Bad Boss Confessional

In this episode of Bad Boss Confessional, Beth sits down with Jule Salem, founder and managing director of Salem Solutions and host of the podcast Dialing In. Jule shares what happened during a season of overlapping transitions: a new leader joining the team, an office move, a family health challenge, and a business acquisition all arriving at once. On paper, it was shaping up to be the best year Salem Solutions had ever seen. But underneath the numbers, something was slipping.

About: 

Jule Salem is the Founder and Managing Director of Salem Solutions, a business specializing in building high-performing, connection-driven contact center teams for government and commercial clients. She is also the host of Dialing In, where she helps leaders turn human connection into a measurable performance strategy.

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Titus Talent – Helping organizations make the best hiring decisions with performance-based talent strategies.

Strety – Empowering teams through strategic planning and performance management tools built for modern workforces.

In this episode of Bad Boss Confessional, Beth Fahey sits down with Rocco Cozza, a business attorney, TEDx speaker, and founder of Cozza Law Group, a multi-seven-figure firm he built from the ground up in Pittsburgh. Rocco shares what happened when rapid growth pulled his focus inward and someone close to him began quietly reshaping the culture he had worked hard to build.

About: 

Rocco Cozza is a business leader, advisor and community advocate committed to helping people and organizations grow with clarity, discipline and purpose. With years of experience building and leading businesses, he brings a practical, no-nonsense approach to leadership, problem-solving and execution. Rocco is deeply invested in his community and focused on creating lasting impact through service, accountability and principled leadership, both in business and public life.

Sponsor Links

Titus Talent – Helping organizations make the best hiring decisions with performance-based talent strategies.

Strety – Empowering teams through strategic planning and performance management tools built for modern workforces.

In this episode of Bad Boss Confessional, Beth Fahey sits down with Shea Peffly, a former CEO and integrator who now guides other leaders through EOS as a certified implementer. Shea shares the moment a Vistage exercise forced her to sit in silence while her own team told her the direct truth: that her constant questions and close involvement weren't landing as support; they were landing as distrust.

Timestamps

Shea Peffly is a certified EOS implementer with over 25 years of executive leadership experience. As a former CEO and integrator, she built and scaled a veterans services organization from five employees to over a hundred, helping veterans secure the benefits they earned. She is a Small Business Monthly Top Business Advisor, Wonder Woman Award recipient, Kolbe Certified Consultant, and certified Outgrow Advisor. Today she helps leaders create meaningful impact by leading with clarity, building strong cultures, and living their best version of life and leadership.

Sponsor Links

Titus Talent – Helping organizations make the best hiring decisions with performance-based talent strategies.

Strety – Empowering teams through strategic planning and performance management tools built for modern workforces.

In this episode of Bad Boss Confessional, Beth Fahey talks with David Kolbe, CEO of Kolbe Corp and co-developer of the Kolbe A™ Index, about the complicated decisions leaders face when values, performance, and people collide. David shares lessons from running a values-driven company and the leadership mistakes that taught him the most along the way.

About: 

David Kolbe is transforming how the world understands human performance. He comes from a lineage of psychometric pioneers and is the CEO of Kolbe Corp, the leader in helping people leverage their instinctive strengths to achieve what they care about most. David helped develop the original algorithm for the Kolbe A™ Index — the only proven tool to unlock conative strengths.

Sponsor Links

Titus Talent – Helping organizations make the best hiring decisions with performance-based talent strategies.

Strety – Empowering teams through strategic planning and performance management tools built for modern workforces.

In this episode of Bad Boss Confessional, Beth Fahey sits down with Chris Beer, founder of Wizard of Ops and a fractional Integrator. Chris shares a leadership mistake that shows up in many growing companies: assuming communication has happened when it hasn’t. After years of working in the fast-paced trading pits of Chicago, she developed a shorthand style of thinking and speaking that often skipped the context others needed.

About: 

Chris Beer is the founder of Wizard of Ops and a fractional Integrator who works inside EOS-run companies to close the gap between knowing the tools and actually using them under pressure. She’s known as the “Integrator’s Integrator,” helping leadership teams build real operating rhythm so EOS shows up on ordinary days, not just in the session room.

Titus Talent – Helping organizations make the best hiring decisions with performance-based talent strategies.

Strety – Empowering teams through strategic planning and performance management tools built for modern workforces.

In this special group episode of Bad Boss Confessional, Beth Fahey sits down with fellow EOS Implementers Erik Dodier, Megan Piper, and Patrick Metzger fresh off a Great Boss workshop. Together, they unpack the leadership missteps that still linger in memory, from surprise firings and unclear feedback to micromanaging and holding too tightly to the vine.

The conversation explores the weight of responsibility that comes with leading others and the humility required to admit when the problem is not the team, but the leader. Through stories of sleepless nights, hard lessons, and eventual breakthroughs, the group highlights what great bosses eventually learn: clarity is kindness, delegation requires intention, and growth demands courage.

About: 

Erik Dodier, Megan Piper, and Patrick Metzger are professional EOS Implementers who bring decades of entrepreneurial and leadership experience to the session room. Erik founded and scaled a technology company over 30 years before successfully exiting and now helps entrepreneurs build scalable, sale-ready businesses. Megan transitioned from education into entrepreneurship, spending 17 years helping grow a globally distributed IT company from $3 million to $52 million before dedicating her work to teaching EOS and guiding leadership teams. Patrick began his career in education and coaching before moving into business advisory work, where he now helps owners build long-term value, scalability, and intentional exit plans. Together, they combine operational rigor, real-world scars, and a passion for developing leaders who want to get better.

Titus Talent – Helping organizations make the best hiring decisions with performance-based talent strategies.

Strety – Empowering teams through strategic planning and performance management tools built for modern workforces.

In this episode of Bad Boss Confessional, Beth sits down with EOS Implementer Robert Hartline to explore the difference between being the firefighter and becoming the fire chief. After years of scaling businesses and chasing growth, Robert shares the moment he realized he was addicted to chaos and operating from scarcity rather than structure.

About: 

Robert Hartline is an EOS Implementer, serial entrepreneur, and founder of Scaling Sober, a wellness community for growth-minded entrepreneurs. After scaling Absolute Wireless to over $100 million in sales, he shifted his focus to helping leaders build businesses that operate without chaos, burnout, or dependence on the owner. Today, he blends structure, purpose, and personal growth to help entrepreneurs lead with clarity and design lives that feel as good as they perform.

Titus Talent – Helping organizations make the best hiring decisions with performance-based talent strategies.

Strety – Empowering teams through strategic planning and performance management tools built for modern workforces.

In this episode of Bad Boss Confessional, Beth talks with serial entrepreneur and coach Jill Salzman about the early mistakes that shape stronger leaders. From quick-start decisions to client-pleasing habits, Jill reflects on how saying yes too fast and avoiding boundaries can quietly erode confidence and clarity. The conversation expands into coaching, asking better questions, and resisting the urge to solve everything for others. The real lesson is not about one bad decision. It is about learning to trust experience over ego, service over approval, and patience over speed. 

Timestamps

Jill Salzman isn’t your ordinary business coach. She’s a serial entrepreneur, a thinking partner, and a musician who rarely misses a beat. Jill brings humor, heart, and strategic clarity to every conversation. She thrives on collaboration, sparks creativity, and makes the hard parts of entrepreneurship feel a little lighter.

Titus Talent – Helping organizations make the best hiring decisions with performance-based talent strategies.

Strety – Empowering teams through strategic planning and performance management tools built for modern workforces.

In this episode of Bad Boss Confessional, Beth Fahey is joined by EOS Implementer and Rollout co-author Marisa Smith for a different kind of confession. Together, they unpack the leadership mistakes that inspired the book in the first place. Both Beth and Marisa share what it was like to implement EOS in their own companies and realize that simply using the tools was not the same as rolling them out effectively.

Titus Talent – Helping organizations make the best hiring decisions with performance-based talent strategies.

Strety – Empowering teams through strategic planning and performance management tools built for modern workforces.

In this episode of Bad Boss Confessional, Beth Fahey sits down with EOS Implementer Amanda Matthews to unpack a painfully relatable leadership moment driven by ego, insecurity, and a lack of self-awareness. After years of corporate leadership training, Amanda found herself out of her depth while managing in a high-volume restaurant environment. What she thought was confident leadership quickly turned into public shaming.

Timestamps

About: 

Sponsor Links

Titus Talent – Helping organizations make the best hiring decisions with performance-based talent strategies.

Strety – Empowering teams through strategic planning and performance management tools built for modern workforces.