The Black Sheep Network

One of the most damaging misconceptions of leadership is that gaining the title automatically gets you respect and influence. 
 
In fact, it often does the opposite and ends up hurting a leaders' success more than they realize. 
In this episode of The Black Sheep Network, I sit down with Victor Simmons, author of The Presence-Driven Leader and founder of Victorious Endeavors Consulting.
Having worked his way from dishwasher to Vice President of Human Resources and Head of DEI, Victor has witnessed leadership from nearly every level of an organization. That vantage point taught him how quickly a title can change the information the top hears and how easily fear can be mistaken for respect. 
This conversation examines the crucial space between holding power and deserving influence.
What makes people willing to tell one leader the truth while carefully managing what another is allowed to hear? 
How can someone challenge authority without destroying their own credibility, reputation or future?
 
Listen in to Discover: 
Why success and seniority can conceal serious leadership liabilities
What hierarchy changes about the information leaders receive
How emotional intelligence reveals itself in everyday behavior
Why fear may produce compliance while weakening the organization underneath it
What makes people trust a leader when the pressure is highest
Victor’s work invites leaders to examine what their presence communicates before they say a word.
Because when people see you enter the room, do they feel supported, silenced, or immediately begin deciding which version of the truth you can handle? The answer determines how successful you will be.
 
ABOUT VICTOR SIMMONS
Victor Simmons is an author, TEDx speaker, executive coach, and leadership consultant with more than three decades of experience across hospitality, human resources, and organizational leadership. He is the author of The Presence-Driven Leader and founder of Victorious Endeavors Consulting, where he helps leaders and organizations strengthen culture, accountability, and performance.
 
READY TO BECOME THE LEADER PEOPLE CHOOSE TO FOLLOW?
Explore Victor’s executive coaching, keynote speaking, hospitality training, and consulting work. You can also discover The Presence-Driven Leader and examine what your leadership communicates long before your title enters the conversation.
Connect with Victor:https://victoriousendeavorsconsulting.com/
 
BUILD A BUSINESS PEOPLE TRUST FROM THE INSIDE OUT
Victor’s work explores the kind of leadership that earns honesty, accountability, and commitment from a team.
Black Sheep Sales brings that same human-centered thinking to the way your business earns trust from buyers.
If your sales process no longer reflects how you want people to experience your company, explore a more natural, repeatable approach at:
https://blacksheepsales.com/
Key Timestamps
00:47 Why leadership presence matters more than authority02:26 Victor’s path from dishwasher to executive leadership05:18 What senior leaders stop hearing as they gain power08:11 When corporate messaging clashes with employees’ reality11:42 How HR earns credibility beyond compliance14:09 The courage required to challenge someone above you16:23 The clearest signs of emotional intelligence in leadership18:37 Why fear-based leadership eventually becomes expensive21:16 How successful leaders become insulated from their impact23:34 Leading effectively without a title25:21 Creating trust before asking for performance27:12 Why sharing credit builds stronger teams29:06 The role empathy plays in influence and accountability
#Leadership #LeadershipDevelopment #EmotionalIntelligence #ExecutiveLeadership #WorkplaceCulture #OrganizationalCulture #EmployeeEngagement #ToxicLeadership #HumanResources #PeopleLeadership #PresenceDrivenLeadership #VictorSimmons #TheBlackSheepNetwork

What kind of person earns a software engineering degree, lands a government job, and voluntarily chooses to live in a 1986 Suburban?
The kind who understands that a respectable life can still leave you feeling controlled.
Everyone around Nickolas Natali could see the comfortable future waiting for him. A strong salary. A stable career. Student loan payments that would follow him for however long they followed everyone else.
He looked at that future and started making plans that confused nearly everyone.
That would not be the last time.
In this episode of The Black Sheep Network, I sit down with Nickolas, founder of All Things Media and host of The Nickolas Natali Show, to talk about the decisions people question before they understand what you are trying to build.
How do you know when advice deserves to be ignored?
What happens when doing excellent work makes powerful people want you gone?
And how many times can an idea fail before you begin wondering whether everyone else was right about you?
We get into:
The decision his professors and friends tried to talk him out of
Why some goals become more attractive once he learns how difficult they will be
The unexpected consequences of improving a system that preferred to remain inefficient
What kept him moving through several business ideas that went nowhere
The role self-trust plays when external validation disappears
Some choices only look irrational when people measure them against a life you never wanted.
So how much of your current life was built from your own convictions, and how much was shaped by decisions other people found easier to understand?
Connect with Nickolas Natali:
If Nickolas’s willingness to test, fail, and keep figuring it out speaks to you, there is plenty more to explore.
See what he and his team are creating at All Things Media: https://allthingsmediallc.com
You can also continue the conversation through following him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickolasnatali/
 
