Hire To Scale

INTRO

In this episode, I sit down with Jackson Christensen, COO of Bibbero Meetings and Events, a Denver company that plans conferences, trade shows, and corporate events. Jackson spent about 10 years in business strategy and corporate analytics at large companies before joining Bibbero 3.5 years ago, where he runs every event like a business with clear numbers behind each decision.

We talk about what hospitality teaches teams about breaking down silos, how he hires people with passion and more than 1 skill set, and how he gets vendors and local temp staff working together on events planned 2 years out. Jackson also explains his rule of kindness over speed when training new people, why it is good to hire someone who doesn't care as much as you, how he uses customer lifetime value to judge the team's results, and what it took to recruit him as COO.

If you are a founder getting ready to hand off client work or hire your right-hand operator, this conversation shows you how to hire for the role and how to pitch it to the right person.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

- Why hospitality forces teams out of the silos common in corporate America

- How to hire for passion and multiple skill sets instead of 1 narrow specialty

- How to find out whether a vendor wants a punch list or constant contact before the event starts

- Why Bibbero hires local temp staff for registration and security

- How to train new people with kindness over speed, starting with how each person learns

- Why it is good to hire someone who doesn't care as much as you do

- Why you should be willing to hire fast and fire fast instead of waiting for the perfect fit

- How to use customer lifetime value and acquisition cost to see who on your team brings in the right clients

- How to recruit a COO by letting them tell you what they want to fix

RESOURCES MENTIONED

- Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) – the industry association JP mentions Jackson is part of

- Alex Hormozi – the acquisitions workshop where JP learned the LTV to CAC ratio as the core business formula

- Daniel Pink – the author whose model of autonomy, mastery, and purpose JP brings up

- Dan Martell – the coach Jackson and JP both know, and Jackson's example of working hard without sacrificing your health

CONNECT WITH JACKSON

Website: https://www.bibberomeetingsandevents.com

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

Company Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bibberomeetingsandevents/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackson-christensen-bb7b89a9/

Follow Jackson on Instagram to learn from him directly, and find Bibbero on Instagram or at bibberomeetingsandevents.com.

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If you enjoyed this episode, follow HIRE TO SCALE for weekly conversations about how to recruit, train, and manage high-performing teams so you can build a business that actually scales.

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business

Start here → METEOR (https://www.trymeteor.com/)

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:

METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook (https://trymeteor.notion.site/The-METEOR-VA-Hiring-Playbook-204d0a7c8414809d9d7ed58850a1bc88?pvs=74)

Connect with JP:

LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpforno/)

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jp.forno/)

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business
Start here → METEOR

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:
METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook

Connect with JP:
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INTRO

In this episode, I sit down with Seth Brink, founder of OTB Growth and the Traction Program, where he coaches independent restaurant owners to build teams that can run the business without them. Seth has spent 30 years in restaurants, from his first job at Papa Murphy's at 16 and a corporate role in Dubai to buying and growing the Greek brand Gyro Shack with a partner, and today he operates 4 locations across Boise and Albuquerque, including a food truck and a food trailer.

We talk about the numbers he holds managers to, why turnover drives up labor and food cost at the same time, and why letting go of 1 toxic employee usually lifts the whole team. Seth also explains how training a trainer differs from training a cook, why systems have to come before your first manager, how he gets his phone to stop ringing, and what catching employees stealing taught him about trust.

