B2B On Air
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B2B On Air episodes

  • 💀 Trojan Horse Strategy 🐎

    How to ruin your reputation in 5 minutes.

    Use the Trojan Horse strategy.

    It's the new version of the predictable revenue model.

    Spam your way to growth, no matter the reputational cost.

    The underlying strategy is fine.

    Create content with the people you want to know.

    The intent and the tactics are the problem.

    Use high-volume automation.

    Create fake profiles.

    Give no value.

    Pitch.

    If you want to bring prospects on your show, that's fine.

    But you have to genuinely care about them.

    When you make it all about you and your pitch...

    Your prospects feel that.

    It ruins reputation.

    Not just for you.

    For us all.

    Please don't invite guests solely to pitch them.

    You will get some golden eggs in the short term.

    By killing the golden goose.

    Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and YouTube.

    Joseph Lewin

    6 min
  • Your podcast goals suck.

    Podcasting isn't easy.

    It's beyond frustrating to launch a show and run it for six months, only to get little to no return.

    Ask me how I know!

    The good news is you can change that by adjusting your goals and expectations to align with what you want.

    That's what I dive into in this episode!

    6 min
  • Welcome to B2B On Air!

    Yo, welcome to the new version of my show.

    This is a podcast about B2B podcasting!

    Riviting, am I right?

    Well, it is if you want to actually make money through B2B marketing.

    It's going to be short and sweet.

    Kind of like these show notes.

    With that, I'll see you on the next episode!

    2 min
  • Stop Blending In: Building a Human Brand in an AI World | Devin Paxton : 70

    Host: Joseph Lewin

    Guest: Devin Paxton

    ⸻

    Episode originally aired live on Jul 1, 2025 on LinkedIn

    Produced by Sell Through Social

    📌 Episode Snapshot

    Joseph and Devin break down what brand really means in 2025 and why it matters even more now that AI is everywhere. They unpack why relying solely on ChatGPT makes you blend in, how to build a brand that actually resonates with humans, and the steps for developing a clear, authentic brand foundation.

    ⸻

    🎯 Why This Matters
    • AI is making content cheap, fast, and impossible to distinguish.
    • As noise rises, brand becomes the differentiator—not volume, not speed.
    • People buy based on trust, emotion, and familiarity…things AI cannot replicate.
    • Companies skipping brand fundamentals end up with generic messaging and higher acquisition costs.

    ⸻

    🧠 Key Ideas & TakeawaysBrand = A Feeling (Not Your Logo)
    • A brand is the emotional impression people have of you.
    • Colors, fonts, and logos amplify the feeling—they aren’t the brand.
    • Brand answers:
    • “How do you make people feel?”
    • “What do they trust you for?”
    • “Why do they choose you over similar options?”

    Why Brand Still Wins in the Age of AI
    • AI can generate content, but it can’t generate meaning.
    • ChatGPT gives you what’s “average” in the dataset—meaning your brand becomes generic if you rely on it exclusively.
    • The differentiator becomes:
    • Human voice
    • Human story
    • Human authenticity

    Listen Before You Create
    • Most creators and founders start by posting content.
    • But effective branding starts with listening:
    • What does your audience not understand?
    • What frustrates them?
    • What do they wish existed?
    • Use Google “People Also Ask,” forums, comments, and conversations to collect real questions.

    Evergreen > Trends
    • Trend-based content is short-lived.
    • Evergreen content builds authority and trust over time.
    • The goal is not virality—it’s memorability.

    Customer Research Is the Real Cheat Code
    • Talk to your actual customers.
    • Visit the communities where they hang out.
    • Ask what’s keeping them stuck and what breakthrough they’re hoping for.
    • The problems people think but don’t say publicly are where great brand messaging comes from.

    Case Study: Indie Film Campaign

    Devin shares a multi-channel campaign for the film Love Reconsidered, using:

    • Organic social
    • Paid ads (Meta, Google, YouTube)
    • Influencer tie-ins
    • Press partnerships
    • Cast-led storytelling

    Results:

    • ~174,000 impressions
    • Coverage on The Today Show, Bravo, and major entertainment outlets
    • The campaign worked because the story and emotional core remained consistent across every channel.

