Think Outside the Boss

Serving is a superpower, not a soft skill and not a nice to have you reach for once the real leadership work is done. Detria Austin Everson has spent more than two decades leading through crisis, from healthcare disparities to the 2008 housing collapse, and every time she found the same thing waiting at the center of it: service. If you have a heart for helping people but have only ever treated it as an extracurricular activity, this conversation will change how you see it.

Katie Armentrout, EOS Implementer, founder of Peoplefluence and host of Think Outside the Boss, sits down with Detria Austin Everson, author of Serving Is a Superpower, to trace a career that runs through the Medical College of Georgia, the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, and the John Lewis Foundation. You will hear how her CLASS program brought culturally and linguistically appropriate care, backed by a 147 language phone line, into a hospital system, how the Home Safe Program helped tens of thousands of struggling homeowners during the mortgage crisis, and why staying behind for three extra weeks after one event taught her that proximity earns trust that a title never will. Stop leading from a distance. Get close enough to see the problem for yourself.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why Detria Austin Everson believes proximity, not title or org chart authority, is what actually earns a leader trust and loyalty that lasts.
• How the CLASS program she built inside a healthcare system used on site interpreters and a 147 language phone line to close cultural and linguistic gaps in patient care.
• What running the Home Safe Program during the 2008 housing crisis taught her, after meeting twenty five to fifty thousand struggling homeowners at nearly two hundred events.
• Why staying behind for three extra weeks after one Home Safe event, instead of moving straight to the next city, became the moment her team's trust in her changed for good.
• How her mother's decades as a career social worker shaped the idea behind Serving Is a Superpower, that everyone can be great because everyone can serve.
• Why she considers service a genuine competitive advantage for retention, culture, and loyalty, not just a value statement posted on a wall.
• What led her to walk away from a pre med track in college, and why she now calls that decision one of the failures she cherishes most.

We talk about:

00:00 Why proximity is Detria's leadership superpower

01:12 When did she first know she was a leader

04:31 Running NACA's national housing crisis response

05:39 Leading the John Lewis Foundation

05:57 Becoming her mother, a career social worker

09:13 Why housing stability drives better health outcomes

11:00 The CLASS program and 147 languages of care

21:00 What makes leaders earn loyalty, not just authority

21:34 Why she stayed behind for three extra weeks

27:28 When service became a competitive advantage

33:40 The lightning round begins

36:57 Where to find Serving Is a Superpower

Ready to lead with more proximity and less distance? Get Serving Is a Superpower and the companion workbook at https://servingisasuperpower.com/, and if you want help building a culture your team actually trusts, connect with Katie at https://www.peoplefluence.com/newsletter-landing-pageipsahnqm.

Resources:

• Humility by Andrew Murray https://link.amazon/B0hFYN5iJ

Connect with Detria

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/detriaaustineverson/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/detria.everson/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/detriaaustineverson/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@detriaaustineverson
• Website: www.servingisasuperpower.com

Connect with me

• Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/katie_armentrout
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@katiearmentrout
• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiearmentrout
• Newsletter: http://www.peoplefluence.com/newsletter
• Website: http://www.peoplefluence.com

#ServingIsASuperpower #ServantLeadership #ProximityLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment #WorkplaceCulture #TeamTrust #EmployeeRetention #NonprofitLeadership #HealthcareLeadership #HousingCrisis #CommunityLeadership #WomenInLeadership #ExecutiveLeadership #CorporateCulture #SmallBusinessOwner #LeadershipPodcast #CivilRightsLeadership #ServiceLeadership #ThinkOutsideTheBoss

The Millennial Whisperer is the nickname PR veteran Lee Caraher earned the hard way, after six millennial hires quit her firm within eight weeks of each other and she decided the problem had to be her, not them. If you have ever been blindsided by a resignation you never saw coming, or found yourself assuming the worst about an employee who was late, distracted, or quiet in a meeting, this conversation will change how you read your team. Most leaders think they have communicated clearly. Most have not, and the gap between those two realities is where good people quietly walk out the door.