If you are working 70 hours a week in your business and wondering how to step back, this conversation gives you an order to do it in: tighten the first location, write the playbook, then hand off decisions.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

- Why sales, food cost, and labor are the first numbers to measure a restaurant manager on

- How turnover inflates labor and food cost at the same time

- Why firing the 1 toxic employee usually makes the rest of the team happier

- How to train a trainer to explain the why behind every step

- Why your best cook may not be your best manager

- Why a single-location owner needs systems in place before hiring a manager

- How asking managers what they would do gets your phone to stop ringing

- How to spot employee theft and what to tell the rest of the team afterward

- Why opening a second location multiplies whatever is broken in the first

RESOURCES MENTIONED

- Gyro Shack – the Boise Greek quick-service brand Seth and his partner bought and grew

- Papa Murphy's – where Seth started at 16 and later worked for corporate

- Turn the Ship Around by David Marquet – the submarine captain's book on moving decisions to the people closest to the information

- Chick-fil-A – Seth's example of training and culture that keep applicants coming

- Ritz-Carlton – the hospitality system Seth says Chick-fil-A borrowed from

- Simon Sinek – the thought leader Seth names as a favorite

- Alex Hormozi – his idea that learning from others gets you the lesson without the scar

- The Bear – the restaurant show JP uses to contrast raw talent with leadership skill

CONNECT WITH SETH

Website: https://www.otbgrowth.com

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

DM Seth on Instagram for his 5-point hiring checklist

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If you enjoyed this episode, follow HIRE TO SCALE for weekly conversations about how to recruit, train, and manage high-performing teams so you can build a business that actually scales.

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business

Start here → METEOR (https://www.trymeteor.com/)

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:

METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook (https://trymeteor.notion.site/The-METEOR-VA-Hiring-Playbook-204d0a7c8414809d9d7ed58850a1bc88?pvs=74)

Connect with JP:

LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpforno/)

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jp.forno/)

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business
Start here → METEOR

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METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook

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LinkedIn
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INTRO

In this episode, I sit down with Anthony Kosseris, founder and CEO of Kosseris Synergy, the Gold Coast group behind 5 companies in freight, engines, property, and AI infrastructure. He founded the freight tech platform Loadlink and AJK Engines, an engine remanufacturer he says has grown 100% year on year since it started, and he now leads Fortis Fundamenta, which is developing gigawatt-scale AI data center campuses in Queensland.

We talk about the moment he realized he was paying people by the hour to stand around and watch him work, why micromanaging held him back for years, and how he now hands people the end result instead of the next task. Anthony also shares the video screening step he borrowed from Dan Martell, how he leads a tech team when he cannot write a line of code, and why he asks new hires what they want to be paid.

If every decision in your business still runs through you, this conversation shows you how to hand off outcomes, screen candidates faster, and treat mistakes as fixes to the system instead of reasons to take the work back.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

- Why doing the work while your team watches is the clearest sign you are the bottleneck

- How to delegate the end result instead of handing out 1 task at a time

- Why micromanaging trains your team to stop thinking

- How to use recorded video answers to cut a shortlist of 50 applicants down to 3 to 5 strong candidates

- Why Anthony asks A players to name their pay and reviews it every year

- How to manage a technical team you cannot do the work for, with weekly KPIs and an outside expert to check estimates

- How to review an honest mistake so the fix goes into the system instead of onto the person

- Why asking for 3 options and a recommendation with every problem builds ownership

- How to work back from a 10-year goal to what needs to happen this year

RESOURCES MENTIONED

- Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy – the idea of finding the right person instead of learning every skill yourself

- Dan Martell – the coach whose video screening step and 3-options rule Anthony uses

- 1-3-1 method – 1 problem, 3 options, 1 recommendation, the way JP's team brings him issues

- Richard Branson – JP's example of hiring the number 2 from the top company as a partner

- Andy Frisella – one of the leaders Anthony credits for his focus on mental toughness

- Alex Hormozi – his point that every hand you are dealt has its own advantages

- Combustion Cult – Anthony's brand celebrating the combustion engine

CONNECT WITH ANTHONY

Website: https://kosseris.com.au/

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

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-kosseris-059070150/

Visit kosseris.com.au for a landing page covering all of Anthony's businesses, and follow him on Instagram.

If you enjoyed this episode, follow HIRE TO SCALE for weekly conversations about how to recruit, train, and manage high-performing teams so you can build a business that actually scales.