KEY TIMESTAMPS
02:10 | The childhood habits that developed his appetite for difficult goals06:00 | Pursuing an interest before he felt comfortable telling anyone07:15 | Refusing the first no and finding a way to graduate early09:00 | The sacrifices hidden inside every ambitious decision10:00 | Why the hardest goals may have the least competition11:00 | Living in a 1986 Suburban to eliminate student debt18:00 | Entering government work with the intention to improve it21:00 | When innovation made leadership feel threatened22:30 | Protecting himself during an internal investigation25:00 | Leaving a secure career and discovering how difficult entrepreneurship really is27:00 | The businesses that failed before All Things Media succeeded
#TheBlackSheepNetwork #NickolasNatali #AllThingsMedia #SelfTrust #UnconventionalSuccess #Entrepreneurship #BusinessPodcast #PersonalFreedom #Resilience #CareerChange #EntrepreneurMindset #BlackSheep

A lot of traditional law firms say they value fresh thinking.
They just seem far less interested once the fresh thinking comes from the youngest person in the room.
In this episode of The Black Sheep Network, I sit down with Paloma Goggins, founder of Nocturnal Legal, a boutique M&A firm helping business owners navigate exits, acquisitions, and generational transitions.
Early in her legal career, Paloma began questioning systems that everyone else appeared willing to accept. Her suggestions made sense. The resistance she encountered had very little to do with whether those suggestions would work.
So what happens when you can clearly see a better way, but the people with authority refuse to look?
In this episode, we talk about the hidden cost of hierarchy, the career advice Paloma chose not to follow, and the reality of building a firm before you have the network people assume you need.
We also explore a question that rarely receives enough attention in mergers and acquisitions: what are you actually inheriting when you buy a business?
The contracts may tell you what you own but that is a very small part of a successful merger. Paloma sheds light on the rest. 
KEY POINTS WE COVER:
How Paloma found her way from psychology into law
What happens when seniority carries more weight than new ideas
The fear-based advice that could have changed the course of her career
Building a relationship-driven firm without a ready-made network
The decisions that can complicate an acquisition after the contracts are signed
How long should you keep adapting to a system before you admit the system has no intention of adapting with you?
Press play to hear what Paloma did when accepting the established way stopped making sense.
 
ABOUT THE GUEST
Paloma Goggins is a transition consultant and founder of Nocturnal Legal, a boutique law firm specializing in mergers and acquisitions. She helps business owners navigate exiting their business, or transitioning ownership to the next generation or a key employee, with a focus on what happens well after the deal closes, not just the valuation.
If you're thinking about buying or selling a business, Paloma offers a free call to talk through where you are in the process. Learn more or schedule time at nocturnallegal.com
 
If this conversation made you think differently about sales, leadership, or the way people are wired to connect, take Aleasha Bahr's Sales Personality Assessment to discover your natural sales style and how to use it to your advantage: https://assessment.aleashabahr.com/salespersonality
Leading a sales team? Sometimes the biggest obstacle isn't your process. It's having the right people in the wrong roles. Book a complimentary Sales Team Audit with Aleasha to uncover the gaps that may be costing you opportunities: https://calendly.com/aleasha/salesteam-levelup
 
[00:04:00] The trade-off between entrepreneurial unpredictability and freedom[00:04:30] How a psychology lab pushed Paloma toward law school instead[00:07:00] Why law firms are so slow to change, and what finally drove her to start her own practice[00:08:00] Hierarchy, ego, and why a young associate's good idea gets dismissed[00:10:00] Pitching a project visibility system and getting looked at "like I had three heads"[00:11:30] "I had to do it, so you have to too" — the generational trauma of law firm culture[00:12:00] Moving in-house and the scare tactics about never being able to go back[00:15:00] "There's always a better way" — why the people discouraging you are often talking about themselves[00:16:00] Celebrating three years in business and the fear that almost delayed it[00:17:00] Starting a firm with zero client Rolodex[00:18:00] Why law school never teaches you sales, but every lawyer's income depends on it[00:19:00] Building a business as a woman in a new market, and why not every city is equal[00:20:00] Relationship-based business: giving first vs. asking "what's in it for me"[00:21:00] The fun and the friction of finally implementing the systems she always wanted[00:23:00] Why fresh perspective (and being new) is an asset, not a liability[00:24:00] How Paloma approaches M&A differently, and why the deal is just the starting point 
 
