The Friday Habit

Beth Goff-McMillan is the CEO of SKG, one of the fastest-growing and largest woman-owned businesses in Texas, and the founder of FOLIO. On this episode of The Friday Habit, she talks with Mark Labriola II about leading on your own terms — including what changed when she turned 50, how to hold space without losing power in male-dominated rooms, what young women often miss entering the workplace, and how aging leaders stay relevant without burning out.

Under Beth's leadership, SKG has made the Inc. 5000 list three consecutive years, been named among Austin and San Antonio's Best Places to Work, and expanded flagship showrooms including the region's first Healing & Learning Center for restorative workplace design. She is a Henry Crown Fellow, former first woman chair of YPO Austin, serves on the UT Leadership and Ethics Council, and was named 2023 CEO of the Year by the Austin Business Journal.

Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/dzij101wL_I

Connect with Beth: https://www.linkedin.com/in/beth-goff-mcmillan-82074b

SKG: https://skgtexas.com

In this episode of The Friday Habit, we sit down with Zach Staples to talk about entrepreneurship, leadership, technology, AI, and the lessons that come from building companies over time.

Zach shares how his experiences in the Navy shaped the way he thinks about leadership and entrepreneurship, why experience can give founders an advantage, and how his first company, Fathom Five, influenced the way he approaches building technology today.

We also discuss AI, where it should be applied, why moving quickly doesn't mean moving carelessly, and why choosing the right environment for experimentation matters.

Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/x9Zo_7XygPo

Key Insights
1. Experience compounds: Career paths often only make sense in retrospect, and seemingly unrelated experiences can eventually shape a unique perspective and contribution.
2. Communication is a founder's responsibility: If you can't explain what you're building simply enough for anyone to understand, you probably haven't clarified the idea enough yet.
3. Choose where you move fast: Innovation requires experimentation, but the environment matters. The goal is to move quickly in areas where potential risks can be observed and managed.

#Entrepreneurship #Founders #Leadership #ArtificialIntelligence #BusinessGrowth #TheFridayHabit

Mark talks with Arthur Beisner about small business sales, valuations, acquisitions, and exit planning.

In this episode of The Friday Habit, Mark sits down with Christian Ray Flores to talk about career transitions, the "competence trap," personal branding, and what happens when your expertise becomes so familiar that you stop seeing its value.
They discuss why starting as a generalist can be useful, how skills from seemingly unrelated experiences can transfer into new industries, and why your differences, failures, preferences, and perspectives can become part of your personal brand.
The conversation also explores how focusing your expertise into central ideas and pillar concepts can help you create content more consistently.

In this episode of The Friday Habit, Mark welcomes back Bryan Clayton, founder and CEO of GreenPal, the on-demand lawn care marketplace connecting homeowners with local lawn care professionals across the country.

After successfully building and selling a $10 million landscaping company, Bryan started over from scratch with one goal: build a company that could eventually thrive without him. Over the past decade, GreenPal has grown into a nationwide platform serving hundreds of thousands of users every week—all without outside funding.

Bryan shares the lessons he's learned from scaling a technology company, building systems that outlive the founder, leveraging AI to move faster, and creating a business that is designed to be sold from day one. He also opens up about founder identity, delegation, personal health, and why working on yourself is just as important as working on your business.

If you're building a service business, SaaS company, or simply trying to create something that doesn't depend entirely on you, this conversation is full of practical insights.

Key Takeaways

• Build your business to function without you.
• Systems create freedom; hustle alone does not.
• Delegate only after you understand the work yourself.
• AI amplifies experience—it doesn't replace it.
• Track inputs, not just outcomes.
• Every dollar spent should have a measurable return.
• Your business should become stronger while you're away.
• Hire naturally motivated people instead of trying to motivate the wrong ones.
• Protect your health while building your company.
• Continuous learning is one of the greatest competitive advantages.

Notable Topics

Building GreenPal After Selling a $10 Million Company

Bryan explains why he started over after selling his landscaping business and how he intentionally designed GreenPal to be a scalable, sellable company from day one.

The Difference Between a Lifestyle Business and a Sellable Business

Many entrepreneurs accidentally build themselves a job. Bryan discusses the mindset shift required to create a company that has value beyond its founder.

