In this episode of The Founder's Growth Show, host John Hill, AKA Small Mountain, sits down with Brent Garrett, the founder of Sirius Plumbing and Air Conditioning and a veteran business consultant known as The Skilled Trades Coach.

Brent shares his profound journey from working at the end of a shovel to building, scaling, and successfully selling a multimillion-dollar residential services enterprise.

The conversation focuses heavily on navigating the "messy middle"—that precarious growth phase where founders hit a sudden ceiling of complexity and experience unsustainable operational friction. Brent breaks down why working harder isn't a viable long-term solution, how to effectively shift from tactical execution to strategic delegation, and the psychology required to step back into your true zone of genius.

He also unpacks his two non-negotiable business commandments that every leader must protect to maintain cultural alignment and financial resilience. Plus, he shares what future founders need on Day 1 to ensure they survive their first year and beyond.

Connect with Brent:

Website: The Skilled Trades Coach

LinkedIn: Brent Garrett

Connect with John:

LinkedIn: John Hill

Website: Adapted Growth

Newsletter: https://podcast.adaptedgrowth.com/podcast

Book: Selling From Scratch

Free Workshops: Revenue Evolution Workshops

Why do so many rapid-scaling startups struggle to sustain their revenue after an influx of new clients? Because they mistake reactive customer support for a proactive growth strategy.

In this episode of The Founder's Growth Show, host John Small Mountain sits down with Noah Hallett, a startup consultant and fractional Chief Customer Officer (CCO).

Operating from Lisbon, Portugal, Noah shares his raw perspective on transitioning a business internationally and details why long-term company value is determined entirely by what happens after a sales contract is finalized. The conversation delivers a masterclass in separating reactive customer service from revenue-generating customer success frameworks.

Noah breaks down how early-stage founders can:

• navigate user experience (UX) friction,
• handle the operational handoff between sales and customer success managers (CSMs),
• leverage radical transparency in marketing to build brand trust,
• and reframe high-friction "Struggle Bus" accounts into a blueprint for product development.

Whether you're trying to fix a leaky pipeline, realign your client retention strategy, or understand the deep human element behind scaling an organizational structure, Noah's grounded approach offers immediate clarity for founders looking to build a resilient business.

Connect with Noah Hallett:

LinkedIn: Noah Hallett 🦦

Connect with John "Small Mountain" Hill:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnblanehill/

Website: https://adaptedgrowth.com/

Newsletter: https://podcast.adaptedgrowth.com/podcast

Book: Selling From Scratch

What is the true difference between building a scalable business and simply monetizing a personal skill set? In this episode of The Founder's Growth Show, host John SmallMtn sits down with Michael R. Hunter, the co-founder of Spiffy Checkouts and PersonalBrand.com, to unpack the hidden mechanisms behind sustainable business growth and leadership alignment.

Michael shares his evolutionary journey from running a growth marketing agency to bootstrapping a fintech software company to an eight-figure valuation. Together, they pull back the curtain on how to identify true product-market fit, why a defined brand reduces friction in your sales pipeline, and the necessity of managing team capacity at 85% to protect against burnout. Michael also drops a powerful reframe on operational patience, relationship communication with co-founders, including one who is also his spouse, and navigating a macroeconomic "trust recession" by building a resilient operational foundation. If you want to stop forcing hollow milestones and design a personal definition of success, this episode offers an essential roadmap.

Notable Topics Discussed:

• Distinguishing between starting an enterprise and monetizing expertise.

• Redefining brand as consumer consensus rather than content marketing distribution.

• The 4 Fs framework (Fame, Freedom, Fortune, and Fun) for high-ticket client alignment.

• Blending vision work and abstract brand alignment to elevate sales team conversions.

• Embracing imperfect action, active patience, and setting strict constraints under modern AI environments.

Connect with Michael R. Hunter: