Rhonda Frith-Lyons: The Sassy Entrepreneur Redefining Founders, CEOs, and AI

Rhonda Frith-Lyons: The Sassy Entrepreneur Redefining Founders, CEOs, and AI

Some founders build products; others build systems that outlast them. Hear how an engineer-turned-consultant uses pattern recognition, psychology, and bold truth-telling to rescue businesses from their own blind spots. In this episode, Gary and Rhonda Frith-Lyons discuss: * Career evolution from engineering to consulting * Pattern recognition and systems thinking in business * Consulting and executive coaching philosophy * Founder-to-CEO challenges and ego dynamics * AI, middle-market companies, and the vision behind Vantyx Partners Key Takeaways: * The most powerful career advantage often comes from combining great technical skills with strong people, sales, and business development capabilities. * Solving the right problem matters more than having the flashiest solution; pattern recognition and systems thinking help uncover the real issues beneath the surface. * Effective advisors don’t just give answers—they ask provocative questions that help leaders confront blind spots and arrive at their own realizations. * The traits that make a great founder rarely map directly to being an effective CEO, and ego can be a company’s biggest hidden risk if left unexamined. * AI should be used to reimagine and repurpose human talent, not replace it; human discernment, nuance, and relationship skills remain central to long-term business success. "AI has some big implications. It can be a great thing if used properly and responsibly, like any piece of technology." — Rhonda Frith-Lyons About Rhonda Frith-Lyons: Rhonda Frith-Lyons is an architectural engineer turned “professional problem solver” for founders and middle-market companies. After cutting her teeth at Bank of America in technology, operations, and complex problem-solving, she built a consulting and executive coaching practice that blends systems thinking, organizational psychology, and bold, no-nonsense advice.  As founder of The Sassy Entrepreneur and co-founder of Vantyx Partners, she helps leaders move from scrappy founder to capable CEO, using AI as a strategic tool while keeping human judgment, culture, and execution at the center of every business transformation. Connect with Rhonda Frith-Lyons:   Website: https://www.thesassyentrepreneurllc.com [https://www.thesassyentrepreneurllc.com]  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhondalfrithlyons [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhondalfrithlyons]  Blog: https://www.thesassyentrepreneurllc.com/leadershipbydegrees [https://www.thesassyentrepreneurllc.com/leadershipbydegrees]  To get in touch with Gary: Website: https://betterpathtraining.com/ [https://betterpathtraining.com/] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gsinderbrand/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gsinderbrand/] Audio production by https://www.turnkeypodcast.com/Turnkey Podcast Productions. [https://www.turnkeypodcast.com/] You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Derek Sloan: Leading with Curiosity in Trauma and Organizational Change

What if the key to better mental health and better managers was the same skill: deep, disciplined curiosity? This conversation digs into that connection. In this episode, Gary and Derek Sloan discuss: * Childhood instability and the birth of deep curiosity * Early leadership, open letters, and external affirmation * College, internships, and an unconventional path into the helping professions * Bridging trauma therapy and organizational consulting * Body-first approaches to trauma, regulation, and healing Key Takeaways: * A habit of asking questions in response to change can evolve from simple curiosity into a powerful tool for serving and connecting with others. * External affirmation from trusted authority figures can become a crucial validator that nudges people further into their natural strengths and callings. * Deep impact often begins with listening well; being present with others in hard seasons does not require having all the answers. * Workplace dynamics and leadership behavior have a profound effect on mental well-being, sometimes rivaling or exceeding the influence of therapists and doctors. * Sustainable trauma work usually starts with regulating the body first and only then moving into cognitive processing, because an unregulated nervous system limits access to higher-level thinking. "Trauma by nature shows up in the body, stress, fear, anxiety." — Derek Sloan About Derek Sloan: Derek Sloan is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, and executive coach with over 20 years of experience working with leaders across industries. He is the host of the Mental Stillness Podcast. What sets Derek apart isn't just what he knows - it's what he's lived. He has built and sold businesses, coached C-suite executives, and worked with teams under genuine pressure. His proprietary frameworks - the Device States Model™, PACE Reboot™, CARE Model™, and Resilience Playbook™ - are grounded in neuroscience and immediately applicable. He is the author of Pressurized: A Field Guide to Leading Well Under Pressure. Connect with Derek Sloan:   LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/derekbsloan [https://linkedin.com/in/derekbsloan]  Website: https://www.abridgeleadership.com/ [https://www.abridgeleadership.com/]  Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mental-stillness/id1717076433 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mental-stillness/id1717076433]  Book: https://www.abridgeleadership.com/bookorders [https://www.abridgeleadership.com/bookorders]  To get in touch with Gary: Website: https://betterpathtraining.com/ [https://betterpathtraining.com/] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gsinderbrand/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gsinderbrand/] Audio production by https://www.turnkeypodcast.com/Turnkey Podcast Productions. [https://www.turnkeypodcast.com/] You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Noa Ronen: From Command-and-Control to Peer-to-Peer Leadership

