How'd They Do That?

Most coaches and consultants didn't start a business because they love lead generation. They started because they wanted to help people. But if nobody's paying attention, you can't help anybody. In this episode, Skot Waldron talks with Jake Tlapek, also known as Jake the Wizard. Jake has built and sold two seven-figure agencies, grown a social following of more than 100,000, and wrote Eight Dominoes. He built his agency on organic social alone and brought in 10 to 20 high-intent leads a week without spending a dollar on ads.

Jake explains the system behind it. He goes live for two hours, clips the recording into dozens of short videos, and posts 5 to 10 times a day. He covers the three reasons live video beats regular posting, how to fill a live when nobody shows up, and why treating your audience like paying clients leads to sales calls where you barely have to sell.

Chapters: 00:00:00 – Cold Start & Intro 00:06:30 – The Real Reason Your Posts Aren't Working 00:10:41 – 3 Reasons Going Live Beats Posting 00:14:12 – How to Go Live When Nobody Shows Up 00:16:01 – How to Sell Without Ever Pitching 00:19:12 – Treat Your Audience Like They Already Paid 00:25:15 – Your First 30 Days Starting from Zero 00:31:29 – Lightning Round: LinkedIn vs. Instagram and More 00:36:29 – Why Your Content Isn't Getting You Clients 00:41:22 – A Word of Hope for Coaches and Consultants

Links:

Guest: Jake Tlapek Website: www.jakethewizard.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jake-tlapek Instagram: instagram.com/itsjakethewizard Book: Eight Dominoes: A Messaging Framework That Compounds Into Awesome Clients

In this episode, Skot Waldron sits down with Andrea Ediger, founder of Seventy, a full-service administrative solution built for coaches, consultants, and leaders. Andrea has spent years helping high performers hand off the work that drains them so they can stay in their strengths. She breaks down the surprisingly low bar for knowing you're ready for help, if you're losing an hour a day or half a day a week to work that isn't your strength, that's the signal.

You'll hear what to delegate first, why "where do you want to be in 90 days?" is the better starting question, how to run weekly check-ins that actually move things forward, and what separates assistant relationships that thrive from the ones that quietly fall apart. Skot also shares the very real moment his assistant caught two events booked on the same day in two different states, and saved his reputation.

If you've been telling yourself it's cheaper and faster to just do it yourself, this one's worth your time. You don't have to build your business alone.

Chapters: 00:00:01 – Cold Start & Intro 00:00:48 – Why an Admin Changes Everything 00:04:58 – How to Know You're Actually Ready 00:07:09 – The Real Breaking Point Most Coaches Hit 00:10:04 – "But I Don't Want to Train Someone Again" 00:16:33 – What to Hand Off First 00:18:28 – The Weekly Check-In That Keeps It Working 00:20:25 – The Follow-Up Fix That Saved Skot 00:27:20 – Why Some Assistant Relationships Fall Apart 00:34:51 – Getting 20 Hours a Month Back

Links:

Guest: Andrea Ediger Website: findseventy.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/andreaediger

In this episode of How'd They Do That?, Skot Waldron sits down with negotiation and influence expert Attia Qureshi to talk through what really happens when coaches, consultants, founders, and service-based business owners negotiate for themselves. Attia breaks down why we are often great at advocating for clients but weirdly bad at advocating for our own value.

They get tactical with a real pricing scenario from Skot's business, including how to anchor your fee, when to ask about budget, how to create three options, what to do when a prospect has a cheaper quote, and how to respond when someone says there is no budget this year.

Timestamps: 00:00:00 – Cold Start & Intro 00:01:19 – Why Negotiation Matters for Coaches 00:03:57 – Why We Get Weird About Our Own Fees 00:08:15 – How to Anchor Without Guessing 00:09:25 – The Two-Minute Fear Reset 00:16:02 – Skot's Real Pricing Scenario 00:26:41 – Why Three Options Work 00:33:05 – When They Found Someone Cheaper 00:38:03 – Turning No Budget Into Not Yet 00:45:03 – Practice Negotiation in 30 Seconds a Day

Links:

Guest: Attia Qureshi Website: https://www.attiaqureshi.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/attiaq Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/attiaq

Speaking can be one of the best ways to grow a coaching or consulting business, but only if you treat it like a strategy instead of a really long trust fall with a microphone.

In this episode, Skot Waldron talks with Arel Moodie, speaker, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Talkadot, about how coaches, consultants, founders, and service-based business owners can use speaking to build trust, generate leads, and create real business opportunities.

Arel breaks down why "just winging it" is usually a bad plan, how to know when a free speaking gig is worth taking, what audience feedback can teach you, and how data can help turn a talk into consulting revenue. If speaking is part of your growth plan, this conversation will help you get more intentional, more useful, and a lot less random.

