Head Heart & Boots

Every once in a while you record an episode and you know, before you even hit stop, that it's a top-tenner. This is that one. Chris and I sat down with Dan Casey and Griffin Brand  - a football coach turned historian and an Army Ranger, to talk about their book Bring Your Own Pencil , the leadership playbook of the legendary Bill Walsh. But this isn't a football episode. It's a masterclass fo...

Family businesses come with incredible opportunities, but they also come with unique challenges. In this episode, I sit down with Keri Jones , whose family built Utah Disaster Kleanup into one of the most respected restoration companies in the country. We talk about what it was like growing up in the business, learning from industry pioneers, and eventually helping lead the company through rapid g...

Mentorship gets talked about a lot in business, but what does it actually look like in practice? In this episode, Brandon and I unpack the difference between teaching, coaching, and true mentorship, and why most leaders struggle to develop people effectively. We explore the two ingredients every great mentor needs: experience and visibility. It's not enough to know what good looks like, you have t...

In this episode, I sit down with former NCAA champion and Olympian Les Gutches for one of the most fascinating conversations we’ve had on the show. What started as a conversation about wrestling quickly turned into a masterclass on resilience, discipline, business, leadership, and life. Les shares stories from his childhood in Southern Oregon, growing up fast while helping care for his sick mother...

In this episode of Head, Heart and Boots, Brandon and I sat down with J. Brad Britton for one of the most meaningful conversations we’ve had on the podcast. J. Brad spent decades leading inside the Cutco and Vector organizations, but this episode centers on something far deeper - his relationship with his son Sam and how that journey completely changed the way he thinks about leadership, communica...

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I sit down with our teammate Clinton Tierney to talk sales, leadership, and the mindset it takes to win in today’s restoration market. Clinton’s story is incredible—college athlete turned mold technician turned multi-million dollar producer and sales leader—and you can hear how every season shaped the way he approaches business development tod...

In this episode of Head, Heart and Boots, Brandon and I sit down with Nick D’Urbano again- this time not to talk AI, but to dig into branding. And honestly, this one hit different. Nick’s built and scaled multiple 8- and 9-figure brands, and what stood out is how clearly he sees something most of us miss: brand isn’t your logo, your colors, or your website- it’s how people feel when they interact...

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I sit down with Rocky Hensley to break down his latest exit and what actually drove the valuation behind the deal. Rocky shares how private equity approached the opportunity, why he chose his partner, and what most owners misunderstand about timing a sale. We dig into the simple framework he uses to build valuable companies, centered around st...

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I sit down with Chris Matts , founder of Marketing Ninjas, to talk about what actually drives growth in restoration and why most marketing misses the mark. Chris shares his path into entrepreneurship, how he found the restoration industry, and why he chose to focus on helping companies generate more opportunities through outbound and relations...

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I sit down with Sam Chapman , owner of Merit Restorations and partner in CaseCo and 1-Tom Plumber, to talk about building businesses, leading people, and the real work behind growth. Sam shares his journey from a blue collar upbringing to building multiple companies, and how he’s approached scaling through partnerships, culture, and intentiona...

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, I sit down with Lane Larsen , founder of Clean Claims, to unpack what is happening at the intersection of restoration, technology, and insurance. As the industry continues to evolve, Lane brings a unique perspective on how software, data, and process are reshaping the way claims are handled and how contractors can position themselves to win in a more comp...

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I sit down with Nick Rahn , founder of Warriors Next Adventure, for one of the most intense and powerful conversations we’ve had on the show. Nick shares his journey from a turbulent childhood and multiple combat deployments in the Air Force to hitting rock bottom after leaving the military, battling addiction, and nearly ending his life in th...

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, we sit down for a conversation to unpack a fresh perspective on leadership, pressure, and the internal narratives that shape how we show up in business and in life. This episode is less about tactics and more about awareness. It is about recognizing the stories we tell ourselves when things get hard and how those stories either limit us or push us forward...

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I dig into something that feels bigger than business but is showing up inside every business anyway: loneliness, disconnection, and the emotional fragility many people are carrying into work right now. We unpack how remote work, constant digital distraction, and the erosion of real face-to-face relationships are reshaping not only mental healt...

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I tackle a shift that many restoration companies are starting to feel but may not fully understand yet. The traditional flow of insurance work is changing. Claim volumes are tightening, TPAs are producing fewer opportunities, and customers are becoming more cautious about filing claims due to rising deductibles and policy pressure. That shift...

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, we sit down with Johnny Gabe for a raw and deeply personal conversation about redemption, reinvention, and what real leadership transformation looks like over time. Johnny shares his journey from growing up in a violent environment in Philadelphia, surviving being shot at fourteen, and carrying that trauma into adulthood, to building multiple successful h...

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I sit down with Andrew Dobson , owner of ServPro Team Dobson , one of the largest ServPro operators in the country with nineteen licenses across multiple markets. Andrew shares the full origin story of how he grew up in a family cleaning business, left a creative path that once pointed toward Pixar, and slowly built a restoration operation gro...

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I dig into a simple but surprisingly powerful framework that has been shaping how we think about performance, leadership, and execution. We unpack the equation of focus, faith, and effort, and why missing any one of those variables quietly sabotages outcomes in business, leadership, and personal growth. We explore how leaders often overestimat...

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I wrestle with one of the most difficult leadership disciplines to master: staying emotionally grounded when everything around you feels chaotic. We talk candidly about the emotional whiplash of entrepreneurship, how quickly even the best intentions and plans can get derailed by fires, and why reactivity quietly destroys momentum inside growin...

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I have one of our most personal and vulnerable conversations to date. We step into a topic that’s often misunderstood, stigmatized, or avoided altogether - alternative medicine and the role psilocybin has played in my own mental, emotional, and relational health. I share my background growing up in a deeply religious environment, my initial sk...

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I dig into one of the most overlooked drivers of growth in service businesses: the client experience. Sparked by a frustrating real-world story, we unpack how even well-intentioned teams can slowly erode trust through poor communication, missed expectations, and a lack of follow-through - and why those failures compound over time. We talk cand...

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I sit down for a raw, unfiltered look at the last 60 days - the travel, the pressure, the wins we haven’t slowed down to celebrate, and the realities of running two fast-moving companies at the same time. We talk about what it feels like when your business hits a streak of negative momentum, how long it takes to turn the ship, and why even sma...

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I sit down with Claire Carreras,  a musician, comedian, fashion entrepreneur, and now co-owner of 1-Tom Plumber Austin to unpack one of the most unexpected and compelling career journeys we’ve ever featured. Claire opens up about a childhood marked by constant relocation across multiple countries, how creativity and performance became her...

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, I sit down with Nilo Quiroz and John Villon to unpack their unlikely path from oil-and-gas engineers to running one of the fastest-growing PuroClean and 1-Tom Plumber operations in the country. We get into how early failures shaped their mindset, why putting ego aside became the key to their partnership, and how saying yes —long before they felt ready—hel...

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I sit down with Alejandro to unpack what ten years inside one of the toughest jiu jitsu cultures in the country can teach us about leadership, loyalty, and personal growth. We dig into how a broken season in his life led him to a mentor who changed everything, why the Daisy Fresh laundromat became a proving ground for world class competitors,...