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business

Start here → METEOR (https://www.trymeteor.com/)

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:

METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook (https://trymeteor.notion.site/The-METEOR-VA-Hiring-Playbook-204d0a7c8414809d9d7ed58850a1bc88?pvs=74)

Connect with JP:

LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpforno/)

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jp.forno/)

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business
Start here → METEOR

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:
METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook

Connect with JP:
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INTRO

In this episode, I sit down with Daniel Himel, a Certified EOS Implementer and the founder of Middle School Matchup, who has implemented EOS in more than 100 companies ranging from $250,000 to $250 million. He spent a decade at Mary Kay, RadioShack.com, Fossil.com, and KPMG, built and sold Trainium, a SaaS platform for coaches, and grew Middle School Matchup into a youth sports franchise in 9 cities that he is now taking through a sale.

We talk about what buyers poke at in due diligence and why they usually want the founder out first. Daniel shares what franchising taught him about replicating a team, walks through EOS from the Vision/Traction Organizer down to weekly rocks, and explains how to handle the right person in the wrong seat. We also get into why your core values should be ones you would fire someone over.

If your team still needs you for every decision, or you want the option to sell someday, this conversation gives you the EOS tools to fix the people problems you have been putting off.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

- Why buyers want the founder out fast and use a raw team to push your valuation down

- How to show a buyer your team runs without you, with documented processes and real time away

- Why systems are only 25% of franchising and picking the right owner is the rest

- How to put each of your 10 to 15 core processes on a scorecard with 1 owner

- How EOS breaks a 10-year target into 90-day rocks that get checked every week

- The difference between a right person in the wrong seat and a wrong person in the right seat, and how to handle each

- Why inventing a seat for a well-liked employee breeds resentment on the rest of the team

- How to write core values specific enough to attract some candidates and repel others

- Why Daniel sends young, raw leaders to shadow other leaders

RESOURCES MENTIONED

- EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) – the business operating system Daniel implements with his clients

- Traction by Gino Wickman – the book that got Daniel into EOS

- Vision/Traction Organizer (V/TO) – the 1-page EOS plan, from core values to the 1-year plan

- Rocks – 90-day priorities in EOS, each owned by 1 person and reviewed weekly

- Accountability Chart – the EOS chart that gives everyone a seat and its main activities

- Right People, Right Seats (RPRS) – the EOS test of whether someone shares your core values and can do the job

- Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) – the required franchise filing that includes the operations manual

- Alex Hormozi – his advice to pick a market with more money in it

- Dan Martell – the founder Daniel shadowed to learn how a leader runs a team

CONNECT WITH DANIEL

Website: https://middleschoolmatchup.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daniel.himel/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielhimel/

Follow Daniel on Instagram, where he is most active

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If you enjoyed this episode, follow HIRE TO SCALE for weekly conversations about how to recruit, train, and manage high-performing teams so you can build a business that actually scales.

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business

Start here → METEOR (https://www.trymeteor.com/)

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:

METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook (https://trymeteor.notion.site/The-METEOR-VA-Hiring-Playbook-204d0a7c8414809d9d7ed58850a1bc88?pvs=74)

Connect with JP:

LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpforno/)

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jp.forno/)

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business
Start here → METEOR

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:
METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook

Connect with JP:
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INTRO

In this episode, I sit down with Wes Koontz, Managing Partner at Foretell Capital Partners, a net lease advisory and investment firm based in Naples, Florida. Wes has spent 25 years in commercial and residential real estate, has been involved in more than $1 billion in transactions across the US, Europe, and Asia, and led net lease investment sales at Mid-America Real Estate before founding Foretell in 2021. He's also a METEOR client, so we got to talk about how he trained the executive assistant we helped him hire.

We talk about why a business built on 1 tenant and 1 lease still needs a team, and how Wes brought an assistant from another country up to speed on US retail real estate, from the basics down to the numbers on each deal. We also get into the EA playbook he wrote before day 1, the check-in routine that lets him work from Spain for weeks at a time, and why he stopped chasing people with follow-ups about a decade ago.