Katie Armentrout, founder of Peoplefluence and host of Think Outside the Boss, sits down with Lee Caraher, founder and CEO of Double Forte and author of Millennials and Management and The Boomerang Principle, to unpack the four cultural forces reshaping how younger employees show up to work. You will hear how Lee's pass along able standard keeps deliverables from arriving half finished, why she borrows the Chief Reminding Officer idea from Patrick Lencioni's The Advantage to explain why leaders have to repeat themselves, and how her communication wheel model separates what actually happened from the assumptions that make leaders furious. Stop guessing why your team missed the memo. Start asking what you never actually said.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why six millennial hires quitting within eight weeks of each other taught Lee Caraher that blaming a generation is easier than examining her own leadership and communication gaps.
• What four generational forces, from helicopter parenting to grade inflation to Oprah Winfrey's message on self-respect, actually shape how younger employees interpret workplace expectations.
• How Lee's communication wheel model uncovers the real reason a leader is angry about someone being late, and why it is almost never about the clock.
• Why Double Forte's pass along able standard for deliverables eliminates the vague expectations that quietly wreck deadlines, client relationships, and team trust.
• What the Chief Reminding Officer concept from Patrick Lencioni's The Advantage means for leaders who assume they already said something clearly once.
• Why ambiguous words like end of day or late cause most workplace conflict, and the exact language Lee uses to replace them.
• How Double Forte's people first culture and industry leading investment in non billable time built an average client retention of 10.4 years.

We talk about:

00:00 The bad day that earned Lee her nickname

01:30 Lee Caraher's forty year path into PR

06:41 Why her mother's illness led her to start Double Forte

09:46 What happened when six millennials quit in eight weeks

12:51 The chihuahua that started an office dog policy

18:00 Why every generation complains about the one after it

19:34 The four cultural forces shaping how millennials work

25:47 What Lee's communication wheel reveals about anger and assumptions

30:00 What pass along able means at Double Forte

35:50 Why leaders have to repeat their message more than once

39:19 What is the Chief Reminding Officer

40:04 Lee's favorite personality assessment and the advice she lives by

Ready to stop guessing why your team missed the memo? Learn Lee's pass along able standard and the Chief Reminding Officer approach in Millennials and Management at https://leecaraher.com/, and if you want help building a team that communicates without the drama, connect with Katie at https://www.peoplefluence.com/newsletter-landing-pageipsahnqm.

Resources:

• The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni https://link.amazon/B03ASjRy9
• Traction by Gino Wickman https://link.amazon/B05is1aSk

Connect with Lee:

• Website: https://leecaraher.com/
• Double Forte: https://double-forte.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leecaraher/
• Books: https://leecaraher.com/books/

Connect with me

• Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/katie_armentrout
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@katiearmentrout
• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiearmentrout
• Newsletter: http://www.peoplefluence.com/newsletter
• Website: http://www.peoplefluence.com

#MillennialWhisperer #ManagingMillennials #GenerationalLeadership #WorkplaceCommunication #LeadershipDevelopment #PRLeadership #CorporateCulture #EmployeeRetention #TeamCulture #LeadershipPodcast #SmallBusinessOwner #PeopleManagement #ExecutiveLeadership #ThinkOutsideTheBoss #DoubleForte #GenZAtWork #WorkplaceCulture #FounderLife #CommunicationSkills #HighPerformingTeams

Leading a founder-led business means stepping into someone else's vision, culture, and team, and finding a way to move all of it forward without breaking what made it work in the first place. If you have ever taken over a team, a department, or an entire company you did not build, you already know how delicate that balance is. Rhiannon Hoeweler knows it better than most. She became the first ever non-founder CEO of MadTree Brewing in Cincinnati, stepping in while the two original founders stayed on, and has since led the company from one location and 80 employees to four locations and more than 400.

Katie Armentrout, founder of Peoplefluence and a Certified Working Genius Facilitator, talks with Rhiannon about what actually breaks when a company grows that fast, why three different service models across MadTree's locations turned into a payroll nightmare, and how MadTree became a B Corp and a 1% for the Planet member along the way, work recently recognized at Climate Week in New York City. Rhiannon also opens up about the workaholism her body keeps forcing her to confront, and the two career accomplishments, Zoo Access for All and MadTree's ReLeaf tree planting program, she is proudest of. If you are leading a team, a company, or a culture you did not build, this conversation will change how you think about trust.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why leading a founder-led business means earning trust from a team, and from the founders themselves, before you have built any of it yourself.
• What actually breaks inside a company when headcount jumps from eighty to over four hundred employees in just five years.
• Why three different service models across MadTree's four locations created hidden payroll and HR headaches nobody saw coming until the company had already scaled.
• How leaning on her two core strengths, relationship building and trust, lets Rhiannon lead well without knowing every detail of the business.
• Why MadTree became a B Corp and a 1% for the Planet member, and what that commitment looks like in daily operations.
• What Rhiannon is doing to break a workaholism pattern her body kept forcing her to confront, including a daily walk and gratitude writing.
• Why Zoo Access for All and MadTree ReLeaf are the two accomplishments Rhiannon is proudest of, and what they say about who gets invited to the table.