In a world obsessed with frameworks and slide decks, this conversation dives into what actually transforms people at work: real stories, real peers, and real change. From the Israeli Navy to tech and healthcare, this episode uncovers how peer-to-peer leadership outperforms traditional training—and why the human side of change can’t be outsourced. In this episode, Gary and Noa Ronen discuss: * Early leadership lessons in the Israeli Navy * Navigating relocation, identity, and grief in major life changes * The rise of coaching and human-centered leadership * Peer-to-peer learning vs. traditional corporate training * Building self-coached, high-trust teams in tech and healthcare Key Takeaways: * Deep, lasting learning happens when people teach and coach each other through real work, not when they passively consume theory in a classroom. * Every major change, even a “positive” one like a promotion, relocation, or becoming a parent, carries a form of grief and identity loss that leaders must recognize. * Leaders who step out of the spotlight and into a facilitator role create more ownership, more trust, and stronger cultures than traditional top-down trainers. * Peer-to-peer systems naturally build essential skills—listening, questioning, feedback—without labeling them as “skills training,” making the learning stickier and more authentic. * The goal of effective organizational coaching is to design environments and practices that allow teams to eventually self-coach, reducing dependence on external experts over time. "I believe that training is the dead horse, and we need a different way to develop and grow people." — Noa Ronen About Noa Ronen: Noa is a Master Certified Executive, Team, and Group Coach.  She has over 20 years of experience in Change Management, Human Resources, Leadership Development, Talent Development, and Coaching. Noa’s personal relocation experience shaped her perspective on what it means to be different and her passion for creating bridges between people and staying in a landscape of curiosity. She partners with fast-growing teams, companies, communities, and beyond to build peer-based systems that strengthen collaboration, trust, and alignment—at scale. She’s the author of Beyond Leadership: From AwareLess to AwareNess. In her personal time, Noa keeps meaningful connections by sipping a good cup of coffee at one of the locally owned coffee shops while writing or ideating, or going for a walk-and-talk with friends/family. Connect with Noa Ronen:   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noarcoach/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/noarcoach/]  Website: https://coachingconnection-on.com/ [https://coachingconnection-on.com/]  Book: https://www.amazon.com/BEyond-Leadership-AwareLess-AwareNess-Leader/dp/0578640732/ [https://www.amazon.com/BEyond-Leadership-AwareLess-AwareNess-Leader/dp/0578640732/]  To get in touch with Gary: Website: https://betterpathtraining.com/ [https://betterpathtraining.com/] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gsinderbrand/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gsinderbrand/] Audio production by https://www.turnkeypodcast.com/Turnkey Podcast Productions. [https://www.turnkeypodcast.com/] You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Mitchell Levy: Building Parallel Six-Figure Businesses with Credibility and Clarity

A seasoned entrepreneur who’s watched multiple six‑figure businesses go to zero—twice—shares how credibility, clarity, and servant leadership became his blueprint for rebuilding. This conversation tracks the journey from dot‑com busts and publishing shakeups to a new operating system for CEOs leading into the future. In this episode, Gary and Mitchell Levy discuss: * Career journey from Boston finance to Silicon Valley and Sun Microsystems * Dot‑com boom, dot‑bomb, and pivoting into CEO networking * Launching and scaling a hybrid publishing company, then surviving COVID and Amazon * Redefining credibility and creating the Credibility Nation and Executive Abundance frameworks * Ethical LinkedIn outreach, servant leadership, and integrity in business relationships Key Takeaways: * When markets shift, and a business collapses, it doesn’t mean you’ve failed; it often means the world changed, not your worth. * Running several smaller, parallel six‑figure ventures can create resilience and optionality compared to betting everything on a single play. * Real credibility lives at the intersection of being trusted, known, and liked, and it shows up as servant leadership, integrity, and respect. * Clarity of purpose, expressed in fewer than ten words, becomes a powerful filter for strategy, messaging, and who you choose to serve. * Sustainable leadership means creating abundance for all key stakeholders—self and family, employees, customers, investors, and community—not just shareholders. "Credibility is the quality in which you're trusted, known, and liked." — Mitchell Levy About Mitchell Levy: Mitchell Levy is a parallel entrepreneur, executive coach, and credibility expert who has built more than 20 businesses and written 65+ books, including Credibility Nation. After early roles in finance and systems work in Boston, he moved to Silicon Valley, spending nine years at Sun Microsystems during the commercialization of the internet before launching multiple six‑figure ventures in e‑commerce, executive education, CEO networking, and hybrid book publishing. Twice, market shocks wiped out thriving businesses—the dot‑com bust and later the one‑two punch of COVID and Amazon on publishing—cementing his philosophy of building multiple income streams and never confusing self‑worth with a balance sheet. His deep dive into what makes leaders truly believable led him to interview 500 thought leaders on credibility, define credibility as being “trusted, known, and liked,” and codify a set of values rooted in servant leadership, integrity, and respect. Today, Mitchell focuses on clarity and what he calls “executive abundance,” helping fast‑growing CEOs articulate their purpose in under 10 words and design companies that create value for five stakeholder groups: self and family, employees, customers, investors, and community. He also runs a LinkedIn agency for business owners “tired of slimy LinkedIn sales tactics,” and is currently pursuing a PhD to put academic rigor behind his frameworks for credibility, leadership, and stakeholder‑centric growth. Connect with Mitchell Levy:   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchelllevy/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchelllevy/]    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CredibilityNation [https://www.youtube.com/c/CredibilityNation]   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/happyabout [https://www.facebook.com/happyabout]  To get in touch with Gary: Website: https://betterpathtraining.com/ [https://betterpathtraining.com/] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gsinderbrand/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gsinderbrand/] Audio production by https://www.turnkeypodcast.com/Turnkey Podcast Productions. [https://www.turnkeypodcast.com/] You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Catherine Bell: Waking Up Leaders from Sleepwalking Through Success

