Chris Baichoo, President of WMEP (Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership), joins Ratchet Up for a conversation on 40+ years in manufacturing leadership — from his first job as a sheet metal operator to running a nonprofit that helps hundreds of small and mid-sized manufacturers grow. Chris and Allan dig into managed risk, building a real company culture, leading through crisis, remote work, and why most businesses reach for AI before they've even diagnosed the real problem.

What you'll learn:
- Why "structure and standards" — not more effort — is what unlocks growth in family-owned businesses
- The AMP framework (Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose) for empowering employees to make decisions
- How to take "managed risk" and coach a team through mistakes instead of punishing them
- Why chasing an "AI roadmap" before finding your root cause wastes money
- How WMEP responded when its own federal funding was put at risk
- The 5–7 year reality of changing company culture (and how it helped one company grow from $350M to $900M in sales)
- A simple, low-cost alternative to hiring a lean consultant (the SQDC board)
- Chris's take on hybrid work, trust, and staying close to customers and employees

Timestamps:
00:00 – What is WMEP?
02:12 – Chris's first job in manufacturing
04:41 – Lessons from early mistakes on the shop floor
06:16 – Taking "managed risk"
08:26 – The AMP framework: Autonomy, Mastery, Purpose
10:00 – Why growth stalls in family-owned businesses
14:17 – Biggest challenges facing businesses today
16:03 – Diagnose the root cause before chasing AI
17:54 – Theory of constraints: a business is a system
19:00 – Earning trust and credibility as an outside consultant
22:31 – Crisis story: WMEP's own funding scare
29:14 – Remote vs. hybrid work
34:22 – Building "The Watlow Way": culture as a growth engine
37:52 – Framing hard decisions (like layoffs) around values
41:15 – Radical transparency during a real factory turnaround
42:10 – What excites Chris about the future of manufacturing
45:22 – Lightning round: best/worst advice, favorite book, habits
52:03 – How to connect with Chris📘 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Ratchet Up by Allan Breidenbach🎙️ ABOUT RATCHET UP
Ratchet Up is a podcast about solving human problems to drive business performance, hosted by Allan Breidenbach. New episodes feature leaders across industries talking candidly about trust, engagement, and what actually moves a team forward.

What does it actually take to sell to business owners on a 3-year sales cycle — and how do you build a team that can stomach that kind of patience?

In this episode of Ratchet Up, Allan Breidenbach sits down with Jim Hartlieb, President & CEO of First Business Bank, to talk about what he screens for when hiring salespeople and leaders, why "it's okay to be #2" in a long sales cycle, and how his years playing football at Iowa shaped the way he thinks about preparation, resilience, and failure.

Jim also opens up about:
- How First Business Bank's "six-cell" system maps every employee's potential and builds individualized development plans
- Why he asks candidates to describe a failure, not just a win, in interviews
- How he introduces AI and automation to a team without triggering fear
- The book that changed how his company hires: The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni
- His honest take on celebrating wins vs. staying focused on the next thing

Whether you lead a sales team, manage people through a technology transition, or just want a masterclass in asking better questions — this conversation delivers.

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Intro: What First Business Bank does
1:14 – Screening for a 3-year sales cycle: patience over personality
3:39 – Athletics, discipline, and the "feedback loop" of preparation
5:44 – Role-playing sales conversations before they happen
7:29 – Screening for resilience: "tell me about a time you failed"
10:02 – Do you like winning or hate losing more?
11:16 – Building trust through vulnerability
13:47 – How workplace culture has changed since 1993
15:06 – The "ones, twos, and threes" talent framework
16:48 – First Business Bank's six-cell talent grid & development plans
19:44 – (Lightning aside) The Hawkeyes jersey number mix-up
21:00 – Iowa football, brothers, sons, and legacy programs
22:31 – Casting a wide net for mentors
23:49 – Reading personalities and adapting your leadership style
25:38 – Laughter, levity, and why celebration doesn't come naturally to Jim
28:19 – How Jim's leadership style has evolved
29:37 – Leading former peers (and people 30 years older than you)
32:29 – Where sales/marketing misalignment really comes from
35:03 – Talking to employees about AI and automation without fear
38:00 – "The person who knows AI might take your job"
40:23 – Lightning round: best/worst advice, books, habits
46:20 – How to reach Jim & First Business Bank

🔗 CONNECT WITH JIM HARTLIEB
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 608-232-5913

📘 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Ratchet Up by Allan Breidenbach
The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni

🎙️ ABOUT RATCHET UP
Ratchet Up is a podcast about solving human problems to drive business performance, hosted by Allan Breidenbach. New episodes feature leaders across industries talking candidly about trust, engagement, and what actually moves a team forward.

