Elite Achievement

Resilience is not built in a single moment. It is built through the small choices, habits, and perspectives we return to over time.

John O’Leary shares lessons on adversity, leadership, and why the fundamentals we practice every day often matter more than the big moments we remember.

• Why asking “why not me?” creates a different response to adversity

• How the signals we pay attention to shape the way we lead and think

• The role of service and small actions in building belief and purpose

• Why leadership fundamentals compound over time

About John:

John O’Leary is a bestselling author, internationally recognized speaker, and host of the Live Inspired Podcast. After surviving a devastating accident at age nine that doctors believed he would not survive, John went on to inspire millions through his message of resilience, hope, and purposeful living. He has shared his story and insights with audiences around the world, helping individuals and organizations navigate adversity, strengthen mindset, and lead with greater intention. His story has been brought to life in the feature film Soul on Fire.

Connect with John

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnoleary.inspires/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-o-leary-08b2805/

Website: https://johnolearyinspires.com/

About Kristin Burke

Kristin Burke works with financial advisors and leaders in financial services who are building and scaling firms. She helps them lead more effectively, develop their team, and execute consistently on the priorities that drive growth.

Work with Kristin

If you are building a firm and want a strategic partner to help you think through leadership, team development, and execution, you can learn more about working with Kristin here:

Website

Connect on LinkedIn

LinkedIn

Have you ever thought about the emotional side of scaling a firm and why leadership feels harder when success depends on other people? Today we explore how resilient leaders handle disappointment, uncertainty, and self-doubt without losing their vision.

Key topics discussed in this episode:

• The hidden emotional cost of building and scaling a firm

• The producer to leader shift and why it can shake confidence

• Resilience as the mindset that keeps leaders showing up

• Preview of next week’s special guest

Follow Elite Achievement for more conversations on leadership and high-level execution.

About Kristin Burke

Kristin Burke works with financial advisors and leaders in financial services who are building and scaling firms. She helps them lead more effectively, develop their team, and execute consistently on the priorities that drive growth.

Work with Kristin

If you are building a firm and want a strategic partner to help you think through leadership, team development, and execution, you can learn more about working with Kristin here:

Website

Connect on LinkedIn

LinkedIn

Peter Tiboris helps us explore the mental shift from being a strong producer to acting like a CEO who builds a scalable advisory firm. Peter shared with us how to dig into hiring ahead of the numbers, staying relentless on prospecting, and using vision and values to grow Park Avenue Capital into a multi-billion-dollar organization.

Key topics discussed in this episode:

• The difference between a successful advisor and a true entrepreneur

• What changes when a practice becomes a firm

• Hiring the right person first and solving payroll after

• Prospecting as the foundation that supports risk and growth

• Growing as a leader by balancing directness with empathy

Follow Elite Achievement for more conversations on leadership and high-level execution.

About Peter

Peter Tiboris began his career with Northwestern Mutual in 2002 and has grown into one of the top advisors and firm leaders in the industry. He is the co-founder of Park Avenue Capital, one of the largest ensembles at Northwestern Mutual, built through both organic growth and strategic succession partnerships.

Peter has been recognized as a Barron’s Top 1200 Advisor and Forbes Best in State Advisor, and ranks among the top advisors in Northwestern Mutual history for career insurance production. He is known for his long-term vision, relationship-driven growth strategy, and ability to build through people.

In this episode, Peter shares his perspective on scaling a firm, reinvesting into growth, building leadership infrastructure, and the mindset required to pursue a bold vision.

Connect with Peter

Website

Instagram

Facebook

LinkedIn

About Kristin Burke

Kristin Burke works with financial advisors and leaders in financial services who are building and scaling firms. She helps them lead more effectively, develop their team, and execute consistently on the priorities that drive growth.

Work with Kristin

If you are building a firm and want a strategic partner to help you think through leadership, team development, and execution, you can learn more about working with Kristin here:

Website

Connect on LinkedIn

LinkedIn

Have you ever wondered why building a financial advisory firm can create a new kind of overwhelm as you juggle revenue, hiring, and people leadership at the same time. Today we lay out what the “messy middle” looks like and how to shift from producing results yourself to leading a team that produces results with you.

Key topics discussed in this episode:

• The messy middle between top producer and CEO

• Making team development non-negotiable with consistent one-on-ones

• Hiring as the beginning, not the end

• Delegation of tasks versus delegation of client relationships

Follow Elite Achievement for more conversations on leadership and high-level execution.

