Head Heart & Boots

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I wrestle with one of the most difficult leadership disciplines to master: staying emotionally grounded when everything around you feels chaotic. We talk candidly about the emotional whiplash of entrepreneurship, how quickly even the best intentions and plans can get derailed by fires, and why reactivity quietly destroys momentum inside growing companies.

Brandon shares his commitment to becoming a more stoic, stabilizing force for his teams - not by ignoring problems, but by slowing down, asking better questions, and anchoring decisions to a clear plan instead of emotion. We unpack how leaders unintentionally drag their teams through emotional cycles, why delayed gratification makes strategic work so hard to stick with, and how confidence is built by returning to the plan when pressure rises.

This conversation is practical, uncomfortable, and deeply relatable for anyone leading people, managing clients, or trying to grow a business without burning themselves - or their team - to the ground.

Hope you enjoy.

Chris

Why You Should Listen

[00:02:17] Why emotional volatility - not lack of intelligence or effort - derails more leaders than bad strategy

[00:04:53] How even well-thought-out plans collapse when leaders default to reaction instead of discipline

[00:07:20] Why delayed gratification is one of the hardest skills in entrepreneurship - and how to stay committed long enough to see results

[00:15:25] How slowing down, asking better questions, and refusing to emotionally “side up” can defuse client and team chaos

[00:21:13] Why being a calm, steady presence builds trust, confidence, and long-term momentum inside your organization

Only 30% of businesses listed for sale actually find a buyer? Even more striking, just 10% of those sell for the price their owners anticipated or higher, meaning only 3% of all business owners achieve their desired sale price. By focusing on understanding and enhancing your enterprise value, you can significantly boost your chances of joining that successful 3%.

Start Assessment Know Your Enterprise Value. See Your Potential Gaps.

Complete this assessment in less than 15 minutes and receive a free assessment for your business that includes:

This isn’t a paid plug. It’s real talk from the front lines. If you’ve ever thought, “How do I get a VP-level sales leader or even a sales team without hiring full-time?” Floodlight has the answer.

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I have one of our most personal and vulnerable conversations to date. We step into a topic that’s often misunderstood, stigmatized, or avoided altogether - alternative medicine and the role psilocybin has played in my own mental, emotional, and relational health. I share my background growing up in a deeply religious environment, my initial skepticism, and the long road that led me to explore psilocybin in a clinical, intentional setting. We talk openly about emotional reactivity, anxiety, ADD, anger, self-criticism, and the hidden cost many high-performing leaders carry as they chase growth, success, and legacy. This isn’t about escapism or chasing an experience - it’s about healing, stability, and building emotional margin so we can show up better for our families, our teams, and ourselves. This conversation isn’t prescriptive or promotional. It’s an honest exploration of curiosity, research, personal experience, and the growing body of evidence showing how some leaders are finding lasting change by addressing the battle between their ears - not just their to-do lists.

Hope you enjoy,

Chris

Why You Should Listen:

[00:02:44] Why emotional stability - not motivation or discipline - may be the missing piece for leaders stuck in anxiety, anger, or burnout

[00:06:45] How psilocybin therapy moved from military PTSD research into the lives of high-performing professionals seeking lasting mental health

[00:11:24] What a single therapeutic experience can reveal about self-criticism, reactivity, and the hidden narratives shaping your behavior

[00:22:00] How increased emotional margin can transform relationships with spouses, kids, and teams, not just productivity

[00:31:37] Why intention, environment, and facilitation matter, and how misuse versus medicine creates radically different outcomes

Only 30% of businesses listed for sale actually find a buyer? Even more striking, just 10% of those sell for the price their owners anticipated or higher, meaning only 3% of all business owners achieve their desired sale price. By focusing on understanding and enhancing your enterprise value, you can significantly boost your chances of joining that successful 3%.

Start Assessment Know Your Enterprise Value. See Your Potential Gaps.

Complete this assessment in less than 15 minutes and receive a free assessment for your business that includes:

This isn’t a paid plug. It’s real talk from the front lines. If you’ve ever thought, “How do I get a VP-level sales leader or even a sales team without hiring full-time?” Floodlight has the answer.

