If The Public Only Knew- Behind Every Success, a Story Worth Telling

About Steve Preda: Steve Preda was born and raised in Hungary, where his early curiosity for business and leadership inspired him to build his first company—an investment banking firm that he later grew and successfully sold. Seeking new challenges, he moved with his family to the United States, where he began coaching Vistage CEO peer groups and discovered his passion for guiding entrepreneurs. His journey led him to become an EOS Implementer, a Pinnacle Business Guide, and eventually the creator of Summit OS® and Strategy OS®, two business operating systems that help leaders scale their companies with clarity, discipline, and vision.

Beyond his professional achievements, Steve is a devoted husband and father who lives near Richmond, Virginia. He loves playing tennis, listening to jazz, and traveling with his family. His life reflects the same values he teaches—resilience, curiosity, and a commitment to continuous growth—qualities that continue to shape his mission of helping entrepreneurs build not just thriving businesses, but fulfilling lives.

In this episode, Gary and Steve Preda discuss:

• How Steve’s global finance career led to entrepreneurship and coaching
• Lessons from growing and nearly losing an investment bank in Hungary and Europe
• Why most consulting and EOS-style operating systems fall short for long-term growth
• Designing Summit OS
• Eradicating “business COVID.”

Key Takeaways:

• Your zigzag career is an advantage. Steve’s path from Big 4 to investment banking to founder to coach shows how each “chapter” becomes a compound experience you can later leverage for a bigger impact.
• Most companies don’t need a new vision; they need execution – for 99% of businesses, the biggest growth lever is nailing the basics: clear culture, strategic plan, KPIs, and disciplined meetings.
• Traditional consulting and EOS-style models often fail long-term. “Graduating” clients sounds good, but in reality, it removes accountability and support, and performance usually atrophies.
• The right clients are curious and willing to change – growth comes from CEOs who are coachable, willing to adjust their team, and care more about building a great business than staying comfortable.
• “Business COVID” is real but preventable. Most business deaths (cash crunch, disruption, commoditization, talent and succession failures) can be avoided with a long-term, customizable system like Summit OS.

"I think it's very difficult to do great things if you don't enjoy it. I don't imagine how someone can sustain the intensity of the work without getting an emotional high out of it." — Steve Preda

Connect with Steve Preda:  

Website: https://summitos.co/ 

LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevepreda/ 

LinkedIn Summit OS: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stevepreda-com/ 

Apple Podcast: https://bit.ly/MBPpodcast  

YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/MBPodcastPlaylistYT   

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

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

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@summitos_creator 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/StevePredaCom   

Amazon: amazon.com/author/stevepreda 

To get in touch with Gary:

Website: https://betterpathtraining.com/

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

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

About Jim Bishop: Jim Bishop is the founder of Conjunction Leadership and an executive coach for founders, CEOs, and senior leaders in tech, ag-tech, biotech, and the life sciences. With a bachelor’s and master’s degree in science—his master’s in physiology and behavior—Jim blends a deep understanding of the nervous and endocrine systems with practical leadership development.

After starting his career in applied science and technical service, Jim realized the hardest problems weren’t technical; they were human. That insight led him into instructional design, corporate leadership training, talent management, and ultimately executive coaching. Today, he helps high-achieving, analytically minded leaders work at the intersection of biology, behavior, and belief—releasing stored stress and reactive patterns, setting stronger boundaries, and expanding what they believe is possible for their careers and lives.

Jim is also the author of The Adventure Within, which chronicles real client journeys to show how meaningful change comes not from controlling the external world, but from transforming the internal one.

In this episode, Gary and Jim Bishop discuss:

• How a “beautiful accident” took Jim from physiology and behavior into executive coaching
• Leading at the axis of biology, behavior, and belief
• When unprocessed emotion becomes back pain: the body’s role in big career choices
• Escaping hustle culture: boundaries, biology, and belief shifts for sustainable success
• Guiding scientists and analytic leaders into emotional awareness and creative leadership

Key Takeaways:

• The science may be straightforward, but people are not. Jim’s shift from applied science to leadership coaching began when he saw that aligning people is far more complex than solving technical problems.
• Beliefs are biological, not just mental. Our nervous and endocrine systems lock in emotional patterns that quietly drive behavior—until we learn how to work with them.
• Trauma isn’t always catastrophic. It’s often made of repeated stress and feeling unseen, stored in the body as tension that quietly constrains our future choices.
• High achievers hit an “upper limit” of belief, not talent. Their internal belief system decides what feels safe or possible. Real growth requires recalibrating both biology and mindset.
• Leadership transformation means moving from reactive to creative. When leaders stop replaying old survival patterns, they can intentionally design new behaviors aligned with who they want to become.

