Relationships Rule

Picture a video call, a prospect, and a tiny zucchini plant. Maria-Katarina Johannesson once held hers up on camera just because she felt like it, and the prospect turned her own camera around to show off her plant too. That small, unplanned moment turned into a real bond, and it says everything about how Maria-Katarina runs her business.

Maria-Katarina is the founder of Linksandmaria, where she helps brands grow visibility through link building, SEO, and honest storytelling. In this conversation, we talked about why she believes link building and relationship building are the same skill, why people choose the brands and people they like rather than the ones that test as best on paper, and how becoming a new mom has reshaped the way she works.

We also talked about where visibility is heading as AI search keeps growing, and why she believes the most important relationship to invest in is the one you have with yourself.

Key takeaways:

• A link built on real collaboration keeps paying off long after it goes live, through workshops, calls, and ongoing connection.
• People choose the brands and people they like, not necessarily the ones that rank highest on a spreadsheet.
• The best place to start building visibility is with a clear, honest relationship with yourself and what you want to be known for.
• Becoming a mom pushed Maria-Katarina out of perfectionism and into simply getting things done, which made her work more human.

As automation grows, the human touch becomes more valuable, not less.

Maria can be found at: https://linksandmaria.com/ and on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linksandmaria/

In appreciation for being here, I have some gifts for you:

A LinkedIn Checklist for setting up your fully optimized Profile:

An opportunity to test drive the Follow Up system I recommend by checking this presentation page - you won’t regret it.

AND … Don’t forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and be eligible for my complimentary LinkedIn profile audit – I do one each month for a lucky listener!

Connect with me:

http://JanicePorter.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiceporter/

https://www.facebook.com/janiceporter1

https://www.instagram.com/socjanice/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and

think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social

media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a note in

the comment section below!

Subscribe to the podcast

If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can

subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

Leave us an Apple Podcast review

Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and

greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple, which

exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute,

please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.

Charles Reichelt built his business on introductions, with no cold calling at all.

That says a lot about how trust travels. Charles is the founder of FTG Squared in Baltimore, Maryland, where he helps small business owners set up retirement plans for themselves and their teams. After a long career with large firms, he started his own company and learned that trust has to be earned one person at a time, with no big company name behind him.

We talk about why setting up a plan is easier than most owners expect, why the human side matters more than the paperwork, and what his business coach taught him about pausing when someone says yes. We also wander into Baltimore, Hairspray, and the monthly jam session at his home.

Key takeaways

• Setting up a retirement plan does not have to be hard or time consuming. Charles sees his job as making it as easy as possible for owners.
• Sitting down with employees to understand their situation makes a plan feel personal instead of like paperwork.
• Trusted referrals work best when you slow down. When someone says yes, Charles now pauses and books another conversation so the relationship leads.
• Listening builds connection.
• Start sooner. Charles's advice for owners who keep putting it off is to begin as soon as they can, because time matters most.

You can connect with Charles at ftgsquared.com.

In appreciation for being here, I have some gifts for you:

A LinkedIn Checklist for setting up your fully optimized Profile:

An opportunity to test drive the Follow Up system I recommend by checking this presentation page - you won’t regret it.

AND … Don’t forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and be eligible for my complimentary LinkedIn profile audit – I do one each month for a lucky listener!

Connect with me:

http://JanicePorter.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiceporter/

https://www.facebook.com/janiceporter1

https://www.instagram.com/socjanice/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and

think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social

media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a note in

the comment section below!

Subscribe to the podcast

If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can

subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

Leave us an Apple Podcast review

Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and

greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple, which

exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute,

please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.

Talent is not what makes a career in comedy. Relationships are.

That is the case my guest Rosie Tran made on this episode. She has been a stand-up comedian for over twenty years, and she built Rosie Tran Presents, a show on Amazon Prime and Tubi that spotlights comedians who have the talent but have not always gotten their fair shot.

Her path was not a straight line. A comedy club manager once told her nobody wanted to see funny women. A special she shot for NBC Peacock left her feeling like things did not go the way they were supposed to. Both moments became fuel for something she built on her own terms, with her husband as her co-executive producer.

