Growth Department

What if your company had one number that could keep everyone focused and driving results?

In this episode of the Growth Department podcast, Chelsey Reynolds sits down with Lee Benson, serial founder, investor, and creator of the MIND Methodology. With three major exits under his belt, Lee shares how leaders can identify their most important number, align every department to it, and build a culture that creates real value—financial, emotional, and even spiritual.

This isn’t theory. Lee has scaled companies from just a handful of employees to hundreds, using practical systems that keep teams accountable, motivated, and clear on what matters most.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How to define your most important number and cascade it across every team
• The difference between KPIs and value creation
• Why culture and clarity are as measurable as financials
• How the MIND Methodology makes alignment simple for any size company

Learn more about Lee and follow his team here:

https://www.etw.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lee-j-benson/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/execute-to-win/
https://www.instagram.com/executetowin/

Growth Department slows the conversation down so founders and business leaders can go further, faster.

If this episode helped you think differently, follow the show and share it with someone building alongside you.

What happens when a successful corporate HR executive trades in the boardroom for bookshelves, coffee, and community? In this episode of the Growth Department podcast, Chelsey Reynolds sits down with Tenia Davis, PhD, to talk about her bold leap from the C-suite to founding a bookstore café and podcast studio in Homewood, IL.

Tenia shares why she walked away from a thriving career in human resources to build a purpose-driven space for conversation, creativity, and connection. She opens up about the risks of leaving behind a secure career, the strategies she used to prepare for entrepreneurship, and why creating community through books and stories is more important than ever.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why Tenia chose to leave a secure C-suite role for entrepreneurship
• How to prepare financially and emotionally for a major career pivot
• The importance of community, connection, and storytelling in business
• Lessons from building a bookstore café, podcast studio, and event space from the ground up

Whether you’re dreaming of starting something new or looking for inspiration to finally trust your gut, this conversation will remind you that it’s never too late to follow your passion and build something that matters.

You can follow Tenia's Bookstore here: 

https://www.beyondthebook.online/

https://www.instagram.com/beyondthebook_homewood/#

For her HR consulting website and books visit:

https://www.theleadershipwise.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/teniadavisphd/

Growth Department slows the conversation down so founders and business leaders can go further, faster.

If this episode helped you think differently, follow the show and share it with someone building alongside you.

The 2026 planning season is the perfect chance to sharpen your sales strategy and set your team up for a strong year. In this episode of the Growth Department podcast, Chelsey Reynolds sits down with seasoned Chief Revenue Officer (and now executive sales recruiter) Steve Levitt to share the playbook every sales leader needs to plan, hire, and hit ambitious growth goals

From comp plans and hiring filters to culture and consistency, Steve shares hard-won lessons from his career as a CRO and now as an “operator recruiter.” If you’re planning next year’s growth strategy, this conversation gives you a playbook to get ahead of hiring bottlenecks, motivate your team, and keep performance climbing without the burnout.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How to design comp plans that drive the right behaviors.
• Why talent evaluation is as important as pipeline evaluation.
• The four hiring filters every sales leader should use.
• How to balance short-term wins with long-term growth.
• Why culture and consistency are the secret weapons of high-performing sales orgs.

You’ll walk away knowing how to evaluate your talent bench, when to add new hires, and why now is the time to start planning for Q1 success.

Connect with Steve Levitt on LinkedIn here. 

Share this episode with any leaders looking to get their numbers right next year.

Growth Department slows the conversation down so founders and business leaders can go further, faster.

If this episode helped you think differently, follow the show and share it with someone building alongside you.

On this episode of the Growth Department podcast, Chelsey Reynolds sits down with Dr. David S. Cohen, founder of DS Cohen and Associates Group and author of the new book Selecting the Best: Fostering a Workforce Driven by Values for Lasting Success  to explore the art of values-based hiring. 

Dr. Cohen shares how identifying and hiring for behaviors rooted in authentic company values leads to stronger teams and healthier culture. From defining moments of truth in your organization to crafting behavioral interview questions that reveal real alignment, this conversation gives founders and hiring managers practical tools to make better people decisions.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How values and behaviors create predictable, healthy company culture
• Why diversity of thought only works when values are aligned
• The role of stories and legends in defining authentic organizational values
• How to move beyond resumes and identify diamonds missed by applicant tracking systems
• Practical steps for building behavioral interviews that protect culture
  
  

🎧 Listen in to discover how to build a team you can trust and a culture that lasts.