“We might be the greatest inflicter of our own emotional trauma, sometimes, because we isolate ourselves in the middle of those strong feelings, not knowing what they are, and there's nowhere for them to go.”— Jim Bishop

Connect with Jim Bishop:  

Website: www.conjunctionleadership.com 

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

To get in touch with Gary:

Website: https://betterpathtraining.com/

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

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

About Derek Fredrickson: With over 16 years of experience as Chief Operating Officer at Boldheart and other six—and seven-figure businesses, Derek witnessed firsthand how transformative a robust operational strategy can be for entrepreneurs who are ready to scale but feel overwhelmed. Running a business often means getting bogged down in the day-to-day tasks, becoming the bottleneck, and losing sight of the vision that sparked the business in the first place. That’s where he comes in.

As the founder of The COO Solution, he specializes in helping business owners break free from the operational grind and reclaim their time while confidently scaling their businesses. His approach is built on a foundation of systems, processes, and structures that allow your business to run like a well-oiled machine—without you having to oversee every detail. By stepping in as your trusted second-in-command, Derek ensures that your team is aligned, held accountable, and equipped to execute your vision smoothly so you can focus on what you do best: leading, strategizing, and growing your business.

In this episode, Gary and Derek Fredrickson discuss:

• What a fractional COO/Second-in-Command really does
• Getting founders out of the day-to-day to scale
• Designing and launching Rainmaker for financial advisors
• Strategic decisions around funding, cap tables, and exit vs. scale
• Focusing on one vertical before expanding to others

Key Takeaways:

• Trust isn’t created through big moments. It’s built quietly, over time, through consistency and follow-through.
• Not every decision needs to be made immediately. Sometimes the most strategic move is waiting until the picture becomes clearer.
• Long-term thinking changes how pressure feels. When the goal is durability, short-term noise matters less.
• Leadership often requires restraint. Knowing when not to act can be just as important as knowing when to move.

“You can't scale complexity, but you can scale simplicity.” — Derek Fredrickson

Connect with Derek Fredrickson:  

Website: https://thecoosolution.com/ 

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

To get in touch with Gary:

Website: https://betterpathtraining.com/

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

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

About Doug Thorpe: Doug Thorpe is an executive coach, leadership advisor, and founder of a highly regarded leadership and management development firm serving both Fortune 500 companies and growth-focused entrepreneurs. Shaped early by watching his single mother build an interior design business from scratch, Doug learned firsthand the realities of risk, responsibility, and resilience.

Over the course of his career, he has combined that entrepreneurial foundation with a deep commitment to servant leadership, mentorship, and faith-driven wisdom. Doug now specializes in helping owner–founders of middle-market companies—typically $5M–$50M in revenue with teams of 10+—move beyond “founder-itis,” build high-functioning leadership teams, and turn their companies into scalable, saleable assets.

In this episode, Gary and Doug Thorpe discuss:

• Growing up around entrepreneurship and how early exposure to risk and responsibility shapes leaders
• The role of mentors in developing wisdom—and why experience alone isn’t enough
• Fear, limiting beliefs, and why change feels harder than it actually is 
• Why many founders struggle to scale—and how “founder-itis” caps growth 
• What it really takes to build a leadership team and a saleable business asset

Key Takeaways:

• Leadership often begins with service, not authority. Early responsibility and a desire to help others can quietly shape how someone leads later in life.
• Experience only becomes wisdom when paired with honest self-reflection. Without reflection, people repeat the same patterns—mistakes included.
• Fear is rarely about the change itself. It’s about the story we tell ourselves about what might happen if we fail. 
• Growth stalls when founders believe only they can do things “the right way.” Building systems and trusting others is the difference between a lifestyle business and a saleable one.

"There is a value in finding out a way to claim those wins and stack them up like blocks in your foundation." — Doug Thorpe

Connect with Doug Thorpe:  

Website: https://dougthorpe.com/ 

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

Podcasts: https://podcasts.dougthorpe.com  

Twitter: https://twitter.com/dougthorpe_com  

Facebook: https://facebook.com/headwayexec 

Instagram: https://instagram.com/dougthorpe_com  

YELP: https://www.yelp.com/biz/headwayexec-houston-4   

To get in touch with Gary:

Website: https://betterpathtraining.com/

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

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

About Dean Mathews: Dean Mathews is the founder and CEO of OnTheClock, a time‑tracking and payroll platform serving over 18,000 businesses with tools for employee time tracking, scheduling, payroll, and PTO. A self‑taught developer who started by building custom software for local companies, Dean grew OnTheClock from a kitchen‑table side project into a scalable SMB solution known for being easy, reliable, and intuitive to use. Today, he leads a growing team focused on practical product design, strong culture, and helping small businesses run more efficiently while building happier, more productive teams.