#BlackSheepNetwork #MergersAndAcquisitions #BusinessExitPlanning #WomenInLaw #WomenBusinessOwners #SmallBusinessTransition #EntrepreneurLife #BuildingABusiness #LegalIndustry #BusinessSuccession #SellingYourBusiness #FounderStory #BlackSheepPodcast #RelationshipBasedBusiness #DealClosing #M&AStrategy

Gen Z has entered the workforce and with 4 different generations now in one office - it’s presenting a problem. 
Especially because there’s so many unspoken rules we take for granted.  
Like when to speak in a meeting. What “professional” actually means. How much of yourself you’re allowed to bring to work. When leaving at 5:00 suddenly becomes a question of commitment.
Most of us learned by getting something wrong and having someone tell us before we made the same mistake twice. 
In this episode of The Black Sheep Network, I sit down with Laura Massetti, founder of Real Work Ready™ and creator of the Workplace Performance Model™, to talk about what happens when a new generation stops accepting that arrangement.
After two C-level roles and years of leading and evaluating teams, Laura has seen just how much career success depends on skills that rarely make it into a job description, onboarding or training. 
And with AI changing how early-career employees learn on the job, those missing lessons are causing a much bigger impact on companies than ever anticipated. 
Gen Z is providing a unique opportunity to understand if the traditional unspoken rules are even a standard we should accept and for companies to succeed they have to adjust. 
Listen to this episode to discover: 
Why Gen Z doesn’t understand the office etiquette we all accepted
Examples of constructive conversations that make all the difference in performance 
What companies removed from early career development without realizing what would be lost - and how to add it back in for successful employees 
 
If you’re finding yourself challenged with how to engage and retain the newest members of our work force, you’re not alone, and this episode is for you.  
Are your early-career employees ready for the realities of work? Connect with Laura Massetti to close the gap between potential and performance:Laura is the founder of Real Work Ready™, a company helping early-career professionals navigate a workplace where the traditional entry-level learning experience has increasingly been automated away. The hands-on tasks and opportunities to learn alongside senior colleagues that once helped young professionals understand how the workplace operates are disappearing, but the expectations placed on them remain the same.
As a two-time C-level executive who has written performance reviews and evaluated employees firsthand, Laura developed The Workplace Performance Model™ based on what she observed behind the scenes. Originally from New York, she now runs her company from Italy.
Website: realworkready.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauramassetti/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@RealworkreadyhqInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/realworkreadyhq/
Key Timestamps
[00:01:00] Intro to Laura Massetti, founder of Real Work Ready[00:02:00] Four generations, one office, and why "managers just need to adjust" misses the real problem[00:04:00] What growing up fully digital actually cost Gen Z[00:06:00] The 6 percent stat that reframes what Gen Z wants from a career entirely[00:07:00] The Dutch office story that says everything about American work culture[00:10:00] Laura's first internship and the meeting where she learned to stay quiet[00:13:00] The thirteen-month exit and what it's actually costing companies[00:15:00] The mentoring mistake Laura made trying to give back what she'd been given[00:19:00] Why doing a good job was never actually the whole job[00:20:00] AI as the great equalizer, and what that means for what gets you promoted now[00:21:00] The illegal thing that got Laura fired, and nobody called it what it was[00:22:00] The nail polish story, and the real problem hiding underneath it[00:25:00] Why real-time feedback matters more to this generation than any annual review ever did
 
#GenZAtWork #FutureOfWork #WorkplaceCulture #LeadershipDevelopment #BlackSheepNetwork #CareerGrowth #AIandCareers #SoftSkillsMatter #WorkplacePerformance #GenerationalGap #UnwrittenRules #RealWorkReady

