In this episode of Founders, Future, with host Karyn Vadnais, we meet Nathan Schock, president and co-founder of FiveFour Training, who transformed his early career struggles in corporate America and startup leadership into a mission to help businesses build unstoppable teams. After a pivotal moment running a failing startup solo, Nathan realized his passion for developing people and processes—leading him to co-found FiveFour, which specializes in aligning purpose, people, and processes to reignite growth. He shares how a major pivot (and a life-saving coach) helped refine their model from generic virtual training to hands-on business transformation and leadership development, proving that sometimes the best solutions come from fixing what you once broke.

Nathan dives into FiveFour’s evolution, including their recent acquisition of Locals Love Us—a community marketing platform—and their shift toward cohort-based leadership masterminds. He also unpacks the future of employee training, emphasizing the transformation economy (where businesses charge for outcomes, not services) and the critical role of manager development in retaining talent. For aspiring founders, Nathan’s advice is gold: “Do the work before coaching the work—and trade free services for testimonials to accelerate trust.” A masterclass in turning personal setbacks into scalable solutions.