The Startup Sessions with Michael Knouse

There was a time in my life when working as a successful software sales executive looked good from the outside but I felt like something was missing. This set me on a journey of discovering more meaningful work – the path that led me to where I am today.

In this reflective episode, I break down the 5 turning points that brought me to where I am today – happily working in my Zone of Genius.

Michael Knouse is a business coach and purpose builder. He helps emerging entrepreneurs build potent, purposeful businesses that allow them to contribute their greatest gifts to humanity.

After a 14 year career as a software sales executive and 8 years as a coach, Michael blends his unique wisdom, experience and skill to help visionary business builders craft a life and business that feeds their soul.

When he’s not rooting for the success of his clients, Michael can be found on the trails of the Pacfic Northwest, shredding steeps on powder days, or adventuring with his incredible wife Jill and their two mischievous dogs (Dug and Addiebelle).

Becki Saltzman, Chief Curiosity Seeker and founder of Applied Curiosity Lab, is on a quest to create as many good thinkers as possible. She is an expert at helping leaders tap into the art and science of curiosity and critical thinking – to capture hidden insights, spot decision traps, and avoid being blindsided by cognitive biases & unexamined assumptions. 

If you’re curious about how to make wiser decisions in business and life, then this episode will have you leaning in and taking lots of notes. Becky brings her witty and no-nonsense approach to the show and demonstrates how critical thinking can make better decision-makers of us all.

As Chief Curiosity Seeker and founder of Applied Curiosity Lab, Becki Saltzman conducts engaging online and in-person training workshops to help leaders and their teams cultivate a culture of curiosity, inspire ideation, tackle cognitive biases, and upgrade critical thinking for improved judgment and decision-making.

Becki holds a master’s degree in applied behavioral science and has spent the last two decades studying the science and art of Applied Curiosity and critical thinking. She is an international best selling course creator on the LinkedIn Learning platform as well as the author of Living Curiously: How to Use Curiosity to Be Remarkable and Do Good Stuff, and Arousing the Buy Curious: Real Estate Pillow Talk for Patrons and Professionals. 

 When she’s not traveling to conduct training and workshops, Becki lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband. Becki loves her two glorious sons, exciting travel adventures, speaking to inspired audiences, dancing on crowded dance floors, and sipping brown drinks.

Coaching is a unique kind of business and this episode explores how Ben Easter grew his coaching business very quickly by keeping things simple and focusing on fine-tuning his enrollment and sales process.  

Ben brings an infectious energy to this thing we call “coaching” and I’m so excited to feature his unique story and style. You’ll hear how he went from broken to breakthrough and how he helps badass entrepreneurs shift into the most authentic expressions of themselves.

Ben Easter is a Business Mindset Coach that helps emerging entrepreneurs overcome their mental gremlins and build better businesses. 

After a decade of deliberate study and practice in the fields of personal development, social dynamics, cognitive neuroscience, and the art of learning (not to mention a lot of painful trial and error), Ben came to realize that he had transformed. And now Ben loves helping other people transform too.

Ben brings a fresh perspective and a playful approach to his work and in this episode you’re going to hear his unique journey to coaching and how he’s growing his coaching business, serving his clients deeply, and establishing himself as a coach that blends a unique combination of strategic planning, practical examination, and focused, playful curiosity.

Entrepreneurship is alive and well and Michael Riscica is here to prove it! Michael completely bootstrapped his business from scratch, starting it as a side-hustle while working full time as a licensed architect. Today Michael has the fastest growing coaching community for young architects.

In this episode, you’ll learn the 4 main elements of Michael’s thriving business, the importance of community, and offering value before asking for money.

Michael Riscica is a Licensed Architect, keynote speaker, internationally-recognized blogger, and creator of Young Architect.com, a platform that helps Future Architects succeed in school, work, and exams.

Michael completely bootstrapped his business from scratch, starting it as a side-hustle while working for the City of Portland. Over time, Michael continued to invest in the growth of his business and grew it to where it is today – the premier mentorship, learning, and coaching community serving the next generation of architects.

Patrick Galvin is the master of building strong relationships and cultivating trust, or as I like to call it, building social capital. Patrick is the co-founder of The Galvanizing Group which he founded with his wife in 2002. Since that time, he’s transitioned his business from a speaking company to a learning company. 

In this episode, you’ll learn how Patrick navigated a substantial pivot that’s given him the ability to deliver more impact while creating more opportunity for growth.

Since 2002, Patrick and The Galvanizing Group have operated on the philosophy that great relationships are the key to personal and professional success. 

Applying the principles of his best-selling book The Connector’s Way, Patrick offers high-performance companies and teams coaching, training, and online learning programs that deliver a systematic and measurable approach to business relationship building.

Chief Galvanizer and co-founder Patrick Galvin is an accomplished presenter, TEDx speaker, and the author and creator of The Connector’s Way. He and co-founder Ellen Galvin have over 40 years of combined business management experience that they bring to programs whose clients include diverse companies from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies selling products and services B2B and B2C.

Rena Meloy and Ryan Kenny are the co-founders of Pause Meditation. They are profoundly inspired to help others make space each day to pause. In this episode, we dive into what inspires them, how their business has changed over the past few months, and what it’s been like to navigate changes in their business during a global pandemic.

Ryan and Rena serendipitously met in Nicaragua in 2013, where their lives were swept up in joy, disbelief, and the most vibrant love they had ever felt. Sure, the warm beaches, brilliant blue water, and endless sunshine played a role….but beneath all of the laughter and waves was their shared passion for meditation. 

They had both been practicing meditation for years, and their compasses were set for a lifelong exploration of living with presence and intention. Little did they know this path would guide them to each other and align them in a vocation of teaching meditation within their own community and with communities across the world.

