What if the thing everyone said would kill your business is actually what saved it?

That is exactly what happened to Stephanie Gross, founder of Bumby Wool.

She did not start with a business plan.

She started because she could not find what she wanted, so she made it herself. From her basement. With two kids running around her feet. And a first employee she originally hired for free.

That employee has now been with her for 16 years.

In this episode of Black Sheep Network, we get into what it actually looks like to build a business that refuses to compromise, even when the entire industry is telling you that you are doing it wrong.

Here is what you discover when listening: 

This is not just a feel-good story.

It is a profitability and loyalty story. A proof-of-concept story for every founder who has been told that doing it with integrity means doing it slowly, quietly, and at a disadvantage.

Steph is proof that when you build something right, it becomes nearly impossible to compete with.

If you are tired of being told the only way to build is fast, cheap, and at the expense of everything you actually care about, this episode was made for you.

Hit play. Then share it with the founder in your life who needs to hear that their way can work better than anything else.

Stephanie Gross is the founder and designer behind Bumby Wool, a Canadian-made custom clothing brand specializing in sustainable Merino wool garments for babies, kids, and adults. Born in New Zealand and raised with wool in her DNA, Steph has spent 18 years building a slow fashion company that makes one garment at a time, uses low-impact dyes, and employs a team whose longest-tenured member has been with her for 16 years.

She is a passionate advocate for sustainable production, ethical team culture, and doing business in a way that does not require you to sell your soul to a supply chain. Bumby Wool has grown through word of mouth, a loyal community, and an obsessive commitment to quality that has made her virtually impossible to compete with.

You can find her and Bumby Wool at bumbywool.com

[03:30] "Eyes closed, head first, tail loose": Steph's philosophy on bold decisions

#BlackSheepNetwork #SlowFashion #SustainableFashion  #BumbyWool #EthicalBusiness #WomenInBusiness #EntrepreneurMindset #SlowFashionMovement #SustainableClothing #MadeInCanada #FemaleFounder #EthicalFashion #BusinessPodcast #WoolClothing #SustainableKidsClothing #BlackSheep 

Becoming a parent comes with a lot of complex questions.

And depending on your answer you could be labeled a Black Sheep for life. 

On this episode of Black Sheep Network, I sat down with Kristina Miller Weston to talk about Just Wait, an upcoming feature film centered on one of the most emotionally charged and least honestly discussed questions women face: what if motherhood is not the life you actually want?

The film follows a woman whose miscarriage forces her to confront an instinctive feeling of relief, sending her into a collision course with identity, marriage, expectation, and the pressure women feel to perform certainty around decisions that are often anything but simple.

We talked about why stories like this still make studios uncomfortable, how female-centered films continue to face resistance in funding rooms, and why Kristina stopped waiting for permission to create the work she believed needed to exist.

The current state of independent filmmaking, the collapse of the traditional studio pipeline, and what it now takes to get unconventional stories financed in an industry increasingly driven by familiarity and formulas needs to take a larger number of platforms and is a necessity to be voiced out. 

Here’s some of what we unpacked:

This conversation ended up being just as much about conviction as it was about filmmaking.

About what happens when you keep pushing forward with a story long after people tell you they “don’t know how to market it.”

About creating work for the people who need to feel seen by it, not just the executives deciding whether it fits neatly into a category.

Around how women’s experiences are still filtered through audiences and decision-makers who often struggle to recognize emotional complexity unless it arrives packaged in a way they already understand.

If you’ve ever tried to build something that didn’t fit the usual mold, this will hit home.

Listen for a conversation on storytelling, creative conviction, and what it takes to keep moving. 

Kristina Miller Weston is a Los Angeles-based producer, actor, and founder of Kool Bnz Productions, a company dedicated to telling the stories the industry deems too risky, because she believes no risk outweighs giving hope. She performed on stages worldwide alongside Sally Struthers, Valerie Harper, and Dick Van Dyke, with screen credits including This Is Us and The L Word: Generation Q. Her award-winning shorts include To Say Goodbye Is to Die a Little, which earned 19 festival selections and 11 awards. She also produced and performed her own one-woman show and co-created the Broadway podcast My Favorite Flop. Her current focus is getting the feature film "Just Wait" made, with Diane Guerrero already attached to star.

Find her at koolbnzproductions.com or on Instagram @koolbnz.

