The Guy Who Knows A Guy Podcast

What if protecting your coaching business begins with the promises you make? Valerie Del Grosso, the lawyer friend to coaches, joins Michael Whitehouse to discuss clear offers, honest marketing, and the foundations of a healthy client relationship.

Valerie describes how her work with coaches grew from answering practical legal questions. The conversation explores setting realistic expectations, the relationship between marketing and contracts, misunderstandings that lead to unhappy clients, and keeping a business focused on the help it actually provides. They also discuss taking action before you feel ready and building connections through The Connector's Edge.

• Describing the service you actually provide
• Helping the right clients recognize whether an offer fits
• Aligning marketing promises, expectations, and agreements
• Keeping practical business fundamentals ahead of unnecessary complexity
• Building trust through expertise, transparency, and real connection

Connector's Edge Conversations introduces you to the people behind the profiles, so you can discover who you would enjoy connecting with.

The Connector's Edge helps you make better connections by matching you with people based on who you are, what you care about, and who you actually want to meet.

You can find Valerie on The Connector's Edge. If you already have an account, log in and look for their profile. If you don't have an account yet, you can create one for free at:

https://app.theconnectorsedge.com

Learn more about The Connector's Edge at

https://www.theconnectorsedge.com

TCE Guest: Valerie Del Grosso

Being good at your work is only part of the equation. Presentation coach Leslie C Fiorenzo joins Michael Whitehouse to discuss helping people communicate their expertise with clarity, confidence, and impact.

Leslie shares a practical breathing exercise for speaking nerves, explains why communication matters for technical leaders, and explores the role of curiosity, listening, and stories with a point. She also describes how a connection through The Connector's Edge led to an in-person speaking opportunity, and why practice with feedback is so valuable.

• Preparing your presence before a presentation
• Communicating clearly in meetings, on camera, and in everyday conversations
• Using curiosity and questions to build trust
• Making a point with a story and giving every story a point
• Practicing with an audience and learning from feedback

Connector's Edge Conversations introduces you to the people behind the profiles, so you can discover who you would enjoy connecting with.

The Connector's Edge helps you make better connections by matching you with people based on who you are, what you care about, and who you actually want to meet.

You can find Leslie on The Connector's Edge. If you already have an account, log in and look for their profile. If you don't have an account yet, you can create one for free at:

https://app.theconnectorsedge.com

Learn more about The Connector's Edge at

https://www.theconnectorsedge.com

TCE Guest: Leslie C Fiorenzo

How do you build a successful business without exhausting the person running it? Energy coach, author, and podcast host Adam W. Barney joins Michael Whitehouse to talk about sustainable leadership and the relationships that help people move forward.

Adam explains his Energy OS approach: clarity, operating rhythms, and energy protection. They discuss energy debt, moving beyond inspiration into repeatable practices, navigating transitions, and why generosity, trust, and honest conversations create meaningful connections.

• Managing energy rather than treating it as an unlimited resource
• Recognizing energy debt and the cost of being always available
• Building practical rhythms, boundaries, and decision filters
• Finding clarity when an old version of success no longer fits
• Creating opportunity through trust, generosity, and human connection

Connector's Edge Conversations introduces you to the people behind the profiles, so you can discover who you would enjoy connecting with.

The Connector's Edge helps you make better connections by matching you with people based on who you are, what you care about, and who you actually want to meet.

You can find Adam on The Connector's Edge. If you already have an account, log in and look for their profile. If you don't have an account yet, you can create one for free at:

https://app.theconnectorsedge.com

Learn more about The Connector's Edge at

https://www.theconnectorsedge.com

TCE Guest: Adam W. Barney

Could your next cup of coffee come with a useful step toward change? Certified life coach, author, and humorist Wayne Pratt joins Michael Whitehouse to discuss making coaching approachable through stories and practical action.