    Brand Lowers Your Acquisition Costs

    Joseph explains why companies with strong brands:

    • Close deals faster
    • Get more cold outreach replies
    • Maintain lower CAC over time
    • Build familiarity long before the sales call

    Brand makes every other marketing activity more efficient.

    ⸻

    🧩 Practical Steps to Build a Real Brand1. Define Your Brand DNA

    Ask:

    • What are our core values?
    • What is the emotional tone we want to project?
    • If our brand walked into a room, how would it make people feel?

    2. Know Your Audience Deeply
    • Identify their problems, desires, and hidden frustrations.
    • Validate with real conversations.
    • Build content around their reality—not your assumptions.

    3. Build Evergreen Foundations
    • Establish content pillars.
    • Create a consistent cadence.
    • Repeat the message until people can repeat it for you.

    4. Don’t Let AI Replace Originality
    • Use AI for brainstorming—not for your final voice.
    • Lead with human story and lived experience.

    5. Be Consistent With Your Identity Everywhere
    • Messaging
    • Visuals
    • Story
    • Customer experience

    Consistency creates recognition. Recognition creates trust.

    ⸻

    🗣️ Memorable Lines
    • “Brand is a feeling—not a logo or a color palette.”
    • “AI can generate content, but it can’t generate connection.”
    • “Evergreen content builds authority; trends build views.”
    • “If your brand walked into a room, how would it make people feel?”
    • “Customer research is the cheat code most marketers avoid.”

    21 min
  • Emotional Intelligence: The Superpower AI Can’t Replace | Sidney Evans : 69

    Host: Joseph Lewin

    Guest: Sidney Evans

    Episode originally aired live on Jun 30, 2025 on LinkedIn,

    Produced by Sell Through Social.

    🎯 Episode Snapshot

    As AI becomes part of everyone’s daily workflow, technical skills are getting commoditized. What won’t be commoditized? Your ability to understand people, lead them, and connect with them.

    In this episode, Joseph and Sidney dig into emotional intelligence (EQ) as a competitive advantage in an AI-driven world—especially for leaders.

    🤖 AI Is Rising. EQ Just Got More Valuable.

    Sidney’s core argument:

    The companies that develop emotionally intelligent leaders will have a competitive edge in the AI era.

    Where EQ shines while AI struggles:

    • Human-centered leadership – AI can handle data and logic; leaders still have to handle humans.
    • Ethical decision-making – AI can’t fully grasp nuance, context, or long-term human impact.
    • Team cohesion – People don’t bond with tools; they bond with leaders who listen, care, and guide.
    • Change management – In seasons of disruption, emotionally intelligent leaders help teams navigate fear, uncertainty, and resistance.

    🧠 What Emotional Intelligence Actually Is

    Sidney’s working definition:

    EQ is the ability to regulate, manage, and influence your behavior and emotions—especially in relation to others.

    Key components he highlights:

    • Self-awareness – Noticing your internal state, triggers, and patterns.
    • Self-regulation – Managing your reactions instead of being run by them.
    • Empathy (not sympathy)
    • Sympathy is “I feel bad for you” (about me and my feelings).
    • Empathy is “I see how you feel; let me understand more and support you” (about you).
    • Influence – Using your emotional awareness to positively guide people and situations.

    🧩 People Styles & EQ: The DISC-Like Lens

    Sidney uses a DISC-style framework to help leaders read and respond to others:

    • D – Dominant (results-oriented): Direct, decisive, “Let’s fix it” energy.
    • I – Intellect / Influencing (people-oriented): Focused on connection, energy, and people.
    • S – Steady & Stable (service-oriented): Loyal, calm, prefers stability and harmony.
    • C – Cautious & Conscientious (process-oriented): Analytical, detail-driven, system-focused.