Timestamps: 00:00:00 – Cold Start & Intro 00:03:17 – The Biggest Lie About Speaking 00:05:22 – What Your Audience Remembers 00:09:01 – When Free Gigs Make Sense 00:12:37 – Referrals Without the Sales Sting 00:15:07 – Turning Talk Data Into Revenue 00:17:56 – Why Trust Is the Real Sale 00:23:00 – How to Spot Paid Speaking Gigs 00:25:22 – Stop Perfecting, Start Booking 00:30:37 – Final Takeaway & Outro

Links:

Guest: Arel Moodie Website: https://arelmoodie.com Talkadot: https://www.talkadot.com/s/arel LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arelmoodie

Building a great keynote can feel like trying to organize a junk drawer while people are watching. You've got ideas, stories, experience, maybe even a few great slides but if there's no structure, the audience can feel it fast.

In this episode of How'd They Do That?, Skot Waldron talks with Michael Hidalgo about a simple, practical framework for building talks that people actually remember. Michael brings 25+ years of speaking experience and breaks down how story structure, screenwriting, and the idea of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation can help coaches, consultants, founders, and creators craft more compelling keynotes.

You'll learn how to find the "inciting incident" in your message, why one clear sentence can save your entire talk, and how to stop piling on good content that doesn't serve the main point. It's practical, experience-driven, and surprisingly freeing like your keynote finally got a GPS.

Timestamps: 00:00:00 – Cold Start & Intro 00:03:16 – Why Keynoting Matters for Coaches 00:05:02 – The Story Structure Behind Great Talks 00:08:32 – The Mosquito Hook Example 00:12:17 – What Cars Teaches Speakers 00:14:01 – How to Hook an Audience 00:17:19 – The Simple Talk Template 00:20:08 – Why Speakers Lose the Room 00:25:54 – Michael's Advice for Coaches and Consultants

Links:

Guest: Michael Hidalgo Website: michael-hidalgo.com

Planning an off-site can feel like a gamble. You book the place, fill the agenda, hope everyone has a good time, and quietly wonder if any of it actually moved the business forward.

This episode flips that script. Skot Waldron sits down with Joe Gonzalez, a real estate developer and hospitality operator behind Silvarra, a luxury cabin retreat in North Georgia built specifically for executive off-sites and leadership retreats. Joe spent 15 years in tech before building a space designed to help teams think clearly, connect deeply, and make the big decisions that rarely get made in the day-to-day noise.

If you coach, consult, or run a service-based business, this conversation is full of usable ideas. You will hear why environment changes the way people think, the three beliefs behind every great off-site, the "one thing" rule that beats over-planning, how long a retreat should really be, and why the best gatherings leave room for silence and unscheduled moments.

Timestamps: 00:00:00 – Cold Start & Intro 00:04:20 – The Idea Behind the Retreat Business 00:07:01 – Where Most Off-Sites Go Wrong 00:10:08 – The Science of "Sleep On It" 00:13:32 – The 3 Beliefs Behind a Great Off-Site 00:17:47 – The One-Thing Rule That Beats Over-Planning 00:21:16 – How Long an Off-Site Should Actually Be 00:24:25 – Designing Spaces Worth Every Penny 00:28:11 – Where to Start & Who to Learn From 00:31:08 – Tie the Trip to Real Business Results

Links:

Guest: Joseph Anthony Gonzalez Website: www.silvarrablueridge.com Silvarra Instagram: www.instagram.com/silvarrablueridge Personal Instagram: www.instagram.com/wakingupexcited LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/josephagonzalez

Resources You May Find Helpful:

Favorite Book: Unreasonable Hospitality

Priya Parker — Purposeful Gatherings Author of The Art of Gathering

Patrick Lencioni — Team Health & Executive Alignment Author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

Adrian Segar — Participant-Driven Event Design Author of Conferences That Work

Download: The Executive Offsite Framework

Download: Sample 2-Day Executive Offsite Agenda

Most "communities" are just Zoom calls wearing a fancy name tag. In this episode, Mike Kim breaks down what real community looks like: a place where people can share wins without feeling weird, be honest without getting judged, and grow without being treated like a number. We talk about why people join for the leader… but stay for the relationships, and how trust is the actual product.

You'll also hear how Mike separates masterminds vs. memberships, why he sets clear rules (and keeps them), how he structures calls so they don't turn into weekly "nothing happened" updates, and the simple test to know if you're even wired to lead a community. If you want a group that creates momentum, meaning, and retention, not just "content" this is your blueprint.

