Free To Lead

When her family printing business collapsed during the 2008 recession, Rachel Minion was forced to rebuild from the ground up—initially working from a crowded beach house apartment to prove her skill set. Years later, while navigating a career at Ticketmaster, a sudden furlough during the pandemic became the exact push she needed to take her side hustle, Rock Star & Moon, full-time. In this inspir...

What happens when relentless career drive catches up with your health? In this powerful, candid episode of Free to Lead, former family court judge and seasoned trial attorney Michele Locke opens up about the real, unfiltered costs of non-stop ambition. From undergoing 15 surgeries under anaesthesia to facing a painful political loss and navigating divorce, Michele reflects on how unaddressed emoti...

What does it take to transition from a government employee to building and successfully exiting two multi-million dollar tech distribution companies? In this episode, seasoned sales expert and author Glenn Poulos shares the raw, unfiltered truth about scaling a business, learning from failed acquisitions, and avoiding the trap of "shiny object syndrome". Discover why most companies fail at custome...

Glancing at screens all day leaves most eyes feeling dry, fatigued, and completely drained. Over two decades in optometry reveal how smartphones and laptops trigger high-energy blue light damage and drastically slow down natural blink rates, leading to long-term macular degradation and persistent dry eye. Beyond standard advice like taking frequent breaks or using basic eye drops, targeted nutriti...

What kind of man steals another man's salad dressing—and how does that lead to starting a clean food revolution? In this episode of Free to Lead, host Palm sits down with Greg Vetter, innovator, clean food pioneer, and author of Undressed: The Unfiltered Story of My Failed American Dream and How It Led to Success. Greg details his journey from selling insurance over a bodega to building Tessemae's...

Ever feel like the traditional path to success just wasn't built for you? Liana Zavo dropped out of college, faced rejection from five PR agencies, and was told soft skills didn't matter. Today, she runs a globally recognised agency spanning 12 countries, writes for Forbes, and empowers leaders to step into their authority. In this conversation, we dive into how Liana turned pure ambition and stor...

Ever feel like AI is leaving you behind because you can't write code? Forget the technical jargon—the most powerful skill in modern AI isn’t computer science; it’s deep domain expertise. Serial entrepreneur Chris Daigle breaks down how non-technical founders and leaders can stop fearing AI tools and start using them as strategic thought partners. From safe ways to anonymise confidential business d...

Navigating life when everything feels like a do-or-die situation takes a special kind of grit. Claudia Thompson, Director of Field Operations for BNI, sits down to share her raw journey through surviving personal trauma, navigating single motherhood, and carving out a massive career in sales and leadership. She breaks down the messy reality of unlearning deep-seated people-pleasing habits, establi...

Most of us treat our bodies like we're stuck with whatever health hand we were dealt, settling for low energy, bad sleep, and slow weight gain. True health transformation isn't about grinding through another fad diet or forcing yourself to live on sheer willpower. Real, lasting vitality starts when you fix metabolic dysfunction, reset your gut microbiome, and unlock your brain’s neuroplasticity. W...

When a sudden tech layoff threatened her family's security, Emma Powell turned a terrifying moment into a multi-million dollar real estate empire. Going from a part-time photographer homeschooling six kids to retiring her husband in just five years, Emma reveals how she built a massive portfolio through strategic leverage and capital raising. We dive deep into the real math of passive income, shif...

When a devastating injury crushed a childhood dream of playing professional soccer at 17, for Dr Jacopo Iasiello giving up wasn't an option. Instead, it sparked a complete reinvention leading from the streets of Naples to building a global real estate empire across Miami, Italy, and Dubai. Packed with raw lessons on losing €1 million, mastering over 350 property flips, and turning market crashes i...

Ever wonder what happens when the applause stops and the fight of your life begins outside the ring? Former World Boxing Champion Billy Schwer opens up about the brutal reality of elite performance, the high cost of overtraining, and the devastating crash that followed his retirement from sport. Winning titles took extreme aggression and relentless drive—traits that built a champion but ultimately...