Running Your Business From a Spreadsheet

Every expense should produce a return. Bryan shares why emotional decision-making can reduce business value and how disciplined financial thinking creates long-term growth.

AI Is a Force Multiplier—Not a Replacement

AI dramatically increases productivity, but only when paired with real-world experience and deep understanding of your craft.

Delegation Done Right

One of the biggest mistakes founders make is delegating too early. Bryan explains why you should first understand a process before handing it off.

Working In, On, and On Yourself

As businesses mature, founders should gradually shift their time from daily operations toward strategy, leadership, and personal growth.

Building a Team That Doesn't Need Motivation

Rather than trying to motivate employees, Bryan focuses on hiring naturally curious and self-driven people who already love the work they do.

Health and Business Performance

After reaching nearly 300 pounds while building GreenPal, Bryan realized his physical health directly impacted his leadership and decision-making.

Chapters

• Welcome Back Bryan Clayton
• The Growth of GreenPal
• Scaling From Startup to Nationwide Platform
• The Three Growth Buckets: Get, Keep, Grow
• Leading a 300,000-User Marketplace
• How AI Is Changing Entrepreneurship
• Why Experience Still Matters
• Building a Business to Sell
• Lifestyle Business vs. Sellable Business
• Running Every Decision Through ROI
• Founder Identity After Selling a Company
• Building Systems That Outlast You
• Working In the Business vs. On the Business
• Delegating at the Right Time
• Avoiding Founder FOMO
• Hiring Motivated People
• Lessons From Personal Health
• Learning Through YouTube and AI
• Monday Morning Challenge
• Final Thoughts

Resources & Links

• Learn more about GreenPal
• Connect with Bryan Clayton
• Visit TheFridayHabit.com
• Download the free Friday Habit System guide

Memorable Quotes

"You don't really have a business until you can leave for a month and come back stronger."

"Run your business from a spreadsheet—not from your emotions."

"AI is a force multiplier for people who already know what they're doing."

"Track the inputs, not the outputs."

"Hire motivated people. Your job is simply not to demotivate them."

"Work in the business, then on the business, and finally on yourself."

Monday Morning Action Item

Spend the next 30 days intentionally learning one skill that will move your business forward.

Use AI tools, online courses, podcasts, and YouTube to immerse yourself in that topic every day. Focus on mastering one area that removes a bottleneck in your business, then immediately apply what you've learned.

In this episode of The Friday Habit, Mark sits down with Tom Kubanik, founder and CEO of SecureIt Tactical. Tom shares the remarkable story of building a company that transformed firearm storage—from military armories to consumer gun safes—without venture capital.

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Tom chased a career as a professional heavy metal guitarist until an injury forced him to reinvent himself. That setback ultimately led him into sales, entrepreneurship, and eventually creating one of the most innovative companies in the firearm storage industry.

Tom discusses how he built multiple businesses from scratch, why momentum is more important than perfection, and the leadership lessons that helped him break through the $5 million revenue ceiling. He also explains why entrepreneurs must stop managing every detail, learn to delegate, and create space for strategic thinking.

Whether you're launching your first business or trying to scale an established company, this episode is packed with practical advice on leadership, creativity, resilience, and building something that lasts.

Key Takeaways

• You don't need every answer before starting—just enough to keep moving forward.
• Sell your product before spending months perfecting your business.
• Momentum beats perfection every time.
• Becoming a leader requires learning to delegate nearly everything.
• Entrepreneurs often become the bottleneck in their own companies.
• Creativity should be scheduled just like meetings.
• Failure is one of the fastest teachers in business.
• Bootstrapping forces efficient decision-making and financial discipline.
• Claim expertise by earning it through relentless learning and execution.
• Long-term success comes from continuously learning and adapting.

Notable Topics

From Heavy Metal Guitarist to Entrepreneur

Tom shares how an injury ended his dream of becoming a professional musician and forced him to reinvent himself through sales and eventually entrepreneurship.

Starting a Business Without Knowing Everything

Rather than waiting until every detail was perfect, Tom focused on making sales first and solving problems as they appeared.