    Example: walking into a cold room

    • D: “It’s cold. I’m turning up the heat.”
    • I: “Hey, is anyone else cold?”
    • S: “I’m glad I brought my sweater.”
    • C: “I wonder if the thermostat or AC is broken.”

    Emotionally intelligent leaders adjust their communication style based on the person in front of them, rather than just defaulting to their own style.

    🗣 Better Questions > “You Good?”

    Sidney points out that “You good?” is a useless check-in; everyone just says “Yeah, I’m fine.”

    Better questions to build connection and insight:

    • “What’s energizing you today?”
    • “What project are you most excited about right now?”
    • “What feels challenging for you this week?”

    Team meeting check-in idea:

    • Ask: “On a scale from 1–10, how are you feeling today?”
    • 10 = Amazing
    • 8 = Pretty good
    • 5 = Struggling
    • Use their number as a springboard for deeper questions one-on-one.

    And for growth:

    • Use 360° feedback – ask several people (not just your boss) for honest feedback around specific areas you want to improve.

    🪫 Dysregulated Leaders Can’t Regulate Teams

    Parallels with parenting:

    • Just like a dysregulated adult can’t calm a dysregulated child,
    • a dysregulated leader cannot bring clarity and calm to a stressed team.

    EQ for leaders means:

    • Not needing your team to meet your emotional needs.
    • Not taking every comment personally.
    • Being able to stay grounded when others are anxious, frustrated, or afraid.
    • Creating an environment where people feel seen, heard, and safe—without lowering standards.

    🧭 Identity, Direction & Work

    Emotional intelligence gets much easier when you know:

    1. Who you are
    2. Where you’re going

    Sidney recommends a few powerful self-questions:

    1. What am I really aiming for in life (not just in my job)?
    2. What is my personal value proposition?
    3. What’s my personal tagline / brand statement?

    Example from Sidney:

    “To be the voice for people who don’t have a voice.”


    Once you know your “tagline,” you can ask:

    • Does my current role align with that?
    • Does this company or industry support who I want to become?
    • Am I in an environment where my EQ can grow, or am I constantly in survival mode?

    If you don’t define who you are, someone else will do it for you.

    📓 Practical EQ Habits You Can Start Today

    Sidney’s go-to practices:

    1. Daily Journaling (25+ years of this!)

    Every night, ask yourself:

    • What 3 things did I do really well today?
    • What 3 things could I improve next time?

    This might be big stuff (how you led a meeting) or small stuff (how you responded to a barista or a customer service issue). It’s all reps.

    2. 360° Feedback

    Regularly ask a mix of people (peers, managers, friends):

    • “What’s one thing I do well that I should do more of?”
    • “What’s one thing I do that holds me back?”

    3. Model Vulnerability (especially as a leader)
    • Admit when you don’t know something.
    • Own mistakes instead of deflecting.
    • Share your own growth areas so people feel safe to own theirs.

    4. Aim for 1% Better
    • Don’t try to become emotionally brilliant overnight.
    • Focus on tiny adjustments, daily:
    • Pause before reacting.
    • Ask one better question.
    • Reflect on one interaction.

    🧵 Emotional Intelligence + AI = Your Edge

    As Joseph put it:

    • Ideas are becoming a commodity.
    • AI lowers the “value of being smart” in many domains.
    • What still stands out: your ability to influence humans, align teams, and turn ideas into reality through people.
    • EQ is the multiplier for every other skill you have.

    📚 Connect with Sidney Evans

    Books & Content

    • 📖 Run Your Own Race — Sidney’s bestselling book on building your personal brand and direction in life.

    🔑 Key Takeaways to Remember
    • Emotional intelligence will differentiate leaders and companies in an AI-heavy world.
    • EQ is not about being nice; it’s about awareness, regulation, empathy, and influence.
    • Ask better questions and do daily micro-reflection to grow your EQ.
    • Know your personal tagline and align your work with it.
    • A regulated leader can regulate a team. Work on you first.