She hit a deep burnout while loving everything she was doing. Nothing about it felt wrong and that is exactly what made it so dangerous. It’s the specific trap Hannah Abad has spent fifteen years pulling high achievers out of.
In this episode of The Black Sheep Network, I sat down with Hannah Abad, founder of Hannah Abad Coaching and a fifteen year certified coach for high achieving, excellence driven leaders.
Hannah built her career doing everything right. She signed on with a coaching agency, gave it her all, and was carrying forty to sixty clients at once within a few years. She called that a win at the time, and in some ways it was. It also nearly wrecked her.
She left that agency, built her own practice determined to do it differently, and hit burnout again within two years. That second collapse is what led her to the discovery that changed everything: the connection between our nervous system and the way we work, lead, and live.
Listen in to discover why:
Stress is simply the socially acceptable word for fear, and most high achievers are running their entire business on it
The exhaustion, autoimmune flare ups, and hormone crashes she sees in ninety percent of her clients are not random. 
How to access your zone of genius through rest instead of hypervigilance 
She is a shining example of what it looks like to build success that doesn’t cost you your health.
The solution is not to want less. Ambition is never the problem - it’s the fear driving it underneath it. 
If you have ever felt like your only way to succeed is pushing, scrapping and fighting your way through it, this episode is for you.
Connect with Hannah Abad:
Website: hannahabadcoaching.com
Instagram: @hannahabadcoaching
 
Key Timestamps
[00:01:00] Intro to Hannah Abad, founder of Hannah Abad Coaching[00:02:00] Why this conversation matters even if you are not a 'leader'[00:03:00] Her non-traditional path out of photojournalism and into coaching[00:04:00] Carrying forty to sixty clients at once and calling it a win[00:05:00] Hitting deep burnout four years in and wanting to burn it all down[00:06:00] The real warning sign of burnout: not caring about what you built[00:07:00] Choosing to find a radically different way instead of quitting[00:09:00] Building her own practice and hitting burnout again within two years[00:10:00] A high risk deployment, a 'miracle' pregnancy, and launching a company at the same time[00:11:00] Why stress is just the socially acceptable word for fear[00:13:00] The mental load women carry and why we override our own needs[00:16:00] Autoimmune conditions, hormone crashes, and the body's last resort[00:17:00] The fear based sales training story and what adrenaline actually costs[00:18:00] Redefining what healthy performance actually looks like[00:20:00] Why eight hours of sleep somehow became 'high maintenance'[00:22:00] Swimming upstream against the norms you built for yourself[00:23:00] Why hypervigilance feels safer than peace[00:25:00] What happens in your brain in a true safety state[00:27:00] Rest and play as fuel for your creative genius[00:29:00] Where to find and connect with Hannah
 
#BlackSheepNetwork #BurnoutRecovery #NervousSystemRegulation #HighAchievers #PeakPerformance #TraumaInformedCoaching #WomenInBusiness #EntrepreneurMindset #RestIsProductive #LeadershipDevelopment #NervousSystemHealing #BlackSheepSales

There is a version of success that almost every industry rewards.
Look the part.Protect your own interests.Follow the playbook.Do business the way it's always been done.
Then there are the people who decide that if the rules are built on gatekeeping, they aren't worth following in the first place.
In this episode of The Black Sheep Network, I sat down with Kendall Newsome, founder and CEO of NSU Global, the world's largest music catalog brokerage. 
He has structured and executed more than $100 million in transactions across a network of 165+ institutional buyers, representing artists, producers, and rights holders at the highest level.
But Kendall didn't build his reputation by becoming another broker in a tailored suit.
He built it by staying an artist - something he was successful at when he was only 12 years old.
So, when a childhood friend suggested he start selling music catalogs, Kendall had no idea what that even meant. He was handed almost no roadmap and told to figure it out.
Instead of trying to blend into an industry dominated by finance professionals, he leaned into the perspective no one else could offer: he knew exactly what it felt like to create the work people were buying.
Listen in to discover why: 
He refused to trade authenticity for credibility, even when people told him his branding was "too much" for the industry. 
He intentionally charges a fraction of what many brokers charge because trust compounds faster than greed ever will. 
Doing the right thing meant making the uncomfortable phone call, telling an artist that the people meant to protect them might actually be standing in their way - is part of what has made him so wildly successful.
He is a shining example of why Black Sheep are so successful.
They don’t break the rules for attention - they break them because they no longer serve the people they're supposed to protect.
Kendall proves that you don't build an extraordinary reputation by looking like everyone else in the room. 
You build it by standing firmly in your values long after everyone else has learned to compromise theirs.
If you've ever felt pressure to become someone else in order to be taken seriously, this conversation is proof that the qualities people tell you to tone down may be the very reason you succeed.
 
