Some people walk into a conversation already building the solution before the other person finishes the sentence. That was Steve Henry. And it worked great at work. Not so much at home.

Steve is a district manager running a $100 million business with 93 people in his organization. He has turned around four businesses, built a team from the ground up by hiring young people and growing them into A players, and he has developed one of the sharpest communication philosophies I have heard from someone who has never once called himself a communication expert.

This conversation goes everywhere. Sales. Leadership. Marriage. The poker face. The drive home. And the one question that changed how Steve shows up for his wife Jessie every single day.

In this episode we cover:

• Why Steve hires young people with no industry experience and grooms them from the ground up
• How he identifies A, B, and C players fast and why C players do not last long in his organization
• The first time he spoke in front of 300 people at 25 years old and why it was an absolute nightmare
• What he learned from that experience and how it shaped the way he communicates with his team today
• Why the biggest communication breakdown usually happens right at the starting point
• How he runs monthly all-hands meetings with every single person in his organization so the vision never gets lost
• The poker face and how he manages emotions during high-stakes negotiations
• The difference between listening and fixing and why confusing the two almost cost him his marriage
• Why his drive home is a sacred 30 to 40 minutes of silence and what that reset does for his family
• Why selling yourself first is the only sales strategy that actually works long term

Steve is one of the most self-aware, grounded, and genuinely good humans I know. This one is for every leader who is great at the job but still figuring out how to leave it at the door when they get home.

Learn more or book LP: https://www.sayitbettermethod.com/

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Produced by Wonderhaus INC

Not every guest walks in with a Grammy or a headline. Some guests walk in with something closer to home. Something we can all relate to. Amanda Kossick is a sister in the faith, a wife, a mom of two, and the owner of Mercy Dental right here in Roswell, Georgia. And this conversation went places I did not expect.

We talked about faith, family, communication, and what it actually looks like to lead people well, whether that is a dental team, a household, or yourself. Amanda is one of the most self-aware, emotionally intelligent people I have sat down with, and the wisdom she dropped in this conversation is something every leader, parent, and communicator needs to hear.

In this episode we cover:

• How growing up Seventh-day Adventist shaped Amanda's work ethic, values, and faith journey
• Why simplifying your faith is actually harder than making it complex
• The communication lesson her dad taught her early that she still lives by today
• How she reads people all day to decide whether to be direct or soften her delivery
• The power of the pause and why sometimes 24 hours is the right response time
• What devil's advocate thinking looks like in practice and why it makes you a better leader
• How she learned to let go of control and turn things over to God
• Why parenting skills and managing a dental team are basically the same thing
• What she got from each of her parents that shaped the leader she is today
• How she turns boss lady off when she gets home and why the 30-minute drive matters

Amanda is the real deal. Genuine, grounded, and full of wisdom she did not even realize she had until we started talking. This one is for every leader who is also trying to be a present parent, a great spouse, and a person of faith all at the same time.

Learn More about Amanda and DeMercy Dental:

Website: https://www.demercydental.com/

DeMercy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/demercydental/

DeMercy Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/demercydental/

Learn more or book LP: https://www.sayitbettermethod.com/

Follow LP:

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

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lasada-pippen-keynote/

Produced by Wonderhaus INC

Some conversations you forget by the time you close your laptop. This is not one of those.

I had the honor of sitting down with Jay Hunter Morris, a Grammy Award winning opera singer who has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and on stages across six continents. Jay studied at Juilliard, starred on Broadway, and built a 35-year career doing something most people told him was impossible for a small town country boy from Paris, Texas.

But here is what this conversation is really about. It is not just about opera. It is about what it takes to do hard things, fight the demons of self-doubt, and keep showing up when the exit ramp is right there in front of you. Jay is one of the most genuine, humble, and inspiring humans I have had the pleasure of sitting down with, and I think you are going to walk away from this one changed.

In this episode we cover:

• How Jay went from singing at the Holiday Inn to performing with the greatest orchestras in the world
• Why he faked it for 20 years before he finally felt like he belonged
• The one night at the opera that changed the entire direction of his life
• Why talent is only about 5% of what it takes to sustain a career
• What his English agent told him that stung for years and how he overcame it
• The power of saying yes to hard things even when you are not ready
• Why if you do what is hard your life will be easy, but if you do what is easy your life will be hard
• How discipline, love for the craft, and burning your exit ramps are what separate those who make it from those who don't

Jay is a one of a kind human. This conversation will push you to stop waiting until you feel ready and start doing the hard thing in front of you.

Learn more about Jay:

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

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-hunter-morris-73885a251/

Learn more or book LP: https://www.lasadapippen.com/

Follow LP:

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lasada-pippen-keynote/

Produced by Wonderhaus

Welcome back to the Say It Better podcast. I sat down with my good friend Lauren Hankins, a healthcare partnership leader with over a decade of experience building and scaling businesses, and the author of her debut self-help memoir, Big Boned. Lauren is one of those people who makes you rethink everything you thought you knew about sales and communication.

Here is the truth she dropped in this conversation: the best product does not always win. The best relationship does. And if you are walking into every meeting with a slide deck instead of a genuine conversation, you are already behind.

This episode is for anyone in sales, leadership, or any role that requires you to communicate with people and actually get results.

In this episode we cover:

• Why sales has nothing to do with your product and everything to do with your relationships
• How Lauren builds trust with executives before she ever mentions what she is selling
• What communication breakdown really looks like in corporate environments and how to fix it
• Why smart does not equal leadership and what actually makes a great leader
• The C.L.E.A.R. framework for communication that will change how you run your meetings
• How simplicity sells and complexity kills deals every single time
• What her memoir Big Boned is really about and why she wrote it

Lauren is sharp, real, and full of gems. This one is not just about sales. It is about showing up as a genuine communicator in every area of your life.

Learn more about Lauren:

Website: www.laurenhankins.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ldenning/

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

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Learn more or book LP here: https://www.lasadapippen.com/

Follow LP:

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lasada-pippen-keynote/

Produced by Wonderhaus

Welcome back to the Say It Better podcast. This episode is one you are not going to want to sleep on. I sat down with my friend Kory Rykman, an Allstate agency owner managing over $55 million in annual recurring premiums across multiple locations in the Southeast. He is a two-time MVP and Best in Company Award winner for Allstate, and the way he thinks about sales, leadership, and building a business is something every entrepreneur needs to hear.

Kory's story starts with immigrant parents, a dream, and a taste of what was possible. From chasing a dentistry degree to selling software to hospitals, to watching his wife's insurance comp plan and deciding to bet on himself, Kory has built something serious. And the through line in everything he does comes down to one thing: keep it simple.

This conversation goes deep on what it really takes to build and scale a business, delegate without losing momentum, and sell in a way that actually connects with people.

In this episode we cover:

• How Kory simplifies complex insurance products into language that actually closes deals
• Why he was the bottleneck in his own business and what he did about it
• The mindset shift that took him from grind mode to building a team that runs without him
• How he spends $190,000 per month in marketing and what that investment looks like
• His approach to lead generation including mail, internet leads, and high-intent prospects
• Why young entrepreneurs fail by underestimating how big they can actually be
• The books that shaped how he sells, leads, and thinks about long-term wealth

Kory is the real deal and this conversation will push you to stop overcomplicating what you are building and get out of your own way.

➡Learn more about Kory:

https://www.facebook.com/koryrykman

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

https://www.instagram.com/kory_mcfly?igsh=MThvZHNieDEwenkwbQ==

https://m.youtube.com/@kory.rykman

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📣Learn more or book LP here: https://www.lasadapippen.com/

📲Follow LP:

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Produced by Wonderhaus Works

Welcome to the very first episode of the Say It Better podcast. I could not have asked for a better person to kick this off than my friend Nick Fraunfelder, CEO of SureOak, a digital marketing agency helping major brands like SoFi get found by Google and AI. Nick leads a team of 35 people across four continents, and the way he thinks about communication, culture, and leadership is something every business owner, manager, and aspiring leader needs to hear.

In this conversation, Nick drops real talk about what it actually takes to build a team that executes on a vision, how to have the hard conversations no one wants to have, and why caring is not soft. It is a non-negotiable standard.

One of the things that stuck with me most from this episode: people will forgive mistakes. They will not forgive not caring. That alone is worth the listen.

In this episode we cover:

• How Nick built a unified culture across a fully remote, globally distributed team.
• Why it took him a year and a half to get the vision right, and what finally made it click.
• The "Six by Six" framework for giving employees real feedback before it's too late.
• What it means to position people properly and why A players will never take direction from C players.
• How to communicate vision in a way your team can actually run with.
• The difference between growth decisions and scale decisions.
• Why the toughest challenges in business always come back to people.
• How AI is changing consumer behavior and what that means for your brand right now.

Nick brings heat the entire conversation, and we even get into talent vs. passion, ego vs. service, and what Coach Wooden and Tom Brady can teach us about leadership. This one is fire.

Learn more about Nick:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-fraunfelder/

https://www.youtube.com/@sureoak

https://sureoak.com/strategy-call

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Produced by Wonderhaus Works

After more than a year of people asking and encouraging me to start a podcast, I finally took the challenge and said yes. The Say It Better Podcast is on its way, and it is going to be worth the wait.

I've got some phenomenal people lined up to sit down with me right here in the studio. We're talking CEOs, millionaires, leaders, friends, and people from all walks of life who have figured out how to communicate, lead, and elevate everything around them. Whether you're running a business, starting one, or working toward becoming the leader you know you're capable of being, this podcast was built with you in mind.

No fluff, no filler. Just fire conversations to help you say it better in every area of your life.

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👉Subscribe now so you don't miss a single episode when the Say It Better seasonal series drops.

📕Download the free Say It Better Playbook and start leveling up your communication today. speak.lasadapippen.com/free-say-it-better-playbook

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Produced by WonderHaus Works