We also talked about running a business with a spouse, why she is careful about who she partners with, and a story about a man who sat two feet from people who could have helped his career and never asked them a single question.

Key Takeaways

• Relationships matter more than raw talent in comedy and in business.
• Rejection often becomes redirection. A deal that fell through sparked Rosie's own show.
• Choose partners with care. A past toxic partnership taught Rosie to be discerning.
• Being vulnerable in a relationship is different from oversharing online.
• Stay curious about the people already in front of you. You never know who they are.

In appreciation for being here, I have some gifts for you:

A LinkedIn Checklist for setting up your fully optimized Profile:

An opportunity to test drive the Follow Up system I recommend by checking this presentation page - you won’t regret it.

AND … Don’t forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and be eligible for my complimentary LinkedIn profile audit – I do one each month for a lucky listener!

Connect with me:

http://JanicePorter.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiceporter/

https://www.facebook.com/janiceporter1

https://www.instagram.com/socjanice/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and

think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social

media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a note in

the comment section below!

Subscribe to the podcast

If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can

subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

Leave us an Apple Podcast review

Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and

greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple, which

exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute,

please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.

Audley Stephenson has interviewed over 3,000 people, but the story he told me this week was his own. When the pandemic shut down professional basketball, it also took away his job as commissioner of a basketball league, and with it, the identity he had built his whole life around. He told me he did not even realize he was struggling until he said one sentence out loud to a friend: "ever since I lost basketball." That was the moment everything clicked.

What came next was audacity, a thread Audley says runs through every major turning point in his life. From talking his way into NBA locker rooms with nothing but a friend and a podcast, to switching team colors to coach his own daughter, to building a podcast with over 650 episodes, he keeps choosing to try things before he feels ready.

I still think often about one story from this conversation. A guest once left his podcast interview mid conversation to bring back his young son, so he could tell him, in real time, that outlasting adversity is the reason that child exists at all. Audley still gets emotional telling it. (I did too when he shared it.)

We also talked about his upcoming book, Living Your Best Audacious Life Ever, and the myths he wants to clear up about what audacity really means.

A few takeaways from this episode:

• Audacity does not require big, dramatic gestures. Speaking up in a meeting or setting a boundary counts too.
• The relationships you build with genuine curiosity often open the doors that matter most.
• Naming what you are feeling out loud can be the first step toward understanding it.
• Waiting for the perfect moment can cost more than acting imperfectly and early.

You can reach Audley, and check out his upcoming book here: https://www.bestaudaciouslife.com/

In appreciation for being here, I have some gifts for you:

A LinkedIn Checklist for setting up your fully optimized Profile:

An opportunity to test drive the Follow Up system I recommend by checking this presentation page - you won’t regret it.

AND … Don’t forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and be eligible for my complimentary LinkedIn profile audit – I do one each month for a lucky listener!

Connect with me:

http://JanicePorter.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiceporter/

https://www.facebook.com/janiceporter1

https://www.instagram.com/socjanice/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and

think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social

media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a note in

the comment section below!

Subscribe to the podcast

If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can

subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

Leave us an Apple Podcast review

Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and

greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple, which

exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute,

please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.

Kristen Nolan says the word pitch should not exist in podcast guesting. That one belief shapes everything else she teaches.

As a Podcast Guest Strategist at Interview Valet, Kristen helps business leaders and executives step onto other people's podcasts the right way. She reframes it entirely, treating every guest appearance as an introduction and the beginning of a relationship rather than a sales pitch.

In this conversation, we get into what that actually looks like in practice, from the first conversation with a host to the months after an episode goes live.

One idea that was interesting is what Kristen calls borrowed trust. When a host invites you onto their show, you are stepping into a relationship they have already built with their audience. You do not have to prove yourself from scratch. You just have to honor the trust that has already been extended to you. Kristen also shared her own metaphor for guesting; being invited into someone's home, which shifts the entire experience away from performance and toward genuine hospitality.