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I dig into one of the most overlooked drivers of growth in service businesses: the client experience. Sparked by a frustrating real-world story, we unpack how even well-intentioned teams can slowly erode trust through poor communication, missed expectations, and a lack of follow-through - and why those failures compound over time. We talk candidly about how competition in restoration and home services is changing, why today’s customers are more informed and more skeptical than ever, and how growth, PE-backed operators, and higher deductibles are raising the bar for professionalism across the industry. From engineering a client experience instead of relying on heroics, to setting expectations early, owning the hard parts of the process, and designing workflows that protect trust, this episode is a practical reminder that growth doesn’t come from doing more work - it comes from doing the work better. If you’re a business owner or leader trying to scale without sacrificing reputation, referrals, or sanity, this conversation is a must-listen.

Hope you enjoy.

Chris

Why You Should Listen

[00:02:45] How a single bad customer experience exposed the quiet ways service quality erodes - even inside well-run companies

[00:06:09] Why growth, higher deductibles, and more sophisticated competitors are forcing service businesses to rethink how they win and retain clients

[00:09:45] How poor communication and unmanaged expectations turn customers into project managers - and destroy trust in the process

[00:18:08] Why engineering a client experience beats relying on individual heroics — and how workflows protect both customers and teams

[00:29:27] How setting expectations early, telling clients the hard truths, and embracing friction can actually become your biggest competitive advantage

Only 30% of businesses listed for sale actually find a buyer? Even more striking, just 10% of those sell for the price their owners anticipated or higher, meaning only 3% of all business owners achieve their desired sale price. By focusing on understanding and enhancing your enterprise value, you can significantly boost your chances of joining that successful 3%.

Start Assessment Know Your Enterprise Value. See Your Potential Gaps.

Complete this assessment in less than 15 minutes and receive a free assessment for your business that includes:

This isn’t a paid plug. It’s real talk from the front lines. If you’ve ever thought, “How do I get a VP-level sales leader or even a sales team without hiring full-time?” Floodlight has the answer.

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I sit down for a raw, unfiltered look at the last 60 days - the travel, the pressure, the wins we haven’t slowed down to celebrate, and the realities of running two fast-moving companies at the same time. We talk about what it feels like when your business hits a streak of negative momentum, how long it takes to turn the ship, and why even small signs of stabilization matter more than you think.

We get into the personal side, too - the exhaustion of constant context-shifting, how hard it’s been to hold routines together, and what we’re learning about rest, recovery, and leadership when everything speeds up at once. From supporting two teams across time zones, to protecting focus, to the conversations that are shaping our 2026 planning, this is a behind-the-scenes look at the real rhythms of entrepreneurship.

Hope you enjoy.

Chris

Why You Should Listen

[00:01:20] What the last 60 days looked like inside two growing companies - and how to recognize when negative momentum starts, stops, and finally stabilizes

[00:03:49] Why celebrating wins matters (even when you’re exhausted) and how missing those moments creates long-term burnout for founders and teams

[00:07:26] The truth about routines under pressure - how travel, growth, and leadership demands quietly erode the habits that keep you grounded

[00:24:13] How “context shifting” destroys focus, drains leaders, and impacts entire organizations - and why reducing it may be the key to a healthier 2026

[00:38:47] A candid look at stress, mental resets, and the tools leaders are turning to - from saunas to silence to psychedelic therapy

Only 30% of businesses listed for sale actually find a buyer? Even more striking, just 10% of those sell for the price their owners anticipated or higher, meaning only 3% of all business owners achieve their desired sale price. By focusing on understanding and enhancing your enterprise value, you can significantly boost your chances of joining that successful 3%.

Start Assessment Know Your Enterprise Value. See Your Potential Gaps.

Complete this assessment in less than 15 minutes and receive a free assessment for your business that includes:

This isn’t a paid plug. It’s real talk from the front lines. If you’ve ever thought, “How do I get a VP-level sales leader or even a sales team without hiring full-time?” Floodlight has the answer.

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I sit down with Claire Carreras, a musician, comedian, fashion entrepreneur, and now co-owner of 1-Tom Plumber Austin to unpack one of the most unexpected and compelling career journeys we’ve ever featured. Claire opens up about a childhood marked by constant relocation across multiple countries, how creativity and performance became her anchor, and how those early experiences shaped the grit and resourcefulness she now brings to building service businesses.

