The Monday Next Podcast

1. Episode Summary In the Season 1 finale, Scott and Meredith drop the polished "lessons learned" stories and talk about the business mistakes that actually hurt. Scott shares a "deep vs. wide" growth decision he still regrets, plus how insecurity led him into multiple business partnerships that were the wrong fit. Meredith breaks down a five-year, $250K "revenue tabs" bet that never worked, and a...

1. Episode Summary In this episode, Scott and Meredith argue about the thing everyone argues about: work-life balance. Scott makes the case that "balance" is mostly a myth during certain seasons, especially when you are bootstrapping and building. Meredith pushes back and reframes it as something you design through choices, trade-offs, and clear definitions. Along the way, they get into energy man...

1. Episode Summary Scaling is one of the most overhyped words in business, and most of the advice floating around has nothing to do with real SMB life. Scott and Meredith break down the difference between "headline growth" and operator reality, then map out three distinct growth buckets (not two). They also get tactical with Scott's "profit islands" framework, plus how to forecast your next move w...

1. Episode Summary In this episode, Scott and Meredith break down what it actually means to run an employee-owned company, using Here Comes the Guide's ESOP as the real-world case study. Meredith explains how the ESOP was created, how the founder exit worked, and what employees really receive over time. They also get honest about the limitations of long-horizon incentives, and why "act like an own...

1. Episode Summary In this episode, Scott and Meredith talk about breaking the "rules" in your industry and why that is often the fastest path to differentiation. Scott shares how kitchen & bath CRATE challenged common construction norms like big upfront deposits, vague timelines, and heavy reliance on subcontractors. Meredith shares how Here Comes The Guide competes against a much larger competit...

1. Episode Summary In this episode of Monday Next, Scott and Meredith take on one of the most misunderstood leadership topics in modern business: vulnerability. They debate whether vulnerability belongs in leadership at all, and ultimately reframe the conversation around transparency, self-awareness, and trust. Drawing from real stories inside their companies, they explore how leaders can be hones...

In this episode of Monday Next, Scott and Meredith tackle one of the most debated topics in modern business: remote work. Meredith shares how Here Comes the Guide has successfully operated as a fully distributed team for years, while Scott challenges the model from the perspective of a highly physical, in-person business. Together, they break down what actually makes remote work succeed, where it...

In this episode of Monday Next, Scott and Meredith tackle one of the hardest leadership decisions a CEO will ever face: What to do when your top performer becomes a culture problem. They share real stories from their own companies, including the short-term pain, long-term gains, and emotional fallout of letting high performers go. This conversation is about values, trust, intuition, and why protec...

1. Episode Summary Scott and Meredith debate the four-day work week and whether it is real culture or performance theater. Meredith breaks down how Here Comes the Guide moved to a true 32-hour week with no pay cuts, why it improved focus, and how clients reacted. Scott explores why a four-day week is harder in construction, where customer timelines and "profit per day" constraints rule the game. T...

1. Episode Summary In our first episode, we introduce who we are, how we work, and why our sibling conversations have shaped both of our companies. Today's deep dive tackles one of the biggest points of difference in our leadership: commissioned sales versus commission-free sales. Scott breaks down why he believes commissions unlock maximum performance. Meredith explains why removing commission cr...