If you work in a specialized field and assume no assistant could ever learn your business, this conversation gives you a training order and a check-in routine to copy.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

- Why a business built on 1 tenant and 1 lease still needs a team behind it

- How to train an assistant on a niche industry by checking what they know, then moving from the big picture to deal specifics

- Why Wes wrote an EA playbook for his assistant to study before day 1

- How to start with daily check-ins and step down to 2 or 3 a week as the routine settles

- How to use a short end-of-day text to stay on top of projects when travel cancels your meetings

- How to work from abroad for weeks by staying at least 1 week in each place and moving on weekends

- Why Wes stopped chasing people with follow-ups and now hires for self-motivation

- Why Wes is swapping open-ended check-ins for firm dates on the calendar

- How to give feedback by asking what you could have communicated better the first time

RESOURCES MENTIONED

- Mid-America Real Estate – the Chicago firm where Wes led net lease investment sales across 4 offices

- EA playbook – the guide Wes put together for his executive assistant to study before day 1

- Portable laptop monitors – the attachable screens Wes uses to work on 3 screens from a kitchen table

- Mike Tyson – his line about having a plan until you get punched, which JP uses for days that blow up the task list

- Jim Rohn – the author and speaker JP quotes on how half the battle is finding out

CONNECT WITH WES

Website: https://www.fcpnnn.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wes.koontz/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wes-koontz-a4b6783/

Net Lease Investor Club: https://www.skool.com/net-lease-investor-club-2108/about

DM Wes on Instagram for his 10-page guide to net lease investing.

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If you enjoyed this episode, follow HIRE TO SCALE for weekly conversations about how to recruit, train, and manage high-performing teams so you can build a business that actually scales.

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business

Start here → METEOR (https://www.trymeteor.com/)

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:

METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook (https://trymeteor.notion.site/The-METEOR-VA-Hiring-Playbook-204d0a7c8414809d9d7ed58850a1bc88?pvs=74)

Connect with JP:

LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpforno/)

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jp.forno/)

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business
Start here → METEOR

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:
METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook

Connect with JP:
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INTRO

In this episode, I sit down with Yasmin Saad, co-founder and team leader of The Saad Team at Compass, a luxury real estate team in Naples, Florida. Yasmin left broadcast journalism at KETV in Omaha to build the team with her mother, Fahada, in 2003, and they have since passed $1 billion in sales. She is also a former Division I swimmer and a 2-time Ironman finisher, and that background shapes how she trains her agents.

We break down how she trains through live role plays, group coaching with team leaders in other markets, and objection reviews where the team answers before she does, plus why a script takes about 90 days of daily practice before it sounds like a conversation. We also talk about how she uses AI to turn 2 decades of coaching notes and recordings into playbooks, the playbook she built for selling over text, and why a playbook only works when it is used inside live training.

If you are still the only person on your team who knows what to say to every lead, this conversation shows you how to get that knowledge out of your head and into your team's daily practice.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• Why the best team hire is often an agent 1 to 2 years in with a few deals done
• How to hand a client to the right specialist on your team so they feel better served
• How to run role plays and objection reviews where the team answers before you do
• Why your team sometimes needs to hear the same lesson from another leader before it lands
• Why a script needs daily practice for about 90 days, with feedback, before it sounds natural
• How to use visualization from sports to win a listing presentation before you walk in
• How to use AI to turn decades of coaching notes into a playbook that stays current
• How to adapt phone and in-person selling to text with the right opener, cadence, and pacing
• Why most people will never read your playbook, and how to use it during live training instead

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Compass – the brokerage The Saad Team is part of
• Outliers – the book behind the 10,000 hours to mastery idea
• Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) – the visualization approach Yasmin's high school swim coach taught
• Tony Robbins – whose NLP seminars JP remembers from his dad's cassettes
• Sell-by-chat playbook – Yasmin's playbook for selling over text and chat

CONNECT WITH YASMIN

Website: https://www.thesaadteam.com/yasmin-saad/

Entrepreneurs and real estate agents who want help growing their business can reach Yasmin through her profile page.

