In this episode of Founders Future, with host Ammar Elm, we sit down with Andy Noon, PhD, founder and principal of Decatur Street Consulting. Andy shares his journey from two decades inside Fortune 1000 companies to launching his own leadership advisory firm. He delves into the critical importance of effective leadership and succession planning, explaining how the difference between a great organization and an average one almost always comes down to the quality of its leaders. Andy breaks down his four core service offerings: leader selection, leadership development, executive coaching, and his primary focus, succession planning.

Andy provides a transparent look at the realities of being a solopreneur, discussing how his business currently thrives on referrals from his extensive network but must diversify its lead generation to scale. He outlines his vision for the future, aiming to become the go-to expert for organizational succession planning, and shares valuable advice for his younger self: to get ultra-clear on the product offering and validate it through market conversations before launching. This episode is a masterclass in leveraging deep industry expertise to build a consulting practice aimed at building resilient, future-ready leaders.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Ammar Elm, we sit down with Jacob Brown, founder of failforward. Jacob shares his powerful journey from a family legacy in the NFL to becoming a transformational speaker and coach. He opens up about the significant personal challenges he overcame, including a battle with alcoholism, and how these experiences fueled his mission to teach others that failure is not an endpoint but essential feedback for growth. Jacob introduces his compelling "Avocado Leadership" framework, explaining how great leaders need a tough exterior, a soft, empathetic middle, and an unwavering core of values.

Jacob delves into the core of his current business model, detailing how keynote speaking serves as his primary engine for attracting coaching clients and book sales. He provides invaluable, actionable advice for aspiring speakers, emphasizing the critical need for a professional website, a dynamic speaker reel, and an electronic press kit (EPK) to land serious engagements. For coaches and leaders, he stresses that effective communication is the ultimate leverage point for increasing one's value and income, and he outlines the structure of his one-on-one coaching programs designed to achieve exactly that.

In this episode of Founders Future, host Ammar Elm sits down with Karmin Habibi, a sales expert with over 14 years of experience and the founder of Savvy Closer. Karmin shares her incredible journey from accidentally falling into a sales role and initially perceiving it as manipulative to having a paradigm shift that redefined selling as an act of service. She delves into the core lesson that separates top performers from the rest: the ability to deliver a script with the same energy and passion as if it were the first time, always focusing on the experience of the prospect rather than the repetition for the salesperson.

Karmin discusses the evolution of her business, Savvy Closer, which now focuses on training entire organizations—not just sales teams—on the principle that everyone who communicates with a prospect is part of the sales process. She outlines her tailored, three-step approach for SMEs: conducting a sales audit, creating a custom strategy, and overseeing implementation. Looking ahead, Karmin shares her vision for building a selective, high-value community and hosting regular workshops in hubs like Dubai and the UK to foster real human connection and collective growth.

 this episode of Founders Future, with host Olivia Sammons, we meet Alice Dommert, the visionary founder behind Prasada, a corporate wellness company, and The Infinite Center, focused on breathwork and retreats. Alice shares her incredible journey from being a practicing architect to a wellness entrepreneur after the 2008 economic shift forced her to reinvent herself. She discusses how she leveraged her skills in storytelling and design to build programs that help companies foster trust, interdependence, and a thriving culture by focusing on the "whole being" of their employees—encompassing purpose, safety, learning, and relationships.

Alice delves into the specifics of her year-long corporate subscription model, which provides affordable, accessible wellness content, and passionately explains the transformative power of breathwork as a tool for immediate nervous system regulation and deep, psychedelic-like healing without drugs. She and Olivia also touch on the generational challenges in today's workforce, the importance of supporting neurodivergent individuals, and the critical need for creating "safe and brave" spaces for human connection, especially for younger generations navigating their unique paths in a complex world.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Ammar Elm, we sit down with Galen Bingham, The Leadership Strategist® and founder of Kiln Global Coaching and Consulting. Galen shares his incredible journey from a 22-year corporate career at Coca-Cola, where he was on the path to becoming a Senior VP of Sales, to an unexpected restructuring that led him to discover his true passion for developing leaders. He opens up about the identity shift required to move from pursuing the corner office to becoming a globally renowned executive coach who helps senior executives transform their leadership through science-based emotional intelligence and sustainable excellence.

Galen delves into the core of his business model, explaining why his "sweet spot" is a 6-month coaching engagement designed to create independence, not dependency. He reveals his unique approach to customer acquisition, which is predominantly referral-based and amplified by his award-winning podcast, "Whiskey, Jazz, and Leadership." The conversation also covers his powerful vision for the future: his Vanta Elite program, a by-invitation-only initiative dedicated to equipping senior Black executives with the tools and cultural dexterity needed to excel at the highest levels of corporate America.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Ammar Elm, we sit down with Steve Strauss, a best-selling author, USA Today columnist, and one of America's leading small business experts. Steve takes us on a journey from his beginnings in a family-run carpet business to becoming a fired attorney who found his true calling in entrepreneurship. He shares the pivotal moment he landed a major USA Today column and how that launched his content company, MrAllBiz.com, establishing him as an OG in the small business advice space long before the digital content boom.

Steve delves into the core of his mission: helping entrepreneurs start, run, and grow successful businesses. He reveals his strategies for monetizing content by identifying the right corporate clients, like Verizon, and shares invaluable advice on the importance of having a "tentpole" property to build a powerful personal brand. The conversation is packed with inspiring stories of entrepreneurial breakthroughs and practical wisdom on finding your niche, creating "infotainment," and the vibrational alignment needed to succeed as a modern content creator and entrepreneur.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Ammar Elm, we sit down with Victoria Canham, founder of Victoria Canham Consultancy. Victoria shares her journey from working in financial services compliance to discovering her passion for the human side of change management. She discusses what motivated her to start her own global coaching and people strategy firm, dedicated to transforming organizations from the inside out by focusing on culture, high performance, and employee well-being.

Victoria delves into the core of her business, explaining how she partners with scaling companies to improve the entire employee journey—from recruitment to post-exit. She highlights the critical importance of moving beyond generic perks to create genuinely supportive work environments that prevent burnout and foster loyalty. Victoria also offers invaluable advice for new coaches, emphasizing the power of networking, perfecting your message, and understanding your target audience before worrying about branding.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Ammar Elm, we sit down with Mark Willis, CFP founder of Lake Growth Financial Services. Mark shares his powerful origin story, detailing how the 2008 financial crisis and his own personal financial struggles—including six figures of student loan debt—served as the catalyst for creating a firm dedicated to helping individuals, families, and business owners grow wealth safely and predictably. He discusses the "counterintuitive" financial strategies that defy common myths, such as the belief that the stock market always goes up or that all debt is evil, and emphasizes the importance of critical thinking in financial planning. Mark also touches on his motivation for starting Lake Growth: a desire to share the life-changing strategies that helped him regain control and certainty over his financial future.

The conversation delves into the core offerings of Lake Growth Financial Services, which include innovative approaches like the "bank-on-yourself" method, whole life insurance, retirement planning, and business financing solutions designed to create reliable, tax-efficient income streams. Mark explains that his ideal clients are business owners, real estate investors, and individuals ready to "swim upstream financially" and challenge conventional wisdom. He highlights the recent publication of his book, "The Business Fortress," co-authored with David C. Barnett, which provides a roadmap for business owners to grow, protect, and exit their businesses with confidence. Additionally, Mark discusses his organic marketing approach, which includes podcast guesting, workshops, and webinars, aimed at fostering genuine connections rather than relying on traditional, often misleading, financial advice.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Olivia Sammons, we meet Gemma Rosbiffi, the founder of Heart Led Sales Coaching. Gemma shares her fascinating journey from a decade in high-pressure corporate sales, including travel and real estate, to becoming a new mom and entrepreneur. This life change inspired her to launch a business that aligns with her authentic, connection-based style. She delves into the "heart-led" sales methodology that empowers female coaches and service providers to convert clients through genuine relationship-building and strategic conversation, moving away from the stereotypical "hard sell" tactics.

Gemma discusses the current one-to-one container she offers her clients and her exciting vision for the future, which includes creating a high-vibe, supportive mastermind and group program. She opens up about the realities of being a solopreneur juggling all the hats while building a business and a brand from the ground up on Instagram. Gemma leaves us with invaluable advice for early-stage founders: to move before they feel ready, embrace the uncomfortable, and take consistent action because time, as she proves, waits for no one.

In this episode of Founders Future, with host Ammar Elm, Tony J. Hughes, co-founder and CEO of Sales IQ Global, shares his journey from running his own business and entering sales in the telecommunications and tech sectors to leading Sales IQ Global. He explains how brutal honesty about product–market fit, identifying the right Ideal Customer Profile (ICP), and constructing buyer personas grounded in firmographics, psychographics, and technographics underpin their methodology for transforming enterprise sales.

Tony dives into his strategic sales philosophy—focusing on engaging the ~40% of prospects open to change, co-creating business cases rather than pushing features, and speaking the leaders’ language of dollars, percentages, and metrics. He highlights the power of AI-driven workflows in research, messaging, and narrative creation, and offers actionable advice for those just starting out—even without case studies—on how to narrow focus, conduct deep research, craft authentic value-led conversations, and anchor them to measurable gaps and strategies before presenting capabilities.