RadEO

We often get trapped in the lazy thinking that offering more services equals scaling. Mike Bodkin lived this. He grew his digital marketing agency, Giant Propeller, by saying yes to everything from email to media buying until the business hit a hard plateau. In this episode, we talk about escaping the generalist trap, navigating the inevitable tension between co-founders, and finding a lucrative exit through pure serendipity and peer networks.

But we also explore what happens past the Give a Shit line—that final 20% where true human connection lives. Building a business is not just about structural mechanics; it is about how you show up and make it matter. Mike and I dig into the "Ryan Reynolds effect" and why actively protecting your sleep, checking your energy, and displaying genuine excitement for your work are the sharpest tools you have for inspiring clients and attracting top talent.

Key takeaways

• The "say yes" trap: Saying yes to every new service offering dilutes your focus and accelerates a revenue plateau.

• The Ryan Reynolds effect: Founder energy is infectious; true excitement for your business attracts clients and top talent.

• Serendipity requires proximity: Selling your business often requires being in the right networks rather than actively pitching to buyers.

• Roles over resemblances: Clearly defined co-founder roles prevent tension and streamline business operations.

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More about Mike Bodkin

Mike Bodkin is the co-founder and CEO of TalentScout, a niche recruiting agency placing senior marketing and creative talent from Latin America into US businesses. Before TalentScout, Mike spent 15 years in filmmaking and post-production, then co-founded and successfully exited the full-service digital marketing agency, Giant Propeller.

In this special episode, Ross Drakes is joined by his part-time co-host Rich Mulholland, founder of Missing Link. They discuss the seismic shift AI is causing in service businesses and why the old adage "execution is everything" no longer holds. Rich argues that we are entering the era of "Tiny Epic Businesses," where the goal isn't headcount, but revenue per human. They explore how to turn internal costs into profit centres, the power of scratching your own itch, and why entrepreneurs should be the threat to their own business models before the future threatens them.

Key Takeaways:

• The “Tiny Epic” model: Building highly profitable, micro-niche businesses with small footprints is the future.
  

• Ideas are the new capital: Execution has been commoditised by AI; unique ideas now hold the real value.
  

• Revenue per human (RPH): The new flex isn't the size of your team, but how much revenue you generate per person.
  

• Scratch your own itch: The best software businesses start by solving a specific problem within your own company.
  

• Be the threat: Don't defend a dying business model; create the tool that makes your old model obsolete.

This episode is a reminder that in a world of commoditised execution, the most dangerous risk is having a single source of income.

In this episode, Ross Drakes speaks to Marina Byezhanova, co-founder of Brand of a Leader and member of EO’s Global Products Portfolio. Marina shares how she lost her first business and rebuilt from the ground up. They unpack the realities of partnership, the pull of golden handcuffs, and what it takes to start again. Marina reflects on launching EO Ukraine during a war and how courage, curiosity, and humanity keep entrepreneurs moving forward. This episode is about resilience, clarity, and the guts to go again.

Key Takeaways:

• Pick partners who complement, not clone you

• Golden handcuffs and how comfort kills fire

• Turning your lived practice into a business

• Courage under pressure creates calm in chaos

• Keep the human edge in an AI world

• Recognising choice as a modern luxury

Subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, or Overcast.

More About Marina Byezhanova

Marina Byezhanova is the co-founder of Brand of a Leader, a personal branding agency for entrepreneurs and CEOs. Her work has been featured in Inc.com, Forbes, Fast Company, Success Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and The Financial Post. She has spoken across North America, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Marina is a proud EO member and serves in EO’s Global Products Portfolio.

In this episode, Ross Drakes speaks to Byron McFarland, founder of The McFarland Group and 21-year EO member. Byron traces a path from selling nightcrawlers to lessons in pricing, psychology, and asking for the sale. He opens up about burnout, the coach who exposed his blind spot, and choosing work that fits his wiring.

Together, they explore the human condition: what motivates us, what breaks us, and how honesty builds trust and resilience. This is a grounded playbook on wiring, readiness, and courage.

Key Takeaways:

In this episode, Ross Drakes speaks to Ami Kassar, founder and CEO of Multifunding and creator of EO’s Grit Group.

Ami shares how childhood memories of immigrant families around his kitchen table shaped his philosophy of generosity and peer learning. They explore the realities of starting again after corporate collapse, the discipline of saying no, and why business owners should focus on fundamentals before chasing shiny frameworks.