Lepping out of corporate stability into running your own business sounds heroic until you’re staring down the barrel of rent day with no safety net. Entrepreneurship isn’t all glossy wins and milestone posts; it’s a grueling test of grit, self-awareness, and relentless perseverance. Lilian Raji peels back the curtain on two decades of building a top-tier luxury PR agency, securing over $100M in st...

Ditching organic post algorithms for targeted connection strategies might sound counterintuitive, but it completely transforms how you find ideal clients on LinkedIn. Colin Hirdman drops by to break down his exact playbook for building high-converting networks through authentic outreach, educational content, and strategic automation. From leveraging competitor events to using thought-leader proxie...

Finding top-tier talent usually feels like an expensive, time-consuming nightmare, but smart automation changes everything. Danika Chilibeck breaks down how she went from feeling completely overwhelmed by recruitment to building an AI platform that books candidate interviews ten times faster. She shares her exact framework for stitching together off-the-shelf tools to build a minimum viable produc...

What if the biggest bottleneck in your business isn’t your marketing, your finance, or your team—but a promise you made to yourself when you were ten years old? Austin Davis, founder of Clearfork Academy, built a phenomenal mental health and addiction treatment enterprise for teenagers from the ground up, scaling from just eight beds to over eighty. But behind the incredible growth lies a classic...

When business owners hit an unbreakable revenue plateau, they often arrive at the end of their rope—physically drained and deeply exhausted. Business strategist and certified mindset coach Celie Arias joins the show to share her 25-year entrepreneurial journey, spanning from a childhood babysitting business to running a global fashion line. She dives deep into the realities of navigating failed pr...

Moving to a new country shouldn't feel like a logistical nightmare, but for anyone who has tried it, you know exactly how painful sorting housing, bank accounts, and visas can be. After experiencing this first-hand when moving from Spain to the UK, Óscar Rubio Martin decided to build the exact solution he wished he'd had. Today, that idea has evolved into Luxury Lodging, a digital ecosystem managi...

What happens when you spend four decades at the absolute top of the television and video industry, picking up a BAFTA nomination and working on everything from Top Gear to Big Brother? You realise that the most powerful thing you can create isn’t a heavily polished, multi-million-pound production—it’s a raw, immediate piece of human communication. Dan Gable dives deep into the incredible evolution...

Imagine hitting every financial milestone you ever dreamed of, stepping onto a beach halfway across the world, and suddenly asking yourself: Is this all there is? That’s the exact wall Scott Royal Smith hit after building a massive legal and real estate empire. True freedom isn't just an automated asset protection structure or a bulletproof tax strategy; it’s an inside job. When you learn to quiet...

Imagine climbing the ladder of financial success for a decade, only to look down and realise it was leaning against the completely wrong wall. Too many entrepreneurs pour their blood, sweat, and tears into building massive wealth, yet hesitate to exit because the taxman wants up to 50% of the proceeds. It is time to change the playbook. Discover how Brett Swarts took the painful lessons of the 200...

What if your investment portfolio could reflect your deepest personal values while simultaneously crushing market averages? Jaden Sterling, founder of Sterling Stock Picker, joins the show to share how he transitioned from a high-stakes career at Merrill Lynch and Citigroup to building an award-winning platform that empowers everyday investors. This episode isn't just about the numbers; it's about...

Can you create a product that’s both high-performance and planet-friendly without breaking the bank? Ian Peterman, founder of Peterman Design Firm, joins the show to prove that conscious design isn't just a trend—it's a massive business advantage. With over two decades of experience working with giants like HP and Nike, Ian now focuses on helping missions-driven brands develop, commercialize, and...

What happens when you take the rigorous discipline of German automotive manufacturing and apply it to the world of mobile home parks? Matthias Gruenwald, the operational powerhouse behind WCG Investments, joins the show to share his incredible journey from programming robots for BMW suppliers to managing over $20 million in real estate assets. This episode is a deep dive into the "dual system" of...

Ever wondered what it’s like to survive a massive market crash and completely rewrite your playbook to never let it happen again? Success in real estate isn't just about the buildings; it's about the grit to knock on doors when everyone else is hiding behind a screen and the humility to learn from every single mistake. Will is joined by Joel Friedland & Ian DeVan, together they discuss a "Purple C...