On this episode of Ratchet Up, Allan Breidenbach sits down with Michael Carr, President & CEO of Naviant, to talk about leading people through the fastest wave of technological change most leaders have ever faced: agentic AI. Mike shares how Naviant is transforming from a 40-year-old value-added reseller into an agentic AI-first consulting company — and what that shift demands from leaders, teams, and culture.

They dig into why change management has to come top-down in the AI era, how "human in the loop” keeps AI accountable, why younger, AI-native employees may have a hidden advantage, and how the Radical Candor framework (care personally + challenge directly) helps leaders have the hard conversations that build trust instead of eroding it.

What You'll Learn: 
- What "agentic AI" actually means and how it differs from the AI most people already use
- Why AI-driven change management needs to come top-down from a confident C-suite
- How Naviant is reinventing a 40-year-old business model from the inside out
- Why younger, AI-native employees may have a hidden advantage — and what they still need from experienced mentors
- What "human in the loop" means in practice, including using AI to check AI
- How the Radical Candor framework (care personally + challenge directly) helps leaders have hard conversations
- How to spot and confront passive-aggressive resistance to change
- What makes a company culture "sticky" enough that people don't want to leave
- Why frequent, small recognition beats an annual banquet
- How the 80/20 principle applies to focus, resourcing, and client relationships

The conversation closes with a lightning round covering Mike's best and worst career advice, the habit he refuses to give up, his coffee order, and why he's "bullish on the future."

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Introduction to Michael Carr & Naviant
00:32 What Naviant does & what "agentic AI" really means
02:05 Why AI change management has to start at the top
07:09 Reinventing a 40-year business model from within
10:25 Do younger, AI-native employees have an edge?
12:26 "Human in the loop" — building guardrails into AI systems
14:03 Why the best leaders ask better questions
17:00 How Mike's leadership style has evolved
18:20 Radical Candor: caring personally + challenging directly
20:48 Confronting passive-aggressive resistance to change
25:26 Using the Radical Candor framework in a real conversation
28:22 Building a "sticky" culture people don't want to leave
32:00 Recognition, celebration, and Naviant Week
36:09 Lightning round: best & worst advice, books, habits
51:31 Where to find Mike Carr

Connect with Mike Carr at [email protected].

📘 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Ratchet Up by Allan Breidenbach

🎙️ ABOUT RATCHET UP
Ratchet Up is a podcast about solving human problems to drive business performance, hosted by Allan Breidenbach. New episodes feature leaders across industries talking candidly about trust, engagement, and what actually moves a team forward.

On this episode of Ratchet Up, Allan Breidenbach sits down with Steve Farsht, co-founder of Corazon Capital, an early-stage venture fund based in Chicago. Steve shares hard-won lessons from 15+ years and 250-300 portfolio companies — from the danger of "growth at all costs" thinking, to why emotional intelligence matters more than analytical skill in venture investing, to how he evaluates founders before writing a check.

They dig into the real difference between advice and influence, how stakeholder management (not the pitch deck) determines whether deals succeed, why boardrooms are the wrong place to resolve conflict, and Steve's candid take on where AI is headed for the investment industry and the broader knowledge economy.

Topics covered:
• The "five whys" habit Steve learned as an auditor
• Why founder-fit matters more than the idea itself
• Private equity vs. venture capital risk profiles
• Managing 40 portfolio companies knowing most won't return capital
• The emotional cost of founder relationships that don't work out
• Preparing a business for a sale or exit
• How AI is reshaping legal, accounting, and investing careers
• Imposter syndrome and the advice Steve wishes he'd gotten at 25

Connect with Steve Farsht on LinkedIn.

