Forged For Growth

Mitch Eckler shares how he built a media and marketing career after leaving rock and roll. He explains how COVID accelerated his transition into YouTube, writing, commercial photography, and content creation for firearms manufacturers. The conversation explores building credibility in a niche market, planning content ahead, measuring success through meaningful engagement, and using education to he...

Episode Summary How Exceptional Admins helps executives hire, retain, and onboard exceptional administrative talent with more clarity and less chaos. Brian talks with Hilani Ellis about her early career in executive operations, including her work alongside Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s radio, publishing, and TV operations. Hilani explains why busy and productive are not the same, how she launched Excep...

Episode Summary How Custom Box Agency helps companies use physical products to create memorable customer experiences, improve acquisition, and stand out in a digitally saturated market. Brian talks with Mark Stern about leaving corporate America, moving from virtual events into physical product strategy, and discovering the power of pairing digital experiences with tangible tools. Mark explains wh...

Episode Summary How 5th Line helps growing companies raise debt capital and understand the lender market. Brian talks with James Turner about his non-traditional career path from starting and selling a small e-commerce business in college to working with early-stage companies and eventually building 5th Line. James explains how the firm helps technology, consumer goods, manufacturing, and professi...

Episode Summary How Sciata helps larger organizations modernize systems, prepare data, and deploy AI in ways that support real business strategy. Brian talks with Michelle Tinsley about her 26 years at Intel across finance, product, IoT, and sales, her move into startup leadership, and her transition into private equity-backed leadership as CEO of Sciata. Michelle explains how Sciata works with co...

Episode Summary How Geeks for Business helps small and mid-sized organizations get responsive, relationship-driven IT support. Brian talks with Matt Ferguson about building his first computer in high school, starting with residential PC repair, studying computer science, and eventually moving from break-fix work into managed IT for businesses. Matt explains why he rebranded from Geek House Calls t...

Episode Summary How Echo Cyber helps growing companies connect business goals with practical cybersecurity leadership. Brian talks with Michael Faas about his path from studying computer programming, pivoting away from computer science after calculus, and turning a part-time IT job into a 25-year cybersecurity career. Michael explains why his work often centers on translating between technical tea...

Episode Summary How Sproket Logic helps companies improve Salesforce architecture, performance, data storage, and long-term usability. Brian talks with Sean Fielding about his path from joining a Salesforce practice in 2010 as employee number two, helping grow it to more than 100 employees, building products, exiting in 2022, and then launching Sproket Logic in earnest. Sean explains why Salesforc...

Episode Summary How RocketPrint Software grew from a business failure into a long-running storefront and quoting platform for the commercial printing industry. Brian talks with Gil Newsom about launching the company in the early days of online selling, building software around real customer needs, and staying focused on ease of use for printers who need practical tools rather than programmer-orien...

Episode Summary How Vantage Point Collective helps teams improve delivery, reduce process drift, and use agile tools with more intention. Brian talks with Liza Gonzalez about her career path from radio sales administration to graphic design, internal communications, Scrum mastery, agile coaching, and becoming a certified ProKanban trainer. Liza explains what Scrum Masters actually do, why the role...

Episode Summary How technical sales teams can handle difficult personalities, protect their time, and improve win rates. Brian talks with Paul Chapman about his background in IT, pre-sales leadership, and building 4Disruptors around the four personalities that derail sales conversations: the techie, the distractor, the saboteur, and the inquisitor. Paul explains the role of pre-sales as the transl...

Episode Summary How NDAY Security is using AI to transform offensive security, automate testing, and make cybersecurity more accessible to businesses outside the industry echo chamber. Brian talks with Mark Whitehead about his path from video game cybersecurity to government contracting, Big Four consulting, offensive security leadership, and eventually founding NDAY Security. Mark explains how AI...

Episode Summary How Cybermat Technologies helps companies find security gaps before attackers do. Brian talks with Matthew Miles about his path from radiology and IT into ethical hacking, why he started his own cybersecurity business after a major life change, and what penetration testing actually involves. Matt explains the difference between automated vulnerability scans and hands-on penetration...

