The Business & Faith Podcast®

Most businesses don't fail because the idea was bad.

In this episode of The Dataliction Podcast®, John Staub and Travis Hall talk with Tim Jensen, founder and president of The Veridus Group, Inc., about why culture decides whether a company survives. Tim defines culture in plain terms: how it feels in this moment, and how people actually engage with each other inside the office. He explains why he hires the person rather than the role, what it has cost him the few times he got that backwards, and how one firm grew into three companies without splitting into three cultures. He also talks about measuring success by whether his people are living out their purpose, and about protecting the personal call as AI makes his office more efficient.

Chapters

00:00 Culture Is Why Businesses Fail
00:14 Introducing Tim Jensen
01:34 How Does It Feel in This Moment
02:03 Coaching Players Versus Coaching Culture
04:55 Hiring People Who Fit the Culture
06:33 One Company Becomes Three
10:15 Confusion in the Market
14:34 Why Relational Comes First
17:59 Advice for New Founders
20:43 People Before Product
23:07 Keeping the Personal Touch With AI
24:16 Building Their Own Software
29:26 Coaching Basketball and Leading People
32:41 Heard, Seen, and Loved

Connect with the hosts and our guest:
John Staub: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-staub/
Travis Hall: https://www.linkedin.com/in/travis-m-hall/
Tim Jensen: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timmjensen/
The Veridus Group: https://theveridusgroup.com/

Still running your business across spreadsheets and six different tools? Book a free call with our team: https://dataliction.com

The Business & Faith Podcast—learning from leaders whose experience and faith shape how they grow their organizations on purpose. New episodes weekly. Brought to you by Dataliction. Follow us and keep the conversation going. Enjoy this episode? Leave a review and share it with someone who needs to hear it!

Pro athletes get a coach for their mind. Founders get nothing.

Most founders walk into the highest-stakes environment of their careers with no training for the one instrument they use all day. In this episode of The Dataliction Podcast®, John Staub and Travis Hall talk with Kevin Bailey, co-founder and CEO of Dreamfuel, about why the same person can solve anything on Monday and stare at a screen on Tuesday. Kevin traces it back to his first startup in Indianapolis, where he sat down and charted his own mental states to figure out what was happening. He walks through the four states a nervous system moves between, fight, flight, freeze, and focus, and the centered state he calls equanimity, where a leader actually has a choice to make. He gets specific about what to do when a meeting turns on you, and then names the one habit most executives should cut first.

Chapters
00:00 Same Person, Two Different Days
01:36 The Highest-Stakes Psychological Environment
02:33 What Happens in a Mental Performance Demo
03:41 The Chart That Started Dreamfuel
07:04 Step One Is Awareness
08:03 Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Focus
11:20 Equanimity and Where Agency Lives
13:04 Caught Off Guard in a High-Stakes Meeting
15:02 Keep Breathing, Relax Your Stomach
16:20 The Cognitive Reframe
18:45 Why the Category Is Hitting a Tipping Point
21:51 What to Stop Doing After the First Million
23:30 Sleep, Dopamine, and Micro Jet Lag
25:58 A Serotonin Day Every Week

The Business & Faith Podcast—learning from leaders whose experience and faith shape how they grow their organizations on purpose. New episodes weekly. Brought to you by Dataliction. Follow us and keep the conversation going. Enjoy this episode? Leave a review and share it with someone who needs to hear it!

The next storm is always coming. The only question is whether your business gets stronger when it hits.

In this episode of The Dataliction Podcast®, John Staub and Travis Hall sit down with John Schnatter, the founder of Papa John's, who built a global brand out of a broom closet on two ideas: take care of your people and make a great product. Schnatter walks through the decision to build leaders instead of just pizzas, why he treats calculated risk as running the probability on both the upside and the downside, and how he made his companies anti-fragile so pressure made them stronger instead of breaking them. He explains why the person running the restaurant matters more than anyone in the C-suite, how profit-sharing keeps a team honest, and what it takes to run a business clean enough to survive the next downturn. Direct, practical, and grounded in four decades of building.

