June 3, 2025 • 30 mins
Our podcast episode features an enlightening discussion on the paramount importance of introspection in leadership, particularly through the lens of identifying and addressing one's blind spots. As we engage with our esteemed guest, Chad Brown, a scaling strategist and coach, we delve into the essence of leadership beyond mere titles and positions, emphasizing that true leadership is intrinsically linked to personal integrity and self-awareness. Chad recounts his transformative journey from operating a thriving media production company to realizing the necessity of fostering sustainable leadership practices within his organization. He elucidates the significance of external feedback mechanisms, positing that effective leadership is often contingent upon one’s ability to solicit honest insights from trusted advisors. Ultimately, listeners are encouraged to cultivate a proactive approach to leadership, focusing on aligning their actions with their stated values and goals for personal and organizational growth.
A profound exploration of leadership and the intricacies of personal and professional growth unfolds as we engage in a conversation with Chad Brown, an esteemed scaling strategist and coach. Chad's journey is marked by the establishment of his media production studio, Shade Tree Films, which he founded in 2008 and successfully sold in 2021. Throughout our dialogue, we delve into the myriad challenges that leaders face, particularly the often-overlooked blind spots that can impede effective leadership. Chad articulates the necessity for introspection, urging listeners to assess their leadership style not merely by title but by the impact they create in their professional environments. The conversation reveals that true leadership transcends hierarchical structures and is rooted in the ability to inspire and empower others. By sharing personal anecdotes, Chad illustrates how he learned to recalibrate his approach to leadership, pivoting from a state of relentless busyness to one of strategic delegation and empowerment, thus enabling sustainable growth both for himself and his business. For those seeking to enhance their leadership capabilities, this episode serves as a clarion call to reflect upon their practices and consider the importance of external feedback in identifying and addressing blind spots.
Takeaways:
- In order to effectively lead, one must first examine their own blind spots and challenges.
- Leadership encompasses more than just a title; it is fundamentally about one's character and approach.
- True success in business requires a shift from working in the business to working on the business.
- The importance of having a supportive network or board of advisors cannot be overstated for achieving sustainable growth.
- Identifying misalignment between personal values and actual results is crucial for effective leadership.
- Delegating responsibilities early on can significantly enhance a leader's capacity to scale their business.
Links referenced in this episode:
Mentioned in this episode:
Unstoppable Leadership Spotlight - Welcome
Welcome to the podcast
Thank you for listening
Thank you for listening. If you have enjoyed this episode please give it a 5 star review.We would love to have you be a subscriber, don't miss an episode!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:59):
Well, hello, everybody, andwelcome to the amazing podcast. I
am your host, JaclynStrominger, and today we have a fantastic
guest, Chad Brown. Now, as youknow, I love talking about leadership.
I love talking about business.I love talking about things to help
you get more shit done. But Iwant to tell you a little bit about
(01:22):
Chad because he. He is ascaling strategist and a coach. There's
some knowledge that we'regoing to dig into on that one. But
to give you some background onChad, Chad founded a media production
studio called Shade Tree Filmsin 2008. And he served. He served
global companies such asVolkswagen, Tarjay, as I like to
(01:43):
say, Pixar Animation Studiosand others. And this is where his
love and passion forleadership and business developed.
That company was sold in 2021,so congratulations. And over the
last seven years, he hastrained and developed creative entrepreneurs
who have. Who want to increasetheir profit and work less. Right.
(02:03):
Make more money, less time.Work on your business, not in your
business. All the time. So,Chad, welcome to the podcast. I am
so glad to have you as theguest. But here's one thing I want
everybody to know that whenyou are done listening to this podcast,
what you should walk away withis knowing that there, that each
(02:28):
and every one of you needs tolook inward and have your own barometer
and challenge yourself to findyour blind spots. Okay, Chad, welcome
to the show.
Thanks for having me. I'mexcited to be here.
You're welcome. So, you know,we were talking about, that we were
talking about and I just said,you know, challenging with blind
(02:51):
spots. I mean that, you know,there's a few things that just kind
of popped into my brain and Ithink it's. I think one of the things
that we were talking about inthe pre show was that so many leaders
have. Well, first of all, theydon't call themselves leaders. A
(03:12):
lot of times it's. It's themanager or the VP or the director.
So we need to obviously changethat. People are meant to lead. We
as humans are not animals.We're not being corralled, but it's
bringing out the best in otherpeople. But in order to do that,
the hard part is, as you aresharing, is that we need to look
inside and find and challengeourselves to find out what our blind
(03:37):
spots are and what is ourbarometer for success. What. What's
the, what is that level thatwe're looking at as our measuring
stick?
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, for me,leadership is not. It's not something
you do. It's not a Title. It'snot a salary. It's not, you know,
something you climb into inthe corporate ladder. It's how you
(04:00):
are, it's who you are, it'syour way of being. And that's, that
feels like a little likeintangible for people when it talk
about it. But I really. Eachteam that I get to work with, the
very first principle that wework on is leadership at every level.
And I really mean it. Notwhether that's self leadership, whether
that's a customer service, anIC customer service representative
(04:23):
leading your clients through achallenging software process or whether
you're a manager or asupervisor or an executive. Everybody
is leading somebody in someway or the opportunity is for them
to lead in some, to somethingsome way. I would actually say everybody
is leading in some way. Buthow are you leading? And you said
(04:44):
look inward and I get theconcept of that. What I would actually
say is look outward, look atthe results that you're causing.