If 95% of your thoughts are negative and repeating, what does that mean for how you lead, love, and work? Catherine Bell breaks down a practical path to interrupt the pattern and build a life and company with real meaning. In this episode, Gary and Catherine Bell discuss: * Making the unconscious conscious in leadership and life * Enneagram archetypes and the three centers (gut, heart, head) * Shadows, trauma, and using pain as a portal to growth * CEOs in distress, meaninglessness, and personal vision work * Archetypes, numbers, and the energetic “puzzle pieces” of organizations Key Takeaways: * Most people live on autopilot, shaped by repetitive negative thoughts that quietly influence daily experience. * The Enneagram helps map patterns, revealing both strengths and blind spots to support more conscious and intentional action. * Leadership growth begins with honest self-awareness, a clear personal vision, and aligning daily behavior with that vision. * Painful experiences and crises can deepen avoidance or become catalysts for purpose, depending on one’s willingness to confront them. * Increased self-awareness spreads outward, influencing relationships, teams, organizations, and broader communities. "How do we want to show up if we're gone the next day? How do we want to be remembered?" — Catherine Bell About Catherine Bell: Catherine Bell helps leaders, teams, and organizations truly thrive. She is the CEO and Founder of The Awakened Company, where she partners with organizations to build healthy, conscious cultures through executive coaching, strategy sessions, team facilitation, speaking, and online programs. An award‑winning PROFIT 500 founder, serial entrepreneur, and best‑selling author, Catherine brings both academic rigor and real‑world experience to her work. She holds an MBA from the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University, a sociology degree from Western University, is certified in the Enneagram, and is also a yoga instructor. She has served as a Jarislowsky Co‑Fellow at the Haskayne School of Business (University of Calgary) and teaches at Smith (Queen’s School of Business). Catherine created The Awakened Company book, and her team's process is currently the subject of business research. She has been mentored in leadership by one of the world’s top leadership researchers, Dr. Julian Barling. She also co‑founded Awakenly, a mindfulness app that uses the Enneagram to ground people in presence and transform their lived experience. Committed to impact beyond the boardroom, Catherine founded The Awakened Project to help women out of poverty, serves as an Advisor to Telus Spark Science Centre and Impact Society, and sits on the Board of Tara Mandala. She has also created two programs with Russ Hudson for Sounds True—one on Relationships and the Enneagram and another on Creativity and the Enneagram—and has a book on the Enneagram and creativity with Penguin Random House / Hay House. Connect with Catherine Bell:   Website: https://awakenedcompany.com/ [https://awakenedcompany.com/] | https://catherinerbell.com/ [https://catherinerbell.com/] |  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bellcatherine/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bellcatherine/] | https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-awakened-company/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-awakened-company/] | https://www.linkedin.com/groups/3868695/ [https://www.linkedin.com/groups/3868695/]  X: https://x.com/AwakenedCompany [https://x.com/AwakenedCompany]  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/awakenedcompany [https://www.facebook.com/awakenedcompany]  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theawakenedcompany/ [https://www.instagram.com/theawakenedcompany/]  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AwakenedCompany [https://www.youtube.com/@AwakenedCompany]  Book: https://www.amazon.ca/Awakened-Company-Catherine-R-Bell/dp/1897238797 [https://www.amazon.ca/Awakened-Company-Catherine-R-Bell/dp/1897238797]  THE AWAKENED COMPANY CERTIFICATION: https://awakenedcompany.com/awaken-with-us/#awakened-company-certification [https://awakenedcompany.com/awaken-with-us/#awakened-company-certification]  To get in touch with Gary: Website: https://betterpathtraining.com/ [https://betterpathtraining.com/] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gsinderbrand/] Audio production by https://www.turnkeypodcast.com/Turnkey Podcast Productions. [https://www.turnkeypodcast.com/] You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.