Episodes

  • Building Dreams | George Sandmann on Strategic Capacity and Impactful Communities

    Building Dreams | George Sandmann on Strategic Capacity and Impactful Communities
    Jun 29 2026

    What if the biggest threat to your clients' life work isn't a bad market — it's a business that simply won't survive due diligence?


    George Sandmann, founder and CEO of GrowthDrive, has spent decades building companies, crashing a few into the side of the mountain, and coming out the other side with a clear-eyed mission: help financial advisors equip the private businesses they serve to grow, scale, and actually succeed at transition. George is an attorney, a data geek, a passionate entrepreneur — and a self-described addict when it comes to helping people win. In this conversation, we unpack the staggering statistics behind business exits, introduce the concept of "strategic capacity," and explore why community, culture, and human connection are the real engines behind GrowthDrive's growth.


    Episode Highlights


    • 19 out of 20 businesses do not qualify to successfully complete an M&A transaction as currently run — and 75% of owners who do sell end up regretting it (per the Exit Planning Institute)
    • There is approximately $10 trillion worth of businesses that need to transition, but only $2 trillion in available capital — making it literally market-impossible for everyone to sell to a third party
    • George's "Clarity" technology platform helps business owners see exactly where they stand vs. best-in-class, and calculates a predicted transaction price — not just a value
    • Strategic capacity is the true north star: a business's ability to predictably and sustainably grow free cash flow
    • GrowthDrive operates as a "tiny giant" — just two core team members, with a dedicated offshore dev team and a self-sustaining advisor community that provides peer-to-peer support
    • Culture isn't ping pong tables and pizza Fridays — it's the outward manifestation of what a business actually believes and how it operates
    • Brand is the story. When that story is right, it doesn't just fix marketing — it rallies the team and transforms culture
    • AI is accelerating a hunger for human connection, which is a massive advantage for relational B2B service providers
    • GrowthDrive now grows almost entirely through referrals, having shifted away from traditional webinar and outbound marketing models


    Chapters


    0:00 – Intro & Meet George Sandmann

    1:14 – Meet George Sandmann (pre-interview debrief with Holland)

    4:38 – Human Opening Question

    4:38 – From Law to Startups

    5:30 – Mission & Market Data

    9:31 – Advisor Model Explained

    9:51 – Entrepreneurial Addiction

    11:41 – Community Builder Role

    12:48 – Clarity Tech Platform

    14:47 – Exit Planning Hard Truths

    17:55 – Who Should Call GrowthDrive

    21:27 – Client Relationship Story

    25:10 – Scaling High Touch Service

    31:26 – Tiny Giant Team Model

    34:21 – Brand Growth Basics

    35:48 – GrowthDrive's Brand Story Evolution

    36:30 – Strategic Capacity Category

    37:45 – Culture Drives Brand

    39:48 – StoryBrand & the Rallying Cry

    41:47 – Attracting A-Players

    42:48 – Scaling Culture Principles

    44:48 – Marketing Shift & Referrals

    47:23 – Human Moments in B2B

    49:08 – Marketing Budgets & AI

    51:33 – Behind the Brand Quiz

    54:05 – Last Thing That Made You Laugh

    58:44 – Legacy & Closing


    Resources Mentioned


    • GrowthDrive
    • The Growth Driving Advisor: Proven Strategies for Leading Businesses from Stuck to Best in Class by George Sandmann
    • Call Sign Chaos by General Jim Mattis
    • Can I Borrow Your Car? by Mike Garrison


    The CEO’s Heart for Service is a production of Brand3. If you’re a B2B service provider who delivers exceptional service but struggles to get your marketing to connect with the right people, find us at brand3.net. And sign up for our Brand3 Newsletter that only sends marketing insights worthy of your inbox - genuinely helpful stuff for the road ahead.


