High Growth Founders

On today's episode of High Growth Founders, Kasey chats with Brian Burkhart, founder of SquarePlanet and host of the Square Stories Podcast. Brian's mission is to help companies bring more beauty to their work.

He will talk about his experience after being fired from SquarePlanet despite working there for 17 years and the lessons he learned.

He will also discuss his unique perspective on beauty.

You will learn about the Mingei Movement during the Industrial Revolution in Japan.

He will discuss steps on how to infuse beauty into your product or customer experience.

You'll learn why Brian believes his book, Stand for Something: The Power of Building a Brand People Authentically Love, is wrong.

Brian will reveal his #1 resource for founders.

Join Kasey and Brian as they dive into a fascinating conversation about beauty in everything you do, fear, and the duality of function and beauty.

Enjoy!

What You Will Learn in this Show:

• Brian's company, SquarePlanet, and what it does. 
• How Brian started to figure out what he actually wanted to do.
• How to infuse beauty into your product or customer experience.
• The spotlight effect.
• And so much more...

Resources:

Kasey Jones LinkedIn

Newsletter (high growth founders.substack.com)

Stand for Something: Brian Burkhart

SquarePlanet ( squareplanet.com)

Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike Hardcover – Phil Knight 

In today's episode of High Growth Founders, Kasey chats with Rob Napoli, a soulful trainer and strategist, founder of Rise Up Media, author and podcast host of The Bear Necessities of Entrepreneurship.

Rob Napoli is passionate about helping startup founders make themselves and their brands stand out. Over the past three years, he has worked with over 500 startups.

Rob will talk about how he discovered his passion for entrepreneurship and what his most important lesson is. 

He will also talk about his OCD struggles and how he manages to balance all his interests and passions with his professional life.

You'll learn why his firing from his job was a defining moment in his life. 

You'll hear an interesting story about why Rob moved to Italy, gave up a six-figure job, and the valuable lessons he learned.

He'll share the kind of investors that funders should avoid.

Rob will also reveal the #1 resource he recommends for founders.

Join Kasey and Rob as they engage in an insightful conversation about finding balance in multitasking, investing in your personal brand, and necessity vs. accessory.

Enjoy!

What You Will Learn in this Show:

• Rob's company, Rise Up Media, and what it does.
• How incredibly lucrative your personal brand can be and how to grow your social media platforms. 
• Rob's book, The Social Soul: Mastering Your Personal and Professional Brand with Intentionality and Authenticity. 
• The most common mistakes founders make in the early stages
• How important it is to have social capital.
• And so much more...

Resources:

Kasey Jones LinkedIn

abetterjones.com/growthaudit

Newsletter (highgrowthfounders.substack.com)

Rob Napoli LinkedIn | The Social Soul ( amazon.com) | The Social Soul ( barnesandnoble.com)

Steal Like an Artist:Austin Kleon

In today's episode of High Growth Founders, Kasey chats with Kenzie Biggins, CEO and visionary of Worxbee. Kenzie is passionate about empowering executive assistants and the executives they support them. She will share how her dyslexia diagnosis at the age of 39 completely changed the game for her and her understanding of how she works and thinks. You will discover the limitations that corporate America and the education system have when it comes to accommodating everyone's unique abilities. You will learn about the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) and how Kenzie discovered it. You will learn why she believes an entrepreneur trust workshop is necessary. She will also talk about her "golden rule" for entrepreneurship as well as her most difficult lesson. Both Kasey and Kenzie will share their thoughts on whether you're failing if you do not get promoted regularly.

Kenzie will talk about how moving from Atlanta to Greenville has opened up incredible opportunities for her. She will also discuss her feature in the Wall Street Journal and her interview on 60 Minutes. You will learn how she changed her mind about VC investing mindset shift and how the How I Built This podcast influenced her. They will talk about the challenges black women-owned businesses face in getting funding. Kenzie will reveal her #1 resource that has been critical to her growth as a founder.

Join Kasey and Kenzie for this thought-provoking conversation about entrepreneurship, self-awareness, and sexism in the corporate world.

Enjoy!

What You Will Learn in this Show:

• A look into Kenzie's company, Worxbee, and what it does.
• How important it is to have an implementer in your business.
• Why life, especially entrepreneurship, is so much like high school
• How do we make it so an entrepreneur can take time off?
• Why Kenzie moved to Greenville, South Carolina, of all places.
• How important it is for entrepreneurs to build an authentic culture.
• What Kenzie is most grateful as a founder 
• And so much more...