We talk about:

00:00 What happens when a company gets the growth it dreamed of

01:00 When Rhiannon first realized she was a leader

03:00 Stepping into a founder-led business she did not build

05:00 What makes MadTree Brewing different in a saturated market

07:00 How MadTree grew from just beer into food and hospitality

09:00 When the founders' vision shifted beyond beer alone

11:00 Building toward zero waste and earning B Corp certification

13:00 What actually broke as MadTree scaled from 80 to 400 employees

15:00 The service model differences that complicated payroll behind the scenes

18:00 Why leaders should lean into their own strengths instead of everything

27:00 The career accomplishments Rhiannon is proudest of

34:00 Lightning round: DISC profile, favorite podcast, best advice, and walk-on song

Resources:

• Acquired Podcast: https://www.acquired.fm/

Connect with Rhiannon:

• Website: https://madtree.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MadTree/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/madtreebrewing/
• X: https://x.com/madtreebrewing
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhiannon-hoeweler-4bb29a44/

Connect with me

• Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/katie_armentrout
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@katiearmentrout
• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiearmentrout
• Newsletter: http://www.peoplefluence.com/newsletter
• Website: http://www.peoplefluence.com

#FounderLedBusiness #NonFounderCEO #LeadershipDevelopment #CompanyCulture #ScalingABusiness #SmallBusinessOwner #WomenInLeadership #CraftBreweryLife #BCorpBusiness #SustainableBusiness #WorkLifeBalance #BusinessGrowth #TeamCulture #TrustInLeadership #EntrepreneurMindset #ExecutiveLeadership #CincinnatiBusiness #MadTreeBrewing #ThinkOutsideTheBoss

Married entrepreneurs face a kind of pressure no corporate career ever prepares you for: building a company from nothing with the same person you raise kids with, split a mortgage with, and come home to every night.

If you have ever dreamed about starting your own thing, or wondered what happens at home when both spouses walk away from steady paychecks at once, this conversation is for you. Katie Armentrout sits down with her husband, Judson Armentrout, for a rare look at what it is really like to be married co-founders, two people who each left stable corporate careers within two years of each other to build their own businesses from scratch, with three kids, a dog, and a mortgage riding on it.

Katie Armentrout, founder of Peoplefluence and a Certified Working Genius Facilitator, and Judson Armentrout, founder of Building Block Solutions and co-founder of Barebones Solutions, talk through what changed when they traded a $1.5 billion Kroger supply chain and a Procter & Gamble career for entrepreneurship, and why Judson's risk tolerance runs higher than most.

You will hear how the Working Genius framework shapes how they lead their teams and their kids, how Judson grew their sons' Cub Scout pack from 36 kids to more than 100, and what extreme ownership looked like the day he nearly got fired at Kroger. If you are weighing whether to bet on yourself, listen before you leap.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why the stress of building a company from scratch with your spouse is completely different than working together in an established family business.
• How Judson learned to lead through influence alone, with zero direct reports, during his first years at a beef processing plant.
• What it actually looks like day to day when two spouses each walk away from corporate paychecks within two years of one another.
• Why Judson's risk tolerance is higher than most people's, and how growing up watching his parents run their own businesses shaped that.
• How the Armentrouts use small family rituals, like a cake pop for every new client, to keep morale up during the hard seasons of entrepreneurship.
• What Judson learned about leadership, infrastructure, and asking for help while growing a Cub Scout pack from 36 kids to more than 100.
• Why Judson took full ownership of a quality failure at Kroger instead of letting his team take the blame, and what that taught him about extreme ownership.

