The Business Development Podcast

The Cost of Success: Why Walking Away Isn’t Failure with Jesse Schewchuk After speaking on a TED stage about the cost of burnout, Jesse Schewchuk realized she needed to act on her own message. She had spent nearly a decade building Modern Muse Media, but the demands of keeping the business running were pulling her away from the work and life she wanted. When a longtime colleague posted a marketing...

A family construction company tripled its revenue in one year. Behind the growth, the owners were still carrying the business themselves. He was leading in the field. She was handling payroll, scheduling and the administrative work. They hired Laina Neudorf to help, but when they understood the work required to change how the business operated, they walked away from the engagement. They had become...

JAR Podcast Solutions gave two producers the same topic. One used AI to build a podcast from the ground up. The other drew on her own travel experiences. When the team shared the finished pieces with a small test audience of about 100 people, Jennifer Moss says 99 preferred the human story. The difference was in the experience behind the words. In Episode 370 of The Business Development Podcast, K...

The day after surviving the Miracle on the Hudson, Dave Sanderson walked into his office to let his company know he was alive. His manager’s first question was, “You’re going to Michigan next week, right?” Dave had survived a plane crash. Now he was questioning the career he had built. In Episode 369 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy speaks with Dave about surviving US Airways Fli...

Ten weeks after Trevor Muir became CEO of Surepoint Group, the bank swept $400,000 from the company’s account and froze its line of credit. Surepoint could not make payroll. Trevor had already turned down the job twice. Now he had to decide what to tell the people whose livelihoods depended on the company. In Episode 368 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy speaks with Trevor about t...

What if the people closest to the work understand what needs to change better than the leaders making the decisions? In Episode 367 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with Karli Grove, founder of Kantency Consulting, organizational change strategist, speaker and workshop facilitator, to explore why meaningful transformation rarely begins with immediate action. Karli share...

What allows some people to remain clear, composed and effective when the pressure is at its highest? In Episode 366 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with entrepreneur, sales leader and performance coach Alex Marr to explore how structure, skill set and mindset work together to create consistent high performance. Alex shares his journey from selling pottery at childhood...

What can today’s content creators learn from someone who has spent more than three decades producing television designed to capture and hold the attention of millions? In Episode 365 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with Emmy-winning executive producer, showrunner and director Carl Buehl to explore the evolution of television, storytelling and content creation. Carl sha...

What happens when a startup achieves extraordinary growth, but the founder is not prepared for the pressure that comes with it? In this episode of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with serial entrepreneur, investor and strategic growth advisor Phil Neil to explore his journey from sales and pharmaceutical work to scaling Neobex Medical to more than $70 million in revenue i...

In this episode of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with Lina Bil, founder and CEO of Elevate Talent Solutions, fractional Chief Human Resources Officer, and executive coach. Lina shares her journey from growing up in an entrepreneurial family in Poland to moving to Canada at fourteen, finding her voice, and building a career spanning psychology, human resources, organizat...

In Episode 362 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with three-time founder, leadership coach, keynote speaker, and author Mandy Balak for a powerful conversation about ambition, entrepreneurship, and the never-ending pursuit of more. Drawing from her new book, Chasing Enough , Mandy explores why ambition itself isn't the problem, but constantly operating from an empty tank...

In this deeply personal update, Kelly Kennedy speaks from the pediatric oncology ward at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton. Kelly and Shelby’s one-year-old son, Foxx, has been diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. As their family begins navigating treatment and an entirely new reality, Kelly is placing The Business Development Podcast on hold so he can focus fully on Foxx, Shelby, and their ot...

In Episode 360 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with communication expert, leadership coach, and bestselling author Salvatore Manzi to explore why the clearest voice in the room often becomes the most influential. After losing his voice during an early speaking experience, Salvatore dedicated more than two decades to understanding the neuroscience, psychology, and story...

What if the biggest thing influencing your pricing, growth, and business decisions has nothing to do with strategy? In Episode 359 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with growth strategist, certified business coach, Trauma of Money Certified Practitioner, and Imposter Syndrome Coach Practitioner Brittney Ashley to explore the hidden ways money trauma, scarcity, self-worth...

In Episode 358 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy welcomes Mitch Jacobsen, Founder and CEO of Rviita Inc., back to the show for a powerful conversation about entrepreneurship, faith, and the resilience required to build something from nothing. Mitch shares his journey from petroleum engineer to beverage entrepreneur, risking his student line of credit, spending two years developing...

Episode 357 of The Business Development Podcast features entrepreneur, executive advisor, international keynote speaker, and bestselling author Michèle Hecken. After building and successfully exiting a global company that eventually ran with only a handful of hours of her time each week, Michèle shares the mindset shifts that allowed her to stop being the center of her business. Together, Kelly an...

In episode 356 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with international keynote speaker, leadership expert, and Well by Design founder Steven Langer for a powerful conversation about the hidden cost of success. After years of leading schools, developing provincial wellness curriculum, and building high-performing teams, Steven found himself facing burnout, anxiety, panic att...

What does real confidence look like when life refuses to slow down? In Episode 355 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy welcomes back Founder of Let Me Introduce Yourself and Confidence Coach Alyssa McMasters for a powerful conversation about confidence, emotional neutrality, resilience, entrepreneurship, sales, leadership, and the realities of balancing a high-performing career with...

Episode 354 of The Business Development Podcast features serial entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and ScaleIQ founder Kari Enns for a thought-provoking conversation about the future of business in an AI-driven world. Drawing from her own journey of rebuilding her life and business from scratch twice, Kari shares why resilience, community, and authentic human connection will become the greatest compet...

Episode 353 of The Business Development Podcast features Simon Ostler, a former newsroom leader, media strategist, and founder of Simon Ostler Consulting. With more than 20 years of experience in Canadian media, including senior leadership roles at Global News Toronto, Simon spent his career deciding which stories earned attention and which ones were ignored. In this conversation, he explains why...

In Episode 352 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with Rob Durant, CEO of U.S. Operations for the Institute of Sales Professionals, founder of Flywheel Results, and author of The Social Enablement Blueprint. What follows is a powerful conversation that challenges everything most people think they know about sales. Rob shares his unexpected journey from customer service to...

In Episode 351 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy breaks down why so many modern growth strategies are becoming nothing more than noise. From automated emails and LinkedIn DMs to AI-driven outreach tools promising quick wins, Kelly challenges the idea that more activity automatically means more progress. He explains why vanity metrics can be misleading, why downloads in podcasting...

In milestone Episode 350 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with TEDx speaker, entrepreneur, actor, filmmaker, and Ikigai consultant Paul Barry for a conversation that goes far beyond business. As this episode releases, Paul is nearly 1,000 miles into his 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail journey, walking from Mexico to Canada while raising funds for cancer awareness and pre...

In Episode 349 of The Business Development Podcast, Kelly Kennedy sits down with mindset expert, transformational coach, and entrepreneur Stacey Berger for a powerful conversation about why external success is never enough if it comes at the cost of fulfillment, purpose, and personal well-being. Stacey shares her journey from growing a corporate subsidiary from a million-dollar balance sheet to $6...

In Episode 348 of The Business Development Podcast, Colin Christensen returns for his fourth appearance on the show to explore one of the most fascinating and misunderstood industries in the world today. As CEO of Tidal Care Inc. and a mentor to more than 2,000 founders, Colin shares his journey into the mushroom industry, the differences between functional mushrooms and psilocybin, the emerging r...