If the results that you'recausing are different than what you
said you were out to do orwhat you say you're about. And by
the way, I'm not preachingthis like you know, some guy who's
(05:06):
got it all figured out and isperfect at it. This is all, this
is all continual failure thatI've gotten to experience in my life
and in my roles and in mybusiness that have led me to this
point. But is sometimes, a lotof times the ideas that we have about
ourselves and our leadershipare different than the results that
(05:27):
we're actually causing.Everybody knows what it's like to
work for that person that'sjust disconnected from their impact.
And I would say actuallythere's disconnection for all of
us in our impact. And if we'rewilling to look what's actually there
and get the feedback and askmeaningful questions, then we can
(05:48):
find out what our actualimpact is and then we can make adjustments
towards what we want it to be.
Right. You know, it's so, it'strue. It's like, you know, we have
to look at the, as you said,the impact that we're, that we're
having. So tell me, what wasyour first instance for yourself
(06:09):
when you realized, oh, it wasa big, oh being a leader than I thought
I was.
It was a big old moment and itwas multi layered and I'm still unpacking
it. But you mentioned the filmproduction company that I started
in 2008 and we got, weexperienced financial success and
(06:35):
brand success very quickly inthat business. It was a lot of it
was luck. A lot of it wastiming. A lot of it was really hard
work. And we got to the pointwhere the nature of production is.
You go where. You go where thework is when it's. When it's happening.
Especially so much of our workwas live, live event production.
(06:58):
And so it got to the pointwhere I had allowed the business
to take over my life. I had.I'd been. At the time, I'd been married
about four, five years. We hadtwo. No, no, sorry. Six years. We
had two daughters. One wasfour, one was one. And we had moved
out to Southern California tostart this. This production company.
(07:22):
And my wife, Ess, essentially,in a matter of probably nine months,
10 months, became a single momin a small apartment in Southern
California with no community.And I was, God knows where, doing
production, speaking fromstages, you know, all of that sort
of stuff. And it reallyhappened fast and all under the guise
(07:45):
for me. And here's where.Here's where we're going to, you
know, here's where thefeedback is coming from, right? Or
where we can find it. I wasdoing all of this under the guise
of. I was doing it for them,my family, right? Look at me, the
hero of my story out here, theroad warrior, working my ass off,
doing everything I can tobuild this company, make the income,
(08:07):
all of that sort of stuff. AndI deemed myself. I titled myself
a family man. Well, this wenton for a good two years, and it was
quickly becomingunsustainable. And I didn't at the
time, now I do, but I didn'tat the time realize the impact that
(08:28):
it was having on my wife, thatit was having on my kids, and that
it was having on me as anindividual and my identity around
being a husband and being afather. And at the same time, I was
a terrible leader inside thebusiness. Our. Our turnover with
our employees was really high.We would run them ragged until they,
(08:50):
you know, until they eitherquit or broke or, you know, whatever.
And it was. It was fallingapart. And I had a business partner,
50, 50 business partner at thetime. And I came to him and said,
look, man, this isn't working.I don't know how to do this thing,
but this. We're going to killourselves and we're going to ruin
(09:12):
lives along the way, marriagesand, you know, relationships with
our kids. And luckily, he wason the same page, and he was like,
yeah, I agree, this is notgoing somewhere good. And it's really
weird to have a conversationlike that when your company's just,
like, growing like wildfire.And it's like everything from the
outside looks like success,success, success, you know? And long
(09:37):
story short, we decided if wecan't figure this out in the next
six months, we'll close thedoors. And that was a, that's a big
decision to make. And, and sowe started exercising our network
for help. We didn't know whoto turn to or what to ask. We didn't
know the questions to ask,whatever, but we just put it out
there, hey, we need helpmanaging this thing. And we got connected
(09:58):
to a business coach. I didn'teven know business coaches were a
thing. I didn't, I honestlydidn't even know it existed. And
we got connected to this, thisguy who's now my best friend. His
name's Adrian Kaler. But he,at the time, he was a stranger. He
came in the very first callthat we had. You talked about that
(10:19):
moment. That, oh, moment. Thiswas it for me. We got on that call,
and I thought we were going totalk about systems and time management
and all of this, you know,really tangible stuff. And in this
call, I just, off the cuff,said, well, I'm a family man. And
(10:42):
he stopped me and he said, no,you're not. I said, what do you mean
I'm not? Screw you. Like, Iam. My family is my most important
thing to me. And he said, no,it's not. And he said, you want to
know how I know? He said, lookat the results in your life. How's
(11:03):
your wife doing? How's yourkids doing? How's your time with
them? How's your presence? Howoften? And it just hit me like a
ton of bricks, like, oh, I'vebeen saying I'm one thing and setting
my life up and acting as ifI'm something totally different.
(11:25):
And he said, you want to cleanthis business up? I said, yeah. Said,
it's not going to happen untilyou stop lying to yourself. And that
was the pivotal. It was themost impactful leadership training
moment of my life, which itwas so clear to me. What are the
(11:45):
results that you're creating?And if it's not the results that
you say you want or that you,you know, say that it's who you are,
then there's disalignment. Howwould you say that? It's not aligned.
You're misaligned.
Misaligned. There it is. I, I,I, I chose every prefix, so that
(12:07):
was, that was it. And eversince that day, again, not perfect,
but that's my barometer.What's happening outside of me? What
Results am I causing throughother people? And are those results
what I want to be causing? Andif not, it's not like it's a problem.