Connect with Kendall Newsome:
Website: nsu.global
Instagram: @bigkeezy
Twitter/X: @iamdakidk 
YouTube: youtube.com/dakidk 
 
Key Timestamps
[00:01:00] Intro to Kendall Newsome, founder and CEO of NSU Global[00:02:00] Starting his music journey at 12 years old[00:04:00] His mom padding out the basement shoe closet for his first studio[00:06:00] Dealing with doubt in a suburb with no breakthrough artists before him[00:07:00] Moving to Florida at 19, a torn ACL, and a new baby[00:08:00] The childhood friend who told him to start selling music catalogs[00:09:00] Getting thrown in with no direction and figuring it out himself[00:11:00] Refusing to trade his artist identity for a suit[00:12:00] The yacht and champagne video his mentor tried to talk him out of[00:14:00] Why some brokers take advantage of artists in bad financial spots[00:16:00] Why he charges a fraction of what other brokers charge, and why it works[00:17:00] 146 clients, 5 percent, and why fairness outperforms greed[00:19:00] The third customer: buyers, artists, and the managers in between[00:21:00] Calling an artist directly when a manager was blocking a deal[00:22:00] Staying rooted in his principles after 20 years in the business[00:23:00] Why some people lose themselves the moment they get power[00:25:00] "Money is a frequency": staying aligned instead of chasing

There is a version of success that looks flawless on paper: a Duke MBA, a career at Deloitte, and a résumé filled with leadership positions.
Then there is the version no one sees: waking up at 3 a.m. convinced the life you've worked so hard to build is no longer the one you want.
In this episode of The Black Sheep Network, I sit down with Mark Stern, founder and CEO of Custom Box Agency and host of Dash Talks Live, to talk about intuition, identity, and the courage to walk away from a path that looks perfect from the outside.
Mark shares the story behind leaving corporate consulting with no backup plan, how an unexpected customer behavior completely reshaped his business, and why ignoring expert advice became one of the best decisions he ever made.
We also dive into what he learned from the world of guru marketing, the difference between building a business that attracts attention versus one that earns trust, and why the best opportunities often appear where no one else is looking.
If you've ever questioned whether you're on the right path, or wondered if your instincts are trying to tell you something your résumé never could, this conversation is for you.
The Black Sheep Moments
The childhood side hustle that hinted at Mark's entrepreneurial mindset.
The 3 a.m. realization that changed the course of his career.
Why he walked away from corporate consulting without a safety net.
The unexpected discovery that led to an entirely different business.
Choosing instinct over expert advice.
Growing a seven-figure company through relationships instead of paid ads.
Why retention will always outperform hype.
Promotional products need to be so much more than swag to be effective 
Some of the best business decisions don't make sense until you stop trying to fit someone else's definition of success.
 
Connect with Mark Stern:
Custom Box Agency: customboxagency.com
Find him on LinkedIn: Mark R. Stern (look for the guy who "looks like Ned Flanders" — glasses and a mustache) 
 
If this conversation made you think differently about sales, leadership, or the way people are wired to connect, take Aleasha Bahr's Sales Personality Assessment to discover your natural sales style and how to use it to your advantage: https://assessment.aleashabahr.com/salespersonality
Leading a sales team? Sometimes the biggest obstacle isn't your process. It's having the right people in the wrong roles. Book a complimentary Sales Team Audit with Aleasha to uncover the gaps that may be costing you opportunities: https://calendly.com/aleasha/salesteam-levelup
 
[00:03:00] The Furby arbitrage story: entrepreneurial instincts as a kid [00:04:00] The "natural progression" script Mark followed to the letter [00:05:00] 2012: $165K in debt, locked into a two-year contract, working 24/7 [00:07:00] The 3am wake-up: sweating, crying, and a premonition this job would kill him [00:09:00] Starting a virtual events business and hating the model he built [00:10:00] The mailed booklet that accidentally revealed the future of the business [00:15:00] Pain and shame selling vs. building real evangelists through retention [00:17:00] Two businesses, one identity crisis: "Are you the box guy or the virtual event guy?" [00:19:00] The pivot: going all-in on Custom Box Agency during COVID's "bloody red" market [00:21:00] Trusting his gut after a lifetime of "what does the data say?" [00:25:00] Standing out by doing the thing everyone tells you not to do [00:27:00] Where to find Mark and work with Custom Box Agency
 
#BlackSheepNetwork #Entrepreneurship #TrustYourGut #CorporateToEntrepreneur #CustomBoxAgency #BusinessPivot #FounderStory #DeloitteAlum #StudentLoanDebt #WordOfMouthMarketing #CustomerExperience #BusinessGrowth #ScaleWithoutAds #RetentionOverAcquisition #BlackSheepPodcast #EntrepreneurMindset #GutInstinct #StartupJourney  

There is a version of leadership that looks impressive from the outside and disconnected on the inside - actually that’s the majority of leaders. 
It looks like a calendar packed with meetings. No room to think. No room to breathe. No room to notice what your body has been trying to tell you for months. And it has a limit. 
In this episode of The Black Sheep Network, I sit down with Dr. Naketa Ren Thigpen, one of the leading voices in relational wellness, leadership, and human connection.
We explore the difference between vulnerability and relational intelligence, and why one without the other often leaves trust unfinished, potential unfulfilled and satisfaction out of reach. 
We talk about what Dr. Thigpen calls "presence distortion": those moments when you're physically in the room but not truly available to the people in front of you. The cost is bigger than most leaders realize. Creativity suffers. Trust erodes. Relationships become transactional instead of transformational.
We also unpack why psychological safety is more than saying the right words. It requires the capacity to receive what another person is sharing, stay present with it, and respond in a way that makes connection possible.
One of my favorite parts of this conversation is our discussion about embodiment.
Not as self-care.
Not as a wellness trend.
It should be as regular of a habit as hygiene. 
The same way your body needs care, your nervous system does too. Because stress, overwhelm, unresolved experiences, and old conditioning don't disappear just because you ignore them. They show up in your decisions, your relationships, your leadership, and your calendar.
And that calendar might be the most honest reflection of your priorities you'll ever see.
If your values say one thing and your schedule says another, it’s crucial to pay attention to that information.
This conversation is ultimately about alignment. Between what you believe, how you lead, how you love, and how you move through the world.
Key Points We Cover:
The difference between relationship intelligence and relational intelligence, and why both matter
What "presence distortion" is and how it undermines trust even when leaders believe they're being vulnerable
Why Brené Brown's work on vulnerability is an important starting point, not the complete conversation
How psychological safety is created through capacity and presence, not scripts and good intentions
What your calendar reveals about the gap between your stated values and your lived reality
This isn't just a conversation about leadership.
It's a conversation about how you relate to your team, your family, your partner, your work, and yourself.
Because the quality of your life is often determined by the quality of the relationships you build and the relationship you maintain with your own body.
If everything looks great on the outside and feels empty on the inside, this episode is for you.
Press play and pay attention to what resonates.
There is a good chance it is trying to teach you something.
 
ABOUT THE GUEST
Dr. Naketa Ren Thigpen is the world's foremost balance and relationship advisor and CEO of ThigPro Balance and Relationship Management Institute.
Her licensed Joy Map method uncovers the hidden leadership strain that standard performance metrics miss: the quiet toll of decision fatigue, fracturing trust, and the slow burn of misalignment between who you say you are and how you actually show up.
A licensed clinical social worker and trauma specialist with nearly 30 years of experience, Dr. Naketa built her life's work from the inside out. She broke cycles, asked the questions her family did not want answered, and turned that courage into a framework that now serves global companies and a select private advisory, the BARR Coterie.
She has been named among 100 Women to Watch in 2026 and honored by the NAACP as one of Philadelphia's 104 most influential Black women.
Find her and everything she is building at Substack under ThikProQuo or search "Balancing Your Brilliance" to find her.
 