[00:03:00] How Kristina went from actor to producer: her husband said "you can do that" and she listened

#BlackSheepNetwork #WomenInFilm #IndependentFilm #JustWaitFilm #KoolBnzProductions #KristinaMillerWeston #DianeGuerrero #FemaleProducers #TrustYourGut #StorytellingMatters #WomensStories #FilmProduction #FemaleStories #RepresentationMatters #IndieFilmmaker #WomenWhoCreate #AleashaBahr #BlackSheep #DoItAnyway #PodcastForWomen #BlackSheepPodcast #ArtThatMatters #FeatureFilm #WomensRights #BodyAutonomy #HollywoodDisruptor #PurposeDrivenFilm 

A lot of companies claim they want innovation.

Very few are willing to question the systems they’re operating inside long enough to actually create it.

In this latest episode of The Black Sheep Network, I sit down with Reid Wicoff, co-founder of Digible, to talk about leadership, startup pressure, sales culture, and what happens when you build a company around trust instead of the relentless pursuit of profit as the only goal. 

Before building Digible into a nearly 200-person agency, he spent years inside traditional corporate environments watching talented people burn out under performative leadership, broken incentives, and cultures that rewarded optics more than outcomes. 

So, when he finally had the opportunity to build something himself, he chose to challenge many of the assumptions most companies still treat as untouchable.

Including some that directly contributed to Digible becoming one of the best places to work in Denver.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

This conversation is really about a bigger question:

How much of modern work culture exists because it’s effective… and how much of it exists simply because nobody stopped to challenge it?

How much more profit could a company make if profit wasn’t their only focus? 

If you’ve ever questioned the way companies operate, lead, sell, or treat people, this episode is for you.

📧 [email protected]

🌐 digible.com

[03:00] — The pseudonymous blog "Sales Smack" and the day his manager read it

#BlackSheepNetwork #BlackSheepLeadership #CompanyCulture #FourDayWorkWeek #StartupFounder #AgencyGrowth #AuthenticLeadership #SalesWithoutSelling #ClientRetention #EmpathyInBusiness #RadicalTransparency #DigiblAgency #MultifamilyMarketing #FounderStory #WorkLifeBalance #PeopleFirst #BlackSheepBusiness #NoCommissions #BuildingATeam #ValuesDrivenBusiness #EntrepreneurMindset #RecruitmentCulture #LeadershipPodcast 

Imposter syndrome isn’t a flaw. It’s your brain doing exactly what it was designed to do. And the more you try to eliminate it, the more it tightens its grip.

In this latest episode of the Black Sheep Network, Jen Coken breaks down what’s actually happening when that voice shows up right before you stretch, speak up, or step into something bigger.

Because that is a very important moment that shows up when you’re on unfamiliar ground. Your brain flags it as risk, even when nothing is actually at stake. 

As Jen explains, most people experience tens of thousands of thoughts a day, and the majority skew negative and repetitive, which is why interrupting that pattern takes a conscious act of rebellion.

The real issue isn’t the feeling itself. It’s how people respond to it. They either shrink or overcompensate. 

Different reactions, same outcome: burnout, self-doubt, and the constant sense that you still have something to prove.

In this conversation, we get into:

Because once you understand where it’s coming from, you stop reacting on autopilot and start choosing how you show up.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re capable of more but keep pulling yourself back at the exact moment it matters most, this one will hit.

01:30 – Why it’s not a “syndrome” at all

If you’re done letting that voice run the show, Jen has the tools to actually change it.

Start with her quiz:

Then grab her book Make Imposter Syndrome Your Superpower

#ImposterSyndrome #Confidence #Leadership #Mindset #SelfDevelopment #PersonalGrowth #WomenInLeadership #WomenInSales #EmotionalIntelligence #HighPerformance #BlackSheepNetwork

AI isn’t a future shift - it’s already part of your sales floor, whether you’ve realized it or not. 

While companies debate adoption, reps have already moved.

They’re writing emails with it and strategizing on sales deals. 

They didn’t talk to you about it and that’s where things can go wrong. 

In this new episode of Black Sheep Network, we sit down with Mike Allton to unpack “shadow AI” and why ignoring it creates more risk than addressing it directly.

Then Mike breaks down what to do instead because AI can be a powerful sales tool. 

