur, AI pioneer, and lifelong learner for a wide-ranging conversation on the breakout moments that shape leaders at the highest levels. Nikky’s journey is anything but conventional. Over a
24 - What It Takes for Women Founders to Build Companies Buyers Trust
What does it really take to move from founder control to strategic optionality? In this episode of The Breakout CEO podcast, Jeff Holman sits down with Heather Griffith Barber, founder of Queen of Wraps, to unpack the real decisions behind building a company that buyers take seriously. Heather shares her 18-year journey growing a business from a scrappy family operation into a multi-company platfo
23 - Why CEOs Need to Choose Calculated Risk Over Playing It Safe
Scaling a business does not usually break because of strategy. It breaks because the CEO is carrying too much. In this episode of The Breakout CEO podcast, host Jeff Holman sits down with Corinne Morahan, founder and CEO of Grid + Glam, to talk about burnout, boundaries, and the leadership shift that changed how she built her business. Corinne shares her journey from Wall Street to entrepreneurs
22 - Scaling Exposes This Leadership Weakness Every Founder Has
Scaling doesn’t fail because of strategy, capital, or product. It fails because of a leadership weakness almost every founder carries into growth. Impatience. In this episode of The Breakout CEO podcast, Jeff Holman sits down with David Sluss, Professor at ESSEC Business School and advisor to scaling CEOs, to unpack how impatience quietly undermines leadership as companies grow. David explains wh
21 - The Leadership Blind Spots That Create Avoidable Problems
In this episode of The Breakout CEO podcast, Jeff Holman sits down with Leah Brown, former corporate lawyer turned mediator and founder of The WayFinders Group, to explore what really breaks inside fast-growing companies and how CEOs can address it before it slows everything down.Leah shares what she’s seen firsthand inside boardrooms and leadership teams when growth outpaces relationships; commun
20 - When CEOs Stop Listening: Early Warning Signs Your Business Is Scaling the Wrong Way
In this episode of The Breakout CEO Podcast, I sit down with Steve Smith, a veteran business coach with more than 45 years of experience in manufacturing, corporate leadership, and executive coaching. Steve breaks down what he’s learned from big companies and small companies, and why scaling smart always comes down to the same three factors: capacity, funding, and alignment. If you’ve ever felt th
19 - The Unconscious CEO Habits That Are Holding Back Your Growth
In this episode of The Breakout CEO Podcast, Jeff Holman sits down with Dr. Noah St. John, bestselling author of Power Habits and the creator behind the Zero Friction Framework. Together, they unpack why so many CEOs hit income ceilings, stall out after early wins, and unknowingly sabotage their own growth. They discuss the concept of 'Power Habits' and how understanding the unconscious habits of
18 - When Survival Turns into Strategy: The Breakout Shift Every CEO Needs
In this episode of the Breakout CEO podcast, host Jeff Holman interviews Jerry Brazie, an entrepreneur with a remarkable journey from poverty to success. Jerry shares his experiences growing up in a challenging environment, the lessons learned from his family, and the importance of accountability and responsibility in business. He emphasizes the value of community and mentorship, discussing how hi
17 - The Hidden Spiral Pattern Behind Fast-Growth Companies
In this episode of The Breakout CEO Podcast, host Jeff Holman sits down with Dr. Natasha Todorovic-Cowan, author of Making Change Work and expert in Spiral Dynamics, to unpack the real challenges CEOs face when leading through rapid change. Natasha shares her own story of navigating unexpected disruption early in her career and explains why adaptability, human behavior, and cognitive bias awarenes
16 - The CEO Advantage No One Tracks: Understanding Your People Better Than Your Competitors Do
In this episode of The Breakout CEO Podcast, host Jeff Holman sits down with leadership coach and former competitive chess player John Whitt to explore the powerful parallels between chess strategy and modern business leadership. John shares how his early experience competing in the U.S. Chess Championships shaped his approach to clarity, planning, and decision-making, skills he later applied
15 - Your Story Is Your Strategy: Why Most CEOs Miss It
In this episode of The Breakout CEO, Jeff Holman sits down with Paige Arnof-Fenn, a 24-year marketing veteran and CEO of Mavens & Moguls, to break down what truly drives growth for scaling companies. Paige explains why the core principles of marketing haven’t changed even as tools, platforms, and AI evolve. She shows why a strong brand story still outperforms clever features, an
14 - Preventing Burnout: The EQ Approach Every CEO Needs Now
In this episode of The Breakout CEO Podcast, host Jeff Holman sits down with Aasha LaCount, CEO of BeyondEQ International, to explore how emotional intelligence (EQ) is transforming modern leadership. Aasha shares her raw personal story of burnout, anxiety, loss, and rebuilding, and how those experiences led her to uncover the hidden link between emotional regulation, team
13 - Fractional COO Explained: The Role That Transforms Scaling Companies
This episode is part of our CEO Expert mini-series where we talk with experts who coach, mentor, train, and work with scaling CEOs to expand their insights and help identify and achieve their breakout moments. In this episode of the Breakout CEO Podcast, Jeff Holman speaks with Angela Lapovsky, a fractional COO, about the challenges and strategies for scaling CEOs. They discuss Angela's backgroun
12 - From Bankruptcy to Industry Leader: The Mindset That Changed It All