It's not like shame on you.It's just make some adjustments,
(12:29):
realign. Figure out what mightcause that. The result that you say
that you want.
You MMA'd your life andbusiness measure, monitored and adjusted.
Yeah.
So did you guys close yourbusinesses in six months or did you
(12:49):
keep going?
No, we kept going. We figuredout how to run it in a sustainable
way. We learned how to trainleaders within the business to take
on a lot of the work that wewere not allowing anybody to participate
in. We learned how to empowerpeople. We learned to hire people
(13:09):
that did things better than wedid. We learned how to remove ourselves
from crucial parts of thebusiness. We ended up, I mean, just
total. In the next 18 months,total turnaround, we moved out of
Southern California. Weweren't happy there, but we'd made
up a story that we needed tobe there. But the company was still
(13:29):
based in Southern California.We moved back to Utah. It was, I
mean, it was. Yeah.Eventually, maybe three years later,
we, me and that partner,amicably, I bought him out. And he
was very excited about that. Iwas very excited about that. Anyway,
it just opened up so muchpossibility for me. And it, and it
(13:52):
really is a result of thatsingle principle.
Right, that's. That's reallyfantastic. So you figured out how
to work on your business, notjust be in the business.
Right on. Yeah.
Right. Because that's one ofthe key things about, about leadership
too, is first and foremost,you have to start and be the CEO
of yourself.
(14:13):
Right on.
And, and work, you know, andthen you can work on your business.
You don't want the business tobe, you know, on you. Right. You
want to be up here. So tellme, so you've had, you had this great
turnaround, right? And you've,you've kind of figured out this new
change. What, what then ledyou, you know, to like selling the
(14:37):
business verse versuscontinuing on.
I. In the process of buildingthat business, we were really fortunate.
I was really fortunate tobecome a name in the industry that
people look to for help. And Istarted an education arm of that
(15:03):
business where we coachedother filmmaking companies, other
video production companies todo something similar to what we did.
And I just realized thatthat's what I really loved to do.
I really love to help peoplefigure it out. I was, I was kind
of over the production world,if I'm being completely honest. It
(15:25):
didn't excite me as muchanymore as it did when I was a first,
you know, brand newstoryteller with a camera. And the
really cool part of all this,one of the really cool parts of this
story is that one of our firstinterns in that business was the
one that bought it from me.And so that was such a beautiful
(15:49):
end and transition to myexperience in that business. I could
have, couldn't have asked fora better transition from that. So
it all aligned and, you know,as the years were winding down for
me in that role in thatbusiness, Adrian, who had been our
business, our first businesscoach, asked if I would come and
(16:11):
work with him in helpingbusinesses develop their leadership
teams. And so it was just areally. Everything happened really
naturally. It was a naturalprogression for me and that was the
thing I was going to do next.
That's really fantastic.Really, really fantastic. So if you're
thinking, you know, thinkingabout what you've known from obviously,
(16:33):
because that's a huge growth,that's a huge growth for so many
different businesses where youget started and, and you think you
know how to, it's. It's. Youthink you know how to grow something
and it's so hard to let go ofthe, of the pieces. So if you could
give our leaders and peoplewho are listening, like the, like,
(16:55):
one little tip, maybe it'seven like something to look for,
to know that you need you.Maybe you need. That's when you know
you need some help. What is that?
This is what I do every singleday. I was just in my. I run a small
accelerator program forcreative entrepreneurs. I was on
(17:20):
a coaching call just today andworking with one of my clients. And
he is so resistant to, tohanding over parts of his business.
And what he doesn't see isthat handing over those parts of
his business are actuallywhat's going to allow him to grow
in the way that he says hewants to grow. So this is another
(17:44):
time where I had, I didn'thave to. I chose to point out, hey,
man, you're lying to yourself.No problem. Not like we all do it.
It's not a big deal. But justnotice you're lying to yourself.
You say you want your businessto go here, but you're unwilling
to let go of certain parts ofthis business that are crucial. Crucial
(18:05):
that your time is not spent onthem. And so it was a really big
opening conversation for himand a realization. I don't know if
he's going to take action onit or not. I hope he does, but I
Would say, what are thoseindicators? Well, it's always earlier
than you think. It's alwaysearlier than you think because by
(18:25):
the time you're working aroundthe clock, juggling as many things
as you possibly can, andwhat's going to happen is you're
going to. I'll put it on me.What I did was I made up then I didn't
have time to then hand overthose things to look for somebody
who could do it better than Icould to train them to build the
(18:47):
systems around it, all of thatsort of stuff. So the earlier the
better. I mean, literally, ifI, if I'm lucky enough to start working
with somebody who is in theirfirst year or second year, I'm telling
them, build. I know you'realone, I know you're solo right now.
Build systems as if you had ateam right now. SOPS company Wikis.
(19:12):
Start thinking about the. Wedo a really cool process where we
break down all the tasksthey're doing in level 1, 2 and 3,
four tasks based on energyand. Sorry, I'm blinking. Based on
energy and I can't think of itright now. I don't know why. Anyway,
(19:34):
we break down the process andit categorizes the tasks that they're
in. And then we start withlevel one tasks. Those are the first
tasks that they, that theydelegate and it breaks it down really,
really simple. And then youknow exactly what you need. We put
those into a role. Typicallythat's like a, an administrative
role. And. Yeah, and. And Iwould just say start earlier than
(19:58):
you think.
