The 9–5 Exit Plan

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with engineer and MIRROR TALK Podcast founder Tobi Ojekunle. From growing up in Ibadan, Nigeria, to building a life and career in Germany, Tobi shares lessons on personal growth, self-reflection, community, and purpose. We discuss the power of positive self-talk, the importance of pausing to evaluate our lives, and how meaningful conversations can accel...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with resilience coach, speaker, and founder of Be Unprecedented, Eva Palladino. After more than 20 years leading organizational change for Fortune 100 companies, Eva faced an unexpected career disruption that forced her to reinvent herself and discover a new purpose. We discuss resilience, burnout, self-trust, entrepreneurship, identity, and how people...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with trauma-informed leadership expert, registered nurse, educator, and author Dr. Melanie Gray. Dr. Gray shares powerful insights on burnout, workplace wellness, nervous system regulation, psychological safety, and what it truly means to lead in a healthy and sustainable way. We discuss trauma-informed leadership, self-care, resilience, stress manageme...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with Jennifer Dechaine, founder of Congruent Projects and creator of the Human Foundations framework. Drawing from more than twenty years in real estate sales and leadership, Jennifer explains why many professionals struggle not because they’re incapable, but because they’ve never been taught the critical human skills required for long-term success. We...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with former finance professional, former professional baseball player, speaker, and author Jason Ford. Jason shares the extraordinary experiences that challenged his worldview and launched a search for answers through science, history, psychology, and spirituality. We discuss personal transformation, addiction recovery, faith, discernment, resilience, a...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with entrepreneur, media founder, and marketing strategist Dan Shinder. As the founder of Drum Talk TV, Dan built a global audience of more than a million followers and reaches over 100 million people annually without spending money on ads or relying on SEO. (big.drumtalktv.com⁠) We discuss content marketing, community building, social media growth, en...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with Josiah Lorsung, founder and CEO of Odin Marketing House. Josiah helps manufacturing, industrial, and professional service companies build AI-powered demand generation systems that turn visibility into qualified leads and predictable growth. We discuss why most B2B marketing fails, how businesses lose prospects before they become leads, the future o...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with entrepreneur and former Naval Special Operations EOD Team Leader Austin Holmes. Austin shares his journey from military service to helping scale Publicity For Good into a multi-million-dollar public relations agency and launching Signal Raptor, a platform designed to modernize the PR industry. We discuss leadership, entrepreneurship, family, commun...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with futures explorer, author, speaker, and health professional Tom Meyers. Tom shares his remarkable journey from business failure and personal struggles to creating a future-focused philosophy that helps people thrive in uncertain times. We discuss resilience, personal transformation, future thinking, adaptability, stress management, and how individua...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with personal brand strategist, entrepreneur, and author Ange Dove. Ange shares her journey from hiding behind her business to becoming a recognized authority and helping others do the same. We discuss visibility, personal branding, confidence, entrepreneurship, freedom, and the costly consequences of staying invisible. If you’ve ever felt overlooked de...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with Adrian Nikolov, founder of Haide Digital and an organic growth engineer with more than 17 years of experience helping companies grow online. Adrian explains why traditional SEO strategies are rapidly changing, how AI is transforming search behavior, and why businesses need to think beyond rankings and keywords. We discuss AI-powered search, organic...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with entrepreneur and Keeyu founder Jevon Le Roux. After building a career in retail and leading major brands, Jevon identified a hidden problem costing ecommerce companies millions: customer issues that aren’t discovered until it’s too late. We discuss entrepreneurship, AI, ecommerce, venture capital, startup growth, customer experience, and why solvin...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with entrepreneur, consultant, speaker, and author Larry Mandelberg. Drawing from five generations of family business experience and decades of research into organizational success and failure, Larry shares powerful insights from his book Businesses Don’t Fail, They Commit Suicide. We discuss leadership, growth, disruption, business mistakes, and why ma...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with entrepreneur, author, consultant, and social impact innovator Michael Podolny. We discuss entrepreneurship, economic opportunity, social enterprise, and the innovative business model behind Theodora Africa. Michael shares lessons from decades in investment banking and business consulting, explains why sustainable solutions outperform traditional ai...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with entrepreneur, writer, and cultural strategist Memuna Forna. For 23 years, Memuna cared for her daughter, who lived with profound disabilities and required constant support throughout her life. During those same years, she built businesses, launched initiatives, and created opportunities for women while balancing extraordinary caregiving responsibil...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with founder, operator, and leadership advisor Drew Sloss. After scaling a high-seven-figure business across five locations and more than 250 employees, Drew discovered that the hardest part of growth isn’t strategy—it’s maintaining clarity and alignment as complexity increases. We discuss leadership, team alignment, organizational clarity, mission drif...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with AI expert, entrepreneur, and founder of Elementyl Intelligence, Anne Cantera. Anne brings a unique perspective on artificial intelligence, combining deep technical expertise with a strong focus on ethics, human-centered design, and the future of technology. We discuss AI adoption, automation, entrepreneurship, ethical innovation, women in tech, and...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with Chief Procurement Officer, leadership systems architect, and author Joel Klemmer. Joel shares insights from decades of experience leading procurement, supply chain, technology, and organizational initiatives across complex institutions. We discuss leadership systems, execution, accountability, governance, organizational excellence, procurement stra...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with rapid growth specialist, author, and mindset expert Dr. Joseph Drolshagen. With a Doctorate in Psychology and decades of experience helping entrepreneurs and organizations achieve extraordinary results, Joseph shares powerful insights into subconscious programming, personal transformation, and business growth. We discuss self-sabotage, habit format...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with coach, speaker, entrepreneur, and executive leader Crystal Bell. Crystal shares lessons from her journey across education, nonprofit leadership, government, technology, entrepreneurship, and wellness, and explains why clarity is often the missing ingredient behind success. We discuss decision-making, overcoming overthinking, building confidence, cr...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with Marla Ballard, CEO of YU2SHINE and Director of Unconquerable mE®. With more than three decades of leadership experience, Marla shares powerful lessons on resilience, purpose, identity, leadership under pressure, and building sustainable success. We discuss burnout, personal reinvention, clarity, veteran leadership, and how entrepreneurs and profess...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with entrepreneur, author, and AI strategist Nathan Graham. Nathan shares practical insights into how artificial intelligence is transforming entrepreneurship, marketing, sales, productivity, and business growth. We discuss automation, AI workflows, human behavior, technology’s impact on relationships, and how entrepreneurs can use AI to compete more ef...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with inventor, entrepreneur, author, and health researcher Norbert Heuser. After surviving a life-threatening health crisis that changed the course of his life, Norbert dedicated decades to studying addiction, nutrition, human behavior, frequencies, and alternative approaches to health and wellbeing. We discuss hidden addictions, caffeine dependency, fo...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with entrepreneur, founder, and business builder Brett Vinsant. Drawing on nearly 50 years of experience, Brett shares lessons on entrepreneurship, leadership, AI, trust, and what it takes to build solutions that solve real-world problems. We discuss legal innovation, business systems, technology adoption, problem-solving, and why understanding people a...

In this episode of 9-5 Exit Plan, I sit down with entrepreneur, consultant, and founder of Precision Consulting, Ammarah Ahmed. After spending more than a decade leading growth, operations, and commercial teams across some of the world’s largest platforms, Ammarah made the decision to leave corporate leadership and build a business aligned with her own values and vision. We discuss entrepreneurshi...