If you enjoyed this episode, follow HIRE TO SCALE for weekly conversations about how to recruit, train, and manage high-performing teams so you can build a business that actually scales.

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business Start here → METEOR (https://www.trymeteor.com/)

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here: METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook (https://trymeteor.notion.site/The-METEOR-VA-Hiring-Playbook-204d0a7c8414809d9d7ed58850a1bc88?pvs=74)

Connect with JP:

 LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpforno/)

 Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jp.forno/)

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business
Start here → METEOR

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:
METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook

Connect with JP:
LinkedIn
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INTRO

In this episode, I sit down with Billy C. Mullins II, an organizational psychologist, author, and the founder of S.A.L.T. Your Thoughts. At 20 he was supervising 65 people at McKee Foods (the maker of Little Debbie) and ran a plant by 24, and after moving into HR he helped cut first-90-day turnover from 65% to 8% in 12 months. He then built Vikus around that hiring approach, ran it for 23 years, and sold it in 2017 for 8 figures.

We break down how Billy defines a role duty by duty, why a job tryout of 2 to 4 hours tells you more than an interview, and why top performers usually stay the shortest. He also explains the reticular activation system, delegating the measures instead of the method, and the CAT method for sales.

If you keep losing new hires in their first weeks, or need to hire for work you cannot judge yourself, this conversation shows you how to define the job and test for it before you make an offer.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• How to break a job into 5 to 9 duties you can hire and train against
• Why most job descriptions describe the last person instead of the job
• How to design a job tryout of 2 to 4 hours that both sides learn from
• Why top performers have the shortest tenure, and where on the bell curve to hire instead
• The difference between delegating the measures and delegating the method
• How to hire for a role you do not understand by asking candidates how they would set it up
• Why the hiring process shows you a candidate at their best
• Why a team used to reinvention makes a company more attractive to a buyer
• How the chain from thought to behavior explains why behavior change rarely lasts

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• S.A.L.T. Your Thoughts – Billy's book, on Amazon in all formats
• Salt Seed – Billy's free daily morning message
• Delegation tool – Billy's free tool; message him "delegation" to get it
• Duty analysis – Billy's method for defining a job duty by duty
• Job tryout – a work sample built from the duty analysis
• Performance and tenure bell curve – where to aim your hiring
• Measures vs method – define the result and let the person choose how
• Reticular activation system – the brain's filter for what you notice
• CAT method – Billy's sales lesson from a former business partner
• Cognitive sequence – thought, belief, value, need, and behavior
• Maslow's hierarchy of needs – the model Billy contrasts it with
• Jim Rohn – the seasons-of-life analogy JP brings up
• McKee Foods – maker of Little Debbie, where Billy started
• Vikus – Billy's selection software company, sold in 2017

CONNECT WITH BILLY

Website: https://saltyourthoughts.com

 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/salt.your.thoughts/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bmullins1/

Learn more at saltyourthoughts.com

If you enjoyed this episode, follow HIRE TO SCALE for weekly conversations about how to recruit, train, and manage high-performing teams so you can build a business that actually scales.

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business Start here → METEOR (https://www.trymeteor.com/)

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here: METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook (https://trymeteor.notion.site/The-METEOR-VA-Hiring-Playbook-204d0a7c8414809d9d7ed58850a1bc88?pvs=74)

Connect with JP: 

LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpforno/) 

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jp.forno/)

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business
Start here → METEOR

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:
METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook

Connect with JP:
LinkedIn
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INTRO

In this episode, I sit down with Amy Dills, broker and owner of Brick & Banister Real Estate. Amy got her license after a rough first home purchase, helped 19 people buy and sell in her first 6 months, and founded Brick & Banister in 2017. Today she leads a team of 10 agents closing about $22 million a year across Minnesota and Wisconsin, and she and I are part of the same coaching group.