Right. You know, and it's,it's true because I think a lot of
times people are in thesebusinesses and as. Or again, in,
in a leadership role, when youstarted a company, right. And you're
trying to do everythingyourself and then you're adding people
on and there is that sense ofit's my baby. I. It's, you know,
(20:20):
and as a parent, it's like a.When you think about your kids, like,
it's a hard thing to like, youknow, watch your kid drive off in
the car. Right. Or, you know,those are huge milestones. But it's
the same thing in yourbusiness. You have to learn to let
something go so that you cancontinue to grow.
That's right. Yeah. Energy andvalue. Sorry, value is the other
(20:43):
access that we were talkingabout or that I was thinking of.
So. But I, I completely agree.I think that's, I think that does
category categorize a lot offounders, this like idea that it's
theirs and they don't want togive it up. And what if somebody
messes it up? I do thinkthat's relevant. I do think. I do
think that's present. Idefinitely experienced some of that.
(21:05):
I also think there's ademographic that I work with that
get beyond that. And now theyjust think it's impossible to do
it. Like, how would I find thetime? I don't know how all of those
sort of things, because to me,they tend to get past a point of,
all right, if I don't letsomething go, this thing's gonna
(21:28):
die. Or I. And that's where Iwas right. It was no longer that
this thing was my baby and Ididn't want anybody to mess it up.
It was that, like, if I don'tdo something, it's gone.
Well, it's. Yeah. And it'salso going to be gone because you're
not going to have the energybecause you're going to, you're going
to. It's going to kill youfrom the inside out. Right?
Yeah. Yeah.
So I, you know, we started offby talking about, and we're talking
(21:50):
about that barometer and, youknow, you were saying it's something
people have to look on the,you know, outward. And I would also
say sometimes we really needto kind of go in and look inside
of us to say, as you weresaying, I was, I, as you were sharing,
you were going to break. Andthat's like that big time where you
need to look in and say, okay,something isn't working, and I know
(22:15):
something needs to change. Wealso have to look outside and know
that. And I think this is ahard thing, is to find those key
people that can be the, yourboard of directors and advisors that
can say, I'm like, like, hey,Chad, you're gonna kill yourself.
(22:41):
Right, Right.
Yeah.
You know, so would you saypart of when you're, when you're
working with people is to helpthem also find that team to, to rely
on?
Yeah, I'm part of that teamfor my clients. Right. We talked
(23:01):
about, we mentioned blindspots. Blind spots are called blind
spots because you can't seethem. Right. So it's fun to talk
about it, but then in realityit's like, no, they exist, but you
don't know they exist becauseyou can't see them. And you need
outside people, human beingswho care for you and who are clear
on your aim. What is it thatyou want? What's your, what's your
(23:23):
vision? If they're clear onthat, they're committed to you. Getting
it, then they will. They cansee those blind spots. They can see
what you're not considering,what you're not doing. And they can,
if they're bold enough andwilling to stand in what you say
you want rather than yourexcuses or your, you know, all of
(23:43):
whatever might allow them togo back on not being bold. But if
they're bold enough, they'lltell you, hey, you're not seeing
this, and this is going to.This is coming for you.
Right, Right. It's. Yeah.Having that team or having that person
is so important, you know, tohelp you see those blind spots. It's
(24:04):
like, you know, you becomethat little indicator on your car
that beeps at you if you'rechanging lanes.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I alwaysencourage my. And I do this myself.
I always encourage my clientsto put together a board of advisors.
And it doesn't have to beformal, but you can just. Somebody
(24:25):
that you respect that has beenwhere you've been or has some sort
of expertise in what you're upagainst, just go to them and just
say, hey, would you informallybe a member of my board of advisors?
Could we set up somethingregular? Would you be willing to
set up something regular withme where I can just let you know
what's going on and you tellme what you see honestly and boldly?
(24:49):
Yeah.
And that's huge.
Yeah, that is really, really.It is really, really big. So what.
What is your right now foryou, Chad? What is your biggest goal
for the next. For the rest of 2025?
I'm glad you asked. My goalfor 2025 is to help 100 entrepreneurs
scale their business.
(25:12):
And. And what number are you at?
I'm somewhere around 35 in allthe capacities that I'm in.
Okay. All right, so we've got,you know, 65 more. Yeah, there's
room for 65 more. And what areyou going to do to celebrate when
(25:34):
you get to 100?
Well, that's a good question.I haven't even thought about it.
Well, I typically take aboutfour weeks off between January or
December and January, and wedo some kind of trip. So I think
that will feel like some sortof celebration. But I haven't said
(25:55):
anything specific. I like that question.
All right, so I want you tothink of something that you're going
to do to celebrate, becauseit's. It's. It's, you know, that.
That part of it where you'regoing to go away, that's obviously
something for you and yourfamily. Right. But, you know, if
you could enlist your Familyin what that would be? Yeah, what
(26:20):
would that, what would thatbe? And then what is the one thing
that you would want to do foryourself? Because you know you are
putting in some of that work.
Yeah. I think actually whatwould be the best celebration is
some sort of get together forall of the people that has that I've
like that I've worked withover 20, 25. I think that would be
(26:40):
the best form of celebrationof the work that we've done together.
