Above The Business

Have you seen what Curt Cignetti has done at Indiana? In just his second year, he's taken one of college football's historically worst programs to the number one ranking in the country. But here's what matters for business owners: he didn't figure it out alone. In this episode, Bradley breaks down the Curt Cignetti story and the four critical lessons every business owner needs to understand about...

What if you treated your team with the same care and attention that Four Seasons gives its guests? In this episode, Bradley sits down with Melissa Fackler, small business coach at OneTeam Partners, to explore how hospitality principles can transform your company culture and customer experience. Melissa spent a decade in the hospitality industry working in hotels, banquets, venues, and country musi...

In this episode, Bradley introduces his Word of the Year for 2026: Margin. Drawing on wisdom from his mentor and coach Sean Blanc, Bradley explores margin as "the difference between your load and your limit" and how this framework can transform the way business owners approach stress, overwhelm, and burnout. Whether you're struggling with time constraints, financial pressure, or emotional exhausti...

In this episode, Micah Cannon returns to Above The Business to share the blueprint Club Capital followed to grow and scale their bookkeeping and financial advisory firm over the past decade. Rather than covering his origin story, this conversation focuses on the strategic decisions, systems, and frameworks that enabled Club Capital to achieve sustained success since their founding in 2015. From na...

Welcome to 2026! In this episode, Bradley shares a powerful insight from a recent breakfast conversation that will transform how you approach reading business books this year. The question isn't just "Have you read it?" — it's "Have you realized it?" During a coffee meeting with an incredibly well-read business leader, Bradley heard a phrase he'd never forget. When discussing books they'd both rea...

Join Bradley Hamner for a special year-end compilation featuring the most impactful moments from 2025's highest-performing episodes. This episode brings together five powerful conversations with industry leaders who've cracked the code on remote teams, meaningful work, accountability systems, and hiring excellence. Whether you're hearing these insights for the first time or revisiting wisdom that...

In this final solo episode, Bradley breaks down a transformative conversation with a long-term client that reveals the difference between task-oriented thinking and systems thinking. Learn why the shift from "developing your team" to "creating a team development system" is the key to scaling past $2-3 million in revenue. Bradley shares a coaching session with a client who grew from $750K to nearly...

Everyone's got a plan until they get punched in the face. In this episode, Chad Cannon joins Bradley to talk about the reality of entrepreneurial setbacks and what separates business owners who make it from those who don't. Chad shares frameworks from his 20+ year career working behind the scenes with companies like Michael Hyatt & Co. and StoryBrand, plus raw stories from his own recent chall...

In August 1949, 15 smoke jumpers deployed to Mann Gulch, Montana for what seemed like a routine wildfire. The situation quickly deteriorated—the fire spread faster than expected, moved uphill, and surrounded them. 13 firefighters tragically lost their lives. The two survivors? They used an unconventional tactic that wasn't widely practiced: they started a controlled fire around themselves, allowin...

In this powerful Business Blueprint Series episode, Bradley sits down with Dave Curry, a real-deal business owner who opens up about his journey—the victories, the struggles, and the moments he almost walked away from his business. If you've ever felt alone in your entrepreneurial journey or questioned whether you could make it work, this conversation will remind you that you're not alone and that...

In this reflective episode, Bradley Hamner challenges listeners to step back from short-term thinking and consider their business and personal trajectory over the next decade. Inspired by MrBeast's viral "Me in 10 Years" video from 2015, Bradley explores why we tend to overestimate what we can accomplish in the short term while underestimating our long-term potential. Connect with Bradley: 1-1 Gam...

In this conversation, Dr. Nick Morgan breaks down the science behind effective communication and explores why traditional public speaking advice often falls short. From the neuroscience of trust-building to the challenges of virtual communication, Nick shares decades of insights on what it really takes to move people to action through authentic, embodied communication. Great communication isn't ab...

In this powerful year-end reflection, Bradley explores the critical distinction between signal and noise in business—and how clarifying this difference can transform your 2026 planning. Drawing inspiration from Stephen Bartlett's Diary of a CEO and Kevin O'Leary's wisdom from his time at Apple with Steve Jobs, Bradley challenges listeners to identify what truly moved the needle in 2025 versus what...

"I spend most days trying to figure out how to do as little as possible. That generally leads me to trying to find and convince the smartest people I can find to help me build the thing." In this business owner spotlight episode, Bradley sits down with serial entrepreneur Graeme Barlow to discuss the blueprint for scaling businesses from $3 million to $30 million and beyond. Graeme shares his unco...

"He could build that system once, and he could ship it 2, 3, and 4 times. That is the value of not only systems and processes, but that's the value of stepping back for a second, getting above the business, thinking like an architect." In this episode, Bradley breaks down a powerful concept: build once, ship twice. It's not just a catchy phrase—it's the difference between running around like a chi...

Anthony Iannarino returns to Above the Business for the first time in five years to discuss the evolution of sales, the impact of AI on the profession, and what truly matters in building high-performing sales teams. From his Sales Accelerator platform featuring 93 courses for salespeople to his perspectives on human connection in an increasingly automated world, Anthony shares hard-won wisdom on m...

As annual planning season approaches, it's tempting to fill your 2026 strategy with every exciting idea that comes to mind. But here's the truth: if Jeff Bezos had enough ideas to kill Amazon, you have enough ideas to kill your business too. In this episode, Bradley breaks down why execution trumps ideation every single time, and how to build a 2026 plan that you'll actually implement—not just dre...

"It's just too complicated. Just too complicated, which kind of comes when you are late to the game in planning, you don't involve your team, you don't check your assumptions, you don't have a plan in place." Bradley shares his biggest annual planning mistakes from his early years as a business owner and walks through the exact step-by-step process he now uses with clients to create effective, exe...

In this candid solo episode, Bradley Hamner challenges one of the most popular concepts in business literature: the idea of the CEO as "visionary" with an integrator handling everything else. While books like Traction and Rocket Fuel have made this framework wildly popular, Bradley argues it's not realistic for small business owners—and explains why execution matters just as much as vision. If you...

In this recast, David Peterson joins Bradley to discuss leadership, business planning, and team development. You’ll hear them chat about top advice for agency owners, and how to lead your business well. As a father of four, and an owner of multiple businesses, Coach P is a big fan of systems and processes.  He believes we should have a plan for every scenario and constantly drive results thro...

In this episode, Bradley reflects on a powerful lesson from Auburn's interim coach DJ Durkin about the importance of not just what you do in business, but how you do it and who does it. This leads to a personal examination of leadership enthusiasm and self-care as critical components of business success. Connect with Bradley: 1-1 Game Plan Call: Get Above The Business. Think Like an Architect. Des...

In this episode of Above The Business , Bradley Hamner sits down with Conner Young, the Co-founder of Kairo Data, a groundbreaking acquisition platform designed to empower searchers, family offices, and investors in their journey to find, finance, and close deals with confidence. Over the past five years, Kairo Data has revolutionized the business acquisition landscape, serving more than 210 clien...

In this solo episode, Bradley Hamner breaks down the concept of stage-based blueprints for small businesses and explains why a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work. He outlines the four distinct stages of business growth from $0 to $300k, $300k to $1M, $1M to $3M, and then to $10 million and shares why business owners need to Get Above The Business, Think Like and Architect, and then Design the...

In this episode of the Above the Business Podcast, host Bradley Hamner sits down with leadership expert Muriel Wilkins to discuss her new book, Leadership Unblocked: Break Through the Beliefs That Limit Your Potential . Muriel shares her unexpected journey from aspiring CMO to executive coach, and reveals why leading yourself is the foundation of leading others effectively. Connect with Bradley: 1...

In this episode, Bradley challenges the popular notion that business owners should be the "Chief Problem Solver" (CPS) of their organization. Instead, he argues that taking on this role keeps you stuck as the rainmaker and bottleneck in your business. Bradley shares a practical framework for empowering your team to solve problems independently while maintaining effective leadership. Actionable Tak...