This conversation shows how clarity, truth, and community can unlock resilience and growth.

Key Takeaways:

- Peer learning provides practical solutions faster than top-down advice.

- Get the basics right before adding new systems or frameworks.

- Access to flexible capital helps businesses handle uncertainty.

- Turning down the wrong client creates better long-term outcomes.

- Community and generosity are essential for sustainable growth.

Subscribe on iTunes, Spotify, or Overcast.

This episode is a reminder that entrepreneurship is sustained by generosity, honesty, and learning together around the ‘big kitchen table.’

More About Ami Kassar

Ami Kassar is the founder and CEO of Multifunding, a national advisory firm that has helped thousands of entrepreneurs navigate the complex world of growth financing. He is also the creator of EO’s Grit Group, a member-led community that started as a WhatsApp group and now connects about 1,500 entrepreneurs for real-time support. He has advised countless entrepreneurs on financing strategies that align with their vision and values.

He is the author of “The Growth Dilemma,” which shares insights on using debt and equity to unlock growth without losing control. Ami has dedicated his career to assisting business owners in making courageous, informed financial decisions that foster sustainable success and long-term freedom.

In this episode, Ross Drakes sits down with Carrie Schochet, founder of Purple Squirrel Advisors, who got "forced" into entrepreneurship when circumstances changed after maternity leave.

From starting as a single recruiter competing against global firms to building a thriving business by hunting "purple squirrels" (the impossible-to-find perfect candidates), Carrie shares her strategic approach to finding opportunities in the spaces others avoid.

The conversation covers her journey from pre-med to accidentally discovering recruiting, the power of community building, surviving a devastating ski accident that changed her relationship with her business, and why your identity as an entrepreneur shouldn't be tied to a single company.

This is a story about resilience, strategic thinking, and the unexpected gifts that come from being forced out of your comfort zone.

Key Takeaways:

• Find opportunities where others won't go
• Community is your competitive advantage 
• Sometimes you need to be forced into your destiny
• Your identity should be an entrepreneur, not just your business 
• The right team permits you to lead differently

Subscribe on ⁠iTunes⁠, ⁠Spotify⁠ or ⁠Overcast⁠  

More About Carrie Schochet

Carrie is the Founder and CEO of Purple Squirrel Advisors, a boutique executive search firm based in Troy. Passionate about helping companies grow by creating exceptional leadership teams, she has spent the past 16 years connecting C-level and senior executives with leadership positions in finance, accounting, human resources, operations, sales, and marketing. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame in 2001, she spent over a decade advancing her career at one of the nation's leading recruitment and staffing firms in Chicago. In 2012, she moved back to the Detroit area to be closer to her family. On January 1, 2015, she founded Purple Squirrel Advisors with the mission of designing a consultative, white-glove recruitment process customised to each client.

Carrie is also the founder of CFO Next, a group she launched in early 2013 after discovering a lack of resources and networking opportunities for transitioning or unemployed senior financial executives. She also uses her network and resources as Co-Chair of the Career Services Committee for Financial Executives International (FEI), a non-profit organisation with the mission to support senior finance executives through professional development and networking. She is the Learning Chair for the Entrepreneurs Organisation Detroit Chapter and sits on the ACG Detroit Board as Women's Forum Chair.

Carrie is a passionate philanthropist who has raised money for 100 Women Who Care - Greater Rochester Area, and in 2016, co-founded 100 Businesses Who Care to connect executives who want to make a philanthropic impact on the Metro-Detroit community.

In this episode, Ross Drakes sits down with Igor Vainshtein, a serial entrepreneur who has started over 20 businesses, failed at most, had an exit, written books, and created a board game.

From losing 12 properties in three months at the age of 23 to building a golf simulator empire that was sold to the company that had called him a decade earlier, asking, "Why do you have our name? Who the hell are you?" Igor shares the raw reality of entrepreneurship.

This story is about getting punched in the face daily and coming back for more, bootstrapping versus capital raising, and why focusing on the problem you're solving matters more than chasing unicorn valuations.

Key Takeaways:

• Focus on building revenue, not raising money - Sustainable businesses solve real problems that people pay for

• Fall in love with the problem, not the solution - Find people who have the problem you're passionate about solving

• Don't focus on outcomes, focus on being the best - The results will take care of themselves when you master your craft

• Bootstrapping builds character - Constraints force creativity and sustainable growth

• Entrepreneurship is getting punched in the face daily - Success comes from getting back up every time

When your business crashes, your reputation tanks, and your wife’s about to give birth… what do you do?