We talk about:

00:00 The real difference between family business stress and startup stress

00:35 Why this episode is for anyone who has ever wanted to start their own company

04:00 When did Judson first realize he was a leader

05:43 Learning to lead through influence with no direct reports at a beef plant

09:00 How Katie and Judson met in their MBA program at UNC Chapel Hill

14:14 Growing up in an entrepreneurial family and where his risk tolerance comes from

20:38 What is it really like to work with your spouse inside a startup

25:09 How the Armentrouts celebrate wins as a family with cake pops

29:04 What they hope their kids take away from a dual entrepreneurship household

35:40 How leading a Cub Scout pack of 100 kids made Judson a better leader

44:00 Judson's favorite personality assessment and why Working Genius fits him

47:12 The failure Judson cherishes most and what it taught him about extreme ownership

Resources:

• Wisdom of the Bullfrog by Admiral William McRaven
• Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink

Connect with Judson:

• Website: https://buildingblock.solutions/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judsonarmentrout/

Connect with me

• Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/katie_armentrout
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@katiearmentrout
• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiearmentrout
• Newsletter: http://www.peoplefluence.com/newsletter
• Website: http://www.peoplefluence.com

#MarriedEntrepreneurs #CouplesInBusiness #WorkingWithYourSpouse #CorporateToEntrepreneur #SmallBusinessOwner #FamilyBusiness #WorkingGenius #ExtremeOwnership #LeadershipDevelopment #EntrepreneurLife #BusinessPartners #RiskTolerance #SupplyChainLeadership #ParentingEntrepreneurs #StartupLife #WomenInLeadership #HusbandAndWifeBusiness #ThinkOutsideTheBoss

An upside-down org chart is a leadership model where power flows down to the front line instead of up to the top, and it is exactly what took Joel Bokelman thirteen years to build inside Changing Gears, a Cincinnati nonprofit that treats vehicle ownership as an anti-poverty tool.

If you lead a mission-driven team, you already know the tension: you care about people and about profit, and no one ever taught you how to hold both at once. Servant leadership, distributed accountability, and an upside-down pyramid are not just nonprofit buzzwords here, they are the operating model behind 386 affordable cars sold, 76 trained technicians, and a growing affiliate network reaching new cities.

Katie Armentrout, founder of Peoplefluence and a Certified Working Genius Facilitator, sits down with Joel Bokelman, co-founder of Changing Gears, to unpack how a Habitat for Humanity idea for cars turned into a scaling, mission-driven organization built alongside partner CityLink Center. You will hear exactly how Joel and his team used the Entrepreneurial Operating System, EOS, to fix an accountability gap a DISC assessment exposed, and why he still calls a single passive mistake one of his most important leadership lessons.

If your team needs more trust and less top-down control, this conversation gives you a real, thirteen-year-tested place to start.

• An upside-down org chart puts your front-line team first, with leadership existing to remove barriers and support the people closest to the work, not the other way around.
• Joel Bokelman explains how a Habitat for Humanity idea for houses became Changing Gears, a nonprofit that has sold 386 affordable cars to families working out of poverty.
• A DISC assessment revealed a dangerous accountability gap on Joel's leadership team, and adopting EOS, the Entrepreneurial Operating System, is what finally closed it.
• Being mission-driven does not mean ignoring profit. Learn how Changing Gears funds most of its own programs through vehicle sales rather than relying on donations alone.
• Joel shares why a passive mistake did more long-term damage to his organization than any aggressive one, and what that taught him about decisive leadership.
• Hear how celebrating small wins, like handing a client the title to a paid-off car, keeps a mission-driven team from burning out on its own mission.
• Joel walks through how servant leadership, modeled by his father-in-law, became the upside-down pyramid that now shapes every hire and decision at Changing Gears.