Becoming the Leading Authority

Tom explains how he positioned himself as an expert in military firearm storage, won a critical military contract, and used that opportunity to truly become the industry's leading authority.

Why Most Businesses Stall Around $5 Million

After building three different companies that each plateaued around the same revenue level, Tom realized the common bottleneck was himself—not the market.

Manager vs. Leader

One of the biggest mindset shifts for growth is moving from managing every task to leading through delegation and strategic thinking.

Bootstrapping vs. Venture Capital

Tom discusses why being forced to self-fund his businesses ultimately made them stronger and more disciplined.

Learning Through Failure

From product mistakes to difficult financial seasons, Tom explains why expensive failures often create the greatest long-term advantages.

Creating Space for Creativity

One of Tom's most valuable habits is intentionally blocking time to think, write ideas down, and allow creativity to solve business problems.

Resources & Links

• Learn more about SecureIt Tactical
• Explore The Friday Habit resources at thefridayhabit.com
• Download the free Friday Habit System guide

Memorable Quotes

"You don't need all the answers. You just need to keep moving."

"Sell one first. Then build the business."

"The bottleneck wasn't my company—it was me."

"Managers build systems. Leaders build people."

"The entrepreneur sleeps like a baby because they believe they'll figure it out."

"Everybody can work hard. Not everybody trains themselves to be creative."

Monday Morning Action Item

Schedule 15 minutes every day this week for uninterrupted thinking.

Turn off distractions, grab a notebook, and simply think about your business. Write down every idea—even the bad ones. Creating intentional space for creativity can unlock solutions that never surface during a busy workday.

Small, consistent thinking sessions often lead to the biggest breakthroughs.

In this episode of The Friday Habit, Mark sits down with Kevin Downey, a Kansas City-based entrepreneur and recruitment leader who helps B2B companies build high-performing sales teams and create scalable lead-generation systems.

Kevin shares how his early career in golf equipment sales eventually led him into entrepreneurship, recruiting, outbound sales, and email marketing. He explains why his first attempts at email outreach failed, what changed when he began writing emails like real phone conversations, and why properly structured email campaigns can deliver an unmatched return on investment.

The conversation also explores how small businesses should approach their first sales hire, why commission-only roles frequently fail, and how Latin American business development representatives can help companies scale outbound activity at a manageable cost.

Kevin also challenges one of the most common beliefs in modern sales: that cold calling no longer works. According to Kevin, activity still creates opportunities. The problem is not that calling has stopped working—it is that many representatives are not consistently making the calls.

Whether you are building your first sales process, hiring a business development representative, or trying to generate more qualified B2B leads, this episode offers a practical look at the systems, activity, and execution required to grow.

🧠 Takeaways:

• Activity breeds business, but representatives must consistently do the work.
• Cold calling is a business development and marketing function until a qualified decision-maker is engaged.
• Small businesses may need an appointment setter before hiring a full sales representative.
• Commission-only sales roles often fail without the right structure, support, and opportunity.
• Successful cold emails should sound like concise, natural phone conversations.
• Email marketing requires enough volume to generate consistent leads.
• CRMs are useful for managing relationships but are not always built for high-volume cold email.
• Latin American representatives can provide experienced outbound support at a more manageable cost.
• Once someone becomes a lead, human follow-up should replace automated communication.
• Every B2B business needs a repeatable lead-generation system before growth becomes urgent.

Kevin’s Approach to Cold Email:

Kevin recommends keeping cold emails concise, conversational, and focused on one clear pain point.

Instead of writing a long marketing message, the email should communicate:

• The problem you believe the prospect may have
• How your company can help solve it
• A simple reason for the prospect to reply
• A clear next step

The goal of the first email is not necessarily to close the sale or immediately schedule a meeting. It is to identify a decision-maker with a relevant problem and begin a real conversation.

