48. Jessi Bixler: Two Businesses, One Book, and Learning to Be Led

54. The Shepherd Doesn't Run Ahead: Josh Menold on Pace, People, and Leading Well

Josh Menold is the CEO and owner of CHE Companies, an exterior construction platform serving the Carolinas and Virginia. Before CHE, he spent two decades in finance and operations leadership, including CFO roles at Bobbitt Design Build and Faulkner Hays. He's also the founder of ITABWODI LLC, a parent brand for several ventures rooted in a question his grandfather taught him on the farm: Is there a better way of doing it? He's an elder at Summit Church in Apex, North Carolina, holds an MBA from Campbell University, and lives in Raleigh with his wife, Jen, and their five kids.   Josh came into ownership through a management buyout, not a startup, not an inheritance. He saw an opportunity, led with a question about how he could help, and eventually stepped into the seat. In this conversation, he and Courtney get into what two decades of being the operator behind other people's visions actually taught him, why he stopped believing the leader's job is to drive hardest, and what it looks like to run a 68-person company with a stewardship framework instead of an ambition framework.   They cover: * * How nonprofit leadership in the Dominican Republic, across three languages, became an unexpected training ground in communication and culture * * What ITABWODI means and why the question behind it is the thing keeping Josh curious every day * * Hiring for hungry, humble, and smart, and why one of those three being off is usually enough to derail a team * * How Josh built a custom AI-powered field tool for CHE that beats anything available on the market, and what that process actually looked like * * The stewardship framework he uses to decide which of his 15 AI-built apps actually get his time * * Why he says the leader's job isn't to drive harder than anyone in the room, and the shepherd metaphor that replaced that belief * * The daily posture of trust he starts every morning with, even when cash flow, family, and business pressure are all hitting at once * * What he'd say to the founder quietly pretending they have it all together   Episode Links ITABWODI.com www.monarchcoo.com [http://www.monarchcoo.com] @monarchcoo on Instagram   Monarch COO Inquiry Form [https://hello.dubsado.com/public/form/view/69b4af9e3ac23b55897ce038]

53. The Hard Conversation You've Been Avoiding

You know exactly who it is. You have rewritten the conversation in your head a hundred times, and you still have not had it.   In this solo episode, Courtney breaks down why founders avoid hard conversations, what that avoidance is actually costing their teams, and two practical frameworks you can use right now, whether you need to correct someone or challenge them to step up. In this episode:   1. Why avoidance does not protect your team member, it protects you from a moment of discomfort 2. What your silence signals to everyone else on the team 3. The difference between a cheerleader and a coach, and why your team needs the latter 4. Framework 1: The Accountability Conversation (Observation, Interpretation, Standard) 5. Framework 2: The Growth Conversation (Affirm, Name the Next Level, Ask the Unlocking Question) 6. What Ephesians 4:15 actually requires of leaders, not just permission to stay soft 7. Word-for-word examples of both frameworks in a real conversation   Free Resource: Courtney is providing a free digital download with both frameworks covered in this episode. Grab the link in the show notes and go into that conversation prepared. https://monarchcoo.myflodesk.com/hardconversations [https://monarchcoo.myflodesk.com/hardconversations]   Episode Links: Monarch COO: www.monarchcoo.com [http://www.monarchcoo.com] Instagram: @monarchcoo

