Hate “sales”? Get the icks when it’s time to make the offer? That actually makes sense — because your real job isn’t to sell. It’s to connect, serve, guide, and create trust with the right people.

The problem isn’t your offer. It’s that most sales models force you into performance instead of relationship — pitching instead of listening, persuading instead of aligning.

In this episode of YES, BRAND, longtime collaborators Nancy Zare, Ph.D. and host Hersh Rephun explore what changes when selling stops being an act and starts being an extension of who you are. Nancy shares how learning the right words and right approach helps leaders attract new business without feeling “sales-y,” while Hersh reframes sales as permission earned through clarity, personality fit, and genuine connection.

This is a conversation about why authority doesn’t come from pressure — it comes from alignment — and how the strongest relationships are built when you stop trying to convince and start inviting.

Website: https://nancyzare.com/

The real comeback isn’t to your old life — it’s to your true one.

Rachel Gaddis didn’t just change careers — she changed her relationship with purpose.

After a late ADHD diagnosis, a battle with breast cancer, and a full career reset in her 50s, she built a practice around helping others navigate reinvention without losing themselves.

Hersh talked with Rachel about what real change looks like — not the “pivot” everyone posts about, but the quiet, uncomfortable clarity that comes before it.

It’s the same kind of clarity that my advisory clients are chasing — the moment when the next version of your work finally matches who you’ve become.

Gabriel de la Rosa is a Principal at Intelligent Relations. Across his 14+ years in Marketing and Communications, he has helped startups and Fortune 500 companies be featured in the best publications in the world.

Key Highlights of the Episode:

Hello! Meet Mike Adams, a serial networker (1,000+ events!) and introducer with 30 years of experience in sales and marketing at HP, Apple, Zoom, and many other tech companies. 

 He loves connecting people, especially in real life.

You're gonna enjoy Hersh's conversation with Mike on this special Season 7 episode of YES, BRAND!

 To help track high-value, IRL introductions, Mike created introstars, the first platform where introducers get rewarded for success. Introstars is built around real-world connections, with offices in New York and London, and many more cities opening in 2026.

 By joining introstars.com today, you can:

 Earn substantial referral intro fees each time an introduction turns into a deal

 Receive a steady stream of high-value intros to prospects, customers, and buyers

 Track every intro you make and receive

 Ensure you get paid for every successful intro

 Try it out for free. Just sign in on introstars.com 

A good number of our Season 7 guests are artists: they're also successful businesspeople who founded and have grown their companies, in some cases over decades. In addition to SC Pictures, Stewart Cohen's dominion includes media licensing via SuperStock and its ever-expanding archives.

Frame life in its best light: Working your way through Stewart Cohen’s portfolio of commercials and stills for clients including American Airlines, AT&T, Coca-Cola, Four Seasons, and Frito-Lay, you are as likely to see heartfelt testimonials as Game Day humor, real people as celebs, with campaigns spanning fashion, kids, sports, wildly diverse storytelling and portraiture... He’s gone swimming with sharks in the Galapagos and come up for air to stage a tongue-in-cheek musical comedy starring the townspeople of Mansfield, TX. They sing about being too busy for tourism. The throughline is seizing the moment to celebrate the joy of life.

In addition to directing and shooting stills through his production company, SC Pictures, Stewart is an increasingly influential player in the licensing arena, beginning with his purchase of SuperStock in 2019. In 2023, SuperStock acquired All Canada Photos, the country’s premier Canada-focused stock images agency, offering a rich imagery and multimedia content collection. That was followed in 2024 by its acquisition of the coveted Classic Stock collection, along with UK architectural archive View Pictures and Seattle-based Danita Delimont Stock Photography, in 2025.

https://www.stewartcohen.com/

"Simon is one of the most genuinely humble leaders I've had the pleasure of speaking with," says host Hersh Rephun of Simon Stillwell, who specializes in sales strategy and management, bringing extensive business experience from his work as both a board member and executive leader across multiple companies.

Simon has navigated acquisitions from both sides, guided organizations through sale readiness, and unified diverse teams post-transaction. With a strong track record of bringing international businesses into the U.S. market, Simon now advises companies looking to expand overseas, using his proprietary 4 P’s framework—People, Product, Process, Price—to drive sustainable revenue success.