We talk about:

00:00 Why a car is an anti poverty tool

02:16 When Joel first realized he was a leader

04:14 How Marnie's rainy day moment started Changing Gears

07:49 What CityLink Center actually does for clients

11:23 Where Joel learned servant leadership from his father in law

12:37 What an upside down org chart really means

13:38 The DISC assessment that exposed a leadership blind spot

16:08 The vision to expand Changing Gears into new cities

27:45 A day in the life of a Changing Gears client

34:25 Building a culture people do not want to leave

37:35 Lightning round, books, advice, and a walk on song

42:51 How to donate a car or support Changing Gears

Resources:

• CityLink Center: https://www.citylinkcenter.org/
• Myth of a Christian Nation by Greg Boyd https://amzn.to/4glQvbY

Connect with Joel:

• Website: https://changing-gears.org/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-bokelman-b165363a/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/changing_gears/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CG.org
• Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/changinggears/

Connect with me

• Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/katie_armentrout
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@katiearmentrout
• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiearmentrout
• Newsletter: http://www.peoplefluence.com/newsletter
• Website: http://www.peoplefluence.com

#ServantLeadership #NonprofitLeadership #MissionDrivenLeadership #UpsideDownOrgChart #TeamCulture #LeadershipDevelopment #SmallBusinessLeadership #EOS #EntrepreneurialOperatingSystem #NonprofitManagement #SocialEnterprise #TransportationEquity #CincinnatiNonprofit #WorkingGenius #BusinessOwnerLife #ExecutiveCoaching #FaithDrivenLeadership #ChangingGears #ThinkOutsideTheBoss

Connection before content is the philosophy Chad Littlefield uses to explain why so many meetings, trainings, and offsites fall flat before they even start. If you have ever watched a room cross its arms the second you started talking, connection before content is the reason.

Teams that skip it end up with feedback that never gets delivered, meetings nobody wants to attend, and trust that never actually builds.

Katie Armentrout, founder of Peoplefluence and host of Think Outside the Boss, sits down with Chad Littlefield, M.Ed., co-founder and Chief Experience Officer of We and Me and creator of the We! Connect Cards, to unpack what actually builds trust on a team. Chad shares his professional arms uncrosser approach, walks through the difference between performance-based trust and vulnerability-based trust, and explains why a former surgeon general compared disconnection at work to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. Katie adds her own culture of feedback quadrant, mapping what happens when a team has empathy without accountability, or accountability without empathy.

If you lead people, run meetings, or just want your team to actually talk to each other, this conversation hands you language and tools you can use this week.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Connection before content explains why teams disengage the moment a meeting starts with information instead of people, and how leaders can reverse that pattern in under a minute.
• The professional arms uncrosser approach shows you how to open a room, a training, or a hard conversation so people stop defending themselves and start participating.
• Performance-based trust and vulnerability-based trust are the two types of trust every team needs, and Chad Littlefield breaks down what happens when a team only has one.
• Katie Armentrout's culture of feedback quadrant maps four team cultures, from a culture of comfort to a culture of isolation, based on how much empathy and accountability a leader brings.
• We! Connect Cards were built to spark meaningful conversations in under two minutes, and Chad explains the one question that works even with a room full of skeptics.
• What you tolerate is what you endorse is the leadership principle Chad uses to explain why ignoring a struggling team member is never actually a neutral choice.
• Chad Littlefield explains why expertise without empathy reads as rude to a room, and what to do instead before you ever open a slide deck.

We talk about:

00:00 Chad's opening line on why connection matters

00:14 Katie introduces Chad Littlefield and We! Connect Cards

04:01 When did Chad first realize he was a leader

08:21 What made Chad obsessed with human connection

10:54 What is a professional arms uncrosser

12:48 Why connection has to come before content

21:57 Performance-based trust versus vulnerability-based trust explained

24:31 Katie's culture of feedback quadrant breakdown

30:25 Why what you tolerate is what you endorse

35:33 Lightning round

44:13 Where to find Chad and the Connectors Summit

Resources:

• Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath: https://amzn.to/4qi1JkT
• The Best Advice So Far by Eric Tyler: https://amzn.to/3TSZY1G
• Hell Yeah or No by Derek Sivers: https://amzn.to/3RQvQ6x

Connect with Chad:

• Website: https://weand.me/
• We! Connect Cards: https://weand.me/store/
• Free connection tools: https://weand.me/free/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@chad.littlefield
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadlittlefield/

Connect with me

• Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/katie_armentrout
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@katiearmentrout
• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiearmentrout
• Newsletter: http://www.peoplefluence.com/newsletter
• Website: http://www.peoplefluence.com

#ThinkOutsideTheBoss #ChadLittlefield #WeConnectCards #ConnectionBeforeContent #WorkplaceConnection #BuildingTrustAtWork #PsychologicalSafety #LeadershipPodcast #TeamCulture #TrustAtWork #EmployeeEngagement #FacilitationSkills #LeadershipDevelopment #CultureOfFeedback #ProfessionalArmsUncrosser #AskPowerfulQuestions #ConnectorsSummit #KatieArmentrout #ExecutiveLeadership #WorkplaceCulture

How to scale a business without burning out starts with knowing the difference between grit that builds a company and grit that destroys the person building it. If you are the founder who cannot do anything in moderation, who runs until you almost break, this episode names exactly what that costs and what it takes to catch it before your body forces you to stop.