    34 min
  • Sales Sorcery: Stop Pushing, Start Connecting | Dr. Deepak Bhootra : 68

    Host: Joseph Lewin

    Guest: Dr. Deepak Bhootra

    Episode originally aired on Jun 27, 2025 on LinkedIn,

    Produced by Sell Through Social

    🎯 Episode Snapshot

    Most people default to “salesy” because their only models are bad ones—pushy tactics, pressure, and performance. Dr. Deepak reframes selling as connection, clarity, and service. We bust seven common sales myths, then unpack “Sales Sorcery”—a mindset and method to sell with quiet confidence, test fast, and build resilience.

    🧠 Why We Get “Salesy”
    • We copy the worst examples (Wolf-of-Wall-Street vibes, hard closes, pressure).
    • Owners think they’re “running a business,” not selling—so they never train the skill.
    • Performance replaces connection; scripts replace discovery; pushing replaces helping.
    • Fix: Change the benchmark. Define selling as diagnosing pain/desire, offering fit, and earning permission through trust.

    🔎 The 7 Myths Dr. Deepak Sees Everywhere
    1. “If my offer’s good, it will sell itself.” Great work still needs a voice. Visibility and positioning matter.
    2. “You must be extroverted/charismatic.” Success = quiet confidence + trust + belief in your offer.
    3. “I have to talk people into buying.” You seek permission and fit; pressure erodes trust (and data).
    4. “I need a big following first.” Audience fallacy. In B2B, alignment > audience. One-to-one wins.
    5. “Selling is pushy/gross/unethical.” That’s stigma from bad models. Helping solve pain is ethical.
    6. “My offer must be 100% ready before I sell.” Perfection drains runway. Sell before you perfect; refine with the market.
    7. “No = I failed.” No = data. Detach identity from outcome; iterate messaging/fit.

    🪄 Sales Sorcery: The Mindset and Method
    • Not louder—clearer. Clarity beats theatrics.
    • Test early. Stop hiding behind prep; take the imperfect offer to market.
    • Karmic selling. Open hands: give value even when it’s a “no” (introductions, resources). Referrals and timing bring people back.
    • Resilience frame. Expect rejection; measure learning velocity, not ego bruises.
    • Augmented intelligence. Use AI to deliver 3× value, not to replace presence.
    • Owner reality. If you don’t sell, your company gets sold—cash flow beats “infinite refinement.”

    🧩 Joseph’s Field Framework (Mirrors the Myths)
    • Listen before you sell. Interview target buyers for real pains/desires.
    • Sell before you build. Pre-sell the sketch; build what’s paid for.
    • Build before you scale. Iterate with real customers, then standardize and expand.

    🛠 Practical Playbook (Use Today)
    • Open with “Can I share an idea that might help?” then diagnose.
    • Track No’s as datapoints (reason, segment, timing, objection theme).
    • Ship 6 imperfect outreach reps this week—review, refine, repeat.
    • Replace “failure” with “test.” Outcome teaches; process compounds.
    • Keep a Give List: when it’s not a fit, connect them to a resource/person.
    • Guard runway: if you think you have 12 months, operate like you have 6.

    📚 Quotables
    • “You don’t do sales—you become sales.”
    • “The best product doesn’t win; the clearest message in the right room does.”
    • “Sales sorcery isn’t louder; it’s clearer.”
    • “Rejection isn’t failure; it’s data.”
    • “If you don’t sell, your company gets sold.”

    📈 Who This Helps
    • Founders and small business owners stuck perfecting instead of selling.
    • Sellers who hate cold calls and take “no” personally.
    • Teams trying to move from pressure to permission-based selling.

    44 min
  • Your Culture Lives or Dies in the Middle - Why Mid-Level Leaders Matter Most | Kejal Shah : 67

    Host: Joseph Lewin

    Guest: Kejal Shah — Talent Consultant • Certified Career Coach • Founder, KeepWay Consulting

    This episode was originally aired on Sep 24, 2024 on LinkedIn

    🎯 Episode Snapshot

    Joseph and Kejal unpack why so many businesses struggle to hire and keep good people, and why your mid-level managers are the make-or-break layer for culture, retention, and growth. Kejal shares a practical framework (ADR: Attraction, Development, Retention) and talks about why owners have to stop pretending hiring is “just an HR thing.”