Wayne explains the ideas behind Freshly Brewed Coaching and The First Sip, the power of business fables, and the cost of staying comfortably unhappy. Michael and Wayne also discuss side gigs, authentic relationships, and how The Connector's Edge can make meeting people feel more personal and less transactional.

• Using business fables to make ideas memorable
• Introducing coaching to people beyond the executive suite
• Taking one useful next step rather than waiting for a dramatic reinvention
• Questioning the pressure to project success
• Building connections through curiosity, humor, and shared interests

Connector's Edge Conversations introduces you to the people behind the profiles, so you can discover who you would enjoy connecting with.

The Connector's Edge helps you make better connections by matching you with people based on who you are, what you care about, and who you actually want to meet.

You can find Wayne on The Connector's Edge. If you already have an account, log in and look for their profile. If you don't have an account yet, you can create one for free at:

https://app.theconnectorsedge.com

Learn more about The Connector's Edge at

https://www.theconnectorsedge.com

TCE Guest: Wayne Pratt

What happens when you give yourself permission to dream again? Dream architect Kiran Ryan-Young joins Michael Whitehouse to explore how reconnecting with what you want can change the way you work, connect, and live.

Kiran shares the inspiration behind A Million Dreamers and the Dreamers Den, his move from Brooklyn to Portugal, and why becoming the person who can live a dream matters as much as chasing a result. The conversation also explores parenting, personal growth, generosity, and finding connections through shared values.

• Giving yourself permission to dream beyond survival
• Moving from chasing dreams to living them
• Finding alignment, joy, and practical next steps
• Growing through parenting and personal reinvention
• Building relationships around purpose and shared values

Connector's Edge Conversations introduces you to the people behind the profiles, so you can discover who you would enjoy connecting with.

The Connector's Edge helps you make better connections by matching you with people based on who you are, what you care about, and who you actually want to meet.

You can find Kiran on The Connector's Edge. If you already have an account, log in and look for their profile. If you don't have an account yet, you can create one for free at:

https://app.theconnectorsedge.com

Learn more about The Connector's Edge at

https://www.theconnectorsedge.com

TCE Guest: Kiran Ryan-Young

Your story does not need to reach a million people to matter.

It might help someone find an accessible walking trail, understand an idea more clearly, or discover the family history they never knew.

In this Connector's Edge Conversation, Michael Whitehouse talks with Marjorie Turner Hollman, a book coach, editor, personal historian, and author of Easy Walks trail guides who helps people turn their knowledge and life lessons into writing worth sharing.

Marjorie explains how she went from being a reluctant writer to helping authors self-publish their work. She and Michael explore why writing is a skill you can develop, how an encouraging editor helps you communicate more clearly, and why the purpose of a book matters more than the size of its audience.

They also discuss preserving family stories, making useful ideas accessible, and approaching new connections with the question, "How can I be helpful?"

In this episode, Michael and Marjorie talk about:

• How a reluctant writer found her way into editing and publishing
• Why self-publishing can be a practical way to share what you know
• How book coaching provides feedback, encouragement, and accountability
• Why knowing your goal helps you decide what your book needs
• Writing as a skill you improve through practice and thoughtful editing
• Marjorie's Easy Walks guides and the value of serving a specific audience
• Preserving personal and family stories for future generations
• Making connections by being helpful without expecting an immediate return
• The difference between sharing helpful advice and providing ongoing paid support
• The thoughtful, curious people Marjorie enjoys meeting on The Connector's Edge

Marjorie Turner Hollman supports authors who want to self-publish their work through book coaching, manuscript evaluations, and editing. Her work emphasizes nonfiction, while also including memoir and fiction.

She is a personal historian and the author of self-published Easy Walks trail guides. Her work helps people share useful knowledge, preserve meaningful stories, and find local walking opportunities suited to their needs.

This episode is part of Connector's Edge Conversations, a series introducing you to the kind of thoughtful, interesting, aligned people you can meet inside The Connector's Edge.