We also talked about why so many guests’ default to reciting their resume when a host asks them to introduce themselves, and why that approach usually falls flat. Kristen coaches her clients to lead with the problem they solve for the audience instead, which turns a guest appearance into something the listener actually wants to keep hearing.

Key Takeaways

• Borrowed trust means you do not need to earn your audience from zero. The host already vetted you. Your job is to nurture what they extended.
• The best guest appearances feel like two people talking in a coffee shop, not a rehearsed pitch.
• What you do after the interview, the follow-up, the promotion, the small gestures, often matters more than the interview itself.
• Choosing the right podcast is about brand alignment first, reach second.
• Showing up with curiosity about the host's audience changes the entire tone of a conversation.

Connect with Kristen Nolan

Interview Valet: interviewvalet.com

In appreciation for being here, I have some gifts for you:

A LinkedIn Checklist for setting up your fully optimized Profile:

An opportunity to test drive the Follow Up system I recommend by checking this presentation page - you won’t regret it.

AND … Don’t forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and be eligible for my complimentary LinkedIn profile audit – I do one each month for a lucky listener!

Connect with me:

http://JanicePorter.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiceporter/

https://www.facebook.com/janiceporter1

https://www.instagram.com/socjanice/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and

think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social

media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a note in

the comment section below!

Subscribe to the podcast

If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can

subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

Leave us an Apple Podcast review

Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and

greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple, which

exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute,

please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.

I sat down for pizza with my daughter and her friend, opened GoDaddy on my phone, and bought the domain before we finished lunch. That’s how Susan Dabbar describes the moment PROVOKED went from an idea to something real, and it tells you almost everything about how she moves through the world.

Susan has designed nuclear submarines, run brand campaigns for Disney and Nestlé, played professional poker in Moscow, built and sold half a dozen businesses, and at sixty-five, launched a media company for women who refuse to be told their best chapters are behind them.

What struck me most in this conversation is that none of it happened alone. Every pivot, from her college consulting business to PROVOKED itself, was carried forward by a mentor, a daughter, a friend at a café table who said the right thing at the right moment.

A few things I took away from our conversation:

• Reinvention is never a solo act. Susan credits mentors, family, and community at every turn, even in careers built on individual expertise like naval architecture and poker.
• Poker taught her more about business than she expected. Reading people and making decisions on incomplete information turned out to be the exact skill she needed for every pivot that followed.
• Paying every writer, even first timers, is nonnegotiable for Susan. It says everything about how she wants PROVOKED to treat the women who trust it with their stories.
• Passion alone is overrated. Susan's advice to anyone rebuilding a career is to look for the opportunity first, then match it to what you are good at and what you have the resources for.
• Everyone has a story worth telling. Susan's advice for anyone who does not think of themselves as a writer is simple: start with a few sentences on a scrap of paper and let it grow from there.

Susan and her digital magazine PROVOKED can be found here:

linkedin.com/in/susandabbar

https://provokedmagazine.com/

In appreciation for being here, I have some gifts for you:

A LinkedIn Checklist for setting up your fully optimized Profile:

An opportunity to test drive the Follow Up system I recommend by checking this presentation page - you won’t regret it.

AND … Don’t forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and be eligible for my complimentary LinkedIn profile audit – I do one each month for a lucky listener!

Connect with me:

http://JanicePorter.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiceporter/

https://www.facebook.com/janiceporter1

https://www.instagram.com/socjanice/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and

think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social

media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a note in

the comment section below!

Subscribe to the podcast

If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can

subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

Leave us an Apple Podcast review

Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and

greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple, which

exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute,

please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.

There was a moment on a retreat in Napa where Aaron Hendon realized something that had been true for years but he had never actually seen. He had the marriage, the kids, the business doing better every single year, and underneath all of it, a low hum of worry that never let up. He calls it the Jaws music.

That moment cracked open everything we talk about in this episode. Aaron spent thirty years building one of Seattle's top real estate teams before training as a mindfulness instructor, and what he shares here is not the version of mindfulness you are picturing. No incense, no hour of sitting cross legged with an empty mind. He walks through what is actually happening in your brain when you build a real practice, why most gratitude habits fail before they start, and the framework from his new book that explains why.