In this episode, Gary and Dean Mathews discuss:

• Dean’s entrepreneurial and technical origin story
• The creation and growth of OnTheClock
• Product philosophy: usability, reliability, and UX
• Intuition, pattern recognition, and the emotional side of entrepreneurship

Key Takeaways:

• Some of the most valuable business lessons don’t come from classrooms or formal training. They come from making decisions without a safety net and owning the outcome.
• Responsibility and real consequences change how you think—and when the stakes are real, learning accelerates fast.
• Confidence grows through repetition, not perfection. Getting things wrong is often part of getting better.
• Leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about being willing to learn, adapt, and move forward anyway.

"There's always a fear element…But fear isn't the thing, it's the courage that matters." — Dean Mathews

Connect with Dean Mathews:  

Website: https://www.ontheclock.com/ 

LinedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/dean-mathews-yes | https://www.linkedin.com/company/ontheclock-com 

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

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OnTheClockTimeClock 

To get in touch with Gary:

Website: https://betterpathtraining.com/

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

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

About Anders Jones: Anders Jones is the co-founder and CEO of Facet Wealth, a financial planning firm built to serve the massively underserved mass affluent market with affordable, subscription-based advice from dedicated CFP professionals. Prior to Facet, Anders was a founding partner of Argyle Ventures. Argyle invests in emerging startup markets, with a focus on advertising, technology, financial technology, and healthcare IT. Prior to Argyle, Anders was on the early team at LiveRamp (acquired by Acxiom for $310 million), and has been involved as an investor or advisor in many other startups in Silicon Valley.

In this episode, Gary and Anders Jones discuss:

• Why the traditional asset-based advisory model excludes millions who still need real guidance
• How the DOL fiduciary rule exposed a massive cost-of-service problem in financial advice
• The shift from B2B to direct-to-consumer—and what finally unlocked growth
• Why human advisors, trust, and empathy still matter in an increasingly automated world

Key Takeaways:

• Entire industries can overlook enormous opportunities simply because serving them doesn’t fit existing business models. That doesn’t mean the need isn’t real—or urgent.
• Financial advice isn’t just about numbers. Trust, empathy, and consistent human connection are often more valuable than technical optimization.
• Scaling service doesn’t require sacrificing quality, but it does require rethinking how time, technology, and human expertise are allocated.
• For many people, the real competition isn’t another firm—it’s doing nothing. Education and clarity are often the first steps to meaningful engagement.

"We refer to our advisors as therapists with calculators." — Anders Jones

Connect with Anders Jones:  

Website: https://facet.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anders-jones/ 

Email: [email protected]  

To get in touch with Gary:

Website: https://betterpathtraining.com/

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

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

About Geoff Thatcher: Geoff Thatcher is an experienced designer, author, and founder of Creative Principals, a studio that translates stories into immersive physical experiences for brands, museums, and attractions. Throughout his career—from amusement parks and journalism to leadership development and experience design, he’s consistently chosen opportunity over certainty, learning through experimentation rather than rigid long-term plans. His perspective blends creative pragmatism with a belief that career success should support a meaningful life, not replace it.

In this episode, Gary and Geoff Thatcher discuss:

• Why traditional career paths no longer fit most modern professionals
• Learning through experimentation instead of long-term planning
• Balancing ambition with family, identity, and personal fulfillment
• The role of risk, uncertainty, and self-trust in building a meaningful life

Key Takeaways:

• Most people overestimate the level of certainty they need before taking action. Progress often comes from movement first and clarity later.
• Career decisions don’t have to follow a straight line to be successful. Nonlinear paths can create broader skills, a stronger perspective, and more resilient confidence.
• Ambition without reflection leads to burnout. Building a life that actually feels good requires regularly questioning why you’re chasing the next milestone in the first place.
• Long-term fulfillment isn’t found in optimization. It’s built through relationships, self-trust, and the willingness to live without having every step planned.

"It's not about the technology. It's always about the story and how, what's gonna, what's the best way to communicate that story." — Geoff Thatcher

Connect with Geoff Thatcher:  

Website: https://www.creativeprincipals.com 

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

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

X: https://x.com/geoffthatcher 

To get in touch with Gary:

Website: https://betterpathtraining.com/

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

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

About Jan Rutherford: Jan Rutherford is a former U.S. Army Green Beret, leadership development expert, executive coach, author, and podcast host. His career spans Special Forces service, healthcare and pharmaceutical leadership, entrepreneurship, academia, and executive coaching. Drawing from his experiences as a Green Beret medic, instructor, corporate executive, and CEO, Jan helps senior leaders and executive teams develop discipline, strategic clarity, and authentic leadership. His work focuses on helping leaders better manage time, people, and complexity while building lives rooted in service, balance, and purpose. Jan is also deeply committed to helping veterans successfully transition from military to civilian leadership roles. 