Chapters
0:00 Intro & welcome
0:44 Steve's first business lesson: the power of "five whys"
1:51 What is Corazon Capital?
2:19 How Steve evaluates founders with little data to go on
3:19 Ratchet Round: the belief Steve changed his mind about
4:45 Growth at all costs vs. prudent capital raising
6:30 Managing individual LPs and long time horizons
7:20 How Steve helps founders grow — advice vs. influence
9:43 The two-way mentor relationship with founders
10:17 Aligning stakeholders around an exit
12:28 Traits Steve looks for before backing a founder
13:42 Steve's hit rate across 250-300 investments
14:03 The hardest part of the job: losing founder relationships
15:21 Why emotional intelligence beats analytical skill
17:00 The "25-year-old with an MBA" problem
18:23 Red flags before raising capital
20:55 The mistake Steve won't make again
22:28 Why people defend the status quo
23:35 Poor communication as the #1 business killer
25:16 Why boardroom fights mean you already lost
26:57 Vetting new investors before they join the cap table
28:18 What Steve wishes he'd known at 25 (imposter syndrome)
29:29 When it's okay for a leader to say "I don't know"
30:00 AI's impact on legal, accounting, and knowledge work
34:02 Does AI create a lack of discipline?
35:16 How younger investors need to reinvent themselves
36:38 What Steve is excited about next
38:00 Lightning round: best advice, book recs, habits
41:43 Final thoughts: one word for the future
42:38 How to connect with Steve

📘 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Ratchet Up by Allan Breidenbach

🎙️ ABOUT RATCHET UP
Ratchet Up is a podcast about solving human problems to drive business performance, hosted by Allan Breidenbach. New episodes feature leaders across industries talking candidly about trust, engagement, and what actually moves a team forward.

Tony Misura, founder and CEO of The Misura Group, has spent decades recruiting executives in the building-products supply chain — which means he's seen exactly why good people leave good companies, why compensation plans fail, and why "people before profits" is usually misunderstood.

In this episode of Ratchet Up, Tony and host Allan Breidenbach dig into the real mechanics of leadership: why accountability without authority breaks even the strongest performers, how private-equity leverage reshapes company culture, why bad leaders are secretly a recruiter's best lead source, and how Tony turned dyslexia and a non-traditional education into an edge — including his take on AI as "the most democratic opportunity we've ever had."

In this episode:
- Tony's first job sorting mail for Menards founder John Menard
- The equation every leader needs: accountability = responsibility = authority
- Why "people before profits" is a sequence, not a sacrifice
- How private equity leverage changes what a job actually demands
- What Tony looks for in a candidate: humility, ego, and growth rate
- Reading with dyslexia — and the book Tony recommends over Kahneman
- Why AI is the great equalizer for self-taught professionals
- Lightning round: best/worst advice, go-to book, and one word for the future

Learn more about The Misura Group: MisuraGroup.com

Chapters
00:00 Cold open & welcome
00:37 What is The Misura Group?
01:20 Origin story: throwing out his pitching arm, landing at Menards
02:00 First job — sorting mail for John Menard himself
03:02 The one lesson that stuck: transparency & accountability
04:38 A belief Tony held 10 years ago that he's changed his mind on
07:13 "Impact over ego" — picking your game and keeping score
08:52 People before profits vs. Milton Friedman & shareholder value
10:11 What happens when PE firms over-leverage a business
13:31 Why "people before profits" is a sequence, not a trade-off
17:21 Source companies vs. companies you "feed" for talent
19:45 Why bad leaders (in good companies) are recruiting gold
21:46 Does compensation actually create alignment?
23:06 The equation: accountability = responsibility = authority
24:18 The truck-titles story — founder ego and control
26:31 Pricing a role by its real economic impact
29:34 Supply and demand of talent: McDonald's vs. a custom restaurant
31:00 Why CFOs get over-elevated in building products
31:44 Turning a career setback into a long-term win
33:02 Entrepreneurs, control, and "dysfunctional control freaks"
35:17 Learning with dyslexia — audio books as the hack
37:32 What Tony screens for in interviews: humility & growth rate
38:03 The Freight House story — staying relevant with age
39:14 Nobody is ever a 100% fit for a role
41:01 Why humans resist change (and how routines protect the brain)
44:00 Reframing change as competition vs. collaboration
47:20 Nature, mental health, and competing against yesterday's self
49:02 What excites Tony about the future — AI as the great equalizer
54:10 Lightning round: best/worst advice, favorite book, daily habits
58:16 One word (or two) for the future: Potential. Opportunity.
58:21 Where to find Tony / The Misura Group
59:00 Allan on writing his book — imposter syndrome & the surprise payoff
1:02:22 Closing & sign-off

📘 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Ratchet Up by Allan Breidenbach

🎙️ ABOUT RATCHET UP
Ratchet Up is a podcast about solving human problems to drive business performance, hosted by Allan Breidenbach. New episodes feature leaders across industries talking candidly about trust, engagement, and what actually moves a team forward.