    The CEO’s Heart for Service     is also supported by Forge Podcast Company, a turnkey production solution for using podcasts to reach a wider audience, win new clients, and grow. Find them at forgepodcast.co
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Preserving the Human Connection in Tech with Grant Eckstrom of Succurri

    Preserving the Human Connection in Tech with Grant Eckstrom of Succurri
    Jun 22 2026
    When everything is moving towards automation and AI in tech, is the human connection even considered?Grant Ekstrom, Managing Partner at Succurri Managed IT and Cybersecurity Services, has built a business around that exact question. An engineer by DNA and instinct, Grant co-founded Succurri with his brother — born from a conversation over a couple bottles of wine in Hawaii — and has since navigated the very real tensions of scaling a service business without losing the human core that makes it work. From referrals drying up post-COVID to learning a costly lesson about marketing the hard way, Grant gets refreshingly honest about where they've stumbled, what they've figured out, and why he still believes that face-to-face conversations over a drink will always outperform a Zoom call when it comes to building real trust.HighlightsGrant always wanted to be an electrical engineer — and unlike most, he actually ended up doing it. He traces that back to his grandfather, a structural engineer who taught at UCLA, and a childhood full of RadioShack kits and soldering burns on his desk.Succurri was born out of a family conversation: Grant and his brother each had their own MSPs and their dad asked why they were solving the same problems separately. The answer became a company.Grant and his brother are described as "yin and yang to the utmost extreme" — and that complementary partnership has been central to how Succurri has scaled.On service: "It's about having honest conversations — getting to the truth whether they like it or not. It's almost like parenting."Grant coined the term "impact zones" for those inflection points in growth where the team hits a wall and has to retool. He admits they still hit them — but get better at spotting them faster.After COVID, referrals dried up — not because service had declined, but because the human interaction that fueled them had stopped. That wake-up call launched a serious sales and marketing overhaul.The biggest marketing shift for Succurri: moving from talking about IT to talking about outcomes and business impact. When they stopped speaking engineer and started speaking to ownership-level concerns, things started to stick.Grant pushed back on niche-only thinking: Succurri serves roughly nine industries and intentionally cross-pollinates solutions across them.He's a proponent of bringing in outside help — both peer groups like Vistage and third-party marketing expertise — and he says the painful way he learned this should serve as a shortcut for others.Matt introduced the StoryBrand Framework as the strategic lens Succurri has been applying: make the client the hero, not the company.Grant is a believer in white-glove service to a fault — and says their low client churn is proof that honesty, even when uncomfortable, builds lasting trust.Chapters0:00 — Introduction2:21 — Meet Grant Ekstrom3:28 — Growing Up Engineer4:32 — RadioShack Tinkering Days6:23 — Succurri Origin Story8:43 — Why MSPs Join Forces10:26 — Family Partnership and Delegation11:28 — Defining Service and Honesty13:17 — Scaling Through Impact Zones18:09 — Finding CEO Community Support20:32 — Brand Story and Marketing Shift24:54 — Niche Versus Broad27:40 — Sell Outcomes Not Tech28:35 — Human Trust Building30:03 — Referrals Dried Up33:05 — Finding Marketing Voice34:58 — StoryBrand Perspective38:00 — White Glove Service40:09 — Hard Truth Conversations43:03 — Behind The Brand43:35 — Rapid Fire Answers48:22 — Wrap Up & LinksResources MentionedSuccurri Managed IT and Cybersecurity ServicesEOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) — Referenced as a methodology Succurri has drawn from, though they have not formally implemented itVistage — CEO peer group Grant has joined for outside perspective and community supportThe CEO’s Heart for Service is a production of Brand3. If you’re a B2B service provider who delivers exceptional service but struggles to get your marketing to connect with the right people, find us at brand3.net. And sign up for our Brand3 Newsletter that only sends marketing insights worthy of your inbox - genuinely helpful stuff for the road ahead. The CEO’s Heart for Service is also supported by Forge Podcast Company, a turnkey production solution for using podcasts to reach a wider audience, win new clients, and grow. Find them at forgepodcast.co
    Show More Show Less
    50 mins
  • Letting Our Customers Lead the Way with Adam Pattisall

    Letting Our Customers Lead the Way with Adam Pattisall
    Jun 16 2026

    What does it look like when customers are the ones driving your growth — not the other way around? That's exactly the story Adam Pattisall, CEO of IncrediTech and iTechFed, brings to this episode of CEO's Heart for Service.


    Adam built IncrediTech from literally one person working out of the bed of a pickup truck to a company of 80+ people — without investors, a board, or outside backing. His secret? Stay nimble, only take on what you can afford to lose, and let the customer set the direction. From keeping a Coast Guard station online during Hurricane Sandy to having clients ask him to grow so they wouldn't lose him, Adam's story is a masterclass in customer-first, integrity-driven growth in the telecommunications and IT infrastructure space.