In this episode, Gary and Jan Rutherford discuss:

• Jan’s unconventional journey from a 101-pound high school senior to earning a Green Beret at age 19
• The discipline, sacrifice, and mindset required to endure Special Forces training
• Why sales experience is foundational for leadership and long-term business success
• How leadership development, coaching, and teaching became Jan’s lifelong calling

Key Takeaways:

• Doing hard things early in life builds discipline and confidence that carry forward into every stage of leadership.
• Leadership is developed through experience, accountability, and service—not titles or credentials alone.
• Skills gained in sales, communication, and relationship-building are critical to entrepreneurial success.
• The best leaders simplify complexity and help others grow, rather than seeking control or recognition.

"Everybody's got great ideas, everybody's got great values, everybody's got great goals, but the difference is the discipline to execute the sacrifices that will be made." — Jan Rutherford

Connect with Jan Rutherford:  

Website: https://selfreliantleadership.com/ 

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

Book (Becoming a Self-Reliant Leader: How Grit and Disciplined Duty Forge Indomitable Teams): https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1637745591?tag=randohouseinc7986-20 

To get in touch with Gary:

Website: https://betterpathtraining.com/

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

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

About Laurie Battaglia: Laurie Battaglia is the CEO of Aligned at Work and a leadership coach known for helping organizations dismantle unhealthy hierarchies and build cultures where people and performance can thrive. With decades of experience in organizational development, her work centers on trust, accountability, and authentic leadership that drives measurable results. She holds a Master of Science in Organizational Development and Leadership from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. She is a certified Professional Coach and Energy Leadership Index® Master Practitioner through iPEC. Her approach blends vulnerability, transparency, and direct conversation—turning so-called “soft skills” into real competitive advantages. Through storytelling, truth-telling, and practical assessment tools, she challenges leaders to rethink power, lead themselves first, and create workplaces rooted in self-awareness, respect, and sustained impact.

In this episode, Gary and Laurie Battaglia discuss:

• What it really feels like to leave a long corporate career and start a business later in life 
• Why most leadership training fails without accountability and follow-through 
• How trust, facilitation, and psychological safety unlock better performance in teams 
• The growing leadership gap in industries facing generational turnover—and why apprenticeship models matter 

Key Takeaways:

• Starting a business almost always takes longer than expected. Preparation helps, but persistence matters more once the leap is made.
• Training without accountability doesn’t create change. Measurement, follow-up, and peer visibility are what turn learning into lasting behavior.
• The most effective leaders don’t dominate the room. They create space where others feel safe enough to think, speak, and contribute honestly. 
• Skills don’t transfer by osmosis. If organizations don’t intentionally teach relationship-building, communication, and leadership judgment, those capabilities quietly disappear over time.

"It's not what we're doing, it's how we're doing it." — Laurie Battaglia

Connect with Laurie Battaglia:  

Website: https://alignedatwork.com/ 

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lauriebattaglia/ 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@alignedatwork1052 

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

To get in touch with Gary:

Website: https://betterpathtraining.com/

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

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

About George Pesansky: George Pesansky is a leadership expert, educator, and founder of MyBlendedLearning.com, a training and development firm focused on deliberate improvement, risk management, and building high-performing teams. Drawing from experience across the military, manufacturing, and corporate consulting, his work helps individuals and organizations unlock sustainable performance through systems, empowerment, and practical skill-building.

A former Army officer and long-time advisor to global industrial organizations, he has spent decades teaching leaders how to develop people, manage complexity, and create environments where teams can succeed—even in the leader’s absence. His new book, Superperformance, packs eight proven strategies to help you stop chasing peak performance—and start living it every day.

In this episode, Gary and George Pesansky discuss:

• How early leadership instincts and military service shaped a lifelong approach to servant leadership 
• Transitioning from the Army into private industry—and learning to lead without technical expertise 
• Rethinking risk as something to anticipate, manage, and mitigate long before a crisis hits 
• Why true leadership success means systems and teams function effectively—even when you’re not there

Key Takeaways:

• Leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about creating clarity around purpose, empowering people to take ownership, and trusting the systems you’ve built to carry the mission forward. 
• Risk feels frightening when it’s treated as an emergency. When identified early and broken into manageable pieces, it becomes something that can be planned for rather than feared.
• Technical expertise matters less than listening and learning. Teams perform best when leaders focus on the “why,” not just the “how,” and give people room to grow into responsibility.
• Sustainable performance shows up when the leader’s presence is no longer required for success. If everything breaks when you step away, the work isn’t finished yet.

“Risk is really a function of time, and the more time you have, the more options you have.” — George Pesansky

Connect with George Pesansky:  

Website: https://georgepesansky.com/   

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

X: https://x.com/SuperPerformnz  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/george.pesansky 

For more great content, sign up for Gary’s free Patreon channel- https://www.patreon.com/FA_Masterclass/home 

Or his LinkedIn Newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7206743428141895681/

To get in touch with Gary:

Website: https://betterpathtraining.com/

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

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.