We talk about how Amy recruits people who have never sold a house, why she treats onboarding like a game of catch where each step a new agent finishes earns the next round of her team's time, and how she trains through a daily 30-minute meeting and structured shadowing. She also walks through why she has burned her team down and rebuilt it more than once, most recently in 2023 after the team had grown to 22 agents, and how she gets her most influential agents on board before a big change.

If you hire people who have never done the job and keep pouring time into the ones who never follow through, this conversation gives you a way to let new hires prove their commitment before you invest in them.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• How to use a back-and-forth onboarding process so new hires earn your time before you invest it
• Why the very first onboarding task tells you who is going to follow through
• The difference between deciding someone fits your team and predicting whether they will succeed
• How to screen candidates with no experience by asking what they think the job involves day to day
• How to run a daily 30-minute team meeting that starts with what winning looks like today
• Why new hires should practice on their own before they shadow a senior teammate
• How to ask a lost prospect for feedback so you get better after every no
• Why keeping top producers who skip the basics drags down the rest of the team
• How to roll out a big change by getting your most influential people on board one-on-one first

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Dan Martell – business coach whose coaching group Amy and JP are both part of
• Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell – book built around the audit, transfer, fill method for freeing up a founder's time
• Sell or Be Sold and Be Obsessed or Be Average by Grant Cardone – books that shaped Amy's approach as a new agent
• Place – national real estate platform where Amy learns from other team leaders

CONNECT WITH AMY

Website: https://www.brickandbanister.com 

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

The Undercomplicated Agent: https://stan.store/Amyranae/p/undercomplicated-agent

Follow Amy on Instagram at @amy_ranae for her coaching group, homeownership classes, and help finding a real estate team anywhere in the country.

If you enjoyed this episode, follow HIRE TO SCALE for weekly conversations about how to recruit, train, and manage high-performing teams so you can build a business that actually scales.

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business Start here → METEOR (https://www.trymeteor.com/)

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here: METEOR VA/EA Hiring

 Playbook (https://trymeteor.notion.site/The-METEOR-VA-Hiring-Playbook-204d0a7c8414809d9d7ed58850a1bc88?pvs=74)

Connect with JP:

LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpforno/) 

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jp.forno/)

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business
Start here → METEOR

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:
METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook

Connect with JP:
LinkedIn
Instagram

INTRO

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Carlos Elizondo, family physician and CEO of Elizondo Medical Group, a physician-led primary care group in South Texas. Carlos and his wife took over the single clinic in Alice that his parents opened in 1982, and in a little over 10 years they grew it to 5 locations and more than 60 team members while he kept seeing patients.

We talk about the years he carried up to 70 patients a day on his own, what it took to take over a clinic whose physician had just passed away, and how the group went from 3 clinics to 5 in 4 to 5 months. Carlos also shares why he almost sold the company, the coaching and core values work that turned a mom-and-pop operation into 1 organization, and how he trains every new nurse practitioner side by side for 3 months. He explains why he lets his patients and his team tell him who to keep.

If your business still depends on you doing the work customers pay for, this conversation shows how to build the team that lets you step back without losing what made people choose you.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• How to take over a new location by learning its systems before replacing them
• Why your business can only grow as far as you do as a leader
• How to run a time audit with your leadership team to prevent burnout
• Why your team will only take care of themselves if you do it first
• How to train new hires side by side so your standard rubs off on them
• How to spot the traits you cannot teach by listening to your customers and your team
• Why Carlos hires from the students who already trained with him
• How to ask candidates about their plans after year 1 so you stop hiring people who see you as a stepping stone
• The difference between a team that runs on titles and a team that runs on people

