Independence by Design™

If you’re a business owner trying to make sense of Bitcoin, this conversation is your entry point. 

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Over two episodes combined into one, I sat down with Kim Clark and her father Alan Beaulieu—a partner at the world-renowned forecasting firm ITR Economics

Most advice treats all owners the same. The reality? There are two different games.

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For the 98% (smaller, tightly owner‑dependent companies), the job and the asset are commingled. Generic “exit planning” advice often creates nois...

If your goal is to run your company from the boardroom, the real work isn’t just stepping out of day-to-day operations. It’s making sure the business—and your wealth—are protected no matter what happens. In this conversation with attorney and deal advisor Jim Carlisle. Jim has guided hundreds of owners through sales, ESOPs, continuity crises, and legacy planning—and he’s seen what ...

If you want to design a business that works for your life — not the other way around — you need to understand the actual game you’re playing. 

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In this episode, I sit down with Candice Bradley, a business owner, investor, former banker, and strategic advisor who’s lived through ...

If you’re trying to grow your business without creating a mess of misaligned incentives, resentment, or comp plans that backfire—this episode is for you. I brought Jennifer Davis back on because she built one of the most intentional compensation systems I’ve ever seen. We walk through how she tied her company’s mission and KPIs directly to each person’s comp—and connected it all th...

What if the success you're chasing isn't the final destination, but the beginning of something more? 

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Most business owners I talk to know AI matters—but many are still stuck thinking it’s just for writing emails or something their IT team should handle. That’s not the game we’re playing. 

What if the success you're chasing isn't the final destination, but the beginning of something more? 

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This episode is the natural continuation of last week's conversation with Jean Moncrieff, the new leader of the Small Giants Community. But today, we go back to the source to get the full o...

What does it actually mean to build a company that lasts? 

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Not just one that grows. Not just one that sells. But one that thrives beyond the founder—because it was built with values at the core. 

In this episode, I’m joined by Jean Moncrieff, an entrepreneur, coach...

This episode is different. No guest. No business mechanics. Just me, reading from my journal and unpacking the questions that have been driving my work, my life, and everything behind Independence by Design™. 

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A few questions have been front and center for me since my first memories. Why are we here? Wh...

Jennifer Davis is the co-founder and former CEO of Davisware, a vertical ERP platform she and her husband started at 17. Over two decades, they scaled it to $20M+ in revenue, built a team of over 200, and sold to private equity. She’s also the mother of ten kids and the author of two books, including Living Exponentially. 

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What’s happening in the M&A market right now? Who’s buying, who’s selling, and how should owners think about timing, value, and optionality? 

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In this episode, I sit down with Jeff Buettner from ButcherJoseph, an investment banker who specializes in founder-led companies in the lower mid...

Most owners rely on gut instinct, advisors, or market trends to make decisions, but few stop to ask: What’s actually happening underneath the economy? 

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In this episode, I’m joined by Joe Brown—creator of Heresy Financial—for a macroeconomic breakdown that actually makes sense for business owners. We unp...

We’ve all heard it: “Pick one thing. Focus. Go all in.” But what if that advice doesn’t apply once you’ve built real optionality?  

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In this episode, I’m joined by Mark Cleveland—an experienced entrepreneur, investor, and self-described parallel entrepreneur—to rethink how owners can design ...

If you're running a mid-sized company and considering acquisitions—or you just want to understand how smaller companies get valued—this episode is for you. 

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I sat down with Clint Fiore, a business broker who’s helped hundreds of Main Street businesses try to sell. And here’s the truth: most of them don’...

You’ve probably heard that business valuation is more art than science. But what if the art is just smoke and mirrors—and the science has been hiding in plain sight all along? 

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In this episode, I’m joined by Graham Stephen and Kyle McCulloch, the team behind Bizval, a company that’s quietly building a t...

What happens when the business you built no longer protects you from the parts of yourself you've been avoiding? Alex McClafferty co-founded and sold WP Curve to GoDaddy—but it wasn’t until after the exit that he found himself face-to-face with an identity crisis, emotional collapse, and a brutal confrontation with his shadow self. 

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What really happens when an entrepreneur sells their business? For John Rood, it was the start of a deeply personal reckoning with identity, purpose, risk, and time. In this episode, we go beyond the typical exit story and talk about what it actually feels like to step away from the company you built—and what comes next when you’re no longer busy, no longer...

This episode is fire. Elliott Holland is a straight shooter who has seen hundreds of deals from every angle—searcher, investor, operator, and QofE provider. In this conversation, we cut through the noise to talk about what’s really going on in the acquisition market, why most self-funded searchers fail, and how owners can actually position their business (and themselves) for the ne...

Most business owners are exhausted by marketing that feels like a black box—random tactics, disconnected agencies, and no clear ROI. Kim Clark knows that pain—and she’s built the solution. As the former head of sales and marketing at ITR Economics, Kim helped transform the business from a founder-led consulting firm into a scalable company that exited at eight figures—without relyi...