Chapters:

• Welcome and Guest Introduction: Kevin Downey
• Karaoke Stories and Rapid-Fire Questions
• Moving to Kansas City and Beginning a Sales Career
• From Golf Equipment Sales to Entrepreneurship
• Landing the First Recruitment Client
• Building a Recruitment Agency Through Execution
• Why Most B2B Outbound Email Fails
• Writing Emails Like Real Cold Calls
• Why Email Volume Matters
• The Cost and ROI of Scalable Email Campaigns
• Should You Hire a Sales Rep or an Appointment Setter?
• Why Cold Calling Is a Marketing Function
• Creating a Sales Team in the Right Order
• Hiring Business Development Representatives in Latin America
• Building an International Team
• Training and Onboarding Remote Representatives
• The Essential B2B Email Technology Stack
• Why CRMs Should Not Run High-Volume Cold Outreach
• Using AI Without Losing the Human Connection
• What Makes an Effective Cold Email
• Why Sales Representatives Fail to Make Calls
• Activity, Accountability, and Sales Performance
• Blocking Time for Prospecting
• Building a Lead-Generation System
• Where to Connect with Kevin

Resources & Links:

• Connect with Kevin at kevinmdowney.com
• Explore Kevin’s YouTube content and consulting resources
• Learn more about the Active Index assessment
• Connect with Kevin for sales recruiting, business development, and outbound lead-generation guidance

Monday Morning Action Item:

Determine how your business will consistently generate qualified leads.

Do not wait until your current opportunities disappear. Build a repeatable lead-generation system now—whether it includes cold calling, outbound email, appointment setting, networking, or a combination of channels.

👉 Download the free Friday Habit system at thefridayhabit.com to learn how to dedicate one full day each week to working on your business instead of always working in it.

Mark welcomes Calvin Correlli, founder and CEO of Simplero, an all-in-one SaaS platform combining courses, community, email, payments, and AI for coaches and creator-led brands. Calvin shares his Denmark upbringing in an entrepreneurial, tech-focused family, learning to code at five, moving to the U.S. in 1999 during the dot-com era, and choosing work over finishing his computer science degree. He recounts building businesses, scaling a consulting firm, then taking a risky leap to focus on product and coaching. Calvin explains his personal development framework: 1.0 motivation, 2.0 healing work, and 3.0 identity-level transformation that drops the “something is wrong with me” mindset. He discusses formative experiences, spiritual influences, and the power of words, and closes with advice to stop judging and beating yourself up and connect via Instagram.

00:00 Stop Self Judgment
00:18 Meet Calvin Corelli
01:58 Moving To California
04:46 Sunlight And Mood
05:48 Entrepreneur Roots
08:12 Coding And America
09:56 First US Tech Job
12:15 Starting Out Solo
13:48 Coaching Journey Begins
15:04 Mind Bugs And Identity
17:36 Family And Birth Imprints
19:47 Mind Bugs Explained
20:18 Reframing a Hard Past
22:00 Rock Bottom at 30
24:03 Healing Dad Wounds
25:46 Building Simplero
27:17 Quitting Consulting Leap
28:52 Personal Development 3.0
30:04 Identity Awakening Shift
32:46 Teachers and Breakthroughs
34:46 Denmark and Spirituality
36:51 North Star Becoming You
37:55 Final Advice and Wrap

Growing a business isn't just about generating more sales.

In this episode of The Friday Habit, Chad Prinkey shares lessons from working with hundreds of contractors and business leaders. The conversation explores why growth often exposes weaknesses in a business, how leadership development impacts scale, and why competing on price can become a dangerous trap.

Chad also discusses the importance of culture, succession planning, and investing in the business itself to create long-term success.

If you're building a business and thinking about the next stage of growth, this episode is packed with practical insights you can apply immediately.

Learn how to build a real estate portfolio and navigate legal challenges through the lens of an entrepreneurial journey. Discover the mindset required to rebuild a career with profit with purpose.

This conversation breaks down the reality of scaling a business while facing significant setbacks. It is designed for founders and investors who need to understand how extreme responsibility impacts long-term success. We examine the specific steps taken to move past professional crises and establish a more sustainable approach to wealth creation.

By focusing on profit with purpose, you can align your financial goals with your personal values. This episode provides practical lessons on maintaining integrity during difficult transitions and offers a realistic roadmap for anyone looking to refine their business strategy after a failure.

Subscribe for weekly business advice and career strategy breakdowns, and comment below on which part of this rebuilding process resonates most with your current situation.