Chapters

00:00 The People Business, Not the Pizza Business
00:55 Energy, Integrity, and Quieting the Mind
02:26 Culture First: Building Leaders, Not Just Pizza
03:21 The Broom Closet and Beating Domino's
04:37 Two Premises and Learning Risk From Family
06:30 Core Beliefs and What Makes a Leader
08:43 Simplify, and Trust Your Nonsense Meter
11:04 Fragile, Robust, Anti-Fragile
13:00 Why Nothing Past a Year Is Predictable
14:47 Trial, Error, and the Value of Tinkering
17:13 A Clean Company and Win-Win-Win
17:55 The Most Important Person Runs the Store
18:52 Freedom, Attitude, and Seeing It First
22:26 Closing: Built for the Storm

The Business & Faith Podcast—learning from leaders whose experience and faith shape how they grow their organizations on purpose. New episodes weekly. Brought to you by Dataliction. Follow us and keep the conversation going. Enjoy this episode? Leave a review and share it with someone who needs to hear it!

100 episodes later, one thing is clear—growth doesn’t happen by accident.

In this episode of The Dataliction Podcast®, John and Travis reflect on the journey to 100 episodes and the lessons learned along the way. From data-driven decision-making to the power of systems over sparks, they unpack the principles that consistently drive real business growth. This conversation highlights how data becomes meaningful when it’s connected to leadership, storytelling, and execution—and how AI is now accelerating that process for teams willing to use it well.

Chapters
00:00 Celebrating 100 Episodes
04:03 The Journey of Podcasting
06:51 Learning and Growth Through Conversations
10:08 Top 10 Episodes Countdown
12:58 Emotional Intelligence in Leadership
13:24 Data Storytelling and Its Impact
14:46 Trusting Your Gut vs. Data
17:42 Sales Process Fundamentals
21:03 The Right Data at the Right Time
24:01 AI and Business Efficiency
26:58 Transforming Data into Actionable Insights
29:43 Systems Over Sparks
34:13 Key Takeaways and Insights

The Business & Faith Podcast—learning from leaders whose experience and faith shape how they grow their organizations on purpose. New episodes weekly. Brought to you by Dataliction. Follow us and keep the conversation going. Enjoy this episode? Leave a review and share it with someone who needs to hear it!

AI sounds confident, but that doesn’t mean it’s right.

In this episode of Dataliction Essentials®, John Staub breaks down the dangerous misconception that AI is objective and trustworthy by default. He explains how AI is designed for believability, not truth, and why blind trust in these tools can lead to poor decisions. Instead of replacing human thinking, AI requires more responsibility, not less. This episode is a clear reminder that strong fundamentals, clean data, and human judgment still determine whether AI helps or hurts your business.

Chapters
00:00 The Illusion of AI Confidence
02:56 Understanding AI’s Design and Limitations
05:43 Debunking Common Myths About AI
08:55 The Responsibility of Using AI Wisely

The Business & Faith Podcast—learning from leaders whose experience and faith shape how they grow their organizations on purpose. New episodes weekly. Brought to you by Dataliction. Follow us and keep the conversation going. Enjoy this episode? Leave a review and share it with someone who needs to hear it!

AI doesn’t just get things wrong—it can sound right while doing it.

In this episode of The Dataliction Podcast®, John and Travis unpack the uncomfortable reality that AI can mislead with confidence. From bias and design limitations to the illusion of accuracy, they explore why trust in AI must be earned, not assumed. This conversation challenges leaders to think critically, stay grounded in human wisdom, and understand that AI is a powerful tool—but a flawed one. If you’re relying on AI for decisions, this episode will help you use it with clarity instead of blind confidence.

Chapters
00:00 The Duality of Importance
01:51 AI’s Deceptive Influence
04:01 The Turing Test and AI’s Design
07:09 The Subjectivity of AI
15:07 The Lies of AI
18:16 AI’s Impact on Employment
20:50 The Myth of Quick Solutions
30:59 The Importance of Data Organization
34:27 Understanding AI’s Confidence vs. Accuracy
34:55 Navigating AI with Wisdom and Judgment

The Business & Faith Podcast—learning from leaders whose experience and faith shape how they grow their organizations on purpose. New episodes weekly. Brought to you by Dataliction. Follow us and keep the conversation going. Enjoy this episode? Leave a review and share it with someone who needs to hear it!