Episode Summary How Vision Dental Partners uses brand, community, and content to help dentists stand out in competitive local markets. Brian talks with Lex Orzalli about her path from running a dental office to leading marketing for a fast-growing, multi-location dental group. Lex explains why dental marketing is about more than acquiring new patients, how retention and reactivation campaigns shou...

Episode Summary Samuel Moore breaks down why CRM and process clarity matter long before a company feels “big enough” to need them. He shares his path into tech through an apprenticeship-style boot camp, early automation work, and building internal IT structure, then explains how The Marks Group helps businesses translate goals into a coherent CRM-first tech stack, including ERP-style consolidation...

Episode Summary Jess Vigorito explains how to stand out in modern marketing with ICP-driven storytelling and thoughtful AI use. She shares how her path from sales to marketing shaped an approach built on authentic connection, then breaks down how Rising Phoenix Media and Marketing builds campaigns by getting specific about audience identity, nostalgia triggers, and attention patterns. Brian and Je...

Episode Summary David Hettinger explains how owners can build value before a sale. Brian talks with David Hettinger about V3.me, owner transitions, small business valuation, and the common issues that keep companies from reaching their full potential. David shares why buyers look closely at customer relationships, processes, key staff, technology, and whether the owner can step away without the bu...

Episode Summary Beth Ardner explains how skills data can improve hiring and mobility. Brian talks with Beth Ardner of Gobekli.io about learning and employment records, credential wallets, and the challenge of making real skills visible beyond degrees, job titles, and resumes. Beth shares how her team helps people capture evidence from work, education, caregiving, volunteering, games, and other lif...

Episode Summary Pete Kimbis explains how nonprofits can compete for funding. Brian talks with Pete Kimbis about the realities of nonprofit funding, grant writing, and the administrative burden that can keep important work from reaching the people who need it. Pete shares how PKC helps nonprofits and entrepreneurs move beyond last-minute technical writing by building relationships, strategy, commun...

Episode Summary Sean Patrick Fleming shares how Aztra builds AI-first tools for manufacturing and retail. Sean talks about his path from mechanical engineering and renewable energy into tech sales, cybersecurity, NVIDIA, Databricks, and now Aztra. He explains how Aztra is moving from custom services to product-led platforms that help teams make better decisions using existing data and systems. The...

Episode Summary Thomas Hernandez explains how OSaava Services turns cybersecurity strategy into execution. Brian talks with Thomas about his path from Army communications and cybersecurity into operational leadership, and how that experience shapes his work as COO of OSaava Services. Thomas shares how OSaava helps federal and enterprise clients with cybersecurity, enterprise IT modernization, data...

Episode Summary How a veteran turned an everyday field problem into a mobile hygiene product line. Aaron Barnes shares how eight years in the Army and years as a federal contractor, often in austere environments, pushed him to build Compact Care. He and Brian talk through the core products, including steam-compressed towels that expand with water and sheet-based mobile soap designed to clean witho...

Episode Summary How an IT consulting firm helps biopharma companies build the tech backbone for drug launches. Abigail Grable shares her path from Big Four consulting to Project Outlier, including her return to an operations role after delivering client work. She and Brian talk about the realities of consulting, the tradeoffs of fully remote operations, and why focusing exclusively on biotech and...

Episode Summary How a process-driven advisor helps modernize a legacy wealth management firm. Jack Dobies shares his path from Ohio State and Deloitte as a software cloud engineer into financial planning at Merkel Wealth Management. He and Brian talk about why money is emotional, where AI can help and where it still falls short, and what clients really need beyond generic advice once their assets...

Episode Summary How to systematize marketing so teams stop reacting and start driving results. Taylor Edginton shares how he went from marketing technologist roles and startup experiences to becoming Digital Director at Reynolds+Myers. He and Brian dig into what a “marketing machine” really means, why iterative progress beats waiting for perfect launches, and how to choose channels based on where...