The problem isn’t AI - it’s unmanaged usage.

You need structure, guidance and consistency to make it successful. 

Without that you have: 

If AI is already happening inside your team - listen to this episode so you can lead it instead of trying to catch up to it.

Otherwise, it could cause more harm than good.

He’s known for cutting through hype and showing leaders what matters: where AI fits, where it doesn’t, and how to use it without creating more complexity than it solves.

If you want to go deeper into his work or connect directly, you can check him out here:

Kevin Roy didn’t build Green Banana SEO by playing it safe.

He built it by surviving a 50/50 partner who stopped working, a salesperson who sued him, a maxed-out line of credit, and a retirement fund he had to drain just to make payroll.

In this episode, Kevin shares the hard-won lessons behind 17 years in digital marketing and how nearly losing everything became the best thing that ever happened to his company.

He also breaks down what actually matters for SEO in the age of AI. The path forward is simpler and more doable than most people think.

Kevin has weathered the kind of setbacks that cause most founders to fold.

A predatory salesperson.

He pushed through every one of them and came out the other side with zero debt, a high-performing team, and a business built entirely on his own terms.

If you’ve ever been burned by a bad partnership, drawn into a deal that looked good on paper, or you’re trying to stay visible in an AI-driven search landscape, this episode belongs in your ears.

Hit play.

👤 Guest Bio

🌐 https://greenbananaseo.com/author-kevin-c-roy-greenbanana-seo/

What if the skills you use every day as a parent are the same sales and marketing skills that make a business successful?

In this episode of Black Sheep Network, I sit down with marketing strategist, copywriter, and LaunchFlow creator Danielle Weil to explore the unexpected overlap between parenting and marketing.

Danielle has written dozens of six- and seven-figure launches and helped generate more than $170 million in client sales. But the insight behind her latest work didn’t come from a marketing playbook. It came from parenting.

Her podcast, Market Like a Parent and Parent Like a Marketer, explores the parallels between raising children and communicating with customers. Because both require empathy, clarity, boundaries, and the ability to guide someone toward a better decision without force.

In this conversation, we unpack:

This episode pushes back on the idea that marketing has to be pushy or manipulative to be successful.

The most effective marketing looks a lot more like good parenting: understanding people, communicating clearly, and helping them move toward what’s right for them.

If marketing or sales have ever felt uncomfortable or inauthentic, this conversation offers a different lens.

You may already have the skills. You just haven’t been calling them marketing.

02:00 – Why parenting skills translate surprisingly well into marketing

04:00 – The difference between marketing and sales conversations

06:00 – How offering choices increases cooperation in kids and customers

08:00 – Why empathy is the foundation of both parenting and marketing

10:00 – Understanding emotional triggers and the root cause of problems

13:00 – Why feeling understood helps clients trust solutions

16:00 – Removing shame and blame to create change

18:30 – Why pushy marketing tactics create resistance

20:30 – Negotiation lessons from kids and everyday life

23:00 – The importance of real urgency and honest boundaries in marketing

25:00 – Final thoughts on parenting, persuasion, and influence

Danielle Weil is a copy and marketing strategist and the creator of LaunchFlow, where she helps expert business owners build profitable, sustainable launch engines.

You can listen to her podcast here:

marketlikeaparent.podbean.com

For more conversations with disruptors who challenge the status quo in sales, leadership, and business:

Website: https://aleashabahr.com/

#BlackSheepNetwork #MarketingStrategy #EmpathyInMarketing #EthicalMarketing #Copywriting #MarketingPsychology #Entrepreneurship #SalesWithoutPressure #BlackSheepSales #BusinessGrowth #LeadershipConversations #LaunchStrategy #WomenInBusiness #MarketingPodcast #WomensMonth 

Linda Fisk spent two years listening to women describe earning their seat at the table, only to be handed a notepad and told to take notes.

She was CMO of one of the most prestigious leadership organizations in the world when she launched a global listening tour to find out why women kept leaving. What she heard was consistent across chapters, across countries, across cultures. Women who had done everything to qualify were still being treated like support staff by the men around them.

She brought the findings back. Leadership shrugged. 

So, she moved to a CEO role at another organization and tried again. The founder told her directly he had hired a woman so the box was checked, and he had no interest in going further.

She resigned the next day. 