We explore the rise and collapse of her fashion brands, the financial devastation of COVID, and what it took to rebuild her life from scratch in a new country. Claire shares the mindset shifts that helped her scale restoration and plumbing operations, the leadership lessons she brought from stages and tour vans, and her refreshingly honest view on managing people, burnout, and generational differences inside a 24/7 business.

If you’re drawn to real entrepreneurial stories, the raw ones, with bruises, resilience, and reinvention; this conversation is worth every minute.

Hope you enjoy.

Chris

Why You Should Listen...

[00:05:15] How a turbulent childhood, constant relocation, and exposure to wildly different cultures forged Claire’s resilience and leadership instincts

[00:13:03] How acting, stand-up comedy, and 15 years of international touring built the confidence, grit, and communication skills she now uses to scale home-service companies

[00:20:27] What three failed fashion businesses taught her about timing, financial risk, market collapse, and how to recover when everything falls apart

[00:28:14] Why she jumped into One-Tom Plumber after COVID wiped out her income, and how she built a 5-truck operation in months by leaning into clarity, systems, and urgency

[00:45:06] How Claire motivates teams through uncertainty, connects personally without lowering standards, and navigates generational differences around pressure and mental health

Only 30% of businesses listed for sale actually find a buyer? Even more striking, just 10% of those sell for the price their owners anticipated or higher, meaning only 3% of all business owners achieve their desired sale price. By focusing on understanding and enhancing your enterprise value, you can significantly boost your chances of joining that successful 3%.

Start Assessment Know Your Enterprise Value. See Your Potential Gaps.

Complete this assessment in less than 15 minutes and receive a free assessment for your business that includes:

This isn’t a paid plug. It’s real talk from the front lines. If you’ve ever thought, “How do I get a VP-level sales leader or even a sales team without hiring full-time?” Floodlight has the answer.

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, I sit down with Nilo Quiroz and John Villon to unpack their unlikely path from oil-and-gas engineers to running one of the fastest-growing PuroClean and 1-Tom Plumber operations in the country.

We get into how early failures shaped their mindset, why putting ego aside became the key to their partnership, and how saying yes—long before they felt ready—helped them accelerate past the typical startup grind. From feeding thousands of hurricane responders to tearing out their first flooded home with support from the franchise network, their journey is a masterclass in hustle, humility, and learning fast.

Hope you enjoy.

Chris

Why You Should Listen 

[00:07:36] How two radically different personalities learned to set ego aside and build a partnership that actually works under pressure

[00:18:36] Why saying “yes” to unfamiliar work (and figuring it out later) became their biggest accelerator in the early years

[00:24:45] What their first hurricane deployment taught them about learning fast, asking for help, and leveraging a franchise network

[00:33:00] How diversification—contents, reconstruction, bio, plumbing—kept their business alive when mitigation slowed down

[00:43:45] Why they see business as a marathon, not a sprint, and how that mindset helped them survive failures and grow multiple companies

Only 30% of businesses listed for sale actually find a buyer? Even more striking, just 10% of those sell for the price their owners anticipated or higher, meaning only 3% of all business owners achieve their desired sale price. By focusing on understanding and enhancing your enterprise value, you can significantly boost your chances of joining that successful 3%.

Start Assessment Know Your Enterprise Value. See Your Potential Gaps.

Complete this assessment in less than 15 minutes and receive a free assessment for your business that includes:

This isn’t a paid plug. It’s real talk from the front lines. If you’ve ever thought, “How do I get a VP-level sales leader or even a sales team without hiring full-time?” Floodlight has the answer.

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I sit down with Alejandro to unpack what ten years inside one of the toughest jiu jitsu cultures in the country can teach us about leadership, loyalty, and personal growth. We dig into how a broken season in his life led him to a mentor who changed everything, why the Daisy Fresh laundromat became a proving ground for world class competitors, and how the same principles that shape great fighters also shape great teams.

Hope you enjoy

Chris

Only 30% of businesses listed for sale actually find a buyer? Even more striking, just 10% of those sell for the price their owners anticipated or higher, meaning only 3% of all business owners achieve their desired sale price. By focusing on understanding and enhancing your enterprise value, you can significantly boost your chances of joining that successful 3%.

Start Assessment Know Your Enterprise Value. See Your Potential Gaps.