52. How Scott Woods Built a Consulting Business Entirely on Relationships

Scott Woods is back. If you caught his first appearance on the show, you already know the depth he brings. This time, we got into the operational and spiritual realities of running a values-driven consulting business for over a decade, including the stuff most business owners never talk about out loud.   Scott leads Advocatus Consulting and Silverback Ventures, where he helps companies unlock growth through operational clarity, strong culture, and financial health. He has over 30 years of C-suite experience, has mentored more than 100 students through Clemson University's College of Business, and speaks regularly to entrepreneurs across the Southeast.   In this episode, we covered:   How Scott built a thriving consulting pipeline for 10 years with zero paid advertising. His entire model is built on referral relationships with trusted advisors, and he walks through exactly how he identifies the right partners, nurtures those relationships, and gives before he ever expects to receive.   What it actually looks like to fire a client. Scott ended an engagement when the client's values shifted from solving a problem to chasing profit at any cost. He talks about the financial fear of walking away from a significant revenue source and how God provided something better within two months, at double the rate.   The Conquering Everest framework. Scott's onboarding process uses a mountain climbing analogy to help business owners identify the problem they exist to solve, build backward from that destination, and use their core values as the guardrails that keep them on the path even when obstacles appear.   Ikigai. The ancient Japanese concept that translates to "reason for being." Scott breaks down what it means for founders and how it applies directly to building a business with clarity and purpose, not just revenue.   What founders are getting wrong right now. With AI disruption and economic uncertainty pulling attention in every direction, Scott has a direct message: lead with a servant's heart, take care of your people, and do not stop moving.   Episode Links Advocatus Consulting: www.advocatusconsulting.com [http://www.advocatusconsulting.com] Silverback Ventures: www.silverbackventures.org [http://www.silverbackventures.org] Scott Woods on LinkedIn: Scott Woods, Advocatus Consulting [https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-woods-9689b21/] Monarch COO: www.monarchcoo.com [http://www.monarchcoo.com] Courtney on Instagram: @monarchcoo Get your Roadmap here [monarchcoo.com/ops-health-check]

51. What It Looks Like to Have a Roadmap

Episode 51 is a solo episode, and Courtney is bringing you into something she is right in the middle of with a real client. The client has a loyal customer base, products people love, and years of hard work behind her. From the outside, the business looks fine. On the inside, she is constantly reacting, second-guessing decisions she used to make with conviction, and opening her laptop every morning without knowing what to do first. If that sounds familiar, this episode is for you. Courtney breaks down what that specific kind of operational exhaustion actually looks like, why it is not a passion problem or a work ethic problem, and what she did when she sat down with this client for a full Ops Health Check. The result was a 12-page prioritized roadmap that told this founder exactly where to focus in the next 90 days, and changed her whole posture as a leader. She also pulls from Luke 6:46-49, the parable of the two foundations, and connects it directly to what happens when founders chase revenue without building the operational foundation underneath it first. Courtney has three spots open in May to do this exact Ops Health Check for three founders at $397. Once those spots are filled, the price goes to $500. Episode Links Book your Ops Health Check: monarchcoo.com/ops-health-check Monarch COO website: www.monarchcoo.com Monarch COO on Instagram: @monarchcoo

50. Will & Courtney Kassner: The Best Day at Work Is the Day the Boss Stays Home

Will and Courtney Kassner founded Crew + Co in 2015 out of a passion for faith-based products — custom leather Bibles and family devotionals sold online. Ten years later, they're running a nine-person operation in a small town just outside of Memphis, Tennessee, and their building now includes a coffee shop that has become something of a community anchor. They sat down with me to talk about what it actually looks like to hand the business over to your team, what COVID growth taught them the hard way, and why Will describes their coffee shop as something closer to a church plant than a retail operation.   In this episode we cover:   * How Crew + Co grew from a purely online business into a brick-and-mortar coffee shop and what surprised them most operationally in year one * The hardest part of stepping back from daily operations when you've been the ones holding everything together * Why Will moved his computer home, and what changed when he did * The question they asked their employees that made them realize they were the bottleneck * How they think about preserving culture as the team takes on more ownership * What the COVID sales spike taught them about comparison, contentment, and calling * Working, building, and staying married to the same person through all of it * The seminary moment that became the through-line for everything they've built   Episode Links: Crew + Co: crewandco.com Crew + Co on Instagram: @crewandco Monarch COO: www.monarchcoo.com [http://www.monarchcoo.com] Monarch COO on Instagram: @monarchcoo   Monarch COO Inquiry Form [https://hello.dubsado.com/public/form/view/69b4af9e3ac23b55897ce038]