The Corporate Couch: Work Stories I Only Tell My Friends

Back on the Couch: Marketing Isn’t a Magic Wand with Dave Patrick

Dave Patrick was one of the earliest guests on The Corporate Couch, appearing way back on episode seven. More than 200 episodes later, he returns to the couch to go deeper on one of the topics that made our first conversation so memorable: why CEOs often struggle to understand marketing, and why that disconnect can lead to a lot of expensive activity that looks productive but does not actually drive the business. Dave brings the perspective of someone who has lived on both sides: iconic agency experience, CMO roles, marketing strategy, teaching MBA students, and now helping companies through Wise Strategy. We talk about: • Why CEOs confuse marketing activity with marketing strategy • The words that make CEOs nervous, starting with “brand” • The CMO trap and why companies keep looking for a magic wand • Why sales and marketing should be joined at the hip • How to work backward from the customer, the sale, or the business outcome • What Home Depot and Coca-Cola get right • How the agency world has changed since the Mad Men era • Where AI may help marketers and where it is still mostly creating beige oatmeal with keywords Dave also explains why marketers need to speak the language of the CEO: revenue, ROI, EBITDA, causality, cost, and growth. In other words, stop walking into the boardroom with fog machines and brand poetry when the CEO is asking, “How does this help us sell more?” This is a conversation about marketing that actually drives business, strategy that gets to better, and why companies are not one ad campaign away from success. And yes, we also cover Super Bowl ads, Dunkin’, JCPenney, Subway franchisees, McDonald’s chairs, movie launches, Home Depot end caps, and why the best marketers are really in the business of creating want. To learn more about Dave, please visit WizeStrategy [https://wizestrategy.com/about-us/#our-team].   This episode is brought to you by... Ever wish your company updates could be less "quarterly earnings report" and more "late-night talk show"? At Pelaccio & Partners, we're revolutionizing internal communications with podcasts that employees actually want to listen to. Imagine podcast episodes that make your employees laugh while staying informed. Our founder, Jeff Pelaccio, doesn't just create podcasts; he creates conversations that break through the noise. Whether you're a growing startup or a massive corporation, we turn your company's story into audio gold. Leadership becomes human. Remote teams feel connected. Your message cuts through the clutter. Jeff is happy to share his insights on improving your culture, increasing employee engagement, and improving retention. You can contact him via LinkedIn or schedule a Zoom call via this link - 15-minute call with Jeff [https://calendly.com/jeffpelaccio/zoom-15-minute-call-with-jeff].

Dossiers, Dragons, and the Long Game with Kendall Schoenrock

What happens when your podcast guest hands you a 15-page dossier about himself before the interview starts? You know you’re in for a different kind of conversation. Jeff recorded this episode in person at Kendall Schoenrock’s (see bio below) podcast studio in Lenexa, Kansas, where they talked about entrepreneurship, AI, family, fear, legacy, and what it means to build things that last. Kendall also hosts his own podcast, Hidden Foundations, making this part conversation, part podcast crossover, and part “two guys with microphones trying to figure out life before the coffee wears off.” Kendall’s story starts in Junction City, Kansas, where he launched a tech consulting business at 15. From there, he went to Villanova, helped build and sell a technology company, explored oversized wall graphics, took a life-shaping service trip to Peru, and eventually returned to Kansas to help grow his family’s government-focused real estate business. We talk about startup risk, getting paid to drink beer in college, AI-powered thinking tools, “boring compounding,” fatherhood, legacy, and why relationships may matter even more in the age of AI. This is a conversation about technology, entrepreneurship, family, discomfort, reinvention, and the long game of becoming a better version of yourself. And yes, we also cover Anheuser-Busch bar psychology, unused Vietnam visas, Claude, Obsidian, Villanova, and why sometimes the best business advice comes from your spouse reminding you that life is happening now.   This episode is brought to you by... Ever wish your company updates could be less "quarterly earnings report" and more "late-night talk show"? At Pelaccio & Partners, we're revolutionizing internal communications with podcasts that employees actually want to listen to. Imagine podcast episodes that make your employees laugh while keeping them informed. Our founder, Jeff Pelaccio, doesn't just create podcasts; he creates conversations that break through the noise. Whether you're a growing startup or a massive corporation, we turn your company's story into audio gold. Leadership becomes human. Remote teams feel connected. Your message cuts through the clutter. Jeff is happy to share his insights on improving your culture, increasing employee engagement, and retention. You can contact him via LinkedIn or schedule a Zoom call via this link - 15-minute call with Jeff [https://calendly.com/jeffpelaccio/zoom-15-minute-call-with-jeff].   About Kendall: Kendall Schoenrock is an operator, investor, and the host of Hidden Foundations. A Junction City, Kansas native, Kendall started his first tech consulting company at age 15 before going on to become employee #3 at TurnTide, which was later acquired by Symantec for $28 million. His career has taken him across technology, e-commerce, and real estate, including building RockPetz/Larger Than Life Prints to nearly $3 million in annual recurring revenue before selling the company in 2012. Today, Kendall leads SilverRock Ventures and Gov Leases, where his work focuses on durable real estate investments, government leases, and long-term community impact. Kendall is also deeply involved in giving back through board service, teaching, and community projects, including efforts connected to PlayJC and the Moran Center Advisory Council at Villanova. His new podcast, Hidden Foundations, explores the less visible stories, decisions, and structures that shape meaningful lives and lasting work.