We also get into something every business owner will recognize, the myth that you can rise to the occasion when things get hard. Aaron makes the case that you actually sink to the level of your preparation, and what that means for how you show up with a difficult client or a deal that falls apart.

A few things that stayed with me:

• The line between hustle that produces results and hustle that quietly feeds anxiety
• Why his own gratitude practice does not start with a gratitude list
• What changed in his sales team's performance once he trained them in this
• Why multitasking costs you nearly half your effectiveness, and what to do instead
• A simple way to reset your attention that has nothing to do with sitting still

Aaron's new book, How to Live a Grateful Life in a F*d Up World, and Aaron can be found at: https://aaronhendon.com/

In appreciation for being here, I have some gifts for you:

A LinkedIn Checklist for setting up your fully optimized Profile:

An opportunity to test drive the Follow Up system I recommend by checking this presentation page - you won’t regret it.

AND … Don’t forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and be eligible for my complimentary LinkedIn profile audit – I do one each month for a lucky listener!

Connect with me:

http://JanicePorter.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiceporter/

https://www.facebook.com/janiceporter1

https://www.instagram.com/socjanice/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and

think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social

media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a note in

the comment section below!

Subscribe to the podcast

If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can

subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

Leave us an Apple Podcast review

Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and

greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple, which

exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute,

please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.

Jared Harman started learning about people at age twelve, working in his family's restaurant on Granville Island. Tourists from everywhere, personalities from all over, and a quick education in how to show up for someone even when it is hard. That early lesson never left him.

Today, Jared is the CEO and Co-Founder of The One Group Agency, a full-service digital marketing firm in Surrey, BC. His team has held onto roughly 80% of their original clients for nearly a decade. In a world where loyalty feels rare and everything moves fast, that kind of track record tells you something important about how he runs his business.

In this conversation, Jared and I talk about what sport, hospitality, and community involvement actually teach you about leading people, and why the businesses that last are almost always the ones that put relationships first.

What struck me most was how consistent his philosophy is. Whether he was selling rink board ads to sponsors at twenty-three and realizing people were renewing because they liked him, or telling a client in L.A. "I can't promise we're the best, but I can promise we'll always do our best for you" — the thread is the same. It's trust. It's showing up. It's being the kind of person people want to keep in their corner.

Jared also talked about something I think a lot of leaders overlook: the value of staying calm when things go sideways. His mantra from his years at the Langley Events Centre still guides him today. The game is going to happen with or without you, so take a breath and figure out the best path forward.

Key Takeaways

• The habits that make great leaders, reading people, staying calm, showing up, are often built long before the business is.
• Client retention at 80% over nine years is not about being the best agency in the room. It's about being the most trustworthy one.
• Availability is a competitive advantage. Answering the phone on a weekend is not a boundary problem, it’s a relationship investment.
• Pushing back on a client's strategy, with clear reasoning and genuine care, is one of the most respectful things an agency can do.
• Your network is not just a nice-to-have. It is the sounding board that helps you see your business clearly when you're too close to it yourself.

Webite - https://www.onegroupagency.ca/about

Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredharman

In appreciation for being here, I have some gifts for you:

A LinkedIn Checklist for setting up your fully optimized Profile:

An opportunity to test drive the Follow Up system I recommend by checking this presentation page - you won’t regret it.

AND … Don’t forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and be eligible for my complimentary LinkedIn profile audit – I do one each month for a lucky listener!

Connect with me:

http://JanicePorter.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiceporter/

https://www.facebook.com/janiceporter1

https://www.instagram.com/socjanice/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and

think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social

media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a note in

the comment section below!

Subscribe to the podcast

If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can

subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

Leave us an Apple Podcast review

Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and

greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple, which

exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute,

please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.

There is a moment in this conversation that I keep coming back to. Zvi Band said something simple that landed hard: most people treat relationship building as an organic thing, something they will just get around to when someone comes to mind. And that, he says, is exactly why it falls apart.

