Make It Happen Mondays - B2B Sales Talk with John Barrows

Most BDR teams are struggling right now. Connect rates are dropping, email is getting ignored, and reps are rushing to get out of the role as fast as possible. Lauren Reeves is doing the opposite, and her team is booking more meetings every single quarter.

In this episode, John sits down with Lauren Reeves, BDR manager at Swap Commerce and one of the most vocal advocates for the SDR and BDR profession in Europe. Lauren built her tea...

Before your buyer takes your call, their AI has already researched you, evaluated your solution, and started forming an opinion. The question isn't whether AI is changing sales. It's whether you're going to catch up to what's already happening on the other side of the table.

In this episode, John sits down with Kris Lawson, the sales leader, founder of Ruby, and Snowflake alumnus, to unpack the most important shift in B2B sales that...

Every founder who has ever handed sales off too early has paid for it. Every single one.

In this episode, John sits down with Lou Shipley, a Harvard Business School lecturer, board member, investor, and author of Unlikely Entrepreneurs, to dig into why sales is still the most misunderstood function in business, and why founders who treat it as a second-class citizen almost always fail. Lou draws from decades of experience running co...

If your prospect thinks they can already get what you're selling for free, you don't have a product problem — you have a positioning problem.

In this episode, John sits down with Eric Appel, CRO of Island, the company that turned a free commodity — the browser — into one of the fastest-growing enterprise security platforms in the world. Eric pulls back the curtain on how Island landed eight of the top ten US financial institutions a...

Sales is about solving problems. It’s about helping people achieve their goals—and that’s exactly what innovation is at its core.

In this episode, John sits down with Jason Wild, author of Genius at Scale: How Great Leaders Drive Innovation, to talk about his journey from Chicago to becoming a high-level entrepreneur. Drawing from his experience working with companies like IBM and Salesforce, he breaks down the ABC structure that he...

Start by asking yourself: What am I good at? What do I love doing? And ultimately, what will I get paid for?

In this episode, John is joined by Roderick Jefferson to have a real conversation about ambition, ego, and the true cost of success across our lives, relationships, and leadership. Together, they unpack the importance of slowing down, why constant hustle can come at a price, and the powerful lessons Roderick learned after exp...

Most startups obsess over growth. Very few actually understand when scaling makes sense—and when it doesn’t.

In this episode, John talks with Mark Roberge about the real science behind building and scaling a company. They unpack the myths around product-market fit, the ethical decision point every salesperson faces, and why revenue alone can be a dangerously misleading signal for founders.

If you're building, selling, or leading a te...

AI is changing sales. But trust still wins deals.

In this episode of Make It Happen Mondays, John Barrows sits down with negotiation expert Tim Castle to break down what it actually takes to negotiate and close deals in today’s AI-driven sales environment.

They dive into the real difference between influence and manipulation, why belief in what you sell matters more than ever, and how preparation, emotional awareness, and cultural nu...

Artificial Intelligence is transforming sales faster than any technology shift we’ve seen before. In this episode of Make It Happen Mondays, John Barrows sits down with Peter Grant, CRO of You.com and a four-time unicorn operator who helped scale companies like Salesforce and Siebel.

Peter shares his journey from the British military to enterprise software leadership, and how that experience shaped his approach to leadership, hiring...

Stefan Feuerstein isn’t just an expert in delegation—he’s a humanitarian leader with a track record of real-world impact. In this powerful episode, Stefan joins John to unpack the simple but transformational delegation model from his book ABC Delegation.

But this conversation goes far deeper than business. Stefan’s approach—Autonomy, Briefing, and Consent—was born not in a boardroom, but in the field. From leading 250 people in Hond...

This episode is different.

Devin Reed returns to the podcast—but this time, it’s not about content strategy, marketing tactics, or growth frameworks. It’s about something far more personal and far more relevant.

After posting a powerful message about how “business as usual” feels disconnected from reality right now, Devin made a conscious decision to stop staying quiet. That post sparked this conversation.

Together, John and Devin unp...

In this episode of Make It Happen Mondays, John sits down with Saif Khan, Regional VP of EMEA and APAC at Semrush, one of the top SaaS platforms helping digital marketers drive visibility, traffic, and growth. But this episode isn’t just about tools or tactics—it’s about the real human side of sales leadership.

From growing up in a council estate in West London to building elite sales teams across two continents, Saif shares how a s...

In this episode, John sits down with Ashley Herd, a former General Counsel and HR executive turned founder of Manager Method — a movement and book that gives managers the real-world tools no one else teaches. She’s also a LinkedIn Learning instructor, podcast host, and a powerful advocate for human-first leadership.

Ashley brings a sharp legal and HR background from brands like KFC and McKinsey, and shares how those experiences open...

Amy Leneker is a recovering workaholic turned joy strategist—and her message couldn’t be more timely. In this episode, Amy joins John to share insights from her upcoming book Cheers to Monday, a science-backed guide to breaking the cycle of burnout and embracing joy as a leadership strategy.

A former C-suite executive and advisor to Fortune 100 companies, Amy opens up about hitting rock bottom—not once, but twice—and what it taught ...

In this episode of Make It Happen Mondays, John Barrows sits down with Jake Stahl, a former top-tier sales trainer turned psychological strategist and the creator of NeuroStrategy™—a groundbreaking approach that merges psychology, instructional design, and neuroscience to transform how companies train, sell, and scale.

As the founder and CEO of Orchestraight, Jake has reimagined the sales enablement process through a psychological l...

Todd Caponi, bestselling author of The Transparency Sale and now The Transparent Negotiation, joins to talk about what sellers and leaders are still getting wrong about closing deals. He breaks down the four key levers every negotiation hinges on, and why transparency, when used right, is your strongest closing strategy.

From reframing discounts as a payment for revenue predictability to exposing how fake deadlines and end-of-month ...

In this episode of Make It Happen Mondays, John welcomes Michael King, founder of King Recruiting and one of the sharpest minds when it comes to hiring, recruiting, and building exceptional teams. Michael has worked with high-growth companies for years and knows exactly where the hiring process breaks down — and more importantly, how to fix it.

John and Michael talk about why traditional recruiting is broken, how founders and sales ...

This episode takes a meaningful turn from the usual sales conversations. John sits down with Kim Nicholas, Executive Director of Genesys Works Chicago, to talk about creating real opportunity for underserved youth and how businesses benefit in the process.

From her own upbringing in Chicago’s public school system to launching one of the first charter schools in the area, Kim has been on a lifelong mission to bridge the gap between p...

This conversation is one that hits close to home. Jonathan Domsky isn’t just a business and life coach for entrepreneurs — he was my coach during one of the most difficult periods of my life. After losing my dad and watching my business wobble, I felt like I was stuck in neutral. Outwardly things looked fine, but internally, I was spinning. Jonathan helped me reconnect with my core values, rediscover my “why,” a...