Then she built LeadHERship Global from scratch. It now has over 10,000 members.

Inside this episode, you’ll hear:

This episode is not about complaining about broken systems.

It’s about what happens when you design a better one.

If you have ever earned your place but still felt like you did not truly belong, this conversation will resonate deeply.

And if you are building something different in your own industry, this episode is proof that disruption is not rebellion. It is leadership.

About Linda Fisk: Linda is a multi-award-winning CEO, two-time Stevie International Business Award winner, two-time TEDx speaker, six-time international bestselling author, US Senator for the WBAF, and chairwoman of LeadHERship Global, a curated community for high-caliber women leaders.

05:00 – Why only 5–8% of members were women

Connect with Linda on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindafisk/

For more conversations that challenge the norm and elevate what’s possible:

#BlackSheepNetwork #WomenInLeadership #LeadHERshipGlobal #LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveWomen #InclusiveLeadership #DisruptTheNorm #FemaleFounders #WomenCEOs #LeadershipPodcast #PurposeDrivenLeadership #WomenSupportingWomen #TransformationalLeadership #WomenEntrepreneurs #BusinessInnovation #DiversityInLeadership #ImpactDriven

What if the key to better focus, faster decisions, and that elusive flow state… is more mechanics than “mindset work.”

In this episode of The Black Sheep Network, I talk with John Kennedy, creator of Combat Brain Training and a pioneer in applied neuroplasticity. His brain training method has helped Marines reduce combat casualties, athletes unlock peak performance, and founders break through the fog of overwhelm - all using simple, non-digital exercises that rewire the brain in minutes.

This isn’t about willpower. It’s not about trying harder. 

It’s about changing how your brain processes information so you can lead, create, and respond from clarity instead of chaos.

Here’s what your brain’s about to pick up by listening: 

If you’ve ever felt like your brain is moving slower than you’d like, this conversation will shift how you think about thinking.

Want to dive deeper into John’s work? Learn more at: www.combatbraintraining.com 

🔥 If this episode sparks something and you’re ready to clear the mental clutter in your sales process, my Discovery and Audit Call is a zero-pressure space to get clarity on what’s not working—and where to go next.

Book your call here: https://calendly.com/aleasha/salesteam-levelup 

02:00 – John’s unconventional path and innovations in neuroplasticity

Connect With Aleasha:

#Neuroplasticity #BrainTraining #FlowState #BlackSheepNetwork #EntrepreneurMindset #FounderFocus #LeadershipDevelopment #CombatBrainTraining #CognitivePerformance #JohnKennedy #AleashaBahr #SalesLeadership #MentalPerformance #EmotionalHealth #InnovativeThinking #ProductivityHacks #MindsetShifts #PodcastHighlights #BusinessClarity #HighPerformanceHabits

One of the biggest myths about productivity is that better time management will fix burnout.

But what if time isn’t the real problem?

In this episode of The Black Sheep Network podcast, I sit down with Stephen Courson to unpack why so many high-performing, driven people still feel overwhelmed, distracted, and exhausted - even when they’re doing “everything right.” The issue isn’t discipline or effort. It’s the lack of a system that protects your most valuable resources.

Stephen introduces his TEAMS method - Time, Energy, Attention, Money, and Soul. It’s a very Black Sheep approach to high performance that has nothing to do with doing more. 

He explains how to design your days, work, and life in a way that actually supports well-being, focus, and long-term success.

If you’ve reached that uncomfortable middle ground where life looks “fine” on paper but feels flat, heavy, or uninspiring - this conversation will land.

And if you want to go deeper into Stephen’s frameworks, tools, and real-world strategies for building a life around what you value (not just what’s expected), explore his podcast and resources at www.lifebuilder.co  - a practical life-design toolkit for high-functioning humans who are tired of being tired.

03:18 – The real cost of overinvesting in work

#BlackSheepNetwork #LifestyleDesign #TimeFreedom #BurnoutRecovery #EnergyManagement  #IntentionalLiving #HighPerformerProblems #LiveOnPurpose #WorkLifeDesign #TEAMSMethod #EntrepreneurLife #PerformanceWithoutBurnout #ConsciousSuccess  #TimeManagementTips #LifeOptimization #LeadershipGrowth #PurposeOverPressure  #AttentionIsCurrency #LifeBuilder

Connect With Aleasha: