Business, Bourbon & Cigars

How Smart Owners Build Their Crisis Board Before the Crisis Hits

Think about your last truly bad day in business, the kind where something broke that you never saw coming. Who did you actually call? Most owners have a phone full of contacts and almost nobody they can reach when it really counts. You'll learn how to build your own board of five people before you ever need them: who belongs in each seat and why most owners pick wrong, the small, specific ask that earns a yes, and the light cadence that keeps the line warm. Build it while nothing's wrong, because the day you need it is the one day you can't! Topics discussed: The last bad day you didn't see coming (00:00) Why you build the table before you need it (03:12) How the "fourth box" started over a bourbon and a cigar (05:13) The introduction worth more than the advice (07:30) Move #1: selection — five seats by function, not friendship (09:40) Move #2: the small, specific, give-first ask (13:13) Move #3: cadence — keeping the line warm (15:44) The best time to build is when nothing's wrong (18:16) Claim 50% off your seat at the next Business Bourbon & Cigars Leadership Retreat, October 14–16, 2026 in Louisville, KY: https://meplusultra.com/BBC50 [https://meplusultra.com/BBC50] Apply for the Me Plus Ultra Mastermind to connect with elite entrepreneurs who solve real problems together: https://MePlusUltra.com [https://MePlusUltra.com] Subscribe so you don't miss any episodes: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3SN2fHn [https://apple.co/3SN2fHn] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/74bfJL9J2fjevQEvi17ekU [https://open.spotify.com/show/74bfJL9J2fjevQEvi17ekU] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MePlusUltraNetwork/ [https://www.youtube.com/@MePlusUltraNetwork/] Connect with Me Plus Ultra: https://www.instagram.com/me_plus_ultra/ [https://www.instagram.com/me_plus_ultra/] https://www.facebook.com/MePlusUltra/ [https://www.facebook.com/MePlusUltra/] https://www.facebook.com/groups/1011061052968028/ [https://www.facebook.com/groups/1011061052968028/] https://x.com/Me_Plus_Ultra/ [https://x.com/Me_Plus_Ultra/] Connect with Scott Joseph: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ScottJoseph [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ScottJoseph] https://www.instagram.com/scotttjoseph/ [https://www.instagram.com/scotttjoseph/] https://www.facebook.com/ScottTJoseph/ [https://www.facebook.com/ScottTJoseph/] https://x.com/ScottTJoseph1 [https://x.com/ScottTJoseph1] This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique https://www.podcastboutique.com [https://www.podcastboutique.com]

How a Full Year of Fixes Can Leave Your Business Worth Nothing More

The most expensive document in your company isn't your lease or your payroll. It's your to-do list. You can close every item on it and end the year with a business that's less broken, but not one dollar more valuable. You'll learn the difference between the fix-it list that runs your week and the build list that changes what your company is actually worth. Scott gives you three filters for choosing the one thing worth building this quarter, the discipline to protect it, and permission to let a few things stay broken for 90 days! Topics discussed: The most expensive document in your company (00:00) Less broken, but not a dollar more valuable (01:10) The best year that added zero value (03:46) The fix-it list vs. the build list (07:32) The most respectable hiding place in business (13:05) Three filters: compounding, constraint, ownership (13:56) One protected construction block a week (18:30) Permission to stay broken for 90 days (20:10) What are you actually building this quarter? (21:22) Turn challenges into measurable results with the FREE Business Bourbon & Cigars Leadership Retreat Workbook: http://meplusultra.com/workbook [http://meplusultra.com/workbook] Apply for the Me Plus Ultra Mastermind to connect with elite entrepreneurs who solve real problems together: https://MePlusUltra.com [https://meplusultra.com/] Subscribe so you don't miss any episodes: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3SN2fHn [https://apple.co/3SN2fHn] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/74bfJL9J2fjevQEvi17ekU [https://open.spotify.com/show/74bfJL9J2fjevQEvi17ekU] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MePlusUltraNetwork/ [https://www.youtube.com/@MePlusUltraNetwork/] Connect with Me Plus Ultra: https://www.instagram.com/me_plus_ultra/ [https://www.instagram.com/me_plus_ultra/] https://www.facebook.com/MePlusUltra/ [https://www.facebook.com/MePlusUltra/] https://www.facebook.com/groups/1011061052968028/ [https://www.facebook.com/groups/1011061052968028/] https://x.com/Me_Plus_Ultra/ [https://x.com/Me_Plus_Ultra/] Connect with Scott Joseph: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ScottJoseph [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ScottJoseph] https://www.instagram.com/scotttjoseph/ [https://www.instagram.com/scotttjoseph/] https://www.facebook.com/ScottTJoseph/ [https://www.facebook.com/ScottTJoseph/] https://x.com/ScottTJoseph1 [https://x.com/ScottTJoseph1] This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique https://www.podcastboutique.com [https://www.podcastboutique.com/]

Why 3 Daily Hours Transform Your Leadership Skills Forever

Your most expensive asset isn't your top client or your best hire. It's the quality of thinking you bring to every decision. And most leaders are giving that away for free before 9am. In this episode, you'll learn the three shifts that happen when leaders protect their highest-quality thinking time: decisions made from your sharpest position instead of your most depleted one, a team that builds real judgment because you stopped being constantly available, and energy that compounds instead of degrades. Thinking time isn't a luxury. It's an operating asset! Topics discussed: What three uninterrupted hours would change in your business (00:00) The strategy gap is really a think gap (00:30) A Costa Rica phone call you weren't expecting (02:21) Why protected thinking time is an operating decision, not a personal indulgence (05:15) Michael Poro's three words: simple gets done (05:40) Shift #1: decisions made from your sharpest position, not your most depleted one (06:51) Shift #2: your team gets stronger because you stop being always available (09:12) Shift #3: your energy compounds instead of depletes (11:00) The 90-day question worth sitting with (15:30) Turn challenges into measurable results with the FREE Business Bourbon & Cigars Leadership Retreat Workbook! http://meplusultra.com/workbook [http://meplusultra.com/workbook] Subscribe so you don't miss any episodes: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3SN2fHn [https://apple.co/3SN2fHn] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/74bfJL9J2fjevQEvi17ekU [https://open.spotify.com/show/74bfJL9J2fjevQEvi17ekU] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MePlusUltraNetwork/ [https://www.youtube.com/@MePlusUltraNetwork/] Connect with Me Plus Ultra: https://www.instagram.com/me_plus_ultra/ [https://www.instagram.com/me_plus_ultra/] https://www.facebook.com/MePlusUltra/ [https://www.facebook.com/MePlusUltra/] https://www.facebook.com/groups/1011061052968028/ [https://www.facebook.com/groups/1011061052968028/] https://x.com/Me_Plus_Ultra/ [https://x.com/Me_Plus_Ultra/] Connect with Scott Joseph: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ScottJoseph [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ScottJoseph] https://www.instagram.com/scotttjoseph/ [https://www.instagram.com/scotttjoseph/] https://www.facebook.com/ScottTJoseph/ [https://www.facebook.com/ScottTJoseph/] https://x.com/ScottTJoseph1 [https://x.com/ScottTJoseph1] This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique https://www.podcastboutique.com [https://www.podcastboutique.com]

The Business You're Building Has a Second Story - Here's How to Make It Worth Telling

Revenue tells you how your quarter performed. Legacy tells you why it was worth building at all. Two businesses are being built inside yours right now: the P&L you're tracking, and the second story being built whether you watch it or not. In this episode, you'll learn the four operational moves that build something lasting: defining what your name will mean before the market does, investing in relationships with no visible ROI, holding a standard you'd keep even without an exit, and letting people see what you actually value. Exit and legacy reinforce each other! Topics discussed: Introduction (00:00) The two businesses being built inside yours (01:12) Revenue tells you "how"; legacy tells you "why" (07:00) Move #1: decide what your name will mean before the market does (07:26) Move #2: invest in relationships with no visible ROI (09:05) Move #3: hold a standard you'd keep even without an exit (10:42) Move #4: let people see what you actually value (13:33) The Giving Hope gala — what consistency produces over time (14:51) The October BBC Leadership Retreat in Louisville (16:19) Join Scott at the next Business Bourbon & Cigars Leadership Retreat, October 13–15, 2026 in Louisville, Kentucky. Visit meplusultra.com/bbc50 [https://meplusultra.com/bbc50] for 50% off your ticket. Subscribe so you don't miss any episodes: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3SN2fHn [https://apple.co/3SN2fHn] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/74bfJL9J2fjevQEvi17ekU [https://open.spotify.com/show/74bfJL9J2fjevQEvi17ekU] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MePlusUltraNetwork/ [https://www.youtube.com/@MePlusUltraNetwork/] Connect with Me Plus Ultra: https://www.instagram.com/me_plus_ultra/ [https://www.instagram.com/me_plus_ultra/] https://www.facebook.com/MePlusUltra/ [https://www.facebook.com/MePlusUltra/] https://www.facebook.com/groups/1011061052968028/ [https://www.facebook.com/groups/1011061052968028/] https://x.com/Me_Plus_Ultra/ [https://x.com/Me_Plus_Ultra/] Connect with Scott Joseph: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ScottJoseph [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ScottJoseph] https://www.instagram.com/scotttjoseph/ [https://www.instagram.com/scotttjoseph/] https://www.facebook.com/ScottTJoseph/ [https://www.facebook.com/ScottTJoseph/] https://x.com/ScottTJoseph1 [https://x.com/ScottTJoseph1] This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique https://www.podcastboutique.com [https://www.podcastboutique.com/]

One Trust Decision. One Right Person. How a Nine-Figure Empire Gets Built

That key seat you keep hiring around? The one where the right person feels too expensive or too far out of reach? It's costing you more than the salary ever would. In this episode, Scott Joseph tells the story of a Starbucks conversation that turned one underperforming dealership into 19 stores and a multiple-nine-figure exit. You'll learn how to name the single role that changes your math, how to hire for where you're going instead of where you sit today, and how to protect that hire long enough to let it compound! Topics discussed: Introduction (00:00) The Starbucks coffee that became a nine-figure exit (01:29) The friend, the dealership, and the one piece of advice (02:28) From 90 units to 900: what the right operator made possible (04:58) Hire for the business you're building, not the one you have (06:46) Principle #1: name the single role with disproportionate return (07:39) Principle #2: hire for where you're going, not where you are (09:07) Principle #3: give them the authority their responsibility requires (12:09) Principle #4: protect the relationship for the compounding to show up (14:01) The two questions every leader should sit with right now (16:58) Claim 50% off your seat at the next Business Bourbon & Cigars Leadership Retreat, October 13–15, 2026 in Louisville, KY: https://meplusultra.com/BBC50 [https://meplusultra.com/BBC50] Apply for the Me Plus Ultra Mastermind to connect with elite entrepreneurs who solve real problems together: https://MePlusUltra.com [https://MePlusUltra.com] Subscribe so you don't miss any episodes: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3SN2fHn [https://apple.co/3SN2fHn] Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/74bfJL9J2fjevQEvi17ekU [https://open.spotify.com/show/74bfJL9J2fjevQEvi17ekU] YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MePlusUltraNetwork/ [https://www.youtube.com/@MePlusUltraNetwork/] Connect with Me Plus Ultra: https://www.instagram.com/me_plus_ultra/ [https://www.instagram.com/me_plus_ultra/] https://www.facebook.com/MePlusUltra/ [https://www.facebook.com/MePlusUltra/] https://www.facebook.com/groups/1011061052968028/ [https://www.facebook.com/groups/1011061052968028/] https://x.com/Me_Plus_Ultra/ [https://x.com/Me_Plus_Ultra/] Connect with Scott Joseph: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ScottJoseph [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ScottJoseph] https://www.instagram.com/scotttjoseph/ [https://www.instagram.com/scotttjoseph/] https://www.facebook.com/ScottTJoseph/ [https://www.facebook.com/ScottTJoseph/] https://x.com/ScottTJoseph1 [https://x.com/ScottTJoseph1] This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique https://www.podcastboutique.com [https://www.podcastboutique.com]