Welcome to Exceptional Companies Podcast

What if the culture inside your company is working against you—and you don’t even know it?

Heather Smith thought she’d made it in corporate leadership, until she realized success without impact felt hollow. In this episode, we talk about the truth behind company culture: why values on a wall mean nothing, how systems shape behavior, and what happens when you look behind you as a leader… and no one’s following.

What does it take to build something that lasts 120 years—and still feels worth coming back to? What if the key to generational success isn’t control, but letting go? In this episode, Jen Livsey shares how her family built a ranching legacy across five generations, why she believes in raising kids “worthy of empire,” and how faith, failure, and family shape her leadership. If you’re building a business meant to outlive you… this one’s for you.

What if the key to scaling your business isn’t more hours… but more energy?

Most entrepreneurs sprint like they’re in mile one of a marathon—until burnout catches them. In my latest conversation with Alan Briggs, we explored why the real currency of leadership is energy, not time, and how tools like the “to-don’t list,” sabbaticals, and scorecards at home can transform the way you lead.

So here’s the question: if you had the courage to rest, what might actually grow?

What if buying a business isn’t the shortcut you think it is? In this episode, I sat down with Will Fry of Main Shares to ask the hard questions: Who shouldn’t buy a business? Why do so many “dream deals” turn into five-year holes? And what does it really take to succeed on Main Street when the hype says it’s easy? We go deep on capital, culture fit, and the one thing you must know before signing a personal guarantee. Would you still chase acquisition if you knew the truth?

What does it take to turn a hobby into an arena packed with 7,500 fans? How do you balance family when you’re on the road announcing 25 rodeos a year? And why does serving people—before profit—end up being the most powerful growth strategy of all? In this week’s episode, I sat down with my friend Jay Dial to uncover the story behind Triple J Rodeo, the lessons he learned from bull riding to business building, and the hard truths about community, sponsorship, and success.

What if the most meaningful thing you ever built wasn’t your business… but your neighbor’s yard?

In this conversation with Jake Smith, we go from rabbits in 4H to closing mineral deals by private plane, to launching River Tree Resources, to a spur-of-the-moment decision that turned mowing one stranger’s lawn into a nonprofit serving dozens of families.

How do you integrate faith, business, and service so you’re the same person everywhere you go? And could the bias to act—today, not “someday”—be the real secret to building both wealth and legacy?

What if your business wasn’t really yours—but something you were only stewarding?

That’s how Mike Casimiro runs Casco. He prays over every project, holds up a hat with “Legacy” stitched across the front, and defines success by the relationships that last long after the concrete sets.

But here’s the question that stuck with me: Would you hire ahead of growth and risk letting people go… or wait until your team is stretched and risk missing opportunity?

What if the limits you think you have aren’t real—but just the edges of your untapped capacity? What if business wasn’t only about profit, but about leaving your city cleaner than you found it? In this episode, I sit down with Andrew Perkett, founder of COS Hauling, to explore how a former pastor turned junk removal into a mission for impact, integrity, and culture built on accountability. Could stretching your own capacity be the key to building both a business and a life that truly lasts?

What if letting someone go was the kindest thing you could do for them?

In my latest conversation with Trent Urban, CEO of WireNut Home Services, we unpack what real leadership looks like: the courage to have hard conversations, the discipline to step out of the trades and into vision, and why culture without accountability always fails.

Would you fire someone if you knew it might actually change their life for the better?

What if the biggest red flag in investing isn’t the numbers—but the silence that follows them?

When Pat Zingarella left his W-2 job to chase something bigger, he didn’t expect a car accident, a fraud scandal, and a total reset. But what came next turned into a mission: to make the private investing world safer—one brutally honest review at a time.

What he built is changing how LPs vet GPs.

But the real story? It’s about mindset, trust, and the kind of clarity that only comes through fire.