About Kristin Burke

Kristin Burke works with financial advisors and leaders in financial services who are building and scaling firms. She helps them lead more effectively, develop their team, and execute consistently on the priorities that drive growth.

Work with Kristin

If you are building a firm and want a strategic partner to help you think through leadership, team development, and execution, you can learn more about working with Kristin here:

Website

Connect on LinkedIn

LinkedIn

In today’s episode I’m sharing a direction shift I’ve been thinking about for a long time and finally feel ready to say out loud: I’m focusing my work on financial services leaders who are growing and scaling advisory firms. I explain how my coaching evolved from goal achievement to leadership and execution, why focus strengthens impact, and how you can test a niche without treating it like a final decision.

In this episode you will learn:

• Why I’m narrowing my focus to financial services and wealth management leaders

• How my work shifted from goals to leadership, execution, and firm growth

• What I notice in ambitious leaders who need space to slow down and think

• Why “partner” matters and how I blend coaching with consulting

• Common fears about niching down and how clarity strengthens your message

• Practical prompts to identify your niche based on repeat conversations and best work

• How the podcast is evolving plus a short pause to update the show behind the scenes

If you want to know when new episodes are released, make sure you're following the show. You can also join my email list here. If today's insight inspired you, I'd love for you to leave a review in the Apple Podcast app, and let me know what stood out.

Work With Kristin

Kristin partners with business owners and leaders as a thought partner, asking the questions that create clarity, challenge assumptions, and move clients from emotion back into execution.

Learn more about private coaching at kristinburke.com.

Connect with Kristin

LinkedIn

Website

Goal Setting Success Course

You can probably name the exact actions that grow your business, so why do they keep slipping to the bottom of the list? Referrals, outreach, follow-up, and protected business development time are rarely mysterious. What’s hard is doing them consistently once they start to feel repetitive, vulnerable, and weirdly high-stakes. I unpack why that happens and how to fix it before it quietly slows your momentum and revenue.

We dig into three common reasons high-performing owners drift away from the fundamentals. First, success changes your expectations. After you’ve hit goals and earned recognition, it’s easy to think the basics should feel easier by now, and if they don’t, something must be wrong. Second, when results dip, we often blame the strategy instead of our execution. Switching systems feels proactive, but the real lever is usually sustained consistency. Third, as your role expands into leadership, urgent team and operations demands crowd out the work that actually creates new opportunities.

I also share a practical reset: study your real data to identify where your best opportunities truly come from, clarify the few activities that reliably lead to new conversations, and commit long enough for the strategy to play out, often a full quarter. If you want stronger business growth, a healthier pipeline, and a simple plan you’ll actually follow, this one is for you. Subscribe, share with a fellow founder, and leave a review so more elite achievers can find the show.

In this podcast you will learn about:

• The hidden cost of letting fundamentals slide as routines get repetitive

• Why success can make normal effort feel like a problem

• The interpersonal risk underneath referrals outreach and follow-up

• How frustration leads us to question strategy instead of consistency

• Why most growth plans fail from stopping too early

• How CEO responsibilities and team needs crowd out business development

• Using real business data to identify what actually creates opportunities

• Committing to a full quarter of consistent execution

Highlights:

0:00

Welcome And The Core Question

1:23

Why Fundamentals Still Feel Hard

4:00

Doubting Strategy Instead Of Execution

5:40

Leadership Demands Crowd Out Growth

7:04

Audit What Actually Drives Leads

8:41

Commit Long Enough For Momentum

9:01

Closing And Next Steps

Ready to elevate your leadership and accelerate your growth?

I provide strategic coaching for high-performing financial advisors, service-based business owners, and leaders who want coaching that goes beyond accountability. I partner with you to execute on your vision and focus on what truly drives results: executive presence, leadership development, scaling, and prioritization.

The outcome? You realize your full potential, influence and inspire others, and lead a high-impact business that reflects your next-level goals.

To explore if coaching is the right fit, email me at [email protected] to schedule a discovery call.

Goal Setting Success

If you’re ready to set goals you’ll actually achieve, the Goal Setting Success course will help you do it. This self-paced experience walks you through the same framework I’ve used for years with leaders and advisors to create meaningful goals and a plan that drives real results.

Inside the course, you’ll learn how to:

1. Clarify your vision for success
2. Reflect on what worked and what didn’t
3. Brainstorm strategies with focus and intention
4. Create a clear, actionable plan for the year ahead

Start the new year with clarity, confidence, and structure.

Listeners of the Elite Achievement Podcast can save $50 with code PODCAST50 at checkout.

Enroll today at kristinburke.com/goal-setting-success-course

Connect with Kristin

LinkedIn

Instagram

Website

Goal Setting Success Course

Breakout Plan

Today we explore the difference between founder CEOs and corporate CEOs, and why a founder’s energy can either inspire a team or overwhelm it. We focus on the leadership discipline of turning creativity into clear priorities so the organization can execute without constant whiplash.

In this episode you will learn:

• Difference between founder CEO and corporate CEO structures

• Founder energy shaping culture and day-to-day direction

• Why scattered ideas create confusion as teams scale

• Saying yes to opportunities and the hidden cost to focus

• Examples of initiative overload after conferences

• Sequencing initiatives so creativity supports execution

If this episode was useful, follow Elite Achievement to continue building clarity and execution into how you work.

Work With Kristin

Kristin partners with business owners and leaders as a thought partner, asking the questions that create clarity, challenge assumptions, and move clients from emotion back into execution.

Learn more about private coaching at kristinburke.com.

Connect with Kristin

LinkedIn

Website

Goal Setting Success Course

Ever feel the pull to “think like a CEO” while your founder instincts crave speed, risk, and fresh ideas? We sit down with Joseph Frost - idea guy, fractional futurist, and builder of multiple seven-figure businesses in parallel - to unpack why the traits that start companies rarely match the traits that scale them, and how to bridge that gap without losing your spark.

We start with values and purpose - freedom, nonconformity, and a long journey toward create and inspire - then draw a clean line between three leadership phases: the founder who proves the model, the scaler who builds systems and teams, and the CEO who sets simple vision and delivers steady results. Joseph explains why so few people inhabit all three roles well, and how to time your evolution or your handoff. Along the way, we break down the rise of fractional leadership and why startups can now embed true C-suite execution from day one. Fractional CMOs, CFOs, and COOs aren’t consultants; they’re accountable leaders who compress learning curves and make senior talent accessible.

From there, we get practical about talent and growth. Joseph shares how he develops two very different groups: veteran CMOs who must learn business development and prospecting; and distributed coordinators across countries who thrive with clear structures, peer feedback, and periodic in-person sessions. We explore the sales mindset every founder needs, the E-Myth path from technician to builder, and how to avoid half-finished projects by channeling creativity into the core flywheel, like using AI agents to amplify strategy instead of spinning up another standalone venture.

Joseph closes with the habits that protect focus and resilience: daily journaling, short meditations, and a mantra forged after a life-changing health scare. The takeaway is simple and powerful. Let your creative energy start the fire, then use discipline, delegation, and development to keep it burning brighter.

If this conversation helped clarify your next leadership move, follow the podcast, share it with a founder friend, and leave a quick review to tell us where you are on the founder-to-CEO journey.

In this podcast you will learn about:

• Values of freedom and nonconformity driving entrepreneurship

• Purpose distilled to create and inspire

• Founder, scaler, CEO as distinct leadership phases

• Why many founders shouldn’t become CEOs

• Fractional executives as early leadership leverage

• Peer groups plus fractionals for balanced growth

• Developing veteran CMOs in sales and prospecting

• Building remote teams with structure and periodic in-person time

• Focusing creative energy on the core with AI as an enabler

• Journaling and meditation as daily reset practices

Highlights:

0:00

Think Like A CEO Series Setup

1:02

Meet Joe Frost And His Purpose

3:55

Freedom, Nonconformity, And Entrepreneurship

6:48

The Seven-Business Vision

8:44

Founder Versus CEO Mindsets

11:13

When Do Titles Truly Fit

13:58

Skills To Grow Into CEO

17:04

Fractional Leadership Changes The Game

20:00

Developing Talent In Fractional Teams

22:21

Remote Development That Actually Works

24:07

Prospecting And Sales For Builders

27:05

The Gift And Cost Of Endless Ideas

29:14

Focus Systems And AI As Enabler

31:00

Journaling, Cancer, And Meditation

34:10

Closing Reflections And Takeaways

If you were truly leading at the level your vision requires, what decision would you make this week?

I provide strategic coaching for high-performing financial advisors, service-based business owners, and leaders who want coaching that goes beyond accountability. I partner with you to execute on your vision and focus on what truly drives results: executive presence, leadership development, scaling, and prioritization.

