Relationships Rule

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:

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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!

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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/

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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/

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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:

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There are people in your life who would pick up the phone at 3 AM if you called. Not many … but they exist. Now ask yourself honestly: how intentional were you about building those relationships? Or did they just happen?

That question sat with me after my conversation with Nida Leardprasopsuk, a Master Certified Coach, serial entrepreneur, TEDx organizer, and founder of IRL, the world's first Relationship OS. Nida is on a mission to change the way the world connects, and her approach is both practical and a little provocative.

She is not talking about networking. She is talking about building relationships that compound.

Nida grew up in a family where relationships were never explicitly discussed. It was not until she left the corporate world and got into psychology that she became, as several of her friends have told her, the most obsessed person they have ever met when it comes to building and nurturing relationships. That obsession became IRL, a platform designed to be your second brain for the people who matter most in your life.

What I loved most about this conversation was the way Nida holds two things at once: the idea that relationships require real intention and strategy, and the insistence that being strategic is not the same as being transactional. Time is the only resource that is truly limited, she says. So, investing equally in every relationship is not generosity, it is a failure to be honest about what you can actually give.

We talked about her relationship grading system, not a tool for judging people, but a framework for understanding where to invest your time. We talked about what it means when someone over-promises and never follows through, and why that habit quietly erodes trust and reputation in ways most people never see coming. And we talked about what Nida calls the 3 AM test, the moment you realize that hundreds of digital connections do not add up to a single person you can genuinely call when things fall apart.

Nida also made a point that stayed with me about AI and authenticity. In a world where so much content looks and sounds the same, kindness, imperfection, and genuine humanness are becoming rare currencies. The people who cannot be replicated, she says, are the ones who lead with those things.

Key Takeaways

• Connecting is easy; building a relationship that lasts takes a system and intention behind it.
• Being strategic about relationships is not transactional. You are not keeping score. You are being honest about your time.
• Small broken promises accumulate into a reputation. Flaking, over-promising, and leaving messages unanswered shape how people perceive your reliability whether you realize it or not.
• The 3 AM test is the real measure of your relationships, not how many contacts you have, but who you would actually call, and who would actually answer.
• In the age of AI, your humanness is your advantage. Authenticity, imperfection, and genuine kindness are becoming rarer and more valuable.

Connect with Nida Leardprasopsuk: Website: nidaleard.com IRL Waitlist: nidaleard.com

Instagram: @irl.app.official

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nida-leardprasopsuk

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:

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Alisha Esmail has built two very different businesses, and the thread running through both of them is the same. Trust and loyalty. And paying close attention to the people already in your world.

That lesson did not come easily. It arrived as an email, at the dinner table, from one of Road Coffee's biggest clients.

Subject line: we have decided to go in a different direction.

Alisha had no idea it was coming. That moment became the seed of everything she has built since, including Latch AI, a client retention platform designed to catch the quiet signals that a client is drifting before they ever say goodbye.

We talked about silent churn, the clients who do not fire you, they just quietly stop renewing. No angry email. No complaint. They simply disappear. And by the time you notice, the relationship is already gone.

One of Alisha's beta clients had over $650,000 in missed opportunities sitting on the table in a single quarter. They had no idea.

Alisha also introduced me to a phrase I loved: ice cream moments. The small, unexpected gestures that take a client from their head to their heart. We had a genuinely fun disagreement about referrals along the way too.

If you run a service business, this conversation will make you look at your client list very differently.

Key Takeaways

• Silent churn is the most expensive problem most businesses do not know they have. Clients drift first — the signals are there if you are paying attention.
• Slower response times, less engagement, and going quiet are early warning signs a relationship is cooling. You do not need technology to notice — you need to be present.
• As AI drives down the cost of services, the relationship you have with existing clients will become your most durable competitive edge.
• Clients are the heroes of the journey. Build your systems around serving them, not selling to them.
• Ice cream moments matter. Small, thoughtful gestures are often more powerful than any formal retention program.

You can reach Alisha at: [email protected]

Or on LinkedIn at: linkedin.com/in/alisha-esmail

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!

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That is the question I opened with when I sat down with Tim Dumas. Tim is, as he loves to say, an executive strategic coach by day, and a high school football coach by night. Two very different arenas. One consistent philosophy.

Tim has spent over a decade helping executives, business owners, and leadership teams build the kind of loyalty that does not show up on a balance sheet, but drives everything that does. And what he shared in this conversation stopped me more than once.

We got into the real meaning of loyalty, and the number Tim threw out is worth sitting with. Only 1 to 3 percent of the businesses we deal with ever reach raving fan status. If that is the bar, most of us are not even close. Tim explains what it actually takes to close that gap, and why most leaders are not even asking the right question yet.

We also talked about executive brevity, a concept that Tim learned from a mentor in the UK who told him, point blank, that the length of his answer was inversely related to how well he understood the topic. That one line changed everything for Tim. And honestly, it might change something for you too.

And then there is the LEADING framework. Seven letters. Seven practices. Tim walked me through each one, and I was still thinking about it hours later. I will leave most of it for you to discover in the episode, but I will say this: the last letter alone is worth the listen.

Key Takeaways

• Loyalty cannot be expected, only earned. Ken Blanchard's raving fan definition is the bar, and it is higher than most leaders want to admit.
• Executive brevity is a leadership skill. The more words you use to answer a question, the less confidence you build in the room.
• Magnanimity, the spirit of striving for greatness by bringing out the greatness in others, is Tim's definition of leadership. It reframes the whole job.
• Peer learning in formats like CEO Forums works because adults learn through shared experience, not instruction. The right room changes everything.
• Great leadership shows up in seven specific ways. Tune in to hear the full LEADING framework from Tim.