Katie Armentrout, founder of Peoplefluence and host of Think Outside the Boss, talks with Jackie Bondanza, founder of Hounds Town USA, who took the pet care franchise from one location to 103 across the country and now works with founders on the systems that let them step back. Jackie explains why she implemented EOS, the Entrepreneurial Operating System, in 2021, what it took to move from the visionary seat to the integrator seat and back again, and the moment her acupuncturist told her point blank that her body was going to shut down if she did not stop. She also shares the advice from a former boss that changed how she owns her mistakes, and the failure during COVID that taught her more than any MBA could.

If you have built something you cannot imagine walking away from, this conversation will show you how to keep building it without losing yourself.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why Jackie Bondanza says she cannot do anything in moderation, and how that same intensity that built Hounds Town USA almost broke her.
• What it actually took to grow a doggie daycare franchise from one location to 103 across the country in thirteen years, without a business background.
• How implementing EOS, the Entrepreneurial Operating System, in 2021 changed the way Hounds Town runs, and why it took hiring an outside implementer to make it stick.
• The moment Jackie's acupuncturist told her point blank that her body was going to shut down if she did not stop, and what she did next.
• Why moving from the visionary seat to the integrator seat and back again taught Jackie more about herself than any MBA program could.
• The advice from a former boss about owning your mistakes that Jackie still uses to lead through hard conversations today.
• Why Jackie now does hands-on consulting and fractional integrator work for founders trying to scale from 10 or 20 units toward 100.

We talk about:

00:00 Meet Jackie Bondanza and her path from book editing to Hounds Town

01:17 When did Jackie first realize she was a leader

03:07 What her young employees needed that no training manual could teach

09:00 The train ride where she first envisioned 100 stores

12:26 The hardest phase of growth from 12 stores to 18 during COVID

15:12 Why she brought in EOS and what it took to implement it

17:23 Moving from integrator to visionary and what that shift taught her

29:40 The consulting work she started after stepping into the owner's box

30:09 Does an old dog really change, and what that taught her about leadership

36:14 What advice she gives founders chasing their own 100 unit milestone

38:44 Lightning round: DiSC, a favorite book, and best advice ever given

40:00 A failure she cherishes and the walk on song that hypes her up

Resources:

• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn https://amzn.to/4bqgKew

Connect with Jackie:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackie-bondanza-36ba783/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/houndstownusa/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@houndstownusa424
• Website: https://linktr.ee/houndstown

Connect with me

• Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/katie_armentrout
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@katiearmentrout
• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiearmentrout
• Newsletter: http://www.peoplefluence.com/newsletter
• Website: http://www.peoplefluence.com

#franchiseowner #foundermindset #founderburnout #entrepreneurialoperatingsystem #EOStraction #visionaryintegrator #scalingabusiness #franchisegrowth #smallbusinessowner #petcarefranchise #leadershipdevelopment #selfawareness #businessconsulting #womeninbusiness #executivecoaching #businessowners #thinkoutsidetheboss

Difficult conversations as a leader are the ones nobody else can have for you. You can delegate almost everything, the budget, the calendar, even the hiring, but not the moment you have to tell someone their work is not working. If you find yourself softening bad news, avoiding accountability talks, or feeling guilty for disappointing your own team, you are not alone, and there is a real reason it feels this hard. Left unaddressed, that avoidance quietly costs teams trust, slows decisions, and turns small problems into resignations.

Katie Armentrout, founder of Peoplefluence and host of Think Outside the Boss, sits down with Haider Ala Hamoudi, dean of the University of Cincinnati's Donald P. Klekamp College of Law and the first Muslim dean of a law school in the United States. Haider shares what the DISC assessment revealed about his own people pleasing pattern, why he still returns to Brene Brown's idea of daring greatly, and the specific line he uses instead of softening bad news to a direct report. He also opens up about growing his law school's applications by 50 percent, reaching some of the top bar passage rates in Ohio, and landing the largest naming gift in the school's history, all without losing his team's trust.

If you lead people and hate disappointing them, this conversation will change how you think about that discomfort.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why the willingness to disappoint people, not avoiding conflict altogether, is the leadership skill Haider Ala Hamoudi says took him the longest to build.
• How the DISC personality assessment revealed a people pleasing pattern in Haider, and the specific script he now uses to say no without losing trust.
• What courageous leadership looks like in practice, drawing on Brene Brown's idea of daring greatly, and why vulnerability is part of that courage.
• How Haider grew University of Cincinnati College of Law applications by 50 percent and landed the largest naming gift in the school's history.
• Why being named America's first Muslim dean of a law school adds pressure that has nothing to do with the job itself.
• How Haider separates conflict as a transactional lawyer from conflict as a dean managing his own team day to day.
• Why loneliness at the top is real, and how Haider finds ways to communicate honestly without a peer to vent to daily.

We talk about:

00:00 Meet Dean Haider Ala Hamoudi and his path to leadership

00:56 The two week Harvard program that first taught him about leadership

02:04 One leadership lesson that has stuck with him the most

04:30 How Haider leads differently through difficult conversations

06:58 Does conflict feel different for a lawyer than for a dean

11:23 Being named America's first Muslim law school dean

16:29 Why Haider chose law over medicine growing up

19:18 The move from civil rights law to Islamic finance

22:04 What surprised him about leaving law practice for academia

23:40 Why leadership can feel lonely even with a team around you

30:34 Turning around a law school's budget and reputation

35:41 Lightning round: DISC, books, and his walk on song

Resources:

• Way of the Peaceful Warrior https://amzn.to/3RAhqHw

Connect with Haider Ala Hamoudi:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haider-ala-hamoudi-1b96311b/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cincylawdean/
• University of Cincinnati College of Law: https://www.law.uc.edu/faculty/directory/DeanHaiderAlaHamoudi.html

Connect with me

• Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/katie_armentrout
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@katiearmentrout
• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiearmentrout
• Newsletter: http://www.peoplefluence.com/newsletter
• Website: http://www.peoplefluence.com

#leadershipdevelopment #courageousleadership #difficultconversations #peoplepleasing #teamtrust #executiveleadership #leadershipskills #accountability #daringleadership #firstgenleader #lawschoolleadership #DISCassessment #leadershipcoaching #conflictresolution #civildiscourse #businessowners #thinkoutsidetheboss

A screen time framework is a way of deciding how your kids use their screens, not just how long they are on them. If you are tired of fighting over timers and hourly limits, you are not alone, and the fight itself is about to change. In January 2026, the American Academy of Pediatrics moved away from strict hourly rules toward guidance built on quality and context, the exact shift Katie Armentrout has already been making at home for years.

Katie Armentrout, founder of Peoplefluence and host of Think Outside the Boss, built the Six E's of screen time (entertain, educate, escape, earn, errands, and engage) after asking herself one simple question on a dog walk: what am I actually using this phone for? In this solo episode, she walks through each E with real examples from her own house of three kids, explains why escape is the one to watch most closely, and shares the exact script she uses to help her own kids learn to manage their screen time. Download her free Six E's one pager and start the conversation with your family before the new school year begins.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• A screen time framework built around purpose, not hours, and the one question Katie asks before handing over any device: what are you using this for right now?
• The Six E's of screen time: entertain, educate, escape, earn, errands, and engage, and how naming the purpose behind a screen session changes the outcome for kids and adults alike.
• Why escape is the riskiest of the Six E's, how it quietly turns into doom scrolling, and the warning signs Katie watches for with her own three kids.
• How much of a message actually lands in a text versus a phone call, and why that changes how you should engage with people through a screen.
• Why Katie's family keeps three screen free days a week in the summer, and what happens to that rule once homework enters the picture.
• A simple script to ask your kids, or yourself, before every screen session so they eventually learn to manage their own screen time without you standing over their shoulder.
• Where to download Katie's free Six E's one pager so you can print it and talk through it with your own kids before the new school year starts.