In this jaw-dropping episode of RadEO, Ross Drakes sits down with Shawn Johal; entrepreneur, coach, author of The Happy Leader, to unpack the wild, humbling, and inspiring story of how he lost everything, rebuilt from the ashes, and ended up leading a business culture so powerful that private equity bought in because of it.

Key takeaways:

This episode isn’t about getting rich. It’s about building right. Right team. Right mindset. Right culture. If you’re serious about scaling, this one’s for you.

Subscribe on iTunes, Spotify or Overcast. Enjoy.

More about Shawn Johal

Shawn Johal is a growth-obsessed entrepreneur, Scaling Up coach, and author of The Happy Leader. After co-founding DALS Lighting, he helped scale it from near-bankruptcy to an 8-figure exit. Today, he runs Elevation Leaders, coaching ambitious founders to scale smarter, lead happier, and build cultures that actually work. He’s also a former EO Montreal President and a fierce advocate for entrepreneurial wellbeing.

What if the way you lead is the very thing holding your business back?

In this episode of RadEO,  Ross sits down with Joss Du Trevou, a leadership coach who has spent years helping high-performing entrepreneurs, CEOs, and teams get out of their own way.

Joss believes that most business problems aren’t external; they’re internal. Your fears, mindset, and habits shape how you show up as a leader. If you’re not paying attention, they might be the biggest bottleneck in your business.

Key Takeaways:

1. Your leadership sets the ceiling for your business growth. 

2. Most leaders are blind to their own weaknesses. 

3. You don’t need all the answers.

   
   

We get into self-sabotage, imposter syndrome, the power of coaching, and why ego is the silent killer of business growth.

If you’re a founder, CEO, or just someone trying to figure out how to lead better, this episode will change your thoughts about leadership.

Subscribe on iTunes, Spotify or Overcast. Enjoy.

More about Joss Du Trevou

Joss Du Trevou has been on both sides of leadership; running billion-rand corporate teams and scaling his own family business. Now, he helps entrepreneurs do what he had to learn the hard way: get out of their own way.

He grew Ecomotel from 3 to 6 branches, scaling revenue past R30 million while building a team that could run without him. Before that? 18 years in investment banking, leading teams at ABSA, Nedbank, and global banks, managing billions in corporate finance.

Now, as an ICF-accredited executive coach, EO mentor, and UCT Business School coach, he helps founders stop micromanaging, overworking, and getting stuck in the weeds so they can actually lead.

Because if your business falls apart the second you step back, you don’t own a business, you own a prison.

Building a business is supposed to give you freedom. So why does it so often feel like a prison?

In this episode of RadEO, I sit down with Ronen Aires - entrepreneur, author, speaker, and the guy who swears by breathwork, cold plunges, and unconventional ways to unlock peak performance.

Ronen co-founded Student Village, scaling it into South Africa’s leading student marketing agency. But along the way, he fell into the trap so many entrepreneurs do: chronic stress, exhaustion, and feeling like he was suffocating under his own success.

We talk about:

💡 Entrepreneurial psychosis: Why founders get trapped in their own heads

💡 How to break the cycle of stress, anxiety, and burnout

💡 Why work-life “balance” is a myth and what to do instead

💡 The unexpected ways breathwork, movement, and extreme environments can reset your brain

If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed, stuck in survival mode, or like your business is running you instead of the other way around, this one’s for you.

Subscribe on iTunes, Spotify or Overcast  

More About Ronen Aires

Ronen Aires built a business that connected global brands to South Africa’s youth, but somewhere along the way, he lost connection with himself.

As the co-founder of Student Village, he helped scale it into South Africa’s leading student marketing agency. He’s spent decades mentoring young talent, advising brands, and shaping the future of Gen Z marketing.

But behind the success, Ronen was running on empty, trapped in the endless cycle of high performance, high stress, and burnout.

That’s when everything changed.

Ronen went deep into human performance, breathwork, movement, and mental wellness - learning from some of the world’s top experts, from Andrew Huberman to Steven Kotler. Now, as a speaker, author, and coach, he helps leaders rewire their minds, unlock their best selves, and stop running businesses that drain the life out of them.

His philosophy? You don’t need more hustle, you need better habits.