That'd be really nice. A bigold thank you celebration kind of
thing. I like that. Okay.Okay. So if you are a leader, have
a business and you want to beone of chats 100 or you want to.
You're curious about that, howcan they find you?
(27:02):
Connect with me on LinkedIn.That's probably the best place I'm
present there. Open to gettingmessages there. You can email me@chad.chad
lbrown.com you can also checkout my website. It is specific to
creative entrepreneurs, butthe principles apply and I'd be happy
to talk talk with you. Mywebsite is founder-freedom.com founder-freedom-com.com
(27:24):
yep.com sorry.
Founder-Freedom.Com okay, wegot that and we will put that in
the show notes.
So thanks for that.
You're welcome. So, Chad,thank you so much for being an amazing
guest. I could talk to you forhours and hours because I this is
like a topic that it's like sonear and dear to my heart. So if
you have enjoyed this podcast,please do me two favors. Number one,
(27:48):
hit the subscribe buttonbecause that's really important.
Number two is share it with afriend or a colleague because this
is a message that they mightbe able to gain something from or
it might just be somethingthat they need to hear. So I want
to thank each and every one ofyou for listening and being an amazing
audience. And thank you, Chad,for being an amazing guest. And again,
(28:11):
this is the UnstoppableLeadership Spotlight podcast. Thank
you for listening.
Well, hello, everybody, andwelcome to the amazing podcast. I
am your host, JaclynStrominger, and today we have a fantastic
guest, Chad Brown. Now, as youknow, I love talking about leadership.
I love talking about business.I love talking about things to help
you get more shit done. But Iwant to tell you a little bit about
(01:22):
Chad because he. He is ascaling strategist and a coach. There's
some knowledge that we'regoing to dig into on that one. But
to give you some background onChad, Chad founded a media production
studio called Shade Tree Filmsin 2008. And he served. He served
global companies such asVolkswagen, Tarjay, as I like to
(01:43):
say, Pixar Animation Studiosand others. And this is where his
love and passion forleadership and business developed.
That company was sold in 2021,so congratulations. And over the
last seven years, he hastrained and developed creative entrepreneurs
who have. Who want to increasetheir profit and work less. Right.
(02:03):
Make more money, less time.Work on your business, not in your
business. All the time. So,Chad, welcome to the podcast. I am
so glad to have you as theguest. But here's one thing I want
everybody to know that whenyou are done listening to this podcast,
what you should walk away withis knowing that there, that each
(02:28):
and every one of you needs tolook inward and have your own barometer
and challenge yourself to findyour blind spots. Okay, Chad, welcome
to the show.
Thanks for having me. I'mexcited to be here.
You're welcome. So, you know,we were talking about, that we were
talking about and I just said,you know, challenging with blind
(02:51):
spots. I mean that, you know,there's a few things that just kind
of popped into my brain and Ithink it's. I think one of the things
that we were talking about inthe pre show was that so many leaders
have. Well, first of all, theydon't call themselves leaders. A
(03:12):
lot of times it's. It's themanager or the VP or the director.
So we need to obviously changethat. People are meant to lead. We
as humans are not animals.We're not being corralled, but it's
bringing out the best in otherpeople. But in order to do that,
the hard part is, as you aresharing, is that we need to look
inside and find and challengeourselves to find out what our blind
(03:37):
spots are and what is ourbarometer for success. What. What's
the, what is that level thatwe're looking at as our measuring
stick?
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, for me,leadership is not. It's not something
you do. It's not a Title. It'snot a salary. It's not, you know,
something you climb into inthe corporate ladder. It's how you
(04:00):
are, it's who you are, it'syour way of being. And that's, that
feels like a little likeintangible for people when it talk
about it. But I really. Eachteam that I get to work with, the
very first principle that wework on is leadership at every level.
And I really mean it. Notwhether that's self leadership, whether
that's a customer service, anIC customer service representative
(04:23):
leading your clients through achallenging software process or whether
you're a manager or asupervisor or an executive. Everybody
is leading somebody in someway or the opportunity is for them
to lead in some, to somethingsome way. I would actually say everybody
is leading in some way. Buthow are you leading? And you said
(04:44):
look inward and I get theconcept of that. What I would actually
say is look outward, look atthe results that you're causing.
If the results that you'recausing are different than what you
said you were out to do orwhat you say you're about. And by
the way, I'm not preachingthis like you know, some guy who's
(05:06):
got it all figured out and isperfect at it. This is all, this
is all continual failure thatI've gotten to experience in my life
and in my roles and in mybusiness that have led me to this
point. But is sometimes, a lotof times the ideas that we have about
ourselves and our leadershipare different than the results that
(05:27):
we're actually causing.Everybody knows what it's like to
work for that person that'sjust disconnected from their impact.
And I would say actuallythere's disconnection for all of
us in our impact. And if we'rewilling to look what's actually there
and get the feedback and askmeaningful questions, then we can
(05:48):
find out what our actualimpact is and then we can make adjustments
towards what we want it to be.
Right. You know, it's so, it'strue. It's like, you know, we have
to look at the, as you said,the impact that we're, that we're
having. So tell me, what wasyour first instance for yourself
(06:09):
when you realized, oh, it wasa big, oh being a leader than I thought
I was.
It was a big old moment and itwas multi layered and I'm still unpacking
it. But you mentioned the filmproduction company that I started
in 2008 and we got, weexperienced financial success and
(06:35):
brand success very quickly inthat business. It was a lot of it
was luck. A lot of it wastiming. A lot of it was really hard
work. And we got to the pointwhere the nature of production is.