Resources in this episode:

David's website where you can find free resources and links to his books: https://sagltd.com/

Follow David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-s-cohen-0b0191/

Growth Department slows the conversation down so founders and business leaders can go further, faster.

If this episode helped you think differently, follow the show and share it with someone building alongside you.

When your business is just starting out, you wear every hat. You sell, you market, you manage operations. But real growth comes when you learn how to delegate with confidence, build authority in your niche, and put scalable systems in place.

In this episode of the Growth Department podcast, Chelsey Reynolds sits down with Dennis “DM” Meador, a lifelong entrepreneur and marketing strategist who has helped attorneys and business owners create content ecosystems that generate authority and trust. Dennis shares how he went from founder-led sales to a thriving company with 40+ team members, all while keeping culture and clarity at the center.

You’ll hear lessons on:

• Why founder-led sales is critical in the early days and how to refine it into a repeatable process
• How to delegate effectively so your team owns their work and your company can scale
• What it really takes to build authority through podcasting and content marketing that lasts
• How to create systems and metrics that keep a remote team motivated and aligned

If you’re ready to scale smarter, not harder, this episode will show you how to build a company that runs on trust, real delegation, and winning culture.

Check out the Legal Podcast Network and follow Dennis here:

https://twitter.com/legalpodcastnetwork.lawyer
https://instagram.com/legalpodcastnetwork.lawyer
https://www.facebook.com/legalpodcastnetwork.lawyers
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennismeador/
https://www.thelegalpodcastnetwork.com/

Growth Department slows the conversation down so founders and business leaders can go further, faster.

If this episode helped you think differently, follow the show and share it with someone building alongside you.

What if the fastest way to grow wasn’t fear or control, but compassion? 

In this episode of the Growth Department podcast, Dr. Bruno, TEDx speaker, researcher, and author of The Art of Compassionate Business, joins Chelsey Reynolds to explore how trust, generosity, and empathy create a flywheel of performance that benefits employees, customers, and leaders alike.

You’ll hear from his research:

• why fear-based management backfires, 
• how to build a culture where people actually want to stay, and 
• why serving instead of selling turns customers into your loudest advocates.

Whether you’re leading a startup team or scaling a global org, this episode shows why compassion is more than a nice-to-have; it’s a growth strategy.

To learn more:

Read the Art of Compassionate Business

Visit: www.brunocignacco.com 

Growth Department slows the conversation down so founders and business leaders can go further, faster.

If this episode helped you think differently, follow the show and share it with someone building alongside you.

Wendy Jensen spent decades leading corporate teams and strategy in a fast-paced environment at a major internet company. Then she walked away to start something entirely her own— a purpose-driven retail and lifestyle brand rooted in Scandinavian values, family heritage, and genuine human connection.

In this episode, Wendy joins host Chelsey Reynolds to share how she left executive leadership to build Scandinavian Hearts, a business that brings joy and meaning into people’s lives through design, storytelling, and intentional growth. They talk about the mindset shifts required to move from corporate leadership to creative entrepreneurship, how to find purpose after burnout, and why it’s okay (and often powerful) to start small and grow on your own terms.

Whether you're a founder seeking clarity, a leader ready for reinvention, or a dreamer wondering what’s next, this episode will challenge your assumptions about success and leave you inspired to lead with heart.

Topics Covered:

• Purpose-driven brand strategy
• Corporate to entrepreneurship transitions
• Founder burnout and reinvention
• Scandinavian lifestyle and slow living
• Building a brand with values and story
  
  

Follow Wendy's journey:

Wendy's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendyjangaard/

Learn and shop: https://scandinavianhearts.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scandinavianhearts/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ScandinavianHearts/

Amazon Page:  https://www.amazon.com/stores/Wendy-Jangaard-Jensen/author/B0BJ9QQZX8,

Growth Department slows the conversation down so founders and business leaders can go further, faster.

If this episode helped you think differently, follow the show and share it with someone building alongside you.

When sales, finance, and operations pull in different directions, growth stalls. But when those teams align, momentum builds fast.

In this episode of the Growth Department podcast, Chelsey Reynolds sits down with Marcus Rien (scratch golfer, COO, and CFO turned founder of Waves CPAs) to explore how founders can create operational clarity, unlock faster decision-making, and build systems that support scale. 