Special Edition: My Bagger Vance - Golf, Habits, and Life Lessons with Ed LeBeau

In this Special Edition episode, Jeff reconnects with Ed LeBeau, founder of Heartland Golf Schools (Website [https://heartlandgolfschools.com/]) and one of the most influential teachers in Jeff’s own golf journey. Jeff first met Ed in 2003 while attending Heartland Golf School, and over the years Ed has become a bit like Jeff’s own Bagger Vance: part golf instructor, part philosopher, part calm voice on the lesson tee reminding you that maybe the problem is not your left elbow, your hips, or the seven swing thoughts currently fighting in your head. Ed shares how his background in business, logistics, sociology, and corporate life eventually led him to build a golf school focused not just on mechanics, but on behavior change. As Ed explains, golf is difficult because players are not just learning a motion. They are trying to change habits, manage expectations, and simplify a game that most people accidentally make way too complicated. We talk about: • Why most golf instruction is too focused on body parts • The difference between being “body-focused” and “club-focused” • What Ed learned from legendary instructor Manuel de la Torre • Why golfers struggle with repeatability • How unrealistic expectations quietly wreck your scorecard and your mood • Why “par” does not mean normal • How choosing the wrong tee box can make golf unfair • What business golf can teach us about rapport, humility, and leadership • The surprising parallels between golf, vision, goals, and corporate leadership Ed also shares three golf book recommendations and explains why the game can teach us more than how to hit a better shot. It can teach us how to think, how to focus, how to manage frustration, and how to stop making a hard game even harder. This is a conversation about golf, habits, business, leadership, expectations, and the beautiful madness of chasing a little white ball around a very large field. And yes, if you have ever told yourself to “keep your head down,” Ed may gently ask you to stop giving yourself terrible advice.   This episode is brought to you by... Ever wish your company updates could be less "quarterly earnings report" and more "late-night talk show"? At Pelaccio & Partners, we're revolutionizing internal communications with podcasts that employees actually want to listen to. Imagine podcast episodes that make your employees laugh while staying informed. Our founder, Jeff Pelaccio, doesn't just create podcasts; he creates conversations that break through the noise. Whether you're a growing startup or a massive corporation, we turn your company's story into audio gold. Leadership becomes human. Remote teams feel connected. Your message cuts through the clutter. Jeff is happy to share his insights on improving your culture, increasing employee engagement, and retention. You can contact him via LinkedIn or schedule a Zoom call via this link - 15-minute call with Jeff [https://calendly.com/jeffpelaccio/zoom-15-minute-call-with-jeff].

Back on the Couch: When Success Stops Working with Maki Moussavi

Maki Moussavi is back, and she officially becomes the first guest to return for a full-length episode. No pressure, Maki. Just podcast history :-) In her first conversation, Maki talked about career journeys, leadership, and the idea of success conditioning, the way high-achieving professionals are trained to chase goals, promotions, validation, and the next “big thing,” often without stopping to ask whether any of it is actually working for them. In this return episode, she goes deeper. Much deeper. Maki and Jeff talk about what happens when the corporate script stops making sense, whether it is after a layoff, a career pivot, burnout, entrepreneurship, or that sneaky little voice asking, “Why am I still doing this?” We talk about: • Why success can look impressive on the outside and still feel empty on the inside • The trap of validation-seeking and proving your value over and over again • Why getting promoted does not magically fix a broken career experience • What corporate systems reward, punish, and quietly train people to tolerate • How layoffs can force a reckoning with identity, stability, and what comes next • Why ambition is not the problem, but unconscious ambition can be • The power of asking one brutally honest question: What are you tolerating? Maki also shares why leaving corporate life is not always the glamorous “be your own boss” fantasy people sell online. Sometimes it is freeing. Sometimes it is disorienting. Sometimes it is both before lunch. This is a conversation about work, identity, ambition, burnout, self-awareness, and the uncomfortable freedom that comes when you finally stop outsourcing your definition of success. And yes, we also cover corporate vampires, universe throat punches, toxic coworkers, mediocre performers, and why asking better questions might be the first small rebellion. To learn more about Maki, please visit her website [https://www.makimoussavi.com/].   This episode is brought to you by... Ever wish your company updates could be less "quarterly earnings report" and more "late-night talk show"? At Pelaccio & Partners, we're revolutionizing internal communications with podcasts that employees actually want to listen to. Imagine podcast episodes that make your employees laugh while staying informed. Our founder, Jeff Pelaccio, doesn't just create podcasts; he creates conversations that break through the noise. Whether you're a growing startup or a massive corporation, we turn your company's story into audio gold. Leadership becomes human. Remote teams feel connected. Your message cuts through the clutter. Jeff is happy to share his insights on improving your culture, increasing employee engagement, and improving retention. You can contact him via LinkedIn or schedule a Zoom call via this link - 15-minute call with Jeff [https://calendly.com/jeffpelaccio/zoom-15-minute-call-with-jeff].

From Pop-Up to Powerhouse: Building Kansas City’s Local Movement with Keith Bradley

What happens when three guys with almost no retail experience decide to open a local goods store?   In Keith Bradley’s case, you get Made in KC. Keith, co-founder of Made in KC, shares the story of how a 300-square-foot pop-up featuring 15 local artists grew into one of Kansas City’s most recognizable local brands, with more than 15 locations, including a store in the Kansas City airport. And yes, the founders’ combined retail experience at the beginning was basically one winter break at Williams Sonoma and one summer waiting tables. A retail empire born from vibes, curiosity, and a very brave spreadsheet. Keith’s story starts far from Kansas City, in Southern California, where he grew up thinking he might become a Los Angeles Laker, wearing the surfer uniform without doing much actual surfing, and getting his first skateboard at age two. After his parents divorced, he moved to Boonville, Missouri, a dramatic shift that helped shape one of his biggest strengths: adapting to change and connecting with people from different backgrounds. We talk about: • Moving from Southern California to small-town Missouri • Why he sat at every lunch table in high school • What working at a homeless shelter taught him about people • How family dinners helped spark the idea for Made in KC • Starting with 15 artists in a tiny pop-up space • Learning retail the hard way, including barcodes, inventory, and QuickBooks for Dummies • What Made in KC learned from working with Hallmark • Why shopping local can have a real economic impact • How Kansas City can show up during the 2026 World Cup Keith also shares why Made in KC is not just about selling local products. It is about building a platform for artists, makers, entrepreneurs, and the city itself. This is a conversation about community, adaptability, entrepreneurship, local pride, and what happens when you build a business around the idea that Kansas City is better when Kansas City supports Kansas City. And yes, we also cover California surfer fashion, Truman State University, following a girl to Kansas City, and why sometimes your lack of experience might be your greatest business advantage.   This episode is brought to you by... Ever wish your company updates could be less "quarterly earnings report" and more "late-night talk show"? At Pelaccio & Partners, we're revolutionizing internal communications with podcasts that employees actually want to listen to. Imagine podcast episodes that make your employees laugh while staying informed. Our founder, Jeff Pelaccio, doesn't just create podcasts; he creates conversations that break through the noise. Whether you're a growing startup or a massive corporation, we turn your company's story into audio gold. Leadership becomes human. Remote teams feel connected. Your message cuts through the clutter. Jeff is happy to share his insights on improving your culture, increasing employee engagement, and retention. You can contact him via LinkedIn or schedule a Zoom call via this link - 15-minute call with Jeff [https://calendly.com/jeffpelaccio/zoom-15-minute-call-with-jeff].   About Keith: Keith Bradley is co-owner of Made in KC. For the past 10 years, Keith and his business partners have been active in growing and celebrating Kansas City's great artisan and maker community by giving them one of the most robust platforms for selling local goods in the country. Additionally, Keith is passionate about all things Kansas City, including its civic and nonprofit communities. He is a Kansas City Tomorrow Alum and currently serves on the board of both Jackson County CASA and Habitat for Humanity. Keith is married with four kids and resides in Kansas City's Brookside neighborhood.