In this episode of the Breakout CEO Podcast, host Jeff Holman speaks with Earl Foote, founder of Nexus IT, about the company's growth, team culture, and the importance of personal development in leadership. Earl shares insights on how to motivate teams, the evolution of his organization, and the significance of coaching and development programs. He also discusses his personal breakout moments and
11 - From the Navy to Medical Innovation: A Journey of Persistence and Purpose with Healionics Corporation's Mike Connolly
In this episode of The Breakout CEO: Inside the Strategic Moves of Scaling CEOs, Jeff Holman speaks to the CEO and Chairman at Healionics Corporation, Mike Connolly. Mike shares his journey from teaching physics to co-founding startups that have revolutionized women’s health and dialysis care. He discusses the challenges of medical device innovation, the importance of persistence, navigating regul
10 - Building with Heart: How Culture and Collaboration Drive Unlikely Success with Aspen Mountain Partners' Greg Schow
In this episode of The Breakout CEO: Inside the Strategic Moves of Scaling CEOs, Jeff Holman speaks to the Partner at Aspen Mountain Partners, Greg Schow. Greg shares lessons from his early ventures, the value of teamwork, and the realities of acquiring and growing “non-sexy” businesses like vending machines and steel fabrication. He emphasizes the importance of hard work, people over prestige, an
9 - How Curiosity Drives Innovation: Leadership Strategies for Growth with INSEAD's Spencer Harrison
In this episode of The Breakout CEO: Inside the Strategic Moves of Scaling CEOs, Jeff Holman speaks to the Full Professor at INSEAD, Spencer Harrison. Spencer discusses his journey from aspiring English professor to business scholar, focusing on creativity and curiosity in organizations. Drawing on research and personal stories—including lessons from their influential high school physics teacher,
8 - The Importance of a Strong Foundation: Why Resilience Matters in Product Development with Product 1's Steven Selikoff
In this episode of The Breakout CEO: Inside the Strategic Moves of Scaling CEOs, Jeff Holman speaks to the Founder of Product 1, Steven Selikoff. Steven shares insights on navigating recent changes in import regulations, the importance of building resilient businesses, and why profitability—not just revenue—should guide product decisions. He emphasizes learning from mistakes, the value of experien
7 - Resilience at the Crossroads: CEO Insights from Design and Logistics with Shyft's Alex Burdge
In this episode of The Breakout CEO: Inside the Strategic Moves of Scaling CEOs, Jeff Holman speaks to the CEO and Co-Founder at Shyft, Alex Burdge. Alex shares his entrepreneurial journey, the evolution of Shyft, and how the company navigated major disruptions like the US-China trade wars and COVID-19. He discusses building a resilient international team, adapting to constant changes in global lo
6 - Persistence in Action: Redefining the Fintech Landscape with ASA's Landon Glenn
In this episode of The Breakout CEO: Inside the Strategic Moves of Scaling CEOs, Jeff Holman speaks to the CEO and Founder at ASA, Landon Glenn. Landon shares his journey from humble beginnings to building ASA, which partners with banks and credit unions to securely connect financial data and services using advanced technologies. He emphasizes the challenges of fintech entrepreneurship, the import
5 - Pivoting in the Face of Adversity: Lessons from a Tech Leader’s Journey with Intel Corporation's Dr. Darren Pulsipher
In this episode of The Breakout CEO: Inside the Strategic Moves of Scaling CEOs, Jeff Holman speaks to the Chief Solutions Architect at Intel Corporation, Dr. Darren Pulsipher. Darren discusses his diverse career, from teaching at Vanderbilt to leading digital transformation at Intel. Darren shares pivotal “breakout moments,” including lessons learned from startup setbacks and hypergrowth leadersh
4 - Smart Strategies for a Thriving Software Development Business with DevSquad's Phil Alves
In this episode of The Breakout CEO: Inside the Strategic Moves of Scaling CEOs, Jeff Holman speaks to the CEO at DevSquad, Phil Alves. Phil shares his journey from Brazil to building a scalable SaaS development company in the U.S. He discusses the challenges of scaling a service business, the importance of team structure, culture, and playbooks, and Phil’s focus on sustainable, bootstrapped growt
3 - The Rollercoaster of Entrepreneurship: Embracing Ups and Downs for Growth with Startup Ignition Academy's John Richards
In this episode of The Breakout CEO: Inside the Strategic Moves of Scaling CEOs, Jeff Holman speaks to the Founder and CEO at Startup Ignition Academy, John Richards. John shares his journey from academia to building and scaling businesses, including launching the first internet yellow pages and mentoring Utah’s top startups. He discusses the importance of mentorship, pattern recognition, and the
2 - Cash Flow and Innovation: Strategies for Sustainable Growth in High ASP Markets with SubcontractorHub's Justin Brach
In this episode of The Breakout CEO: Inside the Strategic Moves of Scaling CEOs, Jeff Holman speaks to the CEO at SubcontractorHub, Justin Brach. Justin shares how near-death experiences shaped his drive for balance and purpose in life and business. He discusses his company’s innovative approach to decentralizing home services, leveraging AI, and scaling efficiently. Justin details their unique hy
1 - From Crisis to Confidence: Unleashing the Breakout CEO Within with Jeff Holman
In the inaugural episode of The Breakout CEO: Inside the Strategic Moves of Scaling CEOs, Josh Elledge of UpMyInfluence speaks to Jeff Holman.Jeff is the founder and CEO of Intellectual Strategies. He explains the podcast’s mission: to spotlight CEOs who have overcome major business challenges and achieved breakthrough moments. Drawing from his experience providing fractional legal teams to startu
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