As business and life partners, Ryan and Rena are continually humbled by the impact meditation has on their lives and the lives of everyone it touches. This is an extremely challenging time, and also a hopeful one. Ryan and Rena find great promise in this new wave of mindful exploration, and they are deeply honored to be part of it.

Ken Marshall is the CEO and Chief Strategist at Doorbell Digital Marketing. He and his team help B2B SaaS and Professional Service brands scale-up their inbound lead generation and so much more. He’s also a husband, lover of creative side hustles, and a big fan of the outdoors.

Ken is here for a few reasons. He is a brilliant entrepreneur and one of the most positive people I know. He also happens to have just completed six months of coaching with me. We discuss what Ken has implemented in his business that others can learn from.

What exactly has he done in the past six months? Well, that’s something you’re about to find out.

Ken is the CEO and Chief Strategist at Doorbell Digital Marketing where he and his team help B2B SaaS and Professional Service brands scale their inbound lead generation. 

Before starting Doorbell, Ken worked at a few different agencies and learned a lot along the way. Although having his own company was always the dream, Ken is thankful for the knowledge and skills he learned along the way.

Outside of Doorbell, you can find Ken hiking, grilling up some carne asada tacos, making sushi with his wife, drinking coffee, or a good beer, reading a great book, chillin’ on the beach, and spending time with family and his mates.

“One of the ways you can build trust and credibility in the sales process is to show empathy.”

In this episode, Liston Witherill and I are discussing one of the least understood and maybe most important qualities for having a thriving service business. We’re going to discuss scaling beyond referrals and why selling should be an ethical and a win-win situation for all parties, 100% of the time.

How can you serve, not sell, and grow your business into a thriving and profitable venture? In this episode you’ll find out how.

• Why conversations and relationships are the keys to growing a thriving service business (6:20)
• Most people don’t set out to become a master salesperson (10:08)
• Two scenarios that show why being comfortable with sales is important (15:12)
• Why do people choose to buy from you?  (22:00)
• Why empathy is the key to selling (25:47)
• Why you need confidence around your selling process (30:00)
• Liston breaks down his proven sales process (34:54)
• Do you want to make a change? Here’s your first step (40:38)

• Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely

• You must be dedicated to constantly learning and evolving.

• Making hip-hop beats. I’m better than any other sales trainer at that.

• That sales is an act of compassion and empathy.

• There’s a book by Steven Pressfield called Nobody Wants To Read Your Shit, and the essential advice is that it’s not about you, it’s about the people you’re serving; make it interesting and compelling for them, and that is the place you need to start in all business.

• If you get something out of Michael’s podcast, out of this episode, tell someone else about it, because Michael is putting a lot of time into this; he’s really trying to bring great guests to you, so if you’re getting something out of this podcast, tell someone about it!

• Free resources to help you grow
• Apply for a Conversation about Sales Consulting Bootcamp
• Check out Liston’s website
• Listen to Liston’s podcast
• Connect with Liston on LinkedIn
• Follow Liston on Twitter

Liston Witherill is an author, speaker, and advisor to agencies and consulting firms ready to move beyond the referral. Liston’s work is based on cutting edge psychology, behavioral economics, and his own sales experience. His mantra is “Serve, Don’t Sell,” and he believes selling should be an ethical, win-win arrangement 100% of the time.

Prior to creating his training business, Liston was the owner of a boutique marketing firm, and ran business development and marketing for a $12M consulting firm. He podcasts 3x a week, and runs 3 times a week, and lives with his beautiful wife, cat, and dog in Portland, OR.

“When you build something you love being a part of, then you find other people love being a part of it too.”

What if you could combine your passions and share them with others in a way that puts a smile on their face every day? My guest for this episode is Mikki Trowbridge, the founder of Yoga + Beer and Cofounder of Beer Yogis, and we’re jamming on how she grew a business by marrying two of her favorite passions: beer and yoga.

• Creating a unique, and interconnected impact (3:46)
• Why it’s important to be open to new opportunities (5:50)
• How to overcome self-doubt (12:30)
• Finding support along the way (18:29)
• The genesis of Yoga + Beer (26:45)
• How to grow a sprouting business (38:06)
• The hard decision of letting go (47:06)
• How to get unstuck (49:21)

• Anything by Malcolm Gladwell

• The ability to trust their intuition.

• Showing up when things get really tough.

• The best thing you can do for yourself is nothing at all.

• “You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don’t make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing, and then do them so well that people can’t take their eyes off of you.” – Maya Angelou

• Do something for yourself that makes you feel good!

• Learn more about Yoga + Beer in the Northwest and across the country.
• Learn more about Mikki and her yoga.
• Check out Balance & Brews.
• Connect with Mikki on Instagram or Facebook.

A little bit about Mikki: Wife, daughter, sister. Christian. Type A to the core (working on letting go sometimes). Oregon-lover. Mezzo soprano. Piano player. Proud owner of Shanti the Shiba. Backyard chicken mama. Book hoarder. Craft beer admirer. Arm balance addict. Snowboarder. Stand-Up Paddle Boarder. Hiker. All-around lover of life. And her “job” – she gets to teach yoga.

Mikki has been teaching yoga since 2010 and leads studio classes at Indigo Wellness Center in Salem, Oregon and teaches private classes at Oregon State Hospital and at a variety of local businesses and organizations. In addition, she is the founder of Yoga + Beer and hosts regular events at local breweries around the Pacific Northwest. Mikki also offers Stand-Up Paddle Board Yoga classes in Pacific City on the coast. Mikki is also the Co-Founder of The Beer Yogis, a community united by yoga and beer.