Marcus unpacks real-world examples of silo breakdowns and shares a powerful model for fractional CFO support that integrates with go-to-market teams.

You’ll walk away with insights into cash flow strategy, automation tips, and how to make your numbers actually useful across departments.

00:00 The Importance of Alignment in Business Functions
03:03 The Role of Finance in Business Success
05:07 Implementing Effective Collaboration Strategies
07:37 The Integrator's Role in Company Dynamics
09:57 Consequences of Misalignment in Departments
11:58 The Impact of Overselling on Company Culture
14:38 Leveraging Financial Insights for Growth
17:31 Creating Accountability Through Data
19:56 The Dangers of Fudging Numbers
23:14 The Psychology of Sales Teams
25:33 Operations and Customer Feedback
27:10 Collaboration Across Functions
27:47 Financial Performance and Sales Strategy
31:32 Balancing Optimism in Forecasting
34:19 Cohesion in Business Functions
36:33 Aligning Sales, Operations, and Finance

Check out Waves CPAs here: https://wavescpas.com/

Growth Department slows the conversation down so founders and business leaders can go further, faster.

If this episode helped you think differently, follow the show and share it with someone building alongside you.

In this transformative episode, host Chelsey Reynolds sits down her own coach, Carri Scuba, executive coach and founder of Core Vision Concepts.

They dive deep into what coaching really is, how to know if it’s for you, and why more high-achievers are turning to coaching to regain clarity, balance, and power in both work and life.

Carri shares her personal journey of walking away from corporate burnout to become a full-time coach, her take on the difference between coaching, therapy, mentoring, and consulting, and how to live from possibility instead of predictability. 

Whether you're an overwhelmed executive, an aspiring leader, or simply ready to stop living on autopilot, this conversation will help you tap into your own transformation.

✨ Topics include:

• Signs you might benefit from a coach
• How to vet a legit (non-scammy) coach
• One-on-one vs. group coaching
• Emotional burnout and work-life imbalance
• The magic of responsibility over victimhood
• Tools to create change that actually sticks
  
  

Learn how executive coaching can shift your mindset, elevate your leadership, and bring real, lasting change to your career—and your life.

📲 Connect with Carri: CoreVisionConcepts.com

Other resources mentioned:

International Coaching Federation (ICF)

Ceresa Mentoring 

Intend2Lead 

Growth Department slows the conversation down so founders and business leaders can go further, faster.

If this episode helped you think differently, follow the show and share it with someone building alongside you.

Can a business scale without sacrificing the soul of its founder? 

According to  Rochel Marie Lawson, an Ayurvedic nurse practitioner, wellness entrepreneur, and founder of Blissful Living for You, the answer is yes.

In this episode of the Growth Department podcast, Chelsey Reynolds and Rochel explore how holistic wellness and energy alignment are not just feel-good extras, but essential tools for long-term success. Drawing from ancient Ayurvedic wisdom, Rochel shows us how business leaders can tap into their unique essence, detox their minds and bodies, and reconnect with purpose at every stage of growth.

You’ll learn how dosha types can inform your leadership style, how spiritual micro-practices can help you avoid burnout, and why small daily rituals can unlock more clarity, focus, and profit in your business.

Episode Chapters:
00:00 — Intro: Meet the Queen of Feeling Fabulous
02:00 — From ER Nurse to Ayurvedic Practitioner
05:45 — What is Ayurveda and Why Should Founders Care?
10:00 — The Mind-Body-Spirit Connection at Work
13:45 — How to Start a Spiritual Practice Without the Overwhelm
17:20 — Discovering Your Dosha and Aligning with Your Natural Strengths
24:00 — Turning Passion into Profit with Soul-Aligned Strategy
29:45 — Detoxification as a Business Growth Tool
34:10 — How to Lead and Glow: Wellness Tips for Busy Founders
40:00 — Daily Affirmations, Breathwork, and Energy Shifts
44:00 — Rochel’s Advice for Anyone Ready to Transform

If you’ve ever felt stuck, scattered, or out of sync while building your business, this episode will help you reconnect with what matters and realign your energy for sustainable, soulful growth.

Want to discover your dosha? Head to blissfulliving4u.com and take Rochel’s free quiz to start your journey.

Follow Rochel's journey on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn

Growth Department slows the conversation down so founders and business leaders can go further, faster.

If this episode helped you think differently, follow the show and share it with someone building alongside you.