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• The Law of the Lid – John Maxwell's idea that an organization can only grow as far as its leader
• Dan Martell's Pain Line – the breaking point Carlos hit at 3 clinics when he almost sold the company
• Dan Martell's Audit, Transfer, Fill – the time audit process Carlos is running with his leadership team
• Stabilize, Optimize, Transform, Grow – the growth stages Carlos uses to describe where the group is today
• Jim Rohn – JP's reference on becoming the person who can keep sudden success
• Alex Hormozi – JP's reference on learning from someone else's mistakes instead of your own

CONNECT WITH CARLOS

Website: https://elizondomedicalgroup.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElizondoMedicalGroupCC/ I

nstagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizondomedicalgroup/ 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@elizondomedicalgroup 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drcarloselizondo/

If you enjoyed this episode, follow HIRE TO SCALE for weekly conversations about how to recruit, train, and manage high-performing teams so you can build a business that actually scales.

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business Start here → METEOR (https://www.trymeteor.com/)

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here: METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook (https://trymeteor.notion.site/The-METEOR-VA-Hiring-Playbook-204d0a7c8414809d9d7ed58850a1bc88?pvs=74)

Connect with JP:

 LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpforno/) 

Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jp.forno/)

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business
Start here → METEOR

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INTRO

In this episode, I sit down with Murillo Silva, founder and CEO of Black Sparrow Contracting, a renovation company in Toronto. Murillo spent more than a decade hands-on in renovations, learning drywall, HVAC, plumbing, and general contracting, and grew Black Sparrow from zero to 7 figures on word of mouth without ever running an ad.

We talk about how he handed off the materials runs, the truck, and finally the plumbing he held onto the longest, why his most experienced guy turned out to be the wrong pick for his first project manager, and how he trains new hires by having them watch him solve 1 problem at a time. Murillo also walks through the AI agents he built to run a big part of the company, from an EA that works out of a WhatsApp group to a searchable company brain his crew checks instead of calling him.

If you run a trades business and still spend your evenings on quotes, invoices, and client emails after a full day on site, this conversation shows you what to take off your plate first.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• Why your most experienced worker is not always your best first project manager
• How to spot leadership in a new hire within their first week
• How to structure shadowing so new hires learn by watching you solve 1 problem at a time
• Why Murillo gives his team the outcome and lets them choose the method
• How to let go of the 1 task you only trust yourself to do
• How to take your mailbox, calendar, and invoicing off your plate first with an AI agent
• How to build a company knowledge base by letting an agent interview you while you drive between sites
• Why voice-first systems on WhatsApp get used when complex dashboards get ignored
• The difference between asking clients what they want and offering them options as the expert

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Owner Independence Scorecard – Murillo's tool for trades owners to see where the business still depends on them
• Dan Martell's coaching group – where Murillo picked up the push to use AI to buy back his time
• Raven – Murillo's AI executive assistant that handles his calendar, email, and company information
• WhatsApp – the voice-first home for Murillo's team systems and agents
• Mitsubishi – the ductless AC brand from Murillo's story about the HVAC technician who shaped how he talks to clients

CONNECT WITH MURILLO

Website: https://www.blacksparrow.ca/ 

Free contractor vetting guide: https://www.blacksparrow.ca/free-guide 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/murillo-silva-8544707b/ 

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

If you enjoyed this episode, follow HIRE TO SCALE for weekly conversations about how to recruit, train, and manage high-performing teams so you can build a business that actually scales.

Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business Start here → METEOR (https://www.trymeteor.com/)

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here: METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook (https://trymeteor.notion.site/The-METEOR-VA-Hiring-Playbook-204d0a7c8414809d9d7ed58850a1bc88?pvs=74)

Connect with JP:

 LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpforno/)

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Get More Time Back to Scale Your Business
Start here → METEOR

Download the VA Hiring Playbook here:
METEOR VA/EA Hiring Playbook

Connect with JP:
LinkedIn
Instagram