Resources:

Kasey Jones LinkedIn

Newsletter (newsletter.highgrowthfounders.com)

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less: McKeown, Greg

WORXBEE (worxbee.com)

In today's episode of High Growth Founders, Kasey chats with Christian Klepp, Co-Founder and Director of Client Engagement at EINBLICK and host of the B2B Marketers on a Mission Podcast. 

Frequently traveling back and forth between different countries for work led to complete burnout. He realized he wanted something more sustainable. After 13 years in Shanghai, Christian relocated to Toronto. 

Christian will talk about the circumstances that ultimately led to his burnout and why he started his podcast.

He will also talk about how he intentionally structured his business to avoid repeating some of the same stressors.

You'll learn tactical, actionable steps to improve your marketing and branding, and how to reach your audience more effectively.

Christian will introduce you to key resources for entrepreneurs.

Join us as Kasey and Christian have an insightful conversation about B2B marketing and the importance of branding.

Enjoy!

What You Will Learn in this Show:

• Christian's company, EINBLICK, what the name means, and what it does.
• Events in a person's life can cause extreme stress.
• The importance of pre-qualifying and finding the right fit for your business.
• Why founders should take an outside-in approach to their messaging rather than an inside-out approach.
• And so much more...

Resources:

Kasey Jones LinkedIn

Newsletter (high growth founders.substack.com)

Christian Klepp LinkedIn | B2B Marketers on a Mission: Podcast

The Harvard Business Review Entrepreneur's Handbook 

Creative Confidence: David Kelley and Tom Kelley

Design a Better Business

Human-Centered Communication

Think. Do. Say.

Building a StoryBrand

On today's episode of High Growth Founders, Kasey will offer her insights on Imposter Syndrome and explain how you can deal with it. She's also going to share a little bit about her theory of why you get it and when you get it, because she's been thinking about it a lot over the last few years. She will explain to you why high-achieving, intelligent people are more likely to suffer from impostor syndrome. You'll learn what it actually means to be a high-growth founder and understand what the essence of the podcast is all about. You'll discover how you can be a high-growth founder even if you are not an entrepreneur.

She will talk about her upbringing and how she was conditioned to believe that everything good requires hard work and that nothing comes easy. She was not taught to embrace what she was naturally good at. You'll learn why Donald Trump is the perfect example of the Dunning-Kruger effect. She will also share with you five strategies to overcome Imposter Syndrome. You will understand why you need to learn the art of positive self-talk.

Join Kasey Jones in this enlightening discussion!

Enjoy! 

What You'll Learn in this Show:

• The Dunning-Kruger effect
• Why Kasey considers impostor syndrome a badge of honor
• What she means by "a high-growth founder"
• Strategies for coping with imposter syndrome
• The importance of collecting positive feedback 
• And so much more...

Resources:

Kasey Jones LinkedIn

Newsletter (newsletter.highgrowthfounders.com)

Have you ever bought a course or an e-book or just read how someone else goes about their blog and followed their template to the letter, only to find that it completely blew up in your face or you got extremely mediocre results? In today's episode of High Growth Founders, Kasey will explain why templates do not always work and how you can use them to your advantage to create something that does. She'll talk about how to steal like an artist and how to use templates efficiently while staying authentic. You will learn how to deconstruct a template. She will use Justin Welsh's template as an example. She will also explain why she prefers to work with smaller groups. You will learn how to use your strengths to your advantage instead of striving to be like someone else. She will share details about her Social Writing Bootcamp with Erica Schneider.

Join Kasey Jones in this enlightening discussion!

Enjoy! 

What You'll Learn in this Show:

• A simple way to learn from templates and use them to your advantage.
• Why templates do not work for the vast majority of us.
• How to revisit and reshape the template to work to your strengths
• About the Social Writing Bootcamp.
• And so much more...

Resources:

Kasey Jones LinkedIn

Newsletter (newsletter.highgrowthfounders.com)

Social Writing Bootcamp by Erica Schneider (Head of Content at Grizzle) and Kasey Jones (Startup Growth Strategist)

In today's episode of High Growth Founders, Kasey chats with Dominic Vogel, a cyber risk consultant and coach.

Dominic always knew he wanted to work in information security. He worked his way up the corporate ladder before moving into entrepreneurship, which impacted his outlook on life.

As he shares his story, he will discuss why he felt miserable in the corporate world and why entrepreneurship has been very liberating. 

He will also share his childhood experiences growing up with a severely mentally ill mother and the transformative values he gained along the way. 