Connect with Tim Dumas: Website: servusleadership.com Lawrence and Co: lawrenceandco.com LinkedIn: search Tim Dumas

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!

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There are relationship skills — and then there are business skills. For most of my career, I assumed they were pretty much the same thing. This conversation with Joëlle Lydon stopped me in my tracks.

Joëlle is a certified relationship coach, author of Unbreakable Us: Removing the Barriers to Love, and creator of the 7-Step Relational Growth Pathway. She has spent over 30 years helping individuals and couples build relationships that are emotionally intelligent, intentional, and built to last.

What I did not expect was how directly her work applies to the business relationships we navigate every single day.

We talked about why the skills that make people successful in business — drive, strategy, results-focus — often backfire in relationships. We got into boundaries, emotional regulation, old patterns, and what Joëlle calls the sacred third: the idea that a relationship is its own entity, separate from both people in it, and worth protecting.

One line from Joëlle that I keep thinking about: the most resourced one leads. It has nothing to do with title or tenure. It is about who is most regulated in the moment.

Key Takeaways

• The skills that build business success are often the opposite of the skills that build great relationships — and recognizing that gap is the first step.
• Boundaries are not about other people. They are about the clarity of what you are willing and not willing to do, regardless of someone else's reaction.
• The most regulated person in the room leads — whether or not they hold the title. Emotional grounding is not soft. It is a competitive advantage.
• Old relationship patterns are not fixed. Neuroscience confirms that the brain remains adaptable throughout our lives. Change is always possible.
• The sacred third — the relationship itself — deserves to be protected and invested in, just like any other asset in your business or your life.

Joelle can be found at: joellelydon.com Or on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joellelydon/

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!

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When I sat down with sisters Amy and Nancy Harrington, co-founders of The Passionistas Project, I realized within the first few minutes that we were kindred spirits. Maybe it was the shared love of all things Hollywood, or maybe it was just how easy the conversation felt, but either way, this episode quickly became one of my favourites.

Amy and Nancy grew up in a small town outside Boston in a house filled with art, music, and theatre. Nancy actually asked her mother for a sibling when she was four years old, and nine months later, Amy was born. They have been best friends ever since. That early bond turned out to be the foundation for everything they have built together as adults, including a podcast, an annual summit, and a global community called the Sisterhood.

What struck me most was how naturally they have blended their personal relationship with their business relationship. Amy described it as being able to work every day with the one person she trusts most on the planet, and that trust shows in everything they do, from how they split interview opportunities (yes, even when Mick Jagger was involved) to how they made the leap from a side project to a thriving global community.

We also talked about what makes people feel truly heard. After conducting over 1,700 interviews, Amy and Nancy have learned that starting a conversation with someone's childhood often opens them up in a way nothing else does. It is almost like a small act of therapy, and it creates space for real honesty.

A few takeaways from this conversation:

• Trust built over a lifetime becomes the strongest foundation for a business partnership.
• Genuine curiosity and active listening make people feel safe enough to be honest.
• Authenticity, especially during hard times, is what turns a following into a real community.
• A side project can become your life's purpose if you stay open to where it leads.
• Building community takes patience, but the rewards are worth the effort.

If this conversation made you think about a relationship in your own life or business that deserves a little more attention, reach out to that person. That is where it all starts.

You can find Amy and Nancy at thepassionistasproject.com, where they also offer a free roadmap called "30 Minutes to Find Your Story."

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!

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I’ll be honest, when the outreach came in for this guest, I hesitated. Someone who writes content for other people? That is not quite my world. I live in the LinkedIn inbox, building one relationship at a time.

But the more I got to know Kaila Vander Horn, Head of Content at Speedwork, the more I realized we are speaking the same language. She just comes at it from a different angle. She built Speedwork's entire social department from scratch, writes over 100 posts a month for B2B companies and executives, and is known above all else for capturing each person's authentic voice.

We talked about what thought leadership actually means, why your content and your inbox conversations are more connected than you might think, and why the best LinkedIn content often has nothing to do with your product. We also went on record about emojis. You will have to listen to find out where we landed.

Key Takeaways

• Your content is your credibility check. When someone receives a message from you on LinkedIn, the first thing they do is visit your profile. If your content shows up, tells your story, and proves your expertise, the conversation in the inbox has a much better chance of going somewhere.
• Authentic voice is not accidental. Kaila meets with every client to learn who they are, what lights them up, and how they naturally speak. That process is what separates content that sounds like a person from content that sounds like a press release.
• A content mix matters more than posting frequency. Not every post needs to be educational or a call to action. Relatable, human content — yes, even a well-placed meme — builds the top-of-funnel trust that makes your more serious posts land.
• Personal profiles outperform company pages, but do not neglect either. People follow people far more readily than they follow logos. That said, a company page still matters — especially if you are running LinkedIn ads or want to build credibility through social proof.
• Just start. Kaila shared that 88% of LinkedIn users are lurkers. If you have been waiting until you have something perfect to say, start taking notes on your next business call. The pain points you hear every day are the content your audience is waiting for.

Connect with Kaila Vander Horn: linkedin.com/in/kailavanderhorn

Learn more about Speedwork: speedworksocial.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!

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