Zvi started as a software developer who walked into networking events, made a lap, and walked straight back out. What changed was not a personality shift. It was a lightning-bolt moment when a startup disappeared overnight, and he was flooded with job offers and introductions, every one of them tracing back to a relationship already built.

In this episode, we talk about the fear of reaching out after a long silence, the mindset shift that makes it easier, and why the relationships already in your world are worth far more than any new lead you could chase. Zvi also shares something I loved: we are only responsible for our second thought and our first action. That first voice that says they will think I am salesy? Let it be there. Then act from the second one instead.

Key Takeaways

• Relying on memory alone is why most people fail at staying in touch. A little structure changes everything.
• You do not need a perfect reason to reach out. "I thought of you today" is enough.
• Most CRMs are built around pipelines, not people. Relatable puts the relationship at the centre.
• That inner voice telling you reaching out will seem pushy? Ask yourself if it is actually true.
• The best relationship builders are not the most sophisticated; they are the ones who stayed in the game.

Connect with Zvi Band

Website: zviband.com

Relatable CRM: bemorerelatable.com

Book: Success is in Your Sphere — available wherever books are sold

In appreciation for being here, I have some gifts for you:

A LinkedIn Checklist for setting up your fully optimized Profile:

An opportunity to test drive the Follow Up system I recommend by checking this presentation page - you won’t regret it.

AND … Don’t forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and be eligible for my complimentary LinkedIn profile audit – I do one each month for a lucky listener!

Connect with me:

http://JanicePorter.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiceporter/

https://www.facebook.com/janiceporter1

https://www.instagram.com/socjanice/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and

think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social

media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a note in

the comment section below!

Subscribe to the podcast

If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can

subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

Leave us an Apple Podcast review

Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and

greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple, which

exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute,

please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.

There are leaders who talk about putting people first, and then there are leaders who have actually staked their life on what happens when a system loses its rhythm. Hanna Bauer is the latter.

Hanna is the founder of HEARTnomics Enterprises and faculty member with the Maxwell Leadership team. She has spent nearly three decades helping CEOs and leadership teams find the real root of why organizations struggle. Her answer might surprise you. It is rarely a people problem. It is almost always a systems problem.

Diagnosed with a serious heart condition at age four, Hanna survived two heart attacks before the age of ten, went through multiple failed interventions, and eventually became one of the first children to undergo a pioneering heart ablation procedure, an experimental surgery that would go on to save the lives of three thousand other children.

That experience did not translate into a leadership framework overnight. It took years, and a moment in a hospital hallway where someone told her that leadership is service, for everything to click. She had been leading all along.

In this conversation, we talk about what it really means when an organization loses its rhythm, why treating symptoms instead of root causes keeps leaders stuck, and how trust, built through relationship, not automation, is the only thing that makes people willing to take a risk together when everything feels uncertain.

Key Takeaways

• Passion without process creates chaos. Systems are not the enemy of heart, they are what allow the heart to scale.
• You cannot give what you do not have. Before leading others, you have to get acquainted with your own rhythm.
• It is not failure that breaks trust, it is how you handle it. Hanna's doctor tried two surgeries that didn't work before the one that saved her life. The trust her family placed in him for that third attempt was built through honesty and never disappearing when things went wrong.
• Burnout feels like heart disease. When leaders run on duty rather than purpose, the cost is not just productivity, it is felt in the body.

In appreciation for being here, I have some gifts for you:

A LinkedIn Checklist for setting up your fully optimized Profile:

An opportunity to test drive the Follow Up system I recommend by checking this presentation page - you won’t regret it.

AND … Don’t forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and be eligible for my complimentary LinkedIn profile audit – I do one each month for a lucky listener!

Connect with me:

http://JanicePorter.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiceporter/

https://www.facebook.com/janiceporter1

https://www.instagram.com/socjanice/

Thanks for listening!

Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and

think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social

media buttons on this page.

Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a note in

the comment section below!

Subscribe to the podcast

If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can

subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

Leave us an Apple Podcast review

Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and

greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple, which

exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute,

please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.