January 27, 2026

Scale Without Losing Your Sanity (Simple Systems That Actually Work) | Trace Miller

52 minutes

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How do you scale a business without losing your values, culture, sanity—or your life outside of work?

In this episode of the Spartan Leadership Podcast, Josh Kosnick sits down with Trace Miller, military veteran and founder of Konala, a fast-growing healthy fast-food franchise built on simplicity, discipline, and execution.

Trace breaks down what most leaders get wrong about scaling—and why chasing complexity, top-line revenue, or “passive income” often destroys the very thing you’re trying to grow.

This conversation goes deep on:

• Scaling without burnout
• Why simplicity beats sophistication
• How to remove people, processes, and products that no longer fit
• Profit vs. vanity metrics
• Leadership lessons from military service
• Building systems that scale without losing culture
• Why work-life integration matters more than balance

If you’re a founder, operator, or leader trying to grow without losing yourself, this episode will challenge how you think about scale.

🎧 Listen. Reflect. Simplify.

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Timestamps (Chapters)

00:00 – How to scale without losing what matters
02:00 – From bar owner to franchisor: why Trace walked away
05:30 – Solving the real problem: healthy food at scale
09:00 – Studying In-N-Out, Chick-fil-A, and simple systems
13:00 – “Simple scales, fancy fails”
15:00 – Revenue vs. profit: the scaling trap
19:00 – Why most franchise models break
24:30 – Military leadership lessons that stuck
28:30 – Marriage, family, and work-life integration
33:45 – Becoming a leader of leaders
36:00 – What Trace is still figuring out
38:00 – AI, automation, and why humans still matter
42:30 – What to cut first when you feel stretched thin
47:00 – Why founders shouldn’t disappear after scale
50:30 – Final leadership takeaway

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Connect & Learn More

Konala (franchise + locations): https://konala.com
Franchise info: https://konalafranchise.com

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Connect with Josh Kosnick: https://linktr.ee/joshkosnick

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