    HIGHLIGHTS


    • Adam started IncrediTech working alone out of the bed of his pickup truck, with a spool of cable and a clear vision: build something you own, without owing anyone
    • The company originally planned to cap at 11 employees — customers are the reason it grew to 80+
    • IncrediTech has been 100% bootstrapped since day one — no investors, no board, no bank reporting
    • For 15–16 years, nearly 99% of revenue came from a single customer, and that customer kept asking them to grow and diversify
    • The Hurricane Sandy story: an IncrediTech team member, Rick Zimmerman, went by boat to a flooded island to keep a Coast Guard station's communications alive — and won a major Verizon award for it
    • Exceptional service means anticipating client needs before the crisis hits, not just reacting to it
    • Hiring isn't about technical knowledge — it's about finding people who have a passion for solving problems
    • Adam's business philosophy: "I don't get involved in anything I can't afford to lose"
    • Staying ahead of technology by 18–24 months is what keeps IncrediTech in demand — they go wherever the "bleeding edge" work is
    • The future of the company? Wherever the customers want it to go


    CHAPTERS


    1:03 – Growing Up Dreams

    2:31 – Early Hustle Mindset

    3:35 – Sarah's First Job

    4:05 – What IncrediTech Does

    5:35 – Why Start IncrediTech

    6:11 – Heart for Service

    7:29 – Hurricane Sandy Story

    8:20 – Scaling with Values

    9:10 – Bootstrapped Growth Rules

    11:40 – Customers Drove Expansion

    13:50 – Passing Culture to Team

    14:30 – Hiring Problem Solvers

    16:20 – Customer First Choice

    18:00 – Truth Telling Sales

    19:15 – Brand Story Strategy

    21:30 – Experience Over Marketing

    24:10 – Staying Ahead of Tech

    25:45 – Owning the Narrative

    29:00 – Handling Spilled Milk

    31:00 – Tech Change Surprise

    33:15 – Future Led by Clients

    36:00 – Vision Through Action

    39:00 – Behind the Brand

    40:00 – Rapid Fire Questions

    46:50 – Success and Gratitude

    49:15 – Where to Find Them


    RESOURCES MENTIONED


    • IncrediTek — Adam Pattisall's IT infrastructure company


    The CEO’s Heart for Service is a production of Brand3. If you’re a B2B service provider who delivers exceptional service but struggles to get your marketing to connect with the right people, find us at brand3.net. And sign up for our Brand3 Newsletter that only sends marketing insights worthy of your inbox - genuinely helpful stuff for the road ahead.


    The CEO’s Heart for Service     is also supported by Forge Podcast Company, a turnkey production solution for using podcasts to reach a wider audience, win new clients, and grow. Find them at forgepodcast.co
    Show More Show Less
    51 mins
  • The Power of Authentic Resonance in Business Growth with Macy Robison