Complete this assessment in less than 15 minutes and receive a free assessment for your business that includes:

This isn’t a paid plug. It’s real talk from the front lines. If you’ve ever thought, “How do I get a VP-level sales leader or even a sales team without hiring full-time?” Floodlight has the answer.

In this episode of Head, Heart, and Boots, Brandon and I dive into what Netflix got right about radical candor and how restoration leaders can use it to build healthier, faster-growing teams. We pull insights from No Rules Rules, share how we’re applying those same principles inside FP Restoration, and talk about how fear of feedback quietly kills trust, growth, and leadership potential.

hope you enjoy - Chris

Only 30% of businesses listed for sale actually find a buyer? Even more striking, just 10% of those sell for the price their owners anticipated or higher, meaning only 3% of all business owners achieve their desired sale price. By focusing on understanding and enhancing your enterprise value, you can significantly boost your chances of joining that successful 3%.

Start Assessment Know Your Enterprise Value. See Your Potential Gaps.

Complete this assessment in less than 15 minutes and receive a free assessment for your business that includes:

This isn’t a paid plug. It’s real talk from the front lines. If you’ve ever thought, “How do I get a VP-level sales leader or even a sales team without hiring full-time?” Floodlight has the answer.

I’ll be real. Finance used to feel like the boring side of business. But the deeper we’ve gone, the more I’ve realized the numbers tell the story. In this one, Chris and I sit down with Jim Emerich of Backbone CFO to talk about how to turn financial chaos into clarity, and clarity into growth.

Jim breaks down what most owners get wrong about money, how to build incentive comp that actually pays, and why mastering cash flow is the key to scaling without stress.

Thanks for Listening, Brandon

[00:01:00] Why finance isn’t boring, it’s your growth engine
[00:06:00] Ambition vs. contentment, the mindset that keeps you sane
[00:10:45] Incentive comp that motivates and pays out
[00:17:30] Open-book management and the power of transparency
[00:25:40] Avoiding the owner’s draw trap
[00:32:00] Lifestyle business vs. enterprise value
[00:38:50] Pricing, margins, and funding real growth
[00:45:10] Building a business banks and buyers love
[00:52:00] Final gut check, are you the constraint

Only 30% of businesses listed for sale actually find a buyer? Even more striking, just 10% of those sell for the price their owners anticipated or higher, meaning only 3% of all business owners achieve their desired sale price. By focusing on understanding and enhancing your enterprise value, you can significantly boost your chances of joining that successful 3%.

Start Assessment Know Your Enterprise Value. See Your Potential Gaps.

Complete this assessment in less than 15 minutes and receive a free assessment for your business that includes:

This isn’t a paid plug. It’s real talk from the front lines. If you’ve ever thought, “How do I get a VP-level sales leader or even a sales team without hiring full-time?” Floodlight has the answer.

I’m Chris, and in this episode Brandon and I talk about what year-end planning really looks like when you stop chasing perfect dashboards and start leading with purpose. We unpack what worked for Floodlight this year, how we intentionally ran lean to leap ahead, and why your team’s buy-in depends on more than KPIs.

[00:01:12] Planning Q4 like an investor and how we turned red months into green growth
[00:05:11] Why most leaders undervalue strategic planning and treat it like a checklist
[00:08:57] Mission before metrics and how to build KPIs that actually drive vision
[00:14:25] The “100 Point Week” system for sales reps and why simple wins
[00:20:06] How C-suite dashboards actually work with 3 to 4 key metrics
[00:31:38] Aligning sales and operations around customer experience, not just numbers
[00:53:36] Tommy Mello’s story about building a dream big enough for others to fit inside it

If you’re leading a restoration or home-service company and planning for next year, this episode is your field guide for making 2026 different.

Only 30% of businesses listed for sale actually find a buyer? Even more striking, just 10% of those sell for the price their owners anticipated or higher, meaning only 3% of all business owners achieve their desired sale price. By focusing on understanding and enhancing your enterprise value, you can significantly boost your chances of joining that successful 3%.

Start Assessment Know Your Enterprise Value. See Your Potential Gaps.

Complete this assessment in less than 15 minutes and receive a free assessment for your business that includes:

This isn’t a paid plug. It’s real talk from the front lines. If you’ve ever thought, “How do I get a VP-level sales leader or even a sales team without hiring full-time?” Floodlight has the answer.