    This episode was produced by Sell Through Social.

    🧠 Begin With the End in Mind

    Why you can’t treat hiring like “just filling a seat”:

    • Turnover is higher and more expensive than ever.
    • Most companies don’t clearly define what a successful hire looks like before they start interviewing.

    Kejal has leaders focus on 3 value pillars in candidates:

    • Purpose – Why do they do what they do?
    • Passion – What energizes them?
    • Promises – What do they consistently deliver on?

    If you don’t clarify this up front and build it into your interview questions, you bake in retention problems before the person even starts.

    💸 The Real Cost of Hiring (and Re-Hiring)

    Kejal breaks down why bad hiring is so expensive:

    • For hourly / blue-collar roles, sourcing 1 person can cost:
    • $4K–$8K+ (ads, tools, recruiter/HR time, interview time, onboarding).
    • For white-collar roles, it’s often:
    • $8K–$12K+ just to get them in the door.

    And that’s before:

    • Onboarding and training time
    • Lost productivity
    • Burden on the rest of the team when someone quits
    • Restarting the whole process 6–12 months later

    Most companies don’t fully count:

    • The time cost of hiring managers
    • The opportunity cost of a seat being open for months
    • The burnout cost on existing staff covering extra workload

    If you actually total it all up, one bad hire (or one early departure) can easily cost more than building a solid hiring & retention system from the start.

    🧩 Why Mid-Level Managers Are the Culture Gatekeepers

    Kejal’s core conviction:

    “Your vision and culture live and die in your mid-level leadership team.”

    Mid-level managers sit in the pressure sandwich:

    • Pressure from the top: owners & executives demanding performance and low turnover.
    • Pressure from the bottom: frontline employees who need support, clarity, and development.

    Problems that show up if this layer isn’t equipped:

    • Owners get mad: “Why are you losing people? We’re spending all this money on hiring!”
    • Mid-level managers were never trained in:
    • How to hire the right people
    • How to coach and develop them
    • How to retain and grow them
    • Employees feel unheard, overworked, and unseen—and leave.

    If mid-level leaders are not:

    • Bought into the vision
    • Given real authority & tools
    • Trained to hire, coach, and retain

    …then culture, productivity, and retention all start to crumble.

    🧬 Owners: You Can’t Outsource This Responsibility

    Many owners never learned how to:

    • Attract the right people
    • Interview effectively
    • Develop and retain talent
    • Yet they still blame mid-level leaders for turnover.

    The hypocrisy problem:

    • “Do as I say, not as I do” kills trust.

    Mid-level leaders eventually ask:

    • “What’s your hiring process?”
    • “How are you developing me?”
    • “Where are you investing in people?”

    When there’s no answer, your best managers leave, and the owner is left wondering what happened.

    🧱 Key Retention Realities You Can’t Ignore

    Kejal shared some sobering patterns:

    • First 48–72 hours: New hires decide emotionally if they see themselves staying long-term.
    • Average tenure in many salaried roles: Often 12–16 months before people move on.
    • High performers: If they don’t advance or see a clear path within 12–18 months, they’ll:
    • Move departments or Leave the company altogether.
    • People who job-hop every 1.5–2.5 years often earn: 25–35% more over time than those who stay 5–10 years and only get 5–10% raises.

    In other words:

    If you don’t offer growth, compensation, and a future, the market will.

    🧬 It’s Still a Candidate’s Market

    Even with economic uncertainty:

    • Candidates understand that their time is their most valuable asset.
    • Remote work and national talent markets mean: Your local company is now competing with coastal salaries and fully remote roles.
    • Employees are asking: “Is this the best place to invest 75–80% of my waking life?”

    If your internal opportunity is weaker than what’s outside, A-players will leave.

    🧱 Kejal’s ADR Framework: Attraction, Development, Retention

    Kejal uses a three-part system with clients:

    1️⃣ Attraction

    Build a front-end system that actually draws the right candidates:

    Data first:

    • What are your retention rates over the last 5–10 years?
    • What does it actually cost to hire per role?

    Recruitment marketing:

    • Smart use of Indeed, LinkedIn, ZipRecruiter, etc.
    • Clear and compelling external, internal, and employment value propositions.

    First impression:

    • Onboarding and first 2 weeks matter immensely.
    • New hires should feel: welcomed, supported, and clear on expectations.

    2️⃣ Development

    Keep people growing or they’ll grow somewhere else:

    Mentorship & internship programs:

    • Interns can be 25–35% cheaper to bring in and can grow into long-term hires.

    Visible growth paths:

    • Clear org charts and promotion paths
    • “Here’s exactly how you can grow here over the next 3–5 years.”

    Skill-building & leadership training:

    • Particularly for mid-level managers—teaching them how to:
    • Hire
    • Coach
    • Give feedback
    • Lead people, not just manage tasks.

    3️⃣ Retention

    Make staying the smart move:

    Regular check-ins & surveys:

    • 30 / 60 / 90-day feedback loops to catch issues early.

    Benefits & incentives that actually signal confidence:

    • Low 401(k) participation = low long-term trust in the company.

    Fair advancement (not just nepotism or random external hires):

    • If all-stars see outside people parachuting into roles they’ve worked toward for years, they will leave.

    🧱 The Ideal Team Player Traits

    Kejal often uses Patrick Lencioni’s framework when helping define “ideal team players”:

    • Humble – Not above learning, feedback, or collaboration.
    • Hungry – Driven to grow, contribute, and take ownership.
    • Smart – Not just IQ, but emotional and relational intelligence.

    Combine that with Purpose, Passion, Promises, and you have a strong lens for evaluating the right people on the front end.

    🌐 Where to Find Kejal Shah
    • 🌐 Website: www.keeproinc.com
    • 💼 LinkedIn: Kejal Shah

    39 min
  • The Ownership Model That Doubles Growth and Pays Zero Tax |Tim Rettig : 66

    Host: Joseph Lewin

    Guest: Tim Rettig — Founder & CEO, Intrust IT • Second-Generation ESOP Owner • ESOP Advocate

    This show was originally aired on Aug 28, 2024 on LinkedIn.

    📌 Episode Snapshot

    Joseph and Tim unpack how selling a company to your employees—through an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan)—can create financial freedom for founders, long-term wealth for teams, and lasting stability for the business. Tim explains what ESOPs are, how they work, and why they’re one of the most overlooked exit strategies in business.

    This show was produced by Sell Through Social.

    🎯 What Is an ESOP?
    • Definition: An Employee Stock Ownership Plan is a trust that owns part (or all) of a company on behalf of its employees.
    • The company’s profits go to the trust, which pays off the loan used to buy the business from the owner.
    • Employees earn shares over time, but aren’t personally liable for any company debt.
    • Think of it like a 401(k)—but tied to your company’s performance, not Wall Street’s.

    💡 How It Works (Simplified Example)
    • A company worth $10M can be sold to an ESOP trust.
    • The ESOP borrows the money, pays the owner, and then repays the loan using future company profits.
    • The employees earn stock value as the company grows—without risk or personal investment.
    • Owners can sell any percentage (10%, 30%, or 100%), making it flexible for partial or full exit.

    🧩 Why ESOPs Aren’t More Common
    • Complex setup: Legal and financial structures are specialized.
    • Few incentives for advisors: CPAs and brokers often make more money selling to private equity.
    • Low visibility: It’s not “sexy,” but it’s highly effective—especially for manufacturing, construction, and IT service companies.
    • ESOPs work best for companies with 30+ employees and $1–2M+ EBITDA.

    💰 Benefits for Employees
    • Gain ownership and wealth—without risk or buy-in.
    • Typically earn higher pay, better benefits, and greater job stability.
    • Build a third major asset for retirement (in addition to home equity and 401k).
    • ESOP shares increase as company value grows. When employees retire or leave, the company buys back their shares at fair market value.
    • Legally protected: the company must begin buybacks within 5 years of departure.

    🧮 Benefits for Business Owners1. Massive Tax Advantages
    • The seller can defer or eliminate capital gains tax through a 1042 Exchange (similar to a real-estate 1031).
    • Example: Selling a $10M company could normally mean ~$4M in taxes. Under a 1042, that money can be reinvested into public or private U.S. companies tax-free.
    • Heirs also receive a step-up in basis, avoiding capital gains on inherited assets.

    2. Ongoing Tax-Free Profits
    • When structured as an S-Corp ESOP, the ESOP trust owns shares—and pays no taxes on that percentage of profits.
    • Example: A company that’s 30% ESOP-owned pays taxes on only 70% of profits.
    • Fully ESOP-owned S-Corps pay zero federal corporate tax—a 21% profit advantage over non-ESOP peers.

    3. Flexibility + Legacy
    • Owners can sell gradually (partial sale first, then more over time).
    • Ensures a smooth succession plan and keeps the company’s culture and jobs intact.
    • Builds a long-term legacy of shared success rather than selling to private equity.

    🧱 Real-World Example
    • Tim’s father sold 100% of his company to an ESOP in 2004 when he retired.
    • Tim later sold 30% of his own IT company to an ESOP to reward employees while staying active in leadership.
    • Since then, employee retention increased, and the company’s share value doubled in five years.

    📊 Why It Works
    • Employees think like owners. They see the connection between performance and retirement wealth.
    • Retention and engagement skyrocket. Workers stay longer and contribute more.
    • Profit reinvestment fuels growth. With tax savings and a motivated team, ESOP companies often grow faster.
    • Tim’s example: $2M in acquisitions led to $6M in added company value—and employees directly saw that reflected in their ESOP accounts.

    📚 Where to Learn More
    • Connect with Tim Rettig on LinkedIn.

    🗣️ Memorable Lines
    • “ESOPs align everyone’s incentives—employees, owners, and the company all win together.”
    • “You can sell 10%, 30%, or 100%—it’s not all or nothing.”
    • “Private equity extracts; ESOPs empower.”
    • “Selling to your employees lets you keep your legacy and your team.”
    • “It’s one of the few systems where doing what’s best for yourself is also best for everyone else.”

    40 min
  • Trying vs Training: The One Shift That Makes Change Stick| Chris Cirullo : 65

    Host: Joseph Lewin

    Guest: Chris Cirullo — Founder, Mission Fit Dads (helping busy Christian business leaders build healthy, lasting habits)

    This show was originally aired on Aug 21, 2024 on LinkedIn.

    The show is produced by Sell Through Social.

    📌 Episode Snapshot

    Joseph and Chris unpack why smart, driven entrepreneurs still struggle to build healthy habits—and how to rewire your brain so change actually sticks. They walk through practical frameworks, a simple daily scorecard, and a 15-minute morning routine that can work in any season of life.

    🎯 Why This Matters
    • Ambitious leaders often succeed in business while silently running on fumes.
    • Most are “trying” instead of training, expecting overnight transformation.
    • Without fixing habits, you eventually hit a ceiling—in health, family, and business.