    The Power of Authentic Resonance in Business Growth with Macy Robison
    Jun 9 2026
    What if the reason your thought leadership isn't landing has nothing to do with your ideas — and everything to do with the way you're wired to share them?Macy Robison, founder of the Resonant Thought Leader Conservatory, has spent years behind the scenes launching New York Times bestsellers, building massive platforms for other thought leaders, and serving as senior director of StoryBrand's certification program. But somewhere along the way, she kept hitting the same wall — brilliant experts stuck not because they lacked ideas, but because they were forcing themselves through someone else's playbook.What she built to solve that problem is unlike anything else out there. Rooted in the science of sound and resonance, her proprietary Resonance Compass framework starts with a free diagnostic — the Resonant Thought Leader Archetype Assessment — to pinpoint exactly how you are wired to communicate, lead, and build. From there, it becomes about amplification, not volume. About sending a clearer signal, not shouting louder. The difference, as she explains it, is the same difference between pushing a random piano key and the one that makes a snare drum vibrate across the room.We talk about the journey of creating a brand new framework from scratch, the challenge of scaling something deeply personal, and how she stays grounded in her own voice even when comparison tries to throw her off. If you're a B2B founder who knows you have something valuable to say but can't figure out how to say it in a way that sounds like you, this conversation is for you.HighlightsMacy shares the personal frustration that sparked the creation of the Resonance Compass — and why copying other people's strategies kept failing herThe piano-and-snare-drum illustration that explains why resonance is measurable, not subjectiveWhy the answer isn't getting louder — it's sending a cleaner signal to the right peopleHow the Resonant Thought Leader Archetype Assessment works, the 10 archetypes explained, and what Matt discovered about himself when he took itThe difference between being expression-led, experience-led, insight-led, and embodiment-led as a thought leaderThe voice lesson moment that revealed a three-step framework hiding inside her own client workWhy she started by personally sending Loom videos to every single assessment taker — and what that taught her before she could scaleThe Taylor Swift and Chappell Roan examples that show how staying unapologetically yourself is the actual amplification strategyThe hardest part of growing: comparison, and how a theater audition story reframes it completelyMacy's definition of success — and the school benefit concert that still runs without herChapters0:00 — Special Episode Intro1:19 — Why Authenticity Matters3:16 — Meet Macy Robison3:25 — StoryBrand and Theater Roots5:36 — Macy Bio and Big Promise7:50 — The Aha Behind Resonance12:37 — Why This Was Missing16:19 — How the Assessment Works20:24 — Finding Your Voice in Practice24:30 — The 10 Archetypes Explained29:03 — Scaling a New Service32:05 — Amplify Without Getting Loud33:25 — Sound Design for Your Message35:25 — Artists Who Scale Authentically35:19 — Trust and Humanity in B2B36:31 — Unearthing Your Hidden IP38:14 — From Patterns to a Framework39:58 — Simple Reps Before Scaling41:24 — Staying Grounded Amid Comparison44:13 — Behind the Brand Rapid Fire48:57 — Defining Success and Lasting Impact51:29 — Closing Thanks and Where to Find HerResources MentionedResonant Thought Leader ConservatoryOwn Your Impact Podcast on Apple or SpotifyResonant Thought Leader Archetype Assessment The CEO’s Heart for Service is a production of Brand3. If you’re a B2B service provider who delivers exceptional service but struggles to get your marketing to connect with the right people, find us at brand3.net. And sign up for our Brand3 Newsletter that only sends marketing insights worthy of your inbox - genuinely helpful stuff for the road ahead. The CEO’s Heart for Service is also supported by Forge Podcast Company, a turnkey production solution for using podcasts to reach a wider audience, win new clients, and grow. Find them at forgepodcast.co
    Show More Show Less
    53 mins
  • Unleashing Potential | The Everett Chamber Transformation with Wendy Poischbeg