Faster isn’t better if you’re moving in the wrong direction.

In this episode of Dataliction Essentials®, John Staub unpacks the tension between speed and clarity in the age of AI. While these tools can generate ideas and content instantly, they cannot replace thoughtful leadership or strategic decision-making. The real risk isn’t moving too slow—it’s moving fast without direction. This episode challenges leaders to slow down, ask better questions, and use AI as a starting point, not a substitute for judgment.

Chapters
00:00 The Dual Nature of AI: Speed vs. Clarity
03:15 Personal vs. Business Use of AI
06:39 The Illusion of AI Efficiency
09:02 Slowing Down to Speed Up: The Leadership Perspective

The Business & Faith Podcast—learning from leaders whose experience and faith shape how they grow their organizations on purpose. New episodes weekly. Brought to you by Dataliction. Follow us and keep the conversation going. Enjoy this episode? Leave a review and share it with someone who needs to hear it!

AI doesn’t fix broken businesses—it exposes them.

In this episode of The Dataliction Podcast®, John and Travis cut through the noise surrounding AI in business and focus on what actually drives results. They unpack the gap between hype and reality, showing why strategic planning, strong processes, and human wisdom still matter more than any tool. AI can accelerate growth, but only when it’s implemented with clarity and intention. Otherwise, it simply amplifies the weaknesses already inside an organization.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Context Setting
01:29 The Role of AI in Business
09:15 Cautions and Missteps in AI Adoption
17:22 Understanding AI’s Impact on Business Processes
24:21 AI: Enhancing or Hindering Productivity?
32:10 The Future of AI in Business
37:04 The Importance of Clarity and Intentional Planning

The Business & Faith Podcast—learning from leaders whose experience and faith shape how they grow their organizations on purpose. New episodes weekly. Brought to you by Dataliction. Follow us and keep the conversation going. Enjoy this episode? Leave a review and share it with someone who needs to hear it!

Technology is accelerating, but human nature hasn’t changed nearly as fast.

In this episode of Dataliction Essentials®, John Staub explores what leadership really looks like in a world defined by rapid innovation. As AI and new technologies reshape how organizations operate, the real challenge isn’t technical—it’s human. Leaders must build trust, guide teams through uncertainty, and create cultures that reward learning, iteration, and thoughtful experimentation. This episode is a reflection on how great leadership turns constant change into momentum instead of chaos.

Chapters

00:00 The Speed of Technology vs. Human Nature

02:50 Leadership in Times of Change

05:58 Preparing for Change

08:42 Embracing Iteration and Small Mistakes

12:06 Moving Forward Together

The Business & Faith Podcast—learning from leaders whose experience and faith shape how they grow their organizations on purpose. New episodes weekly. Brought to you by Dataliction. Follow us and keep the conversation going. Enjoy this episode? Leave a review and share it with someone who needs to hear it!

Technology moves fast, but the real challenge is leading people through the change it creates.

In this episode of The Dataliction Podcast®, Travis explores the human side of rapid technological transformation and what leaders must do to guide their teams through it. As AI accelerates innovation, trust, communication, and culture become the real differentiators inside organizations. This conversation focuses on preparing teams for change, embracing iteration, and understanding that while technology evolves quickly, human behavior does not. Leaders who build trust and encourage learning will be the ones who turn disruption into progress.

Chapters

00:00 The Technology Vortex: A Personal Struggle

02:55 Navigating Change in Leadership

05:20 Understanding Team Dynamics

09:00 Preparing for Change: The Importance of Communication

11:49 Trust and Leadership: The Human Element

15:35 Embracing Imperfection in Innovation

20:36 The Balance of Speed and Quality

23:01 Iterative Learning: The Path to Success

27:56 Navigating Change in Leadership

29:13 Embracing AI and Technology in Organizations

The Business & Faith Podcast—learning from leaders whose experience and faith shape how they grow their organizations on purpose. New episodes weekly. Brought to you by Dataliction. Follow us and keep the conversation going. Enjoy this episode? Leave a review and share it with someone who needs to hear it!