The outcome: you realize your full potential, influence and inspire others, and lead a high-impact business that reflects your next-level goals.

To explore if coaching is the right fit, email me at [email protected] to schedule a discovery call.

Connect with Kristin

LinkedIn

Instagram

Website

Goal Setting Success Course

Breakout Plan

Connect with Joseph

Website

LinkedIn

Today we explore the tension between taking more client meetings and protecting leadership time, and why consistent, structured coaching is the only path to multiply revenue through your team. We share a simple framework for one-on-ones that builds judgment, language, and confidence without day-long trainings.

In this episode you will learn:

• Builder mode versus multiplier mode and why they require different skills

• The risk and nuance of delegating revenue compared with admin tasks

• Overestimating new hires’ impact and underestimating development effort

• Keeping one-to-ones under revenue pressure and why consistency wins

• A simple prepare–practice–perform–debrief coaching cadence

• Shifting from doing the work to building people who do the work

If this episode was useful, follow Elite Achievement to continue building clarity and execution into how you work.

Work With Kristin

Kristin partners with business owners and leaders as a thought partner, asking the questions that create clarity, challenge assumptions, and move clients from emotion back into execution.

Learn more about private coaching at kristinburke.com.

Connect with Kristin

LinkedIn

Website

Goal Setting Success Course

What if the real measure of success isn’t how much you achieve, but how intentionally you spend your time? We sit down with Daren Blonski—founder of Fermata Advisors, including Sonoma Wealth Advisors and related firms—to unpack how he built a fast-scaling advisory enterprise by designing for freedom first. Darren shares why leaving a high-travel consulting career forced him to redefine success, and how a clear, values-driven schedule helped him be present at home and decisive at work.

We walk through his simple, powerful calendar architecture—days working in the business, on the business, and in renewal—and how mapping years in advance creates permission to focus without guilt. Daren explains how he hires complements using the DISC framework, pairing visionary drive with detail excellence to eliminate bottlenecks. He opens the playbook on scaling during uncertainty: pivot fast, pursue green lights, and keep culture practical. Along the way, we dig into his 10% rule for personal reinvestment through masterminds and coaching, and why curating the right rooms accelerates leadership growth.

Feedback takes center stage as Daren reframes it as data, not drama. He shares a no-cringe tactic to raise feedback quality—ask every team member, “What are your expectations of me?”—and highlights the obligation to follow through. We close with the habits that sharpen decision-making under pressure: pre-dawn reading to expand perspective, hard training to discharge stress, and sleep as a non-negotiable lever for cognition and steadiness. If you lead a growing team and crave clarity, presence, and sustainable performance, this conversation gives you concrete tools to design your time and think like the CEO your business needs.

Enjoyed the episode? Follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a quick review to help more leaders find these conversations.

In this podcast you will learn about:

• Redefining success around time freedom

• Moving from consulting to a life-centered business

• Choosing financial planning as an entrepreneurial medium

• Evolving from practitioner to CEO across growth stages

• Leading with presence and credibility

• Hiring complements using DISC to fill gaps

• Scaling through pivots and “pursue green lights” values

• Investing 10% in masterminds and coaching

• Treating feedback as data and filtering projections

• Morning reading, hard training, and sleep for sharper decisions

Highlights:

0:00

Rethinking Success Through Time

2:55

Leaving Consulting To Build A Life

5:30

Choosing Financial Planning As A Medium

8:25

Evolving From Soloist To CEO

10:55

Designing Work, On-Work, And Renewal

14:20

Presence As A Leadership Advantage

17:05

Building Teams With DISC Strengths

20:10

Scaling Through Pivots And Principles

23:00

Masterminds, Coaches, And The 10% Rule

26:05

Feedback As Data, Not Drama

29:05

A Better Way To Ask For Feedback

32:10

Morning Learning, Training, And Sleep

35:00

Where To Find Darren & Closing

If you were truly leading at the level your vision requires, what decision would you make this week?

I provide strategic coaching for high-performing financial advisors, service-based business owners, and leaders who want coaching that goes beyond accountability. I partner with you to execute on your vision and focus on what truly drives results: executive presence, leadership development, scaling, and prioritization.

The outcome: you realize your full potential, influence and inspire others, and lead a high-impact business that reflects your next-level goals.

To explore if coaching is the right fit, email me at [email protected] to schedule a discovery call.

Connect with Kristin

LinkedIn

Instagram

Website

Goal Setting Success Course

Breakout Plan

Connect with Daren

Website

YouTube