    Unleashing Potential | The Everett Chamber Transformation with Wendy Poischbeg
    Jun 2 2026
    What does it actually take to build a thriving chamber of commerce from absolute zero — no staff, no members, not even a pad of paper — in under 18 months? Wendy Poischbeg did exactly that, scaling the Greater Everett Chamber of Commerce to 300 members in a year and a half by doing something deceptively simple: listening.Wendy, CEO of the Greater Everett Chamber, joins co-hosts Matt Wolfe and Sarah Pattisall of Brand3 to share how she resurrected a chamber that had been missing from Everett for 15 years — and why she built it completely differently this time. From curating member experiences inspired by the book Unreasonable Hospitality, to deploying AI to run lean, to quietly supporting Everett's Hispanic business community during a turbulent political climate, Wendy reveals what it looks like to lead with heart, hustle, and a hype-person mentality.HighlightsWendy path to become a rock star — and trained in a prestigious Seattle girl choir before reality (and Boeing) intervenedThe Greater Everett Chamber launched January 1, 2025, starting from absolute ground zero — no assets, no EIN, not even office supplies300 members in 18 months, 55+ events in year one, on track for 80 events in year twoThe chamber was rebuilt intentionally as "not your grandpa's chamber" — with AI tools, streamlined automation, and yes, a DJ at eventsWendy drew leadership inspiration from Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara, applying fine-dining service principles to chamber membershipMember feedback drives everything: surveys, CRM-tracked pain points, and in-person business visits shape every program and workshopPermitting is the #1 barrier to business growth in Everett — the chamber is actively advocating for AI-assisted permitting reform at the state levelThe ambassador program launched 6 months ahead of schedule when membership hit 150 — volunteers are rewarded, never chargedAI tools (ChatGPT, Claude) helped Wendy accomplish in one week what used to take a month, from nonprofit filing to contract draftingThe chamber does quiet, behind-the-scenes work to support Everett's Hispanic business community, including a private health district licensing event to help food cart operators get licensed safelyWendy's personal "why" (discovered through Simon Sinek's framework): amplifying and promoting others is what makes her thriveChapters0:31 — Welcome & Episode Preview2:12 — Meet Wendy Poischbeg3:31 — From Aspiring Rock Star to Chamber CEO6:14 — The History Behind the Greater Everett Chamber9:56 — Unreasonable Hospitality & the Member Experience Philosophy12:29 — Curating Experiences, Not Just Events13:58 — How Wendy Gathers & Acts on Member Feedback17:34 — Advocacy: The Chamber as a Policy Voice19:53 — Growth by the Numbers: 300 Members in 18 Months22:15 — The Chamber's Four Pillars25:05 — Everett's Transformation: The Marina & South Everett27:31 — Scaling Without Losing the Human Touch28:51 — Challenges of Rapid Growth & the Ambassador Program31:45 — How AI Is Running the Chamber (And Disrupting the Legal Industry)33:47 — Supporting Everett's Hispanic Business Community37:42 — Creativity as a Business Strategy (FIFA 2026 & Beyond)40:30 — Wendy's Coffee Shop Origin Story42:49 — The Story the Chamber Tells: Be Engaged to Get Value47:57 — The Heart Behind the Hype Person: Rapid-Fire Q&A54:39 — Wendy's "Why" (Simon Sinek & the Two-Hour Couch Conversation)Resources MentionedGreater Everett Chamber of Commerce — everettchamber.orgUnreasonable Hospitality by Will GuidaraStart With Why by Simon SinekEconomic Alliance Snohomish County — regional economic development organization that preceded and now complements the chamberThe CEO’s Heart for Service is a production of Brand3. If you’re a B2B service provider who delivers exceptional service but struggles to get your marketing to connect with the right people, find us at brand3.net. And sign up for our Brand3 Newsletter that only sends marketing insights worthy of your inbox - genuinely helpful stuff for the road ahead. The CEO’s Heart for Service is also supported by Forge Podcast Company, a turnkey production solution for using podcasts to reach a wider audience, win new clients, and grow. Find them at forgepodcast.co
    Show More Show Less
    58 mins
  • Scaling Through Core Values with Orsi Herbein | The Brand3 Journey

    Scaling Through Core Values with Orsi Herbein | The Brand3 Journey
    May 26 2026

    What happens when a business built on genuine relationships tries to grow — and nearly loses everything that made it special in the process? That's the honest, behind-the-scenes story we're unpacking today with Brand3 founder and President Orsi Herbein. Orsi shares the real lessons from 10 years of building a branding and marketing agency, including a painful season of chasing the wrong definition of success, why hastily delegating client relationships almost cost the company, and how getting clear on your own definition of success changes everything. If you lead a service-based business and feel the pull between growth and staying true to what matters most, this one is for you.


    Highlights


    • What "CEO's heart for service" actually means — and why it's the lens Brand3 uses to choose who they work with
    • Why branding done right is simply the truth about your business
    • The real reason service-based B2B businesses struggle to define themselves (hint: you're too close to your own stuff)
    • How Brand3 helped a client achieve an extraordinary EBITDA multiplier in a private equity exit — by giving them the confidence to stand their ground
    • The PCS Technology story: how a heart-shaped logo became an internal emoji and the whole team started to "catch the vision"
    • Orsi's honest account of a season when growth goals overrode core values — and what that cost
    • Why hastily delegating client relationships in a relational business is a recipe for trouble
    • How to brag about your clients instead of yourself (and why that's the most authentic marketing a service provider can do)
    • The Brand3 core values: Difference Makers, True to Self, Creative Thinkers, Clarity Seekers, Collaborators, and Adaptive Advocates
    • Your definition of success doesn't have to look like anyone else's