Timestamps: 00:00:00 – Intro & Highlights 00:04:19 – Cold Open Banter + "We Met in the Bathroom" Story 00:05:20 – Why Community Matters (and why Mike's been doing it for a decade) 00:06:08 – What "Community" Actually Means (no bragging, real trust) 00:10:16 – Mastermind vs Membership: Roundtable vs Classroom 00:14:15 – Raising Standards: "Write a Book by 2026" (or you're out) 00:24:13 – How Mike Structures Groups: cadence, attendance, expectations 00:30:54 – Should You Start a Community? The Fast Test 00:38:08 – Mike's IP Assessment Offer + Discount Code 00:41:25 – Final Hope: The Shift from Attention to Wisdom (and trust wins)

Links:

Guest: Mike Kim Website: mikekim.com/newsletter YouTube: youtube.com/@RealMikeKim Instagram: @mikekim LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mikekimtv TikTok: tiktok.com/@mikekimtv Facebook: facebook.com/mikekimtv Twitter X: twitter.com/mikekimtv

Most coaches and consultants know speaking can be a powerful way to grow their business, but knowing that and actually doing it well are two very different things. In this episode, Skot Waldron sits down with Jennifer Brown, a 20-year business owner, four-time author, and sought-after corporate keynote speaker, to unpack what it really takes to build a speaking career that pays.

Jennifer shares how she went from a reluctant consultant to a world-stage keynoter, why writing a book can change everything fee-wise, and how to think about early speaking gigs as long-game relationship investments instead of one-off transactions. She also gets practical about landing the right gigs, positioning yourself in the right market, negotiating fees, climbing from $2,500 to $10,000 and beyond, and inspiring confidence before the contract is even signed.

Timestamps: 00:00:00 – Cold Start & Intro 00:02:30 – The Backwards Path to the Stage 00:05:30 – Finding Your Point of View as a Speaker 00:08:01 – Early Gigs, Free Work, and the Long Game 00:15:02 – What Corporate Buyers Are Actually Asking 00:17:53 – Speaking as a Lead Magnet, Not Just a Stage 00:30:31 – What It Takes to Climb from 2,500 to 10,000+ 00:41:16 – How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome and Play Bigger 00:42:46 – One Thing You Can Do Right Now

Links:

Guest: Jennifer Brown Website: @jenniferbrownspeaks LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jenniferbrownspeaks

Writing a book isn't the finish line, it's the starting block. Doug Crowe breaks down why the traditional publishing model is broken, why "bestseller" badges are mostly vanity metrics, and how authors can turn books into permanent brand assets instead of dusty accomplishments.

We unpack why attention is harder than ever, how AI should assist (not replace) human storytelling, and why flipping the spotlight from you to your audience creates built-in distribution. Doug shares real examples of authors landing enterprise clients, keynote stages, and long-term influence by treating books as relationship engines, not products.

If you're writing a book to be remembered, not ignored, this episode is required listening.

Timestamps: 00:00 — Cold Open & Intro 03:04 — Why Writing a Book Still Matters (Legacy vs Attention) 06:18 — The Broken Publishing Model: Write, Publish, Pray 08:47 — Attention Is the Scarcity (Not Content) 10:47 — Why AI Can't Replace Human Storytelling 14:12 — The 90-Day Flip: Turning a Book into a Growth Engine 17:57 — Taking the Spotlight Off You (The Oprah Effect) 20:03 — Why Bestseller Lists Are Mostly Vanity Metrics 29:03 — The Thousand True Fans Strategy for Authors 31:30 — Books in the Age of AI: Humanity Still Wins 32:50 — One Practical Step for Aspiring Authors

Links:

Guest: Doug Crowe Website: authoryourbrand.com/go LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/thedougcrowe

Most coaches and consultants didn't start their business because they were excited to "do sales." They started because they're good at solving problems, serving clients, and doing the actual work. But then business development shows up like an extra job with a name badge nobody asked for.

In this episode, Will Riley shares how he grew his consulting business by 75% in one year without cold outreach, pushy pitches, or a giant social media machine. His approach is simple: five coffee catch-ups a month, a thoughtful relationship list, and conversations that feel human instead of forced. If sales has ever felt awkward or opportunistic, this episode gives you a practical way to grow that actually fits who you are.

Timestamps: 00:00:00 – Cold Start & Introduction 00:04:23 – Why Will Hates Sales - and Built a Better Way 00:06:18 – The 80/20 Rule That Changed Everything 00:10:48 – Five Coffees a Month: The Simplest Growth Strategy Ever 00:12:41 – When a Casual Catch-Up Becomes a Client 00:14:31 – Why People Actually Open Up to Will 00:18:18 – How to Turn a Conversation Into an Opportunity 00:20:07 – What to Do When Someone's Guard Is Up 00:22:21 – Build the Relationship List Before You Need It

Links:

Guest: Will Riley Website: coopmarketing.co LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/willrileycoop