You will learn why Dominic and his team prefer a human-centered approach to their clients over the stereotypical tech approach.

Dominic will also offer a brilliant strategy for living your authentic self.

Join Kasey and Dominic for an insightful conversation about authenticity, parental responsibility, and building meaningful relationships.

Enjoy!

What You Will Learn in this Show:

• About Dominic's company, Cyber.sc, and what it does. 
• The values that make you a true leader
• Dominic's experience sharing his first post about his mother's mental illness and his family's struggle with it.
• Why being a father is Dominic's greatest gift. 
• And so much more...

Resources:

Kasey Jones LinkedIn

Newsletter (high growth founders.substack.com)

Dominic Vogel  LinkedIn

Cyber SC (cyber.sc)

In this episode of High Growth Founders, Kasey discusses the importance of personal branding as a founder and dives deep into how to build one that is differentiated and cuts through the noise of social media.

She makes the case that you do NOT need to pick a niche - as that is limiting - and instead focus on a brand theme. She started a Twitter thread on this topic that has attracted a lot of attention.

She then breaks down the 5 crucial steps to building a brand theme and gives actionable advice so you have a solid plan for making your audience know, like, and respect you.

You'll discover why investing in your personal brand is the best business investment you can make. Kasey's personal brand has generated the vast majority of her career opportunities and relationships.

She will talk about her collaboration with Erica Schneider to launch a social writing Bootcamp. Erica is the head of content at Grizzle. She will share tips on writing and editing content. Kasey will be leading the branding portion of the launch. 

She will also talk about why the more complicated you and your business are, the more complex your brand needs to be. It's a journey, and oversimplifying it would make it boring. A niche is simply too limiting. Your personal brand is the most powerful, enduring, and revenue-generating asset you have.

Join Kasey Jones for this insightful and eye-opening discussion!

Enjoy! 

What You'll Learn in this Show:

• The importance of investing in your brand 
• How do you define success?
• An exercise in discovering your values that will guide your personal brand.
• Learning from your skills, passions and triumphs.
• Creating a competition-free content strategy.
• And so much more...

Resources:

Kasey Jones LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/abetterjones/

Social Writing Bootcamp: https://maven.com/erica-kasey/social-writing

Twitter thread where she first describes this: https://twitter.com/ABetterJones/status/1582722530569515010

Newsletter about values: https://newsletter.highgrowthfounders.com/p/uncover-your-values-to-guide-your

In today's episode of High Growth Founders, Kasey introduces you to a simple system to help you prioritize and focus on what needs to get done and how best to use your time.

She will explain why she calls this system the "prioritization rubric." This system serves as a focus cheat sheet. You'll find out where she learned this system.

You will learn why the majority of entrepreneurs have ADHD. You will understand why the tendency of entrepreneurs to see opportunities everywhere is both a strength and a weakness.

Kasey will show you how this system benefits her clients. This system works fantastically in getting her clients on the same page at Virtual.

Join Kasey Jones for this insightful and eye-opening discussion!

Enjoy!

What You'll Learn in this Show:

• The strengths and weaknesses of entrepreneurs
• What separates the truly successful entrepreneurs from the rest?
• The five different criteria for ranking your priority list
• And so much more...

Resources:

Kasey Jones LinkedIn

Newsletter (newsletter.highgrowthfounders.com)

On today's episode of High Growth Founders, Kasey chats with Jackie Bebenroth, founder and Principal of Muse. With 25 years of marketing experience, Jackie founded Muse, a branding and content marketing agency that works with innovative leaders in the food and wellness industries.

Jackie will share her acquisition story, how she negotiated back the rights to her company, and what she took away from the experience.

She will also talk about her passion for branding and why she started Muse.

You'll discover what it takes for a company to truly present itself as authentic.

Jackie will discuss why change is cyclical and not linear.

Jackie will also reveal her #1 resource for founders.

Join Kasey and Jackie for an inspiring conversation about aligning your business with your passion, branding, and value-based pricing.

Enjoy!

What You Will Learn in this Show:

• A look into Jackie's company, Muse, including their philosophy. 
• Why change is cyclical, not linear.
• The power of integrating your business with your passion.
• Why do you need to stop hourly pricing for your business? 
• The importance of surrounding yourself with people who are ahead of you. 
• And so much more...

Resources:

Kasey Jones LinkedIn

Newsletter (newsletter.highgrowthfounders.com)

You Are a Badass at Making Money: Jen Sincero

Muse (museheadquarters.com) | | Jackie Bebenroth LinkedIn