[00:03:30] Relational intelligence vs. relationship intelligence: what is the actual difference?[00:05:30] Trusting your inner brilliance when you don't know if something is personal or not[00:07:30] Presence distortion: being in the room but not actually there[00:10:00] "Just be a human" and what that unlocks for team performance and creativity[00:11:30] From the bedroom to the boardroom: how you show up in one place is how you show up everywhere[00:13:00] Your calendar is telling on you: what a misaligned schedule actually reveals[00:14:00] Bookend rituals and why your morning sets the tone for everything else[00:15:30] Bubble breathing, lemon water, and two minutes that can shift your entire nervous system[00:17:00] Body awareness, embodiment, and why so many people are disconnected from both[00:18:30] Big T and little T trauma and why healing has to happen in the body[00:20:00] Embodiment as hygiene: not a crash-out strategy but a prevention practice[00:21:30] Dr. Naketa's origin story: growing up in dysfunction and choosing to break the pattern[00:25:00] The real results of this work: integrity, honest communication, aligned boundaries, and more[00:27:30] Expansive boundaries: how they make space instead of keeping people out
 
#BlackSheepNetwork #RelationalIntelligence #LeadershipDevelopment #BoundaryWork #EmbodimentPractice #PsychologicalSafety #TraumaHealing #GenerationalPatterns #WorkLifeBalance #MindfulLeadership #IntimacyAndInnovation #NervousSystemRegulation #AuthenticLeadership #BalanceAndWellness #BlackSheepPodcast #WomenInLeadership 

Every mentor he paid told him to stop talking to his own software customers.
So he listened. Built a 17-person team. Removed himself completely.
And watched his company go numb.
On this episode of Black Sheep Network, I sit down with Alex Sanfilippo, the founder of Podmatch, and we get into one of my favorite Black Sheep truths: the advice that feels wrong for you IS wrong for you, no matter who's giving it.
Alex built Podmatch from a $5,000 bootstrap into a platform facilitating hundreds of podcast bookings a day. But the path there wasn't the shiny, scale-fast, delegate-everything playbook his mentors prescribed.
It was the exact opposite.
We talk about what happened when he followed conventional wisdom. Hiring 17 people. Removing himself from the front lines.
Growth stalled at $30K a month.
Then came the gut-punch moment at PodFest Orlando that changed everything. He met his most loyal user and didn't even know who they were.
Here's what we dig into:
He followed the "expert" playbook and watched his company flatline
The moment at PodFest that made him tear up and rethink everything
Why he phased out 17 staff members and went back to a 3-person team
How revenue doubled from $30K to $60K in months after that one decision
The Pod Value Initiative: why he split his profit in half and started paying podcasters
Other software founders told him he was "making them look bad"
Bookings jumped from 80 a day to nearly 200 after he started giving back
Why caring about people over profit is always, always more profitable
 
This is not a story about being anti-advice. It’s about no longer abandoning yourself and creating your own blueprint instead. 
If you've ever sat in a room full of people more successful than you and felt something in your gut screaming "this isn't right," this episode will feel like a deep exhale.
Go listen. Then go see what Alex built, because the way he runs Podmatch is proof that the Black Sheep way isn't just more fulfilling. It's more profitable.
 
ABOUT THE GUEST
Alex Sanfilippo is the founder of Podmatch, a platform that connects podcast hosts and guests for interviews without the chaos.
He bootstrapped it with $5,000. Grew it into a platform powering hundreds of daily bookings. Runs it with three people.
He's also the host of Podcasting Made Simple and the creator of the Pod Value Initiative, where Podmatch gives half its profit back to the podcasters who use the platform.
Former aerospace guy. Current podcasting advocate. Perpetual Black Sheep who got kicked out of a mastermind for refusing to stop caring about his users.
Find him at podmatch.com/free.
 