    Chapters


    1:14 – Meet the Hosts

    2:26 – Welcome Orsi & Brand3

    2:37 – What Brand3 Does

    4:12 – Heart for Service Defined

    7:03 – Redefining Client Success

    9:11 – Impact Stories & Wins

    13:38 – Branding as Truth

    16:27 – Scaling Without Losing Values

    17:15 – Brand3 Core Values

    18:26 – Origins as a Design Shop

    21:34 – Branding Beyond Marketing

    23:34 – Values Mirror the Founder

    26:01 – Core Values in Action

    26:58 – Scaling Slippery Slopes

    31:11 – Redefining Success Metrics

    35:14 – Helping People Who Help

    36:23 – Brand Strategy Rapid Fire

    37:16 – Marketing Goes Relational

    38:36 – Sales Truth Telling

    40:12 – Client Experience by Design

    41:38 – Client Highlights, Not Bragging

    43:18 – Behind the Brand Quiz

    46:48 – Closing Thanks & Where to Find Us


    The CEO’s Heart for Service is a production of Brand3. If you’re a B2B service provider who delivers exceptional service but struggles to get your marketing to connect with the right people, find us at brand3.net. And sign up for our Brand3 Newsletter that only sends marketing insights worthy of your inbox - genuinely helpful stuff for the road ahead.


    The CEO’s Heart for Service     is also supported by Forge Podcast Company, a turnkey production solution for using podcasts to reach a wider audience, win new clients, and grow. Find them at forgepodcast.co
    Show More Show Less
    48 mins
  • Beginning with the End in Mind | Exit Strategy Redefined with Anna Halaburda

    Beginning with the End in Mind | Exit Strategy Redefined with Anna Halaburda
    May 19 2026

    What you focus on when you start in business has a massive impact on what happens when you grow.


    Anna Halaburda has been focusing on quality service at scale — not because she stumbled into it, but because she built Be Ready Exit Solutions with the end in mind from the very start. As a CPA, Certified Exit Planning Advisor, and founder of one of the few true exit planning firms in the lower middle market, Anna has spent her career helping business owners protect and transfer what they've spent their lives creating.


    What makes Anna's perspective so sharp is that she doesn't just advise her clients on scalable systems and quality control — she applies those same standards ruthlessly to her own business. Be Ready is her most important client. And the way she's navigated growth, managed collaborating advisors, and protected her brand vision while staying true to what made her unique is a masterclass in principled scaling.


    If you lead a service business and you've ever felt the tension between growing bigger and staying great, this conversation will give you language and a framework for that challenge you probably didn't have before.


    Highlights


    • Why Anna treats Be Ready Exit Solutions as her most important client — and what that actually looks like in practice
    • The "eat your own cooking" principle: you can't advise clients on systems and scalability if you haven't built them yourself
    • How Anna used collaborative business models to grow — and why finding clients through other advisors is far more efficient than going direct
    • The employee mindset vs. the entrepreneur mindset — and why the difference matters enormously when you're scaling through partners
    • Why "exit planning" has a perception problem, and how Anna reframes the conversation with business owners
    • The engagement map: how making your internal process visible to clients builds trust and eliminates the silence that drives them crazy
    • Why Anna deliberately does not try to become her clients' friend — and how that actually serves them better
    • The importance of industry-standard SOPs: if you're telling your clients they need them and you don't have them yourself, you shouldn't be in business
    • What private equity firms contacting Anna twice a day says about where the exit planning industry is heading


    Chapters


    5:38 — What's at Stake: The Emotional Weight of Business Exit

    6:31 — Scaling Was Never an Accident: Built In from Day One

    8:21 — Eat Your Own Cooking: Be Ready as Its Own Best Client

    12:45 — The Collaborative Model: Finding Clients Through Advisors

    16:34 — The Messaging Challenge: Defining the Brand Under Pressure

    25:24 — SOPs, Workflow, and Value Billing: Building the Spine of the Business

    40:45 — The Partner Mindset Shift: Employee Thinking vs. Entrepreneurial Thinking

    44:42 — Messaging at Scale: Getting Other Advisors to Believe It

    47:54 — The Human Element: Why Speaking Beats Everything Else in B2B

    1:00:17 — Advice to Younger Anna: Stay the Course

    1:01:49 — Behind the Brand: Getting to Know the Human


    Resources Mentioned


    • Be Ready Exit Solutions — bereadyexits.com
    • International Exit Planning Association (IEPA) — The certification body for exit planning advisors: theiepa.com


    The CEO’s Heart for Service is a production of Brand3. If you’re a B2B service provider who delivers exceptional service but struggles to get your marketing to connect with the right people, find us at brand3.net. And sign up for our Brand3 Newsletter that only sends marketing insights worthy of your inbox - genuinely helpful stuff for the road ahead.


    The CEO’s Heart for Service     is also supported by Forge Podcast Company, a turnkey production solution for using podcasts to reach a wider audience, win new clients, and grow. Find them at forgepodcast.co
    Show More Show Less
    58 mins
  • Primetime for Empowerment | Building Community Across Generations with Bernadette Wagner

    Primetime for Empowerment | Building Community Across Generations with Bernadette Wagner
    May 12 2026
    What does it really take to change the way we think about aging — and build a community that proves it?Bernadette Wagner, founder and CEO of Primetime for Women, has spent years doing exactly that. What started as a mission to bring women 40 and over together around three research-backed pillars — positive social connections, lifelong learning, and healthy lifestyles — has grown into a vibrant, intergenerational community rooted in a simple but powerful idea: give and gain. From a weekly walking group that hasn't missed a single Wednesday in four years, to an International Women's Day conference that draws speakers from across the country, to a golf league for complete beginners called "Connections Over Competition," Bernadette shows us what it looks like to scale an organization without losing its soul. And she does it all as an all-volunteer nonprofit — fueled by community, collaboration, and the unshakeable belief that you don't know until you try.HighlightsPrimetime for Women was founded on three research-based factors that influence physical health, emotional wellbeing, and longevity: positive social connections, lifelong learning, and healthy lifestyles — or as Bernadette puts it, "people, passion, and purpose."Walking to Wellness has welcomed 398 different participants and walks every single Wednesday — indoors, outdoors, rain or shine — for four years without missing once.The International Women's Day conference, now in its third year, is held in partnership with a local college, features speakers who volunteer their time, and is driven entirely by community sponsorships and donations.The golf league "Connections Over Competition" was created to introduce women — including Bernadette herself, who had never touched a club — to golf in a welcoming, low-pressure environment.A program called "A Year of Hikes" took Bernadette on the same 4-mile section of the Appalachian Trail with 52 different women during the pandemic — creating what she calls "trail intimacy" and a blog series published on the Primetime for Women website.Scaling isn't always smooth — Bernadette shares candid stories about transitioning Walking to Wellness from outdoor parks to an indoor college track, navigating grant funding roadblocks, and the honest question of what happens to the organization when she's ready to step back.The smoothie bike started as a beat-up donated bicycle with a blender duct-taped to it, and eventually became a professionally built piece of equipment funded by a grant — and now a potential revenue source at community events.Men show up too. Three male regulars now set up the Primetime for Women banner every week — and shirts reading "Prime Time for Women and the Smart Men Who Support Them" have become part of the community.The "give and gain" philosophy that Bernadette instills in the women she serves is the same mindset she applies to leading and growing the organization itself.Chapters0:00 — Welcome Back Intro0:50 — Key Takeaways Preview2:50 — Meet Bernadette Wagner3:13 — Changing the Script on Aging4:57 — Saturday in the Park6:05 — International Women's Day Conference9:22 — Walking to Wellness Magic11:52 — Why Connections Get Hard13:14 — Golf League for Beginners16:43 — Measuring Service Impact18:22 — Stories of Transformation23:31 — Book Club & Lifelong Learning26:30 — Scaling Challenges Ahead30:22 — Unexpected Support Arrives32:26 — Scaling Walking to Wellness34:56 — The Smoothie Bike Breakthrough37:16 — Collaboration Over Competition40:53 — Evolving the Audience Story44:07 — Inclusive Giving and Donors45:46 — Member Voices and Amplification48:32 — Brand Story and Funding Hurdles52:56 — Behind the Brand Q&A55:44 — Final Takeaways & Where to Find ThemResourcesPrimetime for Women — Learn more, donate, find events, and read the blog (including Cultures, Cooking and Connections and the 52 Weeks hiking series)Infinite Legacy — Organ and tissue donation organization; a speaker from Infinite Legacy (Taylor Massey) presented at a Walking to Wellness sessionThe CEO’s Heart for Service is a production of Brand3. If you’re a B2B service provider who delivers exceptional service but struggles to get your marketing to connect with the right people, find us at brand3.net. And sign up for our Brand3 Newsletter that only sends marketing insights worthy of your inbox - genuinely helpful stuff for the road ahead. The CEO’s Heart for Service is also supported by Forge Podcast Company, a turnkey production solution for using podcasts to reach a wider audience, win new clients, and grow. Find them at forgepodcast.co
    Show More Show Less
    58 mins