    🧠 Key Ideas & Takeaways
    • Wrong expectations = constant failure loop
    • People assume habits “just happen” instead of requiring design, repetition, and discomfort.
    • They jump straight to the ideal state (e.g., “I’m going to run a marathon”) instead of small, sustainable steps.
    • Habits are well-worn paths—not erased, but replaced
    • Old habits rarely disappear; you must create a more compelling alternative path and put “roadblocks” in front of the old one.
    • Environment design (friction for bad habits, ease for good ones) is crucial.
    • The Habit Loop
    • Cue → Craving → Action → Reward.
    • If you don’t intentionally engineer this loop for new habits and disrupt it for bad ones, you end up relying on willpower, which always runs out.
    • Trying vs Training
    • Trying: “I’ll wake up tomorrow and run 26 miles.”
    • Training: “This week I’ll walk/run 1 mile, next week 2…”
    • Transformation comes from progressive training, not heroic one-off effort.
    • Google Maps Analogy: Current vs Desired State
    • You need brutal honesty about where you really are and clarity about where you want to go.
    • Without both points, you can’t plan a realistic route.
    • Chris references the Stockdale Paradox: confront the brutal facts with relentless optimism.
    • The Habit Health Ladder (Self-Assessment)
    • Top: 8–12 months of consistent habits (rarely miss twice).
    • Middle: Inconsistent good habits; sometimes long gaps.
    • Bottom: Out-of-control habits; doing what you don’t want to do.
    • If most of your life sits in the bottom three rungs, you’re in the red, even if one area looks “successful.”
    • You can’t level up on “red” habits
    • You may grow revenue or team size while in the red, but you can’t keep scaling or stay healthy without upgrading your habits.
    • Eventually you hit burnout, like Chris did—massive success on the outside, collapse on the inside.

    🧩 The Mission Fit Framework (Knowledge + Practice + Community)
    • Knowledge
    • Intake system for the right 20% of information that produces 80% of results.
    • Feedback loops to refine what actually works for you.
    • Practice (Habits)
    • Clear daily routine (simple, repeatable).
    • Regular micro → macro habit progression (start tiny, then build).
    • Community
    • Aligned friendships: people pursuing the same direction you want, not just where you currently are.
    • Support, coaching, and accountability that reinforce your identity and actions.
    • Belief at the Center
    • Historically, “belief” = knowledge demonstrated by action.
    • If you “know” something but don’t live it, it’s not yet a belief—just information.
    • Right beliefs → right actions, especially when paired with accountability and optimization.

    🌅 The 15-Minute Micro-Morning Routine

    Chris’s goal: a routine you can do 365 days a year, in any season, on vacation, sick days, or busy days.

    • 1) Spiritual/Mental (3–5 minutes)
    • Read a small section (e.g., 5–15 verses of Scripture or another key text).
    • Write a two-sentence journal entry (thought, question, response).
    • Minimum counts: the mechanism matters more than depth on any given day.
    • 2) Business Bottleneck Analysis (2 minutes)
    • Ask: “What’s the biggest bottleneck in my business right now?”
    • Leads? Conversion? Delivery/operations?
    • Decide: “What is the single next step I can take today to move that bottleneck?”
    • That step becomes your #1 priority task for the day.
    • 3) Physical Health (2–3 minutes)
    • Do something tiny but consistent (e.g., 25 pushups).
    • Drink water.
    • Then reward yourself (e.g., first cup of coffee).

    Result: In under 15 minutes, you’ve touched spiritual/mental, emotional, business, and physical health. On good days, you can add more (longer workout, deep reading, extended planning), but the micro-routine never disappears.

    🧭 Success vs Failure: The Real Difference
    • Why people fail:
    • No delayed gratification; measuring against the ideal daily instead of treating the ideal as a long-term goal.
    • Taking steps that are too big, too fast.
    • Living for accolades, not legacy.
    • Why people succeed:
    • They develop a multi-generational vision.
    • My habits shape my kids.
    • My kids’ habits shape their kids.
    • I can either pass down dysfunction or break the cycle.
    • They shift focus from “What am I achieving?” to
    • “What am I leaving in my children, not just to my children?”

    🗣️ Memorable Lines
    • “Habits don’t disappear—you just build stronger ones on top of them.”
    • “Trying is waking up to run a marathon; training is building from one mile to twenty-six.”
    • “If the ideal is your measuring stick instead of your goal, you’ll live in constant disappointment.”
    • “More is caught than taught—your kids will copy your habits, not your speeches.”
    • “Are you chasing accolades, or building a legacy?”

    58 min

About B2B On Air

From the publisher's feed

B2B on Air is the show for B2B podcast hosts who care more about pipeline than downloads. Hosted by Joseph Lewin, who has launched 45 podcasts and helped hosts close over $17M through their shows,…