Hire To Scale

INTRO

In this episode, I sit down with Michelle Braden, one of the most decorated learning and talent development leaders in the world. Michelle is a certified executive coach and former Chief Learning Officer with over 25 years of experience transforming how organizations grow their people. She has led global learning functions that supported tens of thousands of employees worldwide and earned industry-leading recognition, including 2023 CLO of the Year and multiple Brandon Hall Gold Awards for innovation in leadership development, blended learning, and onboarding impact.

We talk about how to design training that people actually remember, how to coach so your team can solve problems on their own, and how to use AI as a helper instead of a crutch. Michelle also shares her Why-What-How framework for developing any skill, her thoughts on the shortening of attention spans at work, and how leaders can empower their teams without losing accountability.

If you want to build a team that thinks critically, takes ownership, and grows without you having to hold their hand, this conversation will show you how.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• The Why-What-How framework for designing effective training
• How to create a learning culture in companies without formal L&D departments
• Why empowerment and accountability go hand in hand
• How to coach your team to think through problems, not wait for instructions
• The difference between delegation and true empowerment
• How to build confidence and ownership in new hires fast
• The impact of AI on learning and why critical thinking is still your superpower

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Situational Leadership Model – Helps leaders tailor their management style based on competence and commitment levels
• The Why-What-How Framework – Michelle’s practical method for structuring training so it is understandable, memorable, and applicable
• The Learning Imperative Podcast – Michelle’s show exploring how continuous learning fuels organizational innovation
• The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz – A book Michelle credits with shaping her leadership and coaching philosophy

CONNECT WITH MICHELLE

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

Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/5yciplZSoX3QIa3xo9ISUL

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

Training is one of the most critical parts of building a high-performing team, yet one of the most underdeveloped skills for founders. In this episode, I sit down with Shelly Ballew, a SaaS leader with over a decade of experience building high-performing revenue and enablement teams and facilitating more than 500 trainings.

Shelly’s programs have helped thousands of professionals improve performance, accelerate ramp time, and drive measurable business results. Together, we talk about how founders and leaders can move beyond compliance-based onboarding and build training that actually drives performance, retention, and culture.

We explore how to create onboarding experiences that foster belonging, design training that mirrors real-world job performance, and measure learning outcomes that tie directly to company KPIs. Whether you’re hiring your first employee or scaling a growing team, this conversation will help you design training that truly works.

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• How to build onboarding that creates belonging and reinforces company culture
• The difference between academic learning and real-world adult learning
• How to design training that mirrors job performance and real outcomes
• Ways to make shadowing and reverse-shadowing meaningful learning tools
• How to coach effectively and diagnose “skill vs will” performance gaps
• Why ongoing training and manager development are essential for growth
• The most common mistakes founders make when designing training programs

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• JD Dillon’s “Results-First” Framework – A practical approach to align training design with business outcomes by starting with the measurable result and working backward to define required skills and behaviors.
• Skill vs Will vs Conditions Model – A diagnostic tool that helps leaders identify whether performance issues stem from missing skills, lack of motivation or confidence, or environmental factors.
• Conscious Competence Ladder – A four-stage model that explains the journey from “unconscious incompetence” (not knowing what you don’t know) to “unconscious competence” (mastery through repetition).
• The 30-60-90 Framework for Onboarding – A milestone-based plan that helps new hires build clarity, confidence, and contribution in structured stages.
• “Fix the Roof While the Sun Is Shining” Mindset – A leadership principle Shelly references, reminding founders to build systems before growth exposes weaknesses.

CONNECT WITH SHELLY

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

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

Guest: Peter Swenson, CEO & Co-Founder of The HIRE Advantage

INTRO

When I first started this podcast, I knew exactly who I wanted as my first guest. Peter Swenson is not just a close friend, he is the person who gave me my first job in sales back in college. Over the last 20 years, he has hired and trained more than 4,000 sales professionals across educational products, home automation, and solar generating hundreds of millions of dollars in the process.

Today, Peter is the CEO and Co-Founder of The HIRE Advantage, where he helps companies build and scale high-performing sales teams through proven systems for recruiting, onboarding, and training. I have seen firsthand how his methods work, and in this episode we break down how to build a high-performing team from the ground up without losing your culture or burning yourself out in the process.

We talk about how to design recruiting systems that actually filter for the right people, how to create onboarding experiences that build trust and buy-in, and how to develop a culture of training that keeps people improving long after their first week. If you are a founder or leader trying to build a reliable, scalable team, this conversation gives you a clear roadmap.

Peter's Quick Tips

• Highest-leverage habit: going to bed on time
• Book that shaped his leadership: Traction by Gino Wickman

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• How to build a strong recruiting system that removes personal bias
• Ways to scale hiring volume without losing team culture
• The difference between onboarding and integration
• How to identify coachability during the recruiting process
• Training systems that help new hires ramp up faster
• How to build trust and buy-in during the first 90 days
• Why culture and performance must be built together

CONNECT WITH PETER

Website: https://www.thehireadvantage.co/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pvswenson/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pvswenson/

-----

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

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

Connect with JP:
LinkedIn
Instagram

For fast-moving founders ready to stop doing it all themselves and start building a team they can actually rely on. Hosted by JP Forno, founder of METEOR and an operator with years of experience building high-performing teams, each episode breaks down the systems, strategies, and mindset shifts needed to hire great people, train them well, and turn them into long-term operators who help your business grow. You’ll hear founder-to-founder frameworks, tools, and real-world lessons that help you spend less time in the weeds and more time building a business that runs with or without you. 

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