You go where. You go where thework is when it's. When it's happening.
Especially so much of our workwas live, live event production.
(06:58):
And so it got to the pointwhere I had allowed the business
to take over my life. I had.I'd been. At the time, I'd been married
about four, five years. We hadtwo. No, no, sorry. Six years. We
had two daughters. One wasfour, one was one. And we had moved
out to Southern California tostart this. This production company.
(07:22):
And my wife, Ess, essentially,in a matter of probably nine months,
10 months, became a single momin a small apartment in Southern
California with no community.And I was, God knows where, doing
production, speaking fromstages, you know, all of that sort
of stuff. And it reallyhappened fast and all under the guise
(07:45):
for me. And here's where.Here's where we're going to, you
know, here's where thefeedback is coming from, right? Or
where we can find it. I wasdoing all of this under the guise
of. I was doing it for them,my family, right? Look at me, the
hero of my story out here, theroad warrior, working my ass off,
doing everything I can tobuild this company, make the income,
(08:07):
all of that sort of stuff. AndI deemed myself. I titled myself
a family man. Well, this wenton for a good two years, and it was
quickly becomingunsustainable. And I didn't at the
time, now I do, but I didn'tat the time realize the impact that
(08:28):
it was having on my wife, thatit was having on my kids, and that
it was having on me as anindividual and my identity around
being a husband and being afather. And at the same time, I was
a terrible leader inside thebusiness. Our. Our turnover with
our employees was really high.We would run them ragged until they,
(08:50):
you know, until they eitherquit or broke or, you know, whatever.
And it was. It was fallingapart. And I had a business partner,
50, 50 business partner at thetime. And I came to him and said,
look, man, this isn't working.I don't know how to do this thing,
but this. We're going to killourselves and we're going to ruin
(09:12):
lives along the way, marriagesand, you know, relationships with
our kids. And luckily, he wason the same page, and he was like,
yeah, I agree, this is notgoing somewhere good. And it's really
weird to have a conversationlike that when your company's just,
like, growing like wildfire.And it's like everything from the
outside looks like success,success, success, you know? And long
(09:37):
story short, we decided if wecan't figure this out in the next
six months, we'll close thedoors. And that was a, that's a big
decision to make. And, and sowe started exercising our network
for help. We didn't know whoto turn to or what to ask. We didn't
know the questions to ask,whatever, but we just put it out
there, hey, we need helpmanaging this thing. And we got connected
(09:58):
to a business coach. I didn'teven know business coaches were a
thing. I didn't, I honestlydidn't even know it existed. And
we got connected to this, thisguy who's now my best friend. His
name's Adrian Kaler. But he,at the time, he was a stranger. He
came in the very first callthat we had. You talked about that
(10:19):
moment. That, oh, moment. Thiswas it for me. We got on that call,
and I thought we were going totalk about systems and time management
and all of this, you know,really tangible stuff. And in this
call, I just, off the cuff,said, well, I'm a family man. And
(10:42):
he stopped me and he said, no,you're not. I said, what do you mean
I'm not? Screw you. Like, Iam. My family is my most important
thing to me. And he said, no,it's not. And he said, you want to
know how I know? He said, lookat the results in your life. How's
(11:03):
your wife doing? How's yourkids doing? How's your time with
them? How's your presence? Howoften? And it just hit me like a
ton of bricks, like, oh, I'vebeen saying I'm one thing and setting
my life up and acting as ifI'm something totally different.
(11:25):
And he said, you want to cleanthis business up? I said, yeah. Said,
it's not going to happen untilyou stop lying to yourself. And that
was the pivotal. It was themost impactful leadership training
moment of my life, which itwas so clear to me. What are the
(11:45):
results that you're creating?And if it's not the results that
you say you want or that you,you know, say that it's who you are,
then there's disalignment. Howwould you say that? It's not aligned.
You're misaligned.
Misaligned. There it is. I, I,I, I chose every prefix, so that
(12:07):
was, that was it. And eversince that day, again, not perfect,
but that's my barometer.What's happening outside of me? What
Results am I causing throughother people? And are those results
what I want to be causing? Andif not, it's not like it's a problem.
It's not like shame on you.It's just make some adjustments,
(12:29):
realign. Figure out what mightcause that. The result that you say
that you want.
You MMA'd your life andbusiness measure, monitored and adjusted.
Yeah.
So did you guys close yourbusinesses in six months or did you
(12:49):
keep going?
No, we kept going. We figuredout how to run it in a sustainable
way. We learned how to trainleaders within the business to take
on a lot of the work that wewere not allowing anybody to participate
in. We learned how to empowerpeople. We learned to hire people
(13:09):
that did things better than wedid. We learned how to remove ourselves
from crucial parts of thebusiness. We ended up, I mean, just
total. In the next 18 months,total turnaround, we moved out of
Southern California. Weweren't happy there, but we'd made
up a story that we needed tobe there. But the company was still
(13:29):
based in Southern California.We moved back to Utah. It was, I
mean, it was. Yeah.Eventually, maybe three years later,
we, me and that partner,amicably, I bought him out. And he
was very excited about that. Iwas very excited about that. Anyway,
it just opened up so muchpossibility for me. And it, and it
(13:52):
really is a result of thatsingle principle.