We talk about:

00:00 Why screen time is the wrong question to ask

00:32 Meet Katie's three kids and their three different stages

01:36 Why Katie actually loves screen time some days

02:24 What's the real problem with time based limits

03:08 How the Six E's framework was born on a dog walk

04:03 The Six E's revealed: entertain, educate, escape, earn, errands, engage

05:27 Escape, the riskiest of the Six E's

07:19 Errands, why your phone does more than you think

09:45 How much of communication is really tone of voice

12:04 How to use the Six E's with your own kids today

17:01 Why Katie's family keeps screen free days in summer

23:00 Get the free Six E's one pager

Resources:

• Want a print out of the Six E's of Screens framework? Download it here: https://skilled-trailblazer-7280.kit.com/6es

Connect with me

• Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/katie_armentrout
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@katiearmentrout
• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiearmentrout
• Newsletter: http://www.peoplefluence.com/newsletter
• Website: http://www.peoplefluence.com

#screentime #parentingtips #screentimeforkids #digitalwellness #healthyhabits #parentinghacks #screenfree #digitalparenting #parentingadvice #raisingkids #familyrules #middleschoolparenting #parentingteens #mindfultech #backtoschool #parentingpodcast #thinkoutsidetheboss

How to lead with kindness and care starts with letting go of the idea that leadership only looks like one person at the head of the table. If you've ever doubted whether you're leader enough because you don't fit that image, this episode reframes what real leadership looks like day to day.

Simona Costantini, founder and CEO of VOLT Productions, an award winning podcast agency running over 20 shows a week, joins host Katie Armentrout, founder of Peoplefluence, to unpack the four values, kindness, care, connection, and integrity, that guide every decision she makes as a leader. Simona also shares why most podcasts stall by episode seven and how direct feedback, done right, is one of the clearest expressions of care a leader can offer.

In this episode, you’ll discover:

• Why leadership doesn't require sitting at the head of the table, and how Simona realized she had been leading for years before she ever called herself a leader.
• The four values, kindness, care, connection, and integrity, that Simona built her business around, and why she holds clients to the exact same standard as her team.
• Why direct feedback is one of the clearest ways a leader shows care, and how Simona reframes tough creative notes so they build trust instead of tension.
• The three questions every new podcast client has to answer before recording a single episode: what the show is about, who it's for, and why they should care.
• Why up to 80% of new podcasts never make it past episode seven, and why the real cause has less to do with content than with how the show was planned from the start.
• How Simona uses human design types like generator and projector to explain why some leaders have nonstop energy while others need to be invited to speak up.
• The sticky note Simona wrote to herself in 2020 that predicted, almost to the month, when she would finally leave corporate leadership behind for good.

We talk about:

00:00 The biggest differentiator between growing podcasts and stalled ones

00:37 Introducing Simona Costantini and VOLT Productions

02:14 When Simona first realized she was a leader

05:19 From crisis communications to launching VOLT in 2021

10:45 The sticky note that predicted her exit from corporate

13:00 Why she renamed the agency from Costantini Productions to VOLT

16:00 The four values behind every decision she makes as a leader

21:29 What actually separates growing podcasts from the ones that stall

24:54 Why most podcasts never make it past episode seven

32:02 Why direct feedback is one of the clearest ways to show care

43:10 Lightning round, human design, and the best advice from her grandma

Resources:

• 101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think by Brianna Wiest https://amzn.to/4bfGhHf
• The Pivot Year by Brianna Wiest https://amzn.to/4fXwJDe

Connect with Simona

• VOLT Website: https://www.voltproductions.co
• Personal Website: https://simonacostantini.com
• Instagram (Personal): https://www.instagram.com/simona__costantini
• Instagram (VOLT): https://www.instagram.com/volt.productions
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simona-costantini-25653a30
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/SimonaCostantini_

Connect with me

• Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/katie_armentrout
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@katiearmentrout
• LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiearmentrout
• Newsletter: http://www.peoplefluence.com/newsletter
• Website: http://www.peoplefluence.com

#Leadership #LeadershipValues #FeedbackCulture #WomenEntrepreneurs #PodcastGrowth #PodcastStrategy #BusinessLeadership #CorporateToEntrepreneur #DirectFeedback #HumanDesign #EntrepreneurMindset #PodcastProduction #ServantLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment #ContentStrategy #ThinkOutsideTheBoss