The Connector's Edge helps you make better connections by matching you with people based on who you are, what you care about, and who you actually want to meet.

You can find Marjorie on The Connector's Edge. If you already have an account, log in and look for her profile. If you don't have an account yet, you can create one for free at:

https://app.theconnectorsedge.com

Learn more about The Connector's Edge at

https://www.theconnectorsedge.com

TCE Guest: Marjorie Turner Hollman

What happens when you realize your career has been directing you instead of the other way around?

In this Connector’s Edge Conversation, Michael Whitehouse talks with Ken Williams, host of The Unstuck Career Podcast and founder of the Unstuck Career Coaching Program.

At age 55, Ken left a 16-year career and chose himself. After years of career changes, difficult managers, unexpected layoffs, and trying to follow the old advice of “get a good education so you can get a good job,” Ken realized that the safe path is not always safe, and that a career built around benefits is not the same as a career built around purpose.

Ken now helps people get unstuck, follow through, and take action on the things they already know they need to do.

His guiding principle:

Insight without follow-through is just expensive self-awareness.

In this episode, Michael and Ken talk about:

• Why the old “safe job” advice does not work the way it used to
• What it means to choose yourself in your career
• How bad managers can shape your experience of a good company
• Why people stay stuck in jobs they know are not right for them
• How fear of the unknown keeps people from making better choices
• Why believing in yourself sometimes starts by borrowing someone else’s belief
• How Ken helps clients finally act on goals they have carried for years
• Why coaching is often about asking better questions, not giving all the answers
• How networking is really about meeting the person who knows the person
• Why The Connector’s Edge helps people build better-fit relationships before they even get on a call

Ken Williams is the host of The Unstuck Career Podcast and founder of the Unstuck Career Coaching Program.

At age 55, he left a 16-year career and started a coaching practice built around one core principle: insight without follow-through is just expensive self-awareness.

Ken helps people stop drifting through their careers and start making intentional decisions. His clients have turned side hustles into major income streams, finished long-delayed book manuscripts, started businesses, and set meaningful goals for themselves for the first time.

This episode is part of Connector’s Edge Conversations, a series introducing you to the kind of thoughtful, interesting, aligned people you can meet inside The Connector’s Edge.

The Connector’s Edge helps you make better connections by matching you with people based on who you are, what you care about, and who you actually want to meet.

You can find Ken on The Connector’s Edge. If you already have an account, log in and look for his profile. If you don’t have an account yet, you can create one for free at:

https://app.theconnectorsedge.com

Most online courses are not really courses.

They are video vaults, content dumps, or glorified workbooks with a “mark complete” button.

In this Connector’s Edge Conversation, Michael Whitehouse talks with Dr. Catrina Mitchum, a recovering academic and learning designer who helps business owners create courses, programs, memberships, and learning experiences that actually help clients get results.

Catrina brings nearly two decades of experience in higher education, where she taught teachers how to teach adults online. In this conversation, she explains why good course design is not about dumping everything you know into videos and PDFs. It is about helping people apply what they are learning, giving them the right amount of support, and designing around the outcomes you actually want your clients to achieve.

Michael and Catrina also explore how this applies to The Connector’s Edge itself: onboarding, member education, networking goals, user experience, and how to help people take action instead of simply giving them more information.

In this episode, Michael and Catrina talk about:

• Why “a wall of content” is not a course
• The difference between teaching and talking at someone
• Why application needs to be built into the learning experience
• How adults learn differently and why they need to know the purpose behind each activity
• Why expertise can make it hard to explain what you actually do
• How feedback can make a course more effective without requiring live teaching every step of the way
• Why many learning platforms track the wrong things
• How accessibility improves the learning experience for everyone
• How The Connector’s Edge could use learning design to improve onboarding and member success
• Catrina’s developing platform for helping people design better learning experiences

Dr. Catrina Mitchum is a recovering academic and learning designer who helps business owners create courses like they give a shit about client outcomes.