Outside of his professional work, Simon and his wife love entertaining, and he’s been an avid sourdough baker for more than 15 years. He is also a passionate sailor, the owner of an 80-year-old wooden sailboat, and has logged thousands of miles at sea, including a full Atlantic crossing.

When I sat down with Morgan DeNicola, Executive Director of the DeNicola Family Foundation among other things, I knew I was talking to someone who doesn’t just talk about global issues—she goes out and gets her boots dirty. Morgan is the Vice Chairman of the Humpty Dumpty Institute (HDI), the organization that works with Congress, the State Department, the UN, embassies, and young people to spark real dialogue on the world’s toughest challenges.

Her work with congressional delegations has taken her from Beijing’s Taihe Global Civilization Forum to Malawi, where a visit to the Amitofo Care Centre lit a fire in her. What she saw there pushed her to launch Cosmo Cares Mobile Healthcare Van, now being donated to the ACC to reach remote villages in Lesotho—with a formal dedication set for November 17, 2022. More recently, she led a congressional delegation in Rwanda, because Morgan doesn’t do “slow.”

Back home, she’s part of the Steinberg DeNicola Humanitarian Awards, recognizing NFL players who step up for their communities, and she helps elevate global medical researchers through the CDC Scientific Scholarship. On top of that, she supports Ronald McDonald House, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and local holiday drives—all while serving on the board of the Elmwood Zoo, dedicated to inspiring real conservation action.

My conversation with Morgan reminded me why these interviews matter: she’s living her mission, not just reciting it—and that kind of truth sticks with you.

James Corwin is a young American wildlife artist and gallery owner with works that are sold nationwide. His gallery, Corwin Galleries, is situated in Montana's Bitterroot Valley (an area recently popularized by the television series Yellowstone). James found success as an art entrepreneur, not just through his artistic talent, but by exploring innovative avenues of online marketing. He has built a multi-million-dollar brand and is defying the concept of "the starving artist.”

James found his creative passion painting wildlife, which expresses an obvious narrative that is uplifting, relatable, and has a touch of whimsy. He draws inspiration from his global travels. On the entrepreneurial side of James’ journey, there have been successes and setbacks, creative shifts and new goals. James is constantly testing and refining his business. He is excited to share an inside look into the life of an artist, what it takes to grow an art business, and how to invest in yourself.

Connect with James

https://www.facebook.com/jamescorwinfineart

https://instagram.com/jamescorwin

https://www.tiktok.com/@jamescorwin.art

https://www.youtube.com/@JamesCorwinFineArt

A lifelong passion for environmental protection led Tim Etherington-Judge to co-found Avallen, the world’s most planet-positive spirits brand. But before that, two decades in hospitality — and a mental breakdown in 2016 — inspired him to launch Healthy Hospo, the first company dedicated to improving the health and happiness of hospitality workers.

Named to the Bar100 list of the most influential people in the global bar industry (2019–2022), Tim’s journey is one of resilience, purpose, and radical honesty. He even attempted 42 marathons in 42 days to raise awareness for mental health — and what he learned along the way might just change how you define success.

In this episode, Tim and I talk about sustainability, self-care, and why sometimes the bravest move you can make is slowing down.

🎧 Listen now and subscribe to YES, BRAND — stories of truth, purpose, and the people bold enough to live both.

avallen.solutions 

Jenn Greenhut is a stage IV breast cancer survivor, keynote speaker, and author of Everyone Needs a Larry. She is also the founder of Love, Zero Negative and The Zero Negative Foundation. Jenn’s mission is to ignite self-love, spread gratitude, and remind people that life is always working out for us—even when it doesn’t look like it. Through her signature Pinch Me method, she shows how our greatest challenges can be reframed as gifts from the universe. Pinched by stage IV cancer, Jenn chose to see it as a gift from God—one to be met with love, gratitude, and trust, the superpowers we all have within.

Instagram: 
@lovezeronegative

@zeronegativeorg

Website:

Lovezeronegative.com

Zeronegativefoundation.org

Everyone Needs a Larry is on Amazon 

Lastly, The Zero Negative Fpoundation annual fundraiser: For Love and Laughs at The Comedy Store November 9th … tickets are on sale https://www.showclix.com/event/lovelaughs2025