Right, that's. That's reallyfantastic. So you figured out how
to work on your business, notjust be in the business.
Right on. Yeah.
Right. Because that's one ofthe key things about, about leadership
too, is first and foremost,you have to start and be the CEO
of yourself.
(14:13):
Right on.
And, and work, you know, andthen you can work on your business.
You don't want the business tobe, you know, on you. Right. You
want to be up here. So tellme, so you've had, you had this great
turnaround, right? And you've,you've kind of figured out this new
change. What, what then ledyou, you know, to like selling the
(14:37):
business verse versuscontinuing on.
I. In the process of buildingthat business, we were really fortunate.
I was really fortunate tobecome a name in the industry that
people look to for help. And Istarted an education arm of that
(15:03):
business where we coachedother filmmaking companies, other
video production companies todo something similar to what we did.
And I just realized thatthat's what I really loved to do.
I really love to help peoplefigure it out. I was, I was kind
of over the production world,if I'm being completely honest. It
(15:25):
didn't excite me as muchanymore as it did when I was a first,
you know, brand newstoryteller with a camera. And the
really cool part of all this,one of the really cool parts of this
story is that one of our firstinterns in that business was the
one that bought it from me.And so that was such a beautiful
(15:49):
end and transition to myexperience in that business. I could
have, couldn't have asked fora better transition from that. So
it all aligned and, you know,as the years were winding down for
me in that role in thatbusiness, Adrian, who had been our
business, our first businesscoach, asked if I would come and
(16:11):
work with him in helpingbusinesses develop their leadership
teams. And so it was just areally. Everything happened really
naturally. It was a naturalprogression for me and that was the
thing I was going to do next.
That's really fantastic.Really, really fantastic. So if you're
thinking, you know, thinkingabout what you've known from obviously,
(16:33):
because that's a huge growth,that's a huge growth for so many
different businesses where youget started and, and you think you
know how to, it's. It's. Youthink you know how to grow something
and it's so hard to let go ofthe, of the pieces. So if you could
give our leaders and peoplewho are listening, like the, like,
(16:55):
one little tip, maybe it'seven like something to look for,
to know that you need you.Maybe you need. That's when you know
you need some help. What is that?
This is what I do every singleday. I was just in my. I run a small
accelerator program forcreative entrepreneurs. I was on
(17:20):
a coaching call just today andworking with one of my clients. And
he is so resistant to, tohanding over parts of his business.
And what he doesn't see isthat handing over those parts of
his business are actuallywhat's going to allow him to grow
in the way that he says hewants to grow. So this is another
(17:44):
time where I had, I didn'thave to. I chose to point out, hey,
man, you're lying to yourself.No problem. Not like we all do it.
It's not a big deal. But justnotice you're lying to yourself.
You say you want your businessto go here, but you're unwilling
to let go of certain parts ofthis business that are crucial. Crucial
(18:05):
that your time is not spent onthem. And so it was a really big
opening conversation for himand a realization. I don't know if
he's going to take action onit or not. I hope he does, but I
Would say, what are thoseindicators? Well, it's always earlier
than you think. It's alwaysearlier than you think because by
(18:25):
the time you're working aroundthe clock, juggling as many things
as you possibly can, andwhat's going to happen is you're
going to. I'll put it on me.What I did was I made up then I didn't
have time to then hand overthose things to look for somebody
who could do it better than Icould to train them to build the
(18:47):
systems around it, all of thatsort of stuff. So the earlier the
better. I mean, literally, ifI, if I'm lucky enough to start working
with somebody who is in theirfirst year or second year, I'm telling
them, build. I know you'realone, I know you're solo right now.
Build systems as if you had ateam right now. SOPS company Wikis.
(19:12):
Start thinking about the. Wedo a really cool process where we
break down all the tasksthey're doing in level 1, 2 and 3,
four tasks based on energyand. Sorry, I'm blinking. Based on
energy and I can't think of itright now. I don't know why. Anyway,
(19:34):
we break down the process andit categorizes the tasks that they're
in. And then we start withlevel one tasks. Those are the first
tasks that they, that theydelegate and it breaks it down really,
really simple. And then youknow exactly what you need. We put
those into a role. Typicallythat's like a, an administrative
role. And. Yeah, and. And Iwould just say start earlier than
(19:58):
you think.
Right. You know, and it's,it's true because I think a lot of
times people are in thesebusinesses and as. Or again, in,
in a leadership role, when youstarted a company, right. And you're
trying to do everythingyourself and then you're adding people
on and there is that sense ofit's my baby. I. It's, you know,
(20:20):
and as a parent, it's like a.When you think about your kids, like,
it's a hard thing to like, youknow, watch your kid drive off in
the car. Right. Or, you know,those are huge milestones. But it's
the same thing in yourbusiness. You have to learn to let
something go so that you cancontinue to grow.
That's right. Yeah. Energy andvalue. Sorry, value is the other
(20:43):
access that we were talkingabout or that I was thinking of.
So. But I, I completely agree.I think that's, I think that does
category categorize a lot offounders, this like idea that it's
theirs and they don't want togive it up. And what if somebody
messes it up? I do thinkthat's relevant. I do think. I do
think that's present. Idefinitely experienced some of that.
(21:05):
I also think there's ademographic that I work with that
get beyond that. And now theyjust think it's impossible to do
it. Like, how would I find thetime? I don't know how all of those
sort of things, because to me,they tend to get past a point of,
all right, if I don't letsomething go, this thing's gonna
(21:28):
die. Or I. And that's where Iwas right. It was no longer that
this thing was my baby and Ididn't want anybody to mess it up.