She has nearly two decades of experience in higher education, teaching teachers how to teach adults online. Today, she helps small and mid-sized businesses create learning experiences that get results using learning science, instructional design, and adult learning theory.

She is also the host of Course Creation Crap, where she helps people get unstuck wherever they are in the course, program, membership, or learning experience creation process.

This episode is part of Connector’s Edge Conversations, a series introducing you to the kind of thoughtful, interesting, aligned people you can meet inside The Connector’s Edge.

The Connector’s Edge helps you make better connections by matching you with people based on who you are, what you care about, and who you actually want to meet.

You can find Catrina on The Connector’s Edge. If you already have an account, log in and look for her profile. If you don’t have an account yet, you can create one for free at:

https://www.theconnectorsedge.com

TCE Guest: Dr. Catrina Mitchum

What if the voices in your head are not there to sabotage you?

What if they are trying to protect you, but using old programming that no longer serves you?

In this Connector’s Edge Conversation, Michael Whitehouse talks with Ell Graniel, a mental wellness mentor with more than 30 years of experience helping people get their brains working for them instead of against them.

Ell talks about intrapersonal communication, neuroplasticity, NLP, old labels, self-protection, asking for what you want, and how the brain can be reprogrammed when you learn to recognize the patterns running underneath your choices.

Her rooftop message is simple and powerful:

It doesn’t have to be that way.

In this episode, Michael and Ell talk about:

• Why Ell says she gives people’s brains “a bubble bath”
• How the voices in your head are often trying to protect you
• Why labels like “lazy” or “bad at technology” can become self-fulfilling
• The difference between “I’m bad at this” and “this is not my thing”
• How neuroplasticity allows people to create new patterns
• Why asking is powerful, even when the answer might be no
• How old fear responses can keep people stuck in familiar but unhealthy situations
• Why “what’s your why?” is different from falling into “why me?”
• How complaining can become a default pattern
• Why The Connector’s Edge saves time by helping people identify better-fit connections before getting on a call

Ell Graniel has more than 30 years of experience helping people understand and work with their own minds. With a background in communication, training, neuro-linguistic programming, negotiation, and personality-type predictors, she helps people shift the internal patterns that affect how they speak, feel, decide, connect, and take action.

She is also the author of four international bestselling books. Her most recent book, The Law of Subtraction, teaches people why they have struggled to sustain the changes they want and how to fix that.

This episode is part of Connector’s Edge Conversations, a series introducing you to the kind of thoughtful, interesting, aligned people you can meet inside The Connector’s Edge.

The Connector’s Edge helps you make better connections by matching you with people based on who you are, what you care about, and who you actually want to meet.

You can find Ell on The Connector’s Edge. If you already have an account, log in and look for her profile. If you don’t have an account yet, you can create one for free at:

https://www.theconnectorsedge.com

TCE Guest: Ell Graniel

Dr. Tamir Qadree, known as “The Dean of Dynamic Results,” has spent decades helping entrepreneurs, coaches, and sales professionals unlock their true power. In this high-energy conversation, he reveals how metaphysical principles, mindset mastery, and self-discipline create tangible success. From sales excellence to spiritual insight, Dr. Tamir shares how to focus, shift habits, and channel your energy to manifest real results in business and life.

🔥 Learn more about Dr. Tamir’s courses, podcast, and free resources:

https://coach.thedeanofdynamicresults.com

https://learn.tamirqadree.com

📧 Contact: [email protected]

🎧 Want to meet guests like Dr. Tamir or be featured on powerful podcasts?

Register for the next Podapalooza:

👉 https://guywhoknowsaguy--checkingout.thrivecart.com/podapalooza/

🎙️ Connect with Michael Whitehouse:

https://www.guywhoknowsaguy.com

https://www.summits.fun

https://www.guywhoknowsaguy.com/9qbook