[00:04:45] 100+ podcasters lined up to tell him what they were struggling with[00:06:00] $5,000, a whiteboard wall, and a co-founder from his wedding party[00:07:00] "I felt like David in a room full of Goliaths"[00:08:30] The mastermind advice that felt wrong from day one[00:10:45] Standing in front of his biggest fan and not recognizing him[00:12:00] Phasing out 17 people and getting removed from the mastermind[00:13:15] $30K to $60K a month after one shift: being himself again[00:18:15] Splitting profit in half to pay podcasters through the Pod Value Initiative[00:21:00] "You're making us look bad." The backlash from other founders[00:22:30] 80 bookings a day jumping to nearly 200[00:24:00] Why people over profit always wins, and the data to prove it[00:25:00] "We're letting our giftedness take us further than our character can"[00:27:00] Where to find Alex and his no-strings-attached free resource
#BlackSheepNetwork #AlexSanfilippo #Podmatch #PodcastingMadeSimple #PeopleOverProfit #TrustYourGut #BootstrappedStartup #PodcastGrowth #EntrepreneurMindset #AntiHustle #FounderStory #PodcastCommunity #DoItDifferently #SmallTeamBigImpact #PodValueInitiative #AuthenticLeadership #PatternBreaker #BlackSheepManifesto

What if the thing everyone said would kill your business is actually what saved it?
That is exactly what happened to Stephanie Gross, founder of Bumby Wool.
She did not start with a business plan.
She started because she could not find what she wanted, so she made it herself. From her basement. With two kids running around her feet. And a first employee she originally hired for free.
That employee has now been with her for 16 years.
In this episode of Black Sheep Network, we get into what it actually looks like to build a business that refuses to compromise, even when the entire industry is telling you that you are doing it wrong.
Here is what you discover when listening: 
The dirty secret inside fast fashion that most brands are hoping you never Google.
Why Steph has never once looked at what her competitors are doing and why that is a strategy, not an accident.
The workforce model most corporations would laugh at right before losing half their team.
What it took to navigate tariffs, family challenges, and 18 years of building without burning it all down.
Why is she calling 2026 her launch era after nearly two decades of laying the foundation.
The real reason the relentless pursuit of profit usually produces less of it.
This is not just a feel-good story.
It is a profitability and loyalty story. A proof-of-concept story for every founder who has been told that doing it with integrity means doing it slowly, quietly, and at a disadvantage.
Steph is proof that when you build something right, it becomes nearly impossible to compete with.
If you are tired of being told the only way to build is fast, cheap, and at the expense of everything you actually care about, this episode was made for you.
Hit play. Then share it with the founder in your life who needs to hear that their way can work better than anything else.
ABOUT THE GUEST
Stephanie Gross is the founder and designer behind Bumby Wool, a Canadian-made custom clothing brand specializing in sustainable Merino wool garments for babies, kids, and adults. Born in New Zealand and raised with wool in her DNA, Steph has spent 18 years building a slow fashion company that makes one garment at a time, uses low-impact dyes, and employs a team whose longest-tenured member has been with her for 16 years.
She is a passionate advocate for sustainable production, ethical team culture, and doing business in a way that does not require you to sell your soul to a supply chain. Bumby Wool has grown through word of mouth, a loyal community, and an obsessive commitment to quality that has made her virtually impossible to compete with.
You can find her and Bumby Wool at bumbywool.com
[03:30] "Eyes closed, head first, tail loose": Steph's philosophy on bold decisions[05:00] Becoming a mom and deciding to build a business she could run on her own terms[06:00] Why Bumby Wool is nearly impossible to compete with: made-to-order, low waste, loyal staff[07:30] The team that has stayed for 16 years and what that actually took to build[08:00] The ugly truth about fast fashion: the product that never even makes it to market[10:30] Why Steph has never looked at what her competitors are doing[12:00] How her first employee came to work for her for free and stayed for over a decade[14:00] Building a business where family comes first because that was the whole point[15:30] Why the relentless pursuit of profit usually produces less of it[17:30] The business case for integrity: lower turnover, higher trust, real results[18:30] What she saw at the Vegas trade show that confirmed she was doing it differently[20:00] Bootstrapping from thrifty leanness and why getting a loan felt scarier than doing it the hard way[22:00] Surviving COVID by using the pause to rebuild systems from scratch[24:00] Navigating tariffs, family challenges, and keeping everything she cared about intact[26:00] Why 2026 is her launch era after 18 years of building the foundation[27:00] Over 1,000 five-star reviews and a 2,500-person Facebook group that runs itself
#BlackSheepNetwork #SlowFashion #SustainableFashion  #BumbyWool #EthicalBusiness #WomenInBusiness #EntrepreneurMindset #SlowFashionMovement #SustainableClothing #MadeInCanada #FemaleFounder #EthicalFashion #BusinessPodcast #WoolClothing #SustainableKidsClothing #BlackSheep