It was that, like, if I don'tdo something, it's gone.
Well, it's. Yeah. And it'salso going to be gone because you're
not going to have the energybecause you're going to, you're going
to. It's going to kill youfrom the inside out. Right?
Yeah. Yeah.
So I, you know, we started offby talking about, and we're talking
(21:50):
about that barometer and, youknow, you were saying it's something
people have to look on the,you know, outward. And I would also
say sometimes we really needto kind of go in and look inside
of us to say, as you weresaying, I was, I, as you were sharing,
you were going to break. Andthat's like that big time where you
need to look in and say, okay,something isn't working, and I know
(22:15):
something needs to change. Wealso have to look outside and know
that. And I think this is ahard thing, is to find those key
people that can be the, yourboard of directors and advisors that
can say, I'm like, like, hey,Chad, you're gonna kill yourself.
(22:41):
Right, Right.
Yeah.
You know, so would you saypart of when you're, when you're
working with people is to helpthem also find that team to, to rely
on?
Yeah, I'm part of that teamfor my clients. Right. We talked
(23:01):
about, we mentioned blindspots. Blind spots are called blind
spots because you can't seethem. Right. So it's fun to talk
about it, but then in realityit's like, no, they exist, but you
don't know they exist becauseyou can't see them. And you need
outside people, human beingswho care for you and who are clear
on your aim. What is it thatyou want? What's your, what's your
(23:23):
vision? If they're clear onthat, they're committed to you. Getting
it, then they will. They cansee those blind spots. They can see
what you're not considering,what you're not doing. And they can,
if they're bold enough andwilling to stand in what you say
you want rather than yourexcuses or your, you know, all of
(23:43):
whatever might allow them togo back on not being bold. But if
they're bold enough, they'lltell you, hey, you're not seeing
this, and this is going to.This is coming for you.
Right, Right. It's. Yeah.Having that team or having that person
is so important, you know, tohelp you see those blind spots. It's
(24:04):
like, you know, you becomethat little indicator on your car
that beeps at you if you'rechanging lanes.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I alwaysencourage my. And I do this myself.
I always encourage my clientsto put together a board of advisors.
And it doesn't have to beformal, but you can just. Somebody
(24:25):
that you respect that has beenwhere you've been or has some sort
of expertise in what you're upagainst, just go to them and just
say, hey, would you informallybe a member of my board of advisors?
Could we set up somethingregular? Would you be willing to
set up something regular withme where I can just let you know
what's going on and you tellme what you see honestly and boldly?
(24:49):
Yeah.
And that's huge.
Yeah, that is really, really.It is really, really big. So what.
What is your right now foryou, Chad? What is your biggest goal
for the next. For the rest of 2025?
I'm glad you asked. My goalfor 2025 is to help 100 entrepreneurs
scale their business.
(25:12):
And. And what number are you at?
I'm somewhere around 35 in allthe capacities that I'm in.
Okay. All right, so we've got,you know, 65 more. Yeah, there's
room for 65 more. And what areyou going to do to celebrate when
(25:34):
you get to 100?
Well, that's a good question.I haven't even thought about it.
Well, I typically take aboutfour weeks off between January or
December and January, and wedo some kind of trip. So I think
that will feel like some sortof celebration. But I haven't said
(25:55):
anything specific. I like that question.
All right, so I want you tothink of something that you're going
to do to celebrate, becauseit's. It's. It's, you know, that.
That part of it where you'regoing to go away, that's obviously
something for you and yourfamily. Right. But, you know, if
you could enlist your Familyin what that would be? Yeah, what
(26:20):
would that, what would thatbe? And then what is the one thing
that you would want to do foryourself? Because you know you are
putting in some of that work.
Yeah. I think actually whatwould be the best celebration is
some sort of get together forall of the people that has that I've
like that I've worked withover 20, 25. I think that would be
(26:40):
the best form of celebrationof the work that we've done together.
That'd be really nice. A bigold thank you celebration kind of
thing. I like that. Okay.Okay. So if you are a leader, have
a business and you want to beone of chats 100 or you want to.
You're curious about that, howcan they find you?
(27:02):
Connect with me on LinkedIn.That's probably the best place I'm
present there. Open to gettingmessages there. You can email me@chad.chad
lbrown.com you can also checkout my website. It is specific to
creative entrepreneurs, butthe principles apply and I'd be happy
to talk talk with you. Mywebsite is founder-freedom.com founder-freedom-com.com
(27:24):
yep.com sorry.
Founder-Freedom.Com okay, wegot that and we will put that in
the show notes.
So thanks for that.
You're welcome. So, Chad,thank you so much for being an amazing
guest. I could talk to you forhours and hours because I this is
like a topic that it's like sonear and dear to my heart. So if
you have enjoyed this podcast,please do me two favors. Number one,
(27:48):
hit the subscribe buttonbecause that's really important.
Number two is share it with afriend or a colleague because this
is a message that they mightbe able to gain something from or
it might just be somethingthat they need to hear. So I want
to thank each and every one ofyou for listening and being an amazing
audience. And thank you, Chad,for being an amazing guest. And again,
(28:11):
this